490 



JOUBNAIi OF HOETICULTtJRE AND COTTAGE OABDENER. 



[ December 22, 1863. 



dude these remarks by quoting an observation made by the 

 late Mr. Errington, the respected gardener to Sir Philip 

 Egerton, Bart., of Oulton Park, Cheshire, when writing on 

 the subject of Strawberry-growing, and alluding to the 

 cutting off of the Strawberry leaves a short time after the 

 crop is gathered. 



" In an article contributed by liim to your Journal, 

 Vol. XVI., August 1856, your correspondent will find the 

 following apropos remarks: — 'Here let me advert,* says he, *to 

 the management of the foliage, on which a good deal depends. 

 The old practice of mowing off the leaves soon after the crop 

 was gathered is now universally repudiated, and most justly. 

 It classes well with the barbarous practice, once recognised, 

 of cutting down all the Asparagus possible, in order to 

 strengthen the roots. These conceits, thanks to the gar- 

 dening press, are gone by, surely for ever.' 



" These remarks emanating from one of gardening autho- 

 rity, whose energy and skill in his profession none can gain- 

 say, must certainly have some weight with ' J. B. C. P.,' 

 unless he is so wedded to his own ' barbarous system,' that 

 nothing will induce him to adopt a mUder and more careful 

 treatment of a plant producing one of our most delicious 

 fruits. — QuiNTiN Bead, Biddnlph." 



[Here let the controversy close. Strawberries may be 

 grown according to the scythe system, but very few will 

 adopt it. — Eds. J. of H."1 



MTJSHEOOM SPAWN. 

 In glancing down the advertising columns of your valu- 

 able Journal a short time since, my attention was attracted 

 by an advertisement — " How to Grow Mushrooms all the 

 Tear round without buying Spawn ;" and, thinking it might 

 be something worthy of attention, I procured the instruc- 

 tions, but was much surprised when I received them. They 

 go on to say, " In a very dry place, with well-prepared drop- 

 pings or short dung, I make up a bed just as if I were going 

 to grow Mushrooms ;" then they say, "This I spawn well." 

 Now the advertisement says, " without buying spawn," but 

 one must have spawn in the first place to spawn that bed 

 with ; and I think if a bed is to be spawned at all, why not 

 spawn the Mushroom-beds at once and save the time and 

 trouble of spawning the first-named bed, which will probably 

 take, say, six weeks at least ? I know you are ever anxious 

 for fair play on all sides : I think for the benefit of your 

 readers it should be expunged fi-om yom- advertising 

 columns " as a gross imposition." — A Journeyman in the 

 North or Ireland. 



[You are not the only one who complains of the imposi- 

 tion ; and so soon as we learned the truth, we directed that 

 no more advertisements from the same party were to appear 

 in oui- columns.] 



PROPAGATING CENTAirEEAS. 



DiEECTiONB for propagating the Centaureas have lately 

 appeared in your columns, and March is pointed out as the 

 proper time. A month ago, having to trim a candidissima, 

 I cut up the shoots into bits from 1 to 6 inches long, leaving 

 each with a joint, and all these have struck in the pots they 

 were placed in, half a dozen in each pot. They had the 

 advantage of about G0° of heat ; but some pieces which were 

 stuck in the open ground at the same time seem also to 

 have taken. Perhaps this may interest some who wish to 

 gain time. — Wellknown. 



[The Centaureas may be propapated in autumn, but, 

 then, be it remembered that the young plants have to be 

 wintered.] 



per pound or otherwise, is stated. The utility for tying 

 will much depend on the price. Cuba bast when good is a 

 capital material for tying, but it is more expensive than the 

 finest Russian mat. If we could procure bundles of the soft 

 finest bark, of which part of the Russian mat is composed, 

 without being woven at all, we might obtain fine ties at an 

 economical price. When cut from mats there is ever double 

 waste. These samples of Mi\ Allison arc tougher, and may 

 be split into much smaller threads than Cuba bast, whilst 

 they are almost as soft as the softest and most silky matting ; 

 and if the price should be moderate we would have no doubt 

 of their usefulness. Mats are so dear and littery for this 

 purpose, that for much of the flower-garden work we have 

 for years used balls of fine thread, believing them to be 

 neater and more economical. — B. F. 



