172 
THE FLOKIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
I November 
u f 
Planting. —As planting is generally done in 
the autumn, it may be remarked that it is work 
that can be performed at any time from 
October to April, regulated, of course, accord¬ 
ing to the nature of the season. It is difficult 
to give any general rule, but, as a good authority 
remarks, “ it may be laid down that autumn 
is the best time for Conifers and Evergreens , 
and spring for such Deciduous Plants as do 
not expand their leaves too early. But the 
universal canon to be observed is to plant as 
much as possible during wet or cloudy weather, 
and to refrain in sunshine, drought, or frosts. 
Such intervals of forced inaction may be 
profitably employed in settling the spot where 
each tree is to be placed, in digging the holes, 
and in providing the compost to be put round 
the roots when the planting is performed.” This 
is good advice, and we may venture to supple¬ 
ment it by remarking that the villa-gardener 
in obtaining trees from a nursery should 
require that they have an abundance of fibres, 
and not merely a tap-root or two. Especially 
is this hint necessary in the case of Fruit Trees. 
Kitchen Garden. —Now is the time to lift 
such roots as Carrots , Parsnips , and Beet , suf¬ 
fering them to dry a little, and then packing 
them away in a cool, dry place, in sand or 
cocoa-fibre, but on no account allowing moist¬ 
ure to fall on them. Some gardeners make a 
practice of bending the outside leaves of Cauli¬ 
flower and Broccoli over the heads, to keep them 
unharmed during frost. Some Endive should 
be tied up occasionally to blanch, and keep up 
a succession. Continue to earth up Celery as 
required, but be careful not to allow the earth 
to penetrate to the hearts of the plants. In 
dry weather, a little soil should be drawn up to 
the rows of Cabbages with the hoe, and young 
autumn-sown cabbage-plants should be planted 
out for a spring crop. All vacant ground should 
be manured, and dug or trenched as required. 
Some Sea-kale should now be covered with pots 
or leaves and litter, a foot or so in thickness, 
and Rhubarb also ; a few roots of the latter can 
be put in a shed or cellar to blanch, and afford 
an early crop. 
Fruit Garden. —As soon as the leaves of 
such Wall fruits as Peaches, Nectarines, and 
Apricots have fallen, pruning may be com¬ 
menced, it being generally conceded that early 
winter is the best time. The late sorts of 
Apples and Pears should be gathered without 
delay, and any fruit stored away should be 
looked over, and such as show signs of decay- 
picked out. Espalier trees can be pruned, and also 
standards and dwarfs in the orchard, as favour¬ 
able opportunities offer. Pruning is a matter 
depending in a great measure on the state of 
the weather. Market gardeners generally 
prune early, in order to get the ground between 
their fruit-trees dug and cleaned. 
Flower Garden. —By this time a general 
clearance should be made of the flower-beds, 
and they should be replanted with any useful 
spring-flowering subjects. If not planted in 
this way, the best thing to do is to throw the 
beds up roughly for the winter. The smaller 
the garden, the less difficulty is there in fill¬ 
ing up vacant beds or borders with spring- 
flowering plants, and in the absence of suitable 
plants, it does not cost much to get in a supply 
of Wallflowers , Pansies , Daisies, <fcc. All de¬ 
caying stalks of herbaceous plants should be 
cut away, the border cleared of weeds, and 
slightly forked over on the surface, and a dress¬ 
ing of dung, old potting-soil, or decayed leaves, 
given. All leaves should be gathered up, and 
stored away for potting-soil; it is a most difficult 
thing to procure at times. Garden walks should 
be weeded, and kept well rolled ; and the grass- 
plot kept swept, and well rolled also. 
Cold Frames. —The difficulty many find 
with cold frames is to keep the worms from 
working up into the pots. They will find their 
way through rubbish, cinder-ashes, &c. The 
best thing to be done is to look over the pots 
occasionally, and in all cases where there is 
evidence of the presence of worms, to turn the 
plants out of the pots and capture them. 
Slugs, too, are very destructive just now, by 
eating away the hearts of some things, as well as 
devouring the leaves of others. Air is of some 
importance while the weather is damp, and 
while the weather is mild the lights should 
be tilted up, so as to allow of a free current of 
air passing over and above the plants. Decay¬ 
ing leaves and anything likely to bring damp 
should be picked off, and the surface-soil 
stirred. Green-fly can be kept under only by 
means of fumigation, and two efforts, at inter¬ 
vals of five or six days, will soon rid the plants 
of this pest. Any repotting necessary should 
be done without delay; the later it is deferred, 
the less likely are the plants to commence 
making roots before spring. Some more Bulbs 
can be potted for succession ; and as soon as 
possible, clumps of Lily of the Valley , Spirea 
japonica , and Dielytra should be potted up for 
forcing in spring. 
Greenhouse. —In the cold greenhouse the 
signs of the approach of winter multiply daily. 
A collection of Coleus in pots, that have been 
very pretty and bright all the winter, were the 
first to give evidence of its on-coming, by shed¬ 
ding their leaves, and the tuberous-rooted 
Begonias are following suit. After the exper¬ 
ience of last winter, it is disheartening work 
to attempt to keep out the frost by means of 
homely appliances for heating, as they localise 
rather than distribute the heat, and the frost 
destroys when the heat does not reach. There 
is nothing like a supply of hardy plants to fall 
back upon, as they furnish the house, and give 
early bloom, if some early spring-flowering 
things are included. Pelargoniums , Fuchsias , 
