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JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ February 17, 1870. 



2 feet between each plant. I have fruited forty in the same 

 house, but nothing is gained by crowding. The bed in the 

 fruiting stove is 24 feet long; and C feet wide. To grow plants for 

 a house of these dimensions a pit 18 feet long, with a pluDging 

 space i feet wide, is wanted, 6 feet by 4 being for suckers, and 

 12 feet ly 4 for advanced or succession plants. My pit is 

 larger than this, and is divided by a wooden partition ; one 

 end, where the plunging material is nearer the glass, I use for 

 the suckers. 



I agree with Mr. Record that for growing the plants to the 

 fruiting stage, nothing is better than Oak leaves for bottom 

 heat, and a lining of stable manure for top heat, if in frames. 



The foregoing syEtem I have practised here for seven years, 

 but I confess the average of my Queens has been 24 lbs. ; in 

 18C8 I had ten fruit each weighing upwards of 3 lbs., and one 

 of 3} lbs. These had small crowns — what I call Bmall is a 

 crown of from 2 to 3 inches for a 3 lbs. fruit — and I consider 

 a 8 lbs. fruit with a crown a foot long anything but what it 

 ought to be. 



I again agree with Mr. Record that age has not much, if 

 anything, to do with the size of the fruit ; for I have had plants 

 which refused to fruit in from eighteen months to two years, 

 but they were none the better for the long timo they had taken, 

 the fruit being, if anything, smaller than that from plants not 

 grown so long.— C. M. McC. 



ROYAL ASHLEAF POTATO. 



I will cnce again, with your permission, disclaim any right 

 to my name being prefixed to this well-known Potato, as in 

 page 58, by Mr. Fenn. In so doing I know well that he has 

 merely copied the advertising seedsmen of the present day, so 

 eloquent about Potatoes ; they are, of course, not authorities 

 with regard to nomenclature, so that I have not thought it 

 worth while to clear myself of the indirect charge of appro- 

 priation. It is quite a different matter with Mr. Fenn, who is 

 a classic in Potatoes, and should not be allowed inadvertently 

 to quote an error without friendly notice. The truth is, the 

 Royal Ashleaf Potato is not mine, nor was its creation ever 

 claimed by me. Its history, which I published when it was 

 first sent from here (Sawbridgeworth), is as follows : — 



Some year or two prior to 1860 I was on a visit to the late 

 James Ashwin, Esq., at Bretforton Hall, near Evesham j he 

 was an enthusiast in horticulture and agriculture, but at the 

 time I refer to he had a great passion for orchard-house culture. 

 On passing by some Potatoes he asked me if I had ever raised 

 any seedlings in the course of my practice, and added that 

 those I saw at our feet were seedlings raised from the old Ash- 

 leaf, and that they might prove of value. He had distinguished 

 them as A, B, and C, and told me I was welcome to some 

 tubers ; these I received iu the autumn. I found A was quite 

 a curiosity, a true Ashleaf in miniature, not growing more 

 than 6 or 7 inches high, and bearing a cluster of beautiful 

 tubers. In the wet summer of 18G0 this charming variety 

 perished from the disease. I need not say how much I now 

 regret it, for it would by thi3 time have been in every good 

 garden as a winter Potato to grow in pots in forcing houses. 

 B and C proved most robust and distinct, and one day attracted 

 the notice of Mr. John Spencer, then of Bowood, who was 

 walking with me. I at once called a workman to examine their 

 roots, as they looked so promising. The end of it was our 

 decision in favour of B, as the tubers were more regular in 

 shape than those of C (I am quoting from memory). B was 

 accordingly selected as a good Potato, and as Mr. Ashwin was 

 deceased, I decided to call it the Royal Ashleaf, fearing that 

 the relatives of Mr. Ashwin might object to the prefix of his 

 name. 



With regard to my own choice of Potatoes, it has settled 

 down to very narrow limits. My first crop is the Early Ten- 

 week, the oldest and the earliest of all. 2nd, the Old Ashleaf 

 (true), the finest in flavour of all the race, but rarely found 

 pure. 3rd, the Royal Ashleaf. 4th, the Lapstone, or' Haig's 

 Kidney. This sort I received from Messrs. Backhouse, of 

 York, more than twenty years since. These four kinds supply 

 my table from May till May in the following year, and are 

 always good. Mr. Radclyft'e has kindly sent me a few of the 

 Yorkshire Here, and also some of Pebbly White, both of the 

 Lapstone race, which is so remarkable for its fine flavour. It 

 may be to the peculiar soil here that the excellence of the 

 above kinds is owing, for in tone cases it is sandy loam resting 

 on sand, clayey alluvial loam resting on gravel, and the same 



resting on the boulder clay, all highly calcareous. I have 

 tried many kinds, nearly all of which have proved failures 

 with respect to flavour, and I have come to the conclusion that 

 all those who love a good Potato should try several kinds, and 

 ascertain which suits their soil beforo they cultivate any sort 

 to a large extent. 



