21 



JODBNAL OP HORTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE QARDENEB. 



t JaDuary 11, 1877. 



contest the palm. It alone of all flowers can snpport a distinct 

 show for itself; and Maidstone, Hereford, Exeter, Chipping 

 Norton, Helensburgh, Newton Stewart, Birmingham, Ac, besides 

 the Kose shows of the Crystal Palace, Alexandra Palace, and 

 Aqaariam, are undeniable proofs how popular, and increasingly 

 popnlar, the Bose is ; and the cloeing month of the year has 

 witnessed the auspicious beginning of a National Rose Society, 

 which it is hoped may foster and still farther increase this 

 widespread interest. 



And while speaking of gains and losses we must not omit 

 those personal losses which horticulture, like all other things, 

 has to count up as the years roll by. All who knew kind and 

 genial John Pearson of Chilwell will feel that he has left a blank 

 behind him not easily in his way filled up, and the growers of 

 Pelargoniums and Grapes will long cherish his memory for the 

 pleasure he has afforded them. Less conspicuous, but equally 

 loved by a large circle of his acquaintances, William Cutbush 

 of Barnet has passed away ; his business having been taken 

 up by his hearty and widely-respected brother, James Cutbush 

 of Highgate. The florists, too, have to lament the loss of two 

 well-known men in their day and generation — Richard Headly 

 of Stapleford, a moat successful grower and raiser, whose 

 name will ever be regarded by all who love the Auricula, Tulip, 

 Carnation, and Picotee. Headly's George Lightbody, Alderman 

 Wisby, Petronella, Sarah Headly, King James, Chancellor, Ao., 

 all testify of his success. Practically he had been dead to the 

 horticultural world for some years. Nathaniel Norman of 

 Woolwich, too, is a name which Picotee and Pink growers 

 cherish. He was the raiser of Mrs. Norman, Favourite, Lord 

 Nelson, Mrs. Williams, and other Picotees ; and of Charles 

 WiUiams and other Pinks. Lastly, all have also lost, not 

 through death but ill-health, as a grower and exhibitor, that 

 most successful cultivator of the Ranunculus Mr. Carey Tysoof 

 WalUngford. On tho side of gains we may record the re-appear- 

 anoe in the arena after an absence of sixteen years a most 

 energetic and successful florist, Mr. E. S. Dodwell, well known 

 in former years for his success as a grower of Carnations and 

 Picotees. 



Such is my retrospect. I confess the onlook does not seem 

 to me very hopeful, but unexpected things may turn up, and 

 at any rate all good gardenere know they cannot always have 

 sunshine. — D., Deal. 



POTATO CDLTURB. 



The notes under this heading on pages 403 and 510, vol. 

 xxxi., brief as they are, ought not to be let pass unnoticed, 

 because the arguments of the writers are unsound and their 

 deductions false and opposed to the teachings of experience. 



The fallacy of the early-planting system has long been 

 exploded, and the fact established that frost-bitten haulm is 

 never so robust in its subsequent growth as that which has 

 sustained no check. What happens when the haulm is out- 

 down to the ground by frost ? Precisely the same thing as 

 when we nip-oH the leading shoot of any other plant — a num- 

 ber of lateral side shoots of moderate strength spring np in 

 place of the one vigorous shoot, inducing a crop of numerous 

 under-sized tubers iaatead of a lesser number of large tubers. 

 Apart from the great risk from frost which such untimely 

 planting entails, the condition of the soil would in most years 

 be unfavourable ; and even if it were tolerably dry the evil 

 effects of trampling upon it in midwinter, especially if at all 

 of a close heavy texture, would be perceptible throughout the 

 season. 



It is just at this time of year that seed Potatoes so often 

 snstain irremediable iojury ; and as this is one of the primary 

 causes of failure, it may be well once more to describe briefly 

 the most important points of what may not inaptly be termed 

 oommon-sense Potato-culture. These points are four in num- 

 ber, and may be stated as — 1, The management of the seed ; 

 •2, The time to plant; 3, The time to take up the crop; and 

 4, Storage. Taking them in this order we have 



1, The management of the seed. It was once thought that 

 seed Potatoes must be made green by exposure to light before 

 they were stored for the winter. How or whence the idea 

 arose that the tabers could derive any beneiit from this pro- 

 cess I am at a loss to comprehend, for it is quite cartain that 

 it is unnecessary either for the promotion of ripening or the 

 keeping of the tubers, and I fail to see how else it conld be 

 thought to affect them. Throw Potatoes in a heap, and whether 

 they are green or any other colour they will sprout ; lay them 

 oat thinly and they will sprout — nothing can prevent it ; but 



then in the heap the sprouts growing long and weakly mast 

 be broken off, hence arises wasted tissue and weakly growth. 

