410 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( KoTomber 2J>, 1669. 



reason ; with this exception I can honestly eay that I have not 

 had one bolted head a-year for at least the last (onr years. I 

 tie np every plant with n bit of rough matting some weeks 

 before earthin(,'-np; this being done, the work of applying the 

 earth is quickly executed. I know some object to this separate 

 tying, on the score of its taking up too much time ; now I have 

 often more work and less time to do it in than I like, and that 

 is one reason why I adopt the plan. I find tying is the 

 quickest as well as the best, computing the time by either one 

 man alone or two jointly. The tying should be done loosely, 

 so that the tie can be slipped upwards as the plants advance 

 in height. Of course, the plants are kept as free from suckers 

 as possible. 



A primary cause of Celery rotting is deep planting. The 

 only real advantage gained by planting deeply is the saving of 

 ground between the beds or rows. The early crops may safely 

 be planted deeper than the late ones, as they will be off before 

 the heavy fall of winter's rain. In wet soils it is advisable to 

 plant the crops intended to remain in the ground throughout 

 the winter quite on the general level of the ground. Thi.'? pre- 

 caution, and earthing-up when the plants and soil are quite 

 dry, will generally prevent rotting. 



An error in Celery-growing common to young gardeners is 

 often made at the very outset, in sowing the seed too thickly, 

 and coddling-np the seedlings in pots or pans, as if they were 

 Mustard and Cress for salading. 



For the main crops the first or second week in March is early 

 enough for sowing. A gentle bottom heat, rich light soil, and 

 scarcely any top heat, with thin sowing, are essentials in laying 

 a good foundation for a flonri?hing plantation. A few barrow- 

 loads of leaves in a sheltered place, and a hand-light or old 

 Bash are far before sowing thickly in pots in frames, with after- 

 moving about to harden the plants cS. The bottom heat to my 

 seedling bed i3 from a flue which passes from one house to 

 another, just covered with a light sash; nothing can answer 

 better. 



Another error which I will just note, is in planting too 

 deeply. In planting, the collar of each plant should be as 

 much above the soil as possible, otherwise it will be almost an 

 endless job keeping it free from suckers, which the Incom- 

 parable produces so profusely. 



Such is my experience on Celery-growing. Summed up it 

 stands thus — that the bed plan suits me better than any, and 

 the Incomparable Dwarf White suits the bed plan better than 

 any. It gives more heart, according to size, than any sort I ' 

 am acquainted with ; it will come in as early as I require it, 

 and will continue in use as late as any other; it takes little 

 ground and little manure ; in a word, it yields a maximum 

 amount of good quality with a minimum expenditure of power 

 and material. — .J. W. 



heat has gradually come down to fiO', and is slowly declining. 

 Then insert the pieces of spawn about 8 inches apart, and 80 

 as to be covered. Let the bed alone for a few days, but if it 

 become much warmer take the spawn out again. If the tem- 

 perature is about blood heat it will be right ; if it decline 

 rapidly ten or more degrees, add 1 inch of horse droppings and 

 beat ag>\iu. If the temperature keep at the proper degree, add 

 from 1) to 2 inches of good soil, beat smooth, and after this if 

 the trial sticks seem to show the temperature of the bed is 

 sinking, add a covering of hay or litter. From 70' to 75° or 

 80° is a good temperature for the bed ; from 55° to 60° is a 

 good heat for the surface of the bed to be. 



As regards the time the Mushrooms will he ready for market, 

 if all go well Mushrooms may be expected in six or more 

 weeks from the earthing-up. If they come much earlier the 

 bed seldom produces so long, as they have had rather more 

 heat. In this respect, under the best treatment. Mushrooms 

 are variable as to their yielding time. In a hurry, we have had 

 them in a month or less. ^Ve have had fine crops that did not 

 come under ten or eleven weeks. 



This is a good time for making preparations for beds, only 

 autumn and spring are better for drying and mixing the materials 

 a little. If even droppings are too wet they heat violently, and 

 thus their nourishing properties are dissipated. 



Besides the covering for keeping the heat in the bed, in 

 very severe weather you might place hot manure in the path- 

 way, and turn it over to produce a little steam in a very cold 

 morning. 



We can say nothing decisive of the quantity you conld gather 

 from such a house. As to the time of gathering, that must be 

 when the Mushrooms are large enough, whether wanted full 

 grown or as buttons. A much greater number of the latter 

 can be gathered than the former. No Mushrooms should stand 

 after they come to their best, as a few black-gilled ones will 

 exhaust the bed more than a number not quite full grown . The 

 mere period of gathering, morning or evening, is of no moment, 

 but, as a rule, the nearer to the time of cooking the better. 

