January 20, 187C. ] 



JOURNAL OF IIORTIODLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



57 



found the advantage of eg doing by the better keeping of the 

 Grapes. I have indeed, for the purpose of experiment, par- 

 tially covered a border, leaving the other part exposed, and 

 found the covering decidedly beneficial. 



Previong to placing on the fhutters I have been careful to 

 note that the border was not dry, for to cover up a border in 

 a dry state and to keep it dry for eix to Eeven months is to 

 injure the constitution of the Vines. Mr. Walker with his 

 glass coverings appears to be specially careful on this point, 

 and finds it necessary to water the borders periodically before 

 finally removing the lights which thelter them. 



The soaked Vines referred to as injuring the keeping pro- 

 perties of the Grapes did not iujure the Vines, for I was sur- 

 prised to find them in the following season producing the 

 finest Grapes in the house. Coverings, therefore, while being 

 useful must not be abused ; their employment must be 

 governed by the rainfall, the drainage, and the retentive or 

 percolative nature of the soil — or, in other words, I attach 

 more importance to the intelligence and sound judgment of 

 the man than to the mere rain-proof nature of the covers. 



Just as the keeping properties of Cherries and Gooseberries 

 are impaired by heavy rains in summer, so are Grapes injured 

 by heavy rains in autumn — that is, when the Vines are in 

 full leaf, and summoning the roots to send them up all the 

 water they can absorb. I therefore cover according to cir- 

 cumstances, sometimes in September and at other times not 

 until November, and the covers have decidedly afforded me 

 great assistance in prolonging and preserving late-hanging 

 Grapes. 



As to the nature of the skins of the Grapes influencing their 

 keeping, my experience is in favour of a well-finished skin. 

 What I mean is, that berries deficient in colour have thinner 

 skins than those which are well-coloured, and the latter keep 

 the best. I have occasionally cropped the Vines under my 

 charge very heavily — too heavily, as some uncoloured bunches 

 have proved. These have had thin skins and would not keep. 

 As a rule, the lighter Vines are cropped the stouter is the 

 foliage and also the skins of the fruit ; and I have found such 

 fruit on such lightly cropped Vines to keep the best. 



I observed also that the thin-skinned Gooseberries during 

 the deluge of last summer were the first to decay; the thicker- 

 skinned varieties alone surviving the watery ordeal to which 

 the crop was subjected, and in some districts almost totally 

 destroyed. 



Lightly cropped Vines, well-skinned bunches, and fully- 

 coloured berries I prefer for late-hanging Grapes ; and shelter- 

 ing the borders as soon as heavy rains fall in the autumn, and 

 paying due regard to the temperature and atmosphere of the 

 house, are, I consider, important items leading to success. — 



A NOETHEEN GAEDENEB. 



NEW BOOK. 



Potatoes : or How to Grow One Thousand Pounds of Potatoes 



from One Pound of Seed. By James Pink. London : 



William Eidgway, lO'.t, Piccadilly. 



[The following review of this sensational pamphlet is from 

 the pen of an experienced Potato-cultivator, and one whom 

 we know has no prejudices against new vegetables as such, of 

 which proof is afforded by the tone of his article on "Peas 

 New and Old," which we pubhshed last week.] 



This is a pamphlet of seventeen pages of widely printed 

 matter. In half a dozen of these pages the author describes 

 the mode of culture which he adopted in raising a trifle over 

 two-thirds of the standard weight from lib. of seed (diseased 

 tubers not being weighed), the remaining pages being devoted 

 to a recapitulation ol the conditions of Messrs. Hooper & Co. 

 in offering ceitain prizes, a commentary on the proceedings in 

 connection with that Anglo- American enterprise, a little philo- 

 sophy, and some sentences of complaint in the " interests of 

 truth" and for the "benefit of horticulture." 



The object of the author is avowedly remonstrative, for he 

 states that he "had not the remotest idea" of writing the 

 pamphlet until " discredit was thrown on the successful com- 

 petitors by the Gardeners' CJironicle " in the following report ; 

 — " We should not be surprised it the course taken by the 

 Judges does not lead to a considerable amount of discontent; 

 but for the present, at all events, has closed one of the greatest 

 horticultural farces ever put before the public, and it is difficult 

 to perceive how, by any possible means, this competition can 

 ever be of any benefit to horticulture." Now, as to the " dis- 



credit," that clearly refers to the scheme, and not to the men 

 who carried it out ; as to the predicted " discontent," the 

 pamphlet proves its existence, while it fails to prove that the 

 competition will or can " benefit horticulture." 



