cabbage, savoys and Brussels sprouts for succession. Sow broccoli and kidney-beans both in the second and in the last week, and lettuces and small salads twice or thrice during the month; sow all herbs, if not done last month. Sow vegetable marrow. Plant cauliflower, cabbages, sea-kale, lettuce; and finish the planting of the main crops of potatoes; divide and replant globe-artichokes. Propagate all sorts of pot-herbs, and attend to the hoeing and thinning of spinach, onions, turnips, carrots, beet, &c. Earth up cabbages, cauliflower, peas, beans and early potatoes. Stake up peas; blanch sea-kale and rhubarb in the open air by covering with straw or leaves.
Fruit Garden.—If vines have been neglected to be pruned, rub off the buds that are not wanted; this is safer than pruning now. Protect the finer sorts of fruit trees on the walls. The hardier orchard-house fruits should now be moved outdoors under temporary awnings, to give the choicer fruits more space,—the roots being protected by plunging the pots. Mulch all newly-planted fruit trees, watering abundantly in dry weather.
Forcing.—Continue the preparation of succession beds and pits for cucumbers and melons. Sow; pot tomatoes and capsicums for succession. Pollinate tomatoes by hand to ensure early fruit on plants intended for outdoor culture. In the forcing-houses, from the variable state of the weather, considerable vigilance is required in giving air. Keep down red spider (Acarus) in the more advanced houses by frequent syringings and a well-moistened atmosphere. Continue the usual operations of disbudding and thinning of fruit, and take care to keep up the proper temperatures.
Plant Houses.—Still sow tender annuals if required; also cinerarias and primulas. Proceed with all necessary shiftings. Propagate rare and fine plants by cuttings or grafting; increase bouvardias by cuttings, and grow on for winter flowering. Pot off tender annuals, and cuttings of half-hardy greenhouse plants put in during February to get them well established for use in the flower garden. Transfer chrysanthemums to sheltered positions out of doors, and provide means of protecting them from frost and cutting winds.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Sow main or successional crops of annuals of all sorts—half-hardy annuals in warm borders, or on slight hotbeds. Biennials and perennials should be sown before the middle of the month. Plant out gladioli, if not done, tigridias and fine stocks. Finish the transplanting of herbaceous plants by the end of the first week. Cuttings of border chrysanthemums may now be dibbled in a warm spot out of doors. Protect stage auriculas and hyacinths from extremes of every description of weather; and tulips from hoar-frosts and heavy rains. Plant out tender deciduous trees and shrubs raised in pots; plant out tea-roses, mulching the roots. Remove part of the coverings of all tender shrubs and plants in the first week, and the remainder at the end of the month. Form and repair lawns and grass walks by laying turf and sowing perennial grass-seeds; mow the lawns frequently; plant evergreens.
May
Kitchen Garden.—Sow main crop of beet in the first week, small salads every week, radishes and lettuces thrice, spinach once a fortnight, carrots and onions for late drawing, kidney-beans in the first week and together with scarlet runners in the last fortnight; endive for an early crop; also peas and Longpod and Windsor beans, cauliflowers, Early York or Little Pixie cabbages, Brussels sprouts, borecole, broccoli, savoys and kale for late crops. Sow vegetable marrows and hardy cucumbers on a warm border in the last week; sow cardoons in trenches, or (in the north) in pots under glass shelter; sow chicory for salading. Continue hoeing and earthing up the several crops.
Fruit Garden.—Disbud peaches, nectarines and other early trees against the walls; also attend to the thinning of fruit. Give occasional washings with the engine to keep down insects. Pick caterpillars from gooseberries and wall trees on their first appearance. Remove from raspberries and strawberries all suckers and runners that are not wanted.
Forcing.—Plant melons and cucumbers on the hotbeds prepared for vegetables in February, and now free. Plant out vegetable marrows and pumpkins on dung-ridges, under hand-glasses. Sow late crops of cucumbers and melons.
Plant Houses.—Turn out hardy plants about the middle, and the more tender at the latter end of the month. Sow tender annuals for succession, potting and shifting those sown at an earlier period; sow cinerarias for succession; and a few hardy annuals and ten-week stock, &c., for late crops. Pot off all rooted cuttings. Put in cuttings of the different desirable species which are now fit for that purpose. Plant out in rich soil Richardias, to be potted up in autumn for flowering. Bedding plants should be placed to harden in sheltered positions out of doors towards end of month. Towards the end of the month many of the main stock of chrysanthemums will be ready for the final potting.