 Mushrooms standing in baskets in a market are very different 

 from the sweet-scented, juicy Mushrooms just taken from a 

 bed. 



We warn you against being too sanguine as to the market 

 returns, until you buy experience by practice. We have, it is 

 true, seen splendid crops in stalls of a stable which were not 

 wanted, and that, by receiving from us fewer details than here 

 given, but we have known other cases in which the owners of 

 similar places professed to follow our directions to the letter, 

 and yet proved very unsuccessful, though the material was 

 equally plentifal in both cases. 



MUSHROOM CULTURE IN AN OUT-HOUSE. 



This is in reply to queries from " M. McD." In a wooden 

 house, 12 feet long, 8 feet wide, 7 feet high at back, and 2 feet 

 high in front, you could grow Mufhrooms at any time, if you 

 could keep them cool in summer, and warm, by covering, in 

 winter. For ease in the management of such a house, we 

 would have a 2-feet path down the middle, and a 3-feet-wide 

 bed on each side, which would be best done by having two 

 hoards along the passage, say 10 inches wide. The bed next 

 the front might be 18 inches deep next the wall, sloping to the 

 hoard. That at back could be deeper next the wall, or, if you 

 chose, you might have two beds there instead of one, placing 

 one above the other. The first plan would be the Bimplest, and 

 would cost nothing for shelves. In such a case that bed might 

 be 2{ or 3j feet deep at the wall, sloping to the board in front. 

 The first question, therefore, may be considered answered. 



The preparation of the material of the bed will depend on 

 its nature. If the latter be longish litter and droppings, it will 

 require to be fermented and so much decomposed as to build 

 rather firmly without heating violently. If chiefly droppings, 

 if thrown together for a few days and then built firmly together, 

 they will not heat violently. We generally mix with such 

 about one-fourth of fibrous dry loam, as it firms the mass 

 and prevents violent heating, and the less the manure is 

 exhausted the better will the Mushrooms be. Wo have had 

 fine beds made by a bottom of tree leaves and litter, and .■? or 

 4 inches of rather fresh horse droppings on the surface, adding 

 the latter when the heat of the former was on the wane. The 

 great point to attend to, is not to insert the spawn until the 



ROYAL HORTICULTURjVL SOCIETY. 



Scientific Committee, Xovcmhcr 16M. — W. W. SannderB, Esq, 

 F.K.S., in the chair. 



The Kev. M. J. Berlieley exhibited Bome Walnuts, in 'whirh the 

 outer rind was completely blackened and shrivelled by frost, the nut 

 in the interior being unaffected. Mr. (ilaisher remarked that during 

 winter the temperature of the atmosphere wft.s usually considerably 

 warmer at a level of 20-50 feet above the surface than at a lower 

 altitude. He expressed his opinion that the peculiar appearances 

 presented by the Walnuts wore due rather to dryness of the atinosjihere 

 than to actual frost. Professor Austcd called attention to the tffect 

 of wind in blackening the leaves on one side of a tree, whilt* on the 

 unexposed side they retained their green colour. The Chairman 

 stated thnt an illustration of this fact might recently have been seen in 

 Somersetshire, where the trees for a distance of thirty miles or more 

 were thus alTeoted. 



Mr. A. Murray then alluded to a peculiar beetle preying on the 

 foliage of Orchids introduced from widely diverse countries. 



Dr. Masters, on the part of the sub-committee appointed to watch 

 the progress of the plants in the experimental ground at Chiswick, 

 exhibited a series of diagrams showing in a graphic form the relative 

 degrees of vigour exhibited by the plants at the various dates of 

 observation, and the fluctuations in the intervals between them. 

 Similar tables had been prepared showing the amonnt of heat and 

 rainfall during the entire period of observation, and the fluctuations 

 ill the intervals between each separate observation. Detailed notea 

 on the condition of the plants were also laid on the table, and will 

 probably fonii portion of a fall report at some future time. 



The most striking results shomi in the diagrams were as follows : — 

 In almost eveiy case the plants in the nnmanured boxes were the least 

 rigorous. The application A purely mineral manures was productive 

 of little or no result in the case of the Grasses, but was much more 

 effective in promoting vigour in the case of the Clovers. A striking 

 contrast was exhibited in the case of almost all the twelve separate 



