THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 18, 1858. 95 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Day 
Day 
of 
Week. 
Weatiikr near London in 1857. 
| 
: of 
Mth 
1 
MAY 18—24, 1858. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Ram in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.andS. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
afterSun 
Day of 
Year. 
1 18 
Tu 
Grevillea longifolia. 
30.011—29.944 
78—46 
W. 
— 
6 af 4 
46 af 7 
45 af 0 
5 
3 
51 
138 | 
j 19 
W 
Habrotkamnus elegans. 
29.971—29.876 
75—48 
s.w. 
— 
5 
4 
48 7 
8 
l 
3 
/ 
3 
49 
139 
1 20 
Th 
Hardenbergia Comptoniana. 
29.898—29.725 
75—46 
s.w. 
.01 
3 
4 
49 7 
24 
1 
3 
46 
140 1 
21 
F 
Hovea illicifolia. 
29.760—29.648 
66—46 
s.w. 
.02 
2 
4 
51 7 
36 
1 
8 
3 
42 
141 
142 j 
22 
S 
Hovea elliptica. 
29.846—29.793 
60—47 
N.E. 
.20 
1 
4 
52 7 
47 
1 
9 
3 
39 
23 
Sun 
Whit Sunday’. 
29.598—29.462 
66—49 
E. 
.23 
0 
3 
53 7 
58 
1 
10 
3 
34 
143 
24 
M 
Whit Monday. Q. Victoria 
[born, 1819. 
29.623—29.472 
70—40 
S.W. 
" 
58 
3 
55 7 
9 
2 
11 
3 
29 
144 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-one years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 66.1° and 44.2°, respectively. The greatest heat, 89°, occurred on the 23rd, in 1847 ; and the lowest cold, 
30°, on the 20th, in 1856. Dui-ing the period 120 days were fine, and on 97 rain fell. 
GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Seedling- crops to be thinned out while the plants 
are small; and slugs and snails to be destroyed by all 
means. 
Beet. —The plants to be thinned to one foot apart 
while they are small, and the vacancies, if any, to be 
filled up with those that are drawn, as they bear trans¬ 
planting well. If the crop has altogether failed, it is 
not yet too late to sow another. 
Broccoli. —Sow the early and late sorts, not for¬ 
getting the Walcheren and Knight's Protecting ; the 
early to come into use in October and November, and 
the late sorts in the spring. 
Cabbage, planted early, to be earthed-up, and some 
of the most forward of the autumn planted to be tied 
up, to form heads for early use. 
Capsicums. —Plant out on a warm border, to be 
watered during dry w r eather. 
Cauliflower. —Sowin small quantity for succession. 
Celery. — Continue to prick out seedling plants. 
A few trenches for an early crop to be dug out, to get 
! a crop of Lettuce or Spinach between the trenches. 
Cucumbers (in frames).—The shoots to be occasion¬ 
ally stopped, to keep the plants in a bearing state. 
Plant out on ridges under handglasses. 
Endive. —Sow a little for an early crop. 
Kidney Beans (Divarf). —Sow in rows two feet 
and a half apart. 
Leeks. —Sow, to plant out for winter use. 
Lettuce. —Sow, and plant out from early seed-bed 
one foot apart. 
Onions. —Transplant the autumn sowing in showery 
i weather. Be careful not to buTy the bulbs. Sow a 
good bed of Silver-skinned on poor soil, in an open 
situation. 
Rhubarb and Sea-kale. —Cutoff all blossom-shoots; 
they exhaust the plants much. Thin out superfluous 
shoots of Sea-kale ; about four or five to each stool is 
sufficient. 
Spinach. —Sow. 
Vegetable Marrow. —Plant on dung ridges. 
FRUIT GARDEN. 
Figs. —Thin away weak shoots, and pinch out the 
tops of the others when six inches long. 
Strawberries. —Hoe between them, and mulch the 
surface with any short litter. Cut away runners, ex¬ 
cept they are wanted for forcing. 
Wall Trees. —Continue to disbud by removing all 
foreright shoots, &c., leaving for the present, however, 
any shoot the leaves of which overhang and shelter 
fruit. Thin the fruit where it has set very thickly. 
Look over grafts, and loosen the ties, if too tight. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
Except in very favourable localities, it will be un¬ 
safe to commence planting the general bedding stock 
until a more decided and favourable change in the ! 
weather takes place. Meantime it is necessary to 
harden the plants off, and to decide what is to occupy 
each bed. 
Annuals, such as German Asters , Stocks, &c., that 
were sown last month, to be pricked out on beds, pro¬ 
tected in unfavourable weather under mats supported 
on hoops. 
Crocuses, and other early-flowering bulbs, to be 
taken up as soon as the leaves die off. 
Cuttings of Phloxes , Alyssum, Arahis , of double 
yellow and red Wallflowers placed in a mild frame 
heat, in small pots, will soon strike root. 
Hepaticas. —Divide and transplant. 
PiEONiES to be tied up. 
Pansies. —Continue to put in cuttings. The side- 
shoots root best. 
Pinks. —Tie up, and remove the superfluous shoots, j 
Polyanthuses. —Divide, planting them in a very 
shady, cool place ; if such is not to be found naturally, i 
artificial shade must be made, as it is indispensable to , 
their well doing. 
Roses. — Standards and Dwarfs to be well top- 
dressed with good rotten manure. William Keane. 
SPRING FLOWERS—BEDDING OUT IN 
THE RIBBON ST1ME. 
Spring flowers were just three weeks later at the 
beginning of the April of this year, than they are on 
an average of seasons, owing to a month of most 
bitterly cold weather, after the early part of Fe- ; 
bruary; and I could see very little gained from this 
lateness. Round London, at the beginning of May, 
even to this, the 10th of May, we are a fortnight behind 
with the greater number of spring flowers, and full 
three weeks with a few of them. The great bulk of 
the early Tulips will, therefore, be in their prime when 
it is just time to plant out old Calceolarias, old Gera¬ 
niums, and autumn struck Verbenas, and if any of the 
three, or of their kindred, are booked to come into the 
Tulip beds, they must wait a bit, for no man or woman 
can trifle witli Tulips with impunity. Snowdrops 
and Crocuses may be shifted from place to place at 
any one stage of their growth, or of their blooming 
season, if they are handled with care; but there is a time I 
in the growth of certain kinds of Oxalis, and Gladiolus, 
and in all kinds of Tulips, when ruination would be j 
the consequence of having them disturbed at that par¬ 
ticular season. The reason for this is, when the old 
Tulip bulb puts up the flower-stalk, the circle of its 
existence comes to an end, and it dies like a grain of 
corn which was sown, grew up, and produced the stalks 
which give the increase so many fold. All Tulips, with¬ 
out exception, die at that period, as surely as the sown 
corn; but, differently from the corn, the Tulip multi¬ 
plies itself at both ends—at the roots, in new r bulbs, 
like young Potatoes, and at the seed-pod, like an ear of 
No. 503. Vol. XX 