 Laying thinly upon the seed shelves with the air and light 

 playing among them, the sprouts growing slowly are propor- 

 tionately stout, are not broken off, but cherished with jealous 

 care, and by the time they are planted are just so many small 

 plants crested with miniature leaves, bristling with rootlets, 

 and with such a reservoir of nutritious juices in the plump 

 tabers that they spring to the surface as if by magic, growing 

 with vigour and precision as though each plant were cast 

 in a common mould. It was a good many years ago that I 

 learned this lesson, but I suppose the feeling of astonishment 

 and of pleasure withal which was experienced when its full 

 importance was grasped will never be forgotten. At that 

 time I was, like " A Yocno Amateur," an advocate and prac- 

 titioner of early planting, doing all that lay in my power to 

 get the seed in the soil in January. I had done so, and am 

 afraid that I congratulated myself upon being ahead of my 

 neighbours when I went into a certain garden two months 

 afterwards and found that not a Potato had yet been planted. 

 Fortunately for me I had to repeat my visit a little later on, 

 and there were the Potatoes not only planted, but with their 

 shoots growing strongly well above the surface, without a 

 failure or break of any kind, offering a striking contrast to the 

 ragged appearance and weakly growth of my mismanaged beds. 

 Before I left that garden I learnt more about Potato culture in 

 one half-hour than I had done in all my previous experience, 

 and ever since then I have applied to practice the lesson so 

 fortunately learnt. 



2, The time to plant. This should in all cases be ruled by 

 the weather and condition of the soil. Very calmly and con- 

 fidently can we now await a favourable time, a glance at car 

 seed shelves showing us that our seed tubers selected and 

 laid on end in single layers at the time of lifting are slowly 

 yet most surely making such progress that of the two we would 

 prefer planting at the end rather than the beginning of March, 

 not much oaring if wo have to wait till April, for we know 

 that once in the soil growth will be eo strong, rapid, and cer- 

 tain as to lead to early maturity and an abundant crop, which 

 we will not subject to the slightest injury by exposing any part 

 of the growth to the influence of late frosts. 



3, The time to take up the crop. This is undoubtedly the 

 most important point of all, for upon it success or failure 

 depends in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. You may have 

 the best soil, carefully prepared seed thoroughly well planted 

 and cultivated, and yet a fine crop will be spoilt and all your 

 labour lost by a single blunder in the lifting. I have repeat- 

 edly called attention to the importance of this matter in the 

 pages of the Journal, and yet, to my very great regret, I find 

 no general improvement taking place. Lift jour crop the 

 moment growth ceases, and you will save every tuber. Is not 

 that plain teaching? Who is there so obtuse as to be unable 

 to comprehend this ? Do you wish to avoid the blight and 

 preserve the entire crop? Well, you can do so ; at any rate, I 

 am able to do so year after year, auJ I possess no special 

 advantages (rather the reverse), and therefore I fail to under- 

 stand why everyone else cannot do the same. All that is 

 necessary is simply to watch the growth of the haulm closely, 

 and so soon as you are convinced that it has stopped you have 

 nothing to do hot to dig up the tubers and convey them to 

 the storage without the loss of a single day. " What !" you will 

 say ; " dig up the Potatoes while the haulm is green and the 

 tubers unripe ?" Yep, I answer ; that is precisely what I want 

 to persuade you to do. I know it ia a stumbling-block diflioult 

 to get over, because it is so different to the old easy-going 

 method of letting the haulm decay and the crop remain in 



i the soil till late in autumn ; but I hope to convince you that it 

 1 is worthy of adoption for every reason, and to this end I can- 

 not do better than explain its beneficial effects as realised in 

 my own practice. In doing so I can write with confidence, for 

 I am telling no new thing, describing no novelty, advocating 

 no rash or untried theory. Six years ago I urged upon the 

 public the importance of early lifting, and subsequent experi- 

 ence has proved that I was right. In the year which has just 

 passed away the main crop ceased its legitimate growth some- 

 what sooner than usual, so that I was able to begin lifting on 

 the 10th of August, and to finish on the loth. It was glorious 

 weather, bat intensely hot. The soil was so warm and dry 

 that the tubers were literally thrown into the sacks " all hot." 

 The crop was a flue and most abundant one, without a trace of 

 blight or a blemish of any kind ; so that while our neighbours 

 are all complaining of the ravages of the blight (many of them 



