244 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 8, 1669. 



the winter like Tamips, for wbich it to a certain extent eervea 

 as a substitute. 



In the experinaents which I have given an account of, there 

 is one important fact which requires special notice, and that is 

 the influence exercised by the conditions under which we 

 operate — conditions of air, moisture, and dryness, heat and 

 cold, aspect, &c., which collectively constitute ohmate ; also, 

 of soil both chemically and physically, subsoil, <S;c. — all circum- 

 stances that are extremely variable, and which, in conjunction 

 with climate, influence the life and characters of living things. 



Soil is not uniform in its influence, for the latter is regulated 

 not only by the chemical composition of the soil, but by its 

 physical characters, and these may be modified in a thousand 

 different ways ; hence in two soils, supposing these to be per- 

 fectly alike (and that cannot be), very different results will be 

 obtained if the one be cultivated and the other not, or if both 

 be cultivated but in a different manner. It is a well-known 

 fact that if on two adjoining pieces of land the same descrip- 

 tion of plant is grown, frequently the results obtained are very 

 different, and this is especially the case with the Vine. From 

 the same kinds of Grape cultivated in the same manner, the 

 wines produced are occasionally totally unlike in quality and 

 keeping. I repeat, then, that the mode of cultivation, by modi- 

 fying the conditions in which the plant is placed, exercises a 

 considerable influence on the crop produced. This fact is 

 placed beyond doubt by the experiments I have related, and 

 which have resulted in such changes in the Wild Radish as 

 those shown in the accompanying figures. This plant has 

 grown from time immemorial, and in large numbers, in the 

 fields, but had never produced anything different from what it 

 does at the present day — namely, comparatively low, much- 

 branched plants with small pods and white, slender, fibrous, 

 dry, almost woody roots, yet in only four generations and five 

 years it has become so changed as to constitute a new economic 

 plant. But, as already remarked, the results obtained in Paris 

 and in the country were different in their details, though 

 similar as a whole. In the country, in a strong calcareous 

 clay soil (Wheat land), the short forms of root predominated, 

 indeed, were almost the only forms produced, whilst at Paris 

 in a very light, warm, and deep calcareous soil only long, white, 

 or somewhat purphsh roots, of v/hich Ji;i. i may be taken as 

 an example, were obtained. These facts explain why, when 

 sowing the same seeds, different results occasionally follow. 



Having shown how I transformed the Wild Eadish into a 

 domestic plant in four generations, I will point out the means 

 by which these results can be obtained as quickly as possible. 

 It is simply selection. — (Extracted and translated from a jiainph- 

 let by M. Cairiirc, Head Gardener in the Nurseries of the Museum 

 of Natural History.) 



MAIZE AS A GARDEN ESCULENT. 



I HAVE sent you a box of choice Maize seed, which I should 

 be thankful if yon would have exhibited quickly at the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society's, and afterwards sown in the garden at 

 Kensington, or at Chiswick, for trial. 



I have a settled conviction of the importance of introducing 

 this Maize as a garden esculent to supplement Peas, &c., in the 

 autumn. Could you have seen the splendid cobs, at least three 

 times the size of the best common Yellow grown here, and the 

 fine plants 10 feet high, you would also have become enthusiastic. 

 They have already taken some prizes, and Messrs. Barr and 

 Sugden, to whom I sent them, think them the most wonderful 

 seeds ever seen in England. The American Commissioner gave 

 them to me, and my seeds grown here are quite as plump and 

 ripe as, if not finer than, the originals. If they were grown 

 properly they would prove that Maize can be grown for table 

 use in England. 



Some of the kinds (such as the White Georgian) are wonder- 

 fully fine. No such collection has ever reached Europe, and 

 least of all will such an occasion again happen as these seeds 

 being all tried together, and sent to Kensington afterwards. It 

 cannot be too much impressed on growers that to attempt rais- 

 ing varieties without experience must be generally unsuccessful. 

 Here they have twenty kinds to choose from. When has this 

 ever occurred in England? 



