November 13, 1S73. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



367 



i 



LEAF SOIL. 



vS?</f^ suliject connected with tlio cultivation of 

 plants has given mo so much trouble as the 



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\-isabiIitj',orotherwise, of using leaf mould 

 It was a moot question in my mind for many 

 vears, my own experiments being uniformly 

 unfavourable to its employment, whilst the 

 testimony of others varied in the most re- 

 markable manner. I have seen plants grow- 

 ing with great vigour in a compost one-third 

 or one-fourth of which was leaf soil, and I 

 have seen potted in soil exactly similar in appearance 

 plants which looked wi-etched. Once, many years ago, 

 I was shown a lot of Calceolarias which were potted in 

 a compost chiefly of leaf mould, and which died-off as 

 if they were poisoned. 



In this case I had little difficulty in making out the 

 cause. On inquiry, I found the gentleman had discovered 

 in a thick wood a rich bed of leaf soil, which he had 

 brought home and used at once for potting. Of course, 

 in this case, a sour mass of vegetable matter was sure to 

 prove unfit for the growth of tender plants. But my own 

 leaf mould, made from leaves previously used for hotbeds, 

 was repeatedly turned over till it had the appearance of 

 rich black soil, and yet I never found any class of plants 

 grow any better when it was mixed in the soil in which 

 they were potted. So satisfied was I that leaf soil was of 

 no use in the garden, that I h.ave carted loads of it into the 

 farmyard for the cattle to trample it into the manure, 

 hoping it might at least benefit the Turnips. 



There are few good gardeners with whom I have come 

 in contact who have not been invited to give their opinions 

 on this subject, and the majority of them have expressed 

 their opinion as being, like myself, unfavourable to its 

 employment. The few who spoke highly of it gave me 

 no clue to the solution of the difficulty. 



Here again I got on a wrong scent ; the idea struck 

 me, it must bo the different leaves which had been cm- 

 ployed ; mine were chiefly Oak leaves, perhaps the q'aan- 

 tity of tannin contained in them was the reason they did 

 no good — indeed, appeared to do harm. But, again, of 

 the few who spoke highly of leaf soil, some said perliaps 

 the reason theirs proved so useful was that it was made 

 of good Oak leaves, .\gaiii I was at fault : I gave my 

 experience in the .Journal (this was some years since), and 

 I think my opinion was shared by most of tliose who 

 took up the subject, but not a ray of light was shed on 

 the question. 



For years I eschewed leaf mould, tiU on examination 

 of the soil in which Camellias were, and are, grown in 

 Belgium, generally supposed to be peat soil, I found it 

 was nothing but leaf mould and sand, without a particle 

 of peat or any other soil in it. Here was the whole 

 rjuestion rc-opencd. It is now proved that leaf soil is 

 good or bad according as it has been prepared — that is 

 to say, whether it has been fermented, or whether it has 

 been the product of slow decay, " creraacausis." 



Tliose who know anything of chemistry are aware that 



No. K9.— Vol. XXV., New Series 



the products formed during fermentation, where a large 

 mass of vegetable matter undergoes change with little 

 access of oxygen, differ greatly from those formed during 

 the gradual'and slow decay that takes place when small 

 quantities of similar matters are fully exposed to air and 

 moisture. But the effect of different modes of decay in 

 producing a more or less valuable manure from animal 

 and vegetable matter is, I think, very httle understood. 



Many farmers know, or believe, that when a heap of 

 manure has heated itself dry, and has become what is in 

 this neighbourhood called " fire-fanged " (an old Saxon 

 expression, intended to convey the idea of somethmg 

 being caught or taken by fire), it is much injured. Then, 

 again, gardeners think manure that has been employed 

 in growing Mushrooms of very little value. This may 

 easfly be accounted for by the loss of nitrogen where the 

 crop produced has been considerable, but where the crop 

 has been trifling we must seek some other explanation. 

 I feel sure the whole subject merits further investigation, 

 and would recomniend it to the notice of the Scientific 

 Committee of the Eoyal Horticultural Society. 



Why should a mass of mould produced by the gradual 

 accumulation of leaves in a wood be sour and unfit for 

 the growth of plants? In other words. What is soiu' 

 soil? It cannot be for want of oxidation in this case, 

 unless sunlight is necessary to the process. It is quite 

 certain that sun, air, and gradual decay are necessai-y for 

 the production of good leaf mould. _ 



In Belgium the preparation of leaf soil is a speciality 

 undertaken by persons who sell it by the bushel to nur- 

 serymen. The leaves are laid in long heaps only a few 

 inches thick, so that they may not heat, are turned over 

 regularly till much reduced, and then put into largo 

 ridges which throw off the wet. This soil mixed with 

 sand is employed for every kind of plant the Belgiaris 

 cultivate in the'ir glass houses, and costs more than their 

 fuel every year. The soil near Ghent is a deep fine sand, 

 and its horticulturists have not the choice of soils we 

 have, but this mixture answers every purpose. The trees 

 I saw gi-owing in Belgium were mostly Poplars, Ehns, 

 and Alders. It is an interesting question— if mould from 

 those trees is better, or worse, than that made from the 

 leaves of the Oak.— J. B. Pearson, Chilwell. 



PEIMKOSES, COWSLIPS, POLYANTHUSES, AND 

 OXLIPS. 



Unijek these names I include all the garden varieties 

 of three species of Primula indigenous to Great Britain, 

 and which are distinguished by botanists as P. acaulis, 

 P. veris, and P. elatior. 



Among the old-fashioned border flowers again becoming 

 jiopular there are none that receive greater attention than 

 Primroses and Polyanthuses. Long ago they were among 

 tlio delights of almost every garden, and the memories 

 of them still linger in the cottage tlowsr borders, whero 

 simple beauty has always an abiding place ; but in the 

 parterres of tho mansion they are only now beginning to 

 re-occupy their ancient place. It is chiefly owing to the 



No. isn.— Vol. L., Old Semss. 



