Instructions in gardening for ladies

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I Ho.

GARDENING

FOR

LADIES.

LONDON :

JOHM MUKRAT. ALBEKARI-E STREET.

INSTRUCTIONS

GAEDENINCt

LADIES.

ME8. LOUDON,

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

1840.

lokdok:

frivtbd bt stewart ahd murrat,

old bailet.

TO

J. C. LOUDON, Esq.

rmlJtBm HaB* Z*8<a ETCa ETC*

TO WHOM THE AUTHOR OF THE FOLLOWING

PAGES OWES ALL THE KNOWLEDGE OF

THE SUBJECT 8HB POSSESSES,

THIS WORK

18 DEDICATED
BY HIS AFFECTIONATE WIFE,

J. W. L.

INTRODUCTION.

When I married Mr. Loudon, it is scarcely
possible to imagine any person more com-
pletely ignorant than I was, of every thing
relating to plants and gardening ; and, as may
be easily imagined, I fomid every one about
me so well acquidnted with the subject,
that I was soon heartily ashamed of my ig-
norance. My husband, of course, was quite
as anxious to teach me as I was to learn, and
it is the result of his instructions, that I now
(after ten years experience of their efficacy)
wish to make public for the benefit of
others.

I do this, because I thin]c books intended

VI INTRODUCTION.

for professional gardeners^ are seldom suitable
to the wants of amateurs. It is so very
difficult for a person who has been ac-
quainted with a subject all his life, to
imagine the state of ignorance in which a
person is who knows nothing of it, that
adepts ojften find it hnpossible to com-
municate the knowledge they possess.
Thus, though it may at first sight appear
presumptuous in me to attempt to teach
an art of which for three fourths of my
life I was perfectly ignorant, it is in fact
that very circumstance which is one of my
chief qualifications for the task. Having
been a full-grown pupil myself, I know
the wants of others in a similar situation;
and having never been satisfied without
knowing the reason for every thing I was
told to do, I am able to impart these reasons
to others. Thus my readers will be able to
judge for themselves, and to adapt their

INTBODUCTION. VU

practice to the circumstances in which they
may be placed.

Such is the nature and purport of the
present work, and I have only to add that
I have spared no pains to render it as
perfect as I could make it. The engravings
have been made here from drawings of
specimens previously prepared, and I can
therefore vouch for their accuracy.

J. W. L.

Baytwater, May 21, 1840.

CONTENTS.

Page

Introduction t

CHAPTER I.
Stirring the soil 1

CHAPTER II.

Manuring the soil, and making hotbeds 23

. CHAPTER III.
Sowing seeds — planting bulba and tubers— trans-
planting and watering 43

CHAPTER IV.
Modes of propagation by division ; viz. : taking off
suckers, making layers and cuttings, budding,
grafting, and inarching 70

CHAPTER V.
Pruning, training, protecting from frost, and destroy-
ing insects 110

Xii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

Page

The Idtchen-garden — the management of culinary
vegetables 134

CHAPTER VII.
The kitchen-garden continued — the management of
fruit trees 195

CHAPTER VIII.
The flower-garden, and the culture of flowers 244

CHAPTER IX.

«

Management of the lawn, pleasure-groundsi and
shrubbery, of a small villa 301

CHAPTER X.
Rock- work, moss-houses, rustic baskets, and foun-
tains 329

CHAPTER XI.
Window gardening, and the management of plants in
pots in small green-houses 347

CHAPTER XII.
Calendar of operations • . • . • i 374

GARDENING FOR LADIES.

i^^>^^^i^^^^^^

CHAPTER L

STIBBIWG THE 80|L.

Digging* — Every one knows that the first
operation of the gardener^ whether a new
garden is to be made, or merely an old one
re-planted, is to dig the ground; though but
comparatively few persons are aware why this
is so essentially necessary to be done. When
a piece of rough ground is to be taken into
cultivation, and a garden made where there
was none before, the use of di^^ing is obvious
enough; as the ground requires to be le-
velled, and divided by walks, and thrown up
into beds, to give it the shape and appear^
ance of a garden, which could not be done

B

2 STIRRING THE SOIL. [chap. i.

without stirring the soil : but why the beds
in an old garden should be always dug or
forked over, before they are re-planted, is
quite imother question, and one that it re-
quires some consideration to answer.

When any soil, except sand or loose gra-
vel, remains unstirred for any length of time,
it becomes hard, and its particles adhere so
firmly together as not to be separated with-
out manual force. It is quite clear that when
soil is in this state, it is unfit for the recep-
tion of seeds ; as the tender roots of the
young plants will not be able to penetrate it
through without great difficulty, and neither
air nor water can reach them in sufficient
quantities to make them thrive. When a
seed is put into the ground, it is the warmth
and moisture by which it is surrounded that
xrxske it vegetate. It first swells, and the
skin with which it is covered cracks and peels
off; then two shoots issue from the vital
knot, (a point easily discoverable in large
seeds,) one of which descends and is called
the root, while the other ascends to form
the leaves, stem, flowers, and fruit

This is what is meant by the germination

CHAP, i.j BTIRBmO THE BOIL. 3

of the seedy and this may be effected by the
aid of heat and moistare alone^ as is done
with mustard and cress, when raised on wet
flannel in a saucer. But plants raised in this
manner cannot be of long duration; as,
though they will live for a short time on the
albumen contained in the seed, on which
they feed, as the chicken does on the nou-
rishment contained in the egg, this is soon
exhausted, and the plant will die if not sup*
plied with firesh food, which it can only ob-
tain by means of the root* Thus, the root
is necessary, not only to form a base to sup-
port the plant and to keep it upright, but to
supply it with food ; and nature has given it a
tendency to bury itself in the ground, not
only to enable the plant to take a firm hold
of the soil, but to preserve the root in a fit-;
ting state for absorbing food, which it can
only do when it is kept warm, moist, and se-
cluded firom the light

The manner in which the root is fitted
for the purposes for which it was designed^
affords an admirable illustration of the care
and wisdom displayed by the Great Creator
in all his works. In nature nothing is super-

b2

4 STIKRINO THir SOUi. [chap. I.

fluous, and yet everything has been provided
for. It has been ahready observed, that the
two principal uses of the root are to give the
plant a firm hold of the ground, and to supply
it with food. For the first purpose the root
either spreads so widely through the surface
soil as to form a sufficient base for the height
of the plant, or it descends a sufficient depth
into the earth to steady the part above
ground; and in either case the growth of
the plant is wisely and wonderfiiUy pn^r-
tioned to the strength of the support which
the root affords it For the second pur-
pose, that of supplying the plant with nou->
rishment, the root divides at the extremity
of each shoot into numerous fibres or fibrils,
each furnished at its extremity with a spon«-
giole or spongy substance, which affords the
only means the plant possesses of absorbing
the moisture necessary for its support. It is
thus quite clear, that every thing that tends
to nourish and increase the growth of the
root, must contribute to the healdi and vigour
of the rest of the plant ; and that no pbnt
can thrive, the root of which is cramped in
its growth, or weakened for want of nourish-

CHAP. I.]] 8TIBKING THE BOIL. 5

iiient« This being allowed, it is evident that
the first step towards promoting the growth
of any plant is to provide a fitting recept-
acle for the root; and this is done by pulve-
rixing the ground in which the seed is to
be sown so as to render it in a fit state for
the roots to' penetrate it easily. Thus they
will neither be checked in their growth for
want of room, nor be obliged to waste their
strength in overcoming unnecessary obst-
acles ; such as twining themselves round a
stone, or trying to force their way through
a hard clod of earth. The second point of
affording the root abundance of nourish-
ment may also be obtained by pulverizing
the ground ; as pulverization, by admitting
the rain to percolate slowly through the soil,
enables it to absorb and retain sufficient
moisture to aSoid a proper and equable sup-
ply of food to the spongioles, without suffer-
ing the surplus water to remain so as to be
in danger of rotting the main roots.

These then are the reasons why it may
be laid down as a general rule, that all
ground should be ^rred before seeds are
sown in it; but there are other reasons which

6 STIRRING THE SOIL. [chap. I*

operate only partially^ and are yet almost as
necessary to be attended to. When manure
is applied^ the ground is generally well dug^
in order to mix the manure intimately with
the soil; and when the soil appears worn
out, or poisoned with excrementitious matter,
from the same kind of plants bdng too long
grown in it^ it is trenched; that is^ the upper
or surface soil is taken off by spadefuls and
laid on one side^ and the bottom or sub*soil
is taken out to a certain depth previously
ngreed on^ and laid in another heap. The
surface soil is then thrown into the bottom
of the trench, and the sub-soil laid on the
surface, and thus a completely new and fi^sh
soil is offered to the plants. These partial
uses of digging should, however, always be
applied with great caution, as in some cases
manure does better laid on the surface, so
that its juices only may drain into the
ground, than when it is intimately mixed
with the soil ; and there are cases when, from
the sub-soil being of an inferior quality,
trenching must be manifestly injurious. Rea*
son and experience are, in these cases, as
in most others, the best guides.

CHAP. I.] 8TIBBING THE SOIL. 7

The uses of digging having been thus
explained, it is now necessary to say some-
thing of its practice, and particularly of its
applicability to ladies. It must be confessed
that digging appears, at first sight, a very
laborious employment, and one peculiarly
unfitted to small and delicately formed hands
and feet; but, by a little attention to the
principles of mechanics and the laws of mo-
tion, the labour may be much simplified and
rendered comparatively easy. The opera*
tion of digging, as performed by a gardener,
consists in thrusting the iron part of the
spade, which acts as a wedge, perpendicu-
larly into the ground by the application of
the foot, and then using the long handle as a
lever, to raise up the loosened earth and turn
it over. The quantity of earth thus raised
is called a spitfid, and the gardener, when
he has turned it, chops it to break the
clods, with the sharp edge of his spade, and
levels it with the back. During the whole
operation^ the gardener holds the cross part
of the handle of the spade in his right-hand,
while he grasps the smooth round lower part
of the handle in his left, to assist him in raising

8 SUBBING THE SOIL. [ghap. I.

the earth tod turning it, sliding his left hand
backwards and forwards aUmg the handle^ as
he may find it necessary.

This is the commDn mode of diggings and
it certainly appears to require considerable
strength in the foot to force the spade into
the ground^ — ^in the artns to raise it when
loaded with the earth that is to be turned
over^ — and in the hands to grasp the handle.
But it must be remembered that all opera^
tions that are efiected rapidly by the exertion
of great power, may be effected slowly by
the exertion of very little power, if that com-^
paratively feeble power be applied for a much
greater length of time. For example, if a
line be drawn by a child in the earth with
a light cane, and the cane be drawn five or
six times successively along the same line,
it will be found that a fiirrow has been made
in the soil with scarcely any exertion by the
child, that the strongest man could not
make by a single effort with all his forcew
In the same way a lady, with a small light
spade may, by taking time^ succeed in doing
all the digging that can be required in a
small garden, the soil of which^ if it has been

CHAP. I.] STIBRIK6 THE SOIL. 9

long in cultivation, can nerer be veiy hard
or difficult to penetrate, and she wiU not only
have the satisfaction of seeing the garden
created, as it were, by the labour of her own
hands, but she will find her health and
spirits wonderfiilly improved by the exercise,
and by the reviving smell of the fresh
earth.

The first point to be attended to, in order
to render the operation of digging less la^
borious, is to provide a suitable spade ; that
is, one which shall be as light as is con-
sistent with strength, and which will pene-
trate the ground with the least possible trou-
ble. For this purpose, the blade of what is
called a lady's spade is made of not more
than half the usual breadth, say not wider
than five inches or six inches, and of smooth
polished iron, and it is surmounted, at the
part where it joins the handle, by a piece of
iron rather broader than itself, which is
called the tread, to serve as a rest for the
foot of the operator while digging. The
handle is about the usual length, but quite
smooth and sufficiently slender for a lady's
hand to grasp it, and it is made of willow.

10 STIRRING THE BOIL. [oBAP. i.

a close, smootli, and elastic wood, which is
tough and tolerably strong, though much
lighter than ash, the wood generally used £)r
the handles to gardeners' spades. The lady
should also be provided with d<^,* the soles
of which are not jointed, to put over her

* Ferhapa the moit useful covering for tlie feet is a kind
of clog nnd gaiter combined ; which ma; be mide of lome
■oft elBEtic leather, and rendered perfecU; wsterproof, b]>
the new preparation which is now employed instead ol
caoutchouc, and is preferable to that gum, oi it does not
impede penpiration.

A Lid's OtvurLar.

CHAP.

\ z.] 8TIBBINO THB SOIL. 1 1

shoes, or if she should dislike these and pre-
fer strong shoes, she should be provided with
what gardeners call a tramp, that is, a small
plate of iron to go under the sole of the shoe,
and which is fastened round the foot with
a leathern strap and buckle. She should
also have a pair of stiff thick leathern gloves,
or gauntlets, to protect her hands, not only
from the handle of the spade, but from the
stones, weeds, &c., which she may turn over
with the earth, and which ought to be picked
out and thrown into a small, light wheel-
barrow, which may easily be moved from
place to place.

A wheel-barrow is a lever of the second
kind, in which the weight is carried between
the operator, who is the moving power, and
the frdcrum, which is represented by the
lower part of the wheeL If it be so con-
trived that the wheel may roll on a plank, or
on firm ground, a very slight power is suffi-
cient to move the load contained in the bar-
row; particularly if the handles be long,
curved, and thrown up as high as possible, in
order to let the weight rest principally upon
the wheel, without obliging the operator to

12 STIBBINO THB 0OIL. [cHAV. I.

bend forward. When, on the contrary, the
handles are short and straight, the weight
is thrown principally on the arms of the ope-
rator, and much more strength is required
to move the load, besides the inconvenience
of stooping.

All the necessaiy implements for digging
being provided, the next thing to be consi*
derod is the easiest manner of performing
the operation. The usual way is for the
gardener to thrust his spade perpendicularly
into the grou^nd, and then using the handle
as a lever, to draw it back so as to raise the
whole mass of earth in front of the spade at
once. This requires great strength ; but by
inserting the spade in a slanting direction,
and throwing the body slightly forward at
the same time, the mass of earth to be
raised will not only be much less, but the
body of the operator will be in a much more
convenient Ation for raising and turning
it; which may thus be done with perfect
ease.

The time for dicing should always be
chosen, if possible, when the ground is tole«
rably dry ; not only on account of the dan-

C0AJP. I.] STIBBINQ THB 0OIL. 13

g&s of taking cold by ftfanding on the damp
earth, but because the soilj ^hen damp, ad-
heres to the spade, and is much more diffi*
cult to work (as the gardeners call it,) than
when it is dry. The ground in fields, &c.
becomes yery hard in dry weather; but this
is never the case in a garden, the soil of
which is well pulverized by the c(mstant dig-
g^lg9 fbrkingy hoeing and raking it must
undergo, to keep the garden tolerably neat*
Every lady should be carefol, when she has
finished digging, to have her spade di{q;)ed
in water, and then wiped dry; after which
it should be hung up in some warm dry shed,
or harness room, to keep it firee fix>m rust ;
as nothing lessens the labour of digging more
than having a perfectly smooth and polished
spade. Should the earth adhere to the spade
while digging, dipping the blade in water
occasionally, will be found to fiu^ilitate the
operation.

. The purposes for which digging is appUed
in gardening are : simple digging for loosen-
ing the soil in order to prepare it for a crop;
pointing; burying manure; exposing the soil
to the action of the weather; trenching;

14 STIRRING THE SOIL, [cH.P. r.

ridging; forming pits for planting trees and
shrubs^ or for filling with choice soil for
sowing seeds; and taking up plants when
they are to be removed.

In simple digging, as weU as in most of
the other kinds, it is customary to divide the
bed to be dug, by a garden-line, into two
parts : a trench, or furrow as it is called, is
then opened across one of these divisions or
half of the bed, the earth out of which is
thrown up into a heap. The digging then
commences by turning over a breadth of soil
into the furrow thus made, and thus forming
a new furrow to be filled up by the soil turned
over from the breadth beyond it ; and this is
continued till the operator reaches the end
of the first division, where the furrow is to
be fiUed with the earth taken from the first
furrow of the second division; after which
the digging proceeds regularly as before, till
the operator reaches the last furrow, which is
fiUed with the ridge of earth thrown up when
the first furrow was made. As few ladies are
strong enough to throw the earth fix)m the
heap where it was laid from the first furrow
to fill the last, the best way is to put it into

CHAP. I.J 8TIRRINO THS SOIL. 15

a small wheel-barrow, which may be wheeled
to the place required, and filled and emptied
as often as may be found convenient ; or the
ground may be divided into narrower strips.
It must also be observed, that as a spitfiil of
earth taken up obliquely will be seldom
foiuid enough to loosen the soil to a proper
depth, a second or even a third should be
taken from the same place before the operator
advances any further along the line. Or the
whole of each furrow may first be made shal*
low, and then deepened by successive dig-
gings before proceeding to the next furrow.

It is obvious that the great art in this kind
of diggii^ is to keep the furrows straight, and
not to take up more earth in one place than
in another, so that the surface of the ground,
when finished, may be perfectly even. To
keep the fiirrows straight, the first ought to
be worked out with the rod and line, and
every succeeding line should be fi^quently
and carefiilly examined. It is more difficult
to keep these lines straight than can be at
first sight imagined; and in proportion as the
fiirrow is allowed to become crooked it will
become narrower, and be in danger of being

16 8TIBBI1IO THS SOIL. [cHAP. I.

choked up ; or^ if kept as ^de as before, the
surface of the ground will be rendered un-
even, and the last furrow left without earth
enough to fill it up. In digging each furrow
also, care must be taken to cany it quite up
to the line of demarcation; as, otherwise,
what the gardeners call a baulk or piece of
firm land would be left there, and, of course,
the bed would neither look well, nor would
the object for which it was dug be fuUy at*
taioed. Great care must also be taken to
keep the sur&ce of the bed even, and this
it is extremely difficult for a novice to do. It
is, indeed, very provoking, after watching
the ease with which a gardener digs a bed,
and looking at the perfectly smooth and even
surface that he leaves, to find how very hard
it is to imitate him ; and yet it is essentially
necessary to be done, for if there are any
irregularities in the surfiice, the hollow places
will collect the moisture, and the plants in
them will grow vigorously, while those in the
raised places will be speedily dried by the
sun and wind, «nd ^U U poor «»d
withered. Practice is certainly required to
render dicing easy, but, as the principal

CHAP. I.J STIRRIKO THE SOIL. 17

points of keeping the furrows straight and
the sur&ce even^ depend on skill more than
strength, the art of digging well may be ac-
quired by any one who thinks it worth while
to take the trouble. Very little strength will,
indeed^ be necessarjr, if the rule of thrust-
ing in the spade obliquely, and aiding it
l^ the momentum of the body be always
attended to.

Pointinq. as it is called by CBardeners. is in

turning over the ground to the depth of two
or three inches. In spring, or in the begin-
ning of summer, when the sun has only
warmed the soil to the depth of a few inches^
and when the seeds to be sown (as of annual
flowers for example) are wanted to germinate
as quickly as possible, pointing is preferable
to digging; because the latter operation would
bury the warm soil, and bring that up to the
surface which is still as cold as in winter.
Pointing is also used in stirring the ground
among trees and other plants, in order that
the spade may not go so deeply into the
gpround as to injure their roots.

Burying manure.'^TheTe are two ways of

c

b^ijght to the sppt lujd thrown iuto,*. h^eftpj^^
is df^pcisitecl^ « 9mim:portxoa at a time^ .at t^i
bqft^m of each farrow as it is fprme^,- an4 ;
th/^ .eai^th ^o«i the next furroi^ jthr<>wn.^9¥^^^
it: In both cases^ the manure sboulc^^b^i
buided ai speedily as possible; as if.l9ft,]oi;^i
e^po^d la small quantities to the air h^ 1^^
dry ,i^eather, it loses a great part of its, nt^triir.
tious qualities by evaporation. • i iT

Digging for the purpose of exposiQg .ih^i
soil to the action of the weather^ treochiiii^^
and ridging on a large scale, are opeiatic^S:^
too laborious to be performed by any one
but ^a gardener's labourer. To be doae.weU»'i
the eai;tb in all these cases should be mixed^
in. ^cgia ^pitfiils at a time, and turned mfiTf:
without hre^ngy on whioh account th^y u^,
best performed in moist weather, whoniA^
earth is in an adhesive stale. £idging. on^^i *.

<rf'wliirel thcfre Are marijr ^^feds. ' ft fe per-'
fStdi^ By opening' k tretkih, wrd thtbwifag
rfjfy fli^ earth otit of it hi the fdtm of a ridge f
BfiA' &eti bp^nihg another trench^ ahd form-.'
i^'^iibther ridge in the same manner. The
whbfe garden is thus thrown into a series of
r^e^ antf trcfnches, which shonid be saffered
to^ remdtn all the winter, and be levelled in
8]^rh!igl ' It is 6bvious that this mode of ame^
Ik^titi^ t!ie ^bil can only be practised where
tfit gaitiferi is not likely to be visited during
-yfkklet; ^ it destroys all beauty, and has a
pectdi&riy desolate and forlorn appearance.
It is indeed a remedy only to be resorted
t§ Ih tetreme cases, but fortunately there are
v^y few flower gardens in which the soil*
L^te- so bad a state as to require it.

^ flier other kinds of digging, are to fbrm pits
fe^ receiving plants, or for filling with choice
8^/ and to remove plants. In the first case,
s^htHe of sufficient size to receive the pkht ia*
dtig, ^nd the earth thrown up beside it, to be
fi^'in round the roots of the plant ; and' hi '
tBel$^ooB(4 case, the common garden eartE

c2

80 87;?9M|i^.Tp;3,;|Sftq:o [cH^Ff.i.

}^ .t^QTTB ,ovLt, of ^ pit, a foot oi; eighteen
i^hos ,^^epi f^id about the 9ame in diameter,
smdjitf pl4ce,fiuj)5)tieciL by peat, or whatever
oiher kij^ of .^axth jnaj be xequired. In
semoviqg ^. young tree or shrub, the ground
h generally ^r^t dug ou,t <m one si(k, so as to
fiocnu: 9k bwlbII trench, and then the spade is
driven perpendicularly inta the groijmd, ber
Ian the depth to which the roots descend,
and the whole mass is raided like a apadfe
luJl of earth. Small plants are raised by the
spdde at once without making any trendii;
and laige trees require all the skill of a pro^
fessed gardener.

ForMng. — A broad-pronged garden fork
may be defined as an implement consisting
ol a number of small sharply pointed spades,
united by a shoulder or hiljt, to which is fixed
the handle ; and forking difiers firom digging
principally in its being used merely to stir
tk^ soi^ and not to turn it over. In shrub-
beries, and ooiong perennial herbaceous
|dants, which are not to be taken and re-
plaatecl, forking is very useful; as it loosens
ilhe bard dry surface of the soil^ and admSli^
the warm air and rain to the roots c€.tfae

plants-. Tkis ifi very ftecesiary, as the eiuiii
is a bad conductor of heat ; and where the
6iirfaee of the soil is become so hard as to
€ficlude the air from the roots of the phttrts,
the ground in which they gn>w will be nearFf
as cok) in summer as in winter. Besides,
when the surfece of the ground is haird, the
raih instead of soaking gradually into it, runs
dfij or evaporates, without being of any service
to the roots. The operation of forking con*
sists merely in thrusting the fork a little way
into the ground by the application of the* foot
ti9 the hilt, and then raising the grmind by
pulling back the handle as in digging, so as
tio loosen the earth without raising it. The
ground may thus be roughly pulverized to a
considerable depth, without dividing the
roots of the plants ; which would have been
inevitable if the operator had used a spade.

Hoeing. — There are several different kinds
echoes which are used for getting up wee^,
for loosening the soil, for drawing it up ttniftd
the litems of growing plants, and for miking
shallow furrow or drill for sowing aeeds.
T^ different kinds nil belong to two gtekt
j^^i^ons: viz« the draw hoe exA the thni»t

isifig o^^e'^^p^m^ the>^e0ds may either >i)e

iyUkxfm^ 'tedifift^d^bueiof tb^ soil br^ the

I idtruiSt'il^ey'Ohr toiSL omtiofdt'fay the diowjhde*

>^ fiotbfkhsdsfink};^ abb be i36ed/fbr padTiemtmg

*itbe «oi)ii0r atfaiFd kittd'witb two prdngs may

'-'be^siiibsdtMed. IH' all these opeimtioiiDB^i^e

' dsinast hm'% >bedt adapted for u lady^s ^e,

^t^ requiiiiig tb^e least e&ertion ti strength,

< -^iod ' beitig most earily tnatisiged $ ' b^t ^e

dir^w hoe ii^ best adapted for making «i drill

<dip ftitrotr for the reception of B^eds, andtidso

ifor the last and most important use> of fao^ei^g,

♦viz*? the drawing up of the earth round* the

■ ' iStem^ of growing plants.

The operation of hoeing up, though very

commonly practised, is only suitable to some

kind of plants, and it is intended to afford

' additional nourishment to those which have

tap-roots, by inducing them to throw out

« Inore lateral fibres.

The plants which will bear to be hoed or
i^krthed up, are those that throw out fibvous
'' '^ioot^ above the vital knot, like the c^bbttge
* ~tflbe5 &c.; or that axe annual with > long

•M

cHAv.i.] mmaaank nsaa iB0U4^ 23

biuhgr BtBom, andTecy weak ^md slender^fodts
like-tbe-pea^ . ligatom i ]!)£Abl» jSteriild tiever
be (earthed iq), to > avoid iBJuiiag the idlal
kaiot^ whidi farms the pomt of ftepafaii6n
betweeti the main root and the stera^ and
whidi gardeiiefe» call the coMar, arown^ neck
or collets This part in trees and shnibs
• fihould never be buried^as if it be injured
fbj moiBtuxe so as to cause it to rot; or if it
ibe'Vonnided in any way^ the plant wiU die.
A deciduous tree may be cut down el^se
.above the collar, and it will throw up fitssh
dioots, oar the roots may all be cut off olose
J below the collar^ and if that part be unin-
.jured. fresh «>ot8 vrill form; but if a tree
be cut through at this vital part it never
«an recover.

A trowel is another instrument used
in stirring the soil^ but of course it can
o^ly be employed in boxes of earth in bal-
conie65 &c«

RaJdng is useful in smoothing the soil after
diggpngs and in collecting weeds^ stoQei3, &c.,
and dragging thea;i to one side^whi^m they
may be easily removed. An iron-^toothed
<nihe S» generally used for the groond^'Oiid a

24 OTIBBINa.tHS SOIL. ^chaf.i.

wooden one for collecting grass after mowings
When it is wished that the teeth of the rake
should enter the ground^ the handle should
be held low ; but if the object be the collec-
tion of weeds, &c., the handle should be held
high. Dry weather is essential to raking the
ground, as the principal use of the operation
is to break the clods left by the spade ; but
raking together grass or weeds may be per*
fonned in wet weather*

The degree of strength required for raking
depends partly xv^on the breadth of the bead
of the rake, and the number pf its teeth, bttl
piincipaUy upon the manner of holdii^ it.
If the rake be held low, it is obvious iimi
giseater strength will be required to drag it
through the ground than if it is held higbf'
in which case very little labour will be re-
quired to overcome the resist^ace it will meet
with.

•|i»^ IM^..." r i: ' I 1.

CHAPTER IL

MAirUBIKO TBG SOIL ASD HAKIKG BOT^EBa.

Mom persons imagine that manure is ail
that id wanted to make a garden fruitfiil;
aad thus, if the fruit-trees do not bear, and
the flowers and vegetables do not thrive,
inamire is ccmsidered the universal panacea.
Now, the fact is, that so far from this being
the case, most small gardens have been ma«-
nured a great deal too much ; and in many,
the sur&ce soil, instead of consisting of rich
friable mould, only presents a soft black
shining substance, which is the humic acid
from the manure saturated with stagnant
water. No appearance is more common in
the gardens of street-houses than this, from
these gardens being originally ill drained.

26 MANURING rrHE SOIL. [cflAP. it.

and yet contiiyiMdfy'wiatered; and from their
possessors loading them -^th manurei • in &e
hope of rendering them&rfile. '' -

As it is^ kno^m to cbemists thatit is- only
the humio acid, and carbonic acid gas, con-
tained in manure, which make that substance
nourishing to plants; and as these acids
must be dissolved in water before the roots
can take them up, it may seem str^mge that
any solution of them in water, however
strong it may be, should be injurious to
vegetation. The fact is, however, that it is
the great quantity of food contained in «the
water that renders it unwholesome. When
the roots of a plant and their little sponge^
like terminations, aie examined in a power-
ful microscope, it will be clearly seen that
no thick substance can pass through them*
Thus water loaded with gross coarse matter,
as it is when saturated with humic acid,
must be more than the poor spongioles can
swallow ; and yet, as they are truly sponge*
like, their nature prompts them, whenever
they find moisture, to attempt to take it up,
without having the power of discriminating
between what is good for them, and what

CHAP. II.] MANURING THE SOIL* 27

"will be injurious. The spongioles thus im-
bibe the saturated liquid ; and, loaded with
this improper food, the fibrous roots, like
an overgorged snake, become distended, the
.fine epidermis that covers them is torn
asunder, their power of capillary attraction
is gone, and they can neither force the food
they, have taken up, into the main roots,
nor reject the excrementitious matter sent
down to them firom the leaves, after the ela-
bonttion of the sap. In this state of things,
from the usual circulation of the fluids being
impeded, it is not surprising that the plant
ahoold droop, that its leaves should turn yel-
low^ that its flowers should not expand,
that its fruit should shrivel and drop off
prematurely, and that in the end it should
die ; as, in fact, it may be said to expire of
apoplexy, brought on by indigestion.

All soil, to be in a fit state for growing
plants, should be sufficiently loose and dry
to allow of water passing through it inter-
mixed with an*; as water, when in this state
is never more than slightly impregnated with
the nutritious juices of the manure through
which it has passed. The spongioles are

CHAP. II.

88 •rij4»u4tife'¥]ife'^dri!i. [

tfccfe act isuppli^il'iirfth more food at a' tiiiie
thiaii they tkn prdperly take up and digest,
MpA ' a heathy circalation of the fluids is
l^ept up' thtougli the whole plant. But,
what, it may be a^ked, 1)3 to be done with a
gsisdeD, the soil of which has become black
umI slimy like half-rotten peat ? The quick-
est remedy is covering it with lime, as that
combines readily with the humic acid, and
truces it to a state of comparative dry-
n€5S8: or, if the subnsoil be good, the ground
may be trenched, and the sur&ce-soil buried
Cim spits deep ; in either case it will be iie-
eessary thoroughly to drain the garden to
prevent a recurrence of the evil.

Ail the different kinds of soil found on
level ground, consist of two parts, which are
called the surface-soil and the sub-soil ; and
as the sub-soil always consists of one of
the three primitive earths, so do these earths
i^ways enter, more or less, into the com-
position of every kind of surfece-soil. The
priaiitive earths are — silex, (which includes
efismd and gravel,) clay, and lime, which in-
dud^s also chalk ; and most sub-soils consist
of ti solid bed or rock of one or other of these

CHAP. II.] Bl^^USIV^ JBJ^.^OdU 29

m^t^iiate^ probably .io. xxearlj tb/q. saoM sHiie
as it was left by the deluge^ Tbe jMnfiie^t
soils^ on the contrary^ are of oomparatiVely
recent date; and they have been fllowlj^
formed by the gradual crumbling of the 0ul>
soil) and its inter-mixture with decaye4
animal and vegetable matter, and willt other
soils which may have been accideutallj
washed down upon, or purposely brought
to it. In fields, and uncultivated places, ibts
surface-soil is almost as hard, and as course
in its texture, as the sub-soil on which it
rests ; but in gardens which have been long
in cultivation, the surface-soil becomes so
thoroughly pulverized by frequent diggings,
and so mixed with the manure and decayed
vegetables which have been added to it
from time to time, that it is changed into
the soft, light, fine, powdery substance, called
garden-mould. If the sub-soil be naturally
porous or well driuned^ this mould, however
rich it may be made by the addition of de*
eayed vegetable matter or animal ma&ujre,
will always continue firiable ; and as long as
it does so, it will be fit for the growth of
plants^ but if no vent be allowed for the

30 io^mRi)/a THE 86t£. [chap, tr.'

escape of tbe 4#aterv^iid' it fee Cijwltitaniilly'
enriched' wiflitoantirfe!; if will be dfelttged'
iiS fBai^ittbtliebllack slimy substanct that
has'be6iidrea<!y described

Sutface-soil is called peat-earth when it
ii cbtnpbseci of diecayed vegetaUe matter,
withbttt any mixture of animal manure ; and,
as' Ailsi excess of vegetable matter could
neither be produced nor decayed, without
abundance of stagnant moisture, this kind
of earth is almost always found on a clayey
sub-soil, which prevents the water which fells
upon it from escaping. Peat-earth has a"
spongy, elastic feeling when trodden upon; '
arising from the quantity of water that it
holds, and it can only be rendered fit for
cultivation by draining. In its elastic state
it is what is called in Scotland a moss, and
in England a peat-bog« Should the water,
instead of being afforded a vent by drainage,
be suffered to accumulate for many years,
till it completely saturates the peat, the soil
becomes what is called a morass, or quag-
mire ; and it can no longer be trodden on, as
it will engulf any substance resting upon it,
A still fturther accumulation of water will|

in th^.pwwae of years, ;Caiw^ tfce J?pg^^ Iw^f ^
its l)|9UJiijd% ai^d. oyerflpw. the Tspyroffl^fijpg ,
CQumtrj ; a3 the Solwaj^-iposs did mwj j^^grs,
ago^ and as bogs in Ireland buve done ..^«
qvtentlj^ An exce93 of vegetable xn^tt^ pn
a ^Uic^Qus sub-soil^ differs from the cominpi^
blaipk-peat in retaining less water; 4od in
being mized with a portion of the primi*
tive earth, which^ from its loose texture, be-
C9p:^es easily detached from the sub-soil^
F^at in this state is called heath mould*

_Xhe, most productive soils are those in
w}nch«seTeral ingredients are combined in
prppjer, proportions ; and if any one of the
p4mitive earths preponderates, the soil be-
cQiixes comparatively unfertile. Thus the
best soil for gardening purposes is generally
aUpwed to be a calcareous loam on a chalky
subrsoil ; and this sort of soil is composed of
nearly equal parts of lime, sand, and clay,
enriched depositions of decayed animal and
vegetable matter. The next best soil is a
sandy loam, composed of clay and sand, en-
riched by decayed animal and vegetable
substances, and resting on a sandy or gra-
veUj sub-soil. The worst soUs are peat and

aa- MANUBQ^ . P^^. 80XU [c%a.«.,i«.

swtd^ A pcwr. safujj soil, m ne98«fai% «
nQarijr.batrai (me ; because it will, npti?et^.
eiljber w»tar> or the iiutiitious jaices fironlinc^^
nure^ long encrngb to aShtd Bourishtuent lo
tjbe. l4lu:Us gn>wQ upoa it; and it is obvioos
that a 8oil of this kind caa only be rendered,
fertile by mixing it with day; which woold
change it into a sandy loam.

A stiff clay is unfertile from ita attract*:
ing moisture and retainij:^ it round the roots
of the plants till they become swollen and
unhealthy. It also retarda the decomposi-
tion of manure^ and obstructs the progresa of
the rootsi which waste their strength in the ef«
forts they make to penetrate^ or twine rounds
its adhesive clods. Soibs of this descnptioa
are improved by a mixture g£ sand, gravel,
road grit, or any substance which tends to
separate the particles of the clay, and to ren-
der it light and friable.

Chalky soils succeed better unmixed, than-
any of the other kinds; but chalk being
a carbonate of lime, can hardly be called a
primitive soil The chalk, however, from ita
whiteness is colder than any other soil ; as
it do^s not absorb, but reflects back the rays

c«AF,«.] ' JCAlrftJBiSS. 83

f

of tile soft. Rain aLso penetrates into it
very slowly^ and not to 0Sij great deptlL
Chalk mixed widi sand forms a kind of cal-
careous loam admirably adapted fi>r growing
vegetables; And chalky soils are peculiarly
susceptible of improvement from manure.

Mimure$. — The kinds of manure generally
used in gardens are horse or cow dung, and
decayed vegetable matters; the manure in
both cases being, sufibred to lie in a heap to
rot before it is spread on the ground^ in
Older that its component parts may be de-
composed by fermentation, and thus brought
into a fit state to afford food to the plants.
(Hd hot-beds or mushroom beds are thus
well adapted fi>r manuring a garden; and
when fresh stable*dung is employed for that
purpose, it is generally thrown into a heap,
and turned over several times till the fer*
mentation has abated, before it is dug into
the ground. Ab, however, a great quantity
of earbcmie acid gas is evolved and escapes
during the process of fermentation, and as it
seems a great pity that so much of the nu^
ti^oufi properties of the manure should be
lost, it is now custopiary to cover the dung*

D

34 XAmJms^i [onAF^ th

hSSk nvithiewd^iDta wJadekth^ gases (wU>)^
diuringitibe psocess of fermenti^oni ,ai^4 Jl^
Which ibey will deposit the greatQr part <gf
their nutritious pjropertiies. A quAatity fi^
earth should also be laid rouqd the diuig}^U
to imbibe ike B^uid that mos from it, audi
this earth, part of which smst be removed
and fresh added every tin>e the dnngbill i$
turned over, will be found very nearly a3 va«
luable for' manuring the beds of a ^urden^
as the manure itsel£ . f •

2%6 modes i>f (xppbfing numure differ aer
cording to the difference of the 8oilB«f F^f
sandy loams, thoroughly rotten dung» eitbiir
from an old hotbed, or from a dunghill st^t
ciently decayed to be cut easily ivith the
spade, or the earth that has eovered a dung^
hill during the process of fermentation, should
be laid on the sur&ce of the soil, and dug ii(
In very poor sandy soils rotten manure, ot
earth from a dunghill, should be laid on the
surface of the soil, and not dug in: beisig
covered, if hot dry weather be expected^
with leaves, straw, or the branches of trees
cut off in pruning; or occasionally spnnUefl
with water* Soils of this description, and

Soiitb* o^Fraace And Itety^ hyeowingitheih
With seed^ of the oommoawldie loplne^'Otid
&eii5 -whfeti (be phmtt»faiB3(r& come' up audi
gh^wti labont H foot hi^bj ptot^hing :^r dig*
gihg Ihem Into thef '8oil. The green snccu^
km idteBi^ of the lupittei^ wfaea thud buried
ih, ' tl^ i^il, supfity it ^di moitftuve during
tike pro^efls of tbeir decay; and tbos (nourish^
iQieni is afibided to the com, which is imme^
diately afterwards sown upon llie mil for«
cMp ; - • Clayey soils should hare unfbrmen ted
ifiabuie mixed with undecayed straw kid in
the botimn of the furrows made indig^ng;
^At the process of fbrmentation, and the re*^
2teins of d^ straw may operate in ket^ping
tke pairticks of the soil open, or, in oth^r
Words, m preventing their too dose adhesiom
Lime (though when burnt it becxHnes vio«
lently caustic, and will destroy and waste all
the manure applied with it), as carbonate of
liisie, or chalk (in which state only it can
]^roperiy be called a soil), retains the mannra
i^fidd to it longer than any odier soil;
•Rotten manure may thus be dug into chalk,
wi& the certainty that it will be preserved

D 2

36 MANURES. I CHAP. II.

j^?9t3^^ fa^pt^r d^ay for a very long tun^, and
i^9l eyery shower ;^iU work a small pordbn
91^/^tP. ,&|^zmg juices out of it^ and carry
tbfiifi 4i?tp. the spU, where they will be thus
g^fi^efited jtothe^pbuits in th^ best possible
^^afi^t ^ Bffifrd^ wholesome food.
, . .F^ soils w^ be improved by the additioa
(|f,q^ui|^rU|ne 9^ a manure^ which will absorb
,tl^ m^perabu^dant moisture which they con*
^im or they may be mixed with sand^ gravel,
^..claj to give them firmness and tenacity,
9p^ then with a small quantity of animal
nmu^ure* Sandy peat or heath mould is very
naefiil in gardens for growing heaths, rhodo.
^pdrons, kalmiaS) or imy plants with fine
huac-Uke roots; and fi:om the quantity of
vegetable UMitter that it contains naturally,
it does not i>equire any manure more than
wiiat is furnished by the decaying leaves of
the plants grown in it

,N^aM\j the same rules apply to decaying
]e8,weB and other substances used as manure,
.^ to stable-dung. They may be buried in
^n.undecayed state in clayey soil, when it is
Ijhe object to separate the adhesive particles
q£ the day. by the process of formentation ;

CHAP. Ti.] MANURES. 37

but their component parts should be sepa-
rated by fermentation before they are applied
as a manure to growing plants. Vegetable
mould (that is, leaves thoroughly decayed
and mixed with a little rich loam) is admire
ably adapted for manuring the finer kinds of
flowers, and plants in pots. There are many
other kinds of manure used in gardens occa-
sionally; such as the dung of pigs, rabbits
and poultry, grass mown fi-om lawns, parings
of leather, horn shavings, bones, the sweeping
of streets, the emptying of privies, cess-pools,
and sewers, the clipping of hedges and prun-
ing of trees, weeds, the refuse of vegetables,
pea halm, &c. All these should be fermented,
and applied, in the same manner as the com-
mon kinds of manure.

TTie following is a summary of the general
rules to be observed in manuring and improving
soils: — Never to use toimal manure and
quick-lime together, as the one will destroy
the other. To use lime as a manure only in
very sandy or peaty soils, or in soils abound-
ing with sulphate of iron. To remember
that rotten manure is considered to give so-
lidity; and that unfermented manure, buried

Mi tJiWi^^vfeter,^'befbi* 'applji to grm^

Yri^ ^tiflfer'a^ V)tiieir*^iite,^fl^iA the qnAtitity
ijf' aiim6hi)a thA it ctftiMais fe \fill be apt to
Ibum fli6tn. ''To dovfer and snrrooiid dmig-
hlUs Snth earth during the process of fer*
mentation, to absorb the nutritious giisee,
iitBX woilld otherwise escape. To remember
that the manure of cows and all animak t^t
chew the cud, is cold and suited to a- light
soil; and that the manure of horses, pigs,
and poultry is hot and suited to a firm i^il :
also that all manure, when well rotten, be-
comes cold in its nature, and should be
treated accordingly. To remember that all
mixed soils are more fertile than soils con*
sisting only of one of the three primitive
earths, viz. Ume, sand, or clay; and never
to forget that too much manure is quite as
injurious to plants as too little.

Formatum of hotbeds.'^-Thouf^ nearly all
the kinds of manure which have been enu-
merated may be used occasionally for hotbeds,
the only materials in common use in gardens,
are stable manure, dead leaves, and tan.

^S^miwi^ mm^to .pwrtlyof hp}wr4w& f^^

|95 «ti:«ryr Q^ftisj^^oftd and 4i9qol(wred» . but nipt
^eft^jred^ iTh^ qaiuaure is gei^e^ly ia tl^is
^%^ yvlmn it;i$ purcha^edy.or t^QQ Irom
itos auble^ for. the purpose of mfikii^ a l^pt-

.bed..

\ J Tba oeeei^saiy quantity of inanune 19 pro-
ittMB^ajbtbe ralo of one cart lo^ or ^om
tkl^^lYi^ 'to fifteen large wheeUbarrowfUta, to
9f e|7 ligiiti aa the gardeners caU the sashes
of the. frames, each light being about three
:feetwi<}e; and this manure is laid inaheapto
^rmont The heap should then be covered
!witb earth to receive the gases evolved dur-
ing fermentation) and earth laid round it to
absorb the liquid manure that may drain
firom it. In about a week the earth may be
removed, and the manure turned over ^ith
a dung-fork, and well shaken together; this
operation being repeated two or thre^ or
more times^ at intervals of two or three days,
.till the whole mass is become of one colour,
aq^d the straws are sufficiently decomposed to
be torn to pieces with the fork*

40 MUnHm HDOBttML [oBAViin.

.0')13mfU0 (tf)tb^gih0d/afii8l4ependptiiici-

*Q*pr;:itjji obs^isrtn^ Aat the h^d must he
froffkfiakiiMAitfBjtoit iboi ^ider.thiil iihe &ante
.]|$v«l7 iitey*< > Thei Jtumufe .must ^n be
filpfwi. iA tefjsen^ ^ach layer being beaten
t4oiwii.^b'the.back.Df the fork^ tiU the bed
13 ^bout thvee.feet and a half higL The wr*
Aq^ of tbe ^"Qimd on i^bicb the hotbed is
huilti is genemlly vaised abooi sin. inches
ftbenre the fgeaeai sur&ce of the garden; jMd
it ia adTisable to lay aoE» eavth round the
bottom of the bed^ nearly a foot mde^' that
it may i^eceive the juices of the manure that
urill drain from the bed. As soon aa the
bed is made, the frame is put ctti and the
sashes kept quite close, till a steam appears
upon the glass, when the bed is considered
m a fit state to be coveied three or four
inches deep with mould ; observing, if the
bed has settled unequally, to level the sur&ee
of the manure before covering it with earth.
The seeds to be raised may either be sown
in this earth, or in pots to be plunged
in it

The proper average heat for a hotbed in-

tifided >ti9i nke flo^wr seedfl^^ rdr t9 gAiMTcu-
jeombto^ ib MT": but melon* racftin^ iT^t
«f S6^ to gtow in, oqd t0^ to> rij^n ^iIm^
jfinfiC ThiB hBMt shovld be tikeai InU'ifiMi-
jh^ amd does not inchide tkat of Ae iilft'i&
the middle of the day. • When the ileal; 4i(^tlie
bed becomes so great as to be in dtmger ^f
injaring the {rfantd, the obvious tetnedy is 4o
'•give air by raieing the glasses ; and if this be
' Mt' suffieient, the general heat of the bed
iflMD^t be lo^reted by making excavations' in
)the dung firom the sides, so as to leacb neaiiy
.to the middle of the bed, and filling np these
'ietearatioQs with cold dung which has already
'Undergone fermentation, or widi leaves, titff,
<xv any odier similar material which will re-
oriiie beat, but not increase it When the
: heat of the bed &lls down to 48^ or lower, it
should be raised, by applying on the outside
fresh coatings of dung, grass, or leaves, which
are: called linings.

. .When hotbeds are made of spent tsanet^s
baric or decayed leaves, a kind of box at pit
anist be formed of bricks or boards, or even
of layers of turf, or clay, and the tan x>r
leates. filled in so as to make a bed. Where

42 MAKINGL- &OTBED6. [cHAP. ii.

neatness is an object, this kind of bed is pre-
ferable to any other; but a common hotbed
of stable manure may be made to look neat
by thatching the outside with straw, or cover-
ing it with bast mats, pegged down to keep
them close to the bed.

.4a. .

f I 1 '

I /

• t

J •

CHAPTER ni.

SOWING SEEDS — PLANTING BULBS AND
TUBEBS — TRANSPLANTING AND WATERING.

