September 4, 1873. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



17 



and Countess of Warwick, the one silver-edged, the other a 

 silver Tricolor Geraninin, intermixed with Lustrous Lobeha. 



From Grosvenor Gate to Brook Street, and thence to the 

 Marble Arch, the beds are numerous, but not so close together 

 owing to the number of trees and shrubs. Although the plant- 

 ing is tasteful and well executed throughout, we shall not enter 

 into details. There are excellent beds of Abutilou Thompsoui 

 interspersed between Colens aureo-marginata, of Titian Gera- 

 nium, and of Mrs. Kiugsbury, silver Tricolor, edged with 

 Lobelia, and margined with Golden Feather Pyrethrum. From 

 Brook Street to the Marble Ai'ch the beds are margined with 

 .AJternanthera magnitica, and edped with Lobelia Blue King, 

 and among them are some very beautiful circles and round- 

 ended oblongs. 'SVe noticed lacthe Geranium, one of Dr. 

 Denny's raising, as especiaUy splendid both in colour and 

 size, combined with profusion of bloom. There are likewise 

 several admirable beds of Coleus. 



EXPERIMENTS IN POTATO CULTIVATION. 



We take the following account of some very interesting ex- 

 periments made by Mr. .J. T. H. Scovill, of Paris, Oneida 

 County, New York, "from the report of the Department of Agri- 

 culture of the United States : — 



Many practise the habit of selecting only small Potatoes for 

 seed, reserving those that are merchantable for sale. Others 

 plant medium-sized Potatoes, cutting only the largest. Some 

 practise shallow planting ; others plant more deeply and dig 

 them with a machine. I have made some experiments during 

 the past season to ascertain, if possible, what is the best kind 

 of seed to use. The ground used for this purpose was a clay 

 loam, and was an inverted green sward, ploughed about 7 inches 

 deep. The Potatoes were planted in hills, the rows being 3 feet 

 by 2 feet 'J inches apart, malting 5280 hiUs to an acre. The 

 number of hills planted of each kind was seventy, and the 

 result figured-out as if by the acre. The seed was carefully 

 weighed, both at the time of planting and at the time of digging, 

 and was estimated at the rate of tJOlbs. to the bushel. The 

 rows were marked with a horse-marker, and the seed covered 

 about 2 inches deep. The variety experimented with was the 

 Garnet Chili, a variety largely cultivated in Central New York 

 for local marketing. They were planted June 1st, and harvested 

 October 21st. 



One eye to a piece, anrl one piece in a hill 



One eye to a piece, and two pieces iu a hill . . 



Two eyes to apiece, and one piece in a bill 



Tiro eyes to a piece, and two pieces in a hill . . 

 Three eyes to a piece, and one piece in a hill. . 

 Three eyes to a piece, and two pieces in a hill . 

 Fonr eyes to a piece, and one piece in a hill . . 

 Four eyes to a piece, and two pieces in a hill . 



One largo Potato in a hill 



One large Potato divided, in a hill 



One small Potato in a bill 



One small Potato divided, in a hill 



Two small Potatoes in a hill 



One medium Potato in a hill 



One medium Potato divided, in a bill 



Seed end o( the Potato in a hill 



Potato, with ?ced end cut off, in a hill 



Two medium Potatoes cut in two, four pieces 



in a bill 



One medium Potato quartered, fonr pieces in 



a bill 



One lar^e Potato in a hill, with cycsdug out. . 



Field crop 



Field crop, Peach-blows 



Some Tery interesting and curious facts are observable from 

 a pernsa! of the foregoing table. The strongest seeding, in 

 almost every case, furnishes the most flattering results. The 

 largest yield were those of Nos. 9 and 19, 230 bushels to an 

 acre, and a difference of about 17 bushels in amount of seed 

 used, while the proportion of small Potatoes was unusually 

 large. The best proportion of large Potatoes was in Nos. 2, 1, 

 and .5, and largest amount in No. IS. Tw^o eyes to a piece, 

 and two pieces in a hill, and three eyes to a piece, are better 

 than two single eyes ; while three eyes to a piece, and two pieces 



in a hill, give eleven bushels less of large ones than a single 

 piece of the same number of eyes, and nearly double the num- 

 ber of small ones, as will be seen by referring to Nos. 5 and tj. 



