say, a soil possessing a slight amount of adhesiveness, provided stagnation of moisture is duly guarded against, by a perfect drainage; and by introducing, when necessary, any imperishable materials, as fine sand, to prevent a too great adhesion through time.

Such being removed, the border must have a good watering; using tepid water of from 70 to 80 degrees. If the border is very dry, clear water may be used as the first application; for, in that event, it will be well to give a second application after two days; and this may be a good liquid-manure. If the border is not particularly dry, one moderate watering of liquidmanure may be sufficient.

Borders, in a very dry state, sometimes become rifted or cracked, in which event, most of the water first applied runs through the openings at once into the drains without penetrating the mass of soil. Young beginners, therefore, should be on their guard, and learn to distinguish such things nicely; for much of the success in gardening depends on a correct appreciation of what, at first sight, appear trifles.

As to liquid-manure, every cultivator seems to prefer his own kind; ours, which we have found excellent for general purposes, is composed of urine, guano, and soot water. It is pretty well known that first-rate Peruvian guano is quite as powerful as plants can bear, after the rate of four ounces to a gallon of water. Plants in a growing state, however, are more sensitive to injuries than those in a state of dormancy. Nevertheless, we should not deem it expedient to use it stronger even to the peach border, when coupled with the additional strength of urinary matters from the cowhouse, or elsewhere. We would advise that every gallon of the guano-water, of the above strength, receive one quart of the urine, and some soot-water; the latter may be used pretty strong, as it is not so caustic as the other materials. About a pint of soot to a gallon of water is amply sufficient; and equal parts of this may fairly be blended with the same of the guano mixture. Still, let it be understood, that this is the maximum amount, taking the whole together at least, we dare not recommend more; it is well to keep within bounds, for, certainly, good fruit may be produced without it. With such a mixture, then, the border may receive a thorough watering, at the temperature before named.

A top-dressing may now be applied immediately, for we hold it good practice, to apply a little fresh, or maiden, soil, annually, in order to coax the fibres to the surface. Nothing is better for this purpose than a compost of half pure maiden loam-not too sandy, and the other half leaf or vegetable soil; the whole well blended. Such may be laid on nearly three inches thick, and on this we recommend a mulching, of a couple more inches of horse droppings, nearly fresh.

The border now is done with for the present, and we must see how forcing must really be commenced. We may suppose that other preliminary matters, such as flue cleaning, white-washing, repairs, painting, and, indeed, anything else connected with the building, or the heating apparatus, have been duly carried out before this period; and that the trees have been pruned, and also dressed with a mixture antagonistic to the scale and the red spider. Such being the case, the forcing period may commence; and, with regard to the peach, a very moderate beginning it must be. Everybody must remember a fine April day, when the poor primroses, previously bound in adamant, through the conjoint tyranny of the iceking and a drying east wind, all of a sudden find themselves in dalliance with the gentle zephyr; and

when the driving sleet is exchanged for the mild and copious dews of a returning spring; every one, we say, has known and appreciated such a state of atmosphere, in which both man and beast exult. Such, then, is a model for the air of a peach-house or vinery, during the earlier stage of forcing; merely premising, that the peach is more impatient of heat in this stage than the vine; indeed, there may be considered nearly ten degrees difference between them at all times, except when the wood is completing its maturity, when the peach will enjoy as much as the vine. However, to be more definite, we must give some set rules for the guidance of beginners; to others, we say, fix your eyes more on principles than rules.

For the first week of closing the house, an average temperature of 50° will be necessary; and, in the next week, or ten days, an advance of five degrees may be permitted: here, however, no further advance may be made, at least, with artificial heat, until the blossom-buds begin to enlarge considerably; and some of the most forward, exhibiting the tint of the blossom about this period, it will be well to commence making some distinction between day and night temperature, a course scarcely necessary before; and, from this period, an advance of two or three degrees may be permitted in the day, especially if sunny, when 60% will be beneficial. Still, however, let that be the maximum, especially if the forcing is very early. When the trees have done blossoming, and the leaf is expanding, a smart increase of heat may be permitted during sunshine, using the advanced temperature chiefly during the afternoon; for a liberal ventilation must be had recourse to in the early part of the day.