Sawing Seeds. — The principal points to be
attended to in sowing seeds are, first, to pre-
pare the ground so that the young and ten-
der roots thrown out by the seeds may easily
penetrate into it ; secondly, to fix the seeds
firmly in the soil; thirdly, to cover them, so
as to exclude the light, which impedes vege-
tation, and to preserve a sufficiency of moist-
ure round them to encourage it; and,
fourthly, not to bury them so deeply as either
to deprive them of the beneficial influence of
the air, or to throw any unnecessary impe-
diments in the way of their ascending shoots.
The preparation of the soil has been already

44 sdWifffto^^j^tttf [cMA^.'iii.

dbi»ih6d >ift ^^eb^ t^j^fet(\Oii digging, lahd
^eifMsW^Vby* it i^ necessaty fa^ve been
there given ; but %?liy seeds should be firmly
emb««^ in it, «eem8 to require expliae.-
4oii» ' it lis ireU known diat gardeners^ before
they eith^er sow a hedt in the kitchen-garden,
om patch of flowerHseeds in the flower-gar-
deny generally «finn the ground,'' as they
call il^ by beating it well with the back of
the spade, or pressing it with the saucer of
a flower^pot; and there can be no doubt
that this is done in order that the seeds may
be firmly imbedded in the soil. When
lawns are sown with grass-seeds also, the
seeds are frequently rolled in, evidently for
the iseme purpose* The only question, there-
foi^ is, tdiy is this neccBsaiy ; and the an-
swer appears to be, that a degree of perma^
nenee and stability is essential to enable
nature to accommodate the plant to the situa-
doiii in which it is placed. When there is
this degree of permanence and stability, it
is astonishing to observe the efforts that
plants Will make to provide for their wants ;
but without it, seeds will not even vege-
tate. ' ThviB we often see large trees springing

t^^iQoy]|]gaanid8.Q£|kdQifirtk: ,! > r .':

The .reaaoQ^&r tttejsecQiMl anditbiisdlK^^
(^f fBOYenng the «eed(> tgad yetnoti e^venog
tba:a too.dfleplj, uppoaor noro. c^viom; and
jet they also nequire. a. little ex^boiatioib
The scieds tare coyered to keep tliuem in darkh
pes8, and to retain, round tbem a propet
qjowtilyof moistttre; notixiljrtoiBaketheiti
8weU. and begin to vegetate, but to en^le
^e roots to perfann their proper funetiom}
^djcieei if exposed to the air, they wouiA be«
Qome dry and withered, and lose the poicer
of contracting and dilating, which is essen^
tial to enable them to iaibibe and digest
their food. Burying the seeds too deeply is
obTioosly injurious in impeding the progress
of the yoong shoot to the light; and in
pladng it in an unnatural positicm. When
a seed vegetates too &r below the sur&ce^ a
part of the stem of the plant nuist be bnried;
and this part not being intended to remain
upd^-ground, is not protected fixm the
dangers it is likely, to meet with there. It
is thus peculiarly liable to be assailed by

46 sxpfrnm sfifiMr*' [otiktan^

slt^'^S a3iMaS^(^basBGtAi and to beeoiA^
tdtteirby^Bip, or^dkered by heat It iJ
abb Very ^posrfbk'ta bOiy a tseed so deeply*
Ik6 i^ ^^ev^fBtit from* t^getating at alL Tlie
grottnd^h&d mo^of b€<)i wanntii and moistuse
neBtt die sur&ce thftn s^ a great depth, as it
ie Warmed by the rays of the sun^.ittid
liiobtened by the rmh ; bat besides this, seed^
irill not vegetate^ even when they are amply
stippfied^th heat and mofetore, ifthey^ffb
excluded from the inflnence (^ the air. Eviery
ripe seed in a dry state is a ccmcentration df
earbon, whiehj when dissolyed by moistan^'
and its partides set in motion by heat, is
in a fit state to comUne with tlie oxygda
in the atmosphere, and thus to form tlie car^*
borne acid gas which is the nourishment of
the expanding j^ant For this reason, seeds^
and newly sprung-up plants do not want to
be supplied with manure, and air is much
more essential to them : they have enough
catbon in their cotyledons or seed-leaves,
and they only want oxygen to combine vnfix
it, to enable th^n to develope their otiier
leaves; and this is the reason why young
pliants, nused on a hotbed, are always given

cHAP« III.] mw^Efio^ ^IWP» 47

m, or they beoome ly^cuf «^ i^tl^Q^e^,^
LigM absorbs the oxygen £:Qia{]>ila^U^ f^
ocoasipns a deposition of the earbpn* Tbnf
seeds aad seedlings do not reqiwP; P^^<^
li^t ; it is indeed iqpmoos to tb^m^ 9» it
nndoeis in soBote degree what theak has^b^eixt
doing for them: but young plants, vrb/^Q they
have expanded two or three pairs of leaTes^
and when the stock of oarbon cmtained in
their cotyledons, or seedJeaves, is exhausted^
require light to. enable them to elaborate
their sap, without which the process of ye*
getation could not go on. Abundance of
tight also is favourable to the development
of fkywers^ and the ripening of seeds; as it
aids the concentration of carbon, which they
require to make them fertile. The curious
fact that seeds, though abundantly supplied
with warmth and moisture, will not vegetate
without the assistance of the air, was lately
verified in Italy ; where the Po, having over^
flowed its banks near Mantua, deposited a
great quantity of mud on some meadows ;
and from this mud sprang up a plentifiil crc^
of black poplars, no doubt from seeds that
had fallen into the river from a row of trees

48 PLAvmra bulw [

OBAP. III.

of tiiftt kind* whidi had formerly grown on
it! banksi bat which had been cut down many
yearB previovdy. Another instance occurred
in the case of sonae raspberry seeds found in
the bo^ of an ancient Briton discovered in
a tumulus in Dtmietdure. Some of these
seeds were sown in the London Horticul«
tural Society's Garden at Tumham Green^
wfaeee they vegetated, and the plants pro-
duced fiom them are still (1839) growing.
Numerous other nearly similar instaiices, wiU
be found in Jesse^t Gleanings, Hoohef^s Bo-
tanieai MueeUany, and numerous other works.
Steeping seeds in oxalic acid, &c. to make
them vegetate, is efficacious ; as there is a
speedier combination between the carbon in
the seeds, and the oxygen in the acid, than
can be effected by the ordinary agency of
the air in parting with its oxygen to them.

Flantififf bulbs and tubers heax^ consider*
able analogy to sowing seeds. The bulb
or tuber may indeed be considered as only
a seed of larger growth, since it requires the
combined influence of air, warmth, and
moisture to make it vegetate, and then it
throws out a stem, leaves, and roots like a

seed. T!>ere is^ howem*, - bue importaM di^'
feMiice- between them ; &e s^ed expends ifii
acCHMtikted 9tock of car6on in ghifig l^h-
to the root, stem, and leaves, after which* it
Athens away and disappears ; while the bulb
or tuber continues to exist doting die whole
life of the plant, and appears to contain a
reservoir of carbon, which it only parts vrith
slowly, and as ckcomstances may require.
Though bulbs and tubers have here been
mentioned as almost synonymous, modem
botanists make several distinctions between
them. The tunicated bulbs, such as those
of the hyacinth and the onion, and the
squaanose bulbs, such as those of the lily,
they consider to be underground buds ; while
tubers such as those of the dahlia, and the
potatoe, and solid bulbs or corms, such as
those of the crocus, they regard as under*
ground stems.

Iliese distinctions, however, though they
may be interesting to the botanist and
vegetable physiologist, are of litde or no*
use in practice ; the practical gardener treat*
ing bulbs and tubers exactly alike, and
planting them as he would sow a seed : that

E

50 PLANTIXa BULBS AND TUBERS, [chap. in.

is to say^ he fixes them firmly in the ground,
and covers them, but not so deeply as to
exclude the air. In preparing a bed for hy-
acinths or other tunicated bulbs, it is neces-
sary to pulverize the soil to a much greater
depth than for ordinary seeds ; as the fibrous
roots of the hyacinth descend perpendicularly
to a considerable depth, as may be seen
when these plants are grown in glasses.
The very circumstance of growing hyacinths
in glasses, where they vegetate and send
down their roots exposed to the fiill influ-
ence of the light, appears contrary to the
usual eifects of light on vegetation ; and
indeed the plants are said generally to thrive
best, when the glasses are kept in the dark
till the roots are half grown. However this
may be, it is quite certain that hyacinths
in glasses should never be kept in darkness
when their leaves begin to expand; as, if
there be not abundance of light to occasion
rapid evaporation firom the leaves, the plants
will soon become surcharged with moisture
firom the quantity constantly supplied to their
roots ; and the leaves will turn yellow, and
look flaccid, and imhealthy, while the flowers

CHAP. III.] TBAN8PLANTING. 51

will be stunted, or will fall off without ex-
panding.

Transplanting* — The points to be attended
to in transplanting, are— care in taking up,
to avoid injuring the spongioles of the roots;
planting firmly to enable the plant to take
a secure hold of the soil ; shading to prevent
the evaporation from the leaves from being
greater than the plant in its enfeebled state
can support ; and watering that it may be
abundantly supplied with food in its new
abode. The first point is to avoid injuring
the roots, and it is only necessary to consi-
der the construction and uses of these most
important organs to perceive how impossible
it is for the plant to thrive, unless they are
in a perfectly healthy state. Roots generally
consist of two parts ; the main roots which
are intended to act as grappling irons to
enable the plants to take a firm hold of the
ground, and the fibrous roots which are in-
tended to supply the plant with nourishment
These fibrous roots are most liable to re-
ceive injury from transplanting, as they are
covered with a very fine cellular integument,
so delicate in its texture as to be very easily

b2

52 TRANSPLANTING. [cHAP. III.

bruised ; and they each terminate in a num-
ber of small pores of extraordinary delicacy
and susceptibility, which act as little sponges
to imbibe moisture for the use of die plant
It is well known that these spongioles are
the only means which the plant possesses; of
imbibing food, and that if they should be
all cut o£P, the plant must provide itself with
others, or perish for want of nourishment
These spon^oles are exactly of the nature
of a ^onge ; they expand at the approach
of moisture, and when surcharged with it,
they contract, and thus force it into the
fibrous roots, the cellular integument of which
dilates to receive it; hence the moisture
is forced, by capillary attraction, as it is sup-
posed, into the main roots, and thence into
the stem and branches of the plant ; circu-
lating like the blood, and after it has been
elaborated in the leaves, as the blood is in
the hmgs, dispensing nourishment to every
part as it goes along.

The roots have no pores but those forming
the spongioles; and only the fibrous roots ap-
pear to possess the power of alternate dilation
and contraction, which power evidently de-

CHAP. III.] TRANSPLANTING. 53

pends on their cellular tissue being in an en-
tire and healthy state. Thus, it is quite evident
that if the spongiole of any fibril be crushed,
or even the cellular tissue injured, it can no
longer act as a mouth and throat to convey
food to the plant When this is the case,
the injured part should be instantly re-
moved; as its elasticity can never be re-
stored, and it is much better for the plant to
be forced to throw out a new fibril, than to
be obliged to carry on its circulation weakly
and imperfectly with a diseased one. When-
ever a plant is taken up for transplanting, its
roots should therefore be carefully examined,
and all their injured parts cut off, before it is
replaced in the ground. Deciduous plants,
and particularly trees and shrubs, are gene-
rally transplanted when they are v^thout
their leaves ; because at that season they are
in no danger of suffering from the effects of
evaporation.

Shading is necessary after transplanting
all plants that retain their leaves ; as the eva-
poration from the leaves, if exposed to the
full action of the light, would be greater than
the plant could support with a diminished

54 TRANSPLANTING. [chap. hi.

number of spongioles. J£ it were possible to
transplant without injuring the fibrils, and if
the plant were immediately supplied with
plenty of water, shading would not be re-
quired ; and, indeed, when plants are turned
out of a pot into the open garden without
breaking the ball of earth round their roots,
they are never shaded. The reason for this
is, that as long as a plant remains where it
was first sown, and under favourable circum-
stances, the evaporation from its leaves is ex-
actly adapted to its powers of absorbing
moisture ; it is therefore evident, that if, by
any chance, the number of its mouths be
diminished, the evaporation from its leaves
should be checked also, till the means of
supplying a more abundant evaporation are
restored.

The tise of watering a transplanted plant,
is as obvious as that of shading. It is simply
to supply the spongioles with an abundance
of food, that the increased quantity imbibed
by each, may, in some degree, supply their
diminished number.

All plants will not hear transplanting, and
those that have tap-roots, such as the carrot.

CBA». III.] TRANSPLANTING. 65

are peculiarly iinfitted for it When plants
having tap-roots are transplanted, it should
be into very light soil, and what is called a
puddle should be made to receive them. To
do this, a hole or pit should be formed, deeper
than the root of the plant, and into this pit
water should be poured and earth thrown in
and stirred so as to half-fill it with mud.
The tap-rooted plant should then be plunged
into the mud, shaking it a little so as to let
the mud penetrate among its fibrous roots,
and the hole should be filled in with light
soil. The plant must afterwards be shaded
longer than is usual with other plants ; and
when water is given, it should be poured
down nearer to the main root than in other
cases, as the lateral fibrous roots never spread
far fi:om it. Plants with spreading roots,
when transplanted, should have the pit in-
tended to receive them made shallow, but
very wide in its diameter; so that the roots
may be spread out in it to their fiillest ex-
tent, except those that appear at all bruised
or injured, which, as before directed, should
be cut off with a sharp knife.

Ji i$ a general ruk, in transplanting, never

56 TRANSPLANTING. [cHAP. III.

to bury the collar ofapkmt; though this rale
has some exceptions in the case of annuals.
Some of these^ such as balsams, send out
roots from the stem above the collar; and
these plants are always very much improved
by transplanting. Others, the fibrous roots
of which are long and descending, such as
hyacinths, bear transplanting very ill, and
when it is absolutely necessary to remove
them, it should be done with an instrument
called a transplanter; which may be pur-
chased in any ironmonger's shop, and the
use of which is to take up a sufHcient quan-
tity of earth with the plant to remove it
without disturbing the roots.

Tht uses of transphmting are various.
When seeds are sown, and the young plants
from them begin to make their appearance,
they will generally be found to be much too
thick ; and they will require thinning, either
by drawing some of them out and throwing
them away, or by removing them to another
bed by transplanting. This, in the case of
annuals, is called by the gardeners pricking
out. The young plants are taken up with a
small trowel, and replaced in a hole made

CHAP. III.] TRANSPLANTING. 57

for them, and the earth pressed round them,
with the same trowel; the only care ne~
eessary beinfi^ to make them firm at the root,
andTet to avoid injuring the tender spon-
gioles. Gardeners do this with a dibber,
which they hold in the right hand, and after
putting in the young plant with the left
hand, they press the earth round it with the
dibber in a manner that I never could man-
age to imitate. I have found the trowel,
however, do equally well, though it takes up
rather more time.

Another use of transplanting is to remove
trees and shrubs firom the nursery to where
they are permanently to remain. To enable
this to be done with safety, the trees and
shrubs in commercial nurseries are prepared
by being always removed every year, or
every other year, whether they are sold or
not The effect of these frequent removals
is to keep the roots short, and yet provided
with numerous spongioles; for as they are
always pruned on every removal, and as the
efiect of pruning is to induce the roots prun-
ed to send out two short fibrous roots armed
with spongioles, in the place of every one

58 TRANSPLANTING. [chap. in.

cut off^ the roots, though confined to a small
space, become abundant. The reverse of
this is the case, when plants are left in a na-
tural state. It has been found, firom expe-
rience, that plants imbibe more food than
they absolutely require as nourishment from
the soil, and that they eject part of it ; also
that their roots will not reimbibe this excre-
mentitious matter, but are continually in
search of fi-esh soiL To provide for this the
fibrous roots are possessed of an extraordi-
nary power of elongating themselves at their
extremities; and thus the roots of even a
small plant, left to nature, will be found to
extend to a great distance on every side. It
is obvious that this elongation of the roots
must greatly increase the difficulties attend-
ing transplanting. Where the roots extend
to a distance fi'om the tree, a greater extent
of ground has to be disturbed, both to take
up the plant, and to make a pit for replant-
ing it ; the risk of injuring the fibrous roots
is increased; and, as nearly all the spon-
gioles will require to be cut off, from the
great length of the roots, and consequent
greater difficulty which will attend taking

CHAP. III.] TRANSPLANTmO, ^9

them up entire, the plant will be nearly
famished before new spongioles can be form-
ed to supply it with food. All these dangers
are avoided by the nursery system of trans-
planting; while the inconvenience of con-
fining the roots to so small 9 space is ob-
viated, by placing the plant, every time it is
transplanted, in firesh soil.

It is customary, when trees or shrubs are
transplanted to the places where they are
permanently to remain, either to make a
puddle for them, or to fix them, as it is
called, with water ; the object, in both cases,
being to supply the plant with abundance of
food in its new situation. Care is taken,
also, to make the roots firm in the soil, and
to let the earth penetrate through all their
interstices. To attain these ends, one gar-
dener generaUy holds the tree and gently
shakes it, while another is shovelling in the
earth among its roots; but this mode has the
disadvantage of sometimes occasioning the
roots to become matted. When the tree is
to be fixed with water, after a little earth has
been shovelled in over the roots, water is
applied by pouring it fi:om a watering-pot.

60 TRANSPLANTING. [chap. hi.

held as high as a man can raise it ; the wa-
tering-pot used being large, and with a wide
spout, the rose of which must be taken oflP.
More earth is then shovelled in, and water
applied again. This mode of planting has
the great advantage of rendering the tree
firm, without staking or treading the earth
down round it, as is usually done. Other
gardeners spreaid the roots out carefiilly
at the bottom of the hole or pit made
to receive them, and then fill in the earth.
In all cases, the ground is either made firm
with water, or trodden down or beaten flat
with the spade after planting, so as to fix the
roots firmly in the soil, for the same reasons
as nearly a similar plan is adopted in sowing
seeds. Newly transplanted trees are fi'e-
quently staked, but this is not essential if the
roots are made firm, and indeed the tree is
generally found to do best when the head is
left at liberty to be gently agitated by the
wind.

It is a great point, in all cases of trans-
planting, to preserve the epidermis or cellu-
lar integument of the fibrous roots and spon-
gioles in a flexible state ; and for this reason.

CHAP, in.] TRANSPLANTING. 61

the greatest care is taken to keep them
moist. This is the end in view in puddling
or fixing by water in transplanting; and
many planters always dip the roots of trees
and shrubs in water before replanting. When
a tree or shrub is taken up that is to be con-
veyed any distance, the roots should be
wrapped up as soon as it is taken out of the
ground, in wet moss, and covered with bast
matting; and where moss cannot be pro-
cured, they should be dipped in very wet
mud, and then matted up. Cabbs^e-plants
are frequently preserved in this manner;
and are conveyed, without any other cover-
ing to their roots than a cake of mud, to a
considerable distance. In all cases where
plants are taken up long before they are
replanted, their roots should be kept moist
by opening a trench, and laying the plants
along it, and then covering their roots with
earth. This, gardeners call, laying plants
in by the heels. Where this cannot be
done, and the plants are kept long out of
the ground, their roots should be examined,
and moistened from time to time ; and be-
fore replanting they should be laid in water

62 TRANSPLANTmO. [chap. hi.

for some hours, and afterwards carefully ex-
amixied, and the withered and decayed parts
cut off.

In removing large treesy care is taken to
prepare the roots by cutting a trench round
the tree for a year or two before removal,
and pruning off all the roots that pro-
ject into it. This is to answer the same
purpose as transplanting young trees in a
nursery; while the bad effects of con-
tracting the range of the roots is counter-
acted, by filling the trench with rich fresh
earth. The removal is also conducted with
much care ; and either a large ball of earth
is removed with the tree, or the roots are
kept moist, and spread out carefully, at full
length, when the tree is replanted. Some
planters, before removing trees, mark which
side stood to the south, in order to replant
them with the same side turned towards the
sun ; and this is sometimes done with young
trees from a nursery. The reason is, that
the tree having generaUy largest branches,
and being* always most flourishing on the
side exposed to the sun ; it is thought that
its vegetation might be checked, were a dif-

CHAP. III.] WATERING. 63

ferent side presented to that luminary, by
the efforts it must make to accommodate
itself to its new situation. On the other
hand, however, it may be urged that chang-
ing the position of the plant, particularly
while it is young, will be beneficial in pre-
venting it firom taking any particular bent,
and in promoting the equal distribution of
sap through all the branches.

Watering is a most essential branch of cul-
ture. It has been aheady fully explained
that the seed cannot vegetate, and the plant
cannot grow without water. Carbon, and
all the other substances that form the food of
plants, must be dissolved in water to enable
the spongioles to take them up; and the
spongioles themselves, unless they be kept
moist, will soon lose their power of absorp-
tion. Nothing indeed can be more evident,
even to a common observer, than the neces-
sity that plants feel for water; if a mimulus
or a pelargonium in a pot, for example, hang
its head and droop its leaves, what an extra-
ordinary and rapid effect is produced by
giving it water I In an almost incredibly
short time its leaves become firm, and its

64 wJCSwaatM [culp^m.

stem eveet; Aod die' plant- as a6t only pise*'
served fiomdeaibybtttrestosedtoftUbeak]^
and beauty;

Watering appeals an extnsmely iRmpIe
operation, yet neveriteless Ibere are sereitd
points relating to it that it is neoesdary to at^'
tend to. One of these is^ never to saturatef
the soil. Water, to be in the best state for'
being taken up by die plants, sbonid be kept
in detadied globules by the admi^otur^ of
air; and it should be only slightly impreg-
nated with nourishing matter fit>m decaying
animal or vegetable substances: for, «is A^
ready observed, when fully saturated Wkh^
nourishment, it becomes unfit for the food of
plants. Nothing can be more admirably-
and wonderfiilly adapted for supplying plantsf '
properly with water than rain. In fsJMxug''
through the atmosphere, it is thoroughly
mixed with the air ; and in sinking into the
soil it becomes slightly impregnated vrith
nutritious qualities, which it is thus enabled
to convey, in the most beneficial manner, to
the plants.

It is a very common nustake, in watering,
to pour the water down close to the stekn of

CHAP. lu.] WATEBIHa 65

the {dant. ' This is injurious in ererj respect
Water, when poured profusely on the collar
of the planty -which is the point of junction
between the root and the stem, is likely to
rot, or otherwise seriously injure that vital
part; while the spongioles, which alone can
absorb the water, so as to benefit the plants
being at the extremity of the roots, are al-
ways as &i removed firom the stem as the
nature of the plant will allow. Thus, the
distance from the stem at which water should
be given varies in different plants. In those
that have tap-roots, such as the carrot, and
many other culinary vegetables, the lateral
fibrous roots are short, and the spongioles
are comparatively near the stem; but in
trees, and most plants having spreading
roots, the spongioles are generally as far
distant from the stem as the extremity of the
branches; and the water, to be efficacious,
should be given there.

The quanMty of water to be given varies, not
only accorcUng to the nature of the plant,
but to the state of its growth. In spring,
when the sap first begins to be in motion,
and the young plant is every day unfolding

F

66 wiivrasKor. [ooaahi*

fresh leaver or blossomd^ it requires tbvEO^
daaee of "water ; a» it does when ia flow^^ or
when the .fruit is swelling* In aiittunn, an
the contrarj, when the fruit is ripening^' and
in winter, when the plant is in a state of
perfect rest, very little water is necessary^
and much is positively injurious, as besDg
likely either to excite a morbid and unna^-
tural action in the vessels, or even to bring
on rottenness and decay. Water is neces-
sary for seeds to induce them to germinate;
but much of it is very injurious to young
plants when they first come up, as it uIe^
settles their roots, and almost washes them
away. The roots, also, are at first too weak
to imbibe water ; and the plants feed on the
nourishment contained in the cotyledonaof
the seeds. It is when the second pair of
leaves has opened that water is required,
though it should at first be given sparingly.
When the plant begins to growvigorously^it
requires more food ; and if it be then kept too
short of nourishment, it becomes stunted in
its growth. The quantity of water requisite
also depends on the kind of leaves that the
plant unfolds. A plant with large broad

osikP^nx.] WAVBiUKCk 67

kavei, like the tobaoco^ requires twice as
much mter as a pla&t with amall pinnate
lfiave% like ad acacia. Plants eaq)08ed to a
strong ' lights also^ require more than [dants
grown in the diadew

27ie tone far watering phmU varies aecord-
ing to die season. In spring and autumn it
is best to water plants in the morning. But
in summer, the usual time is the evening;
while in winter, the very little that is re-
quited, should be given in the middle of the
daj. Many persons object to watering their
plants when the sun is upon them ; but this
iB not at all injurious, so long as the water is
not too cold, and is only given to the roots.
Watering the leaves when the sun is upon
them will make them blister, and become
•covered with pale brown spots wherever the
^ater has fallen. It is much better to water
plants during sunshine, than to suffer them
to become too dry ; as when the spongioles
are once withered, no art can restore them.
When {dants have been suffered to become
too dry, the ground should be loosened be-
fore watering it; and water should be given
a little at a time, and frequently, till the

f2

6» .IR^RPW* l^^^f.^

c|}l9jpt t^pteais tp hff^e recoFeted its ^^f^
:A{;i9eat;de«l ,o£,dx9 good j^oduc^ I); ^vnM^tT
iWg.d^pi9)i4^po.t^8ta^ the growd;.as
sQidiAp. tb^gtouod 19 fa^ aud cpjmpac^ it is
v€rj po^siUe to throw |t grc^ qtiantltj^^f
•<^jH(ear u{Haa it^mihoat doimg.mj.sernce, to
^h0|]$Wts,

rThjiimA^ tMter used shptddabo be^cooi;-
aidtired. The best is pond*wat^ ^ U ip
^ibemys mused moA air, apd is« oo^^effi^eif^
|(toeraUj4mpregnftt9d with decayed, aiiii^^
iwd vcjgetable matter ; and the WQrB.t is ^^
^jring'-wateii, as it is alwi^a cold, aii<}|jis.|f^-
dom impxegnated mth. air, or with anjtU^
JiM(t- some mineral substance, which^ so,^
ftoBi doing good, is positively, injurious to
^e .plants* Bain-water collected in op^^
^oist^ms, and river-water, are both vecy suit^
«iible ; ^and when only spring^water cao, 1^
vobtlEugaed,- it should be exposed fcnr some tin^
tc^tt)e^8(|r before using it. It is always ad-
«mabfe>to ^ve tiae water at least as warm 9b
4he {4^U3ts to be watered; and for this reason
*tfae water to be oised in; hot-houses acid
xgveenrhouses, is gencaraOy' kept in an op^
vessiel in the house some^houxs before- usiug.

Watering with wahn water i^ very effica-
cious in forwarding the flowering of plants,
^fhis was one of the things that was most
repngnant to my prejudices in the course
of my instruction in the art of gardening ;
tod when Mr. Loudon had some nearly
boiling hot-water poured on some boxes of
hyacinths that I was very anxious to have
brought forward, I coiild scarcely refrmn
from crying out when I saw the steam rising
up from the earth. The hyacinths, how-
ever, so far from being injured, flowered
spleiicKdly ; though such is the force of pre-
judice, that I could never see the little tiQ
vessel containing the heated water carried
c^t to them without a shudder*. The effect
of hot-water, not heated to above 200% in
forwarding bulbe is astonislung ;. hxp it mwt
be observed that it should never be poured
on the bulbs^ ox oq the leaver, but on the
earth near the rim of the pot. Hot watei?
is also very efficaeious in softening seeds with
hard coverings when soaked in it ; and som^
of the seeds of the New Holland iKnacias will
not vegetate in, this countiy till they have
been actoallj bqil^dL

'I

7€' '

• 4

CHAPTER IV.

MODES OF PBOPAGATION BY DIVISION, VIZ.
TARING OFF SUCKERS, MAKING LAYERS
AND CUTTINGS, BUDDING, GRAFTING, AND
INARCHING.

Properly speaking, there are only two modes
of propagating plants, viz. : by seed and by
division. The first raises a new individual,
resembling the plant that produced the seed,
as a child does its parent, but not perpetuat-
ing any accidental peculiarity; and the
second method multiplies Specimens of the
individual itself. Species are propagated by
seed, and new varieties are raised ; but va-
rieties are generally propagated by division,
as they do not always come true fi'om seed.
Propagation, by division, may be divided
into two kinds: — those in which tbe y6uhg

CRAP. IT

.J S1T0S^R& 71

plants root in the ground^ such as suckers^
layers^ and cuttings; and those in which they
are made to root in another plant, as in bud-*
ding, grafting, and inarching.

Stickers. — Sending up suckers, forming
ofisets, and throwing out runners, are all
natural ways of propagation that require
very little aid from the hand of man ; and if
all plants produced these, nothing more
would be required than to divide the off-
spring from the parent, and replant it in any
suitable soiL But only certain plants throw
up suckers, such as the rose, the raspberry,
jt)^^ lilac, the English elm, &c. Offsets are
/imiy formed on bulbs, and runners are only
^hrown out by strawberries, brambles, and a
£b.w. other plants ; and thus these modes of
.prop^ation are extremely Umited in prac-
tice. No plants produce suckers but those
that send out strong horizontal roots; and
,th^ sucker is in fact a bud from one of these
roots which has pushed its way up through
ibe soil, and become a stem. As this stem
igeQcrally forms fibrous roots of its own,
^,saj^y;f i^s. point of junction with the parent
\iK^^ it iiiSQr in most cases, when it is thought

^, bci^eyejr^ ^^ j^oi^»4imej»t' it ^em caop^ct
to . derly^ frqn^ il^. q^to : re^oux^es iritt Wja&
^Li^,inDph le§3 tbap.wbat it obtaiiied.ftom ita
jj^^nl^iJt is.cmitofpary^ iwben »fiB^€^i0.r&*
nxQvedt to. cut iu its head^ to pi^veat A»
eyapora^i^&om its leaves being gpe^te^ thaa
its., jroots can supply food lb|:» Som^iine^
when the parent is strongi pari of the hooit
zontal root to iwbich the sucker ^as aitn
tached is cut off and planted with the youag
ptent.

Suckers of another kind spring up from
the collar of the old plant, and when removed
are always slipped, or cut off, with the fibrous
roots that they may have made, attached*
Offsets are young bulbs which form by the
side of the old one, and merely require
breaking off5 and planting in rich light soil*
Runners are shootd springing fi^m the cnxim
or collar of the plant, which throw out roota
a| their joints; and which only require divide '
iug jGtqqx the parent plant and replanting in:
good soil to odake new plants.

Layers. — Many plants, when kept in a

v] nktnitB. 73

mbisiatiiioiid^rei haiingateiidetifcy to throw
out itMffs from their joints, the idea of milking
kiyccrs ' miiBt Imve reiy early occurred to
gftideners. Where the roots are thrown out
BBtoraDy, wherever a joint of the shoot
teaches the moist earth, (as is the case with
soine of die kinds of verbena, which only re-
({uire pegging down to make them form new
plants,) layers differ very little firom runners;
but layers, properly so called, are when the
an of the gardener has been employed to
make plants throw out roots when they
would not have done so naturally. The
most commcm method of doing this is to cut
half dxrough, and slit upwards, a shoot from
a gixywing plant, putting a bit of twig or pot-
sherd between the separated parts ; and then
to peg down the shoot, so as to buiy the
joint nearest to the wound in the earth;
when the returning sap, being arrested in its
progress to the main root, will accumulate at
the joint, to which it will afford such abun-
detnee of nourishment, as to induce it to throw
out a mass of fibrous roots, and to send up a
leading shoot

larraau [em An iv.

The only art required in layering is to
contrive the moat effectual means of inter-
rupting the returning sap, so as to produce as
great an accumulation of it as possible, at the
joint from which the roots are to be ^to-
duced. For this purpose, sometimes, instead
of cutting the branch half through, a ring
of bark is taken off, care being taken that
the knife does not penetrate into the wood ;

and at others a wire is twisted firmly round the
shoot, so as to pinch in the bark; or a knife
or any sharp instrument is passed through
the branch several times in different direo^
tions : in short, any thing th|it wounds, or in-
jures the shoot, so as to throw an impediment
in the* way of the returning sap, and yet not to
prevent the passage of the sap that is ascend-
ing, will suffice.

Layering is a very common mode of pro-
pagatmg plants: and in nurseries often eveiy
shoot of a tree or shrub is thus wounded and
pegged down. In this case, the central root
is called a stool, firom the verb, to stoky which
signifies the power most deciduous trees pos-
sess, of sending up new stems firom their
roots when cut down. The seasons for per-
forming the operation of layering are during
the months of February and March, before
the new sap begins to rise, or in June or
July after aQ the summer supply ofascendiz)g
6ap has risen; as at these seasons there is no
danger of injuring the tree by occasioning an
.overflow of the ascending sap, which some-
times takes place when the tree is wounded
inrhik the sap is in active motion. In most

76 €msMss^(j^m^^^tMji^rMi^tm. \ctuiHtv,

xd>wam^Wh.yfkij^fbb ikey ai*ie divided
Mmiihft p«r«riit^ j^bmtyiiif Oilier thiit they ^majr
beiMffiaioiily Bup^lied midx Toots. In nut*
aerieSj the ground is generally prepared round
each stool by dig^ng, and sometimes by
sugiuring; and the gardener piques himself
on layiiig down the branches neatly^ so as to
form a radiated circle round the stoo^ with the
ends rising all round about the s$me height.
Chtime : Tnode of Az^mi»^.— The Chinese
method of layering, which consists in wi^und*
itig a b«mch, «id then smroundmg ihe ^m
witlhr moist earth contained either in a flower-
pot or a basket^ is frequently adopted in the
continentii gardens; and it has the very
great advantage of producing a young tree
whick will flower and produce fruH while
yet of veiy small size. It is generaUy ap*'
plied 1^ cameUias, oradge-trees, and xnagno-
lias; bifit iit will do equally well fc^ almost
any othier tree or shrubs When a plant is to
be layered in thils manner, a ring of bark is
first taken o^, and then a flower-pot is pro-
cured, open on one side, so as to admit the
branch; and some moss being put at the

ItMova oi the Oower-^yoti ibisfUktd u[)'«^
vwthj, EiDd a {uece t^-voodtia.-fiaeeA iomde
^ pot before iIm i^m paitjlo pnevetet Uifl
earth from tUliog oaL It may be &Mmed

78 0UVT1NG& [cKAB.rr.

ia<J|ite .^fMe /by mres Jbang o^er a bsanchyor
$j|^9rted:by..foiui little . sftidBS^ tied fx) the
fHQit witbi stiingb" The earth should be very
JOgmt hcfo#e it k pat inta the pot> and if the
8eaaon.be dryy it may be re-moistened fo,m
ttme to time. When the layer is supposed to
have rooted, a cat or rather notch should be
fiiade in the branch below the pot, and after*
wards it may be cut off, and the young plant
traHslerred with its ball of earth entire to an*
other pot or the open ground. A simpler way
of performing this operation is using a piece
of lead instead of a flower-pot A modificatioa
of this plan was adopted by Baron Humboldt
in South America. He provided hiniBelf
with stripe of pitched cloth, with which he
bound moist earth round the branches of
several of the rare and curious trees he met
with, after first taking off a ring of bark ;. and
when he returned to the same place some
time after, he found rooted plants which he
brought to Europe.

Cuttings differ from layers in being re-
moved without roots from the parent tree ;
and as the current of the ascending sap is
stopped at once by this separation, they ge-

CHAV^sr.^ (HJ'JfTIMCHb 79

nerallj cequiie shadiiig, wbach layera* do ttot;
and fllsO) ocoasioDaUy, whatganl^MT^' cali
bottom heat, to induce Aem to thuow 6m
loots. The branohes most suitable ior mskv
ing cuttings are those which grow nearest to
the ground, especiall j those which redine on
it^ as they have always the greatest tendency
to throw out roots ; and the side dioots are
coosadered preferable to those which grow
erect at the upper part of the plant. The best
season &r making cuttings is siunmer, when
the sap is in full motion ; as the returning
8^ is then most likely to form the ring or
mass of accumulated matter from which the
Ibn&w roots are to spring. It has been already
mentioned under the head of layers, that it
is from the joints only that roots can be ex-
pected to grow; and, accordingly, in making
cuttings, the shoot is divided at a joint ; and
it is reckoned best to choose the joint at the
point of junction between the young wood
and the wood of the previous season. The
cut should be quite smooth ; as if the shoot
be bruised, the returning sap will not be able
to reach the joint in a sufficient quantity to
effect the desired end. Some plants are

80 OtnraSNOB. [cmAr.n.

madt nbwe cUfficult to etriie as cattings than
others; bat •ome, vaA aa the willow, the
cnmo roots

not <x put

of the re so

much and

in &cl ever

pirt n even

thej succeed best wbeo properlj prepared.

The cutting being takeu oflp, and the divi-
(don at thejoint being made perfectly smootfai
the greater part of the leaves should be cut
off close to the stem, with a sharp knife ;
and a hole being made in the soil, the cut-
ting should be put in, and the earth pressed
close to its extrenuty, or it will never strike
oat roots, lliis necessi^ of the part which
is to send out roots being fixed ilrmly in the
soil, has been already mentioned widi r^;ard
to seeds, transplanted trees, and layers ; and
this necessitv exists with equal or greater
force with regard to cuttings. When these
are made in a pot, the cutting will much
more readily strike (as gardeners call its
throwing out roots), if it rest i^aiost the side
of the pot, or even against the bottom.

CfWf-^T.] OOVBWOS^

(JjopKa cUrioion),

Cuttings may be struck in the open
ground, and in the common soil, without
any coveriog; but these cuttings are only of
those plants which strike readily. When
struck in pots, it is customary to fill the pots
half, or entirely fiill of silver sand, to prevent
the stalk of the cutting &om having too
much moisture round it Those cuttings
which are most liable to be injured by mois-
ture, such as heaths, &c., are struck in pots
filled entirely with sand ; but as there is do

CuUlBgmlUHiaBliiiuH H0S9saBeB,u
rati bi pitflni isio tbe gmnGU

CHAP. IV.] CUTTINQS, 83

nourishment to be derived from sand, most
cuttings do best with their lower end in
earth, and with only sand about an inch, or
two inches deep, at the top of the pot, to keep
the stem dry, and to prevent it from rotting.
The cutting, when prepared, should be bu-
ried to about the second joint, and two or
three joints with leaves should be left above
the soiL A few leaves to elaborate the sap
in the case of herbaceous plants, or evei^een
trees and shrubs, are essential; for I have
known very promising cuttings of petunias,
which had been some weeks in the ground,
and which had thrown out abundance of
roots, entirely destroyed by some snails
having eaten all the leaves ; and I am told
that the case is by no means an uncommon
one. Cuttings of delicate plants are gene-
rally covered with a bulb-glass pressed closely
on the earth, to keep a regular degree of mois-
ture round the plants, and to prevent too
rapid an evaporation ; but I have found cut-
tings thus treated very apt to damp off, and
have never succeeded in striking them, un-
less T took off the glass to wipe it, every day.
Cuttings of greenhouse plants, I have been

G 2

CHAP. IV.] SLIPS. 85

told by practical gardeners, strike best
when put into the pots as thickly as possi-
ble ; and as they are generally well watered
when first put in the ground, if cov^ed
with a close glass, they will firequently not
require any watering afterwards. As long
as they continue looking &esh, they are
doing well; and as soon as they begin to
grow they should be transplanted into small
thumb pots, and supplied moderately, but
regularly, with water ; changing the pots for
lai^r ones as the plants increase in size, and
according to their nature. Sometimes the
pots are sunk into a hot-bed, to induce the
cuttings to take root, and this is called
applying bottom heat; and sometimes one
flower-pot is placed within another a size
or two lai^er, and the outer one filled with
water. All these expedients are more or
less efficacious ; and the great object with all
of them, is to excite and stimulate the plant.
Slips. — When cuttings are made of the
shoots fi:om the root or collar of the plant, or
of little branches stripped off with a small
portion of the root or stem attached, they
are called slips ; and they require no other

86 PWOTU8. [cBAP.tT.

prejiaratioa tbon cutting off the ptntioa of
bn-k smooth and cloae to the shoot. SUps
M» generally taken off in March, but they
iritl abo succeed if made in antumn. Cnt-
tiog^ of succulent plants, such as of the dif-
ferent kinds of cacti, require to be dried
for some time after they are made, by
placing them on a (dielf in the sun. TliiB is
done to prevent a waste of the retnming
tap ; which, in pluits of this kind, is very
abundant, and in a very liquid state.

Ptpixgs are cuttingti of
pinks and carnations, and
indeed are applicable to all
plants having jointed tubu-
lar stems. They are pre-
pared by taking a shoot
that has nearly done grow-
ing, and holding the root
end of it in one hand, be-
low a pur of leaves, and
with the other pulling the
top part above the pair of
leaves, so as to separate it
from the root-part of the
stem at the socket formed

CHAT. XY

.] BUODXKO. 87

by the axils of the leaves, leaving the part of
the stem pulled ofiP with a tubular or pipe^Uke
termination. Hence the name of pipings ;
and when thus separated, they are inserted in
finely sifted earth or sand^ and a hand«>glas8
is fixed firmly over them. Most florists cut
ofi^ the tips of the leaves of pipings, but
others plant them entire; and the pipings
grow apparendy equally well under both
modes of treatment.

The principal points to be attended to in
making cuttings are, to cut off the shoot at
a joint, without bruising the stem ; to make
the cutting at a time when the sap is in
motion ; to fix the end which is to send out
roots, firmly in the soil ; to keep it in an
equal temperature both as regards heat and
moisture ; to cut off part of the leaves, and
to shade the whole, so as to prevent too
much evaporation, without excluding the
light, which is wanted to stimulate the
plant; to keep the soil moist, but not too
damp; and to pot off the young plants as
soon as they begm to grow.

Budding has been compared to sowing a
seed; but it may rather be considered as

88 BUBDISra. [chap. it.

mafcing^a cutting with a single eye^ and in-
serting itin another tree> called the stock, in-
stead of in the ground. A young shoot of
the cunent year's wood is cut off in the latter
end of July or August, or perhaps, if the
season should be very moist, the first week
in September; and incisions are made lon-
gitudinally and across, on each side, above
and below a bud, so that the bud may be
cut out, attached to an oblong piece of wood
and bark, pointed at the lower end. The
leaf is then taken off, but the footstalk is
left on.

The next thing is to separate the bark
with the bud attached from the wood ; and
on the nicety of this operation much de-
pends, as if any wood be left in the bark the
bud will not take ; generally, however, if the
sap is in a proper state of movement, the
wood comes out easily, without leaving the
smallest particle behind. The bud must be
then examined below, that is, on the side
that was next the wood ; and if it appears
fresh and firm it is likely to take, but if it
looks shrunk and withered it had better be
thrown away, as it will never grow. Slits

CHAP. IV.

] BUDDora. 89

longitudinal andaeross ave^^^n tasde in a
shoot of the stocky geoeraiify mear' the ferk of
a branch ; and the baik is g«titly raised bjyr
the handle of the budding knife/ which is
purposely made thin and flat, while the piece
of bark to which the bnd is attached is dip*
ped into the opening, and the batk of the
stock closed over it This is an operation
that requires the greatest nicety and exact-
ness; as unless the inner bark of the bud fits
quite closely to the soft wood of the stock, it
is in vain to hope that it will take. The
operation is then completed by binding the
two parts together with a strand or strip of
bast mat, which in the case of rose trees is
quite sufficient; but buds on apple and pear
trees are sometimes wrapped round with wet
moss, which is tied on by shreds of bast
matting. In all cases, the strips of bast
should be left long enough to be tied with
bows and ends, that the ligature may be
loosened and tied again without deranging
the position of the bud as soon as it begins
to grow. The first sign of the bud having
taken, as it is called, is when the petiole of
the leaf (that was left on when the leaf itself

was cut off,) drops, on being vety sli^tly
touched nith the finger; but the ligature
should not be loosened till the bud begins to
throw out leaves; and then it should be re-
tied only a little slacker than before, until the
bud is fimdy united with the stock.

Budding, though sometimes used for ^>-
ples and pears, when the spring grafte have
tuled, is most commonly applied to roses : it
is, however, occasionally used &r inserting

CHAP. IV.] BUDDING. 91

eyes in the tuben of the dahlia. It some-
times happens that a large portion of a
dahlia-root is found to be entirely devoid of
buds, or as the gardeners call them, eyes;
and when this is the case, in whatever soil
the root may be planted, it will never send
up a stem. Other dahlia tubers, on the
contrary, may be found full of buds ; and
when this is the case, one of them is scooped
out, and a corresponding hole being made in
the barren tuber to receive it, the bud is
fitted in, and the point of junction covered
with grafting wax. The tuber must then be
planted in a pot with the budded part above
the soil ; and the pot plunged into a hot-bed
till the bud begins to push, when the tuber
may be planted out into the open ground.

What is called flute-grafting, is in fact, a
kind of budding; as it consists in taking a
ring of bark, on which there is a bud, off a
shoot ; and. then supplying its place with a
ring of bark, with a bud attached, fi'om
another tree: placing the suppositious bud
as nearly as possible in the position of the
true bud. Sometimes, however, this is not
thought necessary ; and the ring of bark is

92

BUDDINa.

[

CHAP. IV.

taken from any part of the stock;
though it is always replaced by a
ring of bark containing a bud from '
the scion. There are many other
kinds of budding, but as the prin-
ciples are the same in all, it is not
necessary to detail them here. The
blade of the budding knife should
curve outwards, to lessen the dan-
ger of wounding the wood when
making the incisions.

The principal points to be attended
to in buddinff, are; to choose a fresh
healthy bud; to separate the bark
to which it is attached without
wounding it, quite cleanly from the
wood; to make a clear incision
through the bark of the stock, and
to raise it without wounding it from
the wood; to press the bark con-
taining the bud, closely to the wood
of the stock so that no air can re-
main between them ; and to per-
form the operation in moist weather,
not earlier than the last week in
July, nor later than the first week

II !

I

CHAP. IV

.] BUDDING. 93

in September. Of these points the most
important are the joining closely the bark of
the bud to the wood of the stock, and the
performing the operation in moist, or at
least in cloudy weather ; and if these are at-
tended to there is little doubt of success.
When the young shoot begins to grow, it is
usoal to shorten the branches of the stock,
so as to throw the whole vigour of the tree
into the bud. It is singular to observe that
even when the operation is most successful,
no intimate union takes place between the
bud and the stock : they grow firmly together,
but they do not incorporate, and the point
of union may always be distinctly traced.

It must always be remembered that a
plant can only be budded on another plant
of the same nature as itself; thus a peach
may be budded on a plum, as they are both
stone firuits, and both belong to the same
section of the natural order Rosacese ; but a
peach can neither be budded on a walnut,
which belongs to another natural order, nor
even on an apple or a pear, both of which,
though belonging to the order Rosaceae, are
kemeled firuits, and are included in another
section.

CHAP. nr.

<94 GRJlFTIKG. [(

Grc^ng differs from budding in its being
the transfer of a shoot ^th seyeral bads on
it, from one tree to another, instead of only
a single bod; and as budding has been com*
pared to sowing seeds, so has grafting to
making cuttings. The art of grafting conBlsiB
m bringing two portions of growing shoots
together, so that the liber, or soft wood of two
may unite and grow together; and the same
general principles apply to it as to budding.
There are above fifty modes of grafting de»
scribed in books, but only three or four are
in common use.

In all kinds of grafting the shoot to be
* transferred is called the scion, and the tree
that is to receive it is called the stodk ; and
it is always desirable, not only that the kinds
to be united should be of the same genu^ or
at least of the same natural family, but that
they should agree as closely as possible in
their time of leafing, in the duration of their
leaves, and in their habits of growth. This
is conformable to common sense; as it is
quite obvious that unless the root send up a
supply of sap at the time the leaves want it,
and only then, the graft must suffer either

CKAP* lY.

'.] ORAFTIKO. 95

from famine or repletion. For this teason, a
decidooas plant cannot be grafted on an ever*
green, and the reverse. The necessity of a
conformity in the habit of growth, is strike
ingly disjdayed in Mr. Loudon's Arboretum
Brkannicum, in a flowering ash grafted
on a common ash ; by which it is shown,
that an architectural column with its plinth
and ci^ital may be fonned in a living tree,
where there is a decided difference in the
growth of the stock and the scion.

These examples show that no intimate
union takes place between the scion and the
stock; and the fact is, that though they
grow together and draw their nourishment
from the same root, they are in every other
respect perfectly distinct The stock wiH
bear its own leaves, flowers, and fruit, on
the part below the graft ; while the scion is
bearing its leaves, flowers, and fruit which
are widely difierent, on the part above the
graft. Nay, five or six grafts of different
species on the same tree, will each bear a
different kind of fruit at the same time. This
want of amalgamation between the scion and
Ae stock is particularly visible in cases of

96 GRAFTING. [chap. iv.

severe frost, when the former is more tender
than the latter; a» the graft is frequently
killed without; th^ stock beipg injured. It is
also nepessary when grafted, tre^s are for any
reason, cut dowiij, to leave a portion above
the graft for the i^ew shoQts to spring from ;
as otherwise the proprietor will find his trees
changed as if by magic, and instead of choice
kinds only the common sorts left* A rather
droll instance of this happened some years
ago, in the neighbourhood of London ; . an
ignorant gardener having a conservatory ftdl
of very choice Camellias, and wishing to
reduce the plants to a more compact shape;
cut them down for that purpose; when in
due time he found, to his great conftision
and dismay, that the choice CamelliAS had
all vanished, and that he had nothing left
but a number of plants of the common single
red on which they had been grafted.

The proper season for grafiing is in spring,
generally in March and April; in order that
the union between the scion and the stock
may be effected when the s^ is in ftill
vigour. At this season a stock is chosen
of nearly the same diameter as the scion,

CHAP. lY.

.] ORAFTINO. 97

*

whether that stock be k young tre^, or merely
a branch; and they are both cut so as to
fit each other. One piece is then fitted on
the other as exactly as possible ; and if prac-
ticable, it is contrived that the different
parts^ such as the bark, soft wood, and hard
wood of the one, may rest on the correspond-
ing parts of the other ; and on the exactness
with which this is done, the neatness of ap-
pearance in the graft depends. It is not,
however, essential to the success 'of the
operation that all the parts of the scion
should fit exactly on th^ corresponding parts
of the stock, or even that the two trees
should be of the same diameter, for if the
bark and the soft wood correspond in any
one point so as to unite, it is sufficient to
make the graft take. As soon as the scion
and the stock are properly fitted to each
other, the parts are neatly bound together
with a strand of bast mat steeped in water to
make it flexible; and the bast is covered
with a composition called grafting clay,
which is put on to keep the absorbent ves-
sels of the wounded parts moist, and capable
of the alternate contractions and dilations

&8 CRAFTING. [chap. iv.

which wiU be netoessaiy during the passage
t>f the ascending and returning sap between
tixe stock and the graft. These directions
apply alike to all kinds of grafting ; and the
difference between the sorts refers princi*-
pally to the manner in which the cotte*
sponding parts are cut to fit each other.

Whip cr Tongne Grafting is where both
the stock and the scion Bxe cut in a slanting
direction so as to fit each other, and a little
slit is made in the stock into which a tongue
or projecting part cut in the scion fit&
The head of the scion is then cut off in a
slanting direction, slanting upwards from the
part cut to receive the scion, and the two
are bound closely together with a strand of
bast mat, or wrapped in moss, and then co-
vered with grafting clay. The part left on
the stock in a slanting direction above die
graft withers, and is cut off when the graft
has taken. This is the kind of grafting ge-
nerally practised in nurseries, and it is the
'most useful, as it does not require the scion
and the stock to be of the same size.

Peg Grafting is an old method seldom
practised now ; according to it, the bark at

^

» moda of Whip « ToniBs OnNag.

100 GBAFTING. [chap. iy.

the extremity of the scion is cut through,
and the central wood shaped like a peg; a
hole is then bored in the stock to receive the
scion, and when the one is inserted in the
other, the bark of the two is brought together,
so as to make but a very slight scar.

Cleft Grafting is where the scion is shaped
at the extremity like a wedge, and a cleft is
made in the stock to receive it. When this
kind of grafting is practised with trees and
shrubs, the head of the stock is cut off; but
a modification of it is practised with succu-
lent plants, in which the end of the graft
having been cut into the shape of a wedge,
is inserted into a cleft made in the side of
the stock to receive it, and the line of junc-
tion is covered with grafting wax. The
tubers of strong common dahlias may be
grafted in the cleft manner with choice sorts,
as may the tubers of the herbaceous paeonies
with scions of the tree-paeony. This last is
very useful, as cuttings of the Pseonia Mou-
tan remain weak for several years, while
roots grafted in July or August will flower
the following spring.