AMMONIATED OXIDE OF IRON AS AMxiNURE. 

 I HAVE just received your little work on ammoniacal 

 liquor produced at the gasworks, which I consider very 

 interesting, and can bear testimony to its fertilising pro- 

 perties. Perhaps you would give me your opinion respect- 

 ing the oxide of iron used by some of the gas companies to 

 purify the gas. It contains a large per-centiige of ammonia. 

 I tried some of it upon ga-ass last year : it turned the grass 

 quite white, no doubt because used too strong. I made the 

 inquiry from the Editor of the Gardeners' Chronicle, as I take 

 both papers, but he appears unable to answer the question ; 

 but as it seems to be one you have studied, you will, doubt- 

 less, be able to enlighten me. The annexed is an analysis : — 



Water 22.60 



Organic mwtter .' •*" -Id 



Oxide and sulphide of iron 21.511 



Sanrl , 5 40 



Suliihate and carbonate of ammoniii 11.2(1' 



— A SuBscEiBEK, lAvei-pool. 100. oil 



[There is no doubt that this ammoniated oxide of ii'on is 

 valuable as a manure. We have used it on a small scale, 

 first combining the iron as well as the ammonia with sul- 

 phuric acid, thus converting both into sulphates, each of 

 which is well known as a fertiliser. The quantity of sul- 

 phuric acid required must vary according to circumstances, 

 but no harm would occur to the crops even if all the 

 oxide was not converted into sulphate of iron. Three or 

 four hundredweight of the sulphated compound thus formed 

 mixed with twice its weight of ashes, and sown by hand in 

 early spring, would be a good top-dressing for grass. We 

 used three times that quantity with good effect dug into 

 the sou at the time of planting Potatoes.] 



CHINA GRASS AND JAPAN FLAX FOR 



TYING. 

 I HAVE received this morning, from Mr. Allison, 22, Law- 

 rence Pountney Lane, some samples by post of four sorts of 

 material for tying, three of which, from their fineness and 

 toughness, would, no doubt, answer for fine tying, whilst a 

 coarser sort might do for rougher purposes. We can form, 

 however, no idea as to their economy, as the price of none. 



THE GARDENERS' YEAR-BOOK, ALMANACK, 

 AND DIRECTORY, 1864. 



By Robert Hogg. LL.D., F.L.S., Sfc. 



This is the fifth issue of this valuable manual, and much 

 the best, though its predecessors were very good. For 

 many pui-poses, and especially for reference, the first issue 

 for 18G0 is almost as valuable as the present for 1864. With 

 the exception of the main feature of a directory, which can 

 only be altered and enlarged to meet changed ch'cumstances, 

 there is a great variety of matter, and sometimes a con- 

 tinuation of the same subject from one year to another. For 

 instance : in 1860 and 1861 there was a very full calendar 

 of gardening operations, but this calendar was omitted in 

 1862 and 1863. In the four- preceding years the space in 

 the middle of the page for the almanack of the months 

 was chiefly devoted to facts in natural history, such as the 

 arrival of birds and the flowering and foliation of plants. 

 This season these twelve spaces have been devoted to a 

 kitchen-garden calendar ; and next year the same space is to 

 be given to a flower-garden calendar, to be followed by a 

 fruit calendar. Again : in 1863 there is a nice chapter, with 

 a numl)er of engravings, on the seeds of plants ; and in the 

 present issue tliere is a chapter in continuation on the ger- 

 mination of seeds. 



Besides the usual materials of an almanack as to taxation, 

 the Post-office regulations, and British monies, weights, and 

 • Equal to 3.75 per cent, of ammoDia. '^ 



