The apple-gathering season is arrived, and all the cottage gardeners will be busy whose trees are in good bearing; but this is not generally the case, at least in my neighbourhood, We have had a sad falling off in this most valuable fruit for the last three seasons; in the first instance, trees that never failed to bear an ample store of fruit never put forth one blossom, and although there has since been abundance of beautiful bloom the fruit has been very scarce, and this year the trees I speak of do not bear one apple. Previously to the first failure the winter had been so extremely mild that it seemed to me, in my ignorance, as if the trees had not enjoyed sufficient rest to form and expand their beautiful blossoms when spring returned; however this may be, they have never done well since, and the loss of the fruit is really a serious one, and deprives both rich and poor of much enjoyment during the winter months. Apples, when put away for winter use, should never be wiped dry after they have sweated. This I learnt from a very intelligent man who had been for some years a fruiterer in London; he said it was a great mistake to remove the coating of moisture, which, by drying on the fruit, tended rather to its preservation than decay. We have for many years followed his advice, and certainly our apples have kept quite as well, and we think even better, than when we carefully wiped and dried them; the wiping process is such a labour where apples abound that it is a real benefit to escape it, even supposing apples only keep as well and not better than they did before, and this, I can undertake from my own experience to say, they do. They are a truly valuable fruit in every way, and to the sick poor a few nicely baked are a real enjoyment, as they cool the parched lips and quench the burning thirst of many who have nothing beside their bed but a cup of water, or what they call "bread-tea." The rich are often little aware of the sufferings and privations of the poor, and how much relief they might afford by what in their abundance they think nothing of. A few baked apples, a jug of apple-water, or a pot of apple-jam, are useful and grateful to those who are sick and possess nothing. Apples likely to decay, or not in themselves good keepers, if pared and cored, and boiled down with rather less than their weight of brown sugar, make a pleasant jam for common use, and prevents the loss of so much fruit; apples sliced, without paring, into a large tea-pot, with a little sugar and lemon-peel, and then covered with boiling water, make a cooling and agreeable beverage for invalids; and these are all made with little expense and trouble. Those who possess that excellent apple the Nonpareil, may make, in the simplest way, a delicious preserve, quite fitted for deserts-pick out all the smallest of the apples when they are quite ripe; rub them clean, but neither peel them or remove the stalks; put a teacupful of water into a stone jar, and then a layer of fruit; between every layer of fruit sprinkle good brown or white sugar rather thickly, and fill the jar in this way; a few strips of lemon-peel should be added, according to the quantity of fruit; tie the jar down closely, and bake it till the apples are soft. This is a delicate and excellent preserve, but it must be made with Nonpareils. To those who dare not venture to eat uncooked apples I would recommend the Ribstone Pippin carefully baked; it is then harmless to the most delicate stomach, and excellent in itself; but to all but invalids that queen of apples must be preferable in its own rich ripeness.

The apple-tree is a native of the east. It is spoken of in the first great history of man as among those

fruits that the Lord declared by the prophet Joel should be destroyed by drought as a judgment upon the rebellions people. Apples were very highly es teemed indeed among the Romans, and as many as 29 kinds were cultivated in Italy about the beginning of the Christian era. The profit arising from these highly valued trees was then so great that it gave rise to the invention of grafting, by which means many varieties were obtained, and some are spoken of by the writers of that period as remarkable for their fine qualities. England can only boast of possessing the wild crab as a native fruit, but it is the stock upon which most of our finest apples have been raised, and its blossoms add to the beauty of our wild and graceful edges in the early summer. The Romans are supposed to have introduced the apple into this country, but its present name is derived from the Saxon word "acppel." The Pippin was not brought into England till the year 15:5, when it was first planted by Leonard Marschal in the little village of Plumstead, in Sussex. The Pippin is so called from the small spots, or pips, which generally mark it. The cottage gardener may increase his stock of apple-trees by following the fashion of our brethren in far distant China, and thereby obtain fruit safely and very quickly too, which is a great consideration. The Chinese strip a ring of bark from a bearing bough, about an inch wide, and then put a thick lump of very rich earth, mixed with cow-dung. round the wound, binding it fast to the branch with a piece of sacking; to keep it constantly moist they have an ingenious way of fixing a vessel of water above the ball of earth, with a small hole in it, so as to allow the water gently to drop constantly upon it; but if this cannot be contrived the ball may be frequently watered by the hand, that it may never become dry. The roots strike out into the soil just above where the bark was stripped off. This operation must be performed in the spring, the branch sawn off and planted when the leaves fall, and the following year it will bear fruit. This is worth trying by those who may not have heard of this plan before; but I believe it has been practised of late with very good success. I am sure that if cottagers cultivated these useful trees more than they do, and with some care, they would find them a source of profit as well as a household good; and if they trained them as espaliers, they would beautify the little garden without injuring it by their shade.