Crown Grafting resembles the last kind in

CHAP. IT.] ORAFTINQ. 101

requiring the head of the stock to be cut off,
but the scion is shaped at the extremity like
a wedge flattened on one side, and it is
pushed in be^een the bark and wood of the
stock, with its flat side next the wood, till it
is stopped by a shoulder with which it is
provided to prevent it going in too &r. In
Saddle Grafting the head of the stock is cut
ofi^, and the extremity of the trunk is shaped
like a long wedge ; a long slit is then made
in the scion, and the divided parts are made
to stand astride on the stock. The bark is
then pared off at the extremity, so that the
two parts may fit quite close ; and a firm
ligature is applied.

Herbcuieous Grafting is very badly named,
as it gives the idea of its being a kind
of grafting applied to herbaceous plants;
whereas, in fact, it only means grafting with
the brittle wood of the current year, in
opposition to common grafting, which is
always performed with firm wood, firequently
of several years' growth* Herbaceous graft-*
ing is now generally used for trees of the
pine and fir tribe, which, only a few years
ago, it was thought impossible to graft at all.

102 osafuno. [gbap. it.

The proper tixne tor this knid of graftmg is
when the jonng pine -shoots have made
about three parts of their growth^ and are
lE^ so herbaceous as to break readil j between
the fingers^ like a shoot of asparagus. The
shoot of the stock is then broken off about
two inches below the point, and all the
leaves stripped off for nearly two inches
more, except two sheaths of leares, whidi
are left, one on each side, close to the top.
The shoot is then split with a very thin
knife between the sheaths of leaves left on,
and the scion, having had its lower extremity
prepared by stripping off the leaves, and
cutting it into the shape of a wedge^ is
inserted as in cleft grafting, and the parts
are bound together with list, or with a strip
of thin woollen cloth. A cone of paper is
then put over the whole to protect it from
the sun and rain, and the graft is very
seldom found to fail. Sometimes this kind
of grafting is applied to annual plants. The
period chosen should be when the plant is in
its greatest vigour, and is just going into
flower. The flower stem is then cut off
close to a lea£ and a slit is made in the stem

CHAP. IV.'] QBAFTING, 103

downwards. The scion is then taken off
nemr the root of the plant, and the end
being cut into a wedge^shape, is inserted in
the sUt. The wound is then bound up with
strips of cloth spread with grafting wax, and
the leaf taken great car^ of. When the
graft begins to grow, this leaf and all the
shoots below it are removed. In this manner
artichokes have been grafted on cardoons,
and cauliflowers on cabbages with great
success. Tomatoes have also been grafted
on potatoes in this manner, the potatoes
perfecting their tubers, and the tomatoes
their fruit, at the same time ; and it is said
that the ripening of the latter was much
accelerated. This mode of grafting was
invented by the Baron Tschoudy, a gentle-
man residing at Metz, and the principal
point in it which requires attention, is the
preserving a lea^ or two leaves, at the ex-
tremity of the stock, to serve as nurses to
the graft.

Inarching t or Chrafting by Approach* — .
Though I have left this till last, it is in fact
the most sioiple of all ways of grafting, and
it is certainly the only one practised by

104

OBAFTENO.

[

CRAP. IV.

nature. In a natural forest, two branches
rub against each other in windy weather, till
the bark of both becomes wounded ; a cahn
ensues, and, while it lasts, the wounded
branches lying across each other adhere and
grow together. Of this, which is called inos-

Stock and Scion pvepared for Inarching.

culation, examples in the beech, the horn-
beam, and the oak, are given in Mr. Loudon's
Arh Brit ; and it is probable that mankind de-
rived the first idea of grafting fi-om observmg
instances of this kind. Inarching, as prac-
tised in nurseries, closely resembles layering.
A branch is bent and partly cut through,
and the heel thus formed is slipped into a

106 GRAFTING. [chap. iv.

slit made downwards in the stock to receive
it. The parts are then made to meet as
exactly as possible, and are bound together
with bast mat, and covered with grafting
clay, as in common grafting. In five or six
months the union will be complete ; and the
inarched plant will be ready to be separated
from the parent, which is done with a very
sharp knife, so as to leave a clean cut, and
not a bruised one. The head of the stock,
if it was left on when the plant was inarched,
is then cut away, and the plant is ready for
removal It is, however, customary to keep
on the grafting clay and ligature for a few
weeks, till the plant is firmly established.
This mode of propagation is very commonly
practised with Camellias and Magnolias;
and it is usual in nurseries to see a fine new
kind of Camellia surrounded by a sort of
frame, on which are several pots of stocks of
the single red, placed at different heights for
the convenience of attaching to them different
branches of the choice kind, to undei^o the
process of inarching. In most of these cases
the head of the stock is retained, and the
scion introduced at the side ; but as soon as

CHAP. !▼.] GRAFTINO. 107

the graft has takeo, and has thrown out a
sufficient number of leaves to carry on the
elaboration of the sap^ all the branches of the
original plant above the graft are cut away
to strengthen the inarched one.

Grafting clay and grafting umx have been
so frequently mentioned in the various ope-
rations of graftmg and budding, that it
seems necessary to say a few words on their
composition. Common grafting clay is made
with any kind pf stiff clay mixed with a
fourth part of fresh horse-dung free from
litter, and a portion of cut hay; a little
water is sprinkled on the mass, and the
whole is beaten several times a day for a
week together, till the ingredients are tho-
roughly amalgamated. The common French
grafting clay, or Onguent de Ste Fiacre, is
composed of equal parts of stiff clay and
cow -dung; but a superior kind, recom-
mended by M. De Candolle, is composed of
one pound of cow-dung^ half a pound of
pitch, and half a pound of yellow wax.
Grafting wax is generally made of equal
parts of turpentine, bees'-wax, and resin,
with a little tallow, melted together, and

108 GfiAFTma. [chap. IV.

thoroughly incorporated. This is thinly
spread on cotton cloth^ and used in strips
like cerecloth. In grafting trees with soft
and delicate bark^ fine moss and cotton wool,
tied on with ligatures of bast mat, are better
than anything else, and they are quite suf-
ficient for every purpose for which grafting
clay can be required for ladies. A new
composition has been lately invented, made
with caoutchouc, which is said to be very
efficacious, but I have nevfer seen it tried.

The essential points to be attended to in
grafting are choosing a stock and a scion
that correspond in nature and in habits of
growth ; cutting the parts to be united so as
to fit exactiy and leave no vacuity between ;
taking care that the soft wood of the scion
shall always rest on the soft wood of the
stock, as it is between these parts that the
union is to be effected; binding the parts
closely together, and covering them so as to
prevent them from becoming so dry as to
shrink apart, in which case the vessels would
wither and become incapable of uniting.

Uses of Grafting and Budding, The ob-
vious use of grafting is to propagate varieties

CHAP. IT

.] GRAFTING. 109

that cannot so easily be continued by seed,
and that y/iW not strike by cuttings. There
is^ however, another use nearly as important ;
and this is to make plants flower and fruit
sooner than they would otherwise do. There
are many plants that only flower at the ex-
tremity of their shoots; and these plants,
when tender, would require enormous plant-
houses before they would be thrown into
flower or fruit. To remedy this inconveni-
ence, a method has been devised of cutting
oflF the tips of the shoots and grafting them ;
and then, after they have grown for some
time, cutting ofi^ the tips again and regrafting
them, by means of which flowers are at
length produced on plants of quite a small
size. The same method is applied in Paris
to rare fruit-trees to throw them into fruit ;
and it has been tried with success with the
rose-apple (Eugenia Jambos), the mango,
&c. In common nurseries, the fruit of new
seedling apples is obtained much sooner by
grafting than by leaving the plant to nature ;
and this plan is also practised at Brussels by
Pro£ Van Mons, to test his seedling-pears.

110

CHAPTER V.

PRUKINO, TRAINING^ PROTECTING FROH FROST,
AND DESTROYING IN^CTS.

Prumng appears, at first sight, a most la-
borioas and unfeminine occapadon; and
yet perhaps there is no op^ation of garden-
ing which a lady may more easily accom-
plish. With the aid of a small, and almost
elegant pair of pruning shears, which I pro-
cured fi-om Mr. Forrest, of Kensington
Nursery, I have myself (though few women
have less strength of wrist) divided branches
that a strong man could scarcely cut through
with a knife. The only thing to be at-
tended to is to choose a pair of pruning
shears with a sliding joints so as to make
what is called a draw-cut ; in order that the

CHAP. T.] FRUNIKGk 111

branch may be divided by a clean cut, and
not bruised on the side next the plant, and
also to leave a somewhat sloping section.
When a branch is pruned, it should also be
cut as near to a bud as can be done without
injuring the bud itself; or, to speak more
definitely, not more in length than the
branch is thick dbould be left beyond the
bud. The cut should slope downwards
from tibe bud to prevent the water lodging
in the angle ; and also that the sun and air
may have their full influence in exciting the
bark to cover the wound. When a long
piece of branch, or what gardeners call a
snag, is left beyond the bud, it withers, from
there being no leaves beyond it to carry on
the circulation of the sap; and it thus not
only becomes a deformity, but very often
seriously injures the tree by rotting, and
infecting the fruit-bearing branch to which
it is attached.

According to the usual method of pruning
with a knife, the gardener holds the branch
in his left hand, below the part that is to be
removed ; and then, holding the knife firmly
with the thumb at the back of the blade, he

112 PRUNING. [chap. Y.

makes a strong cut upwards^ and
from him, so as to remove the
branch with a single stroke, and
to leave a slanting section. This
operation, however, requiring
strength as well as skill, it will
generally be safer for a lady to
keep to her pruning shears, a
pair of which may be bought for
7^. 6d.f and which will be suffi-
cient to cut through the largest
branch that a lady would be able
to remove; or to use a pair of
garden scissors fixed to a pole
which may be lengthened or
taken to pieces like a fishing-rod.
The scissors are strong and sharp,
and are made to act by means of
a long cord, which passes through
rings down the side of the pole.
The principal use of these scissors
is to remove dead roses, &c., but
they will also cut off a branch of
dead wood, &c. When a gar-
dener wishes to remove a large
branch, he first cuts a notch out

CHAF. T.

^] PllUNINO. 113

of it on each side, and then with his pruning
knife, or a small saw, he divides the di-
minished space* In all cases, the great art
of pruning consists in making a clean sharp
cut, so as to leave the bark in a healthy
state to make an e£Fort to cover over the
wound, and in pruning sufficiently near a
bud not to leave any dead wood.

The time for pruning is either early in
spring, after all danger is over from frost,
but before the sap has begun to move ; or in
wmter, after the movement of the sap for the
summer has ceased. Summer pruning is
also necessary with some trees; but, gene-
rally speaking, it should be confined to
rubbing off all buds which would produce
unnecessaiy shoots, as soon as they appear.
This operation is called disbudding, and it is
highly efficacious in sparing the strength of
the tree. The points of those shoots which
appear to be running too much to wood,
should also be pinched off; or every leaf
may be taken off them as it appears, which
will exhaust the superfluous strength of the
tree ; and the shoots which will produce no
buds for want of leaves, may be removed in

I

114 FBUNINQ. £oHAP. T.

the winter pninmg. The vine is very apt to
bleed when pruning has been delayed too
late ; and in veiy strong vigorous plants, the
ascending sap sometimes drops firom the
branches like rain. The French very poeti-
cally call these drops the tears of the vine.

The uses to which prunmff is applied are
various ; but most commonly it is intended
either to improve the form of the tree, (mt to
make it bear more flowers and fruit than it
otherwise would do: it is also used for re*
moving diseased or broken branches; and,
in cases of transplanting, for proportioning
the head to the rods.

Prunxng to improoe the form of a tree in
pleasure-ground^ is only required in those
cases where trees have grown under unfa-
vourable circumstances, and where they have
been too much drawn up, or distorted in any
manner: but in useful plantations it is neces-
sary to prepare trees for the purposes for
which they are intended. Thus, for exam-
^, a tiree intended for timber, should have
its side-branches taken off while they are
quite young, in order that the wounds may
soon heal over, and not leave loose knots to

CHAP.T.] FRUNIKa« 115

weaken or (fisfigure the wood ; while a tree
intended for a screen should be allowed
ample space for its branches to spread from
the ground upwards, and then they should
only be shortened at their extremities, to
make them throw out short branches near
the tree. In pleasure-grounds the principal
object is generally either to preserve the
shape of the tree or shrub, so that it may
form an agreeable object on a lawn; or to
let it combine in a group with others, either
for ornament, or to serve as a screen or
shelter. In the first case, it is obvious that
.no pruning is requisite, but to remove dead,
diseased, or unsightly branches ; and in the
second, the pruning must depend upon the
shape the tree is required to take to group
well vrith the others planted near it.

Pruning to produce flowers or fruit has in
view two objects: first, to cut ofi^ all super-
fluous wood, so as to throw the strength of
the tree into the fiiiit-bearing branches ; and
secondly, to admit the sun and air into the
interior of the tree to ripen and strengthen
the wood. In both cases the attention of
the pruner must be directed to thinning out

i2

116 vwuxma, [chap. ▼.

weak and crowded shoots ; and to keeping
both the sides of the tree well balanced^ . i|i
order that the ckculalion of the sap may .be
equal throughout. . This will preserve ibjt
general health of the tree, at the same time
that it throws dbe sap mto the proper chan-
nels;, and the fruit ¥itill be produced in aa
much abundance as can be done without
injuring the tree. It should never be forr
gotten, that to effect permanent improver
ments, nature should be aided,^ not ov^fv
strained ; and that all extraordinary exertiopis
are succeeded by a period of feebleness 4^
languor ; or, if the exertion be continued, too
long, by death. Thus, all cases, of pruning
and training to produce fruit, should nev^
be pushed too far : as though, by occasioning
an extraordinary deposit df the returning sap
in some particular part, that part may be
forced into fruit, the unnatural deposit can-
not fail in the end to engender disease.

. Sometimes . a tree, from being supplied
with more food than it can digest, or. from
some other cause, has a tendency to prodiKHe
what the English gardeners call water-shooi^,
aod which the French call gourmands*

CHAP. ▼.] PRtTNINO. 117

These are strongs vigorous-growing branches^
which are sent up from the main trunk of
the tree, but which do not produce either
flowers or fruit ; and which, consequently, if
the tree be full of wood, should be removed
as soon as their true character is discovered.
H, however, the tree have too little wood in
the centre, or if it appear exhausted by too
much bearing, these branches should be
spared, as they will serve admirably both to
fill up any blanks that may have been left in
the training, and to strengthen the trunks
and roots by the quantity of rich returning
sap, which they will send down from their
numerous leaves. A certain quantity of
leaves and barren branches are essential to
the health of every tree; and the fruit-
grower who consults his own interest, should
cherish them instead of grudgii^ the sap
required for their support Whenever there
is not a sufBcient quantity of leaves to elabo-
rate the sap, the fruit that ought to have
been nourished by its rich juices, becomes
flaccid and insipid; its skin grows tough
instead of crisp; and if the deprivation of
leaves has been carried to excess, the fruit

118 TRAINING. [<

CHAP. V.

never ripens, but withers prematurely, and
falls off. Pruning, at the best, is a violent
remedy ; and, like all other violent remedies,
if carried further than is absolutely necessaiy,
it generally ends by destroying.

Training is intimately connected with
pruning, and like it should always be used
with caution. A trained tree is a most
unnatural object ; and whatever care may be
taken of it, there can be no doubt that train-
ing shortens its life by many years. The
principal object of training is to produce
from a certain number of branches a greater
quantity of fruit or flowers than would grow
on them if the plant were left in a natural
state ; and this is effected by spreading and
bending the branches, so as to form numerous
depositions of the returning sap, aided, where
the plant is trained against the wall, by the
shelter and reflected heat which the wall
affords. Thus the points to be attended to
by the gardener in training are the covering
of the wall, so that no part of it may be lost;
the bending of the branches backwards and
forwards, so that they may form numerous
deposits of the returning sap; and the fiiU

cttA». v.] TBAiKnro. 119

exposure of the finit-bearing brandbes to the
dim' and air. For thetie purposes the gardeoer
diortens the long shoots, to make them throw
(m side-branches, with which he covers his
walls, never suffering them to cross each
other, but letting each be as much exposed
to the influence of the air and light as is
consistent with a necessary quantity of leaves;
lold he bends them in difierent directions to
throw them into firuit These general prin-
ciples are common to all fruit-trees, but of
eook^ they must be modified to suit the
hubits of the different kinds. Thus, for
example, some trees, such as the fig and the
^pMnegranate, only bear on the extremities of
kheir shoots; and, consequently, if their shoots
were continually shortened, these trees would
never bear at all ; other trees, such as the
a^le and the pear, bear their fruit on shoirt
projecting branches, called spurs ; and others
at intervals on nearly all the branches, and
^jlose to the wall. All these habits diould be
known to the gardener, and the modes of
'training adopted which will be suitable to
HBetu Training flowers should also be regu-
lafted by a knowledge of the habits of the

120 TRAINING. [chap. v.

plants; but it consists principally in checking
their over-luxuriance of growth, and tying
them to stakes or wooden frames. In all
kinds of training, neatness is essentially re-
quisite, and any departure from it is exceed-
ingly offensive. Where the hand of art is so
evident as it is in training, we require exces-
sive neatness to make us amends for the loss
of the graceful luxuriance of nature.

The operation of training against a wall is
performed by the aid of nails and shreds;
the shreds being narrow oblong pieces of list
or cloth, put round the branches, and attached
to the wall by nails driven in with a hammer.
Care should be taken that the pieces of list
are long enough to allow of the free passage
of the sap, and yet not so long as to permit
the branch to be so agitated by the wind as
to bruise itself against the wall. The nails
should also never be driven in so as to wound
or corrode the bark; and when driving in
the nails, the gardener should be very care-
ful not to bruise the branch with his hammer.
The shreds should be broad enough not to
cut the bark, and yet not so broad as to
cover the buds ; and they should, as much

CHAP, v.] PROTECTINO FROM FROST. 121

as possible^ be of some unifonn and dark
colour. As few shreds should be used as are
sufficient to attain the end in view; but
these should be very firmly attached, as no-
thing gives a more gloomy picture of misery
and desolation in a garden, than trees that
once were trained, having become detached,
and hanging drooping from the walL Some-
times wires are fastened to walls, to which
the plants are tied with strands of bast mat ;
the strand, after it is put round the branch,
and the wire being gently twisted between the
finger and thumb, in order that it may make
a firm knot without tearing or weakening the
ligament Climbing shrubs are tied to the
pillars of a verandah, or to trellis work, in
the same manner; as are also flowers to
sticks, or slight wooden or wire firames, with
the exception that, in their case, the bast
does not require twisting.

Protectinff from frost is an essential part of
culture to a lady gardener, particularly in so
uncertain a climate as that of England. Not
only the blossoms of peaches and nectarines,
and those of other early flowering fruit-trees,
are liable to be injured by the spring firosts ;

122 PBOTECTING FROM FROSTS, [chap. v.

but those of the tree paeony, and other beau-
tiful shrubs, are firequently destroyed by
them; and, unfortunately, many of the
modes of protection, by knocking off and
bruisiag the blossoms, are almost as injurious
as the frosts that they are intended to guard
against. Twisting a straw-rope round the
trunk of the tree, and putting its ends into a
bucket of water, is certainly a simple method,
and it has been recomn^ended as a very effi-
cacious one. When a mat is used to protect
wall trees, it does perhaps least injury to the
blossoms, when curtain rings are sewed to its
upper end, and it is hung by these on hold-
fasts, or lai^e hooks, driven into the upper
part of the wall. To make it more secure, par-
ticularly in windy weather, it may be tied on
the sides with bast to nails driven into the wall;
and a broad moveable wooden coping should
rest on the hold-fasts, and cover the space
between the mat and the wall, to prevent
injury from what are called perpendicular
frosts. Camellias and many half-hardy
shrubs may be protected by laying straw or
litter round the roots ; as the severest frosts
seldom penetrate more than a few inches into

CHAP, v.] DESTROYING INSECTS. 123

the ground. Even in the severe winter of
1 837-89 the ground was not frozen at the
depth of ten inches. Tree pseonies^ and other
tender shrubs, that are in a growing state,
very early in the spring, may be protected
by coverings of basket work, which are suffi-
ciently large and light to be lifted off in fine
days. Hand and bell glasses, sea-kale pots,
and wooden frames covered with oiled paper
are all useful for protecting small plants.

Insects^ and Snails and Slugs are the terror
of all gardeners; and the destruction they
effect in some seasons in small gardens is
almost beyond the bounds of credibility.
Birds do comparatively little injury, and in-
deed all the soft-billed kinds (which fortu-
nately include most of the sweetest songsters)
do good. The willow and common wrens,
the blackcap, the nightingale, the redstart,
all the warblers and fly-catchers, the swal*-
lows and martins, the wagtails, the wryneck,
the tomtit, the fern owl or night jar, and
many others, live almost entirely on insects,
and destroy great numbers every year : while
the blackbird and the thrush, the robin and
the sparrows, though they devour a portion

124 DESTROTING INSECTS. Lchap.v.

of the finite destroy insects also. All birds
may indeed be safely encouraged in small
gardens near towns^ as they will do much
more good than injury ; and a few cherries
and currants are a cheap price to pay for
their delightful songs.

As it is the larvsB only of insects^ with very
few exceptions, that do injury to vegetation,
many persons never think of destroying
them in any other state; forgetting that
every butterfly that we see fluttering about
may lay thousands of eggs, and that if we
wait till these eggs have become caterpillars,
irreparable mischief will be done to our
plants before they can possibly be. destroyed.
Whenever a butterfly is seen quietly sitting
on the branch of a tree, in the daytime, it
will generally be found to be a female, that
either just has laid, or what is more prob-
able, is just about to lay her e^s. As soon
as the eggs are laid, the butterfly generally
dies ; and where dead butterflies are found,
search should always be made for their eggs.
In summer, a little oblong chrysaUs, the
colour of which is yellow, with black bands,
will frequently be found hanging from the

CHAP, v.] BESTBOTING IXSECTS. 125

gooseberry-bushes ; and whenever it is seen
it should be destroyed. This chrysalis is
the pupa of the magpie moth^ the caterpillar
of which frequently strips the gooseberry-
bushes of all their leaves in spring, and thus
renders their fruit worthless in summer. The
lackey caterpillar is another very destructive
insect* These creatures, which are curiously
striped, like the tags on a footman's shoulder,
(whence their name,) assemble together in
great numbers, and covering themselves with
a web, completely devour the epidermis and
parenchyma of the leaf on which they have
fixed themselves; they then draw another
leaf to them, which they also devour, and
then another, till the greater part of the
leaves of the tree they have attacked, pre-
sent a fine lace-like appearance, as though
they had been macerated. Did all these
insects live to become moths, they would
completely destroy not only our gardens,
but our forests, as they feed on almost every
difierent kind of tree ; but with that beauti-
fiil arrangement by which all the works of
our Great Creator are balanced equally with
each other, and none allowed to predominate.

126 DB8TBOYINO INBBCTS. [chap. y.

these insects are such fiivomite food for
birds, that not a hundredth part of them are
suffered to reach maturity. The ^gs of the
hicke J moth are often found fixed on a na-
ked twig, in winter, looking like a bracelet
of haid beads, and adhering so firmly toge-
ther, that the whole bracelet may be slipped
off entire.

The cabbage butterflies are also veiy de-
structive in the larva state. The caterpillars
are soft, of a pale whitish green, and very
active, leaping about in the hand when
taken ; and the chrysalis, which is also green,
looks as if it were swathed up like a mum-
my. The caterpillar of the beautiful little
ermine moth is a gregarious feeder, like the
lackey caterpiUar, and is nearly as destruc-
tive; and it is the more necessary to men-
tion this, because the moth itself is so small,
so delicate, and so quiet, that no one unac-
quainted with its habits would think of kill-
ing it as an injurious insect

The leaf-rollers, the saw-flies, and the
gnats which occasion the oak-galls, are all
very destructive. The leaves of the rose-
tree are often found marked, in summer.

CHAP.v.] DE8TBOTINQ INSECTS. 127

^ith pale-brown zigzag lines, i^ith a narrow
black line running down the middle of each.
These lines are the work of a very small
orange-coloured caterpillar, not more than
two lines long, that lives on the parenchyma
of the leaf; and the pale-brown mark is
occasioned by the epidermis drying where
the pulp beneath it has been removed. The
moth is called the red-headed pigmy, and it
is so small as not to measure more than two
lines and a half broad, when its wings are
fiiUy expanded. The " worm i' th' bud" of
the rose, is the maggot or grub of one of the
kinds of saw-fly; a beautiful transparent-
winged little creature that no one would
suspect of springing from such a frightfiil-
looking maggot. But of all the insects that
infest the rose, the most destructive are the
aphides. These little green flies cover the
tender leaves and buds of the young shoots
in myriads, and are extremely di£Scult to
destroy, without spoiling the appearance of
the shoots that have been attacked by them.
Tobacco-water is an excellent remedy, if not
too strong. It should be made by steeping
half-a-pound of the best tobacco in a gaUon

CHAP, y.] DB8TBOTINO INSBCT& 129

of hot water; and as soon as the infusion
has become cold, the young shoots should
be dipped in it^ and suffered to remain a few
seconds, after which they should be imme-
diately washed in clean water before they
are suffered to dry. K this be done care*
fiilly, the insects will be destroyed, and yet
the shoots will remain uninjured. Lime-
water may also be tried, if no more lime be
used than the water will hold in solution ; as
unless the water be quite clear in appear-
ance when applied, the plant will be very
much disfigured with the white stains of the
Ume/ Anodier means of getting rid of all
noxious insects, is to fumigate them wiA
tobacco ; and the best way of doing this is
by a small brass fumigator, which costs four
shillings, applied to one of Clark's patent
blowers. The fumigator is filled with loose
tobacco, which is lighted, and the brass tube
is then screwed on the blower, and the fume
gently spread through the green-house, or
among the plants. By putting a little of the
moxa or Spanish tinder among the tobacco,
or using it alone, caterpillars, butterflies,
snails, &c., may be stupified, when they will

K

130 BK&rrEOTHfo nmeMi [chap.v.

ftU from the branches, and maj be gal&eied
up and destroyed. An excellent pieveiitive
remedy is to wash the stems and branches of
deciduons rose-trees, in winter, with water
heated to 200^, or with a mixtnre of sdrong
tobacco-water and sofb-soap; deaoing die
branches well at the same time widi a soft
brush. The American blight whidbt^ infissts
apple-trees s another species of aphis^ and
may be destroyed in the same manner.

Besides the insects aheady enumerated,
there are seyeral kinds of beedes, which
devour plants both in the larva and perfitet
state. Of these, the cockchafer remains in
the larva state four years, and is one of the
most destructive insects known; the rose
beetle, or rose chaffer (Cetonia . aurata) is
extremely beautiful, from its splendid wing
cases of burnished green and gold. These
beetles, notwithstanding dieir shape, which
looks too heavy and clumsy for flying, may
frequently, in hot summer weather, be seen
upon the wing^ making a loud buzzing noise.
When taken up in the hand, they draw up
their feet, and appear to be dead; but, after
having been handled, and even tossed about

£ir aofioe timey they will, if » fovooraUe
oppoartonit J appears to offer, suddeiklj spread
ottt their winga and hma away^ leaving their
captor too mvch astonished to be able to
make any effort to retain them. SeTeial
of these insects may often be found in one
rose; but they are supposed to be only
«[igaged in sucking the honey from the
iow&t, and not injuring it They undergo
their tranafbnnaticHis under ground^ and the
gmbs are supposed to live entirely on little
hits of rotten wood. Besides the insects
idteady mentioned^ the various kinds of
weevils, the wire^wonsf^'the thrips, the red
spider, or rather mite (Acaros telarius),
various kinds of tipula, or Ga£Rer long^legs,
wood lice, and earth^'wonns, are all found on
. plants, and are all more or less injurious to
them. In the general destruction of insects,
the Lady-bird should • always be spared, as,
both in its larva and its perfect state, it lives
on the larvae of the green fly, or aphis»

Snails and Shiga are more destructive to
vegetation than any kind of insect; and
they are still more difficult to get rid. o£
There is a very small gray slug^ ihat is

k2

132 BESTBOTINQ IN8X;CT& [chap. y.

peculiarly injurious to plants in pots; th^
large grey is also very destructive, and the
common garden snaiL The beautifully
banded snail (Helix nemoralis) is, howevei^
supposed to live partly on earth-worms, and
the. shell slug (Testacella scutella) lives en-
tirely on them. Tlie usual modes of entrap-
ping snails, slugs, and wood-lice, are laying
down slices of raw potatoes or cabbage-
leaves at night, and examining them before
the dew is off the plants in the morning.
As, however, this requires very early rising,
a more convenient method is to lay a few
flower pots upon their sides, where the snails
have committed their ravages; and the snails,
which can neither move nor feed unless the
ground be wet with dew or rain, will ge-
nerally be found to take refuge in the
flower pots from the heat of the sun. They
are likewise often found in the middle of
the day, sticking against walls, under ivy, or
box edgings. In gardens very much infested
with snails, search should be made in winter
among all the ivy and box in the garden;
and all the snails found in a torpid state
should be destroyed. This, though some

CHAP, v.] DESTROYING INSECTS. 133

may escape, will efiectually prevent them
from becoming numerous ; and, as the eggs
are not laid till April or May, care should
be taken, before that season, to destroy all
the snails that can be found. The eggs
are round, almost transparent, and of a
bluish white ; and they are always found in
small clusters, buried in the ground.

/ i" 'J A ,,-/^llL '" ''

1^

I V »' '

» > • I I

CHAPTER VI.

THE KJTCHEN-GARDEN — THE MANAGEMENT
OF CULINARY VEGETABLES.

♦ * #

In almost all gardens, it is customary to set
apart a portion of the ground for the culture
of culinary vegetables; and, in villas and
country seats, this portion is quite detached
from the pleasure-ground, and is called the
kitchen -garden. When this is the case, it
usually consists of a square or oblong piece
of ground, varying from one to five acres
in extent, according to the size of the esta-
blishment, and enclosed by a waU ten or
twelve feet high. If a greater extent of
ground than two or three acres be required,
it is generally laid out in two or more
gardens, communicating with each other, so

CHAP.TI.] THE KITGHEN-OABDEN. 135

as to a£Pord an extent of wall proportionate
to that of the ground. In front of the wall
18 a border for the roots of the fruit trees,
ten or twelve feet wide, and beyond that
a walk usually four feet wide, leaving a plot
of ground in the centre for the culture of
culinary vegetables and espalier fruit-trees.
The central jdat is usually divided by a main
walk up the centre, five or six feet wide,
and two or four 8ide*walks, three or four feet
wide; the smaller plots enclosed between
these walks being again divided into oblong

.compartments, or beds.

The general form and arrangement of all

( large kitchen-gardens being alike, it is obvious

^thiit they must have been determined by
some general principle; and this principle

^appears to be utility. The walks are made
straight, that the heavy loads wheeled along
them may not be in danger of overturning,
which they would if the walks took a serpen-
tine direction; while the compartments are

, divided into oblong beds, for the convenience
of digging and cropping; it being found
most convenient to sow vegetables in straight
lines, to allow of weeding and hoieing be-

f?!^^W#PPH: Wtf^ ^Pi &fr For t^s?

j^pjPji^opn^^d to;ttQ P^tuif^ of kitcl3lQ^ vege^r
t^^ks, should be jp^^^ to approxiin^teji ,^
c}oaeJly.,as pq^ble^ in form and geo^r^
airan^menty to regular jkitd2ie;ii gaiiden^i
and, where there i» any portion of tl»^
ground that cannpt bp brought intp a rectr;
angular shape, it should be set aside .^SpiT;
t^rt-rhubarb, artichokes, or some other pe^^,
manent crop; and a square or oblong p^qt.
in the centre be reserved for peas and he^^^i
aiid other annual vegetables, . , ^

The best soil for a Mtchen garden is a afiji)idy}
loam, and the surface soil should be iirom tw^>
feet to three feet deep. If it is on a clajjr^^
sub-soil, every part of the garden should .b^>
well drained; as from the quantity of manpj^^-
required fpr cultivating culinary vegetable^
if any water should be suffered to remain in.
a stagnant state in the soil, it would be par-
ticularly injurious. The ground, if possible,,
should slope to the south or south-east ; and
it should, at any rate, be sheltered from the
prevailing winds of the locality.

When ther^ is only one detached kitchen .

garden; it is usial to stttrbtiiia it'fetinr^lj^,* of
oA ihtefe isides, 'ivitfi a iriete 6f gtcJtihd^ilillfea
aidip, <;<>tidisting ctf a frttit-ttee bor(ier,'afiflii
walk with perfcaps a narrow bed b^yoiSd ' it,'
bounded by a lowbedge. This? is' doae in
ofder that frtiit-titees may be grbwn on both
sides ^ the wall. The vinery and forcing
houses ai« generally placed fkcing the thaih
walk of tbe garden ; and what is called thig
melon^ground, which forms a small walled
garden, is often placed behind them. ITiis,
htrwever, is not essential; but the melon-
ground should always be as near as possible
to "tire stable-offices, for the convenience of
(tailing manure ; and both it and the kitchen
g^den should be near the house, and have a.

*

cdnvenient road to it concealed from th^
pleasure-ground. In small suburban gardens
there should always be a convenient, and, if
p68Sible, partially concealed, road for servants
to bring in vegetables ; and there should be
a little plot of ground for thyme, mint, sage,
paii^ley, &c., very near the kitchen dobr.

JValhs. — The obvious use of walks in a
garden constructed on a general principle biP'
utiKty, is to enable the gardener and others

188 TfiB' KlVeHBl&GttkBimiL [cv^AVl.

to ^ach eireiy put of the gardeii^a».«pfeed%
as p€BdiUie> without treadiDg to Ibe.beds^
and Ibr thk leaBon^ thoi^h the walis» arp
made to intersect eadi other at ri^t angles,
it is eustomaiy in many gardens te roond
the centrdl beds adjoining diem' at the
eomeis* Paths two feet wide are alsp made
between the beds into which the compart-
ments are divided ; and the beds themselves
are never wider than a man can cdnvenienlly
reach across to the middle to rake or hoe.
These paths, however, as they vai;y accoifdiag
to the nature of the crop, axe never made of
any permanent materials; and the whole
compartment is generally dug over when
necessary, without paying iemy regard ^.to
them, and re-divided into fresh beds every
season.

, The walks, on the contrary, being intendtxl
to be permanent, are of a very different na*
ture ; and, in addition to their obvious nses^
it is essentially requisite that they should be
hard and firm. This is necessary, as the
manure, &c. wanted in a kitchen ga]xlen» is
generally distributed through the garden dn
a wheelbarrow ; and the weight in the mt of

vi^heelitig isr piiocipally tkrowa upon « vetj
mMow wheels ii4iich, on saftwalktij; Utefatty
pkMighs its vfBj tlirougli the gnmiy leaviiig
aai Q&eten fuivow, eztnemely offieiifliYe to the
i^e^ To «Toid this inconvenienoe, th^e walks
in kitdien gardens, where expense is not an
object, are frequently made of cement or
-a^hal^ or laid with bricks or flag>>stones ;
bttt as all these materials give the idea of a
<i6vatryeatd, rather than a garden, most per-
sods prefer gravel walks. Where gravel is
to. .be employed, the intended walks are
'inarkttd out with two garden lines ; the space
leitween is then dc^ out, generally in the
ifytttk of an inverted arch, from one jfoot to
' €wo feet deep in the centre, according to the
nature of the soil, and the expense it may be
thought advisable to incur ; and the excava-
tion is filled to within six inches of the top
with brick-bats, stones, or any other hard rub-
bish that can be procured. If the ezcavatioo
be made in the shape of an inverted arch, in
filling it up the extreme point of the ardi
' should be left hollow to serve as a drain ; and
if it be made rectangular, a drain is generally
'left on each side. In filling in the rubbish

(40 iam\mMGBsm'^ieajmi^ [c»ai>/^.

t^ (largest pieces axe tiitown in firsti' Ib^
^(aaller! oni^ and lastly pieces broken vetf
sDMfU^ wbicb are rammed -down, orroBed, «o
i^.to form a smooth sarfiEice imme^at^
muder the graireL This is done both to giv«
floUditj to the waQcy and to prevent th^
gravel from beiog wasted by trickling down
between the interstiees of the stones* As
walks can never be firm unless they are kepC
quite dry, in all cases there should be afi
l^ast one drain to each waUc The gittvei
before laying down should be sifted, and i^
stones, larger than a moderate-sized gMse^
berry, should be thrown out or broken ; and
as soojti as it is laid down and evenly spread,' it
should be well rolled, previously to which, if
it should be very dry, it ought to be sprinkled
with water. If the gravel be at all loose, it
should be mixed with equal parts of brick^
dust and Roman cement before laying it
down; or the gravel should be mixed with
burnt clay powdered, in the proportion of on*
wheelbarrow full of clay, to a two-horse cart*
load of gravel ; or if the gravel be already
laidf and it is wished to render the "walk
more, firm, powdered burnt day may be

9tse(wn x>t»r.<it, and isaked m. In aU thes^
Qi^es, . the. walks must be iauaedifitely' w^
watered^ and afterwards heavily 'rolled.
$0melime9 the clay is mixed with* -whtet
b^We applying it to the graveL Toler»Uy
fiirpn valks may be made of sea gravel, or
powdered sandstone^ where- good gravel can-
not be procured, or even of sand by this
tirealiaent* The. clay may be burnt by
j^akiag^it into a heap, intennized and snr-i>
iroQoded with fd^ot wood; or, as a substitute
f)j; helming, it may be dried by spreading it'
on^tbe tbp of the furnace or boiler employed
1(^,.he&t the hothouses. Gravel walks are
generally slightly raised in the middle, to
tjbrow off the water to the sides; arid they
lire very frequently supplied vnth gratings, to
prevent large stones, or any kind of rubbish,
from being washed down by the rain into the
drains so as to choke them up. When the
walks in a kitchen garden are formed of flag
stones, artificial stone, or brick, the material
used is laid on brick arches or piers; and
wheA grass walks are employed, they require
no other preparation than marking them oat
oa* the ground, consolidating it by pressure;

142 THB-'krtCMIf^idEtlMl^. [6ilA»r¥i.

and dien kying theta with ttuf. * Ghmte
walks were &rmerly ^common in kitciten'-
gaideni?^ hut they are mattifestiy unsoitai^le,
being meire injured than any others by the
wheelbarroWy and unfit to walk on in wit
weather.

fFken gravd walks want renmdtbtffy the
gravel should be loosened with a piek^
turned olrer, raked, and firmly rolled, addr
ing a coaiting of fredbi gravel wherever it xnay
be found necessary. Weeds may be prer
vented firom growing on gravel walks by
watering the walks with salt and wttt^r.
The salt will also kill the weeds already
there, and, if these are large, they riiould,
of course, be hoed up and raked off.

Box edgings are better than any others for
gravel walks. They are generally planted
in March or ApriL A garden line being
first drawn t^htly along the earth bordering
the walk ; a shallow trench is then opened
close to the gravel, and the earth fiN>m it
thrown on the bed. The box is pulled into
separate plants, and the branches and roots
of each trimmed till all the plants are very
nearly of the same size. The plants are

then ^ put into tbe trench, with no eaith be-
tween them and the gravel; and the trench
is filled up by drawing the earth into it, and
pressing it close to the roots, so as to make
the plants quite firm. Nothing else is re*
quisite but a few waterings, till the box
begins to grow ; and the only difficulty is to
Ipeep the plants in a straight line, with the
points of their shoots at an equal distance
above the soiL When box edgings are
pruned^ they should always be cut in with a
knife, and never clipped with shears. They
should also never be suffered to grow too
high without pruning; and they should be
occasionally tiaken up and replanted wider
apart, when their stems appear to be becom-
ing naked below.

Crapping. — ^ The crops grown in the open
air in a kitchen-garden are of two kinds, —
those produced by the fi*uit trees, and those
of the herbaceous vegetables ; and the latter
are again divided into the permanent crops,
and the temporary ones. The permanait
crc^ are those which remain for a number
of years in one place, producing a cn^, year
after year, firom the same roots; such as

144 Tjw. wi;cB[^-:9^(^iiJfiii. [cBAT. VI.

a8pariBga85 artichokes, rhubarb, &c: while
the temporary qrops are those that require
sowing or fresh plantiiig every year, aod
these should never be sown for two years in
succession on the same ground.

Febmanent Crops. — In regular kitchen
gardens, it is of veiy little consequence
where the permanent crops are placed, as
eveiy part of the ground is generally alike
accessible from the walks, and alike suitable
for cultivation. But in small gardens the.
case is difiPerent; and there are generally
some awkward corners, which are best sf^
apart for the lasting crops. The part to be
sown annually should be always divided intq
compartments, in order to manage properly
the rotation of crops.

Asparagm Beds, — Of all the permanent
crops grown in a garden, the one which,
requires most plreparation is asparagus. It
is not perhaps generally known that this
plant is a native of Britain; but the &Gt
is, that it grows wjld in several places both
in England and Scotland. The cultivated
plant is, however, of course, very different
from the wild one; for, while the latter is

IT. ^ » '

me^e^ insipid, and very tougH, the fonnjei*
is not only succulent and finely flavoured,'
but grows to an enormous size.' tliere are
three sorts of asparagus grown for the London
market: the Battersea, which has a thick
whitish stalk, only just tipped with a pinkish
head; the Gravesend, which is much more
slender, and has both the stalk and head
green; and the Giant, which is an enormous
variety of the first. Asparagus is always
raised from seed ; but, as the stalks are not
fit to cut till the roots are twp or three years
old, persons wishing to plant an asparagus
bed generally purchase one-year or two-years*
old plants from a nurseryman.

Asparagus plants require a light, rich,
sandy loam, and the ground in which they
are to be planted is always first trenched
fi'om three to four feet deep, or even more,
and plenty of stable dung is buried at the
bottom of the trench; the beds are then
marked out four feet wide, with paths two
feet wide left between, and the plants are
planted in rows about six inches deep (the
crown of the root being left about two inches
below the surface), and nine inches apart

L

The beds are generally coyered during Tf iiv
ter with rotten manure, which is fcnrked in^
and the beds raked in spring; and this
txieatment riiould be repeated eveiy year, or
ererj two or three years at farthest, the
beds being slightly covered, in the interiae-
diate years, with litter, leaves^ &Ck, which
may be raked off' in spring. The stalks
should not be cut till the third year aftet
planting; but, after that, the roots will con-
tinue to produce freely for twelve or fourteen
yeurs. Asparagus is cut generally a little
below the surface, with a sharp knife, slants
ing upwards; and the market-gardeners <tui
all the shoots produced for two months^— say
fnHn April till Midsummer,^ — ^but suffer all
the shoots that push up after that period : to
expand their leaves, in order that they may
elaborate their sap, and thus strengthen the
roots. Whole fields of this plant are culti-*
vated by the market-gardeners near London,
to the extent, as it is said, of from eighty to
a hundred acres, chiefly near Mortlake, Bat*
tersea, and Deptford. During the last fouir
or five years, these fields, and many {»ival»
gardens near London, have been infested

widi a moot beautifal little beetle, Btriped
M9kk red, bkck, atid blue, which eats throu^
the shoots close to the ground almost as soon
is they appear. Asparagus is generally
forced by covering the beds with manure,
and by deepening the alleys between the
beds, and filling them with manure also.

Sea-Kale. — ^About seventy years ago, Dr.
Lettsom, a celebrated physician and botanist
of diat day, haf^ened to be travelling near
Sotttliampton, when he observed some plants
poshing th^ way up through the sea-sand.
Finding' tibe shoots of these plants quite suc-
^ilent, he enquired of some person in the
aei^bouiiiood if they were ever eaten, and
in9is ahswered, that the country people had
been im the habit of boiling these shoots and
eating them as a v^etable from time imme-
morial. The doctor tasted them, and found
them so good, that he took some seed to his
fiiend Mr. Curtis, the originator of the
^ Botanical Magazine," who had then a nur-
seiy in Lambeth Marsh. Mr. Curtis wrote
a^ book about the plant which brought it
into siotice, and he sokl the seed in small
pa<;kets at a high price : and thus, this long

l2

148 THB KIXCEIV^tGA^K^ [chap. vi.

negieoted British .pUnt, whioh for 30 m^y
yesm was oul,y eaten by thepporeipjL fisbej-
men, became our highly prized wd ^l^cb
esteeiDed sea^kale^ which is xlow so great 4
favourite at the tables of the rich*

Sea-kale, is raised either from seeds or cut-
tings of the root^. La either case, when the
plants are . a year old, they are put into a
bed thoroughly prepared as if for aspar^qs,
and planted in the same manner. The first
year the plants will require little care, e;$:cept
cutting down the flower-stems wherever thqy
appear; but the second year they will ^e
ready for forcing. This is performed by
covering the plante first with river-sand;
then turning what are called sea-kale pots
over them, and lastly, covering the pots to
the depth of fifteen or twenty inches with
fresh stable dung, the heat from which will
draw the shoots up, and make them succu-
lent and fit to eat

Artichokes are another kind of .permanent
crop, but they are not suitable for growing
in a small garden. The artichoke is a na-
tive of Italy, said to have been introduced
in the reign of Henry VIII. It is propa-

CHAP. VI.] THE KITCHEN-OARDEN. 149

gated by division, and requires a light, rich,
and rather moist soil. Manure should be
laid between the rows every autumn, and
the plants covered with straw in severe wea-
ther in winter. Artichoke-plants do not
continue to produce good heads longer than
six or seven years; but young plants come
into bearing the second year after trans*-
planting.

Strawberries, — Though strawberries should
be properly included in the list of fruits,
they are generally classed by gardeners
among the permanent herbaceous crops in a
kitchen-garden. There are a great variety
of named sorts grown in gardens ; but they
are mostly varieties or sub-varieties of three
species, viz. : the Pine (Fragaria gran-
diflora), which is supposed to be originally
from Surinam ; the Chili (F. Chilensis), and
the Scarlet (F. Virginiana). Of these the
pine-strawberries are large, pale in colour,
but with scarlet flesh, and of a very fine and
delicate flavour. The best strawberries are
Keen's seedling, and the old pine ; the Chili
stravvberries (one of which is Wilmot's Superb)
have veiy large fruit, with white flesh, but pos-

150 l^lte BJ^fll^-^aAJU^K. [chap* VI.

sess very litde flavour; and the 8caiiet-stiaw-
berries have smaU^ bright-ted^ filiglitly a(^
fkdt, which is principally used for ice-cteiiJ!ia6
and preserving* To these' may be add^d tile
Hautbois (F. elatior), which, though so ofteh
mentioned by the street vendors, is i<i reality
very seldom grown, from the fruit, whieh is
small and blackish, being rarely produced
in any quantity; the Green strawbettiei» (F,
collina and F. virides); the Alpine straw-
berries (F. semperflorens) ; and tjie ecmimoti
wild Wood strawberry (F. vesca),-

Strawberries should be grown on ridi
loamy soil, and they are generally planfsedih
beds three feet wide, three rows in a bed.
Every year, the strongest of the runners
should be taken off, and planted to f4»m a
succession crop, as the beds seldom remMn
good more than three or four years. When
the old beds are suffered to remain, they
should be covered with manure in winter
to be forked in in spring. When straw-
berries are wanted for forcing, pots are
placed near the beds, and the runners are
placed over them, and kept down with a
i^one> or hooked down with pegs to root

P0 Ai^. VI.] 7Bfi . ]U3^Q9{SK<rQAB])lN. 16 1

Tart Jthubarh. — The part of the yh^bftrb
Wq4 for making pies and puddjbgs v^. t)ie
J9<H9talk of the leaf; and the \jxl^ us^^y
^wn lA gardens for this purpose are Jtheum
Rbapontioaini a native of Asia introduced in
1$73» and Bbeum Undulat9xn» a^ native of
China introduced in 1734. Rheum Fahna-
Vgm^ the leaves of which are very deeply cut
with pointed segments^ i^ generally supposed
to he the kind, the root of which is used in
inedicine, under the name of Turkey Rhu-
barb. Buck's Elford, or Scarlet Rhubarb,
im slender stalks, but is valuable for its
j^eiavtiiful ccdour ; and the Tobolsk, the Giant,
j^ad the Victoria Rhubarb, are remarkable
for tJbe enormous size of their stalks. Rheum
Amstrale, which is by some said to be the
medicinal kind, and which is only lately in-
troduced, has also enormous leaves, and very
long thick stalks, the skin of which is rough,
while the pulp tastes like that of apples.

Rhubarb is either raised from seed, or pro-
pagated by ofisets, or dividing the crown of
the root The seed is sown in April, in
light rich soil, and the plants are pricked out
in autumn into a bed of rich sandy loam

1S2 TUB ' miTeBXH-OAXaSB* [cbapi vs.

'vrfaiDUlias been idug orer, or tr^nch^to tbe
depth of eighteen inches at two feet The
plants' require no other care than an occa^
siooai antvunn or spring coating of nmixuie
to be slightly forked in^ this dressing to be
odIj applied^ when, from the leaves and stalhft
produced being smaller than usual, the rools
appear to want nourishment; and if thej
seem crowded, they may be occastMoUy
taken up and replanted farther apart RhU'*
barb may be forced by covering it with pbts
and manure, like sea-kale ; or the roots may
be planted in a box, and kept in the house,
on a stove, or near the fire in the kitdien,
covering the box with a bast mat to keep the
plant in darkness and free from the dust^ and
watering it frequendy.

Horse radish grows best in rich alluvial
soil ; and it is propagated by cuttings of the
crowns of the roots, each about two inches
long. The ground is then prepared by
trenching at least two feet deep, and the
cuttings or sets are planted in a kind of
furrow about fifteen inches deep, with their
crowns upwards. The second year the roots
may be taken up, and the crowns cut off and

CHAP. rtJ] THB I KrrcmBHHorAXinm 1^3

replant^* As tine aet» axe planted in Mareh,
and the leaves aeldoni begin to appeal tiH
die following June or July, it is 'costomary
to 80^ a light crop^ of lettuce fer example^
or spinage> on the surface of the ground over
thiB horse radish sets; which crop is qleared
off in time to make way for the leaves of the
true crop* When the sticks of horse-radid^
are taken up, they may be kept in sand in a
cellar or out*house till wanted for use.