Mr. Radclyfle's calcareous soil seems to suit the Kidney 

 Potatoes, and those who can grow them well would not eat any 

 round variety for a continuance. 



The Early Ten-week is in use here for about a fortnight, and 

 then adien to the Rounds. It is strange to see the Early Rose 

 Potato puffed as it was a year or two ago in America. Neither 

 that nor the Early Goodrich are early, second early, or eatable, 

 when grown in my soils. I strongly suspect that the dry, hot 

 American climate will not admit of the cultivation of our fine 

 Ashleaf varieties, or they would never boast of such an inferior 

 sort as the mis-named Early Rose, so insipid, so late, and so 

 coarse, that one must be in a state of Potato hunger to eat it. 



The Ashleafs, as far as I can learn, seem to attain to great 

 excellence in calcareous soils, for in the neighbourhood of 

 Bath the market gardeners sell their baskets of Royal Ashleafs 

 more readily than those of any other kind ; to use my inform- 

 ant's term, " it was a fortune to them." — Thos. Rivebs. 



TANKS FOE BOTTOM HEAT. 



I have seen several questions asked in " our Journal " as to 

 the best way of making tanks for bottom heat, and have strongly 

 dissented from the answers given. I have four tanks now at 

 work, and have had five, but with my present experience I 

 would never make another. I think they answer no purpose 

 which cannot be as readily effected by pipes at leEs expense. 

 But the most serious objection to tanks is the constant trouble, 

 annoyance, and expense they occasion. If built of bricks and 

 cement, the constant contraction and expansion caused by the 

 change of temperature will always crack them, and this gene- 

 rally occurs when it is rno3t inconvenient to repair them. 

 After many repairs I did away with one tank of this kind, and 

 covered two others with lead ; this is nearly twenty years since. 

 Lead is expensive, but at least I argued it would be safe. Here 

 I was mistaken, as all know who have had to do with a lead- 

 covered roof. I think one of these tanks has been repaired 

 every year once, and often twice, since it was made, and the 

 other nearly as often. The expansion of the lead cracks the 

 solder. About the same time I had one iron tank made, or 

 rather two wide cast-iron troughs connected together by pipes. 

 These I thought were cast unnecessarily strong ; but it was a 

 good thing they were Btrong, for I have been quite surprised at 

 the way they have rusted. Finding they did not work well 

 lately, I had them examined, and found the return pipes con- 

 nected with them almost filled with oxide of iron. 



Now, I contend that the heat from these tanks is in no way 

 superior to what I obtain from beds heated with pipes. The 

 common idea is that a bed over a tank is damper than one over 

 pipes, but this is quite erroneous. If yon cover a tank with 

 slates, a bed of leaves or soil resting npon them will become as 

 dry as dust if unwatered, as I can show anyone, and the same 

 with pipes. But even if this were not the case, evaporating 

 troughs on the pipes would produce the same effect. To any 

 one thinking of building a tank for any purpose except the 

 growth of aquatics I say, Don't. With a tank, the more regular 

 the temperature at which the water is kept the less danger of 

 leakage ; and as a tank for the growth of plants is never very 

 hot and ought never to be cold, lead ought in such a case to 

 last for many years. But a tank which is sometimes cold and 

 at other times filled with almost boiling water must crack, 

 whether built of cement or lined with lead. — J. R. Pearson, 

 Chihcell. 



DOES THE ELM IN OUR WOODLANDS 

 PRODUCE SEED.' 

 Theee has been an argument in " Science Gossip," between a 

 lady friend of mine and Messrs. Holland and Britten, concern- 

 ing the Elms of our woodlands (Ulmus eampestris), perfecting 

 their seeds when growing in cultivated soil. Messrs. Holland 

 and Britten have made it appear that this has never been the 

 case, and the former says, " And very seldom show any signs 

 of fruiting at all." The author of the fact informs me that 

 she has frequently noticed instances of the Elm fruiting when 

 growing in cultivated soil, and she has written to ask me if I 