The apple-tree is peculiarly interesting to the Christian's heart, as being employed by the church of the Old Testament in the figurative language of the east, to describe the beauty and excellence of her Redeemer. A spreading apple-tree, loaded with its bright, delicious fruit, may bring strikingly before us that blessed shadow" under which our souls may rest in peace and safety, and the sweetness and richness of the Redeemer's love to all who will "taste and see that the Lord is good." The orchard and the garden, the field and the wood, hill and valley, unite in sounding in our ears great and precious truths. Let us learn their expressive language, that we may understand the wonderful things they say.

COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS.

SOME of your readers may wish to discover the opposite or complementary colours, without subjecting their eyes to the trial suggested in one of your leading articles some weeks back, and such readers may find the following plan useful:-Mark three equidistant points on a circle, and mark them severally with the names of the three primary colours, i.e.

EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. SISYRINCHIUM ANCEPS.-I see one of your correspondents has found Sisyrinchium anceps or Bermudianum in a wild or naturalized state in this country (Corfe Castle). It was probably the former species, a specimen of which, found in Ireland in a thick wood, I sent to the Botanic Society of London in the year 1815. The discovery excited a good deal of interest at the time. I have not seen any works on English botany published since that date, I know not, therefore, whether the best authorities consider the plant a native of the British Isles or not. In connexion with the above, I may mention that Spiranthes autumnalis grows in abundance on a grass plot in front of Antony House, the residence of W. H. Pole Carew, Esq., in my own parish. The account I sent you of the potatoes in this locality was falsified, I regret to say, before you printed it. The murrain has made sad ravages, though far less than in former years. Mine were planted in March without manure. The produce has been small, but very free from disease. The sort is locally called "Snowdrop" it is literally a ball of flour. Will you allow me to correct a decided ecclesiological error at p. 305. The roodloft is a gallery over the Rood-screen, in the centre of which was erected the great rood or cross, usually, in later times, a crucifix, which was a fixed, and not, as you imply, a moveable, piece of furniture. Roodlofts are very rare in England, having been mostly pulled down by the Puritans.-REV. HENRY L. JENNER, Merrifield, Torpoint.