Temporary Crops, and their Rotation.
— ^It has been already observed, that tempo-
rary crops should never be grown two years
in sboeession on the same ground ; and the
reason for this has been already alluded to
under the head of transplanting. It is, that
the roots of plants every year throw out a
quantity of excrementitious matter that they
either will not reimbibe, or that is injurious
to them ; and that thus, the ground in which
they have been grown one year, becomes
unfit for them to grow in the next. This
danger is obviated in the case of perennial
plants, and trees and shrubs, by the constant
elongation of the roots, which spread farther
and farther every year, beyond the influence

154 TVe KVKflOCr GABDBV. [ckap.ti.

fif the uowholeaoine aoik This, hoverery is
not the caee iridi anmialH, aa the raota <Kf the
p]«Rts of one year are no longer than theee
wexe of the plantaof the preceding jear; and
CMtsequently aa eveiy jeai^s plants occugy
exactly the sanie ground, when annnab are
aoiwn for aeveral yean in the same soil they
must degenerate; or, in other wc^ds, become
weid^ and small, from not having enough of
whicJesome food, or from being foieed to
take food unwholeaome for them. Now it
has been found, that ezcrementitioaa matter,
though poisonous to the plant that exndes it,
is extremely nourishing to other plants* com-
pletely differing from the first in nature ; and
what is meant by the rotation of crops, is the
art of making plants of opposite natures
succeed each other, till the ground shall be
so completely cleared of the excrementitious
matter exuded by the first crop, as to be
ready to receive it again. It is true that the
aame ground may occasionally be made to
bear the same crops for several successive
years, by copious manuring, or by trenching;
but in both cases the evil is overcome by
supplying the plant with abundance of nour-

CiiAP.TiF| THB KITCHKir-GJLIllMEK. 155

iBbmenty and thus prerenting it fmtn beiftg
driven to the necessity of taking unwhole-
some food. In fixing the rotation of crops,
plants differing as much as possible in their
habits should be chosen to succeed each
other ; as, for example, onions may be suc-
ceeded by lettuces; carrots by peas; potatoes
by cabbage ; turnips by q)inach, &c.

The Cabbage Tribe. — Few persons unac-
quldnted with botany will be able to believe
that brocoli, cauliflowers, cabbages, Scotch
or German Greens, Brussels sprouts and
iavoys, not only all belong to one genus, but
are actually varieties of one species of a
genus^ viz. Brassica oleracea; and that the
tamip, the Swedish turnip, and the rape (the
seed of which is used for oil), belong to other
species of the same genus. The cabbage, in
its wild state, is a biennial which grows
naturally on the sea-coast in different parts
of England, and is a tall straggling plant
with loose leaves, and a rather pretty yellow
cruciferous flower. The borecole or kale is
the first improvement effected by cultivation;
and the cauliflower the last. Indeed it is
impossible to imagine a greater difference

156 THE KrrcHEN-GAltDEK. [chap. vi.

between any species and variety, than exists
between the cauliflower and the original wild
cabbage plant. All the varieties of the cab-
bage tribe require a soil which has been
enriched with abundance of animal manure ;
and when decaying, they have all a peculiarly
dffensive smell like that of putrid meat, from
the large quantity of azote that they contain.
The Cabbage. — The word "cabbage,'' in its
original signification, means a firm head or
ball of leaves folded closely over each other;
and thus, there is a cabbage lettuce, and a
babbage rose. The cabbages grown in gar-
dens are usually sown at three different
times; for the spring, summer, and autumn
crop. The spring cabbages are sown in
summer generally about the first week in
August, in an open airy situation, and in
light soil. When they come up, they are
thinned ; arid in October or November they
are ready for planting out in rows, twelve or
eighteen inches apart, into the beds where
they are to cabbage. In small gardens, cab-
bages are seldom raised firom seed ; but the
plants are purchased when ready for planting
out. The summer crop is sown in February,

CHAP. VI.] THE KITCBJBN'GAEDJBN, 157

9xxd plai^ted out in rows eighteen inches or
t^o feet apart; and the autumn crop is sown
in May, and planted out in July^ generally
eighteen inches apart every way. All cab-*
bages require a rich soil, and frequent hoeing
up; and in dry weather they should be
watered to make them succulent. The stalks
of the spring cabbages are generally pulled
up and carried to the refuse heap as soon as
the cabbages are cut ; but the stalks of the
sununer and autumn kinds are left standing,
that they may throw out what are called
sprouts. The culture of the red cabbage is
exactly the same; except that there is no
spring crop, and the stalks are never left
standing for sprouts. Some gardeners s6w
only one crop of green cabbages, and leave
the stalks standing to produce sprouts all the
rest of the year. When the cabbage stalk
is left for sprouts, it is customary, after cutting
the cabbage, to give the stalk two cuts across,
so as to divide the top into four; as when
this is done, it is thought to produce sprouts
with more certainty.

Coleworts are young cabbages gathered
before they form a head ; and they are gene-

168 THB .KireHHSTHaABDESr. [cKA^F^^.

TsiL]y ao^rn m June or July fcsr aii aaCamh,
WiOiter^ or ; early spring* orop^ As they avp
always eaten youngs they need not be planted
more than ten or twelve inches apart :eviery
way ; and when they are gathered the stalls
a^ always pulled up and thrown away^

JStwoys and Brussels ^ivne^.^-^SaToys are
laapge cabbages with wrinkled leares^ the
seed of which is sown about the end .of
Mardh^ in order that the crop may be ready
for the table in November. T!he culture ii^
the same as that of cabbages, except thai6:Bf>
the savoys 9xe laige, they should be pladdted'
out in the bed where they are to eaUrage^
two feet apart every way. Brussels sprouts
are a , variety of the savoy cabbage ; tbe
plants first produce a small savoy on an*
elongated stalk, and when this is cut off, the
loisg stalk throws out a number of little cBb<-
b«ges from its sides, which are the Brussek
spfputs. The culture is the same as for the
Savoys, except that the plants, as they do
not spread, need not be more than a foot or
eighteen inches apart everyway; and that
the seed is generally procured firom Bnissds^
as that ripened in England is said to produce

CHAP. ^.] TSHE. KrroHBN*HlAB]>Bfr. 1S9

io&xior plants* Both eavoy^ and Braseels
sfttoutB mre much better if not ccit till diere
hMS been some frost upon tfaem; and diey are
conejequenUy of great value as winte* vege*
tables

BrocoU and CauU/lawer. -^The cauliflower
(the name of which is supposed to be derived
from cauUs^ a stalk, and Jlarensy flowering,) is
a native of Cyprus, introduced in 1694;
and no one unacquainted with the details of
its culture, and who has seen the immense
quaatities brought to the London market,
could credit the extraordinary care bestowed
on each plant to bring it to perfection.
Cauliflowers take nearly a year from their
first sowing to bring them into a state fit for
the table ; and as the plants are too tender
to bear an English winter without protection,
they require to be grown in frames, or ^el-
texed by hand glasses during frosty weather.
. The seed is sown in August, in a bed of rich
light earth, and the ground is occasionatty
watered till the plants appear. Iltey are
then shaded with mats during the heatof the
day, and thinned out, so as to leave the plants
a' little distance apart In September they

160 THE KITCHBN-GAROBN. [chap. vi.

are pricked out iuto beds of rich earthy and
watered and shaded ; and about the end of
October^ or beginning of November^ they are
tran^lanted into frames, or into beds, richly
manured with rotten dung, spread over the
^ound three or four inches thick, and
trenched in, a spade deep ; after which, they
are watered and covered with hand-glasses.
During the whole winter they require con-
stant attention, slightly watering them, and
raising the glasses to give them air in . fine
weather; and covering up the glasses closely
with mats or straw in severe firosts, and
during the continuance of sharp winds*
They must also be frequently looked at, to
pick off decayed leaves, &c., which might
rot the stem ; and the ground in which they
grow must be strewed with a mixture of
lime and soot, to protect them firom the at-
tacks of caterpillars and slugs. Care must
also be taken by giving air, &c., to prevent
them from being drawn up, or running to
flower too soon. At length spring arrives,
and the plants which have safely survived
the winter must be looked over, and thinned
out so that only one or two may be left to.

6iieh glass ; the 6arth is theti loosened, the
plants regularly watered, and the glasses
taken off in the middle of the day, but eare*
folly replaced at night At last, towards th6
etid of April, the glasses are Removed alto*
gether, and in May some of the plants wtH
begin to make heads; but even then the care
bestowed on them must not cease. The
plants must be examined daily, and some of
the leaves turned down over the flowers, to
preserve them from the rays of the sun, which
wotild turn them brown, and from the rain
which would rot them. At length, about the
end of May, or in June and July, the cauli-
flowers are ready for the market ; and little do
the purchasers of them think of the labour and
iinremitting attention which, for so many
months, have been required to rear them.
A second crop, sown in February and planted
out in April, will be ready in August ; and a
third crop, sown in May and planted out in
July, will be in perfection about Michaelmas
or October, and may be preserved in mild
weather till near Christmas.

BrocoU is generally supposed to be a
Variety of the cauliflower; but it differs

M

162 THE KITCHEN-GABDEN. [cHAP. Yl

essentially, both in being much hardier, and
in being very apt to vary. Thus, while
only two kinds of cauliflower are known, the
early and the late, and even these can hardly
be distinguished &om each other, — there
are ten or twelve distinct sorts of brocoli,
and more are being raised every day. All
these kinds, however, appear to have sprung
'from two, the purple and the green, which
are said to have been brought from Italy.
Brocoli is grown for the table in autumn,
winter, and early spring; but there is no
summer crop. The principal seasons for
sowing are February and April for the au-
tumn and winter crops, and June for the
spring crop ; and the plants succeed best in
fresh loamy soil, or, if this cannot be pro-
cured, in ground that has been deeply
trenched an^ well manured. The culture
is like that of cabbages, except that, in very
severe winters, the plants require a little
protection.

The Borecole is generally known in Eng-
land by the name of Scotch kale, and in
Scotland by that of German greens. There
are many different sub-varieties, fourteen

OHAF.Yi.] THB KIT<»KM)ABD8ir. 163

of wbkh, are enunierated itx the En^y^ of
Gcerd.1 bat all the kinds a^ee in being
generally sown in Aprils and transplanted in
Jmie* They require no other culturey qx<^
cept hoeing and earthing up; and, aa they
are ext;eedingly hardy, they are very valu-
able vegetables for winter use.

The I^effuminous ^ri&«* •— Vegetables be*
longing to this tribe generally occupy the
^und but a few months in the summer,
and are thus very suitable, in the rotation of
crops, to precede or follow those of the
cid)bi^ tribe, which occupy the ground the
greater part of a year.

Flaas, — The list of peas is almost inter-
minable, and it is continually changing; so
that what may be considered the &shionable
peas of one season are generally superseded
the next by some others, to which eveiy
possible merit is attributed. There are,
however, some very distinct kinds, the prin*
cipal of which are — the dwarf early kinds,
whidi are dry and mealy when full-grown,
and become whitish when they are old ; the
Prusaian and marrow-&t peas, which are
soft and juicy, with a rich marrowy flavour^

m2

164 THE KITCHEN-GABDEN. [crap. Yi.

and which remain green even when quite
ripe ; and the sugar peas^ which are boiled,
like kidney beans, in their pods. The soil
for peas should be a light, diy, sandy loam,
tolerably rich, but not freshly - manured ;
and, for this reason, they are particularly
well adapted to succeed any of the cabbage-
tribe, for which a great deal of manure is
required. They should generally have an
open sunny situation; and the early crops
should be sheltered from the preyailing winds
of the district If peas are sown in freshly-
manured, very moist, or clayey soil, they
will run to haulm, that is, they will produce
more leaves and stalks than peas: and, if
grown in calcareous soil, they will boil hard
and tough, even when young, and when old
wiU never become floury.

The early peas are small, and few in each
pod, and with so little flavour, that we never
have them sown in our little garden, but
have the green Prussians sown early for a
first crop, and again, a little later, for a
second. The early dwarf peas are, mdeed,
of little use, except for forcing. They are,
however, frequently sown in November and

CHAP. VI.] THE KirCHEK-OABDEN. 165

December, to stand the v^inter in the open
border, in order that they may produce a
crop the following May or June. When
forced, they are sown in pots plunged in a
hotbed, and transplanted into the open bor-
der in March; turning them out of the pots
into holes made to receive them, without
breaking the balls of eaith round the roots.
In some cases, they are fruited in pots
placed in a greenhouse, or even stove; by
which means, when it is thought worth
while to incur the expense, fresh green peas
may be had at Christmas. The main crop
of early peas.is, however, sown in Febrnary.
A pint of small early peas will sow twenty
yards of drills; each drill being one inch
and a half deep, and the drills two or three
feet asunder. The drills are marked out
by stretching a garden-line lengthways along
the bed, and then making a drill or furrow
along it with a dibber; the earth is pressed
firm at the bottom of the dr'Jl by the very
act of making it, and the peas are then
distributed along it, two or three to every
inch, or wider apart, according to their size,
and covered with soil, which is generally

ttoddm ddwn or rolled.. Wben attacks «re
af^h^iided frbm mice^ dried 'fiirze k' gene-
titfy <«tt6tfed' wtie the peaft ad soon^ as - th«y
are' put iiyto'th^d gromnd^ a^d before diey «re
covered with earth;- and this is efficabious,
not only in pwtecting the peas froto>th«ir
enetj&ies^ but in keeping enough aiir about
them to allow them to vegetate. They
should then be well watered> and wfllie-
qixii^ no iuither care till tbey' ^ffie up.
When they am two or three indhes^sUgh,
tifaey should be hoed ; that is^ the ' w^eds
which may have sprung up betweeil Ibe
roWs should be hoed up^ and the ecirth^diiiwn
Up to the roots of the peas. When afc<Oi!it
six inches high^ they should be stakedy^WJth
two rows of sticks to each row of peas; the
aticks being about a foot higher than >the
average height of the peas, and care beifig
taken never to let them cross at top.

'Larte peas only differ in their culture firom
th^ <^arly crops in having their drills fitrAer
aparty and in being placed farther apart in
the drills. A pint of these peas is calculated
to «ow diirty*three yards of rows, and the
peas of the larger kinds should be 6nm one

CBTAP.VI.] THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 167

inch to two inches, or even more apart in
the drills. Dwarf Marrowfats and Blue
Prussians are, however, frequently sown about
three in two inches. The time of sowing
usually varies from April to July; but
where no early peas are grown, even the late
kinds may be sown as early as February or
March. The tall-growing kinds should,
however, never be suffered to stand the win-
ter; and they should not be sown before
March, unless the weather appear likely to
be open, on account of the greater difficulties
attending tall-growing plants. It may in-
deed be here observed, though the fact is
obvious, that all dwarf-growing plants are
much better adapted for forcing, than the
taU-growing kinds ; from their being much
more easily sheltered and protected. Peas
should always be eaten when freshly gather-
ed, as they are perhaps more injured by
keeping than any other vegetable. The pea
is a native of the south of Europe, and it
is supposed to have been introduced in the
teign of Henry VIIL

Beans, though belonging to the same na-
tural order as peas, and generally classed

|68 7HB KITCHBN-GABBBN. [chap,vi.

with them by persons speaking of garden
{HToductSy yet differ in several yery important
particulars: for instance^ they will grow in
much stronger soil; they do not require
sticks; and they are generally topped^ that
is, the leading shoot of each plant is cut off^
an operation that would be fatal to peas.
There are many different kinds of beans,
though not so many as of peas; and the
different varieties may be divided into the
early and the late. The early beans may be
sown in tlrills in November or December,
to stand the winter; but the main crop is
generally sown in January or February.
The late beans are sown in March and April,
and some even so late as June ; and instead
of drills, a hole is made for each bean sepa^
rately with a dibber. Both sorts are covered
with earth, which is pressed down and then
watered; and they require no further care
till the beans are three or four inches high,
when they should be hoed and earthed up.
As soon as the plants come into blossom,
the tops are cut off; and this is said not
only to increase the crop, but to prevent the
plants from being attacked with the insect

OHAP.yi.] TAB UTCiUBXr-^GA&DBN. 168

called the black blight The crop should be
gathered when the beaas are about half ripe.
The bean ia said to be a iiatiTe of Egypt ;
and it is supposed to hare been brought to
England by the Romans*

Kidne^Beans differ from the other legu<-
minous Tegetables^ in their pods being eaten.
There are two distinct kinds, the Dwarf
Kidney-Beans, and the Scarlet-Bunnens ;
and these are again divided into numerous
sttbdiYisions. The soil for the dwarf kinds
should be similar to that for peas : viz., rich,
light, and dry, but not newly manured ; and
it shoiald have been well pulverized to the
depth of a foot or eighteen inches. The
driUs are generally made about two inches
deep; and two feet or two feet and a half
apart. The seeds are sown the first or se-
cond week in May. As the plants grow,
they may be earthed up ; and if the plants
are very vigorous, and appear disposed to
run to haulm, a few of the leading shoots may
have their tops pinched off; but this should
be done carefully, and the operation confined
to a few of the strongest growing plants.
The scariet'^runners require nearly the same

170 THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. [chap. vi.

culture^ except that the seeds should be
sown two or three inches asunder, and only
lightly covered; and that the rows should be
at least three feet apart. The seeds are
covered lightly, as abundance of both sir and
moisture are required to make seeds en-
veloped in so thick a skin germinate; and
the rows must be wide apart on account of
their height, as otherwise the crop would
not get enough sim and air. The scarlet-
runner is properly a perennial, and if the
plants are cut down to the ground after pro-
ducing their crop, and their roots are cover-
ed with dry litter, they will produce an early
and abundant crop the following summer.
Eadney-beans are very frequently forced
nearly in the same manner as peas ; viz., by
sowing them in pots plunged in a hot-bed,
and then removing them to a hot-house or
green-house (according to the season) to
fruit Sometimes they are sown in the earth
of the hot-bed, and fruited there like cucum^t
bers. The dwarf kidney-bean is a native of
India, and was introduced before the time of
Gerard ; but the scarlet-runner is a native
of South America, and was hot introduced

CHAP. VI.] THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 171

till 1633^ -when it was at first only cultivated
in the flower-garden as an ornamental plant,
and it is treated as such by all the early
writers on flowers.

The Potatoe is a native of South America,
but it was first brought to England by Sir
Walter Raleigh, firom Virginia. It was
hence called the Potatoe of Vii^inia; and it
was at its first introduction thought very
inferior to the Convolvulus Batatus, which
was called the Spanish Potatoe, and to the
Jerusalem Artichoke, which was called the
Potatoe of Canada, firom its having been first
taken fix>m South America to Canada, before
it was brought to England. About twenty
or thirty sorts of the common potatoe are
now cultivated for the table ; but so large a
quantity is wanted in almost every family,
that few persons attempt to grow their main
crop in a garden. A few early potatoes are,
however, grown firequently ; and the best of
these is decidedly the ash-leaved kidney.
The soil for potatoes should be a light, fi*esh,
unmanured loam, and when manure is ap-
plied, it should be mellow dung, or well*
rotted leaves. Potatoes are generally planted

172 THE KITCHEN-OARDRN. [cHAP.Yi.

by dividing the root into what are called
sets, with an eye in each; but sometimes
the tabers are planted whole. Seeds are
never used, except where it is wished to
raise new sorts. Potatoes are seldom good
forced ; but an early crop may be raised by
planting the sets in October. The principal
early crop is, however, planted early in
March ; and the principal late crop in May
or June. When the potatoes are to be
planted, the ground should be first well
pulverized, and then, the garden-line being
stretched across the beds, holes should be
made along it with the dibber firom two to
four or five inches deep, and about a foot
apart The sets should then be put one in
each hole, with the eye upwards, and the
earth pressed firmly down on each. When
the potatoes come up, they should be hoed,
and again in about a fortn^ht or three
weeks ; and when the plants are eight or ten
inches high, they should be carefiilly earthed
up. As soon as the plants go into blossom,
some cultivators cut off the tops, to prevent
the roots fi*om being exhausted by the form-
ation of the potatoe apples, or fiiiit When the

OHAY.VI.] THE KITCHEK-OABDBN. 173

tubers are ripe, the stalks begin to wither,
and may be taken up; but most persons
have not patience to wait so long, and they
begin to take up their early potatoes before
the tubers are half-grown.

The Jerusalem Artichoke is a tuberous-
rooted sun-flower, a native of Brazil; the
epithet Jerusalem being a corruption of the
Italian word ' girasole,' signifying to turn to
the sun, from the supposed habit of the
flower. The Jerusalem artichoke is planted
in February or March, by sets, like the
potatoe; and the tubers will be ready for
use in September or October. It was intro-
duced in 1716.

The Turnip succeeds best in a dry, sandy,
or gravelly soil, which has been well manured,
and dug to a considerable depth. The beds
should be four or five feet wide, and the
seeds having been strewed very thinly over
them, the surface should be raked smooth,
and then slightly beaten with the back of the
spade. The first sowing is generally made
in March, or the first week in April; and as
soon as the young plants shew their rough
leaves, they should be hoed up separately^

174 THE KITCHEN-OARDEN. [chaf.yi.

They will then seldom want any other cal-
ture till the end of May, when, if the weather
has been fitvourable, they will be ready for
use. A second sowing is generally made
about the middle of May ; and a third, for
the main crop, towards the end of June.
Besides the turnips usually sold in seed
shops, the Teltow, or small yellow German
turnip, the French long white, and the
Scotch yellow, are well deserving of cultivar
tion for their excellence. The common
turnip, the carrot, and the parsnip, are na*
tives of England.

Carrots are of two kinds — the long carrots,
the root of which tapers gradually fix>m the
crown to the point, and the horn carrots, die
root of which continues of nearly the same
thickness for three-fourths of its length, and
then abruptly diminishes to a very slender
tap root There are numerous sub-varieties
of both kinds. The goodness of the carrot
depending entirely on tlie ease ^dth which
the root can penetrate the soil, it is obvious
that the soil, in which these roots are grown,
must not be of a very adhesive nature ; and
thus the best carrots are grown in pure sand.

CHAP. VI.] THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 175

or peat. When soils of this nature cannot
be procured^ the ground should be trenched
two spades Jkep, and a very little thoroughly
rotten dung, or vegetable mould, should be
-well mixed with the earth in dicing the
lower spadeful. If manure^ in a fresh state^
be laid on a carrot-bed^ or if the soil be
not thoroughly pulverized, the roots will
become forked, fibrous, and worm-eaten.
The seeds of the carrot being each furnished
with a pappus^ or feathery wing, are apt to
become entangled with each other, and can
only be separated by rubbing them between
the hands, and mixing them with sand.
They are then to be sown very thinly, the
ground slightly raked over to cover them^
and then beaten flat with the back of the
spade. When the young plants are up, the
ground should be occasionally loosened,
from time to time, with a small hoe, round
each. When the leaves begin to change
colour^ the roots should be taken up, dry
weather being chosen for that purpose ; and
the tops being cut off» the carrots should
' be carried into a cellar, or outhouse, and
there buried in sand. Early carrots are

176 THE JUTQEXSHQAKDWX. [9mi»,Wl.

generaUy sown ia February^ And die pxia*
cipaliCTop about the middle of March^

The Parsnip requires the same caltareai
the carrot, except that there is no early oro^
The seed is sown in February or March, isaA
the roots are ready for use about the latfeet
end of September, or beginning of October;*^

The Red Beet is a native of the teaHX>aiit
on the south of Europe, and was introduoed
in 1656. The seed should not be sown till
the last week in March, or the begmning of
April. The ground should previously b#
dug to the depth of a foot or eightaea
inches, and mixed with a little sea or rmr
sand, and vegetable mould, or rotten dntig.
The roots will be ready for the table ia
September or October. In taking then
up, and boiling them, great care must ba
taken not to wound the outer skin; as, if
they are scraped or broken, all the coloiuiag
liquid will escape, and the root will beoome^
of a dull, dingy, whitish pink, instead of iH
usual brilliant red.

The Skzrretf the Scarzonera^ and the Salsify;
are all tap-rooted plants, which require the
same culture as the carrot

CHAP.TI.] THE KITCHEN-OABDEN. 177

Tlie Radish Is a native of China, and was
introduced into England before 1584. There
are numerous varieties ; but they may be all
divided into three or four kinds: — the spring
radishes, virhieh are sub -divided into the
spindle-rooted, and the turnip-rooted; the
autumn kinds, which are frequently oval,
or turnip-rooted; and the winter kinds,
which are oblong and dark-coloured. The
seed may be sown at any season when the
ground is open; but the very early spring
kinds are generally sown in October or No-
vember to stand the winter, and be ready to
draw in February and March.

Spinach.^ — The round-leaved variety is
generally sown for a summer crop, on rich
moist soil, in January or February, if the
ground be open; and the triangular-leaved
kinds, of which the Flanders is the best, are
sown for the winter crops in August The
summer crop, when gathered, may be pulled
up by the root ; but the winter crop should
only have the outer leaves gathered, and it
vnU thus continue producing fresh leaves for
many months.

Shnrel is generally propagated by ofisett

178 THE KITCHEN-GABBBK. [cbap.vi«

in spring or antamn ; or, if by seed, it is
sown in March. It is^ however, seldom
grown in English gardens.

The Onion tribe. — ^Very few onions, except
for salads, are generaUy grown in small gap.
dens. Where they are grown the soil should
be a rich loam, well manured with very rotten
dung ; and though the beds need not be dug
more than a spade deep, the soil to that
depth should be well pulverized. The seed
is sown broad-cast in March, on beds about
four feet wide, and after it is raked in, tibe
surface of the bed is rolled or beaten flat
with the spade. In about three weeks the
beds should be hoed, and thinned, as the
young onions will be then ready for salads ;
and the beds should be again hoed and
thinned out, from time to time, as the onions
may be wanted. When the onions are from
three to six inches apart, they axe generally
left to swell for the main crc^, and they will
be ready to draw in August or September.
Many persons, about a month or six weeks
before the onions are ready to take np, bend
the stalks down flat on the bed, to throw aH
the strength of the plant into the bulb^ and

CHAP. ▼!.] THE RITCHBK-OARDEK. 179

to prevent its thickening at the neck. Onions
for pickling are generally sown in April ; and
onicMis for salads may he sown at intervals all
the year. When onions are wanted of a
very large size, they are sown in drills, and
regularly earthed up ; and the Portugal
onions are generally transplanted. In Por-
tugal it is said that the alleys between the
beds are iGUiled with manure, which is kept
constantly watered, and the water directed
over the beds. Onions of enormous size
have been grown in England by raising them
on a slight hotbed in November or Decem-
ber, and transplanting them in April or May.
When they are transphinted it is into very
rich soil, three-fourths of which is rotten
manure, and only the fibrous roots are buried
in the soil, the bulb being left above ground.
The plants are placed &om nine inches to a
foot apart every way, and regularly watered.
Onions thus grown are not only of enormous
fflze, but of very delicate flavour. Neither
the native country of the common onion, nor
the date of its introduction into England^ is
known.

Leeks may be treated like onions, and may

n2

180 TflBi mTOHBW?aAPD»|«;. [qha^. v;.

be grown to aa eoonnoua size by trao^plaiit-
inginto a hole about twice their own diame-
ter^ at' the bottom of which their fibrous rqots
are spread oat and covered with aoil^ while
the bulb is left untouched by the soil, standing
in a kind of hollow cup. The plant is then
well supplied with water/ and will soon swell
to fill the cavity. The leek is a native of
Switzerland, and it was introduced before
the time of Elizabeth. .

The Chive is a perennial plant, a native of
Britain, and it is propagated by dividing the
roots in spring or autumn.

Garlic is propagated by dividing the bulb
into what are called cloves, and planting them
in February or March. They are genezally
planted in drills, and earthed up as they begin
to grow. : When the leaves turn yellow, whicji
they will do about August, the bulbs should be
taken up, and what may not be wanted for
use, should be reserved for planting the fol-
lowing spring. Garlic is a native of. the
south of Europe, and waa introduced before
the time of Henry VIIL The shallot is. a
native of Palestine, and it has been in jcultir
vation in British gardens at least as long a^

cttAP. VI.] THE KirCHEN-GARDETK. 181

the garlic. It is very difficult to grow^ as it
is apt to be attacked by a kind of maggot ;
but it has been found to succeed planted in
cup-shaped hollows like the leek.

All the onion tribe require a light, rich,
well-drained soil; and they always succeed
best where there is a gravelly subsoil.

Scdad plants. — ^These are very numerous,
and include lettuces, endive, small salads,
celery, &c. It is somewhat remarkable that
nearly all these were known to our ancestors,
and were in common use at British tables
dressed much as we dress them now, while
the potatoe was yet unknown, or only eaten
as a sweetmeat stewed with sack and sugar.

The lettuce is said to have been introduced
in 1662, but from what country is unknown.
There are numerous varieties, but they may
be all referred to two kinds; the cabbi^e
lettuces which grow flat and spreading, and
the cos lettuces which grow compact and
upright Lettuces are generally sown broad-
cast, like turnips or spinach, on beds of. rich
xneUow soil, at any season from January to
October; and the cabbage kinds require no
jetf);^ care, but weeding and thinning out.
The cos lettuces are, however, generally

182 THE KITCHSN-OAKDEX. [chap. vi.

blanched by bending down the tips of the
leaves over the heart, and tying them to-
gether with bast mat. Lettuces are also
sown by the French to cut for salads when
.^ yLg, » ^t^ m^Uri »ri <^

Ev/dive is a native of China and Japan,
introduced before 1548. It is generally
sown in large gardens at three seasons, viz.,
April, June, and August ; but in small gar^
dens one sowing is generally thought suffi*^
cient, and that is made in May. The seeds
are sown very thinly in beds of rich mellow
earth ; and when they are from four to six
inches high, they are transplanted into beds
of rich light earth, where they are planted in
drills about a foot apart in the Hne; and
as they grow, are occasionally earthed up.
When the plants are about three parts grown,
the outer leaves are tied over the hearts to
blanch them, with strands of bast mat, or
osier twigs ; a dry day being chosen for the
operation. Only a few plants should be tied
up at a time ; and they should be seldom al*
lowed to stand more than a fortnight or three
weeks after the operation ; as, if they remain
longer, particularly if the weather be wet.

CHAP. VI.] THE KITCHEN-OARDSX. 1 83

thej begin to rot In wet or cold seasons
endive is best blanched by turning a sea-kale
pot oyer each root, instead of tying down the
outer leayes. There are two distinct kinds :
the broad leaved or Batavia endive, and the
curkd leaved, which is the most common,
and to which the French give the name of
chicoree.

The true Chiccory or Succory is sometimes
called wild endive ; but the French name for
it 18 barbe de cajmcin. It is common in cal-
careous and sandy soils in different parts of
England, where it is conspicuous &om its
bright blue flowers. Its culture is the same
as that of endive ; but it may also be treated
as a winter salad, by being taken up in Oc-
tober or November, and stacked in cellars in
alternate layers of sand, so that the crowns of
the plants may just appear along the ridge-
Here, if the firost be excluded, the roots will
soon send out a provision of tender succulent
leaves; which, if kept from the light, will
also be quite blanched.

Mustard and Cress. — Mustard is the native
white mustard eaten in its seed leaves ; and
cress is an annual cruciferous plant, intro-

184 THE KITCHBN-GABBBN. [chap. vi.

duced before 1548> but from what coontry is
unknown. They are both of the easiest
culture^ and will not only grow in any soil or
situation^ bat may even be raised for the
table by spreading the seed in a saucer on
wet flanneL The flour of mustard is made
from the ground seeds of the black mustard,
which is cultivated extensively in some parts
of England for that purpose.

Com Salad or Lamb Lettuce^ Winter Cress,
Burnety Tansey, and many other plants are
occasionally used in salads, particularly on
the Continent, but they ane seldom grown for
that purpose in England.

Celery is frequently used in salads ; and it
is interesting, as being so greatly improved by
cultivation as scarcely to be recognized; for
in its w^ild state it is a British plant called
smallage, which grows in ditches, and is
scarcely eatable. In gardens, celery requires
more manure than any other vegetable, except
the cabbage tribe. The seed for the princi-
pal crop of celery is generally sown in-
March or April, and the seed-bed sh6uld.be
formed of equal parts of fresh dark: loamy
soil, and old rotten dung. When the plants

(^ik^/Yf «] THB> iKITCHBK^AltDSH'J 1 65

are/abimt tmo or dire6< iiiefaefr high^ t&^y ttfe
^^dked out into another bed Aiade of Teiy
lieli soil^ six or seven inches deep, on d hard
bottom; and when they are about a foot
high^ tbej are transplanted into trenches for
blanching. The trenches are made four feet
apart, eighteen inches vride, and twelve deep;
and they are filled nine inches high with a
rich compost of strong fresh soil and rotten
dung. The plants are taken up with as
nmch earth as will adhere to the roots, and
the side-^oots or ofBsets are removed from
the central stems ; they are then set by the
hand, nine or ten inches apart, in the centre
of each trench, and well watered. As the
plants in the trenches grow, the earth is
gradually drawn up to them, a little at a
time, taking care never to let the earth rise
above the heart of the plant ; and this earth-
ing up is repeated five or six times, at inter-
vals of about ten days or a fortnight, till the
plants are ready for use. Thus treated, a
single plant of celery of the solid kind has
been known to weigh nine pounds, and to
measure four feet in length.

Water cress is generally gathered wild, but

186 THE KITCHEN-GABDEN. [chap. vi.

it may be cultivated in gardens wbeie there
is a clear running stream5 on a sandy or
gravelly bottom. The plants are disposed in
rows parallel with the stream, about eighteen
inches apart, in shallow water; but four or
five feet apart if the water be very deep, as if
nearer tc^ether they will check the stream.
Thus treated, the plants may be cut at least
once a week during the whole summer. The
beds must, however, be cleared out and re-
planted twice a-year; and when this is done,
all the plants are taken up, divided and
planted again in the gravelly bed of the
stream, a stone being laid on each to keep it
in its place.

Pot Herbs. — Of these parsley is a hardy
biennilil, a native of Sardinia, introduced
before 1548. It is generally sown in a drill
in February or March, and this will supply
leaves all the summer. The plants do not
seed till they are two years old. The curled
variety is preferred for garnishing. Tarragcn
is a strong-smeUing perennial from Siberia,
introduced before 1548. It is principally
used for making Tarragon vinegar. Fennel
is a perennial, which, when once introduced.

CHAP. VI.] THE KITCBXN-QAKDEN. 187

spreads every where, and can scarcely be
eradicated. Chervil is an annual used for
garnishing^ and sometimes in salads, and the
common Marigold is an annual, a native of
the South of Europe, introduced before 1573,
but now seldom grown except in cottage,
g^ardens.

Sweet Herbs, — These plants, though called
in gardening-books sweet herbs, are mostly
aromatic shrubs ; such as thyme, sage, &c.

Thyme. — There are two kinds of this deli-
cate little shrub cultivated in gardens; the
common and the lemon : both are natives of
the south of Europe, and were introduced
before 1548. Young plants are generaUy
raised by division of the root, or from offsets
slipped off the branching roots in spring or
autumn ; they grow best in poor dry soU, or
lime rubbish.

Sage is a much talleivgrowing shrub than
thyme. It is a native of the south of Eu-
rope, and was introduced before 1597. It
is propagated by slips, or by cuttings of
the young shoots taken off in May or June ;
but as the plant is very long-Uved it seldom

188 THE SLtTCH£N'GAta>1£W. [chap. vi.

wants renewing. It requires the same kind
of soil as thyme.

Mint. — ^There are three kinds grown in
gardens : the common^ or spear mint, which
is the kind boiled with peas, and used for
mint-sauce, &c. ; the peppermint, compara-
tively little cultivated, and only used for dis-
tilling ; and the penny-royal. They are all
British perennials, and are propagated by
dividing the root, making cuttings, or taking
off offsets. All require rather a moist and
strong soil.

Majjoram, — There are four kinds in Cul-
tivation: the pot marjoram, which is a low
shrub, a native of Sicily, introduced in 17S&/
and* propagated by slips; the sweet, or knot-
ted marjoram, a hardy biennial, a native of
Portugal, introduced in 1573, and sown
every year from seed generally ripened in
France ; the Winter maqoram, a hardy per-
ennial, a native of Greece, introduced be-
fore 1640, and propagated by cuttings or
slips; and the common marjoram, a peren-
nial, and a native of Britain. The first
three kinds require a light dry soil, and

CBAP.YI.] THE KITCHEN-GARDSN. 189

the last a calcareous soil, and sheltered
situation.

Savoury and BadL — Winter savoury is
a hardy under-shrub, and summer savoury
an annual — both natives of the south of
Europe, and cultivated in England since
about 1650. Basil is an annual, a native
of the East Indies, introduced about 1548,
All these aromatic herbs may be purchased,
admirably dried, in small cases, at Mrs,
Johnson's, in Covent Garden market

Cucumbers require a hotbed to grow them
to perfection; but the smaller kinds for
pickling are sometimes planted in the (^en
ground. The seed should be from two to
four years old, and it should be sown in
pots plunged in a hotbed, not below 58^ at
night, nor above 65® in the day. When the
plants come up, they should be pricked out
into pots, three in each pot, and watered,
the earth in the pots and the water being
both previously kept under the glass for
some time, that they may be both of the
same heat as the plants. When the plants
are about five weeks old, they are generally
removed to a larger hotbed, with a two

190 THS KITCHXS^GABXXBS, [cHAP.vi.

or t^ree*liglit frame. In this bed^ a little
ridge of earth is made under eadi light;
and, in each of these, the contents of a pot
is planted, without breaking the ball of earth
round the roots of the plants. The heat of
this bed is generally a little higher than that
of the seed-bed. Water should be given
every day, warmed to the heat of the bed
If the plants are wanted to fruit early, the
ends of the shoots may be pinched o£F as
soon as the plants have made two rough
leaves, and this is caUed stoppmg the run-
ners at the first joint ; this stopping is re-
peated wherever the runners show a disposi-
tion to extend themselves without producing
fruit. As plants raised under glass have not
the benefit either of emrrents of air or insects^
to convey the pollen of the barren plants to
the stigma of the fertile ones, the latter
must either be dusted with pollen by the
gardener, or the plants should be exposed
as much to the air as possible, in the middle
of the day, when it is warm enough, during
the time that they are in flower. Seeds for
the first crop of cocumbers are generally
sown in December or January; bnt^ as extra

CBAP.vi.] THE KITCnBN-GAKDEK. 191

heat and care are required at this jearly
season, the crop for a small garden may
be sown about March. The great art is
to grow the cucumbers long and straight,
and to keep them green, with a beautifiil
bloom. For the first purpose, many cultiva^
tors place a brick under the young finit;
and for the latter they leave on the plant
abundance of leaves, and keep the ground
moist, as the plant appears to thrive best
when it has abundance of heat and moisture,
and is kept in the shade. A dry heat, and
especially exposure to the burning rays of
the sun, will make cucumbers flaccid and
yellow.

PickUng Cuctanbers are generally sown in
patches of ten or twelve seeds in each, in
riie open air; .and when they come up, they
are thinned out to four or five in each paitch.
Thiey are sown in rich ground, and well
watered ; and as they grow, they are occa*
sionally earthed up.

Mebns. — The culture of the melon is the
same as that of the. cucumber, except that
the lowest heat of the seed-bed should not
be le89 thaa 65% and that of the firuiting

\9^ 'WSBiimmeaBBi^AMsmmi [fMA^/y^u

b^:7'5V ' T« grow tUeifiiMJr kinds olraebns^
^^Uj J^tQWwer^ . I<eqmi«8 the att^tic^' of 'h
Hffiiwt gttrdener ; and: as this is di^ c^^ ala^
with. piiie^{)pko (the «jplailt8 of whic^h afre too
expensive to be- trifled with)/ no dirckitions
iMce h^e given reapeeting them.

Gourds. — The two kinds of vegetable-^
marrow--— the American butter-squash^ and the
mammoth-gourd^ are excellent for the table,
either in soup, or boiled, or fried. Ilie'
plants of all these kinds should be raised in a
hotbed, the seeds being sown in Mai:ch <^'
April, three in a pot, and covered nearly anf'
inch deep. In May, the young phmtk''
should be removed to the open gn^undV
where they should be planted in rich soil; '
and sheltered for a night or two, till they
have become inured to the change. They
should be. frequendy watered in dry weather,'
as the fruit will not swell without abundance
of moisture.

Tomatoes. — The tomato or love-apple is
a tender annual;, a native of South America^ '
introduced before 1596. The seeds should'
be sown in a hot^bed in March, and as soon
as they, come up pricked out into pots ; tbey

CBAF. ▼!.] THB XirCHXW-OABDBK* 193

should be transplanted into a warm border
in front of a south wall in May; where they
shoiold be trained against the wall, or pq;ged
down over a warm bank of earth sloping to
the sun. They require abundance of water
while the fruit is swelling; and as much heat
as possible while it is ripening.

Mushrooms. — The spawn is generally pro-
cured from a nurseryman ; and the beds are
miMie of fresh horse-dung thrown together
in a heap undercover, and turned oyer many
times in the course of a fortnight or three
weekfl, till every part has thoroughly fer-
mented. When the dung is thought to be
in a proper state, a trench is marked out
twelve or fourteen feet long and five broad,
and about six inches deep ; the mould taken
out in forming it being laid on one side till
wanted. In the bottom of the trench there
should be a layer of long fresh stable manure
•about four inches thick ; and on this, succes-
sive layers of the prepared dung, each beaten
flat with the fork, till the bed is about five
feet high, and narrow at the top like the
ridge of a house. In this state it may remain
about a fortnight; and then if the bed be

o

194 THE KITCHEN-GABDEN. [cHAP.vi.

found, on trying it by plunging a stick in, to
be not too hot, the bricks of spawn shoold be
broken into pieces about an inch and a half
or two inches square, and strewed r^ularly
over the bed, each piece of spawn being
buried by raising up a little of the dung and
inserting it After this the sur&ce of the
bed is beaten flat with a spade, and the whole
is covered with mould, that of a loamy nature
being preferred. The whole is then beaten
quite smooth, and covered about a foot thick
with oat straw, on which are laid mats. In
about a month or six weeks the mushrooms
will be ready for the table; and when
gathered they should be gently twisted up
by the roots, and not cut oSy as die root, if
left in the ground, will decay, and be inJQrioQ3
to the young plants.

IWi

CHAPTER Vn.

THE KITCHEN-GARDEN CONTINUED — THE
MANAGEBfBNT OF FRUIT TREES.

The fruit trees in a kitchen garden are of
three kinds: the ^all trees, the espaliers, and
the standards. To these may be added the
fruit shrubs, and the vines ; which last are
generally grown under glass.

JTie WalUFruit Trees. — There are two
things on which the wel&re of wall-fruit trees
materially depends, viz. the construction of
the wall, and that of the border. The walls
of kitchen gardens are very generally made
too high : a serious fault in many respects,
but particularly in impeding the free passage
of the sun and air to the fruit. It has indeed
been found, by experience, that walls about

o2

fiig^it.fee|; ^ijg^ win |«:oduci? better finit tbw
i;rj^ pf tfBu &et or twelve feet» wbi^ o^ ttie
general height; aokd besidqs they h«il^e> the
^v^iit9g^ of not tkrowing so deep a sh^ow
pyer tbe:,gf|rdien. < Of whatever height the
wallf ixiiajt he,.:they ehould alwdjEi be in
$tFa%ht lines; 113 tte various: e^pediensts
whichf haive beea from time to time adopted^
of: curved or s&igzag lixies, have been found not
to anawer in practice, but to produce eddies
and CMtrents of wind exceedingly injuiio^is
to the firuit. The garden wall should hiive a
siyight stone coping ; and where the trees .are
U]cqly to want protection, strong hooks^, 01
holdf^ts»' projecting from the wallj should, be
built in at regular distances for the conve-
nience of suspending the mats or buntiung
that inay be employed ; or supporting a deep
wooden coping. Hot or fined walls are not
desirable, as they are very expensive and
troublesome, and of very little use.

The walls should be built on good, sound,
and deep foundations, but on no account on
arches; as it is of importance to the gar-
dener to confine the roots to the border in
front of the wall, which is under his control.

instead of suflbribg them to sj^eiul tHrongh
th^ ardiies ta the either sides, yAu^te they ni^
entirely teaioYed'&om hkxi.

TTie egsmtial paint to he attended to in the
oonstruethn of a fruit border is that the soil
shall not he more than eighteen inches deep
on a hard bottom. K the subsoil be hard
gravel or rock, covered "vi^ith mptdd to the
depth mentioned, nothing more can be de-
siared ; but if the subsoil be wet clay, or sand
o^rer gravel, or in short anything that will
allow of roots penetrating into it, artificial
means should be resorted to, to keep the
roots near the surface of the ground. The
most eommon method of forming a border is
to excavate the ground to the depth required,
ftqii to pave the bottom of the excavation
with laige stones or pebbles ; but bricks,
eement, asphalt, or in short any other sub*-
stance may be employed which appears likely
to attain the end in view — taking care, how*
ever, to provide effectual drainage, as other-
wise the chamber, as it is called, would be»-
castke a reservoir of sti^ant water, exceed^*
ingly injurious to the plants. The chamber
having been formed, it should be covered

1 ^i THK ' kl*c4fiki^l!BtbliN. [ck ap. vn.

^H good tieH giffden 'moiild tb the ¥e<piimte
d^ptb^ TaiTing in some instances doeotdin^
to the kind of tree to be gtoim in it 5 hvtt m
all cases thoroughly palverized^ so as to oflfer
no obstruction to the passage of the roots;

When the trees are planted care should be
taken to raise each on a little hillock^ at Ae
point of junction betM^een the trunk and the
root, to allow for the sinking of the grotaid.
The collar of a ligneous plant should never
l)e buried ; as any moisture collected rouild
this tender and indeed vital part, brings* on
Isanker, and innumerable other diseases. ^> Ail
fruit-trees thus treated produce canker^
'and deformed fruit, and die in a fewyesErS'of
premature old age.

It can never be repeated too often that
the essential point in growing fixdt^treesus
to keep their roots as near to the surface as
possible, and never to suffer them to descend
so deep as to be out of the influence of die
sun and air. Many persons unacquainted
' with vegetable physiology, have an idea that
'when a fruit-tree, which has been productive,
suddenly ceases to bear, it is because its
roots have reached die gravel, or in x>ther

CHAP. TO.] ^JJUL-yHDIT .TIUPES. . , 199

woijdfl^ ihQ subsoil. This.isi. bQweyer, false
ceasonmg oa true premises. It is quite true
that the tree has ceased ^to bear, in. coijise-
qoieace of the descent of its roots ; but the
reason thi& descent is injurious is^ that the
ground far below the surface is cold^and
freqiientlj impregnated with stagnant water;
and eithejp that the roots thus become swollen
and unable to perform their proper functions,
in which case the leaves turn yellow, and
the tree appears to wither, or that they
supply the tree with an abundance of poor
thin watery sap quite unsuitable for the pro-
duction of fruit On the contrary, when the
roots are kept near the surface, though they
have no air-vessels except in the spongioles,
these spongioles imbibe air and carbonic acid
gas firoin the atmosphere with all the moisture
.they take up ; and thus the vessels are. not
only kept in a healthy state by not being
overchaiged with water without air, but the
9ap is so thickened and enriched with the
ctirbonic acid gas, that it is brought into a
proper state for forming those deposits which
lead to the production of fruit.
..J The me of waJU is to afford tendjsr plants

thc/iiipat )tlleyvii{tte adbsiorb&d >duri¥ig the' d^yi
IWparei alsoiuselbl in #heU^tiiigr4:b!6'>{)l^€
finoBEijodld "Minds; and in |)Peivientijikg 'tUe
traftd^B- frdin -br iHsing ^afch otli^id vidletit
atdrms. This being tke tme of Walls, ^it is
efideiKt: thai? only those trees should bcl
trldned agttinslt them that requite protections
fifld the soudi and sonth^^east * wells ' blein^
warmer than the others, it is equally evidetift
tiiat only those trees should be tinned
againfift these walls, that require a great 'd^ai
of heat to mature their fruits. There are
same firuits, such as the apple, which t6o
math heat renders mealy and insipid ; and
these would obviously be injured instead of
improved by a south, or south-east wall;
while other fruits, such as the peach, could
not jwodnce good fruit in our climate with-
out one. Before planting trees against the
walls of a garden, it will thus be necessary
to select the trees proper for each wall; and
as some of the finer kinds will be several
years before they attain a sufficient size to

90 that no part of itbeiwaU m9Ly\i» loat^thd
u[i&rHMr tEe€0' being cut in aa'tlle/oliieiB^aNi^^
9m4 ])W^ fijUtUy removed* TJub is iBocottil-
pli«h^di by {^anting alternately dwavf trecsof
ihe kind which is to r^^ain^ andlrees gtmAed
standard higbj which are oaUed riders, <x£lbB
kipds which are to be removed* • Thrdh^
tm9^ At which the permanent trees ought ito
be: planted depends upon the nature of U10

». TMrc is, however, one objection to ai
qouth or south-east wall for tender plants
w^ch should be careMlj guarded against.
TJnis is. the danger from spring firosts^ to-
which the blossoms are exposed during dus
night, from being brought prematurely for-
ward during the day. To guard against ibis*
the south wall should have a deep woodem
coping, supported by holdfasts, projecting
about a foot from the wall ; and under thifi
coping there should be a row of hook^on
which should be hung a kind of curtain' of
bunting, which should be kept on day and
night in frosty weather, while the blossoms

20? THE KITCHSN'OABDSN. [chap^vii.

are expanded. This la not iOdIj to protect
the blossoms from the fipost, bat to save them
fifom the withering e£fect of the sun, which
is as injurious to them after a firosty night as
the frost itself. In feet, when tender trees
are eovered with hoar-^frost^ they may some-
times be saved if shaded till they haTC
thawed; bat they are always killed if et*
posed^ while the frost is on them, to the sun.
Bunting is preferable to matting or canvass;
because it is thinner and does not entire^
eoxiade the light and air, because it is moxe
easily put up and taken down, and takes- up
less room when stowed away, and because it
is cheaper, four square yards costing only
imo shillings at Edgington's, the marqoee*-
maker.

