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4 TH 
E GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
[Jan 7, 
fries to sow Vetches as a fallow crop, because they require, 
ven in the midst of summer, 10 or 11 weeks’ time to 
come into blossom. If they are sown in the beginning of 
April, they can be ploughed in by the middle of June, and 
the land can be fallowed by asecond crop of Vetches, or, 
still better, of the larger sort of Spurry. The objections 
to sowing Vetches are, that they often fail; that their roots 
do not reach deep; that they suffer from wire-worm, an’ 
that the seed is expensive. I do not much recommend 
them, and there are other plants preferable for green 
manure. At times they are sown with Beans, when a 
greater mass of herbage will be obtained ; the latter, how- 
ever, require a yet stronger soil than Vetches. Beans, 
~ however, have this advantage, that their roots reach 6 or 
7 inches deeper, and they thus loosen heavy land better. 
The seed of Beans, however, is still dearer. 
4, Buck Wheat.—Buck Wheat has been often praised 
as a superior plant for green manure, but have much 
reason to doubt it. In the first place, its success is too 
precarious; it yields little herbage, and that is very watery. 
Tf it succeeds well, one Magdeburg acre of land will yield 
on an average 4800 or 5000|b. green herbage and roots. 
10001b. green consist of * 
820-0lb. of water. 
2-0 ,, nitrogen (contained in the substance of 
15 ,,  potassa. [the plant). 
0°5, 4, soda 
£5 yy.- Times 
2:0 ,, magnesia. 
0-5 ,, sulphuric acid. 
0-7. ,, phosphoric acid. 
0-3. ,, chlorine. 
100°0 ,, carbon. 
ya 
», hydrogen, oxygen, silica, alumina, man- 
— [ganese, and iron. 
10001b. 
If, then, an acre yields 5,000 lbs., the furrow-slice will 
receive 10lbs. nitrogen, 7}lbs. potass, 74 lbs. lime, 
10 lbs. magnesia, 24 lbs. sulphuric acid, 4 lbs. phosphoric 
acid, and 500lbs. carbon, &c., which small quantities 
cannot produce any great result, Whenever I have used 
Buck Wheat for green manure, I have always returned to 
my former resolution, not to do so again, the result being 
constantly very trifling. Spurry is at any rate to be pre- 
ferred, for the seed is less expensive, and its roots pene- 
trate quite as deep into the ground. In heath-soil, 
however, Buck Wheat will succeed better than Spurry. 
T have often found by experiment that manuring it with 
gypsum will not improve the former, because it obtains 
the small amount of sulphuric acid required for its 
chemical constitution from rain-water. It generally re- 
quires only the atmosphere for its growth, and can sup- 
port a great deal of heat and drought ; on the other hand, 
it is more susceptible of wet and cold than most other 
cultivated plants. It never suffers from wire-worm or 
caterpillar; in short, it is a plant which, notwithstanding 
its disadvantages, has also some good qualities. If it 
grows luxuriantly, it will destroy all Couch-grass, and 
generally clean the land well; but if weak, the land will 
become so foul, as even to injure the subsequent crop. 
The latter must on no account be forggtten, if Buck 
Wheat is used as green manure; andif its failure seems 
certain, it should be at once ploughed in. This is, in fact, 
a rule which ought to be observed with regard to all 
plants grown for green manure. Nitrogen, potass, and 
magnesia, seem to be the most important agents in grow- 
ing Buck Wheat. If it is manured with any nitrate, it 
vegetates most luxuriantly, which proves that, notwith- 
standing its broad leaves, it does not receive much nitrogen 
from the air. 
In the middle and south of Germany it is sown in 
autumn in Corn stubble, and ploughed in after having 
attained 14 to 2 feet in length. In the north, however, 
this is impossible. It only acts during one season, which 
is explained by the small quantity of its chemical con- 
stituents. As it branches a good deal, it need not be 
sown thick ; 55 to 60 lbs. of seed per Magdeburg acre will 
suffice. Before it is ploughed in, it must be harrowed 
over, and a few days afterwards the crop can be sown. 
(To be continued.) 
OF CELERY IN BEDS, AND THE 
ROTATION OF CROPS. 
In an extract from Hovey’s Magazine of Horticulture, 
and also in the notice of the garden at Putteridgebury, 
allusion has been made to the cultivation of Celery in 
beds. As my system of growing that vegetable in beds 
differs a little from that generally practised, in so far as I 
wake the beds available for various purposes prior to 
planting the Celery, it may not be without interest to 
some of your readers if I give a short detail of it. 
