128 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ August, 
growers put a little],salt into tlie water before 
using it; after a good soaking of water is given, 
the plants should be earthed-up. The hoe is 
the most useful tool that can be employed in 
the garden during dry weather, as it keeps the 
surface of the soil loose, and the effects of the 
drought are not so much felt in consequence 
by advancing crops. 
Fruit Garden. —As soon as a good soaking 
of rain falls, new plantations of Straivberries 
should be made. Those layered in pots are to 
be preferred ; failing these, use the strongest 
and earliest runners. It is often advisable to 
change the soil and situation of Strawberry 
beds ; but as this cannot be done to any great 
extent in a small garden, the next best thing 
to do is to take away a portion of the old soil, 
and put in its place some strong fresh loam 
and rotten dung. In planting, take care to 
keep the crowns well above the surface, as 
upon this depends, to some extent, the pro¬ 
ductiveness of the plants. Insects are very 
troublesome to Fruit-trees, owing to the 
drought. The Plum-trees especially are much 
affected with a yellow blight, that is injurious 
to their well-being. Constant war must be 
waged by the gardener, and by the use of 
Gishurst compound and other insecticides, and 
the frequent use of the syringe, something 
may be done to keep the pests in check. Rasp¬ 
berry canes should be thinned out to ripen the 
wood, and the shoots of the autumn-bearing 
sorts be carefully tied up to stakes. Morello 
Cherries and late Gooseberries and Currants 
should be netted, to preserve the fruit for later 
use. 
Flower Garden. —The recent rains having 
given the plants a good start, care must be 
taken to keep them growing. A good top¬ 
dressing of cocoa-nut fibre will mitigate the 
effects of drying influences, and give the beds 
a tidy appearance. When bedding-plants are 
allowed to suffer from drought, the leaves 
speedily become discoloured, and the effect of 
the beds spoilt. A few yards of hose attached 
to a stand-pipe is of great service in a garden, 
and spares much manual labour. As the 
burning sun soon scorches the flowers, these 
should be picked off as often as convenient, 
and it is now a daily occupation. All trailing 
plants used in beds should be pegged into their 
places, so that the shoots may fill out the beds 
as speedily as possible. Clematises , Roses , and 
other Creepers against walls, trellises, &c., are 
liable to feel the drought very much, and need 
to be kept well watered, and the roots mulched 
with manure, &c. And as storms may per¬ 
chance follow the hot weather, such tall-grow¬ 
ing plants as Hollyhocks , Dahlias , Delphiniums, 
Phloxes , Lilies. &c., should be firmly secured to 
Btakes, so that they be saved from damages. 
There is still time to raise a stock of Hardy 
Perennials for next season, but the seed 
should be sown without delay. The most use¬ 
ful are Antirrhinum , Delphinium , Dianthus , 
Lupinus , Phlox , Potentilla , Polyanthus , Alpine 
Auricula , Sweet William , and Wallflower. 
In places where the grass-plat is suffering from 
drought, occasional waterings should be given. 
Greenhouse. —Here also the watering-pot 
must be in constant use. The house should 
now be at its gayest, but some forethought is 
required to bring on plants for succession. 
The Chrysanthemum will have to play an import¬ 
ant part by-and-by, and the plants that are 
being brought on in pots should have the best 
possible attention. Now is the time to have a 
few Hardy Evergreen Shrubs potted up for 
winter, so that an unheated greenhouse may 
not be without something cheerful at that 
season. Aucubas, Retinosporas , Veronicas , 
&c., are all very useful for this purpose. 
Pelargoniums that have been pruned back and 
rested should be repotted, as soon as they com¬ 
mence to break into growth. They should be 
put into the smallest pots into which their 
roots can be got, so as to allow of another shift 
or two before they are placed in their blooming 
pots. Some of the prettiest subjects for flower¬ 
ing in the greenhouse at this season of the 
year are Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums , both double 
and single. There is now a good variety of 
these, and it is not difficult to grow them. The 
syringe should be frequently employed, and 
shade given to the greenhouse by day. 
Cold Frames. —All pots of cuttings, and 
also pots and pans planted with seedlings from 
the seed-pans, should be carefully watered, and 
kept shaded from the sun. All newly-potted 
hardy plants will be benefited by gently 
sprinkling overhead, as they also keep the soil 
on which the pots are standing damp and cool. 
The plants should be looked over occasionally, 
so that in any cases where the soil has become 
sour through insufficient drainage, the same 
may be rectified.— Suburbanus. 
— $Jessrs. Cannell and Sons have 
bloomed and exhibited the new Double 
White Bouvardia, named Alfred Neuner. 
It is exceedingly pretty, and must become very 
popular. The habit of this plant is, like that of 
the other garden varieties, free and vigorous, with 
abundant flowers, and these are pure white, and 
neatly and fully doubled. It is so remarkably 
floriferous, that nearly every shoot bears a truss of 
bloom. It will be especially valuable for bouquet 
purposes, especially for button-hole bouquets. 
— JFlowers of a very good strain of 
Sweet Williams were sent us a short time 
since by Messrs. Daniel Bros., of Norwich, as 
a sample of the strain they are growing to produce 
this year’s crop of seed. 
