Notes and Gleanings. 239 



Culture of Horse-Radish. — John Cox, in "The Florist," thus gives his 

 experience in the culture of horse-radish : — 



In the course of the spring of the present year, my attention was forcibly 

 arrested by some able remarks on the culture of horse-radish in " The Journal 

 of Horticulture " for 1867. The system advocated appeared to me to be so 

 great an improvement on the old one, that I determined to give it a trial, in op- 

 position to our routine method of planting every year a bed to come into use 

 the third year after planting. In the place of digging out trenches, and filling 

 them up, as directed in the article alluded to, I selected a bed, which, last year, 

 was used for the cultivation of ridge cucumbers, having been prepared in the 

 usual way by throwing out a trench about three feet in width, and two feet in 

 depth, which is filled well up with manure, short grass, tree-leaves, or any other 

 suitable rubbish which will generate a little heat. This, of course, was all rotted 

 down ; and, early in April of the present year, I trenched up the middle of the 

 bed, incorporating the soil and rotten stuff together, and thus prepared it for 

 planting. 



It appears to me that there are two principal points to be carefully followed 

 out in order to insure success : one is to properly prepare the sets for planting, 

 and the other is to secure a well-prepared bed of rich soil for them to grow in. 

 With regard to the preparation of the sets, at the time of digging up the three- 

 years' bed, I directed the men to save all the long roots about the thickness of a 

 goose-quill : these I selected as straight as I could get them, and shortened them 

 to the length of a foot. From these every perceptible eye was removed except 

 those close to the top ; and also all the fibres, with the exception of those about 

 an inch from the bottom. Having thus prepared a sufficient number of roots, 

 1 made holes nine inches apart in a diagonal direction from the sides to the 

 centre of the bed, sufficiently deep to take the roots without bending ; and into 

 these they were inserted, and the earth pressed down upon them. I then, by 

 way of a catch-crop, planted a row of cauliflowers down the middle, and one on 

 each side of the bed : these did very well. 



The bed was planted on the 1 5th of April ; and in the first week of this month 

 (October), within six months of the time of planting, I have roots equal in size, 

 and superior in quality, to any that I get from the beds of the third year under 

 the old method. I feel sure that I need not enlarge upon the economy of this 

 method of cultivation ; the facts speak for themselves : and, as I have myself 

 proved it practically, I cordially recommend it througli the medium of ' The 

 Florist and Pomologist.' " 



Bees. — Your correspondent " G. G.," in February number, is needlessly 

 alarmed about his bees injuring his raspberries or any other fruit by "inter- 

 meddling with the pollen." I raise raspberries and bees pretty extensively, and 

 find them mutually beneficial to each other. Every fruit-grower should have 

 enough bees to save the honey, the most valuable part of his fruit-crop, which 

 otherwise is lost. D. L. Adair. 



Hawesville, Ky. 