As to temperature, henceforward little deviation need occur by means of artificial heat, until the period when stoning commences: this may be known by the young fruit (hitherto swelling) becoming stationary of a sudden. Much caution is necessary

during the earlier portion of this period; and fires had better be dispensed with, whenever possible. Through the period of the first swelling, then, we will say a day temperature of 65°, if artificially supplied; shutting up with sun heat in the afternoon to nearly 80°. And at night, during the same period, from 40 to 55 degrees.

We will finish with a few maxims of importance :First, keep up a considerable amount of humidity in the atmosphere, from the moment that forcing commences, until the first blossom opens; syringing daily. Fermenting material, inside the house, is of great service in promoting a steady germination.

Secondly, when in blossom, withhold much of the moisture, and give air most liberally; keeping, if requisite, more fire-heat in the day, in order to support the amount of ventilation. At all other periods use the syringe liberally, battering right and left, in order to disturb the eggs of the red spider; for these are almost sure to appear.

Thirdly, let all increase of temperature bear a constant and close relation to the amount of light; and let atmospheric moisture increase with the temperature, excepting while the fruit is ripening.

Fourthly, whenever dark weather occurs, let the forcer betake himself to the lowest temperature prescribed that is, those who must go by mere rules.

INSECTS. No success in peach culture can ever be attained, if insects are allowed to keep a footing. The first in the season are the peach aphides; as soon as ONE ONLY is perceived, the house must be fumigated two evenings successively. Indeed, a thorough fumigation should always precede the unfolding of

THE FLOWER-GARDEN. ROSE-PRUNING.-Before I resume my remarks on hardy climbers, I wish to explain, in a homely way, a question which was lately put forward about pruning

roses.

It was a very simple question, it is true; but the explanation given in a proper answer to it involves the principle on which the correct pruning of all trees and bushes, whether the pruning be desired to facilitate the production of flowers and fruit, or that of timber. It is true, that there are those who firmly and conscientiously, believe that timber is produced faster and better without any pruning at all; and, very likely, out of a hundred trees planted with a view to profit, a certain number of them might be found to do very well without pruning; but that does not affect the question of pruning either way.

But no matter, what we have now to consider is this-How is it that some writers recommend roses to be pruned as early as October, while others prefer November, or any open weather through the winter to the end of February; and some advise the months of March and April? Now all these seasons may, or may not be, the best time to prune roses; for all that depends on the locality, the soil, and kinds of roses to be pruned, and the object the pruner has in view or, in a few words, the proper season to prune roses depends on local circumstances, without affecting the principles on which all pruning is founded.

Vegetable physiologists-or people who can explain the real nature of plants-have found out, and taught us, that the sap, or juices, of plants-out of which all their parts are formed-is never entirely at rest, not even in the dead of winter; and this is the first grand step to find out the best time to prune any plant on the principle of pruning. Now, mind, we must never lose sight of this grand fact; and the second important fact is this, that no addition can be made to the body or substance of a plant from the fall of the leaf until the plant is again covered with leaves next summer. A fortnight before this last Christmas, the buds of the Honeysuckles, Jessamines, Roses, &c., were as full and as plump, as we have some years noticed them to be in March and April: and this was caused by the rising of the sap more freely than is usual, owing to the fine weather. Now, the fine seasonable "Christmas weather," with sharp frosts, and cold dry winds, put a sudden stop to all this premature swelling of the buds; still the buds are as plump as they were before the frost set in; and, if we examine them, we shall find the fullest ones are at the very point of the shoots, because it is easier for the sap to go straight up to the top than to turn into the side buds. But as soon as the top bud is quite full, and ready to burst-which, however, it cannot do till the proper season-the next bud below it is similarly charged, and so on all the way down, bud by bud, is swollen out with the never-stagnant sap. But very often, and particularly in some roses, the buds at the bottom of the young shoots are seldom influenced by this winter flow of sap before the growing season comes round, and then the top buds burst into leaf, giving a natural opening for the sap to flow upwards, which it will do in the spring, with all speed, without waiting to fill the lower buds at all; and that is just the way,

and the reason, why roses, apple-trees, and many other plants, get naked below in the course of time, unless they are pruned; and, as people do not like to see half naked branches on a plant, they have recourse to pruning.

