136 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



f February la, 1868. 



would at onoe confess, that if tha Victoria did not possess the 

 good quality of being mealy in his own garden it obtains it 

 somewhere, for a dish of mine i? a sight lit for the moat fas- 

 tidious to see, and having seen, makes one long to taste, but 

 having tasted — well, good-bye to the meat. 



Now, is " D.," of Deal's, opinion of this Potato borne out 

 by others who Lave tried it in and around the neighbourhood 

 of Deal ? for any kind may not do well in one garden, and yet 

 succeed well in the neighbourhood in general. Having a good 

 opportunity to find out, I must say that the Victoria is not 

 only liked, but very highly prized by hundreds who have tried 

 it in Somerset, Dorset, and Wilts. I believe I could in these 

 three counties procure samples from almost every parish, ex- 

 cept North Wilts, equal in quality to my own, and from persons 

 who would endorse my high opinion of it. My description of 

 it is, It is large, a strong grower, very free from disease, exceed- 

 ingly prolific, crops very close at home, keeps well, is very 

 mealy, of finest flavour, and a fii-st-rate sort for the garden or 

 field. 



I was going to say something about Priuce of Wales Kidney, 

 but enough at present. I took some trouble last season in 

 testing the worth of some fourteen sorts ; and if my report 

 would be of any interest to the readers of the .Journal I shall 

 be happy to give it. — D., of Somerset, Dorset, and Wilts. 



[We shall be glad to receive yoar report. — Eds.] 



PLANTS IN FLOWER DURING JANUARY. 



NUNEHAM PABK ONION — VAUIETIES OF BEET-ROOT. 



There has been much said and written with respect to the 

 Nuneham Park Onion, and, as is often the case, some speak 

 well of it, whilst others are of a diSereut opinion. Be this as 

 il may, and whether it is identical with Trebons as some say, 

 or with selected White Spanish as others alifirm, or whether it 

 is related to the Giant of Madeira, or whatever else they may 

 assert, it is a fine Onion. The only fault I find with it is 

 having too little seed for my money. I have no objection to 

 sealed packets, but iu this case I should like to see a little 

 more in them. 



We are having a move among the Beets, too. We have some 

 fine kinds in the market now. So far as I am concerned, 

 Dewar's has the preference : it is a fine-sized compact root. If 

 we had it of a deep crimson instead of a crimson red, I should 

 like it still better. I hope the stock will be selected and im- 

 proved in colour. There are many more kinds of Beet that 

 are really good, such as Nutting's Dwarf Red, Henderson's 

 Pine Apple, Garter's St. Osyth, Govent Garden Improved, and 

 Whyte's Black, which is the darkest Beet I have seen. 



The following are a few plants I have noticed in bleom 

 during January : — 



Jan. 



4. Arabia ulbida 



Erica ramectacefi 



Helleborus niger 

 10. Ulex enropxus 



Daisy 



Roae Fabvier 

 17. Alyssnm compactum 



Erica raedittTr.iiiea 

 20. Rose Geant des Batailles 



Viuca minor 



Jan. 20. tlheirautlius, German) 

 „ li4. Corylus avellana 



JaBminom nudifiornm 

 Omphalodes vema 

 Double Wiiita PrimroBe 

 ,. 28. Rose, Crimsou Chirft 

 Viola odorata 

 Eranthis hyemalie 

 Erica camea 

 Galanthns nivalje 



— Mi H., Acklam Hail, Middlesbiough-on-Tees. 



COVERING FOR ROSES. 

 Perdaps 1 can render some assistance to •' Q. Q." (page 

 109), as to the covering and uncovering Roses and other half- 

 hardy trees and shrubs. Many persons, probably, are familiar 

 with and able to make what is used to ornament stable floors 

 iu front of horses' stalls, in the ."shape of tailed-straw braiding. 

