258 



JOUENAL OF HOETICDLTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



f April 11, 1667. 



CULTIVATION OF TEAS. 



As an amateur gardener, having a town garden, I may as 



well state at once, that to obtain the largest quantity of pro- 



[ dnce in the smallest space of ground is to me a matter of very 



' great importance, always provided that the quality be such as 



4o give the quantity its full value. 



My garden slopes ofl from a street on a hill-side towards the 

 ■west, or ratlier north of west. On the north, south, and west 

 I am blessed with a very pretty view of the country, and I am 

 consequently well sheltered from the east. 



The kitchen garden lies on the lower portion of the slope, and 

 aominally occupies about three-quarters of an acre of ground ; 

 but what with steps properly so called — make-believe steps ' 

 breaking the abruptness of the slope — and the room occupied 

 by walks and some dear old Beech trees which have survived 

 the summer suns and wintry storms of a century and half, 

 my readers will readily calculate that the actual garden tor cul- 

 tivation is not very extensive. We (James and I as directors), 

 make the most of it for choice crops by never attempting to 

 grow Potatoes and Turnips, and thus we obtain a full supply 

 ef Peas, Beans, Sea-kale, Asparagus, Celery, Ehubarb, Cab- 

 bages, Cauliflowers, Greens, Onions, Carrots, &a., out of that 

 portion which is allotted to cropping ; but then James has two 

 erops out of it every year. 



The other portions of the kitchen garden are divided amongst 

 my own peculiar favourites — a miniature fruit garden, well 

 stocked with Apples and Pears, chiefly supplied to me by Mr. 

 Eivers ; a good supply of Strawberries and Gooseberries, beds 

 of flowers for nosegays, and a bank left purposely in rude dis- 

 order for growing Ferns. &c., known as the " Vfild bit," and a 

 pretty corner it is. 



My flower garden lies on a flat piece of ground between my 

 house and the Beech trees, and I do not like to rob that of its 

 summer pride and beauty for nosegays, though I do Uke to 

 supply flowers to my gardenless neighbours, so I lay claim to 

 some beds for Pelargoniums, Asters, Phloxes, Zinnias, &c., in 

 the kitchen garden, which looks all the brighter for the intru- 

 sion. In fact, it is as well to confess the truth at once, my 

 garden is a curious, not to say heterogeneous mixture of the 

 useful and the ornamental. Nevertheless, although it is a bad 

 subject for description, it is a pleasant place to dwell in. My 

 friends are wont to admire it, and so do I. Now, a museum 

 may be a heterogeneous collection ; but it may be very orderly 

 for all that, aud I feel fully justified in claiming the character of 

 orderly for my garden ; but this it owes to James, and not to me. 

 Weil, but the Peas. Uear readers, I thought you would 

 understand better what I may have to say about Peas or any- 

 thing else, if you could in some degree localise yourselves with 

 me : hence niy preface. I grow Peas largely, considering the 

 extent of my garden ground. Early sorts are always sown in 

 short rows ; but I care little for the small, shining, round, green 

 shot, -which are to my fancy the usual result. One dressing of 

 each kind usually satisfies me ; but this one taste I consider due 

 to the gardener for his trouble and to the variety for a verdict. 

 1 wait for three favourite kinds— Fairbeard's Champion of Eng- 

 land, Dent's Marrow, and the Gardener's Delight. All these 

 rank with me as Peas, in contradistinction to shot. Dent's 

 Marrow is the sort I prefer, but as cooks and gardeners are against 

 me, I must yield the palm to the Gardener's Delight. 



In all gardens which I have had an opportunity of seeing, I 

 iave generally found the plan of narrow rows adopted for Peas. 

 The seed-row" is seldom more than C inches wide, oftener 4. 

 My own Peas were formerly sown thus ; but James has changed 

 all that, and I have them now invariably planted wide— that is 

 to say, from 12 to 14 inches throughout the row. A shallow 

 trench is made of this width — namely, wide enough to admit 

 ihe easy working of a 12-inch rake. A line is stretched so as 

 to allow the edge on each side to be cut down clean, and the 

 trench made nearly '2 inches deep, the earth being taken out 

 with a flat square shovel. It is then raked down to make it 

 perfectly level, but as no treading is allowed in the trench it is 

 levelled and raked from the side. 



It is now ready for the seed, so the outer edge 



garden line is stretched through .... 



