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JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 16, 18T5. 



after that, heavy rains fall acoompauied by a high tempera- 

 ture, disuase is almost certain to follow. A rising thermometer 

 and a falling barometer, with a glance at the telegraphic 

 weather reports, have always afforded me timely notice of 

 danger. When I once decide that action mnst be taken the 

 work of taking np the crop or removing the haulm is prompt. 

 I prefer to take np the crop if I have convenience for thinly 

 storing the tnbers, but if this convenience is not afforded I 

 prefer to remove the haulm and let the produce rest thinly in 

 the ground until a suitable time for storing. 



My experience has told me that the disease seldom sets in 

 until early and moderately early kinds have attained to nearly 

 their full size ; and when that ia the case, and when a chango in 

 the weather is imminent, I take up the crop, or if time fails for 

 this I remove the haulm, and in either case the produce is 

 quite safe. If I cannot find an airy place to store the tubers 

 I prefer to let them remain in the ground to set their skins. 



"Beta's" "well-known fact" that the tubers are " useless 

 for culinary purposes if the haulm is removed before the latter 

 are ri. e" is, fortunately, not a fact with me and others mho 

 have adopted the practice. I can submit Potatoes of many 

 Backs of Paterson's Victorias which have been taken up some 

 weeks which will equal in quality any Potatoes of the same 

 variety which have been left in the ground to ripen. What is 

 a fact is this — that Potatoes when taken out of the ground in 

 an Unripe state are " sad" when cooked immediately, but they 

 eventually ripen (taking longer to do so, however, than if left 

 in the ground to mature naturally), and are ultimately perfect 

 in quality. How this partly skinless produce obtain new skins 

 or their watery bulk is changed to starch I know not, but such 

 is the fact if the tubers are stored thinly iu a cool, dry, and 

 airy place. 



In the great disease year of 1872 my employer, knowing the 

 constant immunity from disease of his garden-ground Potatoes, 

 deputed me to make experiments in the field. The first day's 

 haulm-pulling (two acres) was a success. On that part there 

 were no bad tubers. In the afternoon rain fell, continuing for 

 two days with a mean temperature of 75°. The haulm which 

 was removed after the rain was labour lost, for the tnbers 

 became extensively diseased. Tubers, unripe and stored thickly, 

 did not ripen, but remained "sad" for an indefinite time; 

 those which were stored thinly in a dry airy place matured 

 into produce of perfect quality. The produce of an infected 

 crop taken np and stored in large heaps rotted to the extent 

 of four sacks out of live. Another portion of the same crop left 

 in the ground to " take its chance," and not dug until the end 

 of November, was of fourfold greater value. Potatoes are com- 

 monly heaped large and small, good and bad, promiscuously, 

 to " save time " and to be " sorted," it may be a month after- 

 wards. The practice ends in both loss of time and produce. 

 When spread on the ground at digging time is the rational 

 tuiiH t.i "sort." Let careful people pick the best and any- 

 body follow with the refuse, and although a little more time is 

 taken in securing the crop, both time and produce are in the 

 end saved. Store dry If possible, store thinly, store cool. 



If the bulk is too large or conveniences too limited for thin 

 storing wait until cool weather sets in before storing thickly. 

 It is not the thick heaps, as tnch, that engender the violent 

 spread of disease, but the heating of such heaps. The fungus 

 will germinate and spread with immense rapidity at a tem- 

 perature of 75°, but at 50° the spread is not nearly so rapid, 

 and at, 40° it is about 7iz7. Under any temperature moisture 

 is an assistance to the fungus growth. Therefore it is that 

 I repeat. Store dry, store thinly, store cool. 



Thousands of tons of produce have been ruined by storing 

 too early and too thickly — that is, by producing a close, heated, 

 humid atmosphere in the heaps, and providing the very con- 

 ditions in which the fungus luxuriates. Bather than do this 

 I prefer to let the tnbers rest in the ground in their simple 

 natural isolation, and I am a gainer by the apparent delay. If 

 the haulm is removed before the fungus spores have germi- 

 nated the crop ia absolutely safe, and if the haulm is not re- 

 moved the crop is safer than if thrown together in large heaps 

 in a moist state in warm weather. 



I do not perceive the necessity of removing the haulm from 

 late crops at this date, becaune I do not apprehend that a high 

 temperature will accompany a possible fall of rain. It is the 

 combined action of heat and moisture that fosters the spread 

 of the murrain so disastrously ; the action of either, if alone, 

 working little if any injury. 



