186 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ December, 
work cannot be proceeded with until early 
spring; and if a dry time sets in, aa sometimes 
happens, it is difficult to get the trees well 
established before the hot weather comes. 
Strawberry Plants potted up for forcing should 
be plunged in cocoa-nut fibre, and protected in 
bad weather; this is a better practice than 
the old-fashioned one of putting the pots on 
their sides in pyramids, and so keeping them 
through the winter. Pruning and Nailing 
should be proceeded with in favourable weather. 
Orchard trees should be gone over, and any 
branches that cross each other cut away. 
Flower Garden. —In this department of the 
garden, operations may be said to be in a state 
of suspense. All Flower-beds not required for 
spring flowers should be dug, and the soil laid 
up rough for the winter. While the weather 
is fine and open, the beds planted with bulbs 
should be gone over, and the surface-soil gently 
stirred. As soon as frosty weather sets in, a 
mulching of short dung and leaves will be 
found very beneficial. Preparations should be 
made for the protection of any tender plants 
against walls, &c., for soft and balmy as the 
weather is now, there is no knowing how soon 
ice and snow may be our visitants. All things 
needing pruning should have this operation 
performed. Any alteration required in the 
garden should be carried out at once; and the 
grass-plots and walks kept neatly swept and 
rolled. 
Cold Frames. —As the season advances to¬ 
wards mid-winter, the usefulness of the cold 
frame as a nursery for plants becomes more 
apparent. Some things are now coming on 
into flower, among them the Christmas Pose. 
We have now some fine plants, throwing up 
some 20 to 30 flower-stems each. The plants, 
when they have done flowering, are in early 
spring planted out in a bed of loam under a 
warm wall; here they make root freely, and 
grow into size. Early in October, the plants 
are lifted and potted, put into the cold frame, 
and at the end of November taken into the 
greenhouse. They are objects of great beauty 
at Christmas. Such useful things as Triteleia 
uniflora , Crocus speciosus, Polyanthuses , 
Primroses , &c., are now coming into flower, 
and as soon as they show signs of doing 
so, are placed in the greenhouse. By a 
judicious selection, it is comparatively easy 
to have a succession of useful hardy 
plants in bloom through a good portion of 
the winter. Plants going to rest, such as 
FnnJcias , and other herbaceous subjects, should 
be kept slightly moist only; any growing 
plants need to be kept watered more freely. 
Air and cleanliness are the two main points in 
successful culture at this season of the year, 
and so long as the weather keeps as mild as it 
is while we write, the lights can be removed 
altogether during the day. 
Greenhouse. —In houses where some hot- 
water apparatus is provided, there is no diffi¬ 
culty in keeping up an attractive display. In 
the absence of any plants requiring a good 
amount of heat, only a little fire at night is 
required ; but air should be given when it is 
applied. Epacris , Heaths , Camellias , Cinerarias , 
Primulas , Cyclamens , some of the new Salvias 
of recent introduction, winter-flowering Bego¬ 
nias , &c, will now be making the house gay 
and pleasant, and never is a little flower more 
valuable than at the dead season of the year. 
In the cold house, such things as the cold frame 
can supply will be found very useful; and there 
are some hardy-foliaged plants that are of great 
service during winter, for keeping an unheated 
house furnished, such as Aralia Sieboldii , now 
in full flower; Veronica Andersoni, and its 
variegated variety ; Agave americana , Indian 
Azaleas, Megaseas , Eupatorium riparium, 
Dwarf Scabious , and others too numerous to 
mention. It is surprising what can be done 
in the way of effectively furnishing a cold 
house, by any one who lays himself out for 
the purpose. Air should be given in mild 
weather, but the house kept close while it is 
dull, cold, and foggjL On a mild, sunny day, 
with drying winds, a gentle syringing overhead 
may be given with advantage, but early in the 
day. Nothing should be watered but such as 
absolutely requires it; and if it is necessary 
to do this in dull, cold, foggy weather, it is 
best to immerse the pot in a pail of water, and 
allow it to drain into the same, so that as little 
wet as possible may be left on the floor or 
shelves of the house. Chrysanthemums are 
still gay, and they require all the air that 
can be given them while the weather is fine.— 
SUBURBANUS. 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
N a little book entitled, Fruit Farming 
for Profit, Mr. G. Bunyard, of the Maid¬ 
stone Nurseries, discusses ' a most inter¬ 
esting subject, bearing on one of our most import¬ 
ant national industries. Fruit is food, and when 
properly used, is food of the most nutritious and 
wholesome character; and consequently as food-pro¬ 
duce, our fruit crops have no small influence on our 
national prosperity. True, w r e have of late years 
had successive adverse seasons, and the popular 
verdict has been inclining to the conclusion that 
fruit-culture is precarious at best, and often wholly 
UDremunerative; but the author of this treatise 
takes an opposite view, and argues that, under 
proper conditions of land-tenure, a good return may 
be expected. He says:—“If plums are planted, 
many tenants would reap a good profit, and recover 
their outlay in a 14 years’ lease ; and still greater, 
if raspberries, currants, and gooseberries areplanted; 
but in the case of apples, pears, and cherries, 
although the two former can now be had to produce 
fruit very soon, it becomes more of a landlords’ 
question, and probably some arrangement could be 
made for the landlord to do all the work, the tenant 