Therefore, the first step in the art of pruning is merely to provide that a plant is kept clothed with leaves from top to bottom, by cutting off the upper part of the young branches every winter, to cause the bottom buds on them to start into growth, and so clothe all parts of the plant. But when a plant is to be pruned for some other purpose besides that of furnishing it with a full complement of leaves— say, to cause it to flower very strongly, or to encourage it to carry a heavy crop of fruit, to invigorate a languishing plant, or to check an over-luxuriant one (for pruning is resorted to for all these and other purposes)—I say, when a plant is to be pruned for a particular purpose, it stands to reason that a certain period is better than any other for pruning for that purpose. Now, practice has to find out the best time for this particular pruning, and here theory comes in to explain to practice how it is that such particular season is the best for that kind of work. For, like all of us, practice now-a-days will not rest satisfied with merely doing a thing in the best manner, but must-child-like-inquire the reason why it is the best way.

From all this it must be evident, that when a gardener is asked, what is the best time to prune roses? he cannot possibly give the best answer; he can only guess a proximate answer, or an answer near to the mark. But if he were asked, what is the best time to prune roses which were so strong as to run into each other all over a bed without flowering well? he could say at once, with confidence, why, you must prune them so as to diminish their vigour as far as pruning can do it; and the time for that is as late in the spring as it is safe to trust them with a little growth; or, say when the top shoots have made four or five leaves each. By such very late pruning the accumulation of sap for many months is cast away, and the plants are so far reduced in strength. A friend told me, that he nearly killed the half of a large collection of roses about ten years since, by pruning them two seasons in succession as late as April, after they had broken into leaf; but that some strong Hybrid Chinas and Bourbons were much improved by the late pruning.

I recollect, perfectly well, that it was a favourite theory, at that time, to prune part of the roses as late as possible, in order to put off their flowering to a late period, and so lengthening the blooming season. A very good idea; but those who so pruned indiscriminately, like my friend, will be more cautious for the rest of their lives.

Not to go to such extremes, if we suppose a case where none but the most vigorous kinds of roses are grown, and that the soil is in all respects perfectly suitable to them, there can be no question that March would be a better time to prune them than the previous October, because they would thus annually be robbed, as it were, of a portion of the sap-that portion which accumulated in the upper parts of the shoots since the fall of the leaf-and by that means would be so far checked; although such roses, in the supposed soil, would always keep on the verge of over-luxuriance. But there is no place in five hundred where a case like this could be met with; therefore, there is not a place, out of so many, where it would be advisable, or prudent, to put off the pruning to so late in the spring. But where

roses do very well, and are attended to properly, the month of February is a good time to prune all but the very dwarfest sorts. These, and all the weekly growing ones, ought certainly to be pruned close, and as early after the fall of the leaf as possible; for they are not in a condition to afford to lose one drop of the sap that is collected after the fall of the leaf.

Now, when we are asked about the best time to prune roses, we hear of their not doing well, the soil is too thin, or too poor, or they are overshadowed with trees, or large roots from these trees compete with them in the beds or borders, or, in short, they are not thrifty; and, if not so, they ought not to lose any sap by late pruning; but as soon as the office of the leaves is over for one season, the buds, which are to furnish the next season's supply of wood and flowers, ought immediately to be put into the best condition for the end in view, by cutting off those buds above them into which the still circulating sap would first flow; and thus, whatever the accumulation of sap may be in such roses between the fall of the leaf and the bursting of the spring buds, is effectually reserved without any waste; and the same rule holds good with every deciduous plant grown in our climate, whether it be a tree or a bush.

What I have said above about spring pruning was only for the sake of argument, and partly in deference to many respectable men who believe that the spring, and even a certain week or month of it, is really the proper time to perform this work, because they had found, in their own experience, that their roses did very well under that particular mode of pruning. But I hold it, or rather the law which governs the increase and growth of plants commands, that in our climate, at least, every plant which casts its leaves, if it requires pruning at all, ought to be pruned as soon afterwards as possible. It is true that, in the autumn, some of the buds on peach and apricot trees are not readily distinguished as wood buds or flower buds, and therefore not then in a condition to be finally pruned; but that does not affect the law involved in the subject of pruning.