I find this minute in n>y momorandum at the time of plant- 

 ing, referring to Nos. 5 and 6 : — " The labour of cuttiug with 

 three eyes to a piece is increased, and most of the seed ends 

 thrown out." .\lso of Nos. 7 aud 8 : — " Seed ends left in and 

 generally divided, and sometimes more than four eyes to a 

 piece, aud less care in cuttiug." No. 20, one large Potato, 

 eyes dug out. Of the seventy hills planted ten did not grow, 

 aud three of these were dug up and destroyed by fowls. I am 

 satisfied that the proportion of those which did not germinate 

 would have been less had the planting been earlier. Every- 

 thing which resembled an eye was carefully dug out, and the 

 Potatoes were all carefully examined by other parties previou,<! 

 to planting. What does it prove ? It proves the wonderful 

 vitality of the Potato, aud that the cuttiug and planting may 

 be doue with a machine without fearing any material risk or 

 damage from missed hills. 



From the result of these experiments my previous opinions 

 are confirmed, and I would say. Use good seed, aud avoid the 

 danger of a depreciating quality by feeding the small ones to 

 your stock. I usually plant a good medium-sized Potato, and, 

 if large, cut it once iu two lengthwise. The "field crop"" 

 noticed was grown alongside the above, and was, I think, less 

 than my general crop. 



These Potatoes were grown in the town of Paris, Oneida 

 County, New York, in au elevated locality, 1500 feet above 

 the level of the sea. — {Camilla Fanner.) 



USING STONES IN POTTING. 



H.ivE any of your readers ever used stones purposely iu pot- 

 ting such things as Tines and Pines? It is the custom to pick 

 these carefuUy out of the compost before using it ; and I eou- 

 fess, myself, to a prejudice against thern hitherto, though I am 

 not prepared, I must admit, to give a very good reason for the 

 same. I am led to ask the above question from au idea which 

 occurred to me the other day when examining the roots of a 

 Pine Apple plant which had been turned out of the pot. As 

 has often been observed iu the case of potted plants, the roots 

 were all at the side of the pot. Just to see how far they had 

 availed themselves of the body of soil between the stem and 

 the pot, I poked the soil out at the bottom of the ball from the 

 top. So few were the roots, comparatively, that this could be 

 done easily, leaving just the skeleton of the ball — a thick mat, 

 which had formed at the sides of the pot, and inside nothing 

 but a few strong roots radiating from the stem of the plant 

 to the outside of the ball, where they had congregated aud 

 thickened, without the least disposition to turn back and take 

 advantage of the bulk of rich soil they had left behind. I 

 estimated that the roots had availed themselves of about one- 

 third or one-half of the soil in the 12-inch pot, living prin- 

 cipally — after they had eaten the strength out of this — upon 

 the nourishment supplied iu the waterings. No doubt it was 

 observation of this kind which led to the practice of shifting 

 plants forward by inches, iu order that the roots might be ' 

 compelled to eat their way through in a regular manner ; and 

 there is reason in the practice, though in the case of the Pine 

 Apple the mauy-shift system is not a good one. Still, if by 

 any other practice we could produce the same results it would 

 certainly be advantageous. If a good plaut can be grown iu 

 a 12-inch pot upon only one-half the diet supplied, it would 

 doubtless be a much better specimen if it could be induced to 

 take it all ; and a 10 or 12-inch pot contains no more soil than 

 a strong Pine plant requires, but it is unable to avail itself of 

 the store under the circuiiistanees, and it is therefore lost. It 

 is the same with pot Vines and other plants, but to a less 

 extent, perhaps ; for the Pine has a very bad habit of warping 

 its roots round the sides of the pot, especially when it is potted 

 loosely. It would appear, therefore, that to make the roots 

 occupy the soil in the pot regularly as they progress, they must 

 be obstructed in their passage. Hard potting will do this to 

 a great extent, but it is not entirely effectual in preventing the 

 majority of the roots from establishing tliemselves at the side 

 of the pot. It seems to me, therefore, that a fair proportion 

 of stones among the soil would effectually bar their direct 

 progress. Round boulders would be too bulky, but flat slaty 

 stones, introduced vertically here and there between the stem 

 and the pot at potting time, would necessarily cause the roots 

 to break u]) into bruuchlets aud seek a more roundabout way 

 to their ultimate destination — utihsing, at the same time, the 