Mr. Hughes speaks of his success in the cultivation of the 

 Dwarf Canadian Maize under opposing conditions, and this only 

 confirms my own conviction, that failures have hitherto rather 

 resulted either from selectingcommon varieties, like the ordinary 

 ■yellow of commerce, which can be imported so readily, and is 

 unfit for table purposes, or from ignorance of the other valuable 



sorts, than from the English climate and soil being not adapted 

 for Maize. I do not clearly identify the Dwarf Canadian with 

 any of the twenty varieties raised here last season, but then X 

 have not, as yet, seen the seeds. It may prove to be the same 

 as that which Judge Haliburton used to grow regularly in his 

 garden at Isleworth, and circulate under the name of " Sam 

 Slick." 



A correspondent, also, writing in a contemporary journal, 

 mentions the " Ten-weeks Maize " {Mais depoulet) as being easy 

 to cultivate, and profitable ; but if the name indicates its nature, 

 it would not fall within the list of table Maize, which is what 

 I particularly cultivate, and which is, at present, so unknown 

 in this country. In speaking of this Ten-weeks Maize, the 

 writer suggests the propriety of removing from the plants their 

 male flowers after a certain period — as far as I understand the 

 article — of inflorescence, in order to promote the vigour of the 

 cobs, and increase their number. This might be tried, for the 

 plants appear to have a superabundance of pollen, and this 

 always lowers their vitality. With the new varieties which I 

 grow, this would seem almost superfluous, for could a Maize 

 plant, even though 10 feet high and vigorous in proportion, be 

 expected to mature, especially in this climate, more than two 

 huge cobs with from iiOO to 600 seeds in each ? In this way 

 the Maize produces easily more than a thousandfold ! This 

 is surely a remunerative crop of itself, and of the simplest 

 culture. 



.\3 yet. Maize has been only partially tried with sewage, but 

 the results have been great, even with common yellow Maize, 

 which produces cobs of little more than a third of the size of 

 some of the sorts I mention, and is of such inferior value. 

 With high cultivation I do not see why the fine and immense 

 milky white Georgian Maize should not produce two thousand- 

 fold. If taken in a green state for the table, as proposed, the 

 tops and leaves would be of great value for feeding cattle, so 

 that it may be fairly concluded that, even on a small scale. 

 Maize for table purposes must prove a remunerative addition 

 to our list of delicate and nutritious vegetables. 



I may be allowed to repeat that it is not probable that such 

 an occasion as a unique selection from the choicest of the 

 Maize grown in the States, possessing as they do such a range 

 of climate and soil, and exhibited in Paris, will again occur 

 readily. And when these twenty varieties have been tested by 

 a season's growth in these latitudes with such visibly good 

 results, we are justified in expecting that a good number among 

 them will retain their popularity, ranging as they do over two 

 months of difference in the period of their ripening. — T. C. 



Br.EHAUT. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



Mr. James Fraskr, widely known and respected as the gar- 

 dener to John Shaw Leigh, Esq., at Chilwell Hall, near Liver- 

 pool, and at Luton Hoo Park, Bedfordshire, died suddenly at 

 his residence at Leighton Buzzard on the 23rd of March, having 

 been actively engaged a few minutes before his decease in 

 making arrangements for commencing business, and has left a 

 widow and children to mourn over his removal. Besides being 

 a good botanist, florist, and general gardener, Mr. Fraser ex- 

 celled in the knowledge and practical treatment of Alpine 

 plants. Orchids, Mosses, and Ferns, and thus did much to foster 

 a taste for the striking in form and the beautiful in outline. 

 Though not at all insensible to the charms of bright colour, we 

 have known him go miles to see an old pollard wreathed with 

 the common Polypod, and his eyes would sparkle and his coun- 

 tenance brighten, as he turned up the fronds and looked at 

 what he called the stud-like spore-cases, as we have never seen 

 him do in looking on the finest flowering plants. Not a few 

 in far-away lands, as well as in these islands, on reading 

 this notice will feel that now for them there is left one kindred 

 spirit less. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Although the season cannot be called backward, the pre- 

 valence of cold winds and snow storms from the beginning to 

 the end of March has considerably retarded garden operations, 

 therefore it is incumbent to bring up any arrears of work as 

 expeditiously as possible. Artichokes, remove the greater 

 ]jortion of the litter ; dig and manure the beds. Jcnisalcm Ar- 

 tichokes may still be planted. Broccoli, when removed, let the 

 ground it occupied be immediately manured and dug. This 