But I have another view of this question, which is quite original, and has never been broached before; but, of course, it is possible that I may be altogether wrong. Many years back I had some experiments, bearing on this very point, in hand for three seasons running. They were intended, however, for the purpose of crossing, and I was then quite satisfied, in my own mind, that cross seedlings, obtained from the same plants, but severely pruned, and otherwise operated upon at very different seasons of the year, were as different in strength and peculiarities of constitution, as if they had been originated from very dissimilar parents. To make my meaning more clear, say, of two plants of the common Moss rose, exactly of the same age and strength, and growing side by side; one of them is pruned down to three or four eyes early in October; the other is allowed to go on till it makes six inches of young wood at the end of next spring, and is then pruned. Dust the flowers of both with the same pollen; but the seedlings will come very different from the two plants; and, although I never crossed a moss rose, I venture to say that seedlings raised in this way would show a very decided difference in the doubleness of their flowers.

We all acknowledge that nature has done nothing in vain; and therefore, that there must be a reason for everything connected with plants. What, there

fore, can be the reason why the sap of the deciduous plants does not rest entirely while there are no leaves to turn it into use? If it were not essential to some particular end, we may rest assured it would not be in motion during the winter. Again, we all say, what is true enough, that a good crop of roses, of gooseberries, or of any other flower or fruit, of trees, or perennial plants, is to be ascribed rather to the growth of the plants in the previous season than to that of the current summer. May it not, therefore, be part of the economy of vegetable life that the store of nutriment laid up in the plant during the growing season should be, to a certain degree, diluted with undigested sap during the time the tree is at rest, and thus forming a thorough mixture from which the next growth is made? Whereas, if the sap was entirely at rest during the whole winter, and until the buds were ready to open, the rising sap in the spring must necessarily be more raw, so to speak, and therefore less fit for the production of the finest flowers or fruit, particularly the former. Now, although I have put all this hypothetically, I really believe it to be perfectly correct; and as firmly believe that to leave young shoots unpruned until the spring, after the mixture is properly formed in the upper parts, and then late in the spring to cut those parts off, and compel the bottom eye to burst, by a sudden flow of the raw juices or sap from the roots, is perfectly wrong, and that no attempts to check the growth of a plant should be made by any mode of pruning the branches, but rather by operating on the soil and roots.

J. BEATON.

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW
GARDENING.

CONSERVATORY CLIMBERS.-There is a gracefulness about climbers which no other plants possess, when they are assisted in their growth just so much, and no more, as is necessary to show off to advantage their natural beauties. A starched-up, prim, closetrained appearance, does away with their peculiar interest and attraction; unless, indeed, in the case of those smaller types of the group, in which the flowers are studded so closely and so beautifully, that our attention becomes so absorbed by these, that we forget, for the time, their mode of growth. The manner in which the convolvulus, honeysuckle, clematis, rose, &c., cover, slant from, and festoon, our hedges and woodlands, in spring and summer, might often suggest to us many appropriate ideas as to fitness, though none for servile, heedless imitation, as to the methods of cultivating and training.

In the case of those cultivated in pots, it is common to train them to wire trellises of various shapes and patterns, which are so far objectionable, that they always give the plants a stilted appearance, until they become so bushy and strong, as to hang from, and completely conceal, the trellis which supports the main shoots. For many plants, a stout stake, with well ripened shoots of various lengths tied to it, and then, the young shoots allowed to hang, with their flowers in almost a natural manner, would answer the purpose as well. For many purposes, young larch or spruce fir-trees, cut down in spring, when the sap is in motion, peeled, and every twig retained, make as good, and more natural, and more cheap, supporters, for all such climbers, twisters, and creepers, than wire trellising; while you can easily make your plants flat-sided or round, flat broad bonnet-headed, or taperingly conical, at your pleasure.

Position. The chief place for these plants, in a conservatory, is against pillars, pilasters, and along the main rafters of the building. If to these the main shoots are securely fastened, the flowering shoots of the season may be allowed to hang, wreathe, and festoon, almost as they like. A lofty house, especially, looks very beautiful, when the plants are in flower and thus managed; and the shade of the creepers in summer will be advantageous to the plants below. Whatever else there may be in a house, if this is destitute of creepers, it will always present a starved, bald appearance. Many elements of beauty it may possess, but it will be beauty dissociated, and divided into incongruous parts, rather than blended and concentrated in a harmonious whole. The sensations produced are something analogous to those we feel in looking at a beautiful column, standing upon a suitable plinth, but a column upon which the capital has never been placed. What the capital is to the column, the climbers are to an ornamental plant-house.