and cover the roots with three inches of finely sifted coal-ashes; the consequence is, that they shoot forth early in spring, and we gather a full fortnight before those grown in the ordinary manner from seed are in the market, and our produce is, at the least, fourfold. I would also strongly recommend the same plan in reference to dahlias, to all those who may not have time or convenience for storing the tubers. I have tried it myself, and found it to answer admirably; indeed, my dahlias of last year which underwent this treatment were infinitely superior to those I stored in the usual manner last winter; 'tis true I don't know what may be the effect on the dahlias if allowed to occupy the same spot for many consecutive seasons; but our friend, Mr. Beaton, will, per haps, give us a line some day on that head, as stor ing the tubers, unless one has a very dry cellar, and time to attend to drying and packing them, is really a very troublesome and hazardous affair, especially to amateurs, who can catch an hour only now and then. By-the-by, whilst on the subject of economy of time by amateurs, I will, if you will kindly accord me a little more of your valuable space, just tell you my method of "smoking" my greenhouse: for, multifarious as my occupations are, and great as is the demand on my time, I am constantly studying how to perform the various little horticultural operations in the most efficacious and effective manner. Mr. Fish, a short time since, kindly gave us very clear and specific directions for this operation, which I have tried again and again, but unsuccessfully; therefore I conclude it is more suited to a large than small house; as, at this season of the year, one fears to shut up much heat which would be emitted from his large pot of burning embers in a house so small as 8 feet by 10 feet, and 14 feet high; and embers sufficient to half fill an 8-inch pot, I find are cold before one has time to place it and strew the tobacco over; at least I found it so, notwithstanding I made every preparation for draft, and in addition inserted a small gas pipe in the hole at the bottom of the pot, with its nether end out at the doorway, laying flat on the ground, and blowing through it till I was black in the face and almost exhausted, with all the zeal of an enthusiastic amateur, quite in despair at the ravages made on his favourites by the invidious "fly." Now, then, for the " operation." I procure, say half a pound of common tobacco, a sheet of brown paper, and 1 oz. of saltpetre; the saltpetre I put into a pint of hot water, and soak the paper in the solution, sprinkling the tobacco well with it at the same time; when paper and tobacco are thoroughly dry, I cut the paper into slips of two or three inches wide and about fourteen or sixteen inches long; along each piece of which I strew about half an ounce of the tobacco, rolling it up diagonally, as a cigar is rolled, making it about eight inches long. I thus make about sixteen" cigars" with half a pound of tobacco, and when I find the enemy increase I take two of my "cigars," stick one into the earth on each side of my "house," light their tips, and away I go, certain that all will end well without watching, puffing, or dirt of any kind; and the beauty of it is that it is done in a minute; it requires no raking the kitchen fire out, no burning fingers and thumbs with the red hot flower-pot, nor indeed any nuisance whatever. A pot of earth is a capital thing to stick the "cigar" in when there is no border in the house. I find it sufficient for my house, but of course a larger space requires more. It is necessary to keep the "cigars" perfectly dry. In conclusion, allow me to say that I think an admirable thing might be made of it, if some

one would take up the subject, and invent a greenhouse fumigating cigar."-W. SAVAGE, Friary Cottage, Winchester.

LILIUM LANCIFOLIUM CULTURE.-I some time ago sent you the proportions of the different ingredients of my compost for these lilies, which you approved of. I bloomed this year 14 bulbs, in pots 12 inches across on the top, tapering a little towards the bottom, and 13 inches deep. Unless the pots are deep, there would be too little room for the earth, for there is much drainage required; and, in order that the stem fibres may have nourishment, the apex of the bulb must not be nearer the top of the pot than 3 inches. Mr. Groom considers this arrangement as to the stem fibres is necessary for the flourishing of the plant. Indeed, I know it to be so.-DIANTHUS.

you

OLEANDER CUTTINGS.-I, some few weeks since, wrote to ask if you could tell me any way of striking the oleander, so as to have it bloom in the spring. As you did not reply to my query, I concluded you were not able to do so, and now I have found the plan I named, and have pleasure in sending it you, if think it would be worth inserting in your useful journal. During September and October prepare a quantity of two or three jointed cuttings by removing the lowest leaves, and making the peel of each, immediately under the joint, perfectly smooth. Place an inch layer of broken potsherds as drainage at the bottom of a pot six inches broad, upon that a coating of moss, then a compost consisting of one part reduced turfy loam and three parts of heath mould. Press this mixture firmly into the pot, water it, and make as many holes in it close around the side of the pot as there are cuttings; into each hole pour half an inch of writing sand; set a cutting upon the sand in the hole so deep as to be at least midway between joint and joint, then fill the holes with sand, and cover the entire surface of the soil with a half inch layer of the same. Saturate the whole with water, and see that the cuttings be quite fixed and immovaable but with some effort; upon this close contact of plant and soil depend much of the future success. The pot of cuttings may be kept in a heat of from 50° to 55° during the winter, and many plants will be found perfectly rooted by spring. Among the cuttings taken from a full headed strong plant, there will, perhaps, be some that have the heads of future bloom produced among the upper leaves. Young plants may thus be obtained to flower in April and May.-L. R. LUCAS, Louth.

[Many thanks. If the above is a quotation, we should have liked the name of the work from which it is taken, that we might acknowledge it. Two things are essential to the success of this experiment, viz., that the flower buds be perfectly formed before the cuttings are taken from the parent plant, and that the heat during the spring does not exceed 60°. After all, the practice is more curious than useful. A cutting, or rather an oleander, with only "three joints" of wood and half a dozen flowers on slender footstalks, will not be much. It is needless to observe that if the parent plant were subjected to the same heat during the whole period, superior flowers would be obtained as early, although this might derange the future growth and bloom of the plant. The principle is the same as that recommended for making autumnal cuttings of the hydrangea.-ED. C. G.]

