January 12, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
311 
Seed Sow'ng. 
Cauliflower seed should now be sown in a gentle 
heat to produce plants, either for growing in frames 
or planting out at the beginning of April. First 
Crop or Early forcing is the best for this purpose. 
A pinch of Golden Queen Lettuce should also be 
sown now. This dwarf early variety is not so well- 
known as it deserves to be, it makes but few outside 
leaves, quite a ball in shape, and is of most delicate 
flavour. Radishes may also be sown on a slight hot 
bed, and these will be found very useful later on. 
Mint and Tarragon should be taken up and planted 
in pots to give a supply of green leaves, Chervil and 
Celery too are so often called for that these should 
by no means be forgotten. The former does not 
require a strong heat to cause the seed to germinate, 
while the latter will grow far more freely if a slight 
hot bed could be afforded it. Prepare Shallots 
for planting the first favourable opportunity, by 
removing the outside skins. Sow Mustard and 
Cress in pans or boxes to keep up a succession.— 
Kitchen Gardener. 
-- 
The present unmistakeable touch of Winter’s icy 
fingers will to a great extent impede work in this 
department, although it must by no means be sup¬ 
posed that there is nothing to do. The work will 
undoubtedly be of a different nature, as it is not 
possible to use the spade whilst the ground is hard 
as iron from the effects of frost, and pruning during 
severe weather will not be practicable either. The 
occasion may be improved, however, by the prosecu¬ 
tion of work of a heavy character, such as wheeling 
or carting of manure to the positions where it is 
intended to apply it as soon as digging becomes 
practicable. 
Gravel paths which are to receive a coating of 
fresh material often cause a considerable amount of 
labour, owing to the undesirability of allowing heavy 
carts to pass over the lawns and grass plots of the 
flower garden, the natural result being that wheel¬ 
barrows have to be used as a means of conveyance — 
a procedure that necessarily lengthens the operation 
considerably. Advantage may, therefore, be taken 
of the firmness of the ground to bring the material 
as close to the scene of proposed operations as 
possible. 
Care must be taken that all semi-hardy plants are 
afforded sufficient protection or the cold, nipping 
winds that have prevailed of late will cause consider¬ 
able damage. Cuttings of Violas that were put in 
during the autumn under the shelter of a south wall 
will also need protection. A few Spruce boughs or 
old mats thrown over them will be quite sufficient. 
After a thaw, the covering may be removed and the 
plants looked over, as at such times it often happens 
that they are lifted out of the ground entirely, a fact 
that will not conduce greatly to increase their 
chances of surviving the winter. Where this lifting 
up is observed, the young plants should be carefully 
yet firmly pushed down again, and the stems covered 
pretty deeply with soil. 
Storeroom. —A few days may be spent here with 
advantage in looking over and sorting bulbs that are 
to be planted as soon as the weather breaks, such as 
Anemones of sorts and Narcissi, which press of time 
has prevented from being put out earlier. Dahlias, 
too, should be looked over, as it will soon be time to 
commence the propagation of new or rare sorts. All 
rotten tubers should, therefore, be cut off to prevent 
their affecting the other healthy ones. 
Seed Lists. - At this season of the year most gar¬ 
deners are busily engaged in studying the catalogues of 
the various seedsmen with a view to the making up 
of their seed order for the ensuing year—the diffi¬ 
culty, in many cases, being in the calculation of how 
to get as good a show as possible for the money. Of 
late years, the cultivation of many showy flowered 
annuals has received a great deal of attention, and 
the catalogues of various firms exhibit a wealth of 
these sufficient to satisfy anyone who is able to deal 
in them to a fair extent. To the gardeners, both 
professional and amateur who have to study the 
£ s. d. of the matter, it is not advisable to go in for 
too many of the higher-priced novelties, but rather 
to be content with plants of an older standing, whose 
worth has been tested by several seasons of cultiva¬ 
tion. To restrict one's seed orderTn this way is often 
difficult of accomplishment, the temptation to go for 
the new things usually being exceedingly strong. 
