THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



271 



walk, not certainly to grovr vines in. 

 Look here— for every spadeful of 

 loam, there is at least a spadeful of 

 broken bricks, flint stones, and sandy 

 rubbish. Ah ! bones have been used 

 pretty freely, and the roots of the 

 vines are matted about them, and 

 they run in a thick network among 

 the bricks, and sand, and nodules of 

 old mortar. This is the magic, then, 

 — the vine grows fat on starvation. 

 Would such a result be obtained with- 

 out the use of abominable sorcery ? 

 ]?^o! as well e'spect a man to grow 

 strong and hale on ship's biscuit, oat- 

 meal porridge, or any similar coarse, 

 hard, plain fare, as for vines naturally 

 to luxuriate in such unmitigated rub- 

 bish. Just as rich living, luxurious 

 habits, shelter from the exhaustive 

 influences of fresh air, and a renun- 

 ciation of fatigue as wasteful to the 

 frame, promotes the health and 

 strength of the human system, so 

 deep, damp, unctuous borders, full of 

 good living, must be good for vines ; 

 and we had better have them fail 

 through circumstances we cannot 

 trace or control, than resort to witch- 

 craft to ensure their growth in mix- 

 tures of lime, loam, and sand, and 

 brick-bats. Mr. Successful says his 

 border is only two feet deep ; below 

 that it is as hard as a rock with con- 

 crete. He says the bottom slopes 



away to a drain, so that water cannot 

 lodge among the roots. He says, 

 further, that if the border wants en- 

 riching, he can mulch it with dung, 

 and the roots will get enough by 

 percolation to keep them in the fullest 

 vigour. He says, it is air the roota 

 want more than water, warmth more 

 than nourishment ; for his vines can 

 extract goodness out of old bones, 

 lime rubbish, and burnt clay, just as 

 goats extract nutriment from withered 

 leaves and dead twigs on the barren 

 common. Seeing is believing, cer- 

 tainly ; but who will believe that the 

 splendid appearance of Mr. Success- 

 ful's vines is to be attributed to the 

 causes he cites as sufficient? Not 

 we. Garbage has not been recom- 

 mended in vain : the vine is a gross 

 feeder. We shall go on in the old 

 track, and hope to discover the causes 

 of failure elsewhere. Such are the 

 experiences and cogitations of Mr. 

 Slowcoach, the unsuccessful vine- 

 grower. Perhaps further reflection 

 and observation may convince him 

 that there is really no mystery in the 

 culture of the vine, and that, so far 

 from sorcery being available, prac- 

 tical common sense is much to be 

 preferred. We will at least wait 

 patiently to see if his opinions undergo 

 a change in the matter. 



TSE-TO-TUM. 



HOW TO EORCE FEEXCH BEA:N'S. 



PEEiJfCH beans are generally grown 

 in pots, and sometimes in boxes ; but 

 the best of all plans is to grow them 

 in open beds, nicely warmed, and of 

 sufficient extent to give a regular 

 succession of produce. We will, iiow- 

 ever, first consider their cultivation 

 in pots ; and here, as in almost every 

 other thing, gardeners difl'er in their 

 practice — some obtaining fine crops 

 in a very off-hand way, while others 

 only attain the same object by a com- 

 paratively laborious and unnecessary 

 process. These parties sow their 

 beans in 4-inch pots, five or six beans 

 in each pot, and when they have 

 attained sufficient size (got the first 

 rough leaf)j shift them into the larger, 



or fruiting pot. For this purpose 

 11-inch pots are generally used ; but 

 for a crop in the depth of winter, if 

 good soil is used, 8-inch pots will be 

 found sufficiently large. The mode 

 of procedure is this : — Having drained 

 the pots, place in the bottom of each 

 a layer of good rotten dung, and then 

 fill them two-thirds full with prepared 

 compost. If the soil is warm, and 

 your plants in a fit state, you may 

 proceed to pot them ab once, keeping 

 the seed leaves or cotyledons level 

 with the rim of the pot ; but if not, 

 place the pots in the house until 

 the soil gets warmed, and then you 

 may proceed with the potting. The 

 soil should be pretty dry at the time 



