88 



roUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDBNEB. 



( Jaly 29, 1876. 



yet BO important. With regard to the Strawberries I am free 

 to own that the trials have proved Mr. Peach to be right as 

 regards the surface dressing, the frnit of several kinds which 

 are now being picked from beds so treated being both abundant 

 and fine; and in makin? this confession I beg to offer my 

 best acknowledgments to Mr. Peach, not only for the saving 

 of labour which the plan enables me to effect, but for directing 

 attention to a matter of such great importance to other crops 

 as well as Strawberries. 



Let us now proceed to consider why the surface dressing is 

 BO desirable. It is a fact familiar to all that all parts of the 

 roots, especially the spongioles, shun the light and air. Now, 

 it is to the spongioles, the plant's mouths, to which we wish to 

 convey nutriment as directly as possible ; and yet they are 

 often so far beneath the surface that we cannot readily reach 

 them, for if we attempt doing so by a temporary removal of 

 the soil other rootlets are inevitably destroyed in the process. 

 Another most important reason for wishing to have the roots 

 near the surface is, that it is there that the best soil is found, 

 and we know that if we can only induce the roots to come up 

 into it we shall impart additional health, vigour, and fruit- 

 fulness, which it is, of course, highly desirable to secure by 

 any means, but especially by an agency of the simplest and best 

 kind ; and when the roots are once established at the surface we 

 have only to attend to their requirements to keep them there. 



For most fruits an annual surface dressing, applied generally 

 in the fall of the year, is all that is necessary, but if an ad- 

 ditional stimulant is required sewage may be applied with the 

 certainty of its being immediately beneficial. Who does not 

 know the inutility of pouring sewage upon the surface of a 

 deep Vine border lying bare and exposed to the hardening 

 influence of sun and wind ? It is true that the roots may be 

 reached by the barbarous method of piercing holes with a 

 crowbar, but even then the Vines cannot derive a tithe of 

 the benefit which attends surface-feeding. The action of the 

 nutriment cannot be so immediate, nor the flow of sap so 

 prompt. 



As examples of its effects in actual practice I may instance 

 three vineries in all of which the Vines were in a somewhat 

 weakly condition owing to the poverty of the soil. As a 

 remedy, the borders of two of them received a dressing of 

 loam, crushed bones, and stable manure ; but the third border 

 instead of this mixture had a liberal surface dressing of rich 

 pig dung. The result in the following season was striking and 

 conclusive, the Vines in the third house being wonderfully 

 superior in berry, bunch, and foUage to those in the other two 

 houses. Take for another example two beds of Gooseberry 

 bushes : the first was planted in soil suitably enriched with 

 manure, and an annual dressing was afterwards forked-iu 

 among the roots each autumn after the fall of the leaf ; the 

 second was planted in a similar manner but two years later, 

 the soil was never afterwards disturbed but received an annual 

 surface dressing of manure. In two years the bushes were as 

 large as those in the first bed, and the crop of fruit was 

 decidedly the best. Other examples might be quoted of trials 

 with Raspberries, Currants, Roses, and many other plants if 

 it were necessary to do eo. Its good effect upon summer 

 vegetables was explained long ago : in fact, it is not to advo- 

 cate a novelty or to propound a theory of my own that these 

 notes are written, but rather to draw particular attention to a 

 point of culture which from its very simplicity is not practised 

 so much as it so richly merits. 



In concluding, I cannot do better than revert to the prin- 

 ciple which it is written to enforce — that both plants and 

 fruit trees answer best when the roots are kept near the sur- 

 face, and that this is done most advantageously by a sur- 

 face dressing of manure, which serves to draw the roots up- 

 wards as well as to nourish them. It by no means follows, 

 however, that surface roots are only to be obtained by the 

 application of rich manure ; a covering of any kind of litter 

 will effect this. A knowledge of this fact has been turned to 

 account in the management of an orchard containing some 

 four or five hundred young fruit trees, the roots of which are 

 kept near the surface by taking the weeds and leaves which 

 accumulate upon the surface and putting them upon the soil 

 around the base of each tree. A saving of labour is thus 

 effected, the orchard is kept tolerably neat, and the trees are 

 undoubtedly much benefited. — Edwaiid Luckhubst. 



MnsHBooMS. — Two Mushrooms (Agaricns gambosus) were 

 gathered in my field last night, of which I send the dimensions. 



as they seem to me out of the common way. Circumference, 

 28 inches ; diameter, 9 inches ; girth of stem, lij ; weight, 1 lb. 

 3J ozs. The second is rather smaller, but thicker, and weighs 

 about 1 lb. Both are excellent edible Fungi. No doubt this 

 is an extraordinary year for Mushrooms, but are not these 

 of a rather exceptional size? — A. R., BromJey. 



[The year has been prolific of all species of Fungi. Even 

 in the north of England the markets were supplied largely 

 with the common Mushroom as early as the first week in 

 July. — Eds.] 



HOME-MADE FLOWEB POTS. 



Glass pots, and slate pots, and clay pots, clean pots, and 

 dirty pots — even teapots — have lately been mentioned as adapt- 

 able to plant culture. Possibly all are good for certain pur- 

 poses and under certain circumstances, and so also are the 

 home-made pots which we now notice. The pots we have ia 

 hand oppose the notions of those who consider a clean pot 

 essential on the one hand, and a densely made or glazed pot 

 advantageous on the other. The home-made pots are em- 

 phatically dirty pots and pre-eminently porous pots, and, what 

 is more, both these qualities are virtues — yea, are the very 

 essentials of the pots. These pots are noticed, not because 

 they are novel or fanciful, but because they are cheap and 

 useful — qualities which must command attention where small 

 pots are employed by hundreds of thousands for the prepara- 

 tion of bedding plants. 



The most complete mode of making these pots which wo 

 have yet seen is that which is adopted by Mr. Mclntyre, the 

 Superintendent at the Victoria Park. The models which wero 

 recently exhibited we have had engraved, and thus we place 

 before our readers in an intelligible manner this simple and 



FIG. 1. 



FIQ.3, 



FIG. 4 



FIC.2. 



Fig. 11. — Models for Home-made Flower Pots. 



useful mode of pot-making. Fig 1 is the model, which is made 

 of tin. It is 2^ inches in width at the top and 1^ inch at the 

 bottom, inside measure, and about 2^ inches in depth. Fig. 2 

 is the pot when made. Fig. 3 is the bolt, which is about 

 5 inches in length of half-inch round iron, to which is soldered 

 a shield of stout tin an inch in diameter ; this shield is an inch 

 from the end of the bolt. Fig. 4 is the mould (inverted), which 

 is made of wood, the upper part to form the handle, the lower 

 part being the mould or plug; the size of the plug is 1{ inch 

 across the top and an inch across the bottom, and '1\ inches 

 deep. These it will be seen are all easily made. 



Now to their use, but first as to the material. This is a 

 composition of strong loam — not clay — a little leaf mould and 

 cow dung. The loam and leaf mould may be in the same 

 proportions as if required for a potting mixture for the plants, 

 and the cow dung may form about one-tenth of the bulk. This 

 when weU mixed and tempered, using water as required, is. 