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We beg of all correspondents to address their letters to the Editor and not to the Departmental Writers; it saves time and trouble.

FILBERTS NOT BEARING (J. H. R.).-How can we possibly tell you the remedy without knowing the present treatment and what soil they grow upon?

SCARLET GERANIUMS (M. N. 0.),-You ask "Does Harry Moore (see p. 5) cut back the stems as well as cut off the leaves previously to storing his plants for the winter?"-Harry Moore does not cut back the stems of these till April, unless any of the tops damp, when that is removed as soon as noticed. When the buds begin to push in April is the best time to cut them.

GLADIOLUS ROOTS STILL IN FLOWER (Busybody).-The gladiolus will take no hurt for a month yet; all the late ones may safely be left in the ground till the frost cuts down their leaves, then they are to be taken up, dried, and stored till the end of February. It is only the earlier gladiolus and the dry bulbs from the seed shop that are planted or potted in October.

POTATOES (W. W.).-You ask us to recommend you a change of seed, but we cannot aid you better than by saying cultivate the earliest ripening kinds; Ash-leaved Kidneys and Rylott's Flour Ball cannot be excelled. Planting Walnut-leaved Kidneys in autumn does not answer; the plants are not so forward in production as if the sets are put in in February.

WINTERING VARIOUS PLANTS (Ibid).-You must not sow Rhodanthe manglesii until next February. Zauchsneria californica, Weigelia rosea, and Forsythia viridissima, will stand out of doors safely during the winter. Calandrinia umbellata seeds so freely that you may leave it out, if on a rock work or very dry situation, and if it dies your seeds will soon replace it; with us it lived in pots amongst hardy alpines that were slightly protected by a hedge, and a few dry boughs thrown over them. Mesembryanthemums will not stand out, except a few of the very woody ones, and they only in a mild winter and very dry soil. The Portugal Laurel will thrive in any moderately fertile, light, well-drained soil.

FRUIT-TREES FAILING, &c. (P. W.).—You must look to other remedies than pruning to restore your French crab. Pruning alone will not recover a tree out of condition, neither will it irreparably injure one in condition. Perhaps your tree has penetrated an ungenial subsoil: search for, and cut through, any deep roots immediately, and apply six or eight inches of manure on the surface, to encourage the upper roots. We fear your case of pears rotting, and dropping before perfect, is referable to a bad subsoil also.-For Carrots, and similar root crops, trench and ridge your unpromising heavy soil now for amelioration by frost, turning in raw mauure at the bottom. In March break it down, and endeavour to incorporate plenty of sand, fine coal ashes, &c., with it for a foot in depth, adding a little very old manure. As to the best mode of treating fresh dung, keep a heap of common soil or sand by your manure. Let your man make a point of levelling the heap once a month,-say the first Monday of each month, for "what is done at any time is done at no time;" then soil it over three or four inches thick, and so repeat it. There is no occasion to cover daily; we think that a fermentation is beneficial, as to breaking down its texture, provided it does not rise higher than 80°. The trifling waste of gases at this pitch is, we think, compensated for by an uniform texture in the manure. There are more scientific plans, but this is a good off-hand one, and which all may practice;

WINTERING VERBENAS IN THEIR BED (W. H.).—We have seen verbenas live out a hard winter in dry poor soil. Cut them down to within three inches of the ground; scrape off a little of the surface soil between the plants, and lay an inch of rough cinder ashes all over the bed, without burying more of the plants than you can avoid,-charcoal dust for this purpose would answer better,-then stick a few dead sprays without leaves round the bed, and amongst the plants. If any thing will save them, this treatment will. Pray let us hear in the spring how you succeeded.

WINTERING THE ARUM AND AGAPANTHUS (I. B. & C. B.).—In your parlour, where a fire is kept, this is perfectly easy; and they must be watered regularly in such a comfortable place; turn them out in the sun on mild days.

FUCHSIA CORYMBIFLORA (Ibid).-Cut down the green wood to where it is hard and brown, and winter it in a cellar or any outhouse where the frost does not reach it. If you wrap a hayband all round it, that will secure it so far.

CACTI (Ibid).-These do better in good windows in winter than any where else. Keep them dry till the turn of the season.

