361 
THE COTTAGE GABDENEE AND COUNTEY GENTLEMAN, September 7, 1858. 
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thickness of six inches of straw, or drawn, dry litter, 
fastened securely against the wood by rods and string; 
and so inclined as to throw the rains to a distance from 
the frames. The next best would be surrounding the 
frames with a mound of dry earth, or ashes, and 
thatching them with straw, or litter, to keep them dry. 
The plants will thus be secure from all injury, except 
from frost through the glass. It is usual to provide 
against this by throwing mats and litter over them. 
AYJiere much is done in this way, wooden shutters 
make by far the best protection for the glass ; and 
the litter thfown o\er them in very severe weather 
has no chance to break the glass when put on or re¬ 
moved. The wooden covers would also be useful for 
many other purposes, when not needed for such pits 
and frames. 
In cold weather, when it is necessary to have the 
sashes shut up, the plants will be safest night and day 
when just two or three degrees above freezing point. 
In such circumstances we have seen them covered up 
for a month without any injury. The long night 
made little more impression on them than a usual 
night in winter. When shut up at about 40° in cold, 
frosty weather, the plants will elongate, and damp 
will be collected. Even if the covering should not be 
removed, it will be prudent to tilt the back of the 
sashes a few hours during the middle of the day, to 
allow all vapour within to escape. If after such dull 
weather, or if after being long shut up, the suu should 
suddenly shine out very bright, it is advisable to shade 
a little, until the plants get used to it. If a degree of 
frost should get inside your frame, notwithstanding all 
your care, keep the covering on for several days after 
the thaw, that the plants may have every chance of 
recovering themselves, which they would have little 
chance to do if suddenly exposed to sun and air. 
With care, Mignonette may thus be kept in fine 
order over the winter, and the less frost there is the 
less trouble and forethought will be involved. But, in 
the hands of a practical gardener, such pits, or frames, 
or low houses, if heated by a small hot-water pipe, 
would be a great security against sudden frosts and 
fungus damps, arising from a stagnant atmosphere. 
But here again care must be taken that the heat is so 
moderate as not to unduly heat the pots next to them, 
or these again will require more care in watering, so 
as to keep them in an equable state as respects 
moisture. 
Secondly. In relation to “ Juno’s ” inquiry, as to 
having fresh, sweet-smelling Mignonette in March, I 
would advise sowing with equal care in the middle of 
July, placing the plants in pits or frames by October, 
and placing them in the greenhouse by the middle or 
beginning of November, duly attending with watering, 
and nipping off every appearance of flower-bud until 
the middle of January. Four or five plants would be 
enough in a pot, and, as soon as the flower-buds ap¬ 
peared, weak manure waterings would be an ad¬ 
vantage. The Mignonette will not bloom freely, nor 
throw off its fine perfume, if below from 45° to 50°, 
and this temperature must be kept in view by those 
who wish for strong and sweet-scented Mignonette in 
the early months. 
Thirdly. To have Mignonette to bloom all the 
winter, the seed should be sown in rather larger pots, 
in the beginning of July or the end of June, and 
should be thinned out still more freely. More manure 
may be placed safely in the lower soil of the pot, and 
by November a little surface-soil should be removed, 
and a fresh and rich surfacing added. Before the 
middle of October, all appearance of flower-buds 
should be nipped away, so as to make the plants 
stubby and fertile in flowers. The plants should be 
placed in an airy part of a warmish conservatory by 
the middle of October, and watered carefully,—above 
all guarding against the common error of making a 
plant at such a time stand in a morass, by watering, 
when it does not require anything of the kind. The 
more sun the plants have, other things being equal, 
the better they will thrive. The water used for such 
plants, in a flowering state, should always be warmer 
than the air of the house. For instance, supposing 
the temperature of such a house, when watered, ave¬ 
rages 50°, the water should average from 60° to 70°. 
Tree Mignonette .—There is a still more artistic 
mode of having Mignonette in bloom in winter and 
spring, and that from single plants. Thus, place 
several seeds in small 60-pots, in a mild hotbed in the 
beginning of April. Thin these to one as soon as you 
see which will be the best. Place a small twig beside 
it to sustain the main shoot. Tie that up the whole 
length, and make up your mind whether you are to 
have a standard, with a mop-like head and a clean 
stem, or a pyramidal bush, clothed from top to bottom 
with leaves and flowers. Shift into larger pots as tho 
state of the roots require it, and nip off all blooms 
until the end of autumn. These, favoured with a 
temperature of from 45° to 50° and onwards, will prove 
very agreeable objects in the winter time. 
Many, to escape the trouble and the annoyance of 
sowing in August, and protecting over the winter, so 
as to furnish balconies, &c., early in May, sow in the 
same manner in March, and place the pots in a 
briskish hotbed, formed of dung and leaves, good 
leaves alone, well worked tan, refuse from the flax 
mill, or discarded hops from a brewery. Such plants 
are thinned, exposed by degrees, get more and more 
air, but are seldom fully exposed until the plants are 
getting into a free blooming state, which they do little, 
if anything, behind those sown in August. It is right 
to add, that the hotbed is not made and attended to 
without trouble, and, even when that trouble is given, 
sometimes extra heat and unwholesome steam will 
destroy a fine batch of plants in a few hours. All is 
not clear gain then, though time be gained ; but where 
the means exist, and are^ properly managed, this mode 
involves least trouble. 
Healthy Mignonette in the open air is obtained 
from sowings in May, June, and the first days of July. 
E. Fish. 
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FLOWEE-GAEHENING AT PUTTEEIDGE 
BUEY. 
Happening lately to be on a visit to a friend in ; 
Hertfordshire, I availed myself of the opportunity of 
calling at Putteridge Bury, the country seat of Colonel 
Sowerby, and from where Mr. Fish writes those ad¬ 
mirable treatises on plant growing and flower-garden¬ 
ing, which form so prominent a feature in The Cottage 
Gardener. The situation of the mansion and grounds 
is on one of those elevated ridges which give that un¬ 
dulating character to the western edge of Herts, and 
the adjoining county of Beds. The neighbouring 
district is purely agricultural, excepting that the plait¬ 
ing of straw and its manufacture into ladies bonnets 
affords much employment to the female members of 
the rural population, as well as to the rising town of ! 
Luton, which is but a short distance off. 
And, if it be mentioned that the surrounding dis¬ 
trict is remarkable for the production of good Barley, 
and tolerably good Wheat, some sort of knowledge may¬ 
be formed of the soil Mr. Fish has to deal with,—chalk 
being predominant in all directions around, and its 
concomitant evil, an absence of water to a great 
extent. # # \ 
On entering the kitchen garden (which is usually 
the first object a gardener visits), the impression left | 