Flower Garden.—Sow annuals for succession in the last week, also biennials and perennials in the nursery compartment, for planting out next year. Propagate plants of which more stock is required either by cuttings or by dividing the roots. Plant out, during the last week, dahlias, hardy pelargoniums, stocks and calceolarias, protecting the dahlias from slight frosts. By the end of the month, masses of the following plants may be formed with safety in warm localities:—pelargonium, heliotropium, fuchsia, petunia, nierembergia, salvia, verbena, bouvardia and lobelia. Protect tulips, ranunculuses and anemones from the mid-day sun, and from rains and winds. Remove the coverings from all tender plants in the open air.
Shrubbery.—Transplant all kinds of evergreens, this month and September being the proper seasons. The rarer conifers should be planted now and in June, after they have commenced to grow. Proceed with the laying down of lawns and gravel-walks, and keep the former regularly mown.
June
Kitchen Garden.—Sow kidney-beans for succession; also the wrinkled marrow peas and Seville Longpod and Windsor beans for late crops. Sow salading every ten days; also carrots, onions and radishes for drawing young; and chicory for salads; sow endive for a full crop. In the first week sow Early Munich and Golden Ball turnips for succession, and in the third week for a full autumn crop. Sow scarlet and white runner beans for a late crop, and cabbages for coleworts. Make up successional mushroom beds early in the month. Plant full crops of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoys, kales, leeks and early celery, with successional crops of cabbage and cauliflower. In the first fortnight of the month, plant hardy cucumbers for pickling, in a warm border, placing hand-glasses over them towards the end of the month. Plant out capsicums and tomatoes in sunny positions, and stake and tie securely. Pull and store winter onions, if ripe.
Fruit Garden.—Train and prune the summer shoots of wall and trellis and other trained trees. Mulch and water fruit trees and strawberries in dry weather, desisting when the fruit begins to ripen. Net over cherry-trees. Destroy aphides and other insects by syringing with tobacco water, or by fumigating, or by dusting with tobacco powder.
Forcing.—Proceed with planting melons, cucumbers and tomatoes. Keep up the necessary temperatures for the ripening of the various fruits. Ventilation will still require constant care. Tomatoes will now be fruiting freely; thin out judiciously, avoiding excessive pruning at one time. Attend to the gathering of fruit as it ripens.
Plant Houses.—These will now be occupied with tender greenhouse plants and annuals, and the more hardy plants from the stove. Shift, repot and propagate all plants that are desirable. Sow fragrant or showy annuals to flower in pots during winter; and grow on a set of decorative plants for the same object. Continue the final potting of chrysanthemums as the plants become ready.
Flower Garden.—Plant out dahlias and other tender subjects, if risk of frost is past. Take up bulbs and tuberous roots and dry them in the shade before removing them to the store-room. Fill up with annuals and greenhouse plants those beds from which the bulbs and roots have been raised. After this season, keep always a reserve of annuals in pots, or planted on beds of thin layers of fibrous matter, so as to be readily transplanted. Layer carnations and pipe pinks in the end of the month. Keep the lawns closely mown.
July
Kitchen Garden.—Watering will be necessary in each department, if the weather is hot and dry. In the first week, sow peas for the last crop of the season; also Longpod beans and French beans. In the last week, sow red globe or Chirk Castle turnip for a full winter crop, spinach for an early winter supply and Enfield Market cabbage for early summer use. Sow endive, for autumn and winter use, in the beginning and end of the month; also successional crops of lettuce and small salads. Make up successional mushroom beds. Plant full crops of celery, celeriac, endive about the middle and end of the month; late crops of broccoli, cauliflower and coleworts in the last week. Gather and dry herbs; also propagate these by slips and cuttings.
Fruit Garden.—Continue the pruning and training of wall and espalier trees, and the destruction of noxious insects. Pot strawberries for forcing next winter, and make new beds out of doors as soon as well-rooted runners can be obtained. Propagate the different sorts of stone fruit trees by budding on other trees or on prepared stocks. Gather fruits of all kinds as they ripen.
Forcing.—Prune melons and cucumbers, giving air and water and maintaining heat, &c. Continue the routine treatment in the tomato-houses. Feed the plants artificially as soon as good crops are set; do not wait for signs of distress. The forcing-houses ought to have abundance of fresh air and moisture where required, along with the necessary heat.
Plant Houses.—Ventilation will be necessary to keep down excessive heat; and attention must be paid to potting, shifting and putting in cuttings, and giving abundance of water to the potted plants, both indoors and out. Sow seed of herbaceous calceolarias; shift heaths, if they require it; cut down pelargoniums past flowering, and plant the cuttings.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—Take up the remaining tuberous roots, such as anemones, ranunculuses, &c., by the end of the first week; fill up their places, and any vacancies that may have occurred, with annuals or bedding plants from the reserve ground.