In the autumn, after the crops are cleared, the ground 
which is intended for Celery the following season 18 
marked out in beds, 4 ft. wide, running from north to 
south, and the mould in every alternate bed is excavated 
to the depth of 14 inches, being placed so as to form a 
ridge between the beds. This ridge is then planted with 
Endive or Winter Lettuce, which may be considered the 
first crop. During the winter, as the leaves and weeds are 
cleared from the pleasure-ground and garden, they are 
wheeled into the trenches to the depth of, when pretty 
solid, one foot ; and are occasionally turned so as to get 
the various ingredients equally commingled, In February 
the leaves in each trench are collected into two or three 
heaps, and sufficient hot dung is added to each to excite 
by gradual admixture fermentation In the whole mass. 
This, after it has attained a proper heat, is levelled equally 
over the bed ; and, if the heat is not too violent, is covered 
A inches thick with mould from the sides of the ridges, 
CULTURE 
which mould is afterwards protected with 5 or 6 inches of 
Fern or dry litter. 
‘At the time the fermentation of the leaves and dung 
commences, a sufficient quantity of Asb-leaved Kidney ' 
Potatoes to plant the beds are placed on the floor of a 
forcing-house, and covered to the depth of 1 inch with 
Jeaf-mould, or any other light soil ; or where there is not 
the i of a forcing-h a slight hotbed must 
be made up for the purpose of starting the Potatoes. 
About the middle of March, all things being favourable, 
the Potatoes may be planted in rows, 1 foot apart and 3 
inches deep, in the soil before alluded to; making choice 
of the crown of the Potato only, and reserving’ the lower 
parts to plant in a bed by themselves, or in the natural 
ground ; foritis a factworth knowing, that in Potatoes 
planted on the same day there will be a fortnight’s differ- 
ence in favour of the crown over sets taken from any other 
part of the Potato, by the time the produce will be ready 
for table. After the planting is finished, it is necessary to 
rake the surface of the beds smooth and fine, to pre- 
yent as far as possible the heated air confined between the 
interstices of the soil from escaping, and to prepare the 
ground for a crop of Radishes. / 
will be ready for table in April and May. 
throw up more than three stems, it will be well to reduce 
them to that number, as there is no advantage in having 
more leaves than can be properly exposed to the light. 
‘These form the second and third crops. In the end of 
February a row of Knight’s Dwarf Marrow Peas may be 
sown along the centre of each ridge; and if the Endive 
is removed to a house or frame to blanch, a row of autumn- 
sown Lettuce may be planted on each side of the Peas, 
which will form the fourth and fifth crops. In June, 
after the Potatoes are.used, the beds must be dug over, the 
soil being thoroughly mixed with the dung ; they will then 
e ready for the sixth and last crop, which will be the 
Celery. If Celery of superior quality and unusual dimen- 
sions is desired, it will be best to replace the soil that the 
Potatoes were grown in by a layer of compost, six inches 
thick, consisting of good mellow loam and peat-earth. 
This must be mixed in equal quantities with the leaf. 
mould ; and it would be advisable before planting to g!ve 
the whole a thorough soaking of ammoniacal liquor, or 
some other rich liquid manure. A mixture of vegetable 
matter of this kind, in a half-decomposed state, I have in- 
variably found superior to the best spit dung for growing 
Celery : it is not superior in flavour only, but also in size 
and texture. For my first crop of Celery to be ready for 
table in August, I sow in shallow pans or boxes about the 
middle of February, and place the pans in heat until the 
plants are half-an-inch high; I then remove them toa 
moderately warm frame, to harden. ‘They are pricked out 
on a gentle hotbed, in leaf-mould, at about three inches 
apart, in April—Judew. . 
(To be continued.) 
TRELLIS FOR CLIMBERS. 
> 
AMATEURS’. GARDEN, No. I.’ 