MYRTLE (J. L. B.).-We do not clearly comprehend the condition of your myrtle, which you say would be very handsome, did "its leaves, which are not the very broadest, not continue to look dark and dry." We consider your tub (18 inches in diameter,) quite large enough, and that, from being shifted into it last year, it would be more likely to flower next season, if undisturbed. Pruning of the roots would only be useful if they were in bad order, or the plant sickly; in which case you might find a smaller tub, instead of a larger one, advisable. Did you soak the ball of the plant well before shifting it? If the plant is in high health but has not flowered, instead of cutting the roots, to cause it to flower, we would prefer placing it in the full sun, so as to harden the wood thoroughly, and try it another season; as a large myrtle in a tub, and a fruit tree in the garden are not in an analagous condition. The narrow-leaved varieties generally flower in the autumn, but seldom so freely or so beautifully as the broad-leaved kinds.

CAMELLIA (A. B.). The leaves of your camellias curl though placed in the most shady part of the greenhouse. Supplied with abundance of air, and watered two or three times a week, if healthy, they will not require shade now; unless the pots are very full of roots, and the buds swelling very fast, you give them water often enough. We think you must look to the unsatisfactory state of the roots, and

the state of the drainage, for the evil of which you complain. If so, transfer the plants, even now, to fresh pots well drained, and without injuring a fibre, remove the sour clogged soil, and replace with sandy loam and peat.

CHRYSANTHEMUM CUTTINGS (W. H. C.).-Making cuttings, three weeks before the 9th of October, is too late for obtaining good blooming plants of chrysanthemums. The check given is apt to render the flower buds abortive. Had you succeeded by great care in preventing evaporation, you would have had after all only Lilliputians for your labour-though some people like them all the better on that account. The cuttings you made on the 6th inst., will be apt to fail from the same cause. In both cases you would have succeeded better by layering the points of the shoots in small pots, and severing from the parent plant when well-rooted. We are afraid we cannot get you out of your "fix," as the plants first struck, and showing no signs of bloom, will not be of any service to you this season; but as you seem to have plenty of plants growing out of doors, and to wish to have the flowers late and fine, we would recommend you to take up some of the plants carefully, saving all the fibres, and getting a good ball, and then plant them in light soil under glass, in a pit, &c., water them well, shade and syringe the leaves frequently, and they will not greatly feel the removal. Some of the best might be potted, and treated in the same manner; and though the the lower leaves would drop, the plants might yet do for standing by-and-by at the back of a greenhouse, where only the heads of bloom would be seen. year take off some cuttings in May, or make layers in August.

Next

MANY QUESTIONS (A Lady Subscriber from the beginning).-1. We would not advise you to sow your West India seeds until February or March, and then take the aid of a hotbed, but do not be sanguine as to the quality of the plants you may obtain, nor yet of your ability to preserve them in your greenhouse the following winter. 2. Your wax-plant. we presume to be the Hoya carnosa, a beautiful thing, a native of Asia, named in honour of Thomas Hoy, who was gardener to the duke of Northumberland. It requires a warm greenhouse to keep it in good health. 3. Get a stove, by all means, for your damp greenhouse, if you have no means of heating it already, or which cannot be made effectual. Your grapes should have been ripe by this time. Their falling in such large pieces may be more owing to damp rotting the footstalks, than to any thing of the mildew disease. Do not shut your doors and windows, as you have been advised, but open them and get on a brisk fire, and that will dry the house, and promote the circulation of air. See what has been said by Mr. Fisher and others lately, on vines. 4. It is not uncommon for the Pyrus Japonica to flower in the autumn. 5. Violets flowering now will bloom on in the spring, but, perhaps, not quite so abundantly. 6. The mildness of the climate in Cornwall, causes flowers to bloom earlier, than in the northern and inland counties. 7. When balsams are wanted early, it is usual to sow them in a hotbed. When that is not the object, they will come very well if sown in a greenhouse or even outside a window-sill. They may be sown out of doors in May or June. Either your seed or your sowing must have been at fault.

WINTERING LANTANA CROCEA (Subscriber).-This requires the warmest end of a greenhouse to winter in, and to be kept almost dry from November to March; this will cause it to cast its leaves. As soon in the spring as its buds appear to swell prune it down close like a pelargonium.

