BRADING HARBOUR 39 



garden now cultivated upon it, are from the pen of 

 Mr. C. Orchard, the lessee of the latter, whose practical 

 experience I give exactly as he communicated it to me, 

 together with an extract from an article on the wild 

 plants of the sand-hills which he contributed to The 

 Journal of Horticulture. 



" Some portions of the reclamation contain a sulphur- 

 ous matter injurious to vegetation, and require a top- 

 dressing of manure or other soil for the seed to 

 germinate in. There are many varieties of soil and 

 substances to be found throughout the whole area. 

 The best for vegetation is a kind of loamy deposit of 

 mud, on the highest parts ; that is, above the strata 

 of sand : in this nearly every variety of cereal and 

 vegetable luxuriates and grows beyond all proportions. 

 There are four acres included by a fence, and now 

 cultivated by me, as a market- and flower-garden. 

 The soil is rich in phosphates, and all kinds of 

 vegetables grow wonderfully clean and of good flavour ; 

 the asparagus especially being noted for its delicious 

 flavour, being in its natural element as a seaside plant. 

 Apples, plums, and peas have been tried with great 

 success, and flowers of all kinds grow and flower in 

 great profusion ; the bright colours coming out to the 

 highest degree in the open and sunny position. 



" Quite indigenous, the wild bastard samphire or glass- 

 wort grows most profusely around the brackish streams 

 and lakes. The horn-poppy also luxuriates on the 

 sides of the road that forms the embankment, and on 

 two distinct places I have found the very rare Silene 