I am afraid " Beta " will be again dissatisfied with my re- 

 marks, but I feel conscious of my inability to lay down a line 



of guidance whereby the disease can be averted by all growers 

 and under varying circumstances. Even if I were cognisant of 

 these circumstances I might fail, and being ignorant of them 

 my power to aid is infinitely lessened. I can only aid by 

 giving my experience and its results, with the reasons for 

 adopting a given mode of practice. The rest must be left to 

 the intelligence of growers, of which I opine that " Beta " 

 possesses a fair share.— Yoekshieehan. 



STRAWBEBKY CULTURE. 



Strawbeeky cultivation seems to be a subject of no little 

 interest to numerous readers, judging by the many letters of 

 inquiry I have had since the publication of my letter of 

 August 26th. 



It seems to be quite the exception to many growers to obtain 

 anything more than a very poor crop of fruit the firit year 

 after planting ; I am therefore induced to give the details of 

 my way of growing a crop of fine large fruit on first-year 

 plants. Strawberries are grown better in quality, larger ia 

 size, and more independaut of the season, on first-year plants 

 than at any other time during the three or four years they 

 usually are grown. My land is very light, and not what is 

 considered^ good Strawberry soil, and I find that I can grow 

 more fruit the first season than I can (on many sorts) by 

 letting them fruit the third year. 



I always chose land that has grown Potatoes as the previous 

 crop in preference to any other crop, for the land is, after 

 Potatoes, at liberty in good time, and is left in a nice mealy 

 condition, free from 8lng< and other enemies to ripe fruit. On 

 the contrary, planting after a crop of Cabbages you follow a- 

 very exhausting crop, the land often lacks moisture, and the 

 fruit when ripe is attacked by a host of slugs wiiich have esta- 

 blished themselves during the time Cabbages were growing on 

 the land. 



Deep cultivation I always give my land, but a caution is here 

 necessary. I never now trench land without having at least 

 one year previously subsoiled it. Trench some land, and turn 

 to the top a raw, harsh, and hungry subsoil, and you need not 

 be surprised if the crop next following sorely disappoints the 

 hopes of the cultivator. I have tried it on a large scale, a field 

 at a time, with the plough, ploughing 8 or 10 inches on land 

 that had only been used to 4 inches deep ; and I have tried it 

 with the fork in scores of instances, and the result has always 

 been the same — hopes disappointed, a poor crop, and deep 

 cultivation discredited. Biit I am wiser now if not richer for 

 the experience I have gained during a period of nearly twenty 

 years. .1 am still as great an advocate for deep cultivation as 

 ever, and I either trench or subsoil for every crop I grow. As 

 my land is in good heart I do not use any manure at the time 

 of planting. 



Having the land well cultivated I always wait for a good 

 rain to thoroughly miisten the soil from top to bottom. I 

 would rather wait a month than plant in dry soil and a hot 

 scorching sun. In this matter it is indeed true that " patience 

 is a virtue." If you are in a hurry to plant you will perhaps 

 find out that " more haste less speed." I think September 

 quite as good a month to plant in as either July or August, 

 minding only to have good plants to plant. In September you 

 have a better choice of situation, as many of the summer crops 

 are ready to remove, and the cooler days and long dewy nights 

 are much more favourable to planting than during either July 

 or August. I plant in rows 30 by 15 inches, and the second year 

 taking out every other plant, leaving them 'AO by 30 inches for 

 the second and third year's crop. As stated in my last my 

 plants are raised in nursery beds, and are carefully removed, 

 each with a mass of rootlets and soil, and to see them at the 

 week's end you would hardly believe that they had been planted 

 so short a time. I have my runners struck in June. I see by 

 reference to my note-book that I began planting them in the 

 nursery bed on the 30tb of June this year. I strike my runners 

 in each alternate row of first-year plants, gathering the fruit 

 from every other row, and allowing no person to set a foot on 

 the row where the runners are striking. I only allow four or 

 six runners to a plant, taking the others away as fast as they 

 make their appearance. After my bed is planted I keep the 

 hoe constantly going among the plants, hoeing them over if 

 possible at least once a-week, yet never going on to the land 

 when it is wet. It is surprising how fast they grow, and by the 

 middle of October they look like plants a twelvemonth old. 



Early in March, or as soon as the land is dry enough, having 

 hoed them over two or three times, I give them their mulching 