She centre of the trench as a guide garden line 



to the sower. This gives three .... 



well-defined lines — namely the outer edge 



two edges and the centre. Five 



rows of seed are sown. The three defined lines have the single 

 seeds dropped exactly oppoiite e; ch other. The two inter- 

 saediate rows come in the angles, as represanted in the ac- 



companying diagram. Each seed is thus about 3 inches apart 

 from every other seed. The seed is covered with soil in the 

 usual way. 



When the young plants have grown about 2 inches high they 

 are slicked with branchy young twigs about 2 feet high. These 

 small sticks are dispersed amongst the young plants through- 

 out the row, so as to catch their first tendrils and draw them 

 into good upright growth. As soon as more support is found 

 necessary. Pea-sticks, well branched and about 4 feet high, are 

 stuck thickly on each side close to the Peas, but not now in the 

 centre. These sticks, like the first short row, stand quite 

 upright. My Peas, however, are vigorous growers, aud rejoice in 

 a rich garden soil, so they accomplish a journey of 8 or 9 feet 

 skywards : consequently a third support is required, and this is 

 supplied in the form of less branched but more substantial 

 sticks, just such as are used for Kidney Beans. These are 

 placed slanting, being stuck in about 6 inches beyond the rows 

 at the bottom. The tops ai'e brought to meet thus — A. 

 ■ The object of the tall sticks is not only to enable the plants 

 to climb higher, but as the sticks are fastened together at in- 

 tervals with tarred cord, to take which a tall stick is every now 

 and then laid across, in a sloping direction, the whole mass is 

 held together, and is thus enabled to stand the brunt of almost 

 any storm which may arise. I have very often had the satis- 

 faction of seeing my Peas unmoved and uninjured, when neigh- 

 bouring gardeners in the district have been complaining that 

 their narrow and slightly-sticked rows of Peas have been nearly 

 demolished by the " nor'-westers," which ai'e aur prevailing 

 winds. 



This mode of sticking gives so much air aud room to the 

 inside portion of the crop, that no ground is lost, aud the whole 

 rows are usually well covered with a mass of fine pods through- 

 out the " length and breadth of the land." 



I have stated that my Peas grow on rich land. James is a 

 strong advocate of deep trenching, change of manures, change 

 of crop, and double cropping. He grows a large quantity of 

 Celery ; this necessitates deep work and large supplies of ma- 

 nure. By changing the Celery ground every year, the whole 

 of the cropped ground is kept well worked. The Peas always 

 succeed the Celery, consequently have the first benefit. 



My rows of Peas are about .52 feet long, aud are placed 5 feet 

 apart to allow of the wide sticking. Each row takes a quart of 

 seed. No crops are planted between. 



Now, the first impression on the mind of the reader will 

 probably be, that more ground is occupied for a given quantity of 

 Peas by this mode of culture, than by the ordinary narrow-row 

 plan ; but my experience as a housekeeper, as well as gardener, 

 tells me that I obtain nearly double the amount of produce 

 from my ground by the wide plan ! I can most unhesitatingly 

 .say one-third more, aud my own conviction is that double is 

 more nearly correct. 



The next point for consideration will perhaps b3, whether 

 sticking so many times does not cause much additional trouble ; 

 but, which is better, to stick three miserable rows once, or one 

 valuable row three times ? If the narrow rows are sticked 

 twice, as they sometimes are, then three times two are six, 

 exactly double the trouble for the narrow rows ! Of course, 

 some people may find a difficulty in procuring Pea-sticks of from 

 10 to 12 feet long ; but then they cannot grow the Gardener's 

 Delight or Dent's Marrow in perfection. I pity them.— C. P. 



BLUE PKIMULA. 



Do you happen to know the origin of the blue Primrose, or 

 rather perhaps Polyanthus, now quite banished from modern 

 gardens ? Both a neighbour and myself have been trying in 

 vain to obtain a pod of seed, but neither in the open border 

 nor under glass are we successful. This seems to point to a 

 hybrid origin, but I know nothing but a blue self Auricula that 

 could have turned the yellow of a Primrose into blue. 



Last year I removed to my flower-borders the best out of a 

 lot of Polyanthus seedlings. Strange to say some plants which 

 were thrum-eyed last year, are, as regards the majority of their 

 flowers, pin-eyed this. — G. S. 



[The smalloess of the pips and grey blue of the corolla 

 suggest that Primula deuticulata may have some title to its 

 parentage. P. venusta or others might impart such a colour. 

 —Eds.] 



Ieesine Herbstii.— Not having seen any reply respecting 

 the flowering of Iresine Herbstii in England, I enclose a small 



