1843.] 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
227 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.— 
The last day, on which Tickets for the ensuing Exhibitions 
at the Garden can be issued to Fellows at the privileged Price of 
3s. 6d. each, is Tuesday, April 18, 
21, Regent-st., April 7, 1843. 
fhe Gardeners’ Chronicie, 
SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1843. 
MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 
Tuesday, Aprili1. ical 8h vm 
Tuesday, Aprills. . . 
Wednesday, April19. 
Friday, April)... 
Saturday, Aprilee’ J) | 
i 
Botanical 4. . 
Royal Botanic 
We last year gave our readers some information 
(p. 299) concerning the new Fruit and Kitchen 
Garden which is in course of formation for her Ma- 
Jesty at Frogmore. Having recently had an oppor- 
tunity of again inspecting the works, we are sure that 
every one will be glad to know what progress has 
been made. 
The departments intended for dwarf trees are in 
almost all cases planted. About 4,000 feet of wall 
have been erected, and these are all planted with the 
choicest fruit-trees. The great range of forcing- 
houses, with a dwelling-house in the middle, isin an 
advanced state, and will—in part, at least—be ready 
to receive plants in a month or two. A low terrace- 
wall, parallel with the main range, cuts off the quar- 
ters of fruit-trees and kitchen-garden produce from a 
turfed border, laid out in parterred flower-beds, which 
will form a fine object by the side of a broad gravelled 
Toadway in front of the forcing-houses, but separated 
from them by the necessary Vine-borders. At the 
ack of the principal range of glass have been con- 
Structed fruit-rooms, mushroom-houses (one of which 
18 at work), store-rooms, lodging-rooms for men, pot- 
ting sheds, and other useful places. ‘Then, in rear of 
this large range, is a vast quantity of pits and small 
houses "for succession Pines, Cucumbers, Melons, 
Strawberries, and all the infinite variety of forced 
produce required for her Majesty’s table. 
It would be premature to enter into greater details 
at present, but we trust that hereafter, when all is 
finished, we shall have an opportunity of giving plans 
of the whole arrangement. There are, however, some 
Points to which attention may be at once directed. 
In the first place, all the heating is effected with 
hot-water pipes, the upper rows of which are cast with 
evaporating pans; the boilers are of the waggon 
shape, and the fittings of the furnaces and ash-pits 
are on the same plan as that adopted from Mr. 
Ainger’s designs in the Horticultural Society’s great 
conservatory at Chiswick. In order to feed the eva- 
porating pans, hollow copper tubes, pierced with 
‘oles and connected with a reservoir, are carried along 
the range of pipes a little above the pans, so that 
Water can at any time be turned on or off, 
Ventilation is effecied by sliding down the sashes, 
by Pierced shutters in the back wall, and by front per- 
Pendicular sashes hinged at the upper edge. There 
are some beautiful mechanical contrivances connected 
With these arrangements. A screw on the back wall 
Will slide backwards and forwards, at the same mo- 
ey all the pierced ventilators alternating with 15 
oth les ; and by means of a rack and quadrant the 15 
ae e front perpendicular lights may be elevated more 
eae Without any necessity to walk upon the Vine- 
this ets or to touch the sashes. The importance of 
ae In preventing the destruction of glass, and in the 
‘ig of labour, need not be insisted on. 
whine sashes and rafters are of metal, and the glass, 
thE 1s in long lengths, and cut to a half-lozenge at 
ial Ha is of British sheet glass, by far the best mate- 
with Te garden purposes. The laps are constructed 
SE th ‘ad, and a hole is left at the point of the lozenge 
© escape of condensed water. 
Tae ile the general design of this regal garden, as 
jua mar has been carried out, does honour to the 
plas ent of the noble Lords who have sanctioned the 
8 of Mr. Ingram and the architect, we are also 
Sate 8 add that the beautiful workmanship of Mr. 
metal’ of Birmingham, who constructs the iron roofs, 
Bie Sashes, and mechanism, of the Messrs. Baileys, 
aie ave the contract for the heating apparatus, and of 
fall who have been engaged in the builder’s work, 
a justify the confidence that has been placed in 
Y the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. 
Pora 
th 
ay the TOES, some say, are the curse of Ireland ; we 
that ag Ue the blessing of overpeopled Europe. Be 
otto may, everybody is now thinking of their 
tion a fee and therefore it is desirable to men- 
ion whi ei [ell attested facts relating to their cultiva- 
clusive of ave come out during the last year, ex- 
eared’ such Notices as have from time to time ap- 
in our Chronicle. 
