Jannary 2-1, 1867. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTDBB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



61 



FIND my recominenilation 

 of fresh tiirf soil, cliopped 

 and used at once, in the 

 cultivation of Camellias 

 and in the formation of 

 Vine borders, has excited 

 some surprise ; yet to me it is astonishing that any one 

 can doubt the superiority of fresh turf over that wliich has 

 been kept a year or more, 



'Wliy is turf soil valuable ? If only because it is fresh 

 to the plant vre ^vish to grow, any soil which has not grown 

 a Vine or Camellia ought to be as good. If it owes its 

 value entirely to the vegetable matter it contains, a mix- 

 ture of leaf mould with any good garden soil ought to be 

 as valuable. I contend that turf soil is not only fresh — ■ 

 that is, imexhausted of the food required by the plant we 

 wish to cultivate, but that its value greatly depencls on the 

 mechanical division of the soil by the fibrous vegetable 

 matter it contains. 



If this view be eoiTect, why should tm-f be kept till the 

 fibre is almost decayed before it is used ? The time the 

 soil will remain open and elastic must be reduced. If 

 turf an inch thick be cut from a rich pasture of light loamy 

 soil can it require sweetening, as it is called, before it is fit 

 for use ? 



Wliat idea does tliis term sweetening convey? I sup- 

 pose the exposing any unoxidised matters to the action of 

 the oxygen of the air. Is this very well carried out by 

 stacking the turf' in large heaps, as is generally done '.' 

 Nay, can such unoxidised matters be found in turf soil '.' 

 I have reason to think that in a rich pasture every particle 

 of soil for several inches in depth has been swallowed by 

 earthworms, and cast in its turn on the surface of the field. 

 If this were not the case it would, I think, be impossible 

 to account for the following facts. 



Turfcutters often find at various depths layers of lime, 

 ashes, &c,, with which the field has been manm-ed years 

 before. These substances have disappeared from the sur- 

 face, and are found in horizontal layers deep in proportion 

 to the time which has elapsed since they were spread upon 

 the surface. However many stones may be found in the 

 subsoil of an old and rich pasture, few wDl be found near 

 the surface : they liave sunk, and are always sinking, 

 whilst worms bring particles of soil from below them to be 

 cast on the surface. What more perfect exposure to the 

 action of oxygen could be secured than is insured by this 

 process ? 



It may be objected that some grass fields have plenty of 

 stones near or on the surface. Yes, because they are too 

 poor to breed earthworms in any quantity. Soil or turf 

 from such fields will be of little value. 

 No.8M.-VoL. XII, New Sesibs. 



Some years since I wrote an account in " our .Tottmal " 

 of a successful experiment which suggested itself to Mr. 

 Jetferson, a clever Yorkshii'eman, head gardener to — Gar- 

 side, Esq., of Worksop. Litter just as it came from the 

 stable (a mixtm'e of straw and fresh horse-manui-e'l. was 

 passed through a chopper and cut into chafi". Tliis chaff 

 mixed with good garden soil grew Pines, young Vines in 

 pots, and many other things, of which an}' man might be 

 proud. Mechanical division of the soil was here secured 

 by the fresh undecomposed straw. 



In conclusion, I may say that I do not believe any mix- 

 ture of soils will grow Camellias as strongly or as healtliily 

 as turf from a light sandy loam cut tliin. chopped, or, 

 which is far better, pulled to pieces, and used at once.— 

 J. R. Pearsox, Chilucll. 



WALK-EDGINGS FOR VILLA GARDENS. 



I WAS lately asked by a gentleman, the proprietor of a 

 rather well-kept villa garden, what he ought to do with 

 his Box-edgings, as twice witliin half-a-dozen years he had 

 nearly renewed them throughout their length, and they 

 were acain in a veiy forward state for a repetition of that 

 process. On going to see them I found they were indeed 

 anytliing but lines of beauty : yellow and sickly, made up 

 of two or three difierent varieties of Box, none of which 

 seemed to be enjoying themselves very much, full of 

 blanks, they were for the most part edgings only in imagi- 

 nation, and before long I fear they wQl not be even that. 

 "SVlien asked what sort of soil was most suitable for Box, 

 with some confusion I had to confess I ihd not Imow. 



Tliis villa garden is a rather light loam, with a gi'aveUy 

 bottom, and grows most plants beautifully. Roses flourish 

 there with only a very indifl'erent supply of manure, but 

 Box it will not grow ; yet on some soils, which to my un- 

 chemieal eye seemed exact counterparts of tliis, I have 

 seen it so luxuriant that it was almost impossible for man 

 and shears to keep it down. Not being able to doctor the 

 old, I advised the gentleman to adopt a new edging alto- 

 gether : and though Box is undoubtedly by far the best 

 live edging we have, yet there are many substitutes not 

 altogether unworthy our consideration. 



First in the list, although, perhaps, not first in order of 

 merit, stands the common Fm-ze (Ulex europreus). Pos- 

 sessing as it does in no mean degree so many of the good 

 quahties nf Box, I am sui'prised it is not oftener used : it 

 dresses well, the seed is cheap, and hardly any place seems 

 too poor or diy for it. By sowing tho seed where the 

 edging is wanted, and when up by using the sheai's a little 

 more frequently than we do with Box. it may be made to 

 assume a really neat and respectable appearance. Of 

 course it cannot well be kept below the fasluonable height 

 of 3 inches, but I have seen it dense and close at 5 or 6. 



The small -leaved Periwinkle (Vinca minor i. does very 

 well if kept fi'om straggling by pegging and clipping, and 

 the fine fresh gi-een of its foliage is a great recommenda- 

 tion. It succeeds imder shade and drip better than any 

 shrubby edging we have. 



The Herbaceous Heath (Erica herbaceai. Tliis, with 

 No, 956,— Vol. XXSVn., Old Series. 



