122 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ August 6, 1871. 



ordinary depth, but the tnrf and other herbage might be pared 

 off with about 2 inches or so of the soil, and that might be 

 burnt. This paring is sometimes done by hand, at other times 

 by a kind of paring plough drawn by one or more horses, but 

 in this case the slice taken off is not so uniformly thin as where 

 the work is done by hand, and patches of tnrf are often missed. 

 I should, however, certainly recommend paring in preference 

 to burning the whole of the soil turned up by the plough. 

 Paring and burning have often been condemned as diminish- 

 ing the depth and quantity of staple soil, and trenching or 

 otherwise burying the herbage in the ground that it may decay 

 there has been recommended instead ; but peat soil plants as 

 a rule are slow in decaying, so that burning is often resorted 

 to from necessity, and as you say the staple material is from 

 5 to 7 feet deep, there is ample to work upon. 



The first thing I would do with the soil would be to have 

 it well drained if necessary ; and as water is often found below 

 the peat it would be well to see to this, as draining can be 

 effected much more easily now than hereafter. In general, the 

 difficulty with peat land is to get it solid enough to retain 

 moisture, and to assist this large quantities of sand, or it may 

 be clay, may be added — sand if the peat does not contain 

 enough of it, or clay if it is of too open a character. I am un- 

 willing to recommend lime, as it is so destructive to vegetable 

 substances that it would destroy what ought to assist in sup- 

 porting several crops ; but if it is a sort of sandy peat, lime 

 may be used moderately. In general, however, the ashes 

 resulting from the burning will be sufficient for one year, and 

 the appearance of the crop will afterwards indicate what is 

 best. Potatoes, most root crops, and Celery do well on such 

 a soil, also Asparagus and Lettuce, while for the Cabbage tribe 

 it is not so good ; still in fresh soil nearly everything succeeds 

 for a time, and I have seen excellent Plums produced. 



Full exposure during the winter is necessary to destroy wire- 

 worms and other insect life abounding in a soil that has not 

 been in cultivation ; therefore plough it before winter as you 

 propose. But I would recommend that if possible one half of 

 the ground should be pared and burnt, as described above, and 

 the other trenched by hand, burying the herbage no deeper 

 than is necessary to prevent its again vegetating, and keeping 

 as much of the top soil at the surface as possible, but stirring 

 the whole to the depth necessary for all kinds of crops. A com- 

 parison of the two pieces would probably show that for the 

 first year, and perhaps a second, that subjected to paring and 

 burning would produce the better crops, but after that tune I 

 imagine the other would have its turn, and maintain its su- 

 periority for some time. — .J. Eobson.] 



GOLDEN CHAMPION GEAPE SPLITTING. 



From a reply to a correspondent recently, I observe that this 

 Grape is splitting with him. It does so at times when there 

 is an excess of sap sent up by its over-vigorous roots. The 

 remedy for splitting in the case of any Grape is so self-evident 

 that one is at a loss to conceive why it is not applied the 

 moment the first berry gives way — namely, the diminution of 

 the supply of sap by cutting the stems that bear the bunches 

 about half-through a short way below each bunch — that is, 

 between the main stem and bunch. — Yms. 



LEPTOSPERMUM OBOVATDM HARDY IN 

 SCOTL.\ND. 

 The specimen I send you of Leptospermum obovatum was 

 taken to-day from an old bush in the gardens of Largo House, 

 Fifeshire, where it must either have been planted early in the 

 present or late in the last century. Largo House, once the 

 property of Sir Andrew AVood, the famous Scottish admiral of 

 the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is situated near the 

 birthplace of Eobinson Crusoe on the southern coast of Fife, 

 overlooking the song-renowned Largo Bay, and backed by the 

 scarcely less noted Largo Law, which rises on its north side 

 to an altitude of !I48 feet. In the grounds are numerous large 

 aged specimens of Arbutus, Sweet Bay, Evergreen Oak, common 

 and Portugal Laurels, &c., which give unmistakeable evidence 

 of the mildness of the climate ; but I have nowhere met with 

 such an old freely-growing specimen belonging to this peculiarly 

 elegant genus of Australasian Myrtacese.— W. G. 