OLEANDER AND PLUMBAGO LARPENTÆ (Ibid).—These must not be kept quite dry but nearly so all the winter.

MARTYNIA FRAGRANS (Ibid).—This is a weedy looking plant with very handsome large purplish flowers, well worth growing in a warm border. The seeds should be sown in February, in strong bottom heat, in a cucumber bed. They are often very difficult to force into vegetation.

PUMPKIN SEED (J. M. Lee).-We have not any at present. Your other questions we will answer next week.

STORING APPLES (X. X.).-Dried moss is better than either hay or sand for putting between layers of apples; hay gives them an unpleasant taste, and sand so excludes the air that it prevents that proper fermentation going on upon which their good flavour depends. HERACLEUM GIGANTEUM (An Artist).-The nurserymen advertizing it are respectable men, and the plant is very large; others may think it handsomer than we do.

FLOWER POTS (Dianthus).—We will see what we can do upon this subject. You are quite right in condemning the uncertain size meant by different writers when they mention 48s, &c.

ENORMOUS CABBAGE (G. Taft).-You say you have "this year grown an Early York Cabbage that weighed 25lbs." We do not doubt this weight, but we do not think it was the variety you name; of the Drum-head variety they have been grown much larger. Mr. Thoms, of the New Inn, Saltash, cut six, which weighed together 3371hs. The heaviest was 61lbs.

CALENDAR FOR NOVEMBER.

GREENHOUSE.

AIR, admit rather freely in mild weather. BULBS, such as hyacinths, tulips, narcissus, &c., pot for spring flowering. CALCEOLARIAS, keep growing slowly, in an airy moist atmosphere; seedlings, pot off, and prick into pans. CAMELLIAS, finish setting in, and the late ones may have their buds thinned if necessary. CINERARIAS, encourage the forwardest to grow in a moist, gentle heat; keep these for spring and summer, just moving. CLIMBERS, however beautiful, cut back to give light to the other plants. CHRYSANTHEMUMS, remove incipient shoots from the axils of the leaves, on the main shoots; thin the buds where too thick; encourage with manure water; and if not all in doors, have protection ready. DAMP STAGNANT AIR avoid. FIRES, light in frosty and foggy weather. FURNACES AND FLUES clean out previously. HEATHS aud EPACRISES, keep in the airiest part. GERANIUMS OR PELARGONIUMS, encourage the old

plants with a good position. Nip any luxuriant shoot, so as to equalize the strength; keep fresh potted ones just moving. PLANTS keep clear from dirt and insects, by washing and fumigation. TEMPERATURE, keep from 40° to 45° at night. WATER every thing very moderately, unless plants swelling their flower buds: for these use water warmer than the air of the house. CLEAN pots, paths, stages; tie, train, and fresh label in bad weather. R. Fisu.

FLOWER GARDEN.

ANEMONES, plant for earliest bloom. AURICULAS and POLYANTHUSES, put under shelter (see October). BULBOUS ROOTS, finish planting in dry weather; pot for latest forcing, and for plunging in flower beds, &c. CARNATION layers, finish planting and potting; secure the pot one's from rains. CLIMBERS of all sorts, plant, prune, and train. COMPOST, prepare and turn in dry weather. DAHLIAS, cut down after frost, and let the roots remain as long as it is safe; when taken up dry them in open sheds, &c., before storing, where frost and damp cannot reach them. DRESS the beds and borders, and put mark sticks to bulbs and other roots, to guide you when digging. EDGINGS, plant. EVERGREENS, finish planting, b. FIBROUSROOTED PLANTS, finish dividing and planting, b. FORK over borders, &c. GRASS, cut very close the last time; keep clear of leaves; and roll. GRAVEL, weed and roll. HEDGES, plant, clip, and clear at bottom. HOE and rake shrubberies, and bury the leaves, &c., between the plants. LAYERING, perform generally, LEAVES, gather for compost, &c. MARVEL OF PERU, take up and store like dahlias. MULCH round trees and shrubs lately planted. PLANT perennials and biennials (see October). PLANTING, perform generally. PorTED PLANTS, for forcing, plunge in the earth of a well-sheltered border facing the sun. PRUNE shrubs and trees generally. RANUNCULUSES, plant for earliest bloom. Seedlings of them, in boxes, &c., remove to a warm situation. SHRUBS of all kinds plant, stake, and mulch. SUCKERS, from roses and other shrubs, separate and plant. TIGRIDIAS, save from frost as long as possible; should not be dried till January or February. TULIPS, finish planting, b. D. BEATON.

