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Garden Calendar.
conservatory and pot plants.
The collection of plants under glass should,
once a year at least, receive a thorough over
haul ,and this work is always more effective when
done early in spring at a time when most plants
begin to put on a liitle growth. The contents
of the conservatory and frames should be out
side if possible on a mild or calm day and the
shelve!? benches and sashes of the structure may
then be scraped and cleaned of dirt and fungus,
the floor and the benches Bhould be raked over
and fresh cinders, or other Buit&ble material in
which to Btand the pots, may be wheeled in and
spread, and the work finished with a strong
fumigation. After this the structures of what
ever kind they are will be perfectly free from
insects, mildew and fungus and the plants will
make clean healthy growth. After this repot
ting should begin among any plants that snow
signs of starting, such as gloxinia, achimones,
eucharis, dipladenia, bogoniaand other tuberous
and herbaceous pot plants. " Care is necessary
in potting some of fhe plants not to increase the
size of the pot as they bloom bettter in sizes in
which their roots are confined to a limited space
such as fhd 6TLctft?!S ajnszonica aad dipla
denia. In most instances the plants should
be simply turned out of their pots, and the old
soil shaken from them, replacing them in fresh,
perfectly clean and porous pots. This is a
good season of the year to re-pot ferns. If the
fronds have become damaged or withered they
should be cut off evenly ; a young growth will
soon follow. A variety of cuttings for pot cul-
ture as well as for beading out in the summer
should now be put into light soil and placed in
the greenhouse or hot bed. Some of the most use
ful arefuchBia, petunia, double and single- fringed
heliotrope, laut&na, verbena, etc., 'and from
pieces of roots can be raised the best varieties
of bouvardia, perennial phlox, astilbe, japonica
and all other plants of thiB character that in
crease at their base in the ground.
THE FLOWER GARDEN.
Continue to prune and plant roses with as
little delay as possible, as they are beginning to
make some growth. Roses grown in pots may,
however, b9 planted out with perfect safety
during the next conple of months with the best
results. Divide and transplant perennial
phlox, chrysanthemums, pyrethrum, penste-
mons, cannas, eta, into good deep soil,
as, like the roses, they are strong rooting
plants, and must have plenty of nourishment, 5
good, vigorous plants are to be grown. Early
and late Cape bulbs, also tigridias, lilies and
gladiolus, should be planted, covering the
bulbs about six inches deep and marking each
with a neat stake, to which the flower stem can
be fastened to prevent it from blowing down
while in bloom. Grass lawns should be com
pleted as early in the spring as possible, so that
the young graBs will have time to establish
itself before the advent of hot weather. There
are no lawns or grass plots so fine as those
made from the British grasses in a proper
mixture, with or without clover, as may be
desired ; and when the surface is made fine and
thoroughly cleaned from weeds, there is no
difficulty whatever in producing a lawn at this
time. Buffalo grass is another plant that is
well suited to form a lawn in a dry, poor or
sandy soil, where the British grasses would
hardly thrive, but as there is no seed of this
grass to bo obtained, it is planted in small pieces
at intervals of Am. or 9in. apart, which are
simply pressed into the surfaoujipt more than
lin, deep, this grass, however, requires some
heat, and will not grow much until wa xn
weather begins, when it will soon spread over
the surface and strike deep root. Edgings of
whatever kind are wanted should be planted and
established ; the cuttings should be put
in a bed of light soil, where they will
soon strike, and they Will be found very useful
when filling up any gaps that are certain t
occur from time to time in the older edgings, A
line should always be used when planting an
f edging or in clipping, so that the work may be
done perfectly straight. Gravel walks should
bs cleaned up and raked to prevent weeds
growing upon them, and all drains, either on
the surface or below, ehould be kept open so
that excess of water will be carried away
rapidly before it has time to saturate the sur
face, and thus spoil or sodden the soil. Con
tinue to plant out all kinds of trees and shrubs,
using discretion in their position and the dur
ance apart at which they stand, Tall, robust
gro wers should occupy the centre or back line,
while the dwarfs stand in front, and the proper
Ws is a mostta'vbrofel e time <or eowing
sector taam xroM, excepting ufewlato or
or small seeds gersnnatomore surely and have
a longer period to mature than when sown
later in the year. In fact, in the warm dis-
trictsit is not safe to delay the general sowing
longer than the next threepr four weeks, or it
is possible (hat sudden drought may prevent
the work being done satisfactorily. Onions,
leeks, criery, carrot, parsnip, beet (both zed
and silver), Balsafy, spinach, artichokes and
potatoes should be got in; without delay.
In the north the early planting of
potatoes is very important, as even with the ad
vantage of an early kind it often happens that
a sudden drought may set in and injure the
crop. Forward crops of potatoes that are well
overground should be earthed up as and
should there' be danger of spring frosts the
growing tops can be easily and quickly shel
tered by placing some bracken fernq Alnng the
row ; they wmbieak the ill effects of frost. For
an early crop potatoes of the Vermont and
Early Rose types should be chosen.
Large sowings of peas should now be made ;
the Marrowfat or large wrinkled varieties are
preferable. Carter's Strategem, Telephone,
Duke of Albany and Y eitch's Perfection are all
fine large-podded sorts of the best quality. The
Yorkshire Hero is also another excellent kind
when kept in a pure state. In order to get a
heavy crop of peas, a space of at least two or
three feet is necessary between the rows, and
the help of stakes or brushwood will always
double the yield. The sugar or edible podded
peas will be found mi excellent substitute for
French beans, and owing to their hardy nature,
these peas can be grown fit for use months
before any beans are ready. When preparing
ground for any permanent crops in the kitchen
garden, let the ground be heavily manured
so that its fertility will last for years. Rhu
barb, asparagus, sea kals, Horse-radish, etc.,
are crops of this class, and after once being
planted it is difficult to enrich the soil to any
great depth without injuring and disturbing the
roots. A good and regular top dressing with
stable manure will be an excellent means of
keeping up the fertility, the manure is also a
great help at this time as it warms the soil and
causes growth that otherwise is quite dormant.
Fresh seeds of both rhubarb and asparagus will
produoe good roots if sown now iu a bed and
planted out next autumn, but roots of any
special quality can only be increased by divid
ing the old crowns into smaller sets.
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