128 



JOURNAIi OF HORTICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



[ February 1-1, 1887. 



strike out of that list tbe sorts which are newest to me, or upon 

 which I have nut snfliciently experimented — namely, Wehb'? 

 Telegraph, Premier, lioyal Afh-Ieaf, Early Emperor, Fenn'e 

 Onwards, Russet Kidney, Beehive, and Wheeler's Milky White. 

 The last I prophesy will become one of the most generally- 

 grown sorts. I had a flue dish of it at the show, hut it and the 

 Lapstone were accidentally left out in the report. 



The following sorts I should say can be grown good upon 

 every description of soil unless the land is very stiff or wet, 

 and even then the cultivation of the kinds can be carried out 

 with success on the ridge-and-trench plan, such as I adopt in 

 this garden, and have frequently stated. An account of it will 

 be found at page 351, No. ICS, Vol. VI.. and it is advised for 

 .field culture, in Vol. IV., page 148, No. 100. I would respect- 

 fully refer Mr. James Dobbie and Mr. D. Thomson to those 

 papers, where thny will see how -very slightly I difl'er from 

 them in their good practice, which they have lately described 

 in these pages. I do not feel quite so sure as Mr. Thomson, 

 however, whether the ridge system would not be found to 

 answer, if the sets were planted 8 inches deep in February, so 

 as to allow their roots to take an early hold of the soil in the 

 ridges, even should it be of a light, sandy nature. The tubers 

 would certainly have a greater depth and bulk of soil to grow 

 in, and I find these ridges of earth maintain moisture to a 

 great extent in long-continued very dry weather. Besides, a 

 double surface of soil is gained for the beneficial influence of 

 atmospheric action, always so congenial to the well-doing of 

 Potatoes during their growth. I never, however, tried or re- 

 commended this ridge system for light, sandy soils, nor have I 

 the chance to try it in this neighbourhood, where the laud 

 varies in character from clay to loam, and from stonebrash to 

 giavelbrash. The cottagers' allotments here are chiefly situated 

 upon the latter description of soils, and there I prove the 

 effects of change of staple upon the sorts, and so procure my 

 seed from ground of a texture as opposite as possible to that of 

 our garden. I was thus soon enabled to find out that all coarse- 

 topping Potatoes are more suitable for cottagers on poor land, 

 or for field cultiv.ation, than the meagre finer-foliaged sorts. 

 Starvation of the root is made up for in a great measure by 

 the multiplication of mouths in the leaves feasting on the car- 

 bonic acid in the air. The smaller the top the richer should 

 be the soil, and rice versa ; I find most of the coarse-foliaged 

 Potatoes that I have introduced maintain themselves amongst 

 the allotment-holders, but the finer sorts soon become lost 

 with them. 



I will now confine myself to my doings in this garden. The 

 first qu.arter of April had passed away before I planted the va- 

 rieties above mentioned, and the following : — For frame or early 

 garden culture, Shutford Seedling, Early Ten -week, Hogg's 

 Coldstream Early, White-blossom Ashleaf, and Mitchell's 

 Early Albion Kidney ; for the garden, or upon good hearty soil, 

 two or three early sorts, Daintree's Seedlinc; (round), Dain- 

 tree's Seedling (kidney), Haigh's Kidney, Fortyfold, Pebble 

 White, and Lapstone ; for the farm, or upon rather poor and 

 light soil, Sutton's Finest Regent, Cheshire Pink-eye, York 

 Regent, Walker's Scotch Regent, Freebearer, Prolific, Negro, 

 White Farmer, Fluke, Gryffe Castle Seedling, and British 

 Queen (kidney). 



The haulm of the first early sorts began to turn yellow about 

 equally, e:ccepting Webb's Telegraph ; this variety lagged 

 sadly behind — so much so, that upon the exhibition table I 

 placed it among the second early kinds. Coldstream Early 

 here again was first for economical household use, Shutford 

 Seedling and Mitchell's running it very closely ; so, also, 

 did the Ten-week and Premier, hut I durst not encroach upon 

 their limited quantities. 