N commencing this part of the Gardeners’ Chronicle 
for the ensuing year, I shall endeavour to the utmost to 
render it as instructive and interesting as possible. For 
this purpose, in the kitchen-garden department, I shall 
give directions for sowing just such a number of crops 
of each vegetable, as will be indispensable to the regular 
supply of a small family; the flower-garden and green- 
house I shall endeavour to make gay at all seasons; the 
management of what are designated florists’ flowers will 
be occasionally noticed; and the exposition of the prin- 
ciples upon which the practice of gardening is founded 
will not be lost sight of. ‘The province of the Amateur 
ought to be to cultivate selections rather than collections 
of plants ; for, as a small garden, well managed, affords 
more pleasure than a large one half cultivated, so is a 
small collection of plants, properly treated, ‘calculated 
to give more satisfaction than an extensive assortment of 
mere botanical curiosities. I shall, therefore, as I pro- 
ceed, point out such new or old, but comparatively 
neglected plants, as I consider adapted to answer the pur- 
poses of the Amateur, 
From present appearances it is likely that we shall be 
visited by some rather severe weather ; and as the late mild 
season has induced many tender plants in the open air to 
grow with nearly the vigour of spring, some slight pro- 
tection will be indispensably necessary. Many plants, 
such as Noisette, Tea-scented China, and the more tender 
of the Hybrid China and Bourbon Roses, are pushing 
even at the lowermost buds; therefore a slight frost on 
the young shoots, if they are unprotected, will be suffi- 
cient to do them irreparable injury. It is not cold 
that plants suffer from, so much as sudden changes in 
temperature ; for it is well known that a plant will 
brave considerable cold on a northern exposure, while 
a similar one on a warm south border, if not pro- 
tected from the sun, will be killed. Hence the utility 
of the plan recommended by Mr. Rivers, viz., to take 
up tender Roses, place them under a northern wall, 
and protect them with a mat in frosty weather; but as 
plants—for the first two or three years at least, until a 
considerable quantity of fibrous roots are formed—sustain 
a severe check by this treatment, it will be found better to 
tie the shoots loosely together, cover them thinly with 
dry fern or straw, and then to envelop the whole in a 
water-proof covering of some kind, such as calico satu- 
rated with oil, and a very small proportion of white-lead, 
or even with oiled paper. This covering must not be per- 
manent, but merely put on in case of frost ; and the fern or 
straw should be sufficiently loose to admit of a current of 
air passing through it; the object being not to protect 
a plant, but to retard its growth. 
Tf the outer walls of pits or frames containing half- 
hardy plants are not already rendered frost-proof, place 
dry straw or waste hay round them, to the thickness of 
one foot, and thatch it securely with straight straw ; 
which, by throwing the wet off, will be found a much 
better protection than fermenting materials. 
Greenhouses containing flowering plants of Cam éllias, 
Epacris, Cinerdrias, Heaths, &c., should not be allowed 
to fall much below 40° in temperature. Flowering plants 
require rather more water than those in a dormant state, 
especially when fire heat is used ; but be cautious, and if 
youerr, let it be on the side of moderation. 
W. P. Ayres. 
HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 
Disinfection.—I am glad to observe that you have taken 
up that most important subject, the sanatory condition of 
the labouring population. Few inquiries are more worthy 
of consideration, as it strikes at once at the root of dis- 
ease, misery, and vice. My attention has been strongly 
drawn to this subject, in consequence of some investiga- 
tions recently made by order of that enlightened sovereign, 
the King of Prussia ; and my inquiries have led me to 
conclusions very similar to some of those you have ad- 
‘yanced. I shall say nothing of the effect of miasms and 
putrid vapours on health, for I conceive that every one 
must be alive to them, although not aware how much evil 
they produce, The question now is, not as to the effects 
thus produced, but as to the best method of remedying 
them. Houses, streets, and whole towns, are rendered. 
unwholesome from the want of attention to cleanliness. 
Refuse of all;kinds is left to putrefy in the vicinity of 
dwellings, or within their walls ; and in populous places, 
where buildings are crowded together, it is frequently 
found that no means are taken to prevent those evils which 
are sure to arise when human beings live in an atmosphere 
loaded with putrid exhalations ; probably the most 
effectual remedy for this is a thorough system of drainage ; 
but then what is to become of the matters thus removed? 
Complete drains may be made to ensure the immediate 
removal of putrefying matters, from the places where their 
presence might do injury, into rivers or the sea; or proper 
receptacles might be formed to receive these matters, and 
some of the disinfecting processes, which the discoveries 
of chemists have brought to light, might be adopted to 
destroy putrid effluvia, and thus prevent all evil effects. 
The latter must be allowed to be preferable. The value 
of the manure annually lost by drainage is enormous ; our 
sewers carry away matters which would fertilise thousands 
of acres, the whole of which might be’ saved at a compa- 
ratively small expense. No doubt there is a great diffi- 
culty to overcome in the prejudice which exists against 
the use of fecal manure, but it must in time give way be- 
fore the necessity of employing it, or some costly substi- 
tute. In disinfecting refuse animal matter there are 
three points to be attended to—first, to destroy the 
offensive smell; secondly, to preserve the volatile pro- 
ducts of decomposition ; and lastly, to render it port- 
able ifto be used atadistance. It is of the first importance 
that the process adopted to destroy smell shall not at the 
same time cause the loss of those substances which con~ 
stitute the chief value of manure. Chlorine, the most 
powerful known disinfecting agent, might be prepared at 
avery small cost ; it would not in any way injure the 
manure, and it would effectually destroy putrid vapours. 
Other cheap substances might also be employed with ad- 
vantage ; but it is at present unnecessary to examine which 
is the best method of converting refuse matters into ma- 
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