Kinds (f WalUFrvit Trees, §•(?.— The phrin-
eipal fruits grown against a wall in England
ave those containing stones ; and of these die
most valuable ore the peach, the nectariiie,
And, tlie apricot The other stone fruits,
fllofa «is the plum and the cherry, are fre-
quently grown against a wall, but they are
f^wn^also as standards: as are thekeniMll
£hii)^, <«u$h as the apple and pear; the apj^e

being "very rarely grown iigaUiBd'a widl *iti
England. In the ne^hbourhood'of Londdi;
figs and grapes are grown agadnet walk M
the open grotmd, and in some parts of iDevon^
shire the orange tribe*

Si&ne Fruits. — All kinds of stone frnits nx^
more or less delioate at the time of forming
their stones^ or ^^ stoning" as it is called; /and
the fimit requires thinning at that period- to
prsTent the greater part of it bek^ dropped.
They all blossom early, and axe delioate
while their flowers are expanded. For these
leasons their crops are more uncertain in a
Tariable climate like that of England^ than
crops of the kernel fiiiits, and requiore mc^re
care and attention to bring them to pet^
fection.

. ffpoehes and Nectarines.-^The peach ^and
.the nectarine are only varieties of one species
of ahnond ; and instances have been kno^
of peaches and nectarines growing on the
fuaa^ tree without grafting. Both ^eadMB
and nectarines are divided into ' two kiixd^*;
the free stones^ the flesh of which ports readily
•ftom/the stone — ^and the cling stonei^> the^fli^
iM ffhich adheres to the stone. Sotne ^itlie

be9t ipeaoh^s for a^s&iiall gkideti ate the< G^od^
ndgHenDe^ > Bellfagaxdey and Btittihgtbh. 'Thl^
ewUesti Jpeacb'is the red nutmeg, whkh
ripeo9 in- Jalj; and one of the latest, thie
GatbtoiJiid, which does not ripen till Octobe^.
The best nectarines* «pe the Elmge and -the
Yiolette hative,.with the new white nectarine^
for -a variety in colour. Both peaches and
nectarines are budded on plum stocks, or od
seedling peaches, or almonds^ the latter being
greatly preferred by the French nurserymeti:
The best soil for peaches is about three pflrtis
of fresh clayey loam, taken from some field;
and one part of drift sand. This soil should
be moderately enriched with vegetable moidd
composed of decayed leaves, and it should *h&
laid on the prepared chamber to the depth
of .about eighteen inches, rather less than
more. Peaches require rather an adhesive
soil> not too rich ; as in a rich loose soil they
will produce wood rather than fruit Peach
trees are seldom plaiited against the wall
where they are to remain, till they have been
tw<Q» three, or four years trained; and thejr
ace generally removed at the latter end of
October, or beginning of November, just as

tjb^.leafb^as ta>&lL They ai&'bd8t>er|d&dd

tli^ir fruit on .shoots <if a ycieur ojid, tbsid
sjtijoots loast alwiLys be left on in phiningpaQd
thf» old <vsrood cut out Pruning should -be
pecfonsied at two seasons^ viz, iirinter anl
summer: the winter pnlning is perfymntd
^t .the fall of the leaf^ or in the hennaing ^
February^ nud consists of cutting out or
^orteniag the old wood or barren branches ;
a^ summer pruning^ which consists chiefly
of what, is called disbudding, (that is, rubbing
o^ the .buds as soon as they appear,) should
b^.aiqJied to the removal of all shoots grow*
ifqg i:jight out from the wall, (and which, con^
s^qilij^^tly, could not be well trained,) or
ipliich appear otherwise to be improperly
placed. Experienced gardeners also look
oY^r the blossom buds, as soon as they show
themselves, and thin them out, without
allowing the tree to waste its strength in
forming fruit which it can never ripen, and
wl^qh is of no use in its green state. The
disbudding is easily performed ; and watching
the trees to find when it will be necessary,
affordS: a constant source of interest Thin-

309 TBBAEWtCWaSt*aASXSN. [cBAp.Ylk.

nipg tbe Uoosoms i^ mther mofe diffici^ti;
bulf'Wkh a<Utt]fi pmctice^ a lady could dcf'it
titueli :beUef ithaa .a gardener^ as it ift an
^(^r^lioQ '^bhat- dreads prinoipallj on deli-
cacy of touch. When a peach tree is trained
in the fan manner^ the first year the little
side shoots are left ft>r producing the fruit,
and none of these should be more than a
year old. The next year these shoots must
ba cut out, (as the same shoot never bears
two years in succession,) and others which
have been produced while they were bearing,
BAQSt be trained in their stead. The borders
should never be . cropped on account of not
disturbing the roots, which should be encour-
aged to rise up to the surface of the ground
by what is called mulching, that is, covering
tbe ground with straw, dead leaves, or litter;
and when this is objected to on account^
its untidy appearance, the borders should be
left bare, and only raked occasionally to pre-
vent the surfiice from caking over, and' be-
QOming impervious to air and moisture. No
Mble dung should be given to peaches, and
^hea the trees seem exhausted they should
be taken up and replanted in fresh soil} or

they should be removed^ and tre^ of quite a
difEeveat Idnd^ each as pears for^ example,
planted instead of them in the ^ame soiL
When the boxdeis cannot be spared to be teft
entirely baie^ a light crop^ such as of spinach,
lettuces, mustard and cress, or parsley, should
be sown on them, and the remains of this
crop, when done with, should be raked off;
but fruit borders should never on any account
be touched with a spade, and even a fork
should be used very seldom and very spar-
ingly ; never, indeed, unless the ground has
become too hard and compact to admit the
rain, the sun, and the air. It must never be
fQIgotten, that unless the spongioles of the
rooAs are permitted to imbibe the carbonic
a(;id gas always floating in the atmosphere,
with the moisture they take up, the sap of
the tree will never be rich enough to produce
fiait The fruit and seeds of every plant are
ilk &ct concentrations of carbon, precipitated
by t^e action of light ; and where any plant
is4eficient in carbon, or deprived of l^ht^ it
qn^ot produce much fruit The culture of
t^i, nectarine is exactly the same as that of
the peach. In both, when the season is cold

208 THE KITCHEN-GARDEN* [chap. vii.

and wet, with but little sun, some cultivatora
remove a few of the leaves to admit more air
and light to the &uit; but this should be
done very sparingly, as unless a sufficient
quantity of leaves are left to carry on the
proper circulation of the sap, the skin of the
fruit will become tough and withered, and
the flesh insipid. When the fruit is ripe, it
is customary, in large gardens, to suspend a
net under the branches to catch any fruit
that may &11, and thus to save it irom being
bruised. The peach is supposed to be a
native of Persia, and to have been introduced
into England about the middle of the six-
teenth century. Peaches and nectarines 6n
a wall ten or twelve feet high, should be
planted about twenty feet apart; with riders
of some kind of plum, or peach, till the
permanent trees spread.

2Tie Apricot is a native of Armenia, intro-
duced about 1562. The culture is the same
as that of the peach, excepting that it is not
trained quite so much in the fan manner,
but somewhat horizontally. It also bears,
not only on the side-shoots of the last year,
but on close spurs formed on the two-years'

CHiLP.Tii.] THB PLtJK. 209

old wood. The whole of the fruit is also
generally suffered to form, and is thinned
oat while it is green, in May or the begin-
ning of June, as green apricots are generally
thought delicious in tarts. The best apricots
are the Moorpark for the table, and the
Breda for preserving. This last is frequently
grown as a standard. Large branches, or
rather arms of apricot-trees, particularly of
the Moorpark^ are very apt to die off without
any apparent cause. The finest apricots I
ever saw were grown on a tree trained against
a cottage, the owner of which was an old
woman, who took in washing, and who was
in the habit, nearly every day, of pouring
down about the roots of the tree a quantity
of soap-suds. Apricot-trees should be twenty-
five feet apart, as the tree spreads rapidly,
and does not bear cutting in.

The Plum. — No plum-tree, except perhaps
the green-gage, should be planted on a south
wall; and, as a north wall is too cold iot
the finer kinds, they do best planted agamst
a wall facing to the east or west Any com-
mon garden soil will suit plum-trees; and
when the soil appears exhausted, it may be-

p

210 THE KITC^SN-GABOEN. [cBAP. Vli.

renovated by a little rotten dung laid on
the 8urfiice» and frequently watered to wash
its juices into the soil^ without disturbing
the roots. Plum-trees bear on what are
called spurs, which are short ru^ed-looking
little branches, jutting out from the shoots
of two or three years' growth. The same
spurs bear more than once, and often con-
tinue fruitful several years. Plum-trees are
generally trained horizontally. The kinds
are very numerous, but the Green-gage and
Orleans are, perhaps, the most popular.
Plum-trees should be twenty feet apart, if
all dwacfe ; but dwarfi and riders alternately
may be only fifteen feet apart.

The Cherry, — Only the finer kinds of
cherries are grown against walls; and the
tree, in its native localities, delights in a
dry sandy soil, and elevated airy situation.
When cultivated, it will thrive in any com-
mon garden soil which is tolerably open;
and it is not injured by manure applied
moderately, and in a perfectly rotten state.
The cherry is trained horizontally, and bears
on spurs springing from both the old and
the new wood. As the branches are con-

cHAP.'vn.] NCh^TBEEB. 211

tinuaUy throwing out fresh spurs from their
extremities, it is a maxim with gardeners
ne'^r to shorten the bearing branches of a
cherry-^tree. The morello ia, however, an
exception to this rule, as its mode of bearii^
resembles that of the peach; and it is always
pnmed and trained like that tree. The
cherry-trees grown against walls are the
different varieties of May Duke, Circassian,
the large black Tartarian, the Morello, and
the Bigarreau. Cherries need not be more
than fifteen feet apart for the common kinds,
and twenty feet for the morello.

Fiff'-trees grow and bear quite well in the
neighbourhood of London, and they even
dirive and bear in many street-gardens in the
City. The fig requires less care in training
and pruning than any other tree; it should
indeed rarely be touched with the knife, and
only the ill placed shoots removed by dis-
budding. The fimt is produced on the
young wood at the extremity of the branches,
but it does not ripen till the wood on which
it grows is a year old. The best soil for figs
is a light fresh loam not above a foot or
fifteen inches deep, on a hard, well-drain^

p2

212 THE KITCHEN-QABDEN. [chap. vii.

l^ttoin. This is essential; as the fig will
not grow with any stagnant water about its
roots, though it requires to be constantly
and abundantly supplied with moisture.
Many country persons throw soap-suds on
the roots of their fig-trees with very great
success. The tree may be trained in any
shape; and the long branches should be
bent backwards and forwards, not only to
make them throw out side-shoots, but to
cover the walL The best figs for general
bearing are the black and brown Ischias and
the large blue or purple fig. A tree of the
last kind, which is trained against our house
at Bayswater, under the glass veranda, has
never failed, during the last ten years, to
produce a good crop every summer. Fig-
trees should be thirty feet apart if the branches
are trained horizontally; but they may be
placed rather nearer, if the branches are bent
backwards and forwards to cover the waU.

EsPALiEBS. — Espaliers, though they are
nearly as troublesome to train as wall-trees,
have none of their advantages. They are
indeed only superior to standards in taking
up le^ room, in having a neater appearance.

CHAP.Yli.] ESPALIERS. 213

in their fruit being more easily gathered, and
in their roots being more under the control
of the gardener. The latter is an important
advantage, and one of which every gardener
should avail himself. It has been already
observed, when speaking of the laying out of
a kitchen garden, that beyond the fruit-
border there is generally a walk, enclosing
the compartments devoted to culinary vege-
tables in the centre. Now where espaliers
are grown, there should be a second cham-
bered border, exactly like the fruit border
under the wall, which should be shut out
from the culinary compartments by a low
wall under ground, or flat stones placed
edgeways, or boards, or, in fact, any thing to
prevent the roots of the espaliers from spread-
ing into the ground devoted to the culinary
crops. When due precautions have been
taken, the espaliers should be planted near
the boundary, and their roots carefully
spread out over the chambered border,
those parts being cut off which cannot be
brought to lie flat in the proper direction.
The ground is then pressed firmly upon the
roots, and espalier rails, either of iron or

214 THE KITCHBK-OABDEN. [chap. VII.

wood, are fixed near the trees to tie tbem
to. Espalier trees are seldocb suffered to
grow higher than five feet or six feet^ on
account of the trouble of training them
when they are of a greater height; but to
make amends for this loss of spaced their
branches are allowed to spread as widely as
possible, according to the nature of the trees.
Thus apples should be planted thirty feet
apart, and cherries about the same distance ;
peaiB thirty-eve feet, and plums twenty-five
feet. The finer kinds of firuits are seldom
planted as espaliers; and apples and pears
are more commonly thus treated than cher-
ries and plums. The continual cutting
necessary to keep the trees in a proper shape
for training, and the unnatural position of
the roots, are indeed very unsuitable to trees
so apt to gum and canker as the cherry and
the plum. The width of the border destined
for the roots of the espalier^ is generally fire
feet ; and it should only be cropped with a
few herbaceous or annual flowers, that will
not require the ground to be deeper stirred
than can be done with a rake. Some persons
suffer the roots of their espalier trees to

CHAP. VII

.] B8PAUBB0. 216

extend under the gravel walkfi^ which are
purposely left hollow; but this defeats the
purpose for which they are tp be attracted to
the sur&oe, for the q>ongioles will be as
effectually excluded from the air under a
compact coating of gravely as if they were
bumd many feet deep in the soil. If an un-
dexground wall is built along the inner side of
the espalier border to confine the roots of the
trees, stones should be fixed in it at intervals,
with holes made in them for the reception of
the espalier rails, which should be run in
with pitch. These rails should be about
nine inches asunder, and they may be kept
together at the top with a transverse rail, to
which they should be nailed. The inconve-
.mencesofespaUere are the very great trouble
of training them and keeping them within
boiinds; the rough and untidy appearance
which their spurs assume when the trees
h^gin to get old ; and the numerous diseases
to which the trees are liable, from their un-
;natural pqsition and constant cutting in,
and which always render espaUer trees short-
lived^
, Stav^ard fruit-trees. — Tall standaf^d

2161 THB XVSfOSStHUJBBKKS. [chap. vii.

trees should iieyer^ on any aecouiity be planted
in a Jdtchen^garden ; as from their drip aad
shade it is impossible to grow good cdlinftry
vegetables under them; while^ on the other
hand^ the constant digging and. troiching
necessary to cultivate culinary vegetables,
force the roots of the trees to descend so&r
that it is impossible for them to produce
good fruit Dwarf standards are, however,
by many preferred to espaliers; as they are
susceptible of all the advantages, without
any of the disadvantages attendant on that
mode of training. A chambered border may
be prepared for the dwarf standards in the
same manner as for the espaliers; and they
may be placed in the centre of it, instead of
on one side. The dwarf standards are gene-
rally grafted very near the collar of the
plant, and are trained to form bushes radier
than trees, but in various manners. Some
are trained round a hoop placed inside, and
others have their branches trained upwards
for a few feet, and then bent downwards like
an uml»rella; some are trained en quemtmiUei
with a single stem; others enpyramide; and
others have their branches spread out hori*

CHAP, m.] STAmiABD FBUnMrRBfiB. 217

zontally, and sapported by stakes placed at
a ragahur distance in a circle round the tree.
In short) there are no limits to fiincy in this
respect The trees generally grown in gar-
dens as dwiarf standards are apples^ pears^
and morello cherries. The other kinds of
cherries may also be grown in this manner;
but they are generally grown as tall stand-
ards in a detached orchard near the kitchen-
garden, or adjoining the pleasure-grounds.
The common kinds of plums and damsons
are also grown as tall trees in the same man-
ner, as are the kitchen and keeping apples.
Mulberry-trees are generally planted on the
lawn, as well for the picturesque form of the
tree, as for the convenience of the fixdt,
which drops as soon as it is ripe, and is
spoiled if it fiJls on dry earth or gravel.
Sweet chesnuts are grown in the park or
pleasure-grounds among other trees ; and
walnuts in similar situations, or in a back-
court, or stable-yard, for the convenience of
their shade. Filberts and hazels are gene-
rally planted on each side of a walk in the
gavden or pleasure-ground, which they are
trained ov^ ; and barberries and elderberries

218 THE KITCHEN*GARDEN. [ohap. Tii.

in the shrubberies ; the last four being the
only kinds of trees which should ever be
planted as« standards in the slips to the
kitchen-garden .

Kernel fruits. — ^The principal of these
are apples and pears^ but the division also in-
cludes the medlar^ the quince, and the true
service.

The apple is universaUy allowed to be the
most useful of all fruits; and it is certain
that there is no fruit more extensively culti-
vated. The list of apples is as numerous as
that of peas ; and it is almost as difficult to
make a selection from. Apples are, how-
ever, generally divided into three kinds ; the
dessert or eating apples, the kitchen or
baking apples, and the cider apples. The last
are good for nothing but to make cider, and
can never be mistaken ; the line of demarca-
tion between the first two is, however, not
so strongly marked, as many of the kinds
will serve both purposes. Many: dessert
apples, for example, possess the chief ment
of a good kitchen apple, viz. that of faUing
well, or in plainer terms, of becoming quite
soft when baked or boiled; and many of the

C9AP.VII.] THE APPLE. 219

baking apples are very good to eat law* The
RibstoBe pippen^ one of the best of all apples,
but rather a shy bearer, and the hawthorn
dean, a most abundant bearer, but an apple
that does not keep well, are both alike excel-
lent for the kitchen and the dessertr The
best keeping apple is the French crab, of
which some specimens have been pi^served
quite fresh and plump for more than three
years.

The most common way of propagating
a[^le*trees* is by grafting the best kinds on
crab-stocks, either standard high, that is, on
€rt»cks suffered to grow to the height of about
six feet; or as dwarfs, that is, about six
inches or eight inches from the collar of the
stock. Sometimes trees intended to be
grown as dwarf standards in a kitchen,
garden are grafted what is called half stand-
ard high; that is, about two or three feet
from the collar. When apple-trees are
planted in the kitchen-garden where they
are to remain, each tree should always be
placed on a little hillock ; as no tree is more
liable to become cankered from having its
collar buried. The tree succeeds best in a

220 THE KITCHEN-GABDEN. [cHAP.vii.

deep strong loam, provided it be well drained,
and rich rather than poor; and when the
soil appears exhausted, it may be renovated
by laying on it what the farmers caQ a top-
dressing of manure, taking pare not to bniy
or even to touch the collar of the tree.
Apple-trees will, however, flourish in any
soil except sand or gravel. They are very
apt to become cankered, and to be attacked
by the woolly aphis, sometimes called the
American blight Canker is generally caused
by some defect in the drainage or the soil,
and of course no remedy can be efficacious
till the cause of the disease is removed;
when, however, the soil has been renovated
or drained, the effects of the disease may be
obviated by heading down the tree, when it
will produce new and healthy branches ; or
cutting out the cankered part, if they should
be so low as to make it inconvenient to cut
off the trunk of the tree below them* The
American blight is best cured by brushing
the parts affected all over with soft soap and
water; and repeating the operation when-
ever any fresh insects appear.

The Pear. — The culture of the pear as a

CHAP. VII.]' THE PBAB. 221

staadard differs very little from that of the
apple ; and though it is naturally rather a
deeper-rooted plant, it requires its fibrous
roots to be kept near the surface. There is a
general complaint in gardens against pear-
trees as bad bearers, and very healthy-looking
trees Ivave been known to exist twenty years in
a garden without ever even showing any blos-
soms. Various causes have a tendency to pro-
duce this effect The pear being naturally
inclined to send down its roots, will do so,
unless effectually prevented by a chambered
border, or a hard rocky sub-soil ; and if the
spongioles of the roots are allowed to descend
out of the reach of the air, the sti^nant
moisture of the sub-soil will produce the
same effect on them as on those of the
apple. Planting pear-trees in a very rich
stiff soil has a similar effect. Injudicious
pruning, particularly in summer, is another
cause ; as cutting in young shoots, while the
sap is in motion, has a tendency to make the
tree throw out two new shoots in the room of
every one removed, and thus to exhaust itself
in producing branches. Summer shoots
should either be checked by disbudding as

222 THE KITCHEN-OABDEN. [chap. Til.

soon as they appear^ or suffered to remain
till winter, when they may be cut in, without
exciting the tree to fresh efforts to replace
them. Much of the fertility of pear-trees
also depends on the habit of the stock being
similar to that of the graft ; and much also
on a judicious manner of training. As a
wall*tree, the pear is always trained horizon-
tally, and spurs are left on M. the branches
for producing fruit. These spurs used for-
merly to be left large, and standing out a
foot or eighteen inches from the wall; but
diey are now found to bear best when kept
short According to tins plan, every spur id
allowed to bear only once, viz. — in its third
year; and aft;er this, it is cut out to give
place to another spur, which has been trained
to succeed it. By this mode of treatment, a
constant succession of young spurs is kept
up, and fruit is produced all over the tree ;
whereas,, by the old method of pruning and
training, in the course of a few years, the
projecting spurs became barren, and fruit
was produced only at the extremity of the
branches. Pears are frequently graft:ed
standard high, when intended for training

CHAP. VII

.} THE PBAB. 223

against a wall, in order that they may be
used as riders between dwarf plums or
peaches. Fear-trees generally bear better
as espaliers, or dwarf standards than against
a wall, and this has been attribated to rather
a curious reason. The stamens of the pear
have naturally very little &rina; and where
the blossoms are exposed to great heat, and
have little air circulating round them, as is
the case with wall-trees, the pollen is very
apt to dry up without fertilizing the stigma.
The blossoms of espaliers and dwarf stand-
ards are exposed to less heat and more air
than those of wall -trees; and thus their
pollen is more likely to perform its natural
functions. The truth of this observation
has been proved by shading the blossoms
of a wall pear-tree during the whole period
of their expansion, and fanning them with
an artificial current of air by means of bel-
lows, when it was found that more than twice
the usual quantity of fruit was produced.
Espalier pear-trees have generally a very
rough appearance, from their ru^^d pro-
jecdtig spurs; but dwarf standards both look
and bear well It has, however, been as-

294 THE KITGBBH-aABDEN. [chap. Tii.

serted by some gardenerBi that lidexE on the
walls, and tall standards in the orchard,
come into bearing earlier than dwarf standr
anls» unless the branches of the dwarfisane
suffered to grow very long, and are curiously
bent and twisted to produce depositions of
sap. Probably, however, the true cause of
the dwarf standards not bearing is, that^ in
some cases, they have been planted in the
deep rich soil of the kitchen-garden, in-
tended for culinary vegetables; while the
trees in the orchard^ compared with them,
were in poor light soU, and those against
the wall in a prepared border.

There is perhaps no fruit that has been so
much improved by cultivation as the pear;
and this extraordinaiy improvement has
been principally effected by the exertions
of Professor Van Mons of Louvain, near
Brussels. This gentleman, towards the lati^
ter end of the last century, having turned
his attention to the culture of fruit-tree%
conceived the idea that new varieties of
pears might be raised scientifically; and the
result of his first experiment was that he
obtained four pears very superior to the

CHAP. VII.

n] the peab. 226

Idnds preiiouslj kiiown: these kinds were
the Passe Cobnar, the Beurr6 Spence, the
Beurre de Ranz (commonly called the Beorre
Ranee), and the Beurr^ dliiyer. Encouraged
bj this success, the Baron Van Mons re-
peated his experiments every year, and thus
raised above a hundred thousand new kinds
of pears ; and though by far the greater part
of these proved in the end not worth grow-
ing, many very valuable pears have been
obtained. Van Mons's theory is to sow the
most perfect seed of the best pear of any
given sort that he can procure; then to
force the seedling as soon as possible into
firuit, and to sow the best seed it produces,
and thus to proceed till the fifth or sixth, or
tenth or twelfth generation. In this manner
coarse but highly-flavoured fiiiits were soft-
ened down, and produced some of exquisite
flavour; and among others, the well-known
Mffl*ie Louise is said to have been the de-
scendant, in the fifteenth generation, of a
very coarse and harsh-flavoured parent. The
Glout morceau, one of the very best of the
Flemish pears, if kept till it is quite ripe,
is another variety, said to be similarly

226 THE KITCHEN-OABDEN. [chap.vii.

descended ; and the Duchesse d'Angouleme
a thmL

The goodness of all these pears, how-
ever, depends a great deal on the stocks
upon which they are grafted ; and thus the
fruit produced doe^ not always answer the
expectations of its growers. Another point
to be attended to is the thinning out of the
fruit, that more may not set than the tree
seems able to ripen, as, if the tree is suffered
to bear too large a crop, the fruit will be
small, hard, and without flavour.

The Quince is a low tree which thrives
best near water. It is always grown as a
standard; and the fruit, which is very oma-
mental when ripe, is never eaten raw. It
requires no particular care, except that of
planting it in a moist soft soil ; and, if possi-
ble, where its roots can have access to water.
There are four or five kinds grown in nurse-
ries, but they differ very little from each
other.

Miscellaneous Fruit Trees. — - Under
this head I shall include all those trees usually
grown as standards in pleasure grounds or
orchards ; but which, as their fruit is eaten.

cQAP.vii.] fHuit tiusss. 227

appear jHroperly to belong to the departmeskt
of the kitchen-garden.

The Medlar, — There are three or four
kinds of medlars^ one of which is much
larger than the others. The medlar will
thrive in any soil or situation not too dry ;
but, like the quince, does best within the
reach of water. The fruit, which is never
eaten till it is in a state of decay, is not of
much value, but the flowers are very large
and rather handsome.

The Mulberry. — There 'are three distinct
species of mulberry, besides innumerable
varieties. The distinct species are the whiti^,
only used for feeding silk-worms with its
leaves ; the black, which is generally grown
in gardens for its jfruit; and the red, or
American mulberry. Many persons are not
aware of the diflerence between the black
and the white mulberries, and they think
that if they *have a mulberry tree in their
garden, they cannot do better than feed their
silk*worms with its leaves ; though the fact
is that the white mulberry is scarcely ever
grown in England, and the leaves of the
black mulberry are positively injurious to

q2

228 THE KITCHEN-OABDEN. [ohap. Tii.

the worms. Lettace leaves are indeed better
than any other food for sUk-woriDs reared in
England. The fimit of the red mulbeny is
eatable, but not very good; and its leaves
are injurious to sUkworms.

The black mulberzy is said to be a native
of Persia; but if so it mu^ have been brought
to Europe at a very early period^ as it wfa$
common in Italy when ancient Rome was at
her zenith. It appears to have been m^t^-
duced into England long before 1573, as
some old trees, still in existence, ave «aid to
have been of consideraUe siee in that yeat;
The mulberry has several peculiarities in its
habits, which distinguish it from most other
trees. The most striking of these is that it
may be propagated by truncheons : that k^
if a lai^e limb of a tree, as thick as a man'«
arm or thicker, be cut off, and stuck intOt the
ground, it will grow without any fiuther
trouble being taken with it; and probiMy
the next year, or the year after, it will bear
abundance of fruit This I believe is the
case with no other tree except the olive.
The mulberry also is later than any odier
tree in coming into leaf; but when it

CHAP. VII.] FRUIT TREJS6. 229

begin to open its buds^ ita leaves are ex-
panded, and its young fruit formed, in an
incredibly short time. Another peculiarity
is that old trees frequently split into five or
six different parts, each of which in time
becomes surrounded with bark, so that a very
old and thick trunk appears changed into
five or six slender new ones: the branches
also, if they lie along the ground, take root
and become trees; and if an old mulberry
tree be blown down, every branch sends
down roots into the ground, and in a very
short time becomes a tree. When apparently
dead, a mulberry may in most cases be resus*
citated by cutting it down to just above the
collar, when it will send up a number of
young stems, which will very soon be covered
with fruit The mulberry, in other respects,
needs very little care from the gardener; it
requires no pruning; and even the fruit does
not require gathering, as it drops as soon as
it is ripe.

T7ie Elder is rather a shrub than a tree ;
and from its very disagreeable smell, and
straggling habit of growth, it is rarely planted
except in cottage gardens. There are seve-

230 THE KiTCflEN-GARDEN. [chap. vii.

ral kinds^ one with white berries, anofheir
with green, and a third, which is very orna-
mental, with scarlet berries. There is also a
veiy handsome kind with cut leaves: a pti^n
made of the flowers is reckoned excellent in
France for producing perspiration in cases of
colds and fevers ; and the fruit of the black-
berried kind is used for making wine, and
also a kind of jam.

The P&megranate. — K the elder be con-
sidered a plebeian fruit, the pomegranate
may be called an aristocratic one, as it is
rarely seen in England except in the gardens
of persons of rank and wealth. Notwith-
standing this, it requires but little care from
the gardener, and it is only necessary for him
to spare the knife; since it is on the points of
the shoots, and on short slender twigs pro-
jecting from the branches, which are exactly
what a gardener, whose only care was to
make his tree look neat, would think it ad-
visable to cut off, that flowers are produced.
Pomegranates require very rich and wbII
pulverised soil, and to be trained again^ a
wall with a south, or south-east aspect. Wben
it is wished to throw them into fruit, their

CHAP. VII.] PRUIT-TREES. 231

blossoms should be shaded during the whole
time of their expansion.

Nut Trees4 — The principal kinds of nut
trees cultivated in British gardens are, the
walnut^ the sweet chestnut, and the filbert.
The American hickories and the black wal-
nut are sometimes grown, though but rarely;
as are the Columa and other nuts. The
almond also, as it is grown only for the kernel
of its stones, may be classed among the nuts,
though it is, properly speakiiig, a kind of
peacb.

The JVahmt can hardly be mentioned
without bringing with it a host of classical
I'ecollections* The Greeks dedicated this
tree to Diana, and held fetes under its shade;
and the Romans called its firuit the nut of
Jove. In modem times its wood has obtained
rather an unpleasant kind of celebrity, as
being generally used for making the stocks
of muskets. In villages and country places,
however, the walnut recals more agreeable
associations ; as its noble leaves and spreading
blanches render it a delightful tree for shade;
^aad formerly it used to be frequently found
at the doors of cottages and farm houses.

98S THE B31ICHEN-GABDEN. [cIiapJtii.

Thete' 4tte sereial kinds of walnHt-ttiMi
oaltnrflted for dieir fimit ; all vakJetUis «f one
species^ and differing prindpallj in tib^ hard-
ness or comparative softness of tbeir sheila*
Walnut-trees are generally propagated by
so^Hii^ the nuts; and if the young trees are
planted in a light, sandy, and well-drained
BoU, they will grow rapidly, and bear at an
early age.

The custom ^niiich prevails among the
eountry people in some parts of England
and France, of beating a barren walnut-tree
to make it bear, is efficacious, as the beating
fatfeaks off the points of the too luxuriuit
sboota, and makes them send out those short
spiirs which alone jMroduce fruit; diough the
end would be attained with more certainty
by {HTuning. A decoction of walnut-leaves
and husks is said to be very efficacious in
protecting plants against insects, if sprinkled
on the leaves.

The nut of the black walnut (Juglans
nigra) is so hard as to be of little use &r the
table ; and only two or three of those of the
hickories can be considered as fruit. The
best of these is the peccane nut (Carya olivBs

formb), cff which Washington Js aaid to have
been so fend that he was rarely without some
ia his pocket, which he used to be continu-
all J eating during his campaigns. The
white hioooiy (Carya sulcata)^ the outer
rind of which is very thick, is also good to
eat

TTie 9weet ehestnvt is fi^quently called the
Spanish chestnut, because the best sweet
chestnuts were formerly brought to the Ix>n-
don markets from Spain. The tree can, in-
deed, scarcely be considered as an English
fruit-tree ; though some of the chestnuts sold
for the table are grown in Devonshire. In
France, chestnut-trees are more common;
and they are divided there into two kinds :
the diataigniers and the marroniers; the
former bearing about the same relation to
the latter as the crab does to the apple. The
best chestnuts in France are those called les
marrons de Lyons. The sweet chestnut is a
native of Asia ; but it has also been found
in the north of Africa and North America.
It is always propagated by seeds, and thrives
be^ in a deep sandy loam ; it will glow in
even the poorest graVel, but it never does

234 THE KITCaS2M}Aia>EN. [cbap. FU.

well in either a calcareous soil, oc a stiff
clay.

There are several celebrated che8tnut*4iree8
of enormpus size^ and great age ; the most
remaikable of which are the Castagna di
Cento Cavalli on Mount Etna, and the Tort*
worth chestnut in England. Till within the
last eight or ten years it was believed that
the wood of the chestnut was good timber;
but it has lately been discovered that it is
absolutely worthless, except while quite
young: the wood that was supposed to be
chestnut, having been proved to be that of
the English chestnut oak (Quercus sessili*
flora). The wood of the chestnut, when the
tree attains a large size, becomes what the
English timber-merchants call shaky, and
what the French call dialled ; that is, instead
of forming a solid log of timber, the trunk
when cut down is found to fly ofl^ in splinters^
or to divide into a number of angular pieces,
as if shivered by a blow from the centre.

The filbert is only a variety of the common
hazel; and it is supposed to derive its name
from the words " full beard," in allusion to
the length of its husk. The varieties of the

CHAP. VIE.] THB FILBBRT. 235

basel are indeed divided into two classes:
those with long husks i/^hich are called the
filberts; and those mth short husks which
are called the nuts. AU the varieties grow
best in calcareous s<h1s, like those of Kent;
ill which county the best nuts grown in
England are raised. When either filberts or
nuts are grown in gardens they are generally
planted in rows firom five feet to ten feet
apart fiom each other in the row, accoiding
as they are wanted to grow high, gt to
spread. Filberts are generally propagated
by sowing the seeds, dnd nuts by suckers,
which the trees throw up in abundance.
" The principal art in the culture of the
filbert as a firuit-tree," says Mr. Loudon in
his Arboretum Britannicumy ^ consists in
training and pruning it properly, as the
blossom is produced upon the sides and
extremities of the upper young branches,
and firom small young shoots which proceed
firom the bases of side branches, cut off the
preceding year. The tree requires to be
kept remarkably open, in order that the
main branches may produce young wood
throughout the whole of their length. In the

236 THE KITCnOK-GABDEN. [cHAF.vn.

filbert orchards about Maidslone, Ae trees
are trained with short stems like gooseberty*
bushes, and are formed into the shape of a
puncb-*bowl, exceedingly thin of nvood."
When the trees are pruned, care is taken to
eradicate all the suckers. Filberts are always
kept in their husks, and if they lose their
colour and appear black or mouldy, their
appearance is renovated by the dealers, by
putting them into iron trays pierced with
holes, and gently shaking them over a chafing-
dish fiill of charcoal, on which a little pow-
dered sulphur has been thrown while the
charcoal was red-hot

The Constantinople nut, or Columa hazel, is
a large handsome tree, and the Ameriean
hazels are shrubs grown occasionally in
plantations, but not cultivated in England
for their finiit.

The almond is in fiu;t a peach-tree, with a
firuit having a leathery pericardium instead
of a fleshy one ; and what are called almonds
are the kernels of the stones of this fruit.
The bitter and sweet almonds are varieties
of the same species ; and there are several
other varieties differing principally in the

OHAP. Yii.] imnfr<4HBinM« 2S7

degree of haixibietB of the stone. The other
part of the fruit is in all the varieties quite
worthless; except for the prussic acid it
cootaiiis. The prusac acid used in medicitie
isy however, mode principally from the kernel
of the bitter almcmd, though it does not
exist in that of the sweet variety. Almoadr
trees are propagated by grafting either on
almond or plum-<stocks ; they are fuequently
planted for the beauty of their flowers, which
appear before the lesres, but they are seldom
grown in England for their fruit; most of
the almonds sokl in London being imported
from Italy or Spain. The Jordan almonds,
which are considered the best, are broi^ht
from Malaga. The almond requires a dry
soil, either sandy or calcareons; and the
situation dbiould be shdtered, as the branches
are brittle and apt to be broken off by high
winds. When the stones are sown, care
shotdd be taken to press the sharp ends
downwards. The young plants will not
bear transplanting, as they will send dotm
tap^-roots two feet long the first season.

Fbuit-surubs. — The principal fitdt-i^irubs
grown in gardens are gooseberries, currants.

238 THE KITCH&KHIABDEN. [cbap.tii.

aod raspberries; to which may be added
barberries and cranberries.

The gooseberry* — The number of varieties
of this useful fruit almost exceeds belief aiitd
fresh kinds are originated every year. The
principal reason of the great number of
gooseberries thus raised may be traced to
the gooseberry shows now so prevalent in
different parts of the kingdom. At these
shows the largest and heaviest berries gain
the prize; and it thus becomes an object
with the exhibitors to grow berries that shall
be as large and as heavy as possible. For
this purpose they raise a great many new
kinds; and when they have obtained one
likely to suit their purpose^ they plant it
in very rich soil^ water it well^ and picking
off all the berries except three or four, they
nourish these by putting saucers filled with
water under each. By these cares irooseber-
ries have been produced weighing above an
ounce and a half each ; and one weighing
very nearly two ounces ; though gooseberries
generally, even of large size, seldom weigh
above half an ounce.

Gooseberries may be propagated either by

CJiAF. ni.] TBE OOOmSBEIIRV* * 239

seeds or cuttings ; and they will thrive in any
good garden soil, if it be well drained, well
mannred, and not under the drip of trees.
When gooseberries are wanted large, the
ground between the rows should have acoating
of rotten manure laid on it ev^ry third year.
Gooseberry -bushes are generally planted in
rows, the rows eight or ten feet apart, and the
bushes six feet from each other in the rows.
They are pruned twice a-year: in winter to
remove the branches not likely to produce
fruit ; and in summer to clear away the cross
shoots which shade the fruit from the sun,
and prevent the access of air to every part of
the tree. It is a very good plan to thin the
fruit; which is easUy done when gathering
green gooseberries for pies and puddings, by
taking a few from every branch and never
gathering from the same tree twice. The
gooseberry bush produces fruit both on the
old and young wood; but in the summer
pruning all the long slender shoots which
the tree sends out beyond the part which
produces fruit should be cut off, to prevent
the plant from wasting its strength. The best
red gooseberries for general use are perhaps

290 THE KITCBBNM^AKDEN. [6ffAV.ni.

^be tAY^mng : the Warring^on^ ^hieh ^ a
igMit better, and retains its fruit a long tiiM
ftmike tied ; die Champagne, an eaily gobse^
berry of very fine flavour; the early Bou^i^
Red, small, but remarkable f<Hr its sweetness;
the Boarii^-Lion, the largest goosebeny
grown, a good bearer, the berries of which
are oblong, and have a smooth skin; the
Inmmonger, the fruit of which is almost
black; the Crown-Bob, a veiy large goosd-
beiry, equally good for using green or ripe ;
and the Top-Sawyer, a large, round 'and
rough goosebeny, with a very thin skin, and
agreeable flavour. The best white goose-
berries, are the White Dutch, the White-
smith, Wellington's Glory, and the Cheshire
Lass, the last two being of very lai^ size ;
die best yellow are Bumbullion, and Bock-
wood, the first of which is reckoned the best
of aVL gooseberries for preserving ^ and the
best green are Ocean, a large early gooe».
berry, and the Pitmaston Greeng^e, a late
variety, remarkable for its extraordinary
sweetness, and for its hanging on the tree
tiU killed by frost

Curraats are very seldom raised from

seed; as there is no particular desire lor tllje
production of new sorts. The usual mode'^
piopagatiou is by cuttings, which are taken
off the strongest shoots in autumn or early ilk
spring, and planted in rich soil The cul-
tiags Are generally about a foot kmg; and
all the buds are taken off except five or sis
at the top: the cutting is then firmly in*-
serted in the soil about six inches deep.
No other care is required but pruning the
young trees every year. The currant bears
on spurs of the old and new wood ; and as
currant-trees, when pruned, are generally
cut into these spurs, a currant-bush after ils
winter pruning looks like a worthless stumps
fit only for the fire. The currant is veiy
hardy, and will grow in any soil or situation,
even under the drip of trees. In open
situations and rich soils, currants have been
grown to a very large size; but not pro-
portionately large to gooseberries. The red,
white, and striped currants are varieties of
die same species; but the black is another
species. All belong to the same genus as
the gooseberry.

Ratpberries are, what is called, travelling

242 THE KFrOHBIiH3lAB0EN. [oHAP. Vti.

plants ; that is to say, if left to themselvies^
they would, by the old plants dying pff, and
being succeeded by suckers every year, soon
travel over a considerable extent of ground.
The raspberry thrives best in a light, firee
loam, moderately rich ; and in an open situ-*
ation. It always bears on the young shoots,
so that the principal art required in pruning
it consists in cutting out the old wood, and
shortening the young. The height at which
the bearing shoots should be left is three
feet, or four feet The best raspberries are
the red and yellow Antwerp. Raspberries
are propagated by suckers, which are pro*
duced in great abundance every year. The
raspberry belongs to the same genus as the
bramble, or blackberry.

Barberries. — No fruit-tree or shrub re-
quires less care in its culture than the hm^
berry, or, as it is more properly called, the
berberry. The sorts usually grown for their
fruit are all varieties of the common sort:
they are the common red, the stoneless, and
the sweet. Several varieties of the Mahonia
or Ash berberry bear excellent fruit, but the
trees are at present too rare, and of too

CBAP. VII.] THB CSiUVBBEBT. 243

high a price^ to be cultivated for that pur*
pose. The berberry will grow in any soil
and situation^ and it does not require any
pruning.

The Cranberry will only grow in moist
soil) or peat earth. It succeeds very well on
the muddy margin of a pond ; particularly if
a row of stakes be driven into the water two
or three feet from the edge, and lined with
stones, on which is laid a quantity of bog
earth. In this earth the cranberries are
planted^ and they will require no after-care
except the occasional trimming into shape of
their long runners. The common cranberry
is a native of England, Scotland, and indeed
of all the north of Europe ; but its fruit is
much smaller than that of the American
cranberry, which has also a more delicate
flavour.

R 2

244

CHAPTER VIIL

•niE FLOWBR-GABBENj AND THE CULTUBE

OF FLOWEB8.

WfiATEVER doubts may be entertained as to
the practicability of a lady attending to the
culture of culinary vegetables and fruit-trees^
tione can exist respecting her management
of the flower-garden, as that is pre-eminently
a woman's department The culture of
flowers implies the lightest possible kind
of garden labour; only, indeed, enough to
give an interest in its effects. This light
labour is, in fact, one of the reasons that the
culture of flowers is so generally a &vourite
occupation; as, though it is one of the
conditions 5f our nature that we shall never
enjoy what is too easily obtained, it is equally

CHAP, vin.] THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 245

true that we cannot associate the ideas of
pleasure with anything that gives us very
much trouble. The culture of flowers is
exactly in the happy medium between what
is too hard and what is too easy. There are
difficulties in it, but they are such as may be
readily surmounted ; and the result at once
gratifies our own sense o£ what is beautiful,
and our pride at being the means of present-
ing, so much that is worthy to be admired,
to others.

Laying out a Flower'-Garderu — ^Very little
need be said of the aspect of the flower-
garden, as, in most cases, it depends on
circumstances quite beyond the control of
the cultivator of flowers : when, however, a
situation can be chosen, the best is one open
to the south ox south-east, and sheltered on
the north. It must be observed, however,

'in all situations, that flowers never do well
under the shade of trees. Where no ground
ian be spared for a flower^arden but a spot

'^orrounded by tall trees, it is better to give
up at once the idea of growing fiowere in it
in beds, and to ornament it with rock-work,

\ fountains, vases, statues, &c., interspersed

846 a'HB FLOWEtt-OAEBEN. [tiflXp. rtlf.

with a few flawering trees and'shitibB, so
airanged, that though their flowers, if {)rof*
duced, would augment the beauty of the
scene, the want of them may not destroy i^
if they should fail. Flower-gardens are of
two kinds, — those that are called natural,
and which are planted without any regaa*d to
regularity, and those that are called geome-
trical, and which consist of beds forming
some definite figure.

The .natural, or EngHsh style, as it is
called abroad, however beautiful it may be
in pleasure-grounds, is very ill adapted to «
flower-garden, which is essentially artificial.
The principal beauty of a flower-garden
consists, indeed, in the elegance with which
it has been arranged, and the neatness with
which it is kept ; or, in other words, in the
evidence it aflbrds of the art that has been
employed in forming it. This being the
case, it is quite clear that an artificial mode
of arrangement is more suitable to it than
any other, as it is best adapted for keeping
up the harmony of the whole. In all cases^
therefore, where the garden is large enough
to show a formal figure to advantage, the

artificial mode of arcajagement should he
adopted; and wherever it is adopted^ the
heds should be planted so as to form masses
of different-coloured flowers. Where, how-
everi the garden is very small, and no part
of it can be set entirely apart for flowers, no
attempt should be made to produce masses
of colour in regular forms; but the plants
should be arranged along the borders singly,
or in patches, as may be best adapted to
disfday the individual beauties of each. In
some cases, flowers may be planted in bor-
ders, so as to form a miniature representa-
tion of the natural system : as, for instance,
first there may be planted anemones and
ranunculuses, interspersed with patches of
flos Adonis, larkspurs, &c. to come into flower
when the anemones and ranunculuses have
done flowering; next should be some pop-
ples and fumitories; and next, stocks and
wall-flowers. In this manner, the beds might
be arranged, by mixing perennials and an-
njuals, so as to form an ornamental botanic
garden during the whole of the flowering
Reason; and the flower-garden would thus
become not merely a source of elegant

848 VEB FLOWUM2ABDBN; [okap. -vni.

amiKSement, bat also actually of seteatific
knowledge, without ao j appearance of fittmal
anangeiBent.

When the floweivgarden is to be a geo-
metrical one, the best way of designing it is
to draw a figure on paper consisting of an-
gular, circular, or serpentine forms, to repre-
sent beds, and arranging them so as to fcorm
a whole. This may appear easy at first, but
to do it well, requires a great deal of both
taste and ingenuity; as each form should
not only harmonize well with the others, but
be handsome in itself Where the space to
be laid out is small, the figure may be more
complex, and the separate beds more gro-
tesque in their shapes, than where the gar-
den is large : but where a large space is de-
voted to flowers, only simply formed beds
should be adopted. The reason for this is,
that where the beds are of bizarre shapes,
they require to be seen at one coup^ceS to
have a good effect ; whereas simple and uni-
fibnn shapes may be seen either together or
alone, without producing any disagreeable
impression on the mind. Thus, in laig^
flower-gardens, a succession of circles or

oftdb at regular distances, so as to foim ttoxi«
tiniuifiy changiDg vistas to the spectatof^hd
walks through them, will have a mmh faeltts
effidct than any geometric figure^ the piLrts
oompoeing which appear ridicnlous when
disjointed. Whatever figures may be adopt*-
ed5 as soon as they have been sketched ou
paper, each bed should be coloured; to try
what arrangement of colours will be best
suited to the form of the beds, &a The
colours, of course, should be those usually
found in flowers : for example, yellow^ scarlet,
Uue, pink, orange, and purple; and they
should be arranged, not only with a view
to effect, but with regard to the practicability
of filling the beds with suitable flowers.
The colours above mentioned may, however,
generally be procured, and a bed of white
flowers may be added at pleasure wherever
it may appear necessary.

The forms of the beds having been de*-
oided on, the next step is to mark them oq
&e ground, and this is done in several
different ways. One is by covering the
figure with squares, and then forming much
larger squares with pack-thread over the

260 TKB FLOWER^ABDBK, [c<HA^. Tltr.

groBnd; that part of the outline of the figura
contained in each of the small squares is
then to be transferred to the corresponding
large square, by tracing it on the ground
with the point of a stick. When the pattern
is regular, it is sometimes marked on the
ground by stretching a garden-Une from one
point to another by means of pegs. When
this line is so arranged as to form the proper
figure, it is chalked, and made to thrill be-
tween tibie pegs, so as to transfer the chalk in
the proper lines to the ground. When cir-
cles are to be traced, it is done by first fixing
a stake in the centre, and then forming a
loop at the end of a cord, and putting it over
the stake. One end of the cord being thus
fastened to the stake, the other end should
be stretched out to the extremity of the
radius or half-diameter of the circle, and a
short pointed stick should be tied to it, with
which, the circle may be traced all round.
An oval is made by tracing two circles, the
outer edge of one of which just touches the
centre of the other; a short line is then
drawn at the top, and another at the bottom,
and this, when the central lines are oblite-

f»AP. via.] TBB F£.OWBR-*6ABI}(IEN. 251

jsated, forms the oval. Many odier wajs
will suggest themselvesy and may be adopt-^
ed : the essential points in all being to have
the ground first dug^ and made perfectly
smooth and level; and then to have the
figure clearly and accurately traced out and
tested by measurement, befcH:^ any of the
beds are formed, or the turf or gravel laid
down.

Planting the beds and forming the walks
require nearly as much care as tracing out
the figure. Many persons, however, are not
aware of this : they think, if the figure be
good and accurately traced on the ground,
that nothing more will be required; or, if
any thing more be necessary, it is only to
indicate the proper colours of the beds to the
gardener.

This, however, is not enough ; low plants
producing abundance of flowers must be
chosen, and these must be carefiilly trained,
or pe^ed down, so as to cover the beds
entirely, or the efltect will be destroyed. If,
for example, a bed of scarlet be wanted, a
Udy would probably think that her gardener
would have no trouble in finding abundance

itSi 'PBE FI*OWER-GABinSN. [cHAP.Tnt.