Early Vinery. —Attention must be paid to the 
bringing down of the shoots into their required 
positicn the amount of pressure upon the strings 
being judiciously increased day by day until all are 
in their proper place. The damping of pipes or 
flues of walls and paths must be frequently per¬ 
formed as they soon dry up, a corresponding aridity 
being imparted to the atmosphere if due attention to 
this is not given, particularly when, as is often the 
case at this time of year, the fires have to be kept 
going pretty vigorously to maintain the requisite 
temperature. When the vines are in flower, how¬ 
ever, these dampiDgs must in a great measure cease, 
a dryer atmosphere than usual being necessary to 
assist the setting of the berries. 
Watering.— This is an operation to which too 
much importance can scarcely be attached, as on it 
hinges to a large extent success or failure in Grape 
growing. It is well-nigh impossible to state how 
often watering should be performed, so much de¬ 
pending upon the construction of the border, and 
the health and vigour of the vines themselves as 
well as in a less degree upon the variety cultivated. 
Practical acquaintance with each border is there¬ 
fore necessary, but on no consideration must the 
vines be stinted in the water supply or good-bye to 
all hopes of success. The water used should be 
carefully chilled by the addition of hot water until it 
bears a temperature of from 58° to 6o° Fahr. A 
sufficient quantity to thoroughly soak the border 
must be given each time, and on no account should 
the application of insufficient driblets be tolerated. 
Later Vineries.— No time should be lost in 
starting a succession house. The cleaning of the 
house and the pruning of the canes having been 
seen to, as advocated for the early house, it should 
be started with a minimum night temperature of 45 0 , 
rising to 60° in the day by the aid of sun heat. A 
similar course of treatment should be observed 
here as in the case of the early vines, the same 
regular syringing? and the usual gradually increasing 
temperature. 
Figs. —The house that was started at the end of 
December at a minimum night temperature of 50° 
Fahr. may have a substantial increase in this 
direction, a prevailing night temperature of not less 
than 58° being maintained, rising to 65° in the day. 
Peaches and Nectarines. —As soon as the 
flowers in the early houses begin to expand, a drier 
atmosphere must be kept up, and as soon as the 
anthers begin to shed their pollen the process of 
pollenization must be commenced. For this purpose 
some soft material must be used to convey the 
pollen grains to the stigmatic surface. A camel's 
hair brush is the best of all, although the careful 
use of a rabbit's tail or even an old silk hand¬ 
kerchief may be attended with exceedingly good 
results. In any case a light hand is necessary, 
undue roughness being very often the chief cause of 
failure in obtaining a good “ set." When the trees 
are in bloom the night temperature should range be¬ 
tween 50? and 55° Fahr., rising to 70° on sunny 
days. 
Strawberries.— Succession batches of these must 
be brought into heat at intervals, commencing to 
force with a minimum temperature of 45 0 Fahr.— 
A. S. G. 
The work of pruning and nailing that has been so 
vigorously conducted here of late, and which, if due 
advantage has been taken of the exceptionally mild 
and open weather we have been favoured with 
during the latter end of 1894, should be pretty well 
advanced, will, now that wider has at last conde¬ 
scended to make its appearance in earnest, no longer 
be practicable while the present inclement weather 
holds. 
Pruning, as has been noted in a previous issue, 
must not be carried on when the wood of the trees is 
frozen, and the question of personal convenience will 
be sufficient argument against all ideas of nailing. 
In orchards or fruit gardens that are open to the 
visitations of rabbits, care must be taken that the 
lower part of the stems of Apples, Pears, Plums, etc. 
are protected from their attacks, as not a little 
damage is done during hard weather by the gnawing 
of the bark by these mischievous little animals. To 
place round the stem ol the trees a cylinder of iron 
meshed wire, which should be considerably larger 
than the stem of the tree it encircles, is both a simple 
and inexpensive method of affording the necessary 
protection. 