PLANT STOVE AND FORCING DEPARTMENT. AIR, admit as freely as the season allows. BARK-BEDS, renew or turn over, to keep up the required bottom heat. DRESS the borders by forking and raking, to keep a dry porous surface. FIRE HEAT, by whatever means it may be distributed, must now be daily employed, to keep the temperature from 55° to 60°. LEAVES, keep clean with sponge, &c., and remove decayed ones. PINES require a dry temperature of 60 to 65°. PROTECT outside borders, in which forcing trees are planted, from rains and frost. PEACH, prune; wash with diluted ammonia-water from the gas-works before training. POTTED flowering bulbs and other plants introduce. TOBACCO FUMIGATION, employ, if insects appear. VINES, strip the old bark off, and clean, as the peach, before commencing to force; begin with a day temperature of 50°. WATER (tepid), apply, with the syringe on clear days. D. BEATON.

e.

ORCHARD.

PLANTING of all kinds carry out. STAKE newly planted trees for fear of wind. MULCH newly planted trees as soon as planted. PRUNING, commence. CURRANTS and GOOSEBERRIES, prune, b. APPLES, prune, m. PLUMS and CHERRIES, prune, e. PEARS, prune, e. LARGE ORCHARD TREES, prune, c. RASPBERRIES, prune and dress, FIGS, pull off all young fruit large as a horse-bean, b.; protect from frost, m. NECTARINES and APRICOTS, clear away the remaining leaves from, m. NAILS and screws, draw out superfluous or rotten ones from all wall trees, m. Pick and prepare ditto for renailing. SUCKERS, clear away, m. VINES, prune, m. ESPALIERS, prune, m. MULBERRIES, plant, b. MEDLARS, plant, b. RASPBERRIES, plant, m. STRAWBERRIES, plant, b. STONES of fruits, sow, b. TRENCH or otherwise prepare ground for planting, b. WALNUTS, plant, b. FORK out ground about fruit-trees, slightly b. R. ERRINGTON.

KITCHEN GARDEN.

ARTICHOKES, winter, dress. ASPARAGUS-BEDS, dress; attend to that in forcing. BEANS, plant, e. BEET (Red), dig up for storing; leave, or plant out for seed. CARBAGES, plant; plant out for seed. CARDOONS, earth up, b. CARROTS, dig up and store, b.; leave or plant out for seed. CAULIFLOWERS, prick out, b.; attend to under glasses, &c. CELERY, earth up. COLEWORTS, plant. COMPOSTS, prepare. CUCUMBERS, attend to in forcing. DRAIN vacant ground. DUNG, prepare for hotbeds. EARTHING-UP, attend to. ENDIVE, blanch, &c. GARLIC, plant, b. HERBARY, clean, &c. HORSERADISH, dig up and store. HOTBEDS, make for salading, &c. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES, dig up and store. LEAVES, &c., continually clear away. LETTUCES, plant in frames; attend to those advancing. MINT, plant; force in hotbed. MUSHROOM-BEDS, make; attend to those in production. ONIONS, in store, look over; (winter standing), thin; plant for seed, b. ; (Potato), plant. PARSLEY, cut down, b. ; plant some in a frame for use in snowy weather. PARSNIPS, dig up and store, b.; leave or plant out for seed. PEAS, sow, b. POTATOES, dig up, b. RADISHES, sow, in hotbed. SALSAFY, dig up and store. SAVOYS, plant for seed, b. ScorzoNERA, dig up and store. SEEDS, dress and store. SHALLOTS, plaut, b. SMALL SALADING, SOW; sow in hotbed. SPINACH, thin, &c. THINNING, attend to. TRENCH, ridge, &c., vacant ground. WEEDS, destroy continually.

LONDON: Printed by HARRY WOOLDRIDGE, 147, Strand, in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-Strand; and Winchester High-street, in the Parish of St. Mary Kalendar; and Published by WILLIAM SOMERVILLE ORR, at the Office, 147, Strand, in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-Strand, London.-October 25th, 1849.