Planting. For such conservatory purposes, the plants may be grown in large pots or boxes; and, if well supplied with water and surface dressings, they will answer admirably. But where the house is large, and well-drained borders, inside the house, can be made, it is generally advisable to turn the plants out; though, in the case of some very strong-growing plants, it is advisable merely to break the bottom of the pot, and then plunge it, which helps for a time to restrain its luxuriance. The advantages of plantingout in this manner are several. The plant grows more rapidly at first; and extra luxuriance is easily checked, by disbudding and root-pruning; less attention to watering will be necessary; and, if the plants should become subject to insects, such as the white scale, they may be cut down to within a few feet of the surface; and the strength existing in the roots will soon cause the protrusion of fresh, strong, healthy shoots.

For most plants to be thus turned out, rough, fibry, turfy loam, and peat, in equal proportions, and a little silver sand, and lumps of charcoal in addition, will answer very well; giving most loam to the freelygrowing plants. It is advisable not to plant until April, as then active growth will at once commence ; but previously to that time, small plants may be obtained and forwarded by every encouragement, giving them repeated shiftings, and never allowing them to be pot-bound.

Pruning. We have, especially in the Calendar, alluded several times to the pruning and cutting-in of these climbers in winter; not because it is the best time, but because it becomes necessary for the purpose of relieving from shade the plants beneath them, during the dark days. The tenderer kinds should be cut rather sparingly, until the sap becomes active in the early spring. The greater part of the most showy climbers for a conservatory, where the temperature ranges from 45° to 50° in winter (such as we have been alluding to for a fortnight past), as passion-flowers and the Mandevilla, may be pruned just as you would a vine, upon the spur, the short-rod, or the long-rod system, because the flowers are produced from the shoots that spring from the best buds on the wood of last season's growth. Recollect, howthat if you were to cut all away, except a number of long rods, you would run the risk of having flowering shoots produced merely from their points, as the farthest-back buds would not be so inclined to break; while, if you spurred close in, unless the wood was well ripened, you might obtain more wood and less

ever,

bloom than you calculated upon. You can scarcely cut in too severely; but until you know exactly what your plants can do, take a middle course, and cut in to a one-budded spur, and to short rods respectively, unless when you want to fill a space, when a long one should be retained.

In the case of several Jasmines, Bignonias, and Tecomas, the weaker shoots should be removed, strong rampant ones cut away, and those of medium growth and well-swelled buds retained, for a considerable part of their length, according to their strength; cutting back others, so as to secure young shoots for another year. Spurring such plants to any extent would only give you masses of shoots instead of flowers: just as takes place when a climbing rose is treated like a dwarf one.

In such a conservatory, where the temperature is seldom below 45° in winter, many climbers that are usually considered fit only for a stove will flourish, more especially if the roof should be hipped instead of a mere lean-to; as then by openings in the back wall, front air, and open doors, at times there may be sufficient ventilation for greenhouse plants below; while the climbers above could regale themselves with a very high temperature. In the central parts of such a house, the following will flourish, but the plants ought to be a good size before being planted, and then should be turned out in the centre of the house; unless where there is a flue in the back wall, when the back border should receive the preference. The first-named are those that require the warmest positions:

:

EXOTIC ORCHIDACEÆ. MOISTENING THE AIR OF THE ORCHID HOUSE.All plants under glass, when growing, thrive much better, and continue more healthy, if the air is kept in a moist state. Hence good gardeners, in this age of improved skill, are constantly, when the objects under their care are progressing in growth, throwing water upon the flues, pipes, walls, and pathways, to create a humid atmosphere, and only withdrawing it when their fruit-bearing plants-such as pines, grapes, peaches, nectarines, &c.-begin to change the colour of their fruits.

