JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 13, 1873. 



merit likely to mislead the public, I hope Mr. Luckhurst 

 will not object to my endeavouring to strengthen his hand s. 

 — C. P. Peach. 



I have never questioned the utility of the brick protectors — 

 far from it, rather would I say that all lovers of horticulture 

 are under a great debt of gratitude to the patentee for the 

 introduction of his meritorious invention, but I still think 

 protectors having wooden sides would be preferable for some 

 purposes, especially if made in handy lengths of 6 or 12 feet 

 long, with ends ; thus forming useful boxes which could he 

 lifted from place to place, or bo put on hotbeds like any other 

 box, and, in fact, form decidedly useful auxiliaries to the brick 

 protectors. 



With regard to the objections advanced by Mr. Rendle, I 

 can say from experience that boxes formed of li-inch boards 

 ore not subject to splitting ; that two coats of paint will not 

 only suffice, but if of good quality and well brushed in will last 

 Swo years ; and that, although they are not so durable as earth- 

 enware, they will last a dozen or more years without needing 

 any repair. — Edwakd Luckhubst, Egerton House Gardens, Kent. 



ROSES AND THE ROSE SEASON OF 18G9. 



The last two seasons have been very trying to Roses, the 

 last season here especially so. Orange fungus broke out early 

 in the year ; and although in the spring I carefully cut off with 

 scissors leaves affected by it, it still prevailed extensively, 

 favoured by the very warm weather and lack of rain. After 

 the leaves thus affected dropped off, new and beautiful foliage 

 came out. Alas ! a hurricane came on and beat to pieces the 

 leaves on the trees in three of my gardens, the trees near my 

 house — about 450 — escaping tolerably well. The effect of these 

 two causes has been to make many of my Roses look of a sickly 

 green in their skins, alias chlorosis. I have commenced cutting 

 away some of the worst of it, and hope by judicious treatment 

 and a genial spring to recover them. I doubt whether in the 

 last cold spring the Peach, Nectarine, and Rose trees made any 

 new spring roots at all. On the whole I have had an array of 

 fine blooms, and cut my last Roses on the first Sunday in 

 January. The buds still left are many, but too much affected 

 by frost to be of service. I do not anticipate such severe 

 weather as we have had here, because I have observed that 

 when you can skate before Christmas the weather after it is 

 usually less severe. I do not want for some time very mild 

 weather. I should like a mild February, a dry March, a Bhowery 

 April, and a sunny May and June. Next month I shall throw 

 down the molehills, which protect the roots of my plants, and 

 shall put Parkes's fork deeply into the land, to admit air to the 

 roots and quicken them. 



Old Roses. — Some have given up several old and still ex- 

 cellent Roses — namely, Baronne Prevost, Caroline de Sansal, 

 Duchesse d'Orleans, La Ville de St. Denis, Souvenir de la Reine 

 d'Angleterre, Monsieur de Montigny, a fine Rose, and others, 

 for new Roses inferior in constitution and attributes. The 

 above old Roses, and others not named, do splendidly here on 

 the Manetti stock, and I shall not give them up for new trash. 

 There was in 1S60 a most curious Rose in my garden at Rush- 

 ton which I should like to see restored — namely, Dr. Reynaud. 

 I had it from Mr. Davis, of Newbury. It was on the Manetti 

 stock, but that terrible winter killed it. It still stands in 

 M. EngSne Verdier's fist, No. 450, at If. 50c, and is thus truth- 

 fully described, " Large, very full, rose spotted with red." It 

 was in my estimate a first-class Rose ; the outline was perfectly 

 round ; the petals, spotted like a trout, were thick, well dis- 

 posed, and perfectly smooth at the edges. I told Mr. W. Paul 

 some time ago that I was ready to take a dozen plants of it on 

 the Manetti stock, and I am still ready to do so, as I do not 

 quickly form an opinion, nor quickly recede from it when 

 formed upon sufficient trial. 



Roses of Late Yeatbs. — These are the best that I have had, 

 and they are good— namely, Alfred Colomb, Lady Suffield, 

 Mdlle. Emile Buyau, Marie Eaumann, Madame Alice Dureau, 

 Baroness Rothschild, Felix Genero, Fisher Holmes, Annie 

 Wood, and Prince de Portia. 



Roses on Tkial.— Marquise de Mortemart, Souvenir de Poi- 

 teau, Vicomtcsse de Vezins, Charles Lee, and Duke of Edin- 

 burgh. I expect to find all these good. I shall probably add 

 Madame Creyton and the two Tea Roses, Adrienne Christophle 

 and Marie Sisley. The foreign and English lists sent here do 

 not give the names of the raisers of the forthcoming new Roses. 