Messrs. Gibbs and Co.,* that guano has been found a 
very useful application. Mr. Robert Bell, of Gunsbro’, 
near Listowel, states that this substance, drilled in at 
the rate of 24 cwt. per acre, produced an extraordina- 
rily heavy crop, the most abundant indeed eyer seen 
in his part of Ireland; he also found nitrate of soda 
very efficient, but guano was the best. A farmer, 
however, writing anonymously in the Galloway Re- 
gister, asserts that guano, with him, was inferior to 
farm-yard dung on light land; the produce of the 
latter being 12 tons 8 ewt., while guano produced only 
10 tons on the same quantity of land, although he used 
6 cwt. an acre; but then his Potatoes obtained with 
dung, cost him 14s. 2d.a ton, while those from guano 
cost but 7s. 2d. ; so that the crop obtained with guano 
Was most profitable. In these results, however, there 
is nothing like the precision that is found in some 
capital experiments, recorded by Professor Johnston 
in the last Number of his valuable suggestions} for 
experiments in agriculture. 
or the details of the experiments we must refer to 
the pamphlet itself, which should be, and from its 
cheapness may be, in the hands of every farmer and 
Master gardener in the kingdom. They were con- 
dueted by Mr. Fleming, of Barochan, and are models 
for imitation. 
Tn a light loamy soil, with a hard subsoil retentive 
of water, the following produce was obtained :— 
ee a eS 
Pes Sail Say 2 
$s |edjan | 28 a 
Low Freup, Ba-| #2 S8leug5| #8 eon) 
ms 25/82 S| a Reo 
ROCHAN. s3 [Re S| Sa se 
No. er oes |SEl\fsa| a we 
°"| Description of Top) Bes og sé ne c=0-4 
= ge B 8 3 
Dressings. ef (BA/258) 85 Bq 
oe Ssise 3s Od 
5 a iS 6 2a g 
as x » | a 
ety sa] = | 
3 Sabo Bldgs ol 
Sulph. of Magnesi i > beet pa nang 
1 { |Sulph. of Magnesia ; 2) 
{Sled agnesia) 1 1 \i80.| 90. [22 20 | 19 0 
{ |Selphate of Soda | 14 iy 2 
2 
\[sulph-of Ammonia] a+ [151 | 758 |18 17 #) bh 9 
4 Nitrate of Potash.| 13 |148| 74 |1810—|2 3 0 
{ Sulphate of Soda . at 3 i eas 
51 |itrate of Soda ais fee 123 HB Vieme9 
6 |Nitrate of Soda 1} 128 | 64 [16 — —} 131 0 
7 |sulph. of Ammonia| 13 58/1410 —| 111 0 
8 |Sulph. of Magnesia is 106 | 53 113 5 —l012 6 
9 |Sulphate of Soda | 2 98] 49 1215 —|015 0 
19 ‘Nothing but Dunelso cub. vas] 98! 49 ho 1s —! 0 0 0 
In this case, an amount of produce, very unusual 
under any circumstances, was obtained by mia ing 
together two salts, neither of which was remarkable for 
its (fects when employed separately ; and, according to 
the table, at the cost of 29s, only, in addition to the 
ordinary dressing of manure. The farm-yard manure 
was spread at the bottom of the drills when the Po- 
tatoes were planted (April !8), and the saline matters 
were added afterwards (June 1) as a top-dressing ; the 
sort employed was the Early American, and the dis. 
tance between the rows was 26 inches, It is hard to 
say, in this case, what the action could have been ; 
we cannot well refer it to the sulphate of magnesia, 
although that agent has been strongly recommended 
by Liebig, combined with cloacine; for when used 
by itself, it produced, in the experiment now re- 
corded, only 13 tons and a quarter ; and in another 
case, mentioned by Mr. Fleming, not quite 114 tons 
were obtained from it. Nor does it appear clear for 
what reason sulphate of magnesia should be so use- 
ful; for, according to Sprengel, magnesia in good mealy 
Potatoes, analysed by him, did not exist tothe amount 
of more than 0.104 in 100,000 (parts of the fixed 
matter, nor did this earth exceed 0.488, in a case where 
Potato parings were analysed by themselves. Neither 
js the mystery in any way explained by a curi- 
ous case Mentioned by Professor Johnson in another 
place, where produce at the rate of 30 tons an acre was 
gathered from a small plot of ground, top-dressed 
«with a mixture of 4 nitrate of soda and § sulphate 
of soda.” The fact, however, is most interesting and 
important, whatever the explanation of it may prove 
to be. 
In another experiment by the same gentleman, 
guano, used at the rate of 3 cwt. an acre, brought a 
crop of 184 tons, merely when put in with the sets 
and not subsequently top-dressed, no other manure 
being used, and the whole cost therefor being about 
36s. an acre, Ina second ease, under the same cir- 
cumstances as the last, when a different sort of 
Potato was employed, and where the soil unmanured 
brought only 6} tons, 4 ewt. of guano, worth 48s., 
produced rather more than 143 tons; 4 ewt. of guano 
with 25 bushels of ashes, 153; and the same quantity 
of guano with 20 bushels of charcoal, 173 tons; on 
the other hand bone-dust, at the rate of 45 tons an 
acre, only yielded 9} tons of produce. 