«f scarlet flowers ; aad having told him thie
^olotir^ she wonld give herself no forther
trouble. Now the kind of scarlet flower to
be used, depends entirely on the position (^
the bed, and the kinds of flowers used in the
other beds. K these flowers have been
dwarfe, and trained so as entirely to cover
the ground, the scarlet flower used, should
be the verbena melindres, (or chamdrifeHa
as it is now called,) or some of its varieties,
and each stem should be pe^ed down close
to the ground. Thus treated, and supplied
with abundance of water, being grown in
lich light soil, on a porous subsoil or well
drained, the verbena will soon become a
splendid mass of scarlet, almost too dazzling
for the eye to bear, unless it be relieved by
grass walks between the beds. If, on the con-
trary, the bed in question had been planted
with one of the scarlet lobelias, or even
scarlet geraniums, the efiect would have been
quite different, from the taller growth of the
plants, and the greater proportion of leaves
to their flowers. Where geraniums kre
grown to produce an effect in beds, the
pUnts should be kept bushy while in the

CHAP. Till.] TH£ FLOWS»«OABDiBf. 26$

greennhouse or frame^ by coDtmually sbiftilg
them into larger pots, or. ficequently talung
off the points of their shoots; and when
planted out, they should be at least a footor
eighteen inches asunder, increasing the dis^
tanoe, if the plants are very large. The
kind should be the Frogmore or Drqmiore
varieties; and the plants should be well
watered, and frequently pruned wherever
they throw up long shoots. Other plants
should be treated in a similar manner ; and
great care should be taken to keep all the
plants in the beds which are to combine to
form a figure, of the same height, and equally
covered with flowers. The centre bed alone
may have taller plants. Where the walks
are of gravel, a greater proportion of leaves
may be allowed to the flowers ; but a geome-
trical flower-garden never looks half so well
on gravel as on grass.

The walks of a geometrical flower-garden,
if of grass, may be laid down with turf, or
sown with grass seeds; and in either case
they should never be pared (as that would
enlarge th^ beds, and destroy their propor-
tion to the walks), unless some part should

254 THE FLOWER"*GABDEN. [oiTAP.yiH.

aocidentally project into the bed^ when it

should be removed, and the turf pressed

down so as to form the same gradual slope

fix>m the bed to the walk as in the other ^

part. Where the walks are of gravel, the

beds should have a neat edging of box, of

any other plant that may be preferred, kept

quite low and narrow,^ by frequent pruning,

but which should never be chpped.

The Cidture of Flowers. — ^The ornamental
flowers grown in gardens may be all arranged
under the heads of annuals, biennials, peren-
nials, bulbs, tubers, corms, flowering dwarf
shrubs, climbers, twiners, trailers, and rock
plants ; and as the culture of the plants in
each division is nearly the same, I shall say
a few words on each, particularizing those
plants which require a difierent treatment
from the ordinary routine of their kind.

Annuals, — Most of the hardy annual flowers
should be sown in March, April, or May, in
the open border where they are intended to
remain. The usual method of sowing in the
borders, is, first ta loosen the ground with a
fork, and to break it very fine ; after which
it should be made perfectly level, and raked*

A cirde is then made by pressing the bottom
of a flower*pot saucer; three or four inches in
diameter, on the ground ; and six or eight
seeds are spread over the level sur&ce thus
formed: a little soil is then sprinkled over
them, and the surface slightly pressed again
with the saucer. K the weather, or the soil
be dry, a slight watering should be given to
the seeds after sowing, with a watering-pot
having a very fine rose; but this must be
done carefully, as too much water would
wash the seeds out of their place. It is usual,
after sowing, to stick a flat stick into the
ground in the centre of the patch with the
name of the flower upon it; and it is better
to write these names very plainly, with a
rather soft black-lead pencil than with ink,
as the ink is very apt to run, and to render the
words indistinct. Very neat little tallies,
called monogrammes, made of very smooth
wood, and prepared for writing on, are sold
at the principal seed shops. It is customary
with many gardeners, after sowing flower
seeds, to turn a flower-pot over them ; and
this practice is useful in keeping the seeds
moist by preveating evaporation, wlule the

2M THE riiOWiSB^CULBDEN. [muItP. :THi.

hide in the bottom of the. pot adnits eiuhigb
li^t and air for germioatioo* The 4owe»»
pot should^ however, be removed. fts. soon as
the young plants appear above greuod;
as if kept on longer, the plants wouU be
drawn up, and their stems would beecnooe so
elongated, and consequently so weak, that
they would never recover their strength or
beauty. Flowering plants should always be
kept dwarf and compact; not only on account
of the superior neatness of their appearance,
but because tall, ill-grown plants never psi^
duce fine flowers. For this reason, as soon
as annuals attain their second pair of leaves
they should be thinned out; and again, when
about a foot high, if necessary. As the
plants grow they should be watered occa-
sionally; and when of a proper height, staked
and tied up, if of a kind to require suppcnrt
As soon as the flowers fade they should be
cut off; unless, as is sometimes the case, the
plant has very ornamental seed pods, m
which case they may be left on. It is seldofli
worth while for any lady to save her own
seed; but when she does so, the plants tsxr
that purpose should be grown in a Imtk

OBAT

. ▼Hu] ANNUALS. 25^

garden or reserve -ground, as they greatly
disfigure a flower-garden. AU annuals, in-
detd, should be taken up, and carried to
tlie refuse heap as soon as they cease to
be oniamental; as in their withered state,
they only call up unpleasant images in the
mind«

Tender annuals are raised on a hot-bed,
and though generally sown in February, are
not planted in the open ground till May.
When they have been raised in pots, the con-
tents of each pot should be carefully turned
oat, and put into a hole made to receive
them without breaking the baU of earth that
has formed round the roots of the plants.
As some plants, as for example stocks, and
all the cruciferse, require a rich soil, a hole
may be dug in the border a foot or eighteen
inches in diameter, and about the same
depth, and filled with a rich compost of
equal parts of garden mould, decayed leaves,
and well rotted manure, or what is much
better, with either the remains of the trenches
in which celery was grown the preceding
summer, or the earth used in covering, or
diat laid round, manure while fermenting for

B

2^8 THE FLOVSE-OABDEN. ^CHAF. VIII.

a hot-bed. The hole should be filled viiiik
this compost, so as to raise it about six
inches higher than the rest of the border, to
allow for the new earth sinking, and. the
annuals should be planted in the centre, and
carefully shaded for a few days by a flower-
pot being turned over them. The mode ©f
making and managing a hot-bed has been
ahready given in the, second chapter of this
work ; but the readiest way for the inhabit*
ants of a suburban villa to obtain half-hardy
annuals, is to purchase them firom some
nurseryman when ready for transplanting.
The usual price is firom two-pence to four-
pence for a dozen plants; and thus, for a
couple of shillings, a sufficient number of
plants may be procured to make a ^lendid
display for a whole summer. No one should^
indeed, attempt to manage a hot-bed, wbp
has not some person to pay constant attesi-
tion to it; as one ^ay's neglect respecting
giving air, watering, &c. will often destroy
the hopes of a whole season.

The CaUfomian annuals reqmre peculiar
treatment These plants are very hardy,
and though many of them are of short dura-

CHAP. VIII.] ANimALS. 25 &

tion in flower, they may, by proper manage-
ment, be contrived to produce a brilliant
effect during the whole summer. For this
purpose a well-trodden path, or a piece of
Very hard ground, should be covered about
an inch thick with very light rich soil ; and
tbe seeds of any of the Califomian annuals
should be sown in it These will stand the
winter, and in February or March, when the
flower-beds have been dug over, and made
quite smooth, the annuals should be taken
up with the spade in patches and laid on
the bed ; the spaces between the patches
being filled up with soil, and the whole
made quite firm and compact, by beating
each patch down with the back of the spade.
As soon as the patches have been removed,
firesh earth should be spread on the hard
ground, and fresh seeds sown in it, the
plants springing firom which will be ready to
transfer to the beds as soon as the first series
have done flowering ; and in this way a suc-
cession of flowers may be kept up nearly all
the year, observing to dig over the bed in
the flower-garden to which the flowers are
to be transplanted, and to rake it smooth

s2

260 THE PliOWER-GAltDEN. [oHA*. TMK.

every time the old fbwera are removed^ in
order to prepare it for the new oiie&

Biennials are plants which do not flower
till the second year. They axe generally
sown in March^ Aprils or May, aiid «re
transplanted in September^ to die situations
where they are to flower the following year.
The best known of these flowers are the
difierent kinds of hollyhock, snapdrag<m>
Canterbury bells, wallflowers, sweet*-william8^
(Efiotheras, and Brompton stocks ; but there
are many others extremely beautifiil and
equally well deserving of cultivati<Hi. Most
of the biennials may be propi^ted by layers
or cuttings, and thus treated, they will last
four or five years.

Perennial herbaceous plants are so nume-
rous, that few general directions can be
given for their culture, and it will be necesr
sary to treat of the principal families 8epa>
rately. Perennial flowers are generally pro-
pagated by layers, cuttings, ofi^ts, suckenB,
and division of the root; for when raised
from seed, many of the kinds do not blossom
for several years. When propagated by
layers, the earth which is pressed over the

OBArP. yiU

.] PEBJBHNIIALS. 261

peggednlown shoot, should not b:e kept too
moist; as layers of herbaceous plants^ parti*
cutarly inrhere the stem has been partly slit
through, are very apt to rot. The same
remark holds good as to cuttings ; and they
should generally have fewer leaves left on,
flian cuttings of trees and shrubs. Many
plants produce offsets, such as the potentilla,
the wild geranium, &c., and these only re-
quire separating from the parent, and plant*-
ing in spring; ail the flower-buds should,
however, be pinched off the first year, to
i^trengthen the plant, and to encourage it to
send down roots. Suckers are treated vtt
exactly the same manner as ofisets. Division
of the roots is, however, the most common
way of propagating perennials. To do this
the plant is generally taken up, and the roots
pulled asunder if dry, or cut into pieces if
fleshy, and replanted ; care being taken to
cut off any part of the fibrous roots that may
have been wounded, or broken, by the re-
moval. The plant itself is also generally
pruned or cut in, and some of its leaves are
taken off before replanting, and carefiilly
shaded and watered till it has recovered

862 THE VUOXmSlF^JkXDmf. [oba^.'TOX*

from the effects of its removal. AUiperen«>
nial plants should be occasionallj taken up,
thinned, and replanted with the sdme pre^
cautions: and the ground dug over, and
renovated, before they are replaced.

The most remarkable kinds of herbaceous
plants are those called florists' flowers. Hiis
name indicates plants grown principally for
the purpose of exhibiting at some show to
gain a prize, and on the culture of which
an extraordinary degree of care has be»i
bestowed. Most of these are either bulbs or
tubers, but some few conie under the presen.
head ; and of these the most remarkable are
the auricula, the polyanthus, the carnation,
the pink, the heartsease, and the chrysan-
themum.

Auriculas are well-known and favourite
flowers ; the wild plant is a native of Switz-
erland, but it is almost as difierent from' the
cultivated kinds, as the wild cabbage is fiooi
brocoli or cauliflower. The garden auriculae
have almost innumerable names, but they
are all divided into four kinds, very distinct
from each other. These kinds are the green^
edged, the grey-edged, the white-edged; afid

ovuwp.-vm*

.] ^ AcasLomuiS4 268

the selfs* The beauty of the fioweis depends
upon their sice^ the clearness of their coloursi
and their roundness and flatness ; these last
qualities being often assisted by art: the
anthers of the stamens should also rise above
the pistil; as when the pistil is seen above
the anthers, the flower is called pin-eyed,
and is esteemed of litde value by florists.
The culture of the auricula, when it is to be
grown as a prize-flower, demands a degree
of care and attention that no one but a pro-
fessed florist would think it worth his while
to bestow. The great points appear to be
to make the soil as rich as possible, only,
however, using the cold manures, such as
cow-dung, &c.; to let the pots be very well
drained, by placing about an inch and a half
deep of broken pot-shreds in each pot ; and
to keep the plants well and regularly watered.
When the flowers expand, they are gene-
reUj shaded with square pieces of board,
lin> or paste-board, supported by a stick just
over the flower, so as to shelter it from the
direct influence of the sun, but to admit a
fiee current of air, and sufiicient light This
precaution is said to improve the clearness

26i THB FZiOWBB-GABISEN. [cHAP.ivnt.

Atid.'itxteiimty of the cohmrs^ wliiich <ydieimsfe
are a|^ to become dull and clpudedr ^Skis^
persons who grow auriouhis for salei, gmettiif
.riiDw them on what is called a bloomhig^stage,
and shade them with an awning like- th»t
used for a tulip-bed. The plantt^ are ptopa-
gated by ofbets, or dividing the root; and
new varieties are continually being rais^
from seed. Auriculas are occasionally drable
or semi-double, but these varieties aiie con-
sidered by florists werj far inferior to the
single kinds.

The Polyanthus is of the same genus as
:the auricula, and of the same species as the
primrose. It is, however, a very distinct
variety of the last ; and it is said to take its
name of polyanthus, which signifies many-
flowered, from its producing its flowers in
trasses like the auricula, while the flowe» of
the primrose are produced singly, each on a
separate stalk rising from the root. The
qualities of the polyanthus resemble those of
the auricula as to form and shape, but there
is not the same variety as to colour, as the
polyanthus is always of a very dark brownish
red and golden yellow. The best flowers

CHAP. Tui.] ^ vtm ciUQf A<noN; B$S

hmwe generally a narrow edging of a brigbt
geldtn colour, and as dear and distiBet ift
p4w]Ue> round the margin of each petal;
andino flower is at all esteemed that has what
3ft called a pin<*eye ; that is, as before men-
diooed with regard to the auricula, when
the pistil projects beyond the anthers of the
stamens. The polyanthus is propagated by
slips, and division of the root, and new
yariettes are raised from seed.

7%e Primrose difiers essentially from the
polyanthus and the auricula, in being only
esteemed when double, while they are not
considered to rank as florists' flowers unless
they are single. The primrose, indeed, is
not a florist's flower; and its pretty double
pale yellow, dark scarlet, lilac, and white
varieties are only grown as common border
flowers* They like a rich loamy soil, rather
moist than otherwise, and a shady situation ;
and they are propagated by division of the
roots.

Tlw Carnation has long been a fiivourite
florists' flower; and, as it is not quite so
diflScult to grow to a considerable degree of
perfection as the auricula, it is also a &-

290 THE FliOWBBrOABOBN. [ov,^. V4i»*

¥Ourite border flower. The florbUi' cexf^9&
tions are of three kinds, viz. — the flako^s
Ivhich are striped with broad bai^s of tiH^o
coburs ; the bizarres, which are striped or
streaked with three colonrs ; and the pioott-
tees, which are much the hardiest, and aase
only bordered with a narrow margin of sosae
dark colour, or dotted with very small and
almost imperceptible spots. The carnation*
in its wild state, is a native of England, and
is generally found on the walls of some old
castle, or other ruin, or growing in very
poor, gravelly, or calcareous soil The cul*
tivated plant, of course, requires different
treatment ; and the following directions have
been kindly given to us by one of the first
growers of carnations in France, M. Triquet
de Blanc, Rue de la Madelaine, Paris ^*--
" The compost should be a fresh mellow
loam, mixed with an equal quantity of what
the French call terre de taupinierey and we,,
casts from mole-hills ; to this mixture should
be added a fifth of well-rotten cow-^ung>
so thoroughly decayed as to have beocnne
quite black. The soil thus prepared should
be pressed firmly into the pots, more so,

OBAV.Vtn.] THB CABNATION. 267

indeed, than for any other plant: thus there
$hould be twice as much earth as usual in
pots for carnations. The pots are placed in
the sun till the 15th or 20th of November,
and "watered a little at a time, but often.
After the 20th of November, at latest, the
plants should be kept entirely in the shade,
so that they may not be exposed to the
sun at any time during the day; and it is
also absolutely necessary that they should
be kept under a roof where they may be
dieltered from the rain and snow; but they
must not be put in a hot-house, as a cold
situation suits them much better. During
frosty weather, they should be very little
watered, in order that the soil in which they
grow may not freeze very hard. They are
thus left in the shade till the end of April,
when, there being no longer white hoar
fiy)Sts to fear, they may be exposed to the
east, so that the sun may shine upon them
from its rising to the middle of the day,
but no longer. Thus treated, they will grow
luxuriantly, and produce a magnificent show
of flowers."
The best places for carnations in London^

THE Fl«OWBR*<»ABI>EX. [oKMP.'^n*

strey Groom% Walworth ; and Hogg^^, Plad-
dington Green.

CajmationB are propagated by layers and
cuttings which, as we have before mentioned^
are called pipings. The layers are made
when the flowers are in fhll blossom, and
several are made at once, as the operation
fireqnently kills the old plant, and conse^
quently cannot be practised with advantage
mdess a great many plants are ready to take
its place. The layers are cnt half through
as lesual ; and covered half an inch deep with
mould. As the stalks are very brittle, when
they are wet and succulent, it is customary
to place the plant in the mn for about half
an hour, or an hour, to render it flaccid
before the layers are made. The layers will
generally be well rooted in a month or six
weeks, and will then be ready to be separated
from the parent plant. The mode of treating
pipings has been already described. When
the buds begin to form they are frequently
tied round with a strand of bast mat, to
^event them from bursting; and just as
they are opening, a bit of paste-board
curiously cut is slipped under the flower to

Ofluup. TRf.] THB FQIK. 9B9

keep the petals ia their proper place. Eacdi
flower is also furnished with a paper or tin
cap to shade it from the sun, and a stake to
tie it to> in order to keep the stalk erect
Clove-carnations bear the same relation to
florists^ carnations, as unbroken tulips, or
self-coloured auriculas do to the finer flowenb
The tree-camation is a half-shrubby variety
of the same species, and the mule pink is a
hybrid between the carnation (Diantfaas
caiyophyllus) and the sweet-william (Dian*
Aus barbatus.) All these may be treated
as common perennial border flowers.

The Pink. — ^It is remarkable that though
the pink is a commoner and hardier flower
than the carnation, it is not known in a wild
State, and it does not appear to have been
much cultivated till the latter half of the
last century, though it is said to have been
introduced in 1629. Its origin is indeed
very uncertain; some botanists considering it
as a variety of the carnation, and others
making it a distinct species, under .the name
of Dianthus plumarius. There are now
many named sorts, and the best laced pinks
rank as florists' flowers; their culture being

270 THB FLOWSRH3ABDEN. [oKMP/'Vffl.

(he same as that of the camatton. • Tft4
€lher kinds are considered inferior, aod'wb
grown like common herbaceous plants in tha
open borders.

« The Heartsease has only within the lai^lb^
years ranked as a florist's flower. It had
long been a favourite in gardens as its innu'^
meraUe popular names may testify ; but it
was t^served for a young lady, aided by an
industrious and intelligent gardener, to show
the world the extraordinary variations of
which the flower is susceptible. About th^
year 1810 or 1812, the present lady Monek;
then Lady Mary Bennet, had a small flower-
gavden entirely planted with heartseases in
the garden of her father, the late Earl of
Tankerville, at Walton-upon-Tliames. Hie
young lady naturally wished to get as mssnf
different sorts into her garden as possible;
and at her desire, the gardener, Mr. Richard-'
son, raised as many new kinds as he could
from seed. From this small beginning the
present passion for heartseases took its ris^-.
Mr. Richardson, astonished at the great variety
and beauty of his seedlings, showed them t6
Mr. Lee, of the Hammersmith Nursery.

QRAP. VUI.] THE/ HBART8BASB. 271

Mn' Lee instantly saw the advantages to be
derived from the culture of the plant; othei
Buraetyioen followed his example, and in a
few years the heartsease took its place as a
florists' flower. The heartsease mania was at
its height from 1835 to 1838 ; but during the
last year, it has appeared somewhat on the
decline. The most splendid flowers grown
for exhibition are generaUy hybrids, which
possess, in a great degree, the qualities of
both parents. Thus, though almost every
heartsease has sprung partly from the wild
kind, (Viola tricolor,) its other parent may be
traced by its general appearance. The very
large dark purple and yellow flowers are
descended from Viola grandiflora, a species
with large yellowish flowers; other lai^e
flowers, with dark purple upper petals, and
the lower ones of a bluish tinge, are de-
scended from V. amcena ; and the oflspring
of V» lutea are nearly all yellow, strongly
m^ked with very dark branched lines. The
hybrids raised partly from V. altaica are of
a very pale yellow, and the petals have an
undulated margin; those from V. Rotho-
mogensis, or V. hispida, are of a pale blue ;

272 THE FLOWEB^ABBEN. [chat. Yin.

and those from V . bicolor axe ifrhite» slightly
veined with purple, and tinged with yeUoir
at the ba^e. All these vary exceedingly by
continual crossings, but some of the charao-^
teristics of the parents always remain.

The culture of the heartsease requires much
attention. It is the habit of the plant to
ripen a succession of seed during the whole
of its flowering season : thus it bears flowers
and ripe seeds at the same time during the
whole summer. The seeds should be sown
in a bed of rich garden mould, at least
eighteen inches deep, and highly manured,
and the joung plants should be sufiered to
remain till they have flowered, when all the
plants should be taken up, the best replanted
eighteen inches apart if in a bed, or in pots
or boxes, and the inferior ones thrown away.
The best soil for replanting the heartsease,
particularly if they are in pots or boxes, is
rich loam, mixed with one-sixth of sand and
one-sixth of vegetable mould ; and in laige
towns, all these soils may be purchased in
small quantities from the nurserymen. The
pots and boxes should also be well dnuned;
for it must be remembered, that though the

cttAP.Vlit.] THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 273

IxeMfteease is very liable to be scorched by
the excessive heat of the sun, and will require
oonstant watering in hot weather ; it is also
very Intble to be damped off by cold and wet
in winter. The best varieties are propa-
gated by cuttings, taken off in spring, which
grow rapidly so as to flower the same sum-
mer or autumn. These cuttings should be
taken from the points of the shoots, cutting
them off immediately below a joint; and
they should be struck in pure white sand, as
when the cutting is put into earth it is very
apt to damp off. The cuttings when made
should not be watered, but should be covered
with a bell glass, imd shaded for several days,
on account of the succulent nature of the
stems, and great evaporation from the leaves.
Heartseases are sometimes propagated by
layers, in which case the branch should be
only pegged down at a joint, and not slit, on
account of its tendency to damp off.

ChrymrUihemurm are principally winter
flowers, and they are valuable for affording
a brilliant show at a season when there are
few other flowers to be seen. In November
and December, when no other flowers are in

T

274 THE FLOWEE^OABDBN. [obap. vin.

blossom, diese flowers are in fiill beauly;
ftnd Mr. London tells me that he has seeaa
the walls of two small street^ardens, one
belonging to Mr. Ingpen at Chelsea, and
the other to Mr. Allen, Chapel Street, £<%•
ware-Road, so completely covered with them
as to present a most brilliant and dazzling
appearance. Chrysanthemums may there-
fore be safely recommended as most valoable
flowers for both town and country; and
their great number and beauty make them
particularly interesting. There are, indeed,
numerous varieties of every possible shade
of yellow, brown, orange, bufl^ pink, red-
dish-purple, lilac, and white, but not bine.
All the difierent varieties of chrysanthemums,
and there are nearly a hundred named sorts,
may be referred to six distinct tribes ; and
these are the following: 1. Ranunculus-
flowered; 2. Incurved; 3. China-aster, or
Daisy-flowered; 4. Marigold-flowered; 6.
Tassel-flowered, or Quilled; and 6, Half-
double Tassel-flowered. The ranunculus-
flowered have generally small flowers, in
clusters, like little roses ; but the rest have
large, handsome flowers, particularly the

tafiseUfid kind% the quilled petals of wUob
are ver^ long» and hang down like tasaela,
The culture of the chrysanthemum differs
according to the use which it is proposed to
make of it When it is to be flowered in
pots^ cuttii^ are taken from the tops of the
shoots in April; and as soon as they hai^e
taken root they are transplanted into very
small pots, where they are planted in a com*
po^ formed of equal parts of sand, loam, and
peat* As sooa as they begin to grow, and
9end out plenty of roots, they are removed
into other, rather larger, pots; and this
shifting is repeated eight or nine, and some-
times ten or twelve times. This constant
shifting will keep the plants bushy, without
the cultivator being under the necessity of
pinching off the ends of the shoots ; a prac*
tice which, though it answers the desired
end of keeping the plants of a compact habit
of growth, has yet the inconvenience of
making them throw out so many shoots and
leaves as to weaken the flowers. When the
chrysanthemums are to be planted in the
open border against a wall, their roots
ahould be parted in autumn or early springs

T 2

276 THE FLOWEB^GARDEV. [cHAP.VlIl*

and planted in very rich and highly ma-^
nured, but light soil, at the foot of a south or
west wall, against i?hich they should . be
trained like a peach^tree^ and all the super-
fluous shoots cut off. When planted^ they
should be carefully watered, not only at their
roots, but all over their leaves, with a fine^
rosed watering-pot, or garden-engine. They
should afterwards be watered three times Br
day, and occasionally with soap-suds, or ma-
nured water, that is, water in which manure
has been steeped. Thus treated, the plants
will grow six or eight feet high, and their
flowers will not only be produced in great
abundance, but they will be of enormous
size, and very brilliant in their colours. The
best chrysanthemums in London are at
Chandler^s nursery, VauxhalL

Btdbs and Tubers, — ' The most interestiiig
bulbs in a flower-garden are the tulip, the
hyacinth, and the crocus; and the most
interesting tubers are the ranunculus, the
anemone^ and the dahlia. There are, how-
ever, many other flowers of both kinds
highly deserving of cultivation. The obI**
ture of all the bulbs is nearly the same ; but

CHAP, viii.] BULBS. 277

that of the taberou$«rooted flowers differs in
different plants.

Bulbs are generally planted in autumn to
flower in spring; and are taken up when
their leaves begin to wither, to be kept out
of the ground a month or two in complete
repose before they are replanted. They are
generally propagated by offsets, which are
produced by the side of the old bulb; or
rather, by the side of the new bulb, which is
formed every year to supply the place of the
old one, which wastes away. The new bulb
sometimes forms beside the old one ; and
sometimes below it or above it ; and this is
one of the principal reasons why bulbs should
be taken up and replanted every year; as,
when this is not attended to, those bulbs that
form every year below the old bulb, sink so
low in the course of a few years, that they
become too far removed from the air to ve-
getate ; while those that form above the old
bulb are pushed so high out of the ground
that they are often killed by frost or drought
In this way, valuable plants often disappear
from gardens, without their owners having
the slightest suspicion of the cause. It is.

•fiT^ THE FIXyWiSB^OARDEX. [cHAP.vni.

however, rdrely worth while to take up ithe
coxhmon garden bnlbs: such as the snow^
drop, the crown-imperial, &c., every year^
particularly as they generally form (heiBineiilr
bulbs at the side of the old bulb s but er^en
these kinds should be taken up e>9«(ry two^ar
three years. When raised from seed, bulbs
are generally from three to fiye years befote
they produce flowers; and they are ibxswt
^opagated by layers or cuttings.

TuGps. — Experienced florists raise tulips
from seed to obtain new varieties ; but as
the young bulbs are frequently from five
to seven years before they flower, this mode
of propagating tulips does not suit amateurs.
Even when seedling tulips do flower, they pro-
duce only self-coloured flowers, for the first
two or three years, and in this state they are
called breeders. To make them break, that
is, produce the brilliant and distinct colours
which constitute the beauty of a florist's
tulip, they are subjected to the most sudden
and violent changes of soil, climate, and
management/ At one time, they are grown
in poor soil, and only allowed enough water
to keep them living; and then they are

tfHAP.'THl^] TI3XJP8. 279

saddenly traDsported to the richest eoil^
aboimdiiig with fi>od and moifiture. Some-
tmi66, to change the climate effectuaUy,
florists.fiend their tuUps to be grown.for a
year or two twenty miles or more from the
place where they were raised; and then
they are brought* back to their native air.
This laborious and unscientific mode of pro-
ceeding is, however, now rapidly giving
place to a |Mroper method of hybridising;
after which the young bulbs are broaght
forward by means of bottom -heat, water,
and frequent shillings, . so as to flower and
break the second or third season. Florists'
tulips are generally divided into four tribes,
viz. — 1. Bizarres, which have yellow grounds
diiaded with dark red or purple, and which
are subnlivided into flamed, in which the
red or purple is in a broad stripe or band,
rising from the bottom of the petal,-and
feathered, in which the dark colour forms a
marginal edging to the petals, descending
into them in various little delicate feathery
«iM. 2. Bybloemens, having white grounds
dbtaded with violet or dark purple, and also
8al>divided into flamed and feathered. 3.

280 TUE FLOW£&«OABDEX. [cilAP. Till«

Boees^ having white grounds Bhaded with
rose^olour or cherry^^red^ and divided into
flamed and feathered; and^ 4« Selfi, being
either a pure white or yellow. In addition
to these, the French have Baguettes, yerj
taU^stemmed tulips, the flowers of which
are white, striped with dark brownish red;
B£^uettes Rigauts> which resemble the for-
mer, but have shorter stems and longer
flowers ; and Flamands, which are the same
as Bjbloemens^ The Dutch have also a
kind they call Incomparable Verport, a very
finely-fthaped flower, white, and feathered
with bright shining brown. All these kinda
are said to be varieties of one species, Tulipa
Gesneriana, a native of Italy ; and they ell
ought to have round, cup-shaped flowers,
clean at the base, and with all the marks
and difierent colours quite clear and distinct.
Besides these florists' tulips, several other
species are occasiobally grown in gardens:
the most common of which are the little Van
Thol tulips, which were named after the
Duke Van Thol, and which are scarlet,
edged with yellow; the wild French tulip,
which is a pure yellow, and very frs^ant i

CHAP. ▼III.] Tutips. 281

and the Parrot tuHp, which appears to be a
variety of the iast^ and the petals of which
are yellow, irregularly striped or spotted
with green, scarlet, and blue, and fringed at
the margin.

The culture of the tulip, as a florist's
flower, requires unremitting attention and
care ; but for common garden purposes, the
tulip will be found hardier, and less liable to
injury from insects, &c., than most other
flowers* Where tulips are grown in a regular
bed, the ground should be dug out to the
depth of twenty inches, or two feet. A
stratum of fresh earth is laid at the bottom
of the pit thus formed, on that a stratum of
rotten cow-dung, and on this a stratum of
loam mixed with sand. The bed should be
three or four feet wide, and its surface
should be slightly raised in the middle. A
fresh bed should be made every year, or
rather the same bed should be filled with
fresh soil every season; as the exudations
from the tulips will soon poison the ground
for plants of the same kind, though it will be
very suitable for the growth of other bulbs,
and tubers. The proper distance at which

28fi THE FIiOWBBY<»ABDEN. [csA^^.T^l.

.the. tuHps should be planted in .tbe.be4 is
seven inches apart^ every way; and their
eolours and kinds may be aixanged aceof<iyyqg
to the fancy of the planter. It is customary^
where the tulips differ a good deal in height^
to place the tallest in the middle^ and the
lower ones on the sides; and when this is
the case, the centre of the surface of the bed
Deed not be rabed. The bed is protected
by hoops and mats, which are contrived to
open to admit light, air, and rain at pleasure.
When the plants are near flowering, a pal;h
is made round the bed ; and over the whole
is stretched a canvass covering, supported
on a wooden frame, and so contrived as to
open at the sides or the top, as may be
required. The bulbs are planted about two
or three inches deep, and are never watered)
except occasionally by admitting a gentle
rain, till they are in flower. When they
have done flowering, the leaves are suffered
to remain till they begin to turn brown,
when the bulbs are taken up, and laid with
the lower part upwards on shelves to dry*
When this is the case, the dry leaves and
the fibrous roots are pulled or rubbed off;

ittAP. vtfi.] HYACINTHS. 283

and the bolbs are put into dmwers or boxes»
divided into compartments so as to keep the
named sorts apart, till the season arrives fcur
replanting, ^hich is the last week of October
ot the first of November.

Mr. Groom, of Walworth, is the principal
tuHp-grower in the neighbourhood of Lon-
don, and he has an exhibition of them of
extraordinary brilliancy and beauty every
May.

Hyacinths are perhaps the most beautiful
of all flowers, and when grown in a bed like
tulips, they are almost equally brilliant in
effect. Mr. Corsten, a Dutch florist, residing
at a place he has called Hyacinth Villa, at
Shepherd's Bush, has an exhibition of this kind
every April, and I have seldom seen any thing
more striking. Under a tent nearly two
hundred feet long, and thirty feet wide, are
two beds each about one hundred and fifty
feet long, divided by a walk covered with
matting in the centre, and surrounded by a
similar walk, with seats at each end of the
tent. In these beds are above three thou-
sand hyacinths, the colours arranged so as to
form diagonal lines, and the whole presenting

284 THE FLOWBR*GAKDEN. [chap. Ylll.

a perfect blaze of beauty. Hyacinths are as
immerous in their named varieties as tulips^
but they are not divided into any distinct
tribes, except as regards their colours. The
principal distinctions are the white, the pink,
and the blue; but these admit of various
modifications, and there are some of a pale
yellow, or rather lemon colour, and some of
so dark a purple as to be almost black.

The culture of the hyacinth somewhat
resembles that of the tulip ; but it is more
difficult, from the great length to which the
roots of the hyacinth descend perpendicu-
larly, and the necessity which consequently
exists for preparing the ground for them to a
very great depth. There is also another
peculiarity in hyacinth culture which is
rather difficult of attainment; namely, that
the roots require a great deal of moisture,
though the bulbs should be kept quite dry.
The roots also require the soil to be very
rich, but that the manure used should be of
the kind called cold. It will easily be seen
from this enumeration of the essentials for
hyacinth culture, why Holland is so pre-
eminently the country for hyacinths. The

CHAP, vm.] HTACmTHB. 285

dry sandy soil, raised on the numeroas dykes
and embankments, by means of which Hol-
land has been rescued from the sea, affords
at once a proper bed for the bulbs, and a
soil easily penetrable by the roots: while
tbe conTtaot evaporation rising from the
water which is every where found below the
dykes, is just what is required for the roots.
Even the manure most easily obtained in
Holland is precisely that best adapted for
hyacmths, as it is cow-dung unmixed with
straw ; and which thus contains nothing to
induce fermentation and consequent heat

It is impossible in England to obtain the
advantages so easily attainable by the Dutch,
without incurring a very considerable^ ex-
pence. Our soil is generally so adhesive
that it requires to be pulverized to a very
great depth to admit of the descent of the
roots ; and even when the soil is sandy it is
very different from the beautiful silvery sear
sand, called Diinensande by the Dutch. The
only way in which we can imitate this sand
is by mixing nearly in equal parts what we
call silver-sand and peat, or by growing the
plaots in silver-sand, with a very slight ad-

286 THE FliOWEB^ABDEN. [cHA9. TIV.

mixtme of fine r^etable mould. Whuteyer
the Bcil may be^ it can hardly be too light;^
OS the Datch say that the hyacinth will
never thrive nnless in sand so fine as ti> be
blown away in separate particles by a high
wind. When hyacinths are to be grown to
the greatest perfection in £ngland5 a bed, or
rather pit, should be dug three feet or &ur
fieet wide, and six feet deep, the length
depending on the situation, and on the
quantity of flowers to be grown. A layer of
stale cow^dung, without any mixture c^
straw or litter, should be laid at the bottom
of this pit at least a foot deep, and the pit
should then be filled up to within three
inches of the top, with equal parts of peat
and silver-sand, or with a mixture of three
parts of silver*sand to one of light vegetable
mould perfectly fine and without any stones.
About three inches firom the top should be
spread a layer of pure sand in which the
^ulbs are placed at regular distances, and
each with the pointed end, which the Dutch
call the nose, upwards ; and the bed is then
filled up with the same mixture as the lower
part, and a layer about three Inches deep of

cHA^. vm.] HTAomfHa 287

pure p^at is kid over the iivhole^ to form w
relief to the flowers. Dry weather 8hould>
always be chosen for the planting ; and
when planted, the bulbs should be entirely
covered with the sand, and should be about
six inches below the surface of the bed,
which should be raised at least three inches
higher than the surrounding garden, to allow
for its sinking. The layer of pure peat on
the surface is only to afford a dark back*-
ground to the flowers when they expand^
and may be omitted if thought unnecessary
for this purpose. The bulbs are planted the
last week in October, or the first or second
week in November, and they are placed
about four inches apart every way. After
they are planted, a mixture of cow-dung and
water is generally thrown with a scoop over
the bed, so as to form a thin coating over
the soil, but not to penetrate into it When
the weather becomes fi'osty, a covering of
dry litter, reeds, or tan is put over the beds ;
or hoops may be fixed over them on which
bast mats are stretched. In March the
covering is removed and the beds are cleared
of weeds, and covered with a fi:esh coating

288 THE FLOWBB-OAKDEN. [cHAP. Tm.

of cow-dung and water. In April, an awning
of thin canvass, is erected over each bed,
mftder which the plants are to flower; and
by the middle of this month they will be in
all liheir beauty. As soon as the flowers
begin to &de the flower*stalks should be cut
off and instantly removed. They should
never be suffered to lie on the bed, and
should not even be put where by any chance
they can mix with the earth intended &t a
hyacinth bed in another year, as the exuda*
tions proceeding from them in their decay
would cause the bulbs to rot. This is not
only because the exudations from the hya^
cinths are of course poisonous to other bulbs
of the same genus ; but because the flower*
stalks appear to contain a kind of corrosive
juice, as the labourers employed in Holland
to cut them off the bulbs, frequently find
their hands and bodies become red and in-
flamed, and sometimes so painM as to pre-
vent them from sleeping.

When the leaves turn brown at the points,
which is generally about the middle of June,
the bulbs should be taken up. When this
is to be done the leaves are first pulled off.

CHAP. Yiii.] HTACINTUS. 2£t9

or if they will not oome off readily by puU-
iogy they are cut off close to the bulb. The
bulbs are then taken out of the ground, and
laid on the footpath in rows, so as to keep
the different kinds distinct The bed is
afterwards raked smooth all over, and a strip
about a foot and a half broad is made flat
and firm^ in the middle of the bed, by being
pressed with a plank, or beaten with the
back of the spade, and on this the hyacinth-
roots are laid, still in distinct rows: earth is
then drawn over them two or three inches
thick, and they axe left for two or three weeks.
This the Dutch call lying in the Elauil, and
the time of remaining in it varies according
to the size of the bulb and the weather, the
largest bulbs being removed soonest. When
taken from the Kauil, the bulbs are placed
on shelves or wooden trays to dry, with the
root end of the bulb inclining towards the
south.

Where it is not thought advisable to sink
the bed so deep as six feet, it may be made
four feet deep, and the layer of cow-dung at
the bottom mixed with soil a foot deep,
leaving only about three feet to be filled with

V

200 THE FLOWER-GiJEU>£N. [cBAP.Tiil.

a mixture of peat and river sand, with about
the proportion <^ a third to the whcle of
▼egetaUe mould. The odier treatment is
the same as that detailed above* In all
cases the soil should be very light and fine,
and only cow-dung should be used as a
manure. The roots should ako always be
watered very sparingly, and with a mixture
of cow dung and water, though not so thick
as that used for coating the bed* When the
bulbs are planted, and again when they are
taken up, they should be care&Uy examined,
and all that are at all specked or mouldy,
should be laid on one side, as they would
infect the others. When the infected part
is large, die bulb should be thrown away, or
burnt with the stalks ; but where the speck
is small it should be cut out with a ^arp
knife, and the bulb planted, in not more
than four*and*-twenty hours after the piece
has been cut out Hyacinths are propagated
by oSaetBy by dividing the bulb, and by
seed, in which last case they are five years
before they flower. When planted in pots
or boxes, the pot or box should be half filled
with broken potsherds, or some other mate^

CHAP. VIII.] HYACINTHS. 291

rial to ensure perfisct drainage, and the bulbs
should be planted in a compost of peat, sand,
and very rotten oow-dung. The bulbs should
only be about half covered with soil ; and if
in boxes they should be kept, if practicable,
in a greenhouse, till they are ready to flower.
If in pots, they should be plunged into a hot-
bed, or into a tan-stoVe; or where this cannot
be done they should be binied in the garden,
so that the point of the bulb should be at
least four inches below the surface. Here
they should remain till about six weeks before
flowering, when the pots should be taken
out, and placed where they are to flower;
the sides of the pots being kept warm with
moss, and the flowers brought forward by
daily waterings. All hyacinths grown in
pots and boxes will require abundance of
water to make amends for the unnatural
situation in which their roots are placed.
Aflser hyacinths have flowered in pots or
boxes, or in water glasses, the bulbs are
generally planted in the open ground, and
being covered with about an inch of soil
they are lefl to take their chance. Thus'
treated, the finer kinds generally perish, but:

u2

292 THE FLOWER-GARDEN. [cHAP. Vltl.

the hardier onea will live and flower for
many years, if allowed every autumn to
retain their leaves, till their new bulbs are
matured. Hyacinths that have been flowered
in glasses, or pots, seldom however flower
so well afterwards, at least not for several
years, as they scarcely ever quite recover the
shock they have, sustained from the unna-
tural position of their roots ; whereas the
Dutch florists, by allowing the roots of their
hyacinths plenty of room to descend perpen-
dicularly, and taking up the bulbs every
autumn, have been known to keep bulbs of
their finest flowers twelve or even twenty
years, and to have them produce splendid
flowers every year.

It must be observed that the exudations of
hyacinths are very abundant, and very in-
jurious to other plants of their own genus.
For this reason, the Dutch never grow their
hyacinths in the same bed two years conse-
cutively. The usual rotation is, first year,
hyacinths ; second, tulips ; third, polyanthus-
narcissus; fourth, crocuses; and fifth, hya-
cinths again. The Guernsey lily, the bulbs
of which are generally thrown away in £i^-

cBAP.viii.] CROCUSES. ' 293

land as soon as they have flowered^ vriW. live
many years if treated like the hyacinth.

Crocuses meij he groYm in the open ground,
and they do not require taking up every year
like hyacinths or tulips. If they are taken
up and replanted every third or fourth year,
it vnll be sufficient. There are above a hun-
dred named varieties, and they will produce
a very good effect if planted so as to form
figures viith their various colours. When
this is the case, however, the conns should be
taken up and replanted every year; to pre-
vent the figure from becoming confused by
the spreading of the offsets. Crocuses may
be grown in glasses, or in pots or boxes, with
very little injury, if planted in the open
ground as soon as they have done flowering,
and suffered to mature their leaves. In all
cases the leaves of the crocus should be suf-
fered to remain till they wither, and not cut
off; though many gardeners, firom a mistaken
desire for neatness, cut the leaves off as soon
as the flowers have faded, and thus seriously
injure the corms. All the kinds of gladiolus
or com flag, the Irises, the Izias, and, in short
all the Cape bulbs, are corms, and require

294 THE FLOWER-GARDEN, [chap. viil.

the same treatment as the crocus. Charl-
wood's, Covent-garden, and Carter's, HoU
bom, are the best places in London for pro-
curing all kinds of bulbs and corms.

The Ranunculus. — M. Triquet de Blanc,
who had the kindness to send me directions
for the culture of the carnation, has given
me the following directions for the culture
of the ranunculus : — " In November spread
well-rotten cow-dung, or thoroughly-decayed
leaves, four or five inches thick over the
beds which are to be devoted to the ranun-
culus, and dig it into the ground about four
inches deep, digging the bed over several
times, so as to mix it well with the soil.
The surface of the bed is then raked smooth,
and lines, or rather drills, an inch and a half
deep, are traced on it so as to form squares,
four inches on the side every way. The
ground is then left till the beginning of
February, when the ranunculuses are planted
four inches apart, just at the point of inter-
section of the lines, and they are covered
about an inch and a half deep (rather less
than more) with the compost described
above, or with fine garden mould. The

CHAP. VIU.

] ANEMOKE8. 295

advantages gained by digging the earth in
November^ though the roots are not planted
till February, are — that the ranunculuses
are thus planted on a hard bottom, which
suits them particularly; and that the gar-
dener is not obliged to dig the earth to
mix the cow-dung with it in February, when
the ground is generally sloppy, and in a
very unfit state for being worked." — ^When
the plants are about to flower, an awning
may be erected over the bed to protect them
&om the efiects of the sun, which is apt to
destroy the brilliancy of their colours. In
irostj weather, they should be protected by
a mat, day and night, as the sun will do
them a serious injury, if they have been at
all afiected by the frost The plants may be
watered with a weak solution of cow-dung
in water, and they should be constantly
watered in dry weather. The tubers should
be taken up as soon as the leaves begin to
turn brown, which will generally be in July.
Groom, of Walworth, is considered to keep
the best ranunculuses.

The Anemones of florists are of two kinds :
those descended from the garden or star
anemone (A. hortense), and those descended

*u4

296 THE FLOWBBrGARBEN. [ohap. viii.

from the poppy anemone (A. coronaria).
The poppy anemones, which are generally
single, are planted in September or October,
and under shelter are jfrequently in flower
all winter: the splendid Dutch anemones,
and all the varieties of A. coronaria, on the
contrary, are not planted till February or
March; the latter month, or even the begin-
ning of April, being preferred for the Dutch
anemones, which are apt to rot if planted too
early. Anemones should be planted three
inches deep, and five inches apart every
way, in a firesh, sound, yellow loam, without
any manure. Care should be taken to keep
the frost from them ; but they will not need
any other attention till the leaves turn
brown, when the tubers should be taken up,
and treated like those of the ranunculus and
tuUp. Old varieties axe propagated by off-
sets, and new kinds are raised fi-om seed.

Dahlias are either raised from seed, or
propagated by slips or cuttings, or dividing
the tubers. The seed is sown in pots in
a slight hotbed in February, and the young
plants are transplanted into the open air
in June, where they are suffered to re-
main till they flower. In October, those

CHAP. Till.] DAHLIAS. 297

which are thought worth preserving are
marked^ and the others taken up and thrown
away. When the stalks are killed by frost,
the tubers are taken up, and kept in some
dry place till the season of planting the fol-
lowing year. The slips are taken from the
collar of the root in spring, and the cuttings
from the tops of the young shoots early in
summer. Both are planted in very small
pots, in light, rich, sandy loam, and placed
in a hotbed frame, and shaded. In a fort-
night they will have struck root ; but they
should be shifted into larger pots, and placed
for a short time in a greenhouse, before they
are turned out into the open ground. Dah-
lias have large tuberous roots, but stems will
only spring from the eyes or buds in the
crown of the root. If these eyes should have
been destroyed, or be wanting, the root is
said to be blind; and though it will live for
several years in the ground, it will not send
up a single stem. For this reason, before
dividing the root, it should be planted in a
gentle hotbed to develope or start the buds
or eyes ; and when it is divided, care should
be taken that each piece includes a portion

298 THE FLOWBB-OARDEN. [cHAP, viii.

of the crown, which has an eye in it. Some-
times eyes are grafted in the herbaceous
manner on blind tubers.

The best soil for dahlias is a sandy loam,
not too rich, as, in nch or moist soils, the
plant will produce more stalks and leaves
than flowers. Where the soil of the gar-
den in which dahlias are to be planted is
rich, or heavy, a quantity of sand or gravel
should be mixed with it. Striped t)r varie-
gated flowers will soon lose their markings if
grown in rich soiL The tubers of the early
kinds are planted in April, to flower in
June ; but those of the finer kinds are not
{Wanted till May and June. When they
begin to grow, the side-shoots are removed
from one foot to three feet from the ground ;
the principal stem .is then either tied to a
stake driven deeply and firmly into the
ground, or the whole plant is drawn through
a set of dahlia rings. Dwarf plants are
frequently sufiered to trail on the ground,
and are pegged down, so as to cover the
whole of the bed, with which treatment they
look extremely well In dry weather, the
plants should be regularly watered, but not

CHAP. YIU.] DAHLIAS. 299

too abundantly. When the leaves and stalks
are killed by the frost, they should be directly
cut down ; but the tubers may be left in the
ground a little longer, as, if taken up too
soon, they wiU shrivel, and often become
rotten. When taken up, they should be
kept in a dry place, and covered with a mat
to exclude the frost

All the dahlias now in our gardens, nume*
rous as they are, have sprung from two
kinds, both natives of Mexico, viz. — D. pin-
nata, or variabilis, all the varieties of which
are purple, crimson, rose-coloured, lilac, or
white ; and D. coccinea, the varieties of
which are scarlet, orange, or yellow.

It is remarkable, that notwithstanding the
numerous varieties that have been raised of
these two species, there have never been any
hybrids raised between them. Many at-
tempts have been made, but all the plants
raised have partaken exclusively of the qua-
lities of one or the other of the parents, and
none have partaken equally of both, as is the
case with true hybrids. There are many
other kinds mentioned in books, the most
remarkable of which is the tree dahlia, D.

300 THE FLOWER-GARDEN. [cHAP. viii.

excelsa, a specimen of whicb^ in the Liverpool
Botanic Garden^ is now above twenty feet
higL All the varieties grown in British
gardens as florists' flowers^ may be divided
into four kinds^ viz. — Dwarfs, Anemone-
flowered, Ranunculus-flowered, and Globe-
flowered. The dahlia was first discovered in
Mexico by Baron Humboldt, in 1789, and
it was sent by him to Cavaniles, at Madrid,
who named it in honour of Professor Dahl,
a Swedish botanist. This name was after-
wards changed to Georgina, in honour of
a German botanist named Georgi, who
resided many years in St. Petersburg, in
consequence of the genus Dalea having
been previously established by Thunberg.
As, however, this name is neither spelt nor
pronounced the same as Dahlia; and as the
name of Dahlia was given long before that
of Georgina, the plant is now restored to its
original appellation. The dahlia was intro-
duced into England in 1804, but it did not
become a florists' flower till about 1815.

301

CHAPTER IX.

MANAJGBMENT OF THE LAWN^ PLEASURE-
GSOUNDB, ANB SHRUBBERT^ OF A SMALL
VILLA.