I regret this, because the best prophecy for the future is the 

 history of the past ; and it has enabled me to select a fair pro- 

 portion of good Roses by studying the raisers as well as the 

 descriptions of the Roses. If I saw the name of Portemer, who 

 raised William Griffiths and Pierre Notting, it would probably 

 induce me to buy.— W. F. Radclteee, Dorset. 



EARLY POTATOES. 



We lately stated in " Doings of the Last Week " that a lot of 

 clearings from flower beds, &c, with some tree leaves at the top, 

 had been thrown into a bed for a couple of frames intended for 

 Potatoes. 



Our object was to put in the soil, plant the Potatoes, and as 

 they grew raise the frames at the corners ; but owing to the 

 material being wet, it has heated more than we expected — too 

 hot for Potatoes, for though early Potatoes like a little bottom 

 heat, they will not thrive or tuber well if there be too much of 

 it. About 70° at the bottom will be quite warm enough, and 

 then the bulk of the soil would be about 55°. We took out, 

 therefore, from 6 to 9 inches of the top leaves before putting in 

 the soil, and as we expect the soil will cool the bed sufficiently, 

 as soon as that is in proper order we shall plant with Potatoes 

 growing in small pots. Tree leaves alone, if collected rather 

 dry, will seldom give too much heat in a shallow bed; but 

 when collected damp, and with ; ess, &c, along with them, 

 they will often, if only from 13 ii ches to 24 inches deep, heat 

 too violently for such a purpose, and when they heat so 

 violently, the heat is less regular and continuous. A very mild 

 heat is all that is wanted. In fact, sooner than have too much 

 bottom heat, we would dispense with it altogether, and depend 

 on the heat stored up in the soil heated by the sun before 

 planting in it. Even now the sun has considerable power to 

 warm soil exposed under glass. The same remarks apply to 

 early Radishes and Carrots, though Carrots will stand a warmer 

 bed than Potatoes. Many frames of early Potatoes turn out 

 much worse than might be expected frcm the appearance of the 

 tops, merely because the roots have been kept much too warm. 

 Something could be done by extra air in fine sunny days, but 

 the Potato would have rejoiced in more heat from sunshine if 

 the roots had been colder. A slight hotbed will be of great 

 assistance, but too much may easily be worse than no artificial 

 heat at all. 



Since writing the above, the soil being just in the right state 

 — slightly warm, and having no appearance of becoming more 

 so, we planted the Potatoes, well rooted in small 60-sized pots, 

 and the tops grown from 2 to 4 inches, planting the tallest in 

 one frame and the shortest in another, so as to form a suc- 

 cession. The plants would never suffer from the moving, as 

 the soil was just in a suitable condition as respects heat and 

 moisture, and required merely to be pressed against the ball. 

 A little water at about 60° was dropped in the middle, but this 

 was seldom necessary, as the pots were all watered an hour 

 previously. We have done much with early Potatoes, merely 

 springing them in boxes, the tubers set on and covered with a 

 little rough leaf mould, and then lifting them carefully with 

 the roots adhering. This does very well, especially if the fine 

 fibres do not receive a chill, and, therefore, when planting out 

 of doors, a little dryish warmed soil over the fibres will prevent 

 anything like a check ; hut when an early return is expected we 

 think the tubering takes place earlier when Potatoes are turned 

 out with small balls from pots. 



We should like to know the experience of others in this 

 matter. We found that in general plants thus started in 

 small pots tubered earlier when grown in pots, say 12 inches 

 in diameter. Many who cannot manage a frame or pit, or 

 protection out of doors, may easily obtain a few dishes of 

 early Potatoes in pots wherever room can be found under glass. 

 We generally grow some in this way every year, and find them 

 very useful. The Ashleaved Eidneys, and especially Myatt's 

 Improved and Veitch's Prolific answer well for this purpose. 

 For pot culture they have an advantage and a disadvantage. 

 When rather small pots — say from S to 10 and 12 inches are 

 used, the tubers generally form near the sides of the pot, and, 

 therefore, when the pot is turned up without breaking the 

 ball you can pick out some good tubers without disturbing 

 the smaller ones, leaving them a little longer, as if carefully 

 done not a fibre need be injured. If, however, the growth is 

 vigorous, there is such a pressing against the sides of the pot 

 by the tubers, that some of them, though good enough to eat, 

 wrll be apt to be deformed and out of shape — a matter of im- 

 portance when it is desired to have a dish of tubers as nearly 