What the subsequent effect of these substances on 
the land may be is an important point to determine, 
but cannot be at present stated. his valuable fact 
* Guano; its Analysis and Effects; illustrated by the latest 
experiments. 
®ppears from a pamphlet recently published by 
+ Suggestions for Experiments in Practical Agriculture, No, 
IIL, Black ad 
seems however to have come out, namely, that sets 
taken in 1842, from Potatoes treated with the nitrate 
and sulphate of soda in 1841, produced a better crop 
than sets obtained from the same variety, which had not 
been so dressed, to the extent of 33 tons per acre. 
“Tn so far, therefore,” says Prof. Johnson, “as this 
experiment is to be relied upon,—for we must not be 
hasty in drawing general conclusions,—it appears that 
the benefit tobe derived from a skilful treatment of the 
Potato plant does not terminate with the greater im- 
mediate crop we reap, but extends also into future 
years, improving the seed and rendering its after-cul- 
ture more productive. ; ; 
“ This idea is worth pursuing, were it only for the 
purpose of making out the possible existence of so 
important a physiological law—how much more when 
it appears so pregnant with important practical results, 
But thus it is in all cases, that the prosecution of ex- 
perimental research, with immediate reference either 
to purely scientific or to purely practical results, ends 
in improving and benefitting both abstract science 
and economical practice. 
“Tam unwilling to follow out or to reason upon 
this possible law, as if it were really established ; but 
the possibility of its truth appears to throw light upon 
such questions as this—why the seed must occasional 
be changed if large crops are to be continually reaped. 
Jne ‘soil may be adapted to give the plant a large 
supply of this or that substance in which the other 
soil is comparatively deficient : and it may be possible 
to medicate our seed-corn, while growing, so as to give 
it the qualities which at present it can acquire only 
by a change of soil.” 
Next week we shall return to this important 
subject. 
We are much pleased to find that our own opinion 
with respect to the advantage of small allotments 
Jet to labourers is confirmed by numerous letters re= 
ceived on the subject. All those who have tried the 
system, without exception, are satisfied with the re- 
sult. It is to be regretted that some tenant farmers 
are still prejudiced against it; and we should rejoice 
if we could convince them of the unreasonableness of 
their fears. They think that the labourers’ time and 
attention will be too much taken up by their gardens, 
and that they will neglect their regular work. Exp 
rience has shown that this is a groundless fear. The 
farmer should make the occupation of a small portion 
of land a part of the wages paid to the labourer, and 
hire him by the year, with the condition that any 
wilful neglect or misconduct which would justify the 
dismissal of the labourer, would also deprive him of 
his garden ; the value of the growing crop, according 
to a fair valuation, being paid him. here must be a 
mutual tie between the farmer and his labourer, and. 
this can never exist where their interests seem opposed 
to each other. If the labourer knowsthat whenever his 
employer can do without him and save the wages 
which he pays him, he will discharge him, he can feel 
no interest in his master's prosperity ; but when he 
sees that the master strives to find constant em ployment 
for his regular men, and that it is only when driven by 
absolute necessity, from their misconduct or his own 
losses, that he discharges any of them, the labourer will 
do his utmost to do his work well, and will feel the 
same interest in his master’s success as farm-servants 
living in the family used todo. His master, on the 
other hand, will rejoice to see his men comfortable, 
and will encourage their industry, allowing them now 
and then a spare day, if they require it, to work in 
their gardens, for which they will gladly allow a day’s 
pay to be deducted from their wages, But the great 
advantage of small allotments is, that the labourer's 
wife and family can be usefully employed, and will, 
in general, suffice for the lighter, but most important, 
part of the work, which consists in hoeing and weed- 
ing the crops, gathering the produce, feeding the 
pigs, and wheeling out the manure to make composts. 
Children, under the guidance of the mother, delight 
in such work, and learn early in life the advantages of 
industry. We would that, besides the allotment— 
which, if possible, should not be far from the dwelling 
—every labourer’s cottage had a neat, small garden, 
with patches of flowers and beds of culinary vegeta~ 
bles ; for this purpose, 10 poles (the 16th of an acre), 
are sufficient. ‘The allotment may be from a quarter 
to half an acre, according to the number in the 
family ; and in this may be raised such Crops as suit 
the soil, a certain portion being provided for the pigs, 
which not only add to the food of the family but pro- 
vide the manure. Far from interfering with the 
master’s interest, this occupation will fill up that time 
which is now too often devoted to the beer-shop, An 
uneducated man has few resources in himself 3 active 
employment, without too great fatigue, is a recreation” 
to him; and the more comfortable his home is, the 
happier he will be, and the more cheerfully he will - 
perform his duty. 
Fully impressed with the truth of what we have 
| here asserted, we will most readily concur in the ame- 
| lioration of the condition of the agricultural labourer 