 Well, dixririg a wet day in the autumn, I and my man Friday 

 set to work .ind made lengths of this, though not caring to 

 throw the very perfection of art into our proceedings, but 

 using, according to the thickness of protection which the trees 

 might require, a layer of from three to twelve straws. For 

 out-door protection wheat straw is preferable to oat or other 

 softer descriptions of straw, as it does not absorb and retain 

 moisture. My man grasps a layer, or weft of, eay, a dozen straws, 

 and to them 1 attach a piece of tarred cord around their centre, 

 loop it on to the key-handle in the lock of the door, or to a 

 hook in the wall, and bend part of the right-hand half of the 

 straws upwards, and part of the left half of the straws to the ' 

 latter. Now, a fresh feed of straw is brought and laid centrally, ' 



having the ears to the right, and the remainder of the first 

 weft of straw is brought over the second weft, and then the 

 top remainder over it, and another v?eft immediately handed 

 by my man to continue the woof of braid, thus forming a tail 

 from every weft, remaining out obliquely from the centre of 

 the braiding, and so on. Without assistance the operation 

 can be performed by one person by previously placing the 

 wefts of straw to the right hand of the worker. It is well also 

 in the latter case not to form the braiding much longer than 

 S yards for each piece, and to finish off at the ends by tying 

 with about IJ foot of tarred cord. Thus proceed with both 

 thick and thin braids, and stow them away in a dry place 

 till wanted, which they will be in the beginning of November. 

 Then prepare to put them on by collecting the branche'^ of 

 the trees or shrubs requiring protection into loose cones, to be 

 first secured in this shape by tarred cord, and attach a thin 

 braid at the bottom of — say a Fig tree, and wind it around 

 and obliquely upwards, and tie again at the apex of the tree 

 with the piece of tarred cord which is attached to it. Next, 

 wind a thick braid of straw similarly over the thin one, and 

 then you have a dry, perfectly frost-resisting protection, and 

 a very respecta'ole-looking thatch, placed there without litter 

 and with all the ease imaginable, and il the operator lives in 

 the outside edges of all the cyclones, as we appear to do 

 here, a lashing around of tarred cord will make all quite secure. 



When the danger from winter frosts is over, unwind .the 

 thick braid from the tree, and there remains the thin one for 

 all the air to circulate through, and yet sufficient to ward oflf 

 the spring frosts without weakening the young growing shoots. 

 Store the braids away in a dry place, and they will last for 

 years. 



As wheat straw is expensive and difficult to procure in this 

 place, I take care to harvest my Pea and Asparagus haulm. 

 The former is stored in large long bundles, which I sever 

 across with a large sharp knife, and then form it into coarse 

 braiding after the manner specified above, and during periods 

 of sharp frosts I place these braids along the tops, on each 

 side of my orchard-house pot trees, and take the tails of 

 the braiding down by their sides ; a few pieces of string and 

 a packing needle secure the braids together upon the surface 

 of the soil, and the roots never become frozen. The braids are 

 quickly placed and taken away without litter, and the Aspara- 

 gus haulm during severe frosts takes its light, dry, and airy 

 position amongst the branches in my orchard house, without 

 injury and with perfect protection to the blossom. — Upwards 

 AND Onwards. 



INJUDICIOUS COMPLICATED COMPOSTS. 



Is times long gone by, when the mysteries of our calling 

 were held in high estimation by those who assumed to possess 

 them, an acquaintance with the exact proportions of the in- 

 gredients necessary to form a compost favourable to the growth 

 of a particular plant was considered by uo means the least im- 

 portant. Receipts for the mixing of the proper soils for the 

 growth of the Carnation, Ranunculus, Tulip, and other plants, 

 were regarded much in the same light as a druggist's know- 

 ledge of compounding liquid and solid medicines for the benefit 

 of mankind. Fortunately the day for such secrets is gone by, 

 so far as the gardener is concerned ; it is well that it is so, for 

 at the present day we can afford to lose some of the secrets 

 which those of the past age refused to bequeath to us. In this 

 way it is said we have lost a compost f^r growing Auriculas, 

 which was known to one eminent grower, and of which nothing 

 further is known than that it consisted of nineteen different 

 substances. Perhaps it is as well that the secret did die with 

 him. Other secrets have existed concerning various classes of 

 plants, but occasionally the possessors were much disappointed 

 on finding that greater success was achieved by those not 

 initiated, or who adopted other means. All that is really worth 

 knowing respecting the cultivation of most plants and fruits is 

 made known from time to time, and although now and then 

 mixtures more or less complex may be met with, these and 

 other matters have been very much simplified. 



Although the mixing on the day it is to be used of a mass of 

 materials fjr the growth of a particular plant, is now gene- 

 rally abandoned, the practice still exists in many cases, but its 

 propriety is doubtful. An appeal to Nature would certainly 

 appear to condemn all mixtures but what she had made herseU ; 

 and although it would not be judicious to entirely abandon the 

 practice of mixing together two substances differing chemieally 

 as well as mechanicelly from each other, in order to form a 