If common stove and greenhouse plants, and even fruit-trees, require a moist atmosphere, when in a growing state, how much more must the tribes of plants, about whose culture we are now writing, require it, natives as they are of countries and localities, the atmosphere of which is constantly loaded with watery vapour? We have been assured, by several travellers who have visited the South American continent, that the air where orchids are mostly found, is so full of particles of moisture, as to give the country the appearance of being completely enveloped in mist-so much so, during the early part of the day, as almost to obscure the light of the sun. This mist bathes the plants completely, wetting them as thoroughly as if they had been dipped in water. The sun, however, being nearly vertical, and having great power by the middle of the day, clears away the mist, and dries the leaves of the trees on which the orchids grow. Still, a considerable amount of invisible moisture remains in the shady recesses of the forest, nourishing the orchids, and causing them to grow rapidly, and acquire strength to produce their flowers. This excessive humidity arises, no doubt, from the large surface of the rivers and lakes being acted upon by the fierce rays of a tropical sun. In such a climate, orchids abound. As the traveller advances towards the mountains, where the atmosphere is drier, the orchideæ disappear. These natural phenomena in the atmosphere where these plants exist, show to us the necessity of imitating, as far as we can, such an atmosphere. It is our intention, this week, to show how it may be done, at least sufficiently so to cause the plants to grow well.

At page 64 of this volume, we described the mode of heating, combined with means to supply moisture to the internal air of the house: but though that will afford a considerable amount of moisture, yet in the growing season it will not be sufficient. We also described an additional source of moisture, by having shallow cisterns, used as shelves, filled with water, under the plants. These cistern-shelves will indeed be a great help to the plants, as the air will take up moisture from the water, at a time when the tanks, by not being required to be heated, owing to the natural heat of summer, will not give out any steam or vapour. Still, with all these helps, the hygrometer (an instrument used to denote the tity of moisture in the air, and with which every orchid-house ought to be furnished,) will show that the air is deficient of that humidity necessary for the strong, free growth of the plants. The operator then

quan

will resort to other means to effect this indispensible object. Those ordinary means are such as we have just mentioned-namely, wetting thoroughly, in the spring and summer, the walls, pipes, flues, and paths, with water, and this not only once, but twice, or even thrice, in hot weather, every day. By diligent use of such copious supplies of water, partly with the syringe, and partly with the watering-pot, the air of the house will frequently, after being shut up, be so filled with moisture as to reach the saturation point, and will then deposit the watery particles upon the plants, in the shape of dew. This state of the air is what the plants delight in; and if diligently persevered in-every other point of culture being attended to-every day from February to the end of August, the result will be-healthy, well-grown plants, ready to go to rest full of flower-sap, to form buds that will produce abundance of bloom the following season. This moisture in the air must be continued, to a certain extent, all through the year. The air of the orchid-house ought never to smell, or feel dry. The experienced cultivator, on entering his house, will directly feel whether the air is in a right state or not, without looking at the hygrometer, just as he will feel whether the heat in it is too much or too little, and will immediately use such means as he knows will set all matters right, to give his favourite plants such an atmosphere as will keep them in good health.

In autumn and winter, it will be sufficient to wet the paths, &c., every morning in dull weather; and in the evening, when the sun has been shining all the day.

All this application of water, for the especial purpose of moistening the air, must be understood to be independent of the water applied by the syringe to water the blocks and the baskets, though, of course, that will be an additional help, materially assisting for the same purpose. These two points of culture may very properly be combined; that is, the syringing the blocks, and wetting the other parts of the houses, and then the air will be better moistened.

one.

There is yet another way of giving vapour to the air, that we have not alluded to-namely, with steam; and we can assure our readers it is a most effectual The reason why we have not described it before is, because it requires a considerable outlay, and more room than our amateur friends, perhaps, would like to incur. But as it is quite possible there may be some growers to whom these difficulties would not apply, we shall now give its history and application.

About seven or eight years ago, we had the charge of the fine collection of Orchidaceae belonging to T. Brocklehurst, Esq., at the Fence, near Macclesfield. That gentleman spared no expense in any thing likely to bring his collection to the highest point of perfection. Among other things, we had a small boiler set up for the express purpose of generating steam to moisten the air of the houses, and it answered admirably. The boiler was of the commonest description, of what is denominated the saddle-shape (a form that we consider an excellent one). From this boiler, which was placed in a shed behind the houses, an iron main-pipe was carried through the wall, round the front and back of the three houses. At intervals of 6 or 7 feet, holes were bored into the main-pipe; from these holes the steam rushed up among the plants too strongly, though at 3 feet distance. To correct this, we had small pipes, about 6 inches high, screwed into the holes. At the top of these pipes others, about 6 inches long, were