EocKwoRK AT Sandringdam. — Our readers will have re- 

 marked the fine bold strata of rocks which are represented in 



the foreground of our illustration of Sandringham in our last 

 week's number. We are mformed that these rocks are artificial, 

 and were constructed by Mr. .James Pulham, of Broxboume, 

 on whom the extremely natural effect and artistic arrangement 

 reflect great credit. 



HOLLYHOCK DISEASE. 

 Was it not rather hasty to recommend the destruction of 

 Hollyhocks affected by fungus ? I see some of my neighbours 

 get some flowers, and the plants in some instances look as if 

 they would fight through the attack. The Mallow, too, has 

 thrown up afresh and is blooming freely. There is a shght 

 appearance of fungus, but very slight at present. I wish now 

 I had kept my plants and seen if they could not have been 

 saved. — J. W. Pewieess. 



THE HURRICANE LANTERN. 

 The hurricane lantern {fig. 38), which we now introduce to 

 the notice of our readers, is so called because no amount 



of agitation either of wind or 

 motion will extinguish it. Be- 

 sides tliis qualification, it pos- 

 sesses several others, which 

 render it extremely useful in 

 every household, especially in 

 the country. It is so perfectly 

 safe that no accident from fire 

 can possibly arise through it, 

 except by the most utter care- 

 lessness, for the glass with 

 which it is surrounded is so 

 thick that it cannot easily be 

 broken, and is so fixed that it 

 cannot alter its position. The 

 oil with which it is used is 

 paraffin, and the light is a very 

 briUiantone. As a garden lan- 

 tern, or for country use about 

 stables and outbuildings, it is 

 the best we have seen, as being 

 so perfectly safe and so bright. 

 What a contrast to the old 

 stable lantern, which carries a 

 light but gives little, and which 

 necessitates the removal of the 

 candle when you enter the 

 stable if you are to benefit by 

 its use ! We can highly recom- 

 mend this lantern after having, 

 used it, and Messrs. Dietz & Co., of Carter Lane, have con- 

 ferred a benefit on country people by the introduction. 



COPING BOARDS AS A PROTECTION FROM 

 HAIL. 



To speak of hail in July would seem to approach an absurdity, 

 yet it is a fact, and in some respects it is feared a sad one. A 

 long term of drought and extreme heat is succeeded by violent 

 thunderstorms, the rain being of incalculable benefit, but the 

 hailstones doing considerable injury. As may be imagined, it 

 is anything but pleasant just when the scarcity of vegetables had 

 reached its height, and when showers came bringing hope of 

 relief, to see the remnant shattered by pellets of ice, as was 

 the case on July 28th. The storm burst over this district 

 (Lincoln) at noon on that day, and in half an hour the ground 

 was covered 2 inches thick with hailstones the size of rifle 

 bullets, many, indeed, exceeding an inch in diameter. The 

 scene was emphatically a wintry one. Flowers are dashed and 

 shattered exceedingly, pods of Peas are out off, Scarlet Eunners 

 hanging in shreds, the foliage of Ehubarb and the Cabbage 

 tribe riddled, foliage cut off trees and hedges, and fruit bruised 

 severely. On some walls destitute of coping both fruit and 

 foliage have been extensively cut off trees, and I am quite 

 satisfied that had it not been for a 14-inch board-coping on a 

 south wall the fruit of Apricots would have been spoiled, and 

 the foliage of young Peach trees cut in shreds. I can see this 

 from the stray shoots which have broken loose or stand out 

 from the wall being in tatters. 



Taking advantage of Mr. Luckhurst's experience as given in 

 this journal, and having a lot of 7-by-l-inch deals by him, my 