The word Lawn may probably conjure up
ideas of too large an extent of ground to be
managed by a lady; but when I use the
term^ I do not mean an extensive park-like
surfiu;e of level turf, but one of those beauti-
ful verdant glades that produce so delightful
an effect even in the smaUest gardens. In
places where the whole extent of garden-
ground does not perhaps exceed an acre,
every one must have felt the relief afforded
to the eye by a broad strip of lawn, bordered
by trees and shrubs, not in a formal line on
each side, but running into numerous pro-

302 MANAGEMENT OF [chap. ix.

jections and recesses^ and resting their lower
branches, frequently covered with flowers,
on a rich smooth velvet-looking carpet of
grass.

Every one possessing a lawn of this de-
scription must be aware that its chief beauty
consists in its smoothness, and in the firm-
ness and closeness of its grasses. I say
grasses, because strange as it may sound to
unbotanical ears, from twenty to thirty dif->
ferent kinds of grasses sometimes enter into
the composition of a square foot of fine turf.
Some of these grasses are coarse and grow
high, and widely apart; and others are very
fine and slender, and grow closely together.
This being the case, it is obvious that when
a fine smooth turf is required, the finer kinds
of grasses should be chosen, and the coarser
ones not only rejected among the grass-
seeds sown, but, if possible, destroyed when-
ever they appear, if they should chance to
come up accidentally.

Botanists have distinguished and arranged
nearly fifteen hundred difierent species of
grasses; and of these probably more than
three hundred kinds are now cultivated in

CHAP. iz. ] THS LAWN, ETC. 303

England. Of these, some are, of course,
better adapted to certain soils than others;
and to ascertain which grass was best suited
to each soil, the late Duke of Bedford, whose
loss the horticultural and agricultural world
has recently had to deplore, instituted a
series of experiments at Wobum under the
superintendence of his gardener, the late
Mr* Sinclair, who was a very intelligent
man, and the result of whidi was published
in the Hortus Gramineus Wobumensis.
From these experiments, it was found that
what are called hungry sandy soils, were the
worst, and rich alluvial soils the best for the
production of grasses ; but that sandy loams
produced the most equal and most perma-
nent crops. To apply this to practice in the
production of proper lawn grasses, it is evi-
dent that as a sandy loam appears to be the
best for them, a sandy soil would be improved
by the- addition of clay, and a clayey one by
the additi<m of sand, both these mixtures
constituting what is called a sandy loam: and
it may be added, that where the soil is calca-
reous, it may generally be left without any
alteration, when it is to be covered with

304 MANAGEBIENT OF [chap. ix.

grass. The next thing to be considered is
the kind of grasses most suitable for sowing
on a lawn; and to ascertain this^ it must be
remembered that the proprietor of a lawn
does not want a crop of hay> but a fine
smooth level turf^ the grass in which shall
entirely conceal the earth. For this pur-
pose^ it is eyident that slow growing grasses^
the roots of which will retain permanent
possession of the soil, and which are suffi-
ciently succulent not to be burnt up when
closely mown in hot weather, are preferable
to those which grow rapidly and produce an
abundant crop of herbage, particularly as the
roots of the last kind are generally easily
withered up in dry weather. Very fest-
growing grasses are indeed exceedingly an-
noying to the possessor of a small lawn, as
they require constant mowing and are thus
a constant source of expence.

Some philosophers assert that the chief
thing that hinders the attainment of our
desires, is that very few of us know exactly
what we want ; and it is to save my readers
from being in this unpleasant predicament
with regard to lawns, that I have been thus

CHAP. IX.] THE LAWN, ETC. 305

particular in describing what qualities are
requisite in grasses to make them suitable
for producing soft turf. The next thing is
to tell them as well as I can, what kind of
grasses appear most likely to answer the end
in view. Of all these, one of the most per-
manent appears to be the fox-tail meadow-
grass ( Alopecurus pratensis) ; it is one of the
principal grasses in rich natural pastures,
and it should always form one-fourth part of
the seeds used for laying down a lawn. The
sweet-scented spring grass (Anthoxanthum
odoratum) grows best in deep moist soil ; but
it is worth sowing in erery situation for its
fineness, its dwarf growth, and for its habit
of continuing to vegetate, and to throw up
fresh stalks nearly all the year. It is this
grass which gives so delightful a firagrance to
new hay. The common meadow-grass (Poa
pratensis) is also suitable for lawns ; as,
though of slow growth, it has creeping per*
manent roots: and the short blue meadow-
grass (Poa cserulea) may be added, for its
deep blue tint, which gives a richness to the
general colour of the grass, and because it
sustains no injury from dry weather* The

X

306 MANAGEMENT OF [cHAP.lZ.

crested dog's-tail grass (Cynosunis eristatus)
is5 however, the best for sustaming droughit
and heat, as its roots penetrate so deeply
into the ground, as to keep its blades green,
while all the grasses around it are quit^
brown from being burnt up. The hard
fescue grass (Festuca duriuscula) is another
kind which will stand the effects of dry
weather; it is also a very fine dwarf grass,
and springs early. Many other grasses
might be named, but these will suffice. The
proportion in which they ought to be mixed,
is another, and an essential point; but at the
same time it is one rather difficult to ascer*
tain, as the seeds of the finer kinds of grasses
are very often abortive, and do not germi-
nate; and thus a larger quantity must be
sown of them, than of those kinds, all the
seeds of which are generally good. The
seed of the meadow fox-tail grass (Alopecu-*
rus pratensis) is very often so bad, that not
above one seed in three will germinate, con-
sequently a much larger proportion of seed
of this grass must be sown than of any of the
others. This seed is very light, and conse-
quently a pound of it, if b9ught by weight,.

CHAP. IX.] THE LAWN, ETC. 307

will appear a great deal more than a pound
of the crested dog's-tail grass (Cynosurus
cristatus), the seed of which is very heavy ;
and yet as the latter seed is generally all
good, it will cover more ground with grass
than the other. The best way is to write
down the botanic names of the grasses, and
to send them to a respectable seedsman,
with directions to return enough of the seed
of each, to produce an equal quantity of grass
of each respective species on the lawn. The
whole quantity required of the mixed grasses
is generally not more than four bushels
and a half per acre; but if an immediate
effect be wanted, about a bushel and a half
of the common white clover may be added.
This quantity of seed will be sufficient to
sow the ground very thickly, as when ground
has been dug over and rendered perfectly
smooth the seeds will go further, and cover
it more completely than when the surface is
uneven ; and if the seeds are sown in dry
weather, then rolled in and afterwards wa-
tered, the ground will be as green and
covered with as fine a sward the first season,
as though it had been laid down with tur£

x2

308 MANAGJBJfENT OF [chap. ix.

The plants will, however, probably be too
thick ; and as, wJien this is the case many of
them die, the ground may require a partial
re-sowing the following spring. It is there-
fore safer under ordinary circumstances not
to sow more than four bushels and a half an
acre, as if that quantity be equally distributed,
the plants will not be too thick.

When the ground which is to form the
lawn has been marked out, the soil, if it
wants amelioration, should be spread over
with the earth required to make it approach
as near as possible to the great desideratum,
a sandy loam, and it should be then dug
about a foot deep. Care should be taken to
do this in dry weather; as the two soils to be
mixed, should be both in a state of dryness.
No manure should be dug in unless the soil
happen to be very poor indeed; as manure will
tend to produce a larger and taller growing
crop of grass, which, of course, will increase
the trouble and expence of mowing, without
being of any use. The ground being dug,
and raked to remove all the laige stones, the
surface should be rolled, and then the seeds
sown ; after which it should be rolled again

CHAP. IX.] TBB LAWN, BTa 309

and watered by a garden-engine having a
very fine rose. This watering may be re-
peated occasionally if the weather should be
very dry; and if any mole-hills or worm-casts
appear, they should be levelled, and the
rolling repeated.

When the ground is to be covered with
turf, instead of being sown with grass seeds,
the turf should, if possible, be procured from
some meadow or downs where sheep have
been fed ; as these animals bite close to the
roots, and this kills the coarser grasses which
have generally weak fibrous roots, while the
finer grasses, which have deep roots, remain
uninjured. The turf is then cut with a turf
spade, and rolled up for removal. When it
is to be laid down, and the ground is ready to
receive it, it is spread out, and the difiereUt
rolls carefully joined to each other : little bitis
being cut off or pushed in where the pieces
do not exactly fit It is then T¥atered and
rolled, and will require no other care. With
regard to afler management, a lawn caii
never be kept neat without fi:«quent mowing,
and this is an operation which a lady cannot
very well perform for herself: unless, indeed,

310 MANAGBMENT OF [chap.ix.

she have strength enough to use one of Bad-
ding's mowing machines. In whatever way,
however, the operation may be performed, it
should be repeated very frequently. In lai^e
establishments, the lawn is always mown
every week during summer ; and even in the
smallest gardens the grass should never be
suffered to remain more than a fortnight
during summer without mowing. The roots
will thus become weakened, and will not be
able to send up any but dwarf and fine blades
of glass, which will form in a few years that
beautifully smooth and soft velvet*like turf,
which it is the principal beauty of a lawn to
possess. ''It is a great mistake^" says Mr.
Loudon, in his Svburhan Gardenevy " to sup-
pose that anything is gained in the way of
economy by suffering the grass of lawns to
grow long before mowing, in order to save
the expense of once or twice mowing during
the season ; for, in proportion as the grass is
aUowed to grow long before mowing, in the
same proportion are the roots strengthened
and enabled to send up still loneer leaves
and stems; whereas if a lawn were kept
short by frequent mowing for two or three

CHAP. IX.] THB LAWN, ETC. Sll

years in succession, the plants of grass would
at last become so weak that not one-half the
mowing usually required for even slovenly-
kept lawns would be necessary, and the turf
would be much finer, and neater in appear*
ance." The best manure for a lawn is soot.
I have dwelt longer than I otherwise should
have done on the management of lawns, not
only because I am a great admirer of a smooth
green turf, but because I believe it is a sub-
ject not generally understood. Most persons
imagine that if they lay down turf, or sow
grass seeds, they have done all that is re-
quisite; and my object is simply to impress
upon the minds of my readers, that this is
not enough : for as there are different kinds
of turf and grasses, it is as necessary to choose
which to take, as to select flowers for the
flower-garden. I have only to add that the
brownish hue sometimes observed on the
brows of hills in pleasure grounds is produced
by holcus lanatus, a kind of couch-grass, that
wastes all its strength on its fleshy roots, and
produces only a thin and wiry herbage.
This species, the different kinds of agrostis
or bent-grass, the brome grasses, particularly

3)2 HANAQEMENT OF [chap.ix.

Bromus arvensis, and the cock's-fbot grass,
Dactjlus glomerata, should never be sown in
lawns.

Grass seeds should be sown either in spring
or autumn ; and May, and August or Sep-
tember are considered the best months. In
very old lawns, moss is apt to predominate,
and when it is wished to destroy this, the
surface of the lawn is dressed, as it is called,
in May with lime. Dressing with lime will
also destroy the worms which are often very
troublesome in lawns (particularly where the
ground has been manured with dung), in
throwing up casts, which make the ground
uneven, and very difficult to mow.

The Walks in pleasure-grounds should be
hard and dry; and they should abo be suffi-
ciently wide to admit of three persons to
walk abreast occasionally ; as nothing can be
more disagreeable than the situation of the
third person, whom the narrowness of the
walk obliges to walk before or behind hid
companions; and who is obliged either to
remain silent or to carry on a most uncom-
fortable and disjointed kind of conversation.
The minor evils of clothes being caught by

CHAP. IX.] PLEASURE GROUNDS. 313

branches^ and leaves discharging on the
pedestrians the remains of a recent shower,
would likewise be avoided by broader walks.
The laying out of pleasure grounds em-
braces a wide field; and when they are
extensive they require the eye of a painter,
as well as the taste and skill of a landscape
gardener. Even in small places, so much
depends on situation (particularly as regards
the house, and whether there may or may
not be any distant prospects); on the taste of
the occupier; and on the expense to be
incurred, not only in laying out and planting,
but in after keeping, that few directions can
be given that would be generally applicable.
It may, however, be observed that in all
places whether large or small, the walks
should be so contrived, that no person pass-
ing along one, should see the persons walking
on another. Indeed, if more than one walk
be ever seen at a time, it gives an idea of
want of space and confinement ; and this idea
is one which the landscape gardener always
endeavours as much as possible to avoid.
For the same reason the boundary fence
should never be seen, if it can possibly be

314 MANAOEMENT OF [chap. ix.

disguised. Even in a small street-garden^
with three low walls on three of the sides^
and the house on the fourth, a very pleasing
effect may be produced by effectually con-
cealing the boundary walls with ivy; and
thus permitting the imagination to fix the
boundary where it will.

Anothei: general rule in laying out plea-
sure-grounds is to avoid monotony or same-
ness as much as possible. Nothing is more
wearying to the eye than a place, every part
of which is alike, and which leaves nothing
to the imagination. A place regularly dotted
over with trees at equal distances is quite
featureless; has nothing to attract the eye, and
nothing to interest the mind. But if the
same trees are planted on the same ground
in masses, with a broad expanse of lawn
between; the trees sometimes projectir^,
and sometimes showing a smooth glade of
grass, running in among them, the end of
which the eye cannot reach, the imagination
becomes excited, and a degree of interest is
instantly created. Where the lawn is larger
a few single trees may be introduced; but
few things in landscape gardening requiiie

CHAP.ix.l PLEASUKB QBOUNPS. 315

more taste. Indeed, in laying out pleasure**
grounds, however small they may be^ it is
generally the best, and indeed the most
economical way, to have the advice of a pro-*
fessional landscape gardener at first ; instead
of groping on in the dark, from a mistaken
idea of economy, tUl at last it is discovered
that all is wrong, and must be done over
again. Thus in the end, the work is gene-
rally found to have cost twice as much as
would have been expended if it had been
begun properly at first ; besides the loss of
time, and the annoyance always occasioned
by having anything to undo.

The Trees and Shrubs. — In all places suf-
ficiently small to be managed b^ a lady,
without the aid of a regular gardener, the
trees and shrubs should be of the choicest
kinds. It is quite the fashion of the present
day to plant arboretums ; and though a place
of the kind I mention would not admit of a
complete one, a lady might take some genus,
or some small natural order to illustrate, (as
for example the genus Ribes, or the order
Berberidese,) and fill up the rest of her
grounds with hollies or other evergreens, so

316 MAKAOEMEN'T OF [cttAl^. ix.

as to form a back ground to the omatnental
trees. The genera Magnolia and Lirioden-
dron form the hardy treeft of another mnall
order, which it would be easy to cultivate,
taking care to plant M. conspicua, and any
other that produces its flowers before it doeft
its leaves, with a rich background of ever-
greens. The almond, which flowers in the
«nune manner, should be placed in a similai:
situation ; and standard roses may also be so
placed as to have the unsightliness of their
long naked stems greatly lessened by a mass
of evei^eens behind.

Another very interesting mode of arrange-
itient, where the ground will admit of it, is
to plant particular situations with certain
trees which are not to be found in any other
part of the grounds ; and thus to form what
the landscape gardeners call scenes. Thus,
for instance, there might be an American
ground, formed in some shaded hollow, and
planted with rhododendrons, azaleas, and
kalmias. All these plants require a light
peaty soil, and a shady and somewhat moist
situation. In another part of the pleasure-
grounds there might be some alpine scenerjr.

CHAP, IX.] PldSASUBB QBODNDB. 317

with pines and firs, and particularly larches,
interspersed with a few birch*trees, planted
in dry sandy soil on hilly ground. The
deciduous cypress and weeping willow should
be near water, as should the common willow,
nearly all the poplars, and the alders. In
another place might be a thicket of the dif-
ferent varieties of hawthorn, with a few of
the fine large-fruited foreign thorns planted
in striking situations. In short there are no
limits to the numerous and beautifiil scenes
that might be laid out by a woman of culti-
vated mind, who possessed fancy and taste,
copibined with a very slight knowledge of
trees ; and I think I may safely add, that I do
not know a more delightful occupation than
this kind of landscape gardening. It is land-
scape painting, but on the noblest and boldest
scale : and it is a source of constant enjoy-
ment, fix)m the daily improvement that it
di^plays• What a difierence it makes in the
pleasure we have in returning home, if we
have something to visit, that we know has.
been improving in our absence. We regard
the trees and shrubs we have planted, and
the scenes we have laid out with almost a

S18 MANAGEMENT OP [chap, tx,

parental fondness ; and a new and daily in-
creasing interest is given to life. I would,
therefore, most earnestly entreat my readers
to study trees and shrubs ; and I do assure
them that they will find themselves amply
repaid, not only by the pleasure they will
have in landscape gardening, but in the ad-
ditional enjoyment their accession of know-
ledge will give to every country walk and
ride that they take.

There is, however, one great drawback to
the pleasure that may be anticipated fi'om
planting an arboretum, or even an illustra-
tion of any particular order or genus ; and
this is the very great difiQculty that exists in
procuring plants true to their names. Nur-
serymen put down a great many more names
in their catalogues, than they have difierent
kinds of plants ; and thus the same plants,
like the actors in a country theatre, are often
made to perform under a great many different
names in the same piece. I have heard of '
instances where twelve or fourteen species
were named in a catalogue, though the nur-
seryman only possessed three or four, which,
when wanted, were made to do duty under

CHAP. IX.] PLEA9UBE GROUNDS. 319

all these different names. Almost all nur-
serymen are alike in this respect, and the
only real cure will be an increased knowledge
of trees and shrubs on the part of the pur-
chasers, which will render it impossible to
impose &lse kinds upon them. In the mean
time I may mention that Mr. Loudon has
found the trees and shrubs in the nursery of
Messrs. Whitley and Osbom, at Fulham, more
correctly named than in most others.

In planting masses of trees and shrubs,
great care should be taken to hide the dug
ground around them, which always forms a
scar in the landscape. The best way of
doing this is to cover all the space between
the shrubs with grass, and to tie down the
branches of the trees to pegs or stakes fized
in the earth, so as to make the trees feather
down to the ground. Where this cannot be
accomplished, on accoimt of the expense of
clipping the grass, for it cannot be mown
among the trees, ivy may be pegged down over
the dug ground, or evergreen trailing roses,
of which there are many kinds especially
adapted for this purpose. There is one gene-
ral rule relating to the planting of trees and

320 MAJBfAQEMSHT OT [chap. ix.

shrubs, which can never be too often re*
peated, or too strongly enforced, — it is,
never to sufiFer them to be phmted too
thickly. This may appear a very simple
rule, but it is one which it is very difficult to
put in practice, as all the persons employed
in planting are generally opposed to it The
nurseryman of course wishes to dispose of
his plants, and the gardener to produce a good
effect as soon as possible, nay, even die pro-
prietor cannot help feeling the bare and deso-
late appearance of a new plantation where the
shrubs are placed at proper distances* There
are but two remedies for this: either planting
so as to produce an effect at first, and then
thinning out half the plants, beginning the
second or third year ; or planting the shrubs
at the proper distances, and covering the
ground between them with some trailing
plant peggedt down.

Nothing can look worse than a row of
tall trees which were evidently planted for a
screen ; but which, so fiir fi*om answering the
intended purpose, admit the light between
their slender naked stems, which afford no
more concealment than the open rails of a pid*

CHAP. IX.] PLEASURE GROUNDS. 321

ing. Mr. Loudon obserres, in one of the
numbers of the Gardenert Magazine, that the
quickest way of thickening a plantation in
this state is, if the trees are deciduous, to cut
every alternate tree down, in order that the
stools of the fallen trees may send up young
shoots ; but if any of them have branches
within six or eight feet of the ground, by
taking off the tops of the trees, and tying
down these branches, the plantation may be
thickened, without cutting any trees down.

A weeping ash is a veiy ornamental tree
on a lawn, but unless it is well trained it
loses its effect. When trained to a wooden
frame, the hoops and rods of which it is com-
posed are seldom strong enough to sustain
the weight of snow which falls on the sum-
mit of the tree in severe winters, and if they
give way in any place, the boughs are fre-
quently broken. In the arboretum which
Joseph Strutt, Esq., is now having laid out at
Derby, and which, when finished, he is most
liberally about to present to that town as a
public promenade, there is a very fine weep-
ing ash, for which Mr. Strutt has had an iron
frame-work made. The iron rods are light

Y

322 ROSES. [chap. XX.

and elegant, and yet so strong that they are
in no danger of giving way under any weight
of snow that is ever likely to fall on the tree.
The iron frame work has been coated over
with gas tar to preserve it from rust, and it
now looks exceedingly well.

Bases. — These beautiful shrubs are so
generally admired, and they are grown so
universally in all gardens, that I think I
ought to give some especial directions for
their culture. In the first place, roses are
said to require removing every third year ;
as their 4:oots exude a great deal of matter
unfit for them to reabsorb, and as their fibrous
roots are few, small, and not widely extended
from the bole of the plant. It is not perhaps
necessary to take this rule strictly au pied de
la lettre, but it is as well to keep it in view,
and to remember that when rose trees look
sickly, or fail to produce a due proportion of
flowers, removing them to a fresh soil will
generally restore their vigour.

It is not perhaps generally known that
there are nearly two thousand species and
varieties of roses. Among such a chaos it
would be almost impossible to choose, had

CHAP. IX.]] ROSES. 32S

not florists arranged them in about twenty
general divisions. One of the principal
of these contains the cabbage-roses and
their beautiful descendants, the moss-roses,
of which last there are more than twenty
kinds, some of which are very striking, and
particularly the dark crimson moss-rose,
generally called the Rouge de Luxembourg,
and the white moss, though the latter is
rather too delicate for a town garden. The
crested moss is also a curious variety, and it
is said to have been found growing out of an
old wall in Switzerland. All the kinds of
moss-roses should be planted in warm dry
situations, and in March a little manure
should be laid on the surface of the soil
round their roots. Should the season prove
dry, the plants should be frequently watered,
and the result will be a brilliant display of
flowers. There are twenty-five or thirty
other kinds of cabbage or Provence roses, all
of which are very fragrant, and indeed they
are the kinds used for making rose-water,
&c. ; they are all quite hardy, and require
no particular culture.

The autumn-flowering or perpetual roses

y2

324 ROSES. r

CHAP. IX.

are also remarkable both for their beauty and
their firagrance. There are more than fifty
sorts ; one of the most beautiful of which is
Lee's perpetual, the Rose du Roi of the
French. The Psestum roses, mentioned by
Pliny, are supposed to belong to this family ;
as does also the well known Rose des Quatre
Saifions. All these roses should be pruned
twice a-year, in November and in June ; and
after pruning, the ground about their roots
should be loosened with a fork, and then
covered two or three inches deep with
manure, the manure being covered over
with some fresh green moss, to prevent it
from having an unpleasant appearance. The
roses of all the perpetual kinds frequently
&de without losing their petals; and when
this is the case the faded flowers should be
instandy removed. They are all propa-
gated by grafting on the common dog-
rose, as they do not readily take root from
layering. These roses are particularly valu-
able, as with a little management they may
be kept in flower eight months in every
year.

The French, or Provins Roses, are gene-

CHAP. IX.] ROSES. 325

rally widely opened flowers like the rose in
architecture. The striped and marbled roses
belong to this division. These roses have
scarcely any fragrance ; but they have gene-
rally showy flowers, and they are very hardy.
The druggists use them for making conserve
of roses ; and for this purpose they are grown
in great quantities near the little town of
Provins in France, whence their name, which
is often confounded with that of the Pro-
vence Roses from the south of France. The
white roses are hardy, and bloom abundantly
with very little care. The Scotch roses are
also remarkable for their hardiness, for their
blooming generally a fortnight earlier than
any others, and for thejr ripening abundance
of seed, from which new varieties may con-
tinually be raised. The yellow Scotch rose
is very beautiful. Williams's double yellow
sweetbriar, and the Austrian yellow or
copper-coloured rose are also well worth cul-
tivating. The latter is yellow on the outside
of the petal and red within. This rose will
not succeed well in a smoky atmosphere,
but it flowers beautifully in Mrs. Marryatt's
flower-garden at Wimbledon, and in that of

326 ROSES. [

CHAP. IX.

R. H. Jenkmson5 Esq.^ at Norbiton Housd,
near Kingston. The common double yellow
Rose^ which seldom flowers well^ should be
grown in a rich soil and warm situation, and
it requires abundance of air.

Of the climbing roses, the Ayrshire roses,
particularly the beautiful white flower called
the Queen of the Belgians, and Rosa ruga,
a very haiidsome and fragrant variety, are
perhaps the best for training upon iGrames to
form what are called pillars and pyramids of
roses, as they are quite hardy. For sheltered
situations Rosa multiflora, and its near ally
the Seven Sisters' rose may be chosen; as they
grow very fast and very high, and produce
myriads of flowers, though they are easily
killed by frost. The most valuable climbing
roses are, however, the descendants of Rosa
sempervirens, the evergreen roses ; and these
are the only kinds that should be used for peg-
ging down over the dug ground of a shrub-
bery. They are of the easiest culture, as
they will grow under the drip of trees, and
they, ought never to be pruned. Before
planting them the ground should be dug, and
well cleared from the roots of weeds, &c.

CHAP. IX

.] ROSES. 327

It should then be manured with part of an
old hot-bed^ and the roses Should be planted
about fire feet apart. The following autunm
a good coating of manure should be laid
on the surface of the ground ; and the plants
will require no after culture but pegging
down the shoots to prevent them from leaving
any part of the ground bare. The Triomphe
de Bollwiller is one of the best of roses for
this purpose. The Boursault divisipn, one of
the best of which is the Rose de Lisle, may
be treated in the same manner. The noisette
roses are known by the great clusters of
flowers which they bear at the extremities
of their shoots. Their branches should not
be shortened, but the dead flowers should
be removed as soon as they fede.

The Banksia roses, the tea-scented kinds,
the Macartney and musk looses, are too tender
for any situation but a south wall. The best
roses in the neighbourhood of London are
to be found at Lee's, Hammersmith, and
Loddige's, Hackney. There are also very
fine collections at Rivers's, Sawbridgeworth ;
at Wood's, Maresfield, and Hooker's, Brench-
ley, both near Tunbridge Wells ; and more

328 ROSES. [chap. IX.

especially at Lane's^ Berkhampstead, — the
latter nurseryman contriving, by means of
forcing, to have roses beautifully in flower
from the latter end o£ January to the middle
of November every year.

Roses are generally propagated by graft-
ing or budding, and also by making layers
and cuttings. In the latter case, the point
of the shoot should be taken ofi", and the
greater part of the leaves, to prevent an
access of evaporation. (For Illustration, see
p. 84.)

329

CHAPTER X.

ROCK-WORK, MOSS-HOUSES, RUSTIC BASKETS,

AND FOUNTAINS.

Rach-workf though composed of somewhat
ponderous materials, is very frequently ar-
ranged according to female taste ; and one of
the most remarkable examples in England
(that at the Hoole, near Chester,) was de-
signed by a lady, and executed entirely
under her direction. There are many kinds
of rock-work; but they may be all described
as collections of fragments of rocks, stones,
flints, vitrified bricks, scoriae, and similar
materials, so arranged as to afford a striking
object in the landscape; and, at the same
time, so as to form a number of little nests or
crevices for the reception of alpine plants.

330 BOCK-WORK. [chap. x.

The mode of arran^ng these materials de-
pends entirely upon taste; and of course
varies widely. The most natural kind of
rockwork, is like that at Redleaf, near Tun-
bridge Wells; where Mr. Wells, the pro-
prietor, taking, what Mr. Loudon calls the
key-note, from the natural scenery of the
neighbourhood, has made his rocks appear
" to crop out" of the soil, as though naturally,
in such situations as to give the best effect
to the sceneiy. The plants deposited in the
hollows of these rocks, are so admirably
placed, and the art with which they are cul-
tivated, is so skilfully concealed, that no illu-
sion can be more complete ; and we may fancy
ourselves in a scene of nature, but of nature
in her greatest beauty and highest luxuriance.
Very different is the rock-garden of the late
Duke of Marlborough, in his private gardens
at Blenheim. It is perhaps more beautiful
than the rocks at Redleaf ; but no one could
possibly mistake it for anything but a work
of art, and it owes its chief beauty to the
plants grown in it. It is formed on a
scar in the natural rock, which is hewn
into zigzag paths; on one side of each of

CHAP. X.] KOCK-WORK, 331

which are numerous niches to receive the
plants. These plants are planted and kept
with great care; and they grow so luxu-
riously, as almost to hide the paths, and to
make the rock look at a little distance like a
bank of flowers. Mosses of different colours
are interspersed, and the whole has a pecu-
liarly rich and sparkling effect

The rock-work at Syon has been compared
to the scenery of a highland glen; but I
must confess there does not appear to me the
slightest resemblance. In fact, the Syon rock-
work is so overpowered by the magnificent
conservatory in front, with its splendid ter-
race, and the geometric flower-garden at its
base, with its myriads of beautiful flowers, &c.
that it becomes quite a secondary object, and
its real beauties are very apt to pass unno-
ticed. It consists of masses of granite, inter-
mixed with broken capitals of columns, &c.
thrown together in a natural manner, and
planted with ornamental flowering plants,
principally exotic. The rock-work at Nor-
biton Hall, is disposed in the same manner
as that at Syon ; but it is on a smaller scale ;
and its principal use is to keep moisture

332 BOCK-WORK. [

CHAP. X.

roand the roots of the plants, which are
planted among it*

Many other specimens of rock-work might
be mentioned, particularly that of the Rev.
J. Clowes at Lower Boughton Hall, near
Manchester, that of Mrs. Lawrence at Dray-
ton, that of the late Duke of Bedford at Wo-
bum, and that of Thomas Millie, Esq. at St.
Clair Town, in Perthshire ; but the most re-
markable of all is that of Lady Boughton, at
the Hoole, near Chester, which, indeed,
stands quite alone, the only one of its kind.
The design for this rock-work was taken
from a small model, representing the moun-
tains of Savoy, with the valley of Chamouni ;
and the rocks are made sufficiently large to
give a person walking among them^ an idea
of their reality. The labour of forming this
rock-work was very great ; not only from the
large size of the stones to be removed, but
from the difficulty of getting them of the
proper colours and shapes. Besides this, it
was very difficult to make it stand against
the weather. ^^ Bain washed away the soil,
and frost swelled the stones : and several
times the main wall failed from the weight

CHAP. X.] ROCK-WORK, 333

put upon it. The walls and foundations are
built of the red sandstone of the country ;
and the other materials have been collected
from various quarters^ chiefly from Wales."
The part that represents the outer circle of
rocks, is principally composed of the red
sandstone of the neighbourhood, in which
little niches have been made for plants, and
filled with exactly the kind of soil in which
alpine plants grow naturally; viz., broken
fragments of stones, clean-washed river
gravel, and the debris of decaying moss, and
other plaits, crumbling rocks, &c. The
plants are all strictly alpine — the only liberty
taken, being the mingling of the alpine plants
of hot and cold countries, or rather of dif-
ferent elevations, together; and this is con-
trived very ingeniously, by placing fragments
of dark-stone to absorb the heat, round those
that require most warmth, and fragments of
white stone to reflect the heat, round those
that require to be kept cool. In all the trees
and shrubs planted among the rocks, the
same care is taken to keep up the illusion :
they are all alpine plants ; and dwarf spedes,
or those of very slow growth, are generally

334 ROCR-WOBK. [chap. x.

diosen, to prevent them from becoming too
lai^e for the rocks. The part which repre-
sents the ** Mer de Glace," is "worked with
grey limestone, quartz, and spar. It has no
cells for plants; but the spaces are filled
up with broken fragments of white marble,
to look like snow ; and the spar is to imitate
the glaciers." I have already mentioned that
Lady Boughton was her own artist ; and, I
may add, that the rock-work was six or eight
years in progress, before it was completed.

Whatever kind of rock-work may be
erected, the first thmg to be done is to make
a secure foundation; as, unless this is effected,
the stones will gradually sink into the earth
by their own weight; and thus, in a few
years, the mass will either have become half
buried, or tottering and insecure. It is there-
fore most prudent, unless the rock-work be
actually erected on a solid rock, to prepare
a foundation for it of brick-work; not suf-
fering, however, any of the wall to appear
above the surface of the ground. To prevent
the possibility of this foundation wall being
seen, it will be best not to carry it higher
than to within six or eight inches of the sur-

CSAF. X.] BOCK-WORK. 335

&oe. All being prepared, the stones may
be arranged^ the lai^est at the base ; and the
upper ones diversified according to the taste
of the designer.

The following general rules will apply to
all the different kinds of rock-work : — ^never
to let the stones rest against any kind of
building; as, when so disposed, they give
ideas of disorder and insecurity. Never to
mi|: up decaying materials, such as roots of
trees, &c. with durable materials, such as
rocks and stones ; or things evidently natural,
with those evidently formed by art. Never
to let the rock-work rise abruptly out of the
turf, like a great mass of stones discharged
from a cart; but gradually to prepare the
way for it, by sinking some firagments of
stone half-way in the ground, and letting
them become larger and more numerous, till
the spectator at last arrives at the principal
mass. Never to begin to work without
having some fixed design, whether avowedly
artificial or apparently natural; and where
the design is to make what may be called a
natural rock-garden, like that of the Duke of
Marlborough at Blenheim, always to take

336 ROCK-WOBK, [chap. x.

care that the stones are very hu^? and piled
upon one another^ so as to imitate the strati-
fication of a rocky country.

'^In general^" says Mr. Loudon, in his
Suburban Gardener ^ ** rock-work, to be truly
natural, can only show the rock on one
side, or at most on two sides ; as scars, clifis,
and precipices are seen in rocky districts."
This abrupt side or &ce of the rock should
be represented as projecting into ledges or
shelves, to imitate the terminations of the
different strata; and the flowering plants
should be introduced, in what may be sup-
posed to be the clefts and fissures of the na^
tural rock. The summit of the rock and the
sloping side should be covered with turf,
and may be planted with trees, some of
which may hang over the rock ; or the line
of junction between the stones and the turf
may be concealed, by the luxuriance of the
alpine plants, planted in the fissures, and
suffered to climb over the top. It must be
observed, however, that in granite or basalt
rocks, the lines of stratification are generally
vertical ; and consequently very ill adapted
for forming ledges for plants. The best ma-

CHAP. X.] MOSfr-HOTTOBS. 337

terials for a natQial roek^gardea in ledges
are thevefbre sandstone and limestone, the
lines of stratification in whach are ehieflj
horizontal, with occasional dips*

It wiQ be evident, from what has been
said, that to make good rock-work, requires
the eye of an artist ; and it may be added, that
rock*woiic should never be attempted with-
oat first making a coloured drawing of it on
paper, or a smdU models with a child's box of
bricks, or some similar materials^ to try the
efiect.

Moss-houses are interesting as garden builds
ings, becanse they afford great scope to the
exercise of the &ncy ; not oixly in the des^
for the entire building, but for the arrange-
ment of the moss in different patterns. The
first thing to be considered in carrying the
design into execution, is the foundation ; and
this, if the soil be dampj should be dug out
two feet deep, and nearly filled with con-
crete. In this must be fixed the rustic pil-
lars which are to support the roof; and these
are generally composed of the trunks of
young laithes or spruce-firs with their bark
on, which should be chosen as nearly as

z

338 MOSS-HOU8ES. [OHAP. X.

possible of the same size. The number
of pillars and the maimer in ^hich they
are to be arranged depends, of course, on
the design ; but the general number is from
eight to twelve. Great care must be taken
to drive the posts firmly into the ground, and
all to the same depth. The rafters for the
roof are then fixed on, and narrow laths,
or hazel rods, nailed between them, and also
between the uprights. Between these laths
or rods the moss is pushed with a wedge-
shaped piece of wood ; the pattern having
been first rudely traced with chalk on the
outside of the rods. The moss to be used
should be first collected and sorted, all of the
same kind being put together ; and when it
is used the root end should always be the
part pushed in between the rods. The prin-
cipal mosses fit for this purpose are the rein-
deer moss, Cenomyce rangifera, and its allies,
many of which are found in abu^dance on
Bagshot Heath, and other commons near
London, and nearly all of which are white :
the different kinds of Bryum, all of which are
very neat and compact growing mosses,
sending up long stalks bearing their seed-

CHAP

. X.] MOSS-HOU8BS. 339

pods; of these» Bryum roseum is pink^ B.
homum yellowish gr^en^ and B. cuspidatum
light green : Dicranum glaucum nearly yel-
I0W5 and D. scoparium a very dark green :
Sphagnum^ one kind pink^ and another nearly
white ; and Hypnum, several species, varying
in different shades of green. All these are
abundant in the commons about London.
Farther north, more brilliant colours are
found, some very dark brown, some of a
rich brownish purple, some of a very bluish
green, and some so white as to look like snow.
Wherever there is a common or very old
turi^ it will be an amusement to explore it in
search of the different kinds of mosses ; and
when the prevailing mosses of the district
have been discovered, the pattern and colours
for the moss-house can be arranged acciord-
ingly. A very rich, and at the same time
original effect, might be produced in a moss-
house, by arranging the moss in an arabesque
pattern, with different colours combined
something like those of a Turkey carpet;
and instead of paving the floor it might be
formed in the same manner as the walls. Or,
the walls might be of some plain colour with

z2 '

340 M088-HOU6BS. ^ [chap. x.

only the crest of the fiumily, or Utie initkds of
the designer's name in white or eolonrs, and
the ceiling and floor in arabesque.

In all cases the outside of the roof is thatched
or covered with shingles ; and the outside of
the walls is either boarded or covered with
a thick coating of moss. Where the house
is laige^ or if th^e are glass windows, it is
best to have the frame^work made bj a
regular carpenter; but where the moss*
house is small, and open in front, it may be
put up by the gardener, or any intelligent
servant In many cases, the roof is finished
with a circle of pine-cxMaes fixed round it as
a cornice ; and the floor is either laid with
other pine*cones, or with small pebUes, some
of which are white and are arranged in a kind
of pattern ; the windows are frequently of
coloured glass; and a curioos eflect might
be produced by having those in the back of
the buikling purple, which would make the
ground and every object seen through diem
look as if covered with snow ; and those in
front of the building filled with ydlow glass,
which gives every object the rich glow of
summer.

CHAP. X.] SBATS. 341

The secAt in a garden or pleasure-ground
are generally purchased ready made ; but an
agreeable variety may be .occasionally pro*
duced, by having the stump of an old tree
formed into a seat, and twining ivy, and creep-
ing flowering shrubs, round it Where it is
an object to save trouble, a plant of the Vir-
ginian creeper may be planted with one of
the giant ivy ; and if both are left to nature,
the efiect will be very good, as the brilliant
deep red of the Virginian creeper in autumn
will be relieved by the dark green of the ivy.
A few moveable seats — one to wheel about
from one part of the garden to another, and
another of the new folding kind, imported
from Norway by Charlwood, and sold at
3s. 6d. each, are very convenient. Where
there is a terrace, a seat may be erected at
each end of wood, but of a somewhat massive
design, and painted white, being strewed
while the paint is wet with very fine sand,
which will make it a good imitation of stone.
Seats may also be decorated by nailing on a
wooden frame-work hazel rods with the bark
on, which have been stained of different
colours, and then varnished These rods are

342 BDSTIC BASKETS. [cH*P. x.

arranged in a pattern, and I have seen the
efiect of a landscape produced ; but it appears
a kind of decoration that is in very doubtful
taste, or at least one that it requires great
judgment to manage properly.

Rttstic Baskets. — There are perhaps few
things over which the alchemy of taste has
more power than the apparently worthless
materials of which these elegant ornaments
are constructed. An old cask, a few pine-
cones, and a few pieces of rope, combined by

CHAP.!.] BUBTIC BASKETS. 343

skiliiil hands, will produce an almost ma^cal
effect. The baskets at Dropmore were all
constructed in this manner &om designs by
Lady Grenville. As an example of what
may be done with the commonest materials
in this way, Fig. 1. is an old Chinese tea-
chest, with part of a tree sawn through as a
pedestal, and some pieces of rope nuled on
as decorations. Fig. 2. is an old basket

with all its interstices stuffed with moss.
Mtmy other articles might be devised, which
any person of taste and invention would
find it an agreeable occupatioa to design,
and to superintend the execution .of In
addition to these rustic baskets, a few wire-

344 FGUVTAINfS. [c&AP. x.

work fracaefi m%ht be designed of mucb
moi« elegwit fonns thaa those oommasdj
sold, whicb aa inl^elUgeiSLt gardener ought be
easUy mstrwcted to laaake at bis lekure houiB ;
and indeed a lady with two pair of «maU
{HQceoi would find bo great difficulty in
twistii^ the wire bersel£ The ffe9t point
is to eKerdise oijur own akill and infisenuity ;
for w« »U fad «o «mcb more inte»3ted in
what we do ourselves than in what is done
for us, that no lady is likely to become fond
of gardening, who does not do a great deal
with her own hands.

Fountains. — Though fountains are more
suitable to a hot ixmntry than to a weeping
climate like that of England^ yet it must
be confessed they are generally a great im-
provement to garden scenery. The first
thing to be considered before erecting one,
is where to make the reservoir ; as on the
elevation which that is above the garden, de-
pends the height to which the water of the
fountain wili ascend. The length of time
which the fountain will play depends on the
quantity of water contained in the reservoir,
but this has nothing to do with the height to

CUAV. X.] FOUNTATNB. 345

which the water will rise. If a cistern be
fanned on the top o£ a mimmer-houBe, ten
feet and a half high^ and a pipe from that be
carried down a sufficient depth into the
giound to secure it from frost, and thence
borizontalij to the orifice which is to form
the fountain, that cnifice, if it be only half an
inch in diamet^, will throw up a jet of
water ten feet high, and will continue play-
ing till all the water in the cistern is ex-
hausted. The conducting pipe for such a
fountain should be two inches and a quarter
in diameter, and it should be furnished with
a valve or stop-cock, which may be turned
at pleasure, and by which the water may be
either suffered to ascend through the orifice,
or retained in the conducting pipe. The
reservoir cistern must be kept fiill by a
forcing pump, or hydraulic ram; or, in the
neighbourhood of London, by high service
from the water company which supplies the
dwelling. Any cistern, sufficiently high
above the garden, will do. Where a cistern
in the roof is supplied with a high service
pipe, a fountain with a jet thirty or forty
feet high, according to the height of the

346 FOUNTAINS. [chap. x.

house, might be had in the garden at no
other expence than that of fixing descend-
ing, and horizontal conducting pipes.

The water in a fountain may be thrown
up in various designs, which are formed by
little tubes of brass, called adjutages, which
are screwed on the orifice of the conducting
pipe. Some of these designs imitate a con-
volvulus, some a wheat-shea^ some a basket,
and some a globe. In short, they are very
numerous, and after exhausting the &ncy of
the English plumbers, a variety of difierent
and very elegant designs may be obtained
from Paris.

347

CHAPTER XL

WINDOW GARDENING^ AND THE MANAGE-
MENT OF PLANTS IN POTS IN SMALL GREEN-
HOUSES.

The management of plants in rooms is ex-
tremely difficulty from the want of proper
light and pure air: though this latter want
may, in some measure, be obviated, by open-
ing the window in front of which the plants
stand, whenever circumstances will permit.
It should never be foi^otten that fresh air is
almost as essential to plants as water; and
that they are seriously injured by being
forced to inspire air at their breathing pores
that is in an unfit state for them. I have often
observed the healthy appearance of plants
belonging to cottagers; and I believe it

348 WINDOW GABDENING, AND [chap. xi.

arises principally from the habit that most
poor people have, of setting their plants out
in the rain whenever there is a shower.
This not only clears the leaves of dust, and
opens the stomata or breathing, pores, but
gives the plant abundance of fresh air.
Without a sufficiency of air and light, plants
- will soon become weak and sickly, and their
leaves will turn yellow ; but if a little fresh
air be given to them every day when the
temperatare is not too cold^ they will grow
quite as well in a room as in a green-house.
Another reason why plants kept in rooms
are generally unhealthy, is, that they are
watered in a very irregular manner. Some-
times they are suffered to become so dry that
the mould in winch they grow will crumble
under the pressure of the finger, and the
spongioles of the roots are quite withered ;
and then a profrision of water is given to

■

them, quite cold from the pump, though
they have probably been standing in a tem-
perature of from 60° to 70°. As a climax,
part of this water is suffered to remain in
the saucer for a day or two, till even the
healthy part of the roots is thoroughly

CBAP, XI.] PLANTS Df POTS* 349

chilled, and the plant, if of a delieate nature,
is destroyed. The reverse of all this shoidd
be the case. The plant should nerer be
sufiered to become so dry as to have the
mould in a crumbling state ; but if such a
circumstance has been suffered to occur, it
i^uld be well watered with warm water of
at least the teraiperature of the room,, and
better if rather warmer. Enough of this
water should be given to fiU the saucer ; in
order that erery part of the mould and c^
the roots may imbibe some benefit firom
the moisture ; but as soon as this has been
done, the pot should be lifted out of the
saucer, and the water thrown away, as
nothing can be more injurious to the roots
of most plants, than to have the pot they
grow in, kept standing in water. There are,
however, some e:tceptions to this rule,, such
as all the kinds of Mimulus, the Hydrangea,
Calla ethiopica, and some kinds of Calceo-
laria. AU these, and all marsh plants, re-
quire abundance of water, and will not

flower well unless the saacer be kept half
full, thoi^h the water should be changed

every day.

350 WINDOW GABBENIKO9 AND [cHAF. XI.

It is also a common &ult to put plants
kept in rooms^ into too large pots; or, as the
gardeners express it, to oyer-pot them. This
has always a bad effect. If the soil be good^
and not over-watered, the plants will indeed
grow rapidly; but it will be to produce leaves
and branches instead of flowers : and if the
soil be over-watered, the mass of soddened
soil round the roots has the same effect upon
them as stagnant water in the saucer. The
soil should always be in such a state as to
admit air with the water to the roots ; and
this it cannot do when it becomes a blackened
paste by being saturated with water. At
the same time frequent repotting is often
absolutely necessary to keep the plants in a
dwarf compact habit of growth, and to pre-
vent them from being drawn up. The way
in which gardeners ascertain when repotting
is necessary, is by turning the plant out of
its pot with the ball of earth attached ; and
if they find the roots look white round the
outside of the mould, then the plant should
be transferred to a laiger pot ; but only one
size lai^er: afterwards it may be repotted
again if necessary, but always to a pot only

CHAP. XI.] PLANTS IN POTS. 351

a little larger than the one it was taken from.
By persevering in this mode of treatment
for some time, and never advancing more
than one size at a time, a plant may be
grown to a large size, and made to produce
abundance of flowers ; while by the contrary
treatment, that is, suffering it to remain in a
very small pot, or shifting it suddenly into a
very large one, the stem will become weak-
ened and elongated, and the flowers will be
few and very poor. In short, on the skilful
management of repotting, or shifting, as the
gardeners call it, a great deal of the art of
growing plants in pots depends.

The best sail for plants inpots is generally peat
mixed with vegetable mould and sand; and the
pots should be filled nearly a quarter of their
depth with little bits of broken pots, called
potshreds, so as to ensure complete drainage.
When plants are shifted, they are turned out
of their old pots with their balls of earth
entire ; the roots are then examined, and if
any are wounded or decayed they should be
cut off. The new pot has then a layer of
potshreds placed at the bottom with a little
earth, and the plant is placed in the centre.

352 TLAWTB in VOTE, [esAF. zi.

SO that the bole or coHarr may be just above

the level of the riio. Hie new earth is then

pixt 'my and the pot shaken to Make it settle.

The plant is then sl^tfy watered, aa^d set

aside in die shade for the rest of the day.

Ptants should never be repotted when in

flower ; the best time is indeed when they

are growing, till their flower buds begin to

swell, when they shoold be allowed to remain

undisturbed till the flowering season ia eom-^'

lately over. Sometimes the soil in a pot

looks black, and covered with mossw When

this is the ease,^ the plant should be turned

out of the pot, and the black sodden earth

partly shaken ofi^ the roots,, which should be

pruned, and should have all their decayed

parts cut off. The plant should tiien be

repotted in another pot of the same, or nearly

the same, size as the one it was taken froiOy

which should be well drained, and filled up

with a compost of vegetable mould, sand,

and peat Thus treated, smd only raode»

rately but regularly watered with warm

water, which should never be sdlowed to

stand in the saucer, the plant will soon

recover ; and if judiciously pruned in, if it

CHAP. XI.] GREEN-HOUSE PLANTS. 353

has become elongated, it will become hand-
some, and what gardeners call well grown.

Another objection to growing plants in
rooms is the great difficulty that exists in
keeping them clear of insects ; particularly
the Aphis or green fly, and the kind of mite,
(Acarus tellarius) commonly called the red
spider. These are generally destroyed by
fumigation ; and the best mode of fumigat-
ing them is by Clark's Patent Blower, with
the fumigator attached, which has been al-
ready described. Washing with a syringe
and abundance of water is, however, pro-
bably a better mode ; as it has been often
observed that neither the green fly nor the
red spider will ever infest a plant, that is
frequently syringed.

The management of plants in a small green*
fumse differs very little from that of plants in
rooms. Whenever the weather will permit,
air should be given if only for half an hour
in the middle of the day. The house should
be kept clean, and free from dead leaves;
and the plants should not be too much
crowded. Nothing can look worse than
pale sickly green-house plants, drawn up

A A

354 THE GREEX-HOUSE. [chap.xi.

to an unnatural length, and so weak that
their stems will not stand updght without
the aid of a stick. When green-iiooses are
crowded with plants, some of which are too
far from the light, this must be the case; and
when it is, it is quite hopeless to expect
either healthy plants or fine flowers. Though
it is adviseable to have saucers to the pots of
plants kept in rooms, for the sake of cleanli-
ness, it is much better for those kept in
the green-house to be without them. As
different green-house plants require a some-
' what different treatment, the following direc-
tions for the management of a few of the
most popular may be useful to my readers.