(Meaning# fxmn fh^ 
Mexican Cloven. —A noteworthy feature of 
modern times is the growing importance of many 
members of the Leguminous or Pea family as 
fodder plants, particularly in dry countries or in 
chalky and other districts, where the soil is naturally 
very dry, especially in summer. In this respect 
Lathyrus sylvestris is the latest addition to British 
plants, and the Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa) is well 
known to agriculturists in chalky districts of the 
south of England. The Crimson Clover (Trifolium 
incarnatum) is even more commonly cultivated than 
the last-named in southern counties ; nor must the 
cultivated Clovers generally be overlooked. The 
species of Melilot (Melilotus officinalis and M. 
albus) ought to receive more attention than they do. 
The Lucerne (Medicago sativa) is a native of Europe 
and the East, and was introduced by the Romans to 
this country as fodder for their horses, but has be¬ 
come naturalised in chalky soils and upon many a 
railway embankment in the south of England. It 
has received various names in its ov/n and also other 
countries to which it has been carried. The Spanish 
call it Alfalfa, and in America it is known by the 
latter name as well as Mexican Clover. From Texas 
to California it is extensively cultivated as a forage 
plant, and is both nutritious, fattening, and palatable 
to horses, cows, sheep, and pigs. Its growth is so 
rapid that several crops of it can be cut in a season. 
Cultivation and Uses of the same —From 
Texas to California large and thrifty fields of 
Mexican Clover or Alfalfa may be noted. The land 
and live stock investment companies of New Mexico 
and Arizona make a point of utilising the desert 
wastes of those regions for the growing of this 
leguminous subject to fatten cattle. On one range or 
ranch in Moro County as many as i,coo head of 
Cattle are being fed for market upon it. Irrigation is 
occasionally employed to stimulate its growth, but a 
most important feature in connection with it is that 
land producing it tends to get more fertile than poorer. 
Like other members of this extensive family, it 
shows its adaptability for dry soils, by the great 
depth to which its roots penetrate in search of 
moisture. The roots are also furnished with small 
tubercles containing bacteria, by means of which 
they can collect and utilise a larger quantity of 
nitrogen than other plants, thereby rendering the sur¬ 
face soil more fertile than it was previously. North 
of Denver in Colorado, along the lower ranges of 
hills, Alfalfa or Lucerne constitutes one of the stap'e 
crops, especially in purely agricultural districts at 
some distance from large towns. The product is so 
great, and the large quantities of hay made from it, 
have constituted this country a winter feeding 
grehad for cattle from the south, and which are taken 
eastwards in spring. Last winter nearly 50,000 
sheep were fattened on Alfalfa in the neighbourhood 
of Fort Collins. This crop is also proving impor¬ 
tant to some of the settlements in Arapahoe County. 
Growth of Plants by Night.—Our contem¬ 
porary, The Landscape Architect {American), states it 
as a curious fact that Nature utilises the night-time 
for the most rapid growth. This is certainly the 
case if by growth mere extension is meant. But we 
do not quite agree with the purport of the statement 
that “ during the day the plant is very busy gathering 
nourishment from various sources, and during the 
night this raw material is assimilated into the plant." 
The raw materials are not only collected during the 
day but manufactured into solid plant food in the 
chlorophyll granules under the influence of sunlight. 
This solid material adds to the weight of the plant as 
fast as it is manufactured, and is stored somewhere 
or other in the plant merely as a temporary reserve, 
Then during the night this is again converted into 
soluble material and conveyed to those parts of the 
plant where growth is going on ; but in this it adds 
no new matter to the plant which it did not possess 
during the day. The night growth is mere extension 
of the tissues with the material manufacture by day 
merely transferred to other places. Plants cannot 
extend or lengthen their leaves and shoots to any 
extent during the day because their tissues are soft 
and relatively flabby : the cells are limp through the 
loss of moisture caused by transpiration, and leaves 
and shoots can only increase in length when the 
tissues, or rather the individual cells, are in a state 
of tension or turgidity, owing to the pressure of 
protoplasm and cell sap which they contain. 