In the "interests of truth" we may give Mr. Pink the 

 fullest credit for the legitimate way which he carried out his 

 experiments. We accept his weights to the last ounce, and 

 recognise his cultural skill in producing his sensational crop. 

 He reveals a good knowledge of Potato culture by deeply 

 working the ground and adding to it the following mamres : — 

 "Ten bushels of wood ashes, ten bushels of leaf mould, one 

 bushel of soot, 4 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia, Gibs, of sul- 

 phate of soda, 10 lbs. of nitrate of soda, and 10 lbs. of sul- 

 phate of potash," to eight and a half perches of ground, 

 further dressing with " 50 lbs. of superphosphate of lime pre- 

 vious to the final earthing-up of the plants." 



The pound of Snowflake was cut into eighty-two sets, and 

 Eureka into 121 sets, a further pound of Brownlee's Beauty 

 being cut into forty-three sets to occupy the remainder of the 

 ground. The sets were planted on April 3rd in drills ?. feet 

 apart, and the same distance between the sets. On August Gth 

 the crop was taken up, the Euieka produce weighing 072 lbs. ; 

 Snowflake, 405 lbs. ; and Brownlee's Beauty, 290 lbs. The 

 3 lbs. of seed thus yielding, not 3000 lbs., but 1307 lb3. of pro- 

 duce, or, including the diseased tubers, the average may be 

 put as half the standard weight, or 500 lbs. per 1 lb. of seed. 



Twenty sets of the latter sort were planted on inverted 

 flower-pots (24'ij) sunk at the requisite depth, as an experiment 

 in drainage, and these produced half a pound per hill more 

 than those planted in the ordinary way. 



Now, in the "interests of truth" all this maybe at once 

 accepted as correct. As a curiosity it is novel, but as a crop 

 of Potatoes it is easy to prove that it is of no real " benefit to 

 horticulture," because practically it is not a large but, cou- 

 eidering the high culture of the ground, really a small crop, 

 and for any real benefit that it can confer (except to those 

 immediately interested) it is practically worthless, and adda 

 nothing whatever to the cause of " the food supply of the 

 country." 



This is an important matter, and must not be treated in a 

 superficial manner. " Anything," it has been said (but not 

 in the pamphlet), " can be proved by figures," but figures are 

 sometimes fallacious. Let us see where they lead us in Mr, 

 Pink's own example of practice. 



By sinking flower pots he obtained an increase of half a 

 pound per root. According to that, if the plan had been car- 

 ried out throughout the ground. Eureka would have jjroduced 

 730 lbs. instead of 672 lbs., and the aggregate bulk would have 

 been nearly 1500 lbs. instead of 1123 lbs. But let us go further. 

 If Eureka had been so planted to the extent of an acre the 

 pots would have increased the value of the crop at 3s, Gd. per 

 pound (the selling price of the tubers) by £420. The pota 

 could be delivered on the ground at 3d. each, and they could 

 be planted for Id. each. At the rate of increase and price 

 quoted each pot would leave a profit of Is. 9i2., and would 

 bring up the crop of Eureka to a value of upwards of £1000 

 per acre. All that on paper looks wonderfully like benefiting 

 horticulture, but in practice there would be slight drawbacks; 

 the value of the produce would not (happily) be sustained, and 

 perhaps every pot would not bring its additional half pound. 

 At any rate, advantageous and profitable as the pot plan and 

 eye subdivision of Eurekas at 3s. Gd. per lb. may appear by 

 rules of arithmetic, not many cultivators will adopt it in pro- 

 ducing crops for the markets, and the experiment remains 

 empty— a novelty conferring no benefit, aud viewing it in 

 regard to the " food supply," it would make that food terribly 

 "dear meat." 



In seeking to prove the great public value of the system 

 detailed in the pamphlet, the author takes his stand on the 

 old aphorism of " making two blades of grass grow where only 

 one grew before," and hence he concludes that "the compe- 

 titors have done good service to horticulture." Lst us test 

 the soundness of this premise. The " two blade theory," like 

 other two-edged blades, cuts both ways. Before the grass can 

 be beneficial it must possess the quality of being " good to 

 eat." Most dwellers in the country have seen two, an! many 

 more than two, blades of grass grow where only one grew 

 before, aud they have also seen the cattle avoid these rank 

 knolls which have been scattered over the pastures, even when 

 the animals have been starving for want. Where that is seen 

 it is regarded by the agriculturist as the result of neglect, 

 and betokens bad management, because the elements of the 