Camellias. — The Camellia is a plant which
requires abundance of water, and is yet soon
killed by suffering stagnant moisture to re-
main about the roots. When grown in pots
there should be abundant drainage ; that is,
the pots should be more than a quarter
filled with potshreds. The soil should be
peat earth, mixed earth, and sand ; and the
plants should be potted high, so as to let the
collar of the plant be quite above the rim of
the pot. The pots should not have saucers.

€HAP.xi«] CAMELLIAS. 355

or 'if the J ha^e for the sake of cleanliDess,
the water ^ould be carefully poured out of
them immediately after the plants have been
watered. Hie plants should be watered
abundantly every day while their flower-
buds are swelling, as if this be neglected,
♦the buds are very apt to drop off. When
the flowers begin to expand, the watering
is not of so much consequence, though it
should be continued in moderate quantities;
and abundance should be again given when
the plants are making their young shoots.
Afker they have done growing, watering
once or twice a week will be sufficient till
the flower-buds again begin to swell Dur-
ing the growing season the plants should be
set out and syringed all over the leaves once
or twice a week ; but care should be taken
not to do this when the sun shines, or at any
rate not to set the plants in the sun while
they are wet, as the heat of the sun acting
on the water, will scald the leaves, and make
them appear blotched, and partially withered.
The roots of Camellias are seldom very
strong, and they are very easily injured.
Great care should, therefore, be taken when

A A 2

356 THE GBEBN'HOUSE. [cMAV. xi.

the plants are repotted not to hmige the
roots^ or to cut off all that are at all injured.
If on turning out the plants previous to
repotting, the ball of earth has no white roots
appearing on the outside, the earth and
decayed roots should be shaken or cleared
away, till good roots are seen; and these
should be carefully examined, and all the bad
parts cut away. The plants should then be
repotted in a pot not more than an inch in
diameter more than the diameter of the ball
of earth left round the sound roots ; and it
should be well drained at the bottom with
very small potshreds, or clean gravel. Small
Camellias diould not be shifled oftener than
once m two years ; and large ones, that is,
those above five feet high, not oftener than
once in three or four years; but if die earth
in the pot appears to have sunk, a little vege^
table mould may be laid on the sur&ce. The
usual time for shifting Camellias is just when
they have done flowering, befcnre they are
beginning to send out their young shoots.
When planted in the fiee ground in a con-
servatory, they will require no other care
than regular watering, and syringing the

CHAP. XI.} PELABGONIUM& ^7

leaves once or twice a week. When planted
in the open air, the roots should be carefully
protected by straw during frosty weather.
There are some Camellias in the Vauxhall
Nursery, (Messrs. Chandler's,) which have
been treated in this manner, and have stood
out for several years. The hardiest kinds
and the most suitable for planting in the
open air, are the single red, the double red,
and the double white. The magnificent
Camellia reticulata is also said to be tolera-
bly hardy. The tenderest "of the common
kinds are the beautiful apple-flowered variety
of C. Sasanqua, and the single variety of this
species, the flower of which resembles that of
the tea-plant. These plants are both of low
growth, and ought always to be kept in pots.
Creranimns or Pelargoniums. — The beauti-
ful green-house shrubs which we are accus-
tomed to call Geraniums, have, in fact, been
long separated from that genus, and formed
into a new one called Pelargonium. The
difference is in the shape of the seed vessel ;
that of the Pelargonium being like a stork's
bill, and that of the Geranium like a crane's
bill. Both are nearly allied to the Touch-

358 THE GREEN-HOUSE. [chap, xu

me-not; and when the seed is' ripe, the
valves of the seed pod burst asunder and
curl up. There are almost innumerable
species, hybrids!, and varieties of Pelaigo-
niums grown in our green-houses, so mixed
up together by hybridizing, that it is very
difficult even to class them. One of the
hardiest kinds, which has numerous descen-
dants, is the Horse-shoe Geranium, Pelargo-
nium zonale; and another, P. inquinans,
is the common scarlet The rose-scented
Geranium, P. graveolens, and oak-leaved,
P. quercifolium, with their numerous descen-
dants, the flowers of which are all crimson,
striped with brown so very dark that it looks
almost black, are also tolerably hardy. All
the shrubby kinds which are generally
kept in green-houses, require a rich loamy
soil, that is, about half very rotten dung,
and half sandy loam, to make them produce
fine flowers. When the flowering season is
over, the plants are cut down, and cuttings
made fi-om them. (See page 82.) When
these have struck, they are potted in a com-
post of vegetable mould and sand, and con-
tinue in this soil till February or March,

CHAP. XI.] HEATHS. 359

when they are repotted in rich soil for
floweriog. Some gardeners throw away the
old plants as soon as they haye made the
cuttings ; but others take the old plants out
of their pots, and shaking the earth from
them, prune the roots, and repot the plants
in smaller pots. Pelargoniums require a
great deal of air ; and when about to flower
they should have a great deal of water, but
at other seasons very little. They are killed
with the slightest frost ; and are very liable
to damp off, if watered too much, and not
allowed sufficient air in winter. Air is, in-
deed, quite essential to them.

Heaths* — The kinds grown in green-houses
are all natives of the Cape of Good Hope,
and they are very numerous ; but they may
be classed under six heads, which are named
from the shape of their flowers. These
divisions are tubular-shaped, yentricose,
spreading or salver shaped, with an inflated
calyx, globular, and ovate. They all re-
quire to be potted high, and to be grown
in three parts of peat earth to one of flne
white sand, or in what is emphatically called
heath mould. The fine hair-like roots of

360 THE GEBBN-HOUSE. [chaf. «.

heaths catinot penetrate a &ti£F loamy soil,
and manure would be too gross for th^
spongioles to take up. The collar of the
plant should always be above the soil, as it
is very easily rotted by moisture. Heaths
require good drainage, and frequent water-
ings; and though the water should never
be allowed to stand in the saucer, the roots
should also never be allowed to become quite
dry, as when once withered, they are not
easily recovered. Heaths also require abun^^
dance of free air, and no plants are more
injured by being kept in rooms. They
should not be shifted oftener than once in
three or four years. They are propagated by
cuttings taken from the tips of the shoots,
and then struck in pure white sand. The
pots containing the cuttings should be plunged
up to the rim in a hot-bed, and each should
be covered with a bell glass. Heaths ax^
easily killed by frost, which acts upon them
by splitting, or rather shivering their stems.

Verbenas, — No family of plants better re^
wards the care of the cultivator, and none
can be more beautiftil than the Verbenas,
The old scarlet Verbena melindres, or, as it

CHAP. XI.] VERBENAS. 361

18 frequently called, V. chamaedrifolia, is the
most brilliant of all the kinds, though it is
one of the most tender: it is a prostrate
plant, and when pegged down, it is well
adapted for covering a bed in a geometric
flower garden ; or it may be planted in a vase,
or rustic flower-basket to hang down over the
sides. Verbena Tweediana is an upright
growing plant, and though the flowers, which
are crimson, are not half so brilliant as those
of V. melindres, the plant has the great ad-
vantage of being one of the hardiest of all
the kinds. V. melindres latifolia, and V.
mel. splendens are both hardier than their
parent, and they unite its brilliant colour,
with the upright habit of Tweediana. V.
incisa has pale pink flowers, and an up-
right habit of growth. It is tolerably hardy,
and grows freely, but its flowers have a
faded look. V. Arraniana has an upright
habit of growth, and purple flowers, with
very dark bluish-green leaves. It is very
tender, and very apt to be attacked by a
kind of aphis, and other insects. V. Auble*
tia, y. Lambertii, and V. Sabinii are prostrate
tufted half herbaceous kinds, all hardy. V.

362 THE GBEEN-HOU8E. [c«ap. xi.

Neillii has like fiowersy and raider an upright
habit of growjth ; and Y. teucroides is a
coarse-growing plant, with a long spike of
white flowers, which turn pink m dying off,
which has been much more praised than it
deserves. There is also a yellowish kind, V.
sulphurea; V. venosa, a very strong*growing
species, with purple flowers, and many other
species^ hybrids, and varieties. All the Ver-
benas require to be grown in sand and peat,
or heath-mould, and to be kept moderately
watered: they all strike readily from cuttings
or layers; and, indeed, when pegged down
without any slitting or twisting, most of the
shrubby kinds will throw out roots at every
joint. When worm casts are observed on the
surface of the pot, as will very often be the
case, the plant, with its ball of earth entire,
may be turned out of the pot, and the worms,
which will always be found on the outside
of the ball may be picked off. Worms do
considerable injury to plants, especially such
as are in pots, by rupturing the fibres and im-
peding the free percolation of the water, be**
sides giving the surface of the earth in the
pot, a very unpleasant appearance. The

CHAP. XI.] PETUNIAS. 363

flowers of the Verbenas should always he cut
off as soon as they wither. The Letncm
plant, VeAena triphylla, now called Aioysia
citriodora, is remaikable for the sweetness of
the odour of its leaves. It is tolerably hardy;
but requires great care in watering ; as the
leaves will soon curl up and wither if it has
too little, and they will drop off if it has too
much. The flower has no beauty ; and the
only recommendation of the plant is the de-
lightful fragrance of its leaves.

Petunias may be raised, either from seed
or cuttings, as they seed freely, and strike
readily. The first kind introduced was the
white-flowered kind. Petunia nyctaginiflora,
which is an abundant flowerer, and very fra-
grant. Petunia phoenicea, or violacea, is
another original species, and from these
nearly all the myriads of hybrids and va^
rieties have arisen. These Petunias hybri-
dize freely with each other, and most of the
kinds produce abundance of seed. P. .bicolor
is a different species, and does not either mix
well with the others, or seed freely. Petunias
may be treated as annuab, and raised on a
sl^ht hot-bed every year from seed; and

364 THE GBEEN-HOUSE. [cBAP. xi.

thus treated, they will do very well in the
open ground. In warm dry situations, they
may even be suflFered to sow themselves in
the open ground, and will come up and
flower abundantly. Treated as green^house
plants, they are, however, all shrubby, and
will last several years. When intended to
be kept in pots, the seed should be sown on
a slight hot-bed in February, and the young
plants pricked out into very small thumb
pots, as they are called, while in the seed
leaf. In these pots they should remain
either in the frame of the hot-bed, or in a
room, or green-house, for about a week or
ten days, and they should be then shifted
into somewhat larger pots. These shiftings,
always into somewhat larger pots, should be
repeated six, eight, or ten times, if the plants
are wanted to be bushy ; and not more than
four, if the plants are wished to grow tall.
The bushy plants will flower abundantly,
without any support; but the tall-growing
plants, which are sufiered to flower in com-
paratively small pots, must be trained to some
kind of frame. When the tall plants appear
growing too straggling, the extremities of

CHAP. Zi.] FIH3H8IA& 365

the shoots should be taken off and made into
cattings. Petunias may be grown in any
good garden soil ; and require no particular
attention as to watering, &c. In fact, they
are, perhaps, the best of all plants for a lady
to cultivate ; as they will afford a great deal
of interest and amusement, with the least
possible amount of trouble.

FiLchsia^ are another fiimily of plants that
may be cultivated with very little trouble.
Fuchsia globosa is at once the hardiest and
the handsomest kind. F. viz^ata is also tole-
rably hardy. All the Fuchsias require a
light, rich soil, or a mixture of rich sandy
loam and peat ; and regular watering, as when
the outer roots are once withered, either by
want of moisture, or by exposure of the pot
to the direct rays of the sun, the plant gene-
rally dies. For this reason the Fuchsia is
not so well adapted for a window plant, as
many others. Fuchsia fiilgens differs con-
siderably from the other species, and will not
flower well unless in the open ground, and
with a sunny exposure. It is also tuberous
rooted, though woody in its stem. It is
easily propagated; and even a leaf taken off

386 THE GBXEV-HOB8B« [ahaSp. xi.

^thout hijdaring the part of the peti6le>whiri^
was attached to the stem^ has been known to
grow and &rm a plant Several handspm^
hjbrids have been produced, by applying^tbe
pollen of F. fidgens to the stigma of F. glo^
bosa, F. conica, and F, gracilis. It may here
be mentioned, that whenever hybrids are to
be raised, by fertilizing one {dant with the
pollen of another, the anthers of the flower
that is to produce the seed, should be re^^
moved wkh a pair of scissors, before thej
burst The pollen from the other flower
which is to form the hybrid, should be after^
wards applied with a camel-hair pencil to
the stigma of the flower, which is to produce
the seed; and a bit of thread should be tied
round the flowernstalk, in order that the
seed-pod may be saved, and set apart. All
hybrids may be made in the same manner^
but it must always be remembered that
flowers will not hybridize properly, unless
they are naturally nearly allied.

Ccdceolaricus. — Perhaps no plants have ever
been hybridized more extensively than tliese.
The principal parents of the numerous and
splendid plants that we are continually seeing

CHAP. Ki.] CALCBOLABXAS. — MTRTLES. 367

Reduced, are C. coiymbosa, and C« arach«-
noidea, the one a yellow, and the other, a
purple flower; but there are many otfaear
species that hare been crossed and re-crossed
with these, so as to form a very great variety.
C. bicolor has a very large pale yellow-and-
white flower; and it has been the parent of
some very fine hybrids and varieties. All
the calceolarias require rather a rich soil;
and the usual compost is two parts of tho-
roughly rotten dung, one part of leaf mould,
or old turf, and one part of white sand. The
ingredients of this compost should be well
mixed together, and broken fine, but not
sifted. All the Calceolarias require plenty
of water, and abundance of light and air;
and they will all flower best when planted in
the open ground. They are, however, very
subject to be attacked by a kind of aphis ;
and when kept in pots, they should be fre-
quently syringed.

Myrtles should be grown in a soil composed
of peat and loam, in which the former pre-
dominates; they should be regularly watered,
and frequently syringed. Some persons nip
off the tips of the young shoots, to make

368 THB OBEEN-H0U8E. [chap. Zi.

the plants grow bushy; and though it has
this effect, it is a bad practice with the
flowering kinds, as it prevents them from
flowering. A better plan is to make cut-
tings, and first to plant them in very small
pots, gradually changing them into larger
ones, till the plants have acquired a bushy
habit of growth.

Mimulus. — Some of the kinds of plants of
this genus are very handsome, particularly
the hybrids raised by the nurserymen firom
M. cardinalis, M. roseus, M. luteus, and M.
guttatus. These species are all herbaceous,
and all natives of South America, Mexico,
and California. They are all nearly hardy,
and though generally grown in a green-house,
they will stand quite well in the open air,
dying down to the ground in winter, but
sending up fresh and very vigorous shoots in
spring. When these plants are grown in the
open ground it should be in a shady moist
situation ; and when they are kept in pots,
they should always stand in saucers half full
of water. This water should, however, be
changed every day, and when given to the
plants it should always be as nearly as possi-

CHAP.zi.] HYDRANOEA HORTEN8IA. 369

ble, of the same temperature as themselves.
The little musk plant, Mimulus moschata,
requires the same treatment as its more
showy brethren. As all the species of Mimu-
lus have been found in their native habitats
growing in coarse sand or gravel on the
brink of a river, diis kind of soil should be
chosen for them in pots; and the soil in
which they are grown can hardly be too
poor, provided they have abundance of
water. In Chili, the inhabitants eat the
leaves as a kind of vegetable. The shrubby
kinds of Mimulus ; viz., the common monkey
plant, M. luteus, and the scarlet-flowered
species, M. puniceus, are now considered to
belong to a new genus called Diplacus. They
are both natives of California ; and in their
treatment they should be considered as green-
house plants, and have rather a better soil,
and less water than the true kinds of Mi-
mulus.

Hydrangea Hortensia is another plant, that
when grown in a pot, requires to have the
saucer kept half full of water. There are
several species, most of which axe liaidy
shrubs, but Hydrangea Hortensia, the kind

BB

370 THE OBEEN-HOU8B. [chap. xi.

usually called the Hydrangea, is a native of
China, and only half hardy, though it will
live in the open air in sheltered situations,
or with a very slight protection. This plant
was named Hortensia by the botanist Com-
merson in compliment to Madame Hor-
tense Lapeaute, the wife of a French watch-
maker. The Hydrangea, when the colour
of its flower is to be pink, should be grown
in a rich loamy soil ; but when the colour of
the flower is wished to be blue it should be
grown in peat In both cases the plant
should be pruned every year, and the old
wood cut out ; so that the wood which is to
produce the flowering shoots should never
be more than two or at most three years old.
Cuttings strike readily at any season when
the plant is in a growing state ; if put into a
rich soil and kept moist they will root in a
fortnight, and flower in a month.

Succulent plants. — There are very few things
in gardening respecting which gardeners ap-
pear more to disagree than in the treatment of
succulent plants. Nearly all these plants
are natives of the sandy plains in the neigh-
bourhood of the Cape of Good Hope, where

CHAP. XI.] 8UCCX7LENT PLANTS. 371

they are subjected to alternate seasons of
extreme wet and extreme dryness. Culti-
vators attempting to imitate this, have grown
their plants in poor sandy soil^ and kept
them entirely without water at one season,
while they have been inundated with it at
another. The fact is, that when we attempt
to imitate nature, we shouldremember that the
attempt is useless unless we can do so in every
particular; and also that the plants we have to
cultivate, have been nursed up into so very
artificial a state, that if they were transplanted
to their native plains they would probably
perish, like a poor Canary bird, which a
mistake of philanthropy has turned out of
the cage in which it has long lived. For
this reason, we must adopt the mode of
treating succulents, which the best gardeners
find most successful, without troubling our-
selves to discover why it is so different firom
the natural habit of the plants. This mode
of treatment is, then, to grow the plants in a
rich loamy soil, kept open, as it is called, by
•the addition of lime rubbish ; and to give
the plants water all the year, but more mode-
rately when they are in a dormant, than when

bb2

372 THB OSKEV-HDUflB. [•

tliejr are in a growing state. Thejr should
also have bs moch air and li^t as possiUe.
Hie water should never be suffered to stand
in the saucer of any soocolent plant ; bat
it shoald be given regolarly, diminishing the
quantity a little every day as the season lor
rest a(yproadie& If the water be suddenly
stopped the leaves of the plants will shrink
and become flacdd, and ^riien this is the
case, the plant generally dies. A deficiency
of air on the other hand will cause the plant
to damp o£ All succulent plants are very
soon affected by tcosL

The Australian planig, of which so many
beautiful kinds have been introduced within
the last few years, should nearly all be grown
in a mixture of sand and peat; and they
should have their pots filled one-third with
potshreds. They all require abundance of
water, but they will all perish if Water is
retained about their roots. Most of the
Austiralian plants are veiy tenacious of life,
and if cut down when they appear dead,
they will generally spring up again from the
collar or the roots.

The principal climbing plants grown in pots

CHAP. XI.] CLIMBING PLANTS. 373

are the Maurandyas^ the Lophospermums,
the Passion-flowers, the Rhbdochiton, the
Eccremocarpus, the Ipomaeas, and the Cobaea.
There are, however, several others, all of
which are very handsome. The greater
part of these require a rich light soil to
make them grow rapidly, and to be kept
in small pots to throw them into flower.
The Bignonias or Tecomas should be grown
in equal parts of loam and peat ; and this
compost will suit the Polygalas, and other
showy cUmbers. The Solly as and BilHardieras
should be grown in peat, and frequently
syringed to keep off the green fly. The
Thunbergias are very liable to be attacked
by the red spider* Many of the shrubby
climbers may be treated as annuals, and
raised from seed every year in January, and
planted out in June ; but they do still better
treated as biennials^ and sown one year to
flower the next

374

CHAPTER XIL

CALENDAR OF OPEBATIONS.

January^

January may be called the digging month,
as almost the only gardening operation that
can be performed in it is digging, or rather
trenching the ground; and even this cannot
be done unless the weather be open and the
ground free from frost Nothing can be
imagined more desolate than the appearance
of the flower-garden in this month. Per-
haps the Christmas rose may be in flower,
and a few Ungering blossoms may remain on
the Pyrus or Cydonia japonica; but this is
generally all, except a few red berries that
the birds may have left on the holly or the
pyracantha. January, however, is an excel-
lent month for the destruction of snails and

CHAP, xii.] CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 375

insects. The snails will be found in their
winter quarters, sticking to the trunk of
some ivy-clad tree, or hidden beneath the
coping of some wall. They are quite in a
torpid state and appear dead, but might
soon be revived by bringing them into a
warm room, and sprinkling them with water.
Of course, however, if they are to be de-
stroyed, it should be without rousing them
from their stupor. The eggs of insects
should also be sought for and destroyed.
Those of the lackey moth will be found on
twigs, fixed firmly round them like bracelets
of small beads. These should be burnt, as
they are too hard to be crushed. The eggs
of the vapourer moth will be found on the
outside of the cocoon, looking like a bag of
spider^s eggs. A very small scale-like insect
will also sometimes be found on the branches
of the rose-trees, which should be carefully
removed. Indeed, as a precautionary mea-
sure, it is well to brush the branches of all
the rose-trees in this month with sofl soap
and water, to destroy any eggs that may be
adhering to them. Sometimes trees and
shrubs are planted in January if the weather

376 CAIiEMDAR OF OPISBATIONS. [chap. xii.

foe favourable, but this it very seldom is, as if
not frosty it is generally very wet.

In the kitchen-garden the fruit-trees and
shrubs, particularly the gooseberries, should
be carefully examined for eggs .of insects;
and the trunk and branches of all suspected
trees and shrubs should be brushed with soft
soap and hot water.

February,

In this month, if the weather be &vour-«
able, the gardeners ^^ dress " their beds ; that
is, they dig and rake them, manuring them
if necessary. In the flower-garden the
CaUfomian annuals that had stood the
winter in some waste part of the garden are
now brought forward by spadefiils, and laid
over the beds intended for diem. The early
bulbs, such as the snow-drop and the Scotch
crocus begin to appear, and here and there a
splendid cloth of gold glitters among them
in its rich yellow and brown. The winter
aconite and the beautiful hepaticus are now
in fiill glory; and in short all nature appears
awakening from the sleep of winter. This
is pre-eminently the season for spring plant^t

CHAP. XII.] CALENDAR OF OPEBATION8. 377

ing; and aU the trees and shrubs, and even
herbaceous plants that are to be removed are
put into the ground. The garden rose-trees
and other hardy flowering shrubs are pruned,
care being taken always to cut them in a
slanting direction, and to a bud. When the
rose-bushes have sent up long untidy shoots,
every alternate shoot may be cut down to
within a few inches of the ground. Thus
treated, the shoots that are left will flower,
and those that were cut down will send up
strong and vigorous shoots for flowering the
succeeding year, when the present flowering
stems may be cut in. The bushes will thus
be kept of moderate size, and of a compact
habit of growth, without the flowering being
materially checked. In February the ranun-
culus roots are planted that are to flower in
the following May, and a hot-bed is made
for the tender annuals. In short, the busi-
ness of the gardener's year has commenced.
In the kitchen-garden, if the weather be
open, the gooseberries and currants should be
pruned, and also such of the fruit-trees as
have been left for spring pruning. If the
winter has been very hard, the gooseberries

378 CALENDAR. OF OPERATIOKS. [chap. xii.

and currants are left as long as possible un-
pruned^ because the birds, when driven to
distress for want of food, very often pick oflF
the buds, and should the number of buds
have been previously diminished by pruning,
the hopes of the season for a good crop of
fruit are generaUy destroyed. Radishes and
lettuce should be sown in February, and
spinage; also the first crop of peas and
beans. The strawberry -beds are pruned
and dressed, and the raspberry shoots short-
ened and cut in.

March.

This is the sowing month. In the flower-
garden the seeds of hardy annuals are sown
in the open border. Turf is laid down
where wanted, and grass-seeds are sown.
Rose-trees are sometimes planted in this
month, and the climbing kinds are pruned
and trained. The best sorts for training as
pyramids of roses are the Noisette and Bour-
sault kinds, and some of the hybrid China.
The box edgings are taken up and replanted^
and the gravel walks are raked or turned
over, and new gravel added if requisite.

CHAP.XII.] CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 379

This is in fact the first month that displays
the cheerfulness and brilliancy of spring, for
the flower-garden is gay with crocuses, and
the bees are buzzing about them, while the
birds are singing on every tree. The wea-
ther is often very fine and warm in March ;
but there are frequently frosty nights, during
which the tree-peonies and other half-hardy
early-flowering shrubs should be protected
by a kind of beehive-like covering, made
sufiiciently large to put on and take ofl^ with-
out injuring the plants. In the country,
these coverings may be made of platted
rushes sewed together, and the gathering
and platting them will afibrd employment to
poor old women and children in winter.
Biennials, such as hollyhocks, Brompton
stocks, &c., are generally transplanted in this
month.

In the kitchen-garden the principal crops
of all the culinary vegetables are sown, and
potatoe sets are planted. The spring prun-
ing and planting are also finished. Forest-
trees are planted in the parks and pleasure-
grounds, and trees are cut down. In short,
in large places March and April probably

380 CALENDAB OF OPEBATION8. [cHAP. xii.

form the most laborious period of the gar-
dener's year.

ApriL

In the first week of this month many
gardeners transplant their biennials^ instead
of putting them into the ground in March,
The hollyhocks should have a hole dug for
each plalht two feet deep, at the bottom of
which should be thrown three or four spade-
fuls of strong stable manure. Many gar-
deners also plant their dahlia-roots in this
month, though others delay this operation
till May, or even June. However this may
be, the tubers of the dwarf kinds should be
planted at about three feet apart, but the
larger sorts should be four fecit or five feet
firom each other every way. The soil should
be in a sandy loam, not too rich, lest the
plants should produce more leaves than
flowers, and not too poor, lest the flowers
should be poor also. In planting the tubers^
care should be taken to arrange them in
such a manner that the colours of the flowers
they produce shall have a harmonious efiect.
In this month the auriculases generally begin

OHAP. XII.] CALENDAR OF OPEBATIOKS. 381

to come into flower in pots, and the polyan-
thuses and primroses in the open ground.
Tuberoses, the different kinds of gladiolus,
the Guernsey lily, and other shewy autumn-
flowering bulbs may be planted towards the
end of April, or the first week in May. A
bed should be prepared for their reception,
by dicing the ground about a foot deep,
and taking out about half the soil, which is
to be replaced by equal parts of vegetable-
mould and well-rotted dung. When this is
well dug over and mixed, drills should be
drawn in it, about three or four inches deep
and eighteen inches apart, in which the
bulbs (after first taking off their offsets) are
to be placed about nine inches apart The
bulbs should be made quite firm in the soil,
and then covered with mould an inch or an
inch and a half deep. They will not require
any water till a week or ten days after
planting, when the roots have begun to grow,
but after that they should be watered regu-
larly. Heartseases for autumn flowering
may be sown this month, or cuttings may be
made of favourite kinds. The heartsease
requires a shady situation, and a rich loamy

382 CALENBAR OF OPERATIONS. [cHAP.xii.

soil, plentifully supplied with water. The
box edgings may be pruned in this month,
but they should never be clipped. A garden-
line should be stretched along the edging, at
the proper height, generally about four inches
from the ground, above which the highest
point of the box should not reach ; and the
box should be cut down to this line, every
shoot being cut in a slanting direction to a
bud, and only every alternate shoot suffered to
reach the line. Hardy annuals also may be
sown in this month, if the sowing of them
was neglected in March. The ornamental
kinds of Ribes and Berberis will begin to
come into flower with Magnolia conspicua,
and the common almond.

In the kitchen -garden, April may be
called the grafting month, though many
gardeners begin to perform that operation in
March. In the culinary department, those
vegetables that require transplanting, such
as celery, sea-kale, cauliflower, &c., are ge-
nerally planted out in ApriL The peas and
beans are hoed up, as are the potatoes ; the
asparagus and artichoke beds are dressed ;
and the onions, turnips, &c., are thinned*

CHAP. XII.] CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 383

K potatoes for the main crop were not
planted in March, they should be now.
The peas should be staked when they are
hoed up; and this is the best season for
dividing roots of thyme and other aromatic
herbs

May.

In the flower-garden, this is the month
for planting out the tender annuals which
have been raised on a hotbed. The seeds of
hardy annuals may still be sown, and also
those of biennials for planting out the fol-
lowing spring. In -this month, ornamental
perennial plants may be propagated by slips
and cuttings; and if any were made in
April for striking in a hotbed, they may
be transplanted. The leaves of the rose-
trees should be examined for a little brown
grub, which infests them at this season, and
which should be picked oflF and destroyed.
The flower-garden will now be in all its
splendour. The hyacinths will be in full
bloom, as will also the difierent kinds of
Ribes, Berberis, and Mahonia, among the
shrubs; and several kinds of Magnolia, the

384 CALENDAB OF OPERATIONS, [chap. xii.

Judas tree, Edwardsia, &c., among the trees.
The Paeonia Moutan will likewise expand
its magnificent blossoms; and the spring
heartsease will be coming into flower, as will
the NemophUla insignis, and several of the
other Califomian annuals.

In the kitehen-garden, the operations
continue nearly the same as the last month.
Peas and beans may be sown for the late
crops, and spinach, &c. This is the proper
season for sowing kidney -beans. 1£ the
first crop of peas has not been staked, it
should now be done, and the tops should be
taken off the common beans ; both may also
be hoed up^ The blossoms of the finiit-trees
should be examined, and those attacked by
insects should be instantly removed, and the
insects they contain destroyed. All leaves
that are found rolled up should be taken ofi^
and destroyed. In the park and pleasure*
grounds, oak-trees are generally felled in
May, because the movement of the sap at
this season makes the bark separate more
easily firom the wood.

CHAP. XII.] CALENDAR OF OFEBATION8. 385

In the flower-garden, this \& the month for
piping and %ering pinks and carnations,
and for making cuttings of the tenderer kinds
of roses. The hardy rosei^ will be probably
much infested with the green fly, or aphis,
which should be destroyed with tobacco-
water. Giteat care should, however, be taken
in using it, or the tobacco^water will dis-
figure the plants more than even the aphis
itself. Hal^a-pound of the best shag tobacco
should be put into a gallon of hot water, and
the decoction suffered to st»nd till it is quite
cold. The infested shoots should then be
dipped in the tobacco-water, and sufiered to
remain in it about a minute, and then imme-
diately washed in clean water. Two persons
should perform this operattoi!!, oiie carrying
a saucer with the tobacco-water, aiid the
other a jug of dean water and a saucer, to
wash the sho6ts immediately.

In the kitchen-gardeil, there is very little
to do, except to sow what are called succes-
sion crops of culinary vegetables, and to
continue the operations of the last month

c c

386 CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS, [ohap. xii.

where necessaiy. June is^ indeed, rather a
month of enjoyment in a garden, than one
of labour. The fruit -trees, however, may
be pruned or disbudded of their summer
shoots ; and towards the end of the month,
budding commences.

July.

The bulbs of hyacinths and tulips are
generally taken up in this month, and put in.
to a proper place to dry; as are the tubers of
ranunculuses and anemones. The stalks of
those herbaceous plants that have done flow*
ering should be cut down, that they may send
up fresh shoots, and produce a second set of
flowers. The dead roses, &c., should be cut
away as soon as they fade, as nothing more
completely destroys the beauty of a flower-
garden than a number of dead flowers mingled
with the"" newly-expanded ones. Cuttings of
verbenas, and other greenhouse, or window
plants may be made this month; and those
that were made early in spring, may be
planted in the beds to supply the place of
the bulbs, and other plants that have quite
done flowering. Roses, pinks, and cama-

CBAP. Xlt.] CALEKDAR OF OPERATIONS. 387

tfons are in their greatest splendour in June
and July. Roses are generally budded in
tkis month ; though^ if the weather be moist,
any time will do from June to September.
The essential point is to have the weather
sufficiently moist and warm to stimulate the
dormant action of the bud.

In the kitchen-garden the shallots should
be taken up ; but in other respects there is
nothing particular to do— except the routine
culture of keeping the garden neat, and sow-
ing the seeds of culinary vegetables for
succession.

Aiytut

The box edgings are t^ain pruned in this
month as they were in spring. The pinks and
carnations having now done flowering, should
have the layers which were made in June
cut away if they have rooted; and some
Gennan stocks, and other plants which have
been purposely raised in pots, should be
planted amongst the carnations, to prevent
the beds from looking bare of flowers.

The seeds of most of the annual flowers
are now ripe, and should be gathered. The

cc2

388 CALfiKDAR OF OPBBA/riONS. [chap. xii.

evergreens aad odier pdbiste in the shrubberies
should be pruned), and their summer shoots
cut in, if they have been too hixuriant. The
bulbs of exowm imperials, lilies^ andall the
scaly kinds, iiddch generally remain sevecej
years in the gcound withoat taking, them up,
should be planted in. this month; They will
grow under the shade of Uee^ and in any
situation not too dry. If too much exposed
to ihe sua^ the flowecBwill &de almost as
soon as they expand. Scaly bulbs that have
been long planted, may also be taken up,
their ofisets taken off, and the bulb removed
to a new situation ; but no scaly bulb should
be kept long out of the ground.

La the kitchenrgarden* thisis the gathering
month, as most, of the fruits and vegetables
are now ripe..

September,

The dahlias are now the principal oma*
ment of the flower garden ; and they should
be kept neatly tied up, and all the dead
flowers removed as soon as they fade. The
autumn flowering, bulbs are now in full blos-
som ; and all the greenhouse and frame plants

CVAP. XII. J CALENDAH OF OFBRATK)NS. 389

that vere turned out are abo in flower. The
beds for hyacinths and other spring bulbs
should be dug over and manured.

In the kitdien^arden^ spinach may be
sown for use in spring ; and the potatoes and
other roots should be taken up. This is
considered the best month for planting straw-
berries. The wcJl*fruit will requke protec-
tion from Urds, wasps, and flies. Some
worsted twined foackwajpds and forwards from
projecting nails, is said to be the best protec-
tion from birds; and bottles of sugar and
water hung from die twigs will attract the
wasps and flies from the fruit. After the
fitdt of the wall-trees is gathered, tiie borders
are usually lightly forked over, smd what is
called a top-<lressing of firesh compoet is
spread over them.

October.

In the flower-rgaiden the tender green-
house plants should be taken up. Seeds of
the hsuxly annuals that will stand the winter
should be sown, particularly those of the
heartsease, rocket-larkspur, coreopsis, Esch-
scholtzia, and all the califomian annuals.

390 CALBNBAB OF OPERATIONS. [cHAF* Xii.

The best way of managing these is to choose
a portion of hard ground on which a little
light earthy six or eight inches deep, has
been laid ; in this the seeds should be sown,
and the young plants will be ready to remove
by spadefuls to the beds prepared for them
in spring.

This is the best season for planting hya-
cinths, tulips, crocuses, and other bulbs and
conns, and the different varieties of Anemone
hortensis; taking care when planting the
latter to keep the eye of the tuber uppermost
All the kinds of Pseonies, as well the Pseonia
Moutan as the herbaceous species, should be
planted in this month. The leaves that fall
in great abundance in October and Novem-
ber should be regularly swept up, and carried
to a rotting heap, that they may decay, and
make the earth so valuable to florists, which
is generally called vegetable mould.

In the kitchen-garden the remaining fruit
should be gathered. Towards the end of the
month some fruit-trees may be planted if
their leaves have dropped; and the autumnal
pruning may begin, unless the trees should
be still in a growing state.

CRAP. XII.] CALENDAR OF OPEBATIONS. 391

Novemher,

In the beginning of this month the ap-
pearance of the flower-garden is extremely
desolate. The dahlias have generally been
seriously injured by the frost, but not quite
so much so as to warrant their removal ; and
a few lingering flowers of other kinds recal
melancholy ideas of what has been, but is
passed. A mild November is indeed the old
age of the floral year; and a sharp frost that
kills all the remaining flowers is felt positively
as a relief. The tubers of the dahlias should
be taken up as soon as the frost has changed
their flowers. The names should be attached
to the roots by string, or the Chester metallic
wire ; and they should be laid on dry boards
in a cellar, and covered with sand, or in
some dry place, not too warm, in a green-
house. The temperature at which they
should be kept, should be between 35® and
45®. The autumn-flowering bulbs should be
taken up in the same manner, and kept in
dry sand or moss. AU the plants that re-
quire protection, should be careftJly covered
or matted up.

392 CALSNDAB OF OPEBATION6. [chap. xii.

In the kitchen-garden the beds should be
cleared of all haulm^ &c., and dug over and
dressed; and the trees which were not before
planted should be put into the ground.

December.

This month is a perfeict blank both for
the flower and the fruit garden ; e2:cept for
coUecting soils, making .composts, preparii*
labels for names or numbers^ &tic^s or stakes
for tying up plants, nails ^d list for fastening
them; and in mild weather, for pruning the
larger and more hardy deciduous tr^es and
shrubs, &c.

INDEX.

Acacia seeds, way to make them vegetate, 69
Acarus telarius, or the red spider, 353
Adjutages for fountains, 346
Almond trees, kinds and culture, 236
Aloysia citriodora, culture of, 363
American blight, mode of removing, 220
Anemones, culture of, 296

different kinds of, 295
Annual flowers, culture of, 254
Aphis, or green fly, mode of destroying, 353

season for destroying, 385
Apples, kinds and culture of, 218
Apricots, best kinds and culture, 208
April, operations in, 380
Arboretums, 315
Artichokes, 149
Asparagus beds, 144

different kinds of, 145

insects on, 147

soil for, 145
August, operations in, 387
Auriculas, 262
Australian plants, 372
Ayrshire roses, 326

B
Barberries, 242

Baulk in dug ground, what it is, 16
Beans, kinds and culture of, 167
Bed for bulbs, mode of preparing, 381

394 INDEX.

Beet, red, 176

Biennial flowers, culture of, 260

time for transplanting, 379

Birds, those which do most injury to gardens, 123

Black earth, cause of its infertility, 25
remedy for, 28

Blenheim, rock work at, 330

Blotches on leaves, cause of, 355

Boiling seeds, 69

Borecole, 162

Box edgings, mode of clipping, 382
to plant, 142
season for planting, 378

summer pruning of, 387
Brocoli, 161

Brussels' sprouts, 158 *

Budding knife, 92
Budding, mode of performing, 88

points to be attended to, 92
time for performing on rose-trees, 387
Bulbs, 277

analogy between them and seeds, 48
different kinds of, 49
mode of planting, 47, 49
time for taking up, 386
tunicated, bed for, 50
Burying manure, 17

C

Cabbage tribe, 155
Cacti, cuttings of, 86
Calcareous loam, 33
Calceolarias, culture of, 367
kinds of, 367
Califomian annuals, kinds of, 258

treatment of, 376, 390
Camellias, choice, changed to single red, 96

culture of, 354

hardiest kinds of, 357
Canker in apple-trees, cause of, 219, 220
Carnations, cultiyation of, 265
Carrots, kinds and culture of, 174
Cauliflower, culture of, 159
Celery, culture of, 184
Chalk, its defects and merits as a soil, 32

INDEX. 395

Cherries, 210

Chestnuts, 233

Chiccory, 183

Chives, 180

Chrysanthemums, 273

Clay, its nature, and mode of improying, 32

Cleft g^rafting, 100

Climbing plmts, 373

roses, 326
Cold manures, 38
Coleworts, 157

Collar, or collet of a plant, 23
Columa hazel, 236
Compost for carnations, 266
Constantinople nut, 236

Corms, what they are, and mode of treating, 293
Cranberries, 243
Crocuses, cuUure of, 293

when they first appear, 376
Cropping, 143
Crops, permanent, 144

temporary, rotation of, 153
Crown grafting, 100
Crown imperial, time for planting, 388
Crown of a plant, 23
Cucumbers, culture of, 189
for pickling, 191
Cutting down plants below the graft, 96
Cuttings, mode of making, 79

principal points to be attended to in making, 87
Currants, 240

season for pruning, 377

D

Dahlias, culture of, 296

different kinds of. 299

mode of budding, 91

modes of training, 298

soUfor, 298

tubers of, to keep, 391

when to plant, 380
Dead flowers, to be removed, 386

leaves, use of, 390
December, operations in, 392
Deciduous trees, time for transplanting, 53

396 INDEX

Delicate plants, cuttings of, to strike, 83

Derby arboretum, 321

I^igging beds, mode of performing, 14

mode of performing by a gardener, 7, 12

by a lady, 9, 12

purposes used for, 13

season for, 13, 374

uses of, 1, 6
Disbudding, 113

season for, 386
Dug ground in shrubberies, to conceal, 319
Dwarf fruit-trees, 201

£

Earthing up, in what cases it may be applied, 23

Earths, the three primitive, 28

Eggs of insects, when to destroy, 375

Elder, 229

Endive, 182 '

Espaliers, training of, 212

Evenness of surface, necessity of attending to in digging, 16

Evergreen roses, 326

Excrementitions matter, 153

February, operations in, 376

Felling trees, season for, 384

Fibrous roots, 51

Fig-trees, 211

Filbert, 234

Fixing by water, 59

Floristo' flowers, 262

Flower garden, 244

Flowers, culture of, 254

Flute grafting, 91

Forking, uses of, 20

Fountains, mode of constructing, 344

French, or Provins roses, 325

Fruit border, construction of, 197

Fruit shrubs, 237

Fruit-trees, mode of planting, 198

Fuchsias, culture of, 365

hardiest kinds, 365

TND£X. 307

Famigator, 128

Furrows formed in digging, 16

G

Grarden walls, mode of forming. 196

use of, 199
GarUc, mode of growing, 180
Gathering month, 388
Gauntlet for a lady to save her hands, 10
Geraniums, or pelargoniums, cuttings of, 82

kinds of, 357
Gooseberries, 238

season for pruning, 377
Gourds, 192
Grafting clay and grafting wast, 107

Grafting month, 382

Grafting, modes of performing, 97

nature of, 94

points to be attended to in performing, 108

season for, 96

uses of, 109
Grasses, different kinds of, 302

kinds to be avoided in sowing lawns, 311

quantity necessary per acre for sowing a lawn, 307

soil for, 303

suitable for lawns, 304
Grass seeds, time for sowing, 312
Gravel walks, to make, 139

when to renovate, 378
Green fly, 353

mode of destroying, 385
Greenhouse, management of plants in, 353
Grubs on rose-trees, when to look for, 383
Guernsey lily, treatment of, 292
when to plant, 381

H

Heartseases, 270

for autumn flowering, 381
Heath mould, imitation of, 359

nature of, 31
Heaths, culture of, 360
cuttings of, 360
different kinds of, 359

398 INDEX.

Heaths, mode of potting, 360

shifting, when necessary, 360
Heat, ayerage degree of, for different kinds of hotbeds, 41
Herbaceous grafting, 101
Hicoories, d&erent kinds of, 233
Hoeing, different kinds of, 21

uses of, 21
Hollyhocks, treatment of, 380
Hoole near Chester, rockwork at, 329, 332
Horse-radish, 152

Hotbeds for tender annuals, when to make, 377
of stable dung, mode of making, 39, 40
of tan or decayed leaves, 41
to make look neat, 42
Hot manures, 38
Hot water for plants, 69
Humboldt's method of obtaining layers, 78
Hyacinths, culture of, 284

Dutch mode of treating, 289

exhibition of, at Shepherd's Bush, 283

forming a bed for, 50

growing in glasses, 50

manure for, 291

planting in pots and boxes, 291

propagation of, 290

rotation of, with other bulbs, 292

time for taking up the bulbs, 386
Hybridizing, mode of performing, 366
Hydrangea, culture of, 369 '

origin of the specific name, 370

I

Implements for digging, 10

Inarching, or grafting by approach, 103 i

Insects, eggs of, when to search for, 375

larva of, 124 '

on plants in pots, 353 I

Ivy, training over the ground, 319 i

January, operations in, 374
Jerusalem artichoke, 173
June, operations in, 385

I
J I

INDEX. 399

July, operations in, 386

K

Kale, 162

Kernel fruits, 218

Kidney beans, culture of, 169

time for sowing, 384
Kitchen garden, form and arrangement of, 13S

soil for, 136

walks in, 137

L

Lady's gauntlet, 10

spade, 9

mode of keeping in a proper state for nse, 13
Lady's wheelbarrow, 11
Landscape scenes in pleasure grounds, 316
Lawns, management of, 301

manure for, 311

mowing of, 310
Layers, Chinese, 76

modes of making, 73

time for separating from the parent plant, 387
Laying out a flower garden, 245

pleasure grounds, 313
Laying plants in by the heels, 61
Leaves, dead, nse of sweeping up, 390
Leeks, mode of growing, 179
Leguminous tribe, 163
Lemon scented verbena, 363
Lettuces, 181

Light, effect of, on plants, 47
Lime, how changed into chalk, 32
lime water, 129
Liquid manure, 38
Long litter, what it consists of, 39

M

Marjoram, 188

Manures, different kinds of, 33,37

mode of preparing for use, 33

modes of applying, 34

suitable to different soils, 35
March, operations in, 378
May, operations in, 383

400 un>BX.

Medlar, 227
Melons, 191
Mimuliu, culture of, 369

diflferent kinds of, 368
Mint, 188
Moss honses, mode of constmeting, 337

mosses suitable for, 338
Moss-roses, culture of, 323
Moss, to destroy on lawns, 312
Mowing of lawns, 310
Mulberry, 227
Mushrooms, 193
Mustard and cress, 183
Myrtles, cultiyation of, 367

N

Nailing against a wall, 120

Neck of a plant, 23

Nectarines, best kinds and culture, 203

Norbiton Hall, rock work, 331

November, operations in, 391

O

October, operations in, 389

Offsets, plants that produce them, 71, 72

Onguent de Ste. Fiacre, 107

Onions, 178

Pseonia Moutan, the tree Psony, time for planting, 390

Parsnips, 176

Peaches, best kinds, and culture, 203

Pear trees, 220

cause of their not bearing, 221
mode of pruning, 223
Peas, kinds and culture of, 163
time for sowing, 378, 384
Peat-bog or moss, difference between it and a quagmire,

and between it and heath mould, 30
Peat earth, its nature, and how formed, 30
soils, mode of improving, 36

INDEX. 401

Peccane nut, 232
Pelargoniams, cuttings of» 82

different kinds of, 358
Perennial flowersi mode of propagating, 260
Permanent cropping, 144
Perpetual roses, culture of, 324
Petunias, culture of, 364

kinds of, 363
Pillars of roses, 326
Pinks, 269
Pipings of pinks and carnations, 86

seasons for making, 385
Pits for choice plants, mode of preparing, 19
Plantations, mode of thickening, 324
Planting bulbs and tubers, 48

fruit trees, 198

in pleasure grounds, 314

shrubs too &ickly, evils of, 320
Plants that are unfit for transplanting, 55
that will bear earthing up, 22
which can be budded on each other, 93
Plants in pots, management of, 347
soil for, 351
watering of, 348
Pleasure grounds, to lay out, 313
Plums, 209

Pointing, or shallow digging, uses of, 17
Polyandius, 264

Pomegranates, mode of throwing them into fruit, 230
Potatoes, 171

when to plant, 379
Pot herbs, 186
Pots, double for cuttings, 85

when too large, injurious, 350
Potshreds, what they are, and use of, 351
Potting plants, mode of performing, 351
Primrose, 265

Propagating plants, modes of, 70
Protecting, 201

from frost, 121
Protection, coverings for, mode of making, 379
Pruning, best mode of performing the operation, HI

gooseberries and currants, 377

season for generally, 113

to improve the form of a tree, 114

D D

404 INDEX.

Sorrel, 177
Sowing month, 378

seeds, principal points to be attended to resnecfc-
ing, 43 ^

Spade, kind of, suitable for a lady, 9
Spinach, 177

Spitfol, meaning of the term, 7
Spongioles, 4, 52
Spring planting, 377
pruning, 377
Standard fruit trees, 215
Stirring the soil, uses of, 2, 6
Stone fruits, 203
Stools, 75
Strawberries, kinds of, 149

soil for, 150

time for planting, 389
Street gardens, mode of improving, 25
Subsoil, what composed of, 28
Succory, 183
Succulent plants, 370
Suckers, plants that produce them, 71
Summer pruning, 113, 386
Surface soil, nature of, 28
Sweet herbs, 187

William, 269
Syon, rock work at, 331

Tap-rooted plants, mode of treating, when transplanted, 55

Tart rhubarb, 151

Tears of the vine, 114

Temporary crops, 153

Tender annuals, 257 ''

time for planting out, 383
Tender roses, 327
Thyme, 187

when to divide the roots, 383
Tobacco water, how to make, and mode of applying, 385
Tomatoes, 192

grafted on potatoes, 103
Training, 118
Transplanting, principal points to be attended to, 51

INDEX. 405

Transplanting! what plants will bear it, 54

uses of, 57
Trees, omamentali 315

removing large ones, 62
Trenching too labourious for ladies, 18
Trowel, when useful, 23
Tuberoses, when to plant, 381
Tubers, mode of planting, 47, 49

time for taking up, 386, 391
Tulips, culture of, 281

kinds of, 279
Turf^ mode of laying down, 309

when to lay down, 378
Turnips, kinds and culture of, 173

U
Uses of transplanting, 56

Van Mons, theory of, as regards pear-trees, 225

Vegetable mould, 37, 390

Verbena, lemon scented, cuttings of, 80

scarlet, layers of, 74

triphylla, 363
Verbenas, culture of, 362

kinds of, 361

time for making cuttings, 387

W

Walks in pleasure grounds, 312
to make, 139
to renovate, 142
Wall fruit trees, 198

kinds of, 202

modes of protecting, 201, 389
Walls, construction of, 195

use of in gardens, 169
Walnut, 231

Water cress, mode of cultivating, 185
Watering plants when the sun shines, effect of, 67
manner of applying to different plants, 64
quantity to be given at different times, 66

406 INDEX.

WateriDg plants, time for, 67

use of, 63
use of after transplanting, 54
Water, the best kind of for plants, 68
Weeds, destroying by hoeing, 22
Weeping ash, mode of training, 321
Wheelbarrow for a lady, 11
Whip grafting, 99
Window gardening, 347
Wire frames, 344
Worm casts, bad effects of, 362
Worms, to destroy, on lawns, 312

Y

Yellow rose, culture of, 326