Amongst the second earlies the foliage of Royal Ashleaf and 

 Daintree's Seedling (round), first began to turn yellow; then 

 that of Pebble White and Wheeler's Jlilky White — indeed, so 

 long was the latter with me before its dwarfish, handsome, 

 dark pea-green foliage began to take the yellow tinge, that I 

 questioned whether I ought to call it a second early 



For the later sorts Early Emperor was first yellow in the 

 foliage, closely follov/ed by Walker's Regent and Gryffe Castle 

 Seedling, neck and neck ; the rest were nowhere, at least in re- 

 gard to the ripening of the leaves, for at the beginning of 

 September the disease began to strike the foliage with black- 

 ness. On the 10th of August my friend, Mr. J. C^ardner, 

 who stated the histoi-y of Premier Potato at page -183, No. 300, 

 wrote to me stating it would afford him great pleasure to 

 come and see my Potatoes. I answered, " Come quickly, as I 

 have lately observed some spots on the leaves, and I seem to 



scent the disease in the air ; should it increase, it would set me 

 to haymaking the haulm, and then a most interesting feature 

 to the amateur would be lost, as no judgment could be formed 

 of the differences in the foliage of varieties in their natural 

 habits of growth." My friend took me at my word, and I 

 believe we both found the day of his visit by far too short. I 

 have often been led to think since reading in No. 28'2, page 

 117, about the Dunoon gentleman, "who preferred tlie useful 

 to the ornamental, nt;u had turned his front garden into one 

 vast Potato-bed ! " — that my friend must have carried away 

 with him from here some such an impression of me as that 

 expressed by " G." 



The unfortunate year 18C6 will certainly be marked with 

 black letters by the majority of Potato-growers, in this vicinity 

 especially. Some of my neighbours lost almost their entire 

 crops ; with me the leaves of the Early Emperor were the first 

 to become spotted, on the 8th of August, and by the beginning 

 of September the foliage of the whole Potato tribe had suc- 

 cumbed. The electric state of the atmosphere, with the pre- 

 vaihng rains, kept me haymaking at the haulm when the sun 

 shone for a few hours consecutively. I explained the nature 

 of this proceeding in 18C5, in No. 2-lC, and I again derived 

 great benefit from the operation last jear. Anticipating much 

 trampling in the trenches between the ridges, I did not plant 

 any of the Cabbage tribe in the trenches ; and, contrary to my 

 custom, I determined experimentally to leave all the Potatoes 

 in their ridges, allow the disease to do its worst upon them, and 

 so find out the sorts most capable c f lesisting it. 



From the '2'2nd to the 27th of September the " lifting " took 

 place, and I had to reckon my loss from the disease altogether 

 at nearly one-third, which I could afford to spare, as I never 

 remember a finer crop. Judging the early and late kinds to- 

 gether, I computed them at qxiite Ifi tons per acre, and they 

 are finer for flavour than I ever knew them off this soil. This 

 serves to confirm the soundness of Mr. Radcljffe's advice 

 about leaving in the ground Potatoes intended for culinary 

 purposes till they are quite ripe; and, as Mr. Thomson ex- 

 pressed it about his "Ross's Potato," ray Gryfi'e Castle Seed- 

 ling, when being taken up, literally covered the ground. Let 

 an extract from a letter one of the Editors wrote me vouch for 

 the rest: — "What a very interesting collection was yours in 

 the South Kensington Conservatory last week ! I never saw 

 so large a collection of well-grown, perfect, and useful-sized 

 Potatoes." Old Betty — I beg pardon — the Early Ten-week, 

 did not produce a diseased tuber, though more of the Premier 

 succumbed than I liked to spare. The crop of Webb's Telegraph 

 was nearly all diseased, I but just managed to save a dish of 

 it fit to show. The murrain as it struck the other early kinds 

 was nothing to cause me regret. 



Of the second early kinds Royal Ashleaf stood best, and 

 with a fine yield ; of Beehive three-fourths of the crop were 

 rotten. The third worst in this list was V,'heeler's Milky 

 White, of which I lost quite one-half ; but a Fluke-looking 

 seedling of mine, which I thought much of, gave way altogether. 

 Of the Onwards, the female servants said they counted about 

 one in seven bad, as they cleaned them for cooking ; say one- 

 third in quantity for the rest. Of the field sorts, Cheshire 

 Pink-eye was quite free of disease, and Gryffe Castle Seedling 

 nearly exempt from it ; but of the Early Emperor I only just 

 saved the plate of shabby tubers I exhibited at South Kensing- 

 ton. The Kcgro, also, was dreadfully cut up, and, in fact, all 

 the coloured kinds were, or afterwards became, much more 

 diseased than the whites. I am happy to say, however, that 

 the seed Potatoes which I gi-eened upon the ground have kept 

 well, which, according to your correspondents, seems to be an 

 unusual circumstance. 



I think I have now done and said, all that I could, or can do 

 usefully towards helping to assist others, by unfulding my 

 last season's Potato enterprise. I trust I shall not be likened 

 to the rat, preaching from his pulpit of cheese, when I say that 

 we partake of the produce both boiled and baked daily, and we 

 are well provided with store Potatoes till yoimg ones come 

 again. 



Your subscribers in this neighbourhood have been into the 

 store cellar to view my crop, and especially the member for 

 this borough, who seemed to admire them for size and quantity, 

 given the space of the ground. I show visitors the ridges and 

 trenches, how the ground is well drained, the earth closets, and 

 the house-sewage tanks ; and, as Beau Brummel exclaimed 

 formerly of starch, I explain the earth closets foim "the man!" 

 Still, as our medical doctor said to me the other day, when he 

 ' came to request a view of our hygeian system of earth closets. 



