THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 7, 1858. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Day 
Day 
of 
Week. 
Weather near London in 1857. 
of 
Mth 
SEPTEMBER 7—13, 1858. 
1- 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.andS. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
after Sun 
Day of 
Year. 
7 
Tu 
Anthropofidium paniculatum. 
29.848—29.709 
75—51 
S.W. 
.05 
23 af 5 
33 af 6 
sets 
€> 
1 
2 3 
250 
8 
W 
Balsams. 
29.561—29.474 
69—49 
s.w. 
.60 
25 5 
30 6 
36 af 6 
2 23 
251 
9 
Th 
Bceckia virgata. 
29.589—29.533 
73—54 
S.W. 
.29 
27 5 
28 6 
47 6 
2 
2 44 
252 
10 
F 
Banksia verticillata. 
29.692—29.658 
74—55 
s.w. 
.24 
28 5 
26 6 
0 7 
3 
3 4 
253 
11 
S 
Banera humilis. 
29.583—29.545 
60—43 
s.w. 
.68 
30 5 
24 6 
16 7 
4 
3 25 
254 
12 
Sun 
15 Sunday after Trinity. 
29.735—29.627 
72—46 
s.w. 
.08 
31 5 
21 6 
36 7 
5 
3 46 
255 
13 
M 
Banera rubiafolia. 
29.963—29.842 
73—46 
w. 
.05 
33 5 
19 6 
2 8 
6 
4 7 
256 
Meteorology op the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-one years 
, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 08.4° and 46.9°, respectively. The greatest heat, 84°, 
28°, on the 7th, in 1855. During the period 126 days were fine, and on 91 rain fell. 
occurred on the 12th, in 1846“; and the lowest cold, 
GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
The weather, that is now so favourable for the growth 
of autumn crops, is also productive of a rapid increase 
of weeds, where their seeds have been allowed to 
ripen and fall during the summer. The Dutch hoe is 
recommended to be scuffled through them on a bright 
sunshiny day, when they may be either raked up in 
a cleanly manner or be left to wither on the ground. 
Cabbage. —Plant out the principal spring crop on 
ground well manured. 
Cauliflowers. —Prick out the young plants as soon 
as they are fit to handle,—some at the foot of a wall 
or on a sheltered border, and some into frames. 
Endive. —Prick out, from the July sowing, on a 
warm border. Tie up, for blanching, the plants of the 
early plantation, when they have attained a good size. 
Lettuce. —Make the last sowing for the season of 
Brown Cos and Hardy Green, on raised beds of light 
soil, where they may remain till spring. Prick out 
some of the Cabbage variety into a frame for winter 
use, and some strong plants of the Broivn Cos, on a 
warm border, for autumn use. 
Peas andBEANS.—Exhausted crops should be cleared 
away as soon as they have done bearing ; the ground 
to be manured, trenched, and planted with other crops. 
Spinach. —Thin the plants to six inches apart; fill 
up vacancies by transplanting; and if the ground is 
heavy and poached by footmarks during the operation, 
it should be carefully stirred or loosened up afresh. 
Turnips. —Thin and protect from slugs, by frequent 
sprinkles of soot or lime in the morning. 
FRUIT GARDEN. 
Apples and Pears. —Gather and store on dry days 
as they ripen ; to be handled tenderly, to prevent 
bruises. 
Peaches and Nectarines. —As soon as the last 
fruit is gathered, every tree infested with red spider 
should be liberally dusted with sulphur when the dew 
is on the leaves, or syringed previously to the applica¬ 
tion, that it may adhere. 
Vines. —Go over them again, pinch off the laterals, 
and remove all useless growth. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
The beds of flowering plants will require frequent 
attention, to keep the tall or straggling ones within 
proper limits, by pinching back or pegging down, and 
to remove dead flowers and seed-pods, that their 
blooming may be prolonged until they are destroyed 
by frost. 
Auriculas. — Protect from bright sunshine and 
heavy rains. Stir the surface of the soil, and keep 
them clear of dead leaves and weeds. Search for 
caterpillars. If greenfly is visible in the hearts of the 
plants, shake a little dry sand amongst them, and 
blow it out with some force, when they will be driven 
out with the sand. 
Bedding-out Stock. — Continue to propagate as 
fast as possible. Cuttings to be potted off as soon as 
they are rooted, and kept close in a cold frame for a 
week or ten days, when they should be fully exposed 
to the sun and night dews, to harden them oft* for three 
weeks or a month before they are housed for the 
winter. 
Carnations. —Pot or transplant the layers as soon 
as they are rooted. Place the potted plants in a close 
frame for a few days, until they make fresh roots. Use 
soil of a sandy nature, without much stimulating 
manure, which is apt to produce a gross habit, that is 
detrimental to them during winter. 
Pinks.— The beds to be kept free from weeds. The 
old stock plants, that have been grown in pots, to be 
planted out into borders. 
Polyanthuses.— Plant out seedlings without delay, 
that they may get well established before winter. 
Tulips. —The offsets of choice sorts to be planted 
on a fine dry day. 
Tritoma ( Kniphofia ) uvaria is a hardy herbaceous 
plant from South Africa, to which we would direct par¬ 
ticular attention, being easily cultivated and increased. 
There are several large plants of it at present in full 
flower at Kew Gardens, with from forty to fifty spikes 
of bloom on each. A more brilliant flower is seldom 
seen : the upper blossoms on each spike are the colour 
of sealing-wax highly varnished ; the lower, yellow 
and orange; and its brilliancy is dazzling when the 
sun shines upon it. The spike is roundish-ovate, the 
flowers sub-sessile and pendulous, very densely ar¬ 
ranged in spiral series. There is also a fine specimen 
of it, with twenty-five large spikes, in full bloom, at 
Mr. Marsham’s nursery, Earles’ Court, near Kensing¬ 
ton. William Keane. 
KEW GARDENS.— August 30, 1858. 
How much more pleasant it is to write about the 
progress of improvement, and the steady reformation 
of character, than to be obliged to record, and to en¬ 
deavour to rectify, the defects and imperfections of a 
body of gardeners—say, like that of the Horticultural 
Society. When I first came to London, in 1829, the 
smell of Kew was strong enough to manure the land 
with, and the Horticultural Society was supposed to 
be in such good heart that their garden could produce 
everything without any manure at all. For the next 
ten or twelve years Kew went down, step by step, to 
the bottom of the social ladder, and the next lowest 
step was to offer it, like cast-off clothes, to the Horti¬ 
cultural Society, as the Whig Government of that day 
actually did. I was on the Council of the Society at 
the time, but I was not sworn to secrecy. My office 
was behind the scenes, and the best thing I ever did 
was instantly to let the cat out of the bag in that 
office. Three Governments went down on account of 
that “ indiscretion,”—the Governments at Kew, at 
No. 519. Vol. XX. 
