D eoember 12, 1885. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



48S 



sions to Iiorticultural eminence. From dome cause, }iowevfr, 

 IirolmMy from ignoninoe of its comparativfly hardy constitu- 

 tion iiiul fiicilo culture, the Lime (Citrus limettii) lias not met 

 witli that Kcncvnl cultivation wliidi it deserves; certainly it 

 might and ought to bo grown advantageously in every good 

 garden, for not only are the immature greou fruit (which are 



SKCTION OF CASE. 



a Sash, .1 feet 2 inches long. 

 b Top rail. 



r Buttoiii rail. 6 inches deep. 

 d Line of back wall, 9 feet high. 



e e Style. 

 / Front, 6 feet SJ inches high 

 from sill, 13 feet 8 inches wide. 

 17 6U1, 4 feet 9 inches. 



thinned off by hundreds) delicious in a preserved state, but the 

 ripe fruit are serviceable wherever a Lemon is required, to 

 which the juice and riud of the Lime are in every respect 

 vastly superior. The merits of Lime-juice as a specific for 

 scurvy are too well known for me to do more than just in con- 

 olusion allude to the subject. We give air freely in summer 

 by taking off part of the case, and stop all over-vigorous shoots 

 by simply pinching them off at about 6 inches from the plant. 

 — EoBERT T. PiscE, Exeter Xursei'y, Ejjeter, 



RIDGE AND TRENCH POTATO CULTURE. 



When I read the unfavourable account which Mr. Fish gave 

 of his Potatoes the other day it reminded me that it was time 

 I sent you my annual paper on the subject. The disease has 

 teen very prevalent in this neighbourhood, more particularly 

 in the part immediately surrounding me, the crops having 

 fceen nearly destroyed ; and the majority of the largest tubers 

 of those which were stored have either rotted already or are 

 gradually doing so. Now, why should I remain exempt from 

 this evil more than my neighbours ? This is just the observa- 

 tion which a tradesman in this borough made to me some 

 years ago, and when I invited him to come and see my crop, 

 nnd the system I worked upon, he simply declined doing so : 

 therefore no more could be said. I have so frequently and 

 minutely explained the plan in these pages that I feel it would 

 be mere repetition to go over the subject again. Still there 

 must be much in the system of management and cultivation 

 favourable to the development of the tuber, and antagonistic 

 to the disease ; for I invariably obtain good, soimd, and well- 

 flavoured crops. I admit, however, that I was put on my 

 mettle this year ; for it has been about as trying a season as 

 any that I remember since the fatal one of 1846. 



I planted all my Potatoes on the lUh and l'2th of April, and 

 on May .Oth they were appearing well above ground. About 

 the middle of .luly the foliage began to he spotted with the 

 disease, but luckily I had only planted the Brussels Sprouts 

 and Walcheren Broccoli in the trenches between the early sorts. 

 My late liroccolis I had deferred planting between the later 

 Potatoes on account of the electric state of the atmosphere, 

 which I regarded as a warning against the disease, and 1 

 adopted a plan I had never before tiiought of in order to save 

 the plants from the disease. As I gave an account of this at 

 the time, so that others might be enabled to prove the advan- 

 tage, I must beg to re-introduce a passage here in order to 

 render my present remarks more intelligible. 



.\t the beginning of August I said, '• I am in great anxiety 

 just now about my Potatoes. The leaves became spotted three 

 weeks ago, and the electrical state of the atmosphere since that 

 time, along with prevailing rains, has kept me haymaking at 

 the haulm at every opportunity — yes, haymaking, for I could 

 not stand still and allow my Potato patches to become like a 

 blackened fcrtid dungheap, which they presently would have 

 done ; and as to cutting away the liaulm entirely, that does 

 more harm to the tubers than letting it alone, on account of 

 the exuding sap from the close-severed stems running down 

 and perpetually moistening the ground, and thus inevitably 

 causing disease. Well, I cut away with the garden .shears all 

 communication between the foliage of the separate ridges, and 

 cleared away the severed leaves ; then with a Parkes's fork I 

 tnrned and bore all the growing tops to the right-hand side of 

 the ridges, and with the fork slightly scratched the bare or 

 left-hand sides, as well as the bottoms of the trenches. AVhen 

 the sun had dried the surface of the ground and the uppermost 

 side of the haulm, I immediately turned the haulm over to the 

 left-hand side of the ridge, and again scratched the surface of 

 the soil laid bare. Afterwards I took the opportunity, when- 

 ever the sun had again dried the surface of the soil and the 

 foliage, to turn the haulm over. I believe that I shall save 

 my crop from becoming diseased by the above method, and it 

 makes me more in favour of the ridge and trench plan than 

 ever. I could never have thought that Potato-tops would have 

 borne so much knocking about with impunity ; and the sun 

 soon converts the mildew-affected leaves, when these are turned 

 over to meet its scorching rays, into tinder, before the disease 

 can be communicated to the stem. This rough mode of pro- 

 cedure as regards the top will, however, upset some nice calcu- 

 lations I was in hopes of being able to make this season to 

 satisfy Mr. Abbey." 



Before the above paragi'aph was printed I had taken up all 

 my earlj- kinds of Potatoes — viz., Jlitchell's l",arly Albion 

 Kidney, Shutford SeccUiug, Hogg's Coldstream, Daintree's Nevf 

 Seedling, and a new seedling which I have named the Bee-hive 

 Potato — one of thirteen " seedlings of 1802 from I'lukes," 

 about the size of pins' heads, which were sent to me by an 

 unknown "brother bee-keeper " from Scotland in an envelope, 

 in a Stewarton bar-and-frame hive, along mth some noted 

 varieties of Scotch Potatoes ; and if ever I find out the name 

 of the sender I trust to have the pleasure of returning him one 

 of his own seedlings, which I have proved to be an early kind, 

 immediately following my first earlies. It has moderate foliage, 

 is a good cropper, roundish, shallow-eyed, flesh v.Lite, firmly 

 mealy, and it is a very desirable medium-sized, good-llavoured 

 sort — the only one out of the thirteen that is worth perpetu- 

 ating. 



On the 24th ,ind 25th of August, I took up Daintree's Seed- 

 ling, W'hich averaged between fifteen and sixteen tons per acre. 

 It is the only kind that I measured and weighed for bulk of 

 crop this year, although all the sorts apjieared to be quite up to 

 my usual averages ; also, Fortyfolds, Lapstonc Kidney (about 

 a peck of diseased tubers amongst these, and super-tuheration 

 had begun), Haigh's Kidney, and Fenn's Onwards Potato, a 

 new seedling of my own, which I raised from a cross between 

 Jackson's Seedling and the original Fluke. It is a second 

 early, roundish, somewhat flattened, with moderate eyes, hand- 

 some foliage like its male parent, Jackson's Seedling, but much 

 dwarfer, and an excellent cropper, of the fullest garden size ; 

 flesh perfectly white, mealy, and of a first-rate flavour. I am 

 proud of it, as it is the only Potato that I ever raised to suit 

 my ideas, though it does not do so quite, otherwise it would be 

 symmetrically round, with eyes perfectly smooth, and without 

 any indentation whatever. I have crossed it with a Potato 

 which my brother gave me, having a perfect form, though 

 lacking flavour, and I have obtained seed lor sowing next 

 spring. I have also seed from a cross between Hogg's Cold- 