All Souls. Mich. Term b. Botan. Soc. Lilac leafless.

T. 54-33. N.W.

Fine.

58

30

6 17

17

16 16

306

T. 55-32.

S.W.

Fine.

59

28

7 5

18

16 17

307

4 SUN 22 S. AFT. TRIN. Gooseberry leafless. 5 M GUNPOWD. PLOT, 1605. Skylark's song 6 Tu Linn. & Hort. Soc. Meet. [ceases, 7 W Hooded Crow arrives.

ALL SAINTS is a festival still commemorated by our Church, for the purpose of specially asking power from above to enable us to imitate them "in all virtuous and godly living," but it is more noted on account of the superstitious customs still observed on the night previously. This, or "All-hallow Even," is known in every rural district, and associated in each with some ghostly legend and love charm. This is especially the case in Scotland, and there, in almost each village, "Some merry, friendly, countra folks, Together do convene,

To burn their nits, an' pou their stocks,
An' haud their Hallowe'en."

Nuts and apples form a portion of each entertainment at these meetings, and hence it has been surmised that some festival of Pomona, now that summer stores are opened for approaching winter, was celebrated on this day in the Roman period of our history, and of which these eatings of fruit are a relique. In many parts of Scotland fires on some rising ground were now kindled, and a solemnity kept as a thanksgiving for the in-gathering of the crops.

ALL SOULS is still celebrated by Roman Catholics as a day of supplication for the release of departed spirits out of the purgatory which they believe to exist. Many customs are yet observed in secluded parts of England, that are now unmeaning fragments of former solemnities. Thus, a peculiar cake, always three-cornered, and called Somas (Soul-mass) cake, was an invariable part of the eatables on

INSECTS. Even this gloomy month has its peculiar insect-the November Dagger moth. It is the Diurnea Novembris of some entomologists, and the Tinea Novembris of others. The male, we believe, has not been described, but

Pray you, good mistress, a soul cake." METEOROLOGY OF THE WEEK.-The average highest temperature of these days for the last twenty-two years is 54.6°, and the average lowest temperature 38.1°. The highest point the thermometer reached on any one of the days was on the 6th of November, 1834, when it rose to 63°. The greatest cold during the same period was on the 4th in 1845, when it was as low as 22°. There were in this period of the 22 years, 78 days on which rain fell, and 76 were fine. The greatest quantity of rain which fell on any one day (we speak of the neighbourhood of London) was 1.02 inch.

NATURAL PHENOMENA INDICATIVE OF WEATHER.-When cats wash their faces, are sleepy and dull, the approach of rain is intimated. Yet other observers say that this animal foretels rain when irritable, restless, and playful. A cat turning her back to the fire is also said to intimate the coming of severe weather, but we rather think it tells that such weather has arrived, for in frosty dry air the fire scorches more readily, and inconveniences the cat whose face is towards it. Cattle looking towards the sky, and expanding their nostrils as if inhaling some smell, intimates the approach of much rain. If they gambol about their pasture, it generally precedes a change of weather.

WITHIN the last few weeks we have seen it recommended, in a gardening periodical of the first authority, to take up dahlia tubers as soon as the stems have been overtaken by the frost; and the reason assigned for doing so is, that if the tubers are left after the tops have been cut down, the buds for the next season's growth are apt to push out into shoots! Practice, however, sustained by science also, demonstrates that this is a great error, as it is well known, to those who begin early in the winter to force the roots of any new or very scarce varieties, how reluctantly they will "break," or produce buds. Moreover, many cottagers and amateurs leave their dahlias in the ground all the winter without ever experiencing

No. LVII, VOL. III.

this "break" after the tops are removed. We know that Mr. Turner, the celebrated florist at Slough, who generally runs away with the first prizes wherever he competes, recommends, like Mr. Beaton, that the tubers should remain in the ground a considerable time after the tops are cut off, alleging as his reason that the longer they are in the ground the shorter their winter is-so to speak. Our own opinion coincides with that expressed by Mr. Beaton; and the rule holds good as in all autumnal pruning. The buds for next season get more charged with the juices or sap collected by the roots, and are, therefore, more able to make a vigorous start in the spring; and, in the case of the dahlia buds, we make no doubt but,