266 
THE GARDENE RS CHRONICLE. 
[ApRIL 22, 
kad heard of anything of the kind, they all denied any 
such knowledge. So that in whatever part of Scotland 
these failures occurred, they did not take place here. On 
the contrary, Turnips last year, sold in the field in small 
lots, brought from 147. to 23/. per acre ; according as they 
happened to be white, yellow, or Swedes. Our farmers of 
the South, however, wish that they had a share of the heat 
and drought which are blamed for broad-cast sowing in 
the south of England; and affirm that their Turnips, 
though drilled, always grew best in the warmest seasons. 
I shall notice one more circumstance. Your correspond- 
ent says that the Scotch ploughs exhibited at the meeting 
of the Agricultural Society of England at Liverpool and 
Bristol were found wanting because of their weight; in 
consequence of which they required about double the amount 
of horse-power to work them, and that the light English 
plough was preferred to them. Supposing this statement 
to be true, how does it happen that the heavy Scotch 
plough in Scotland is always wrought with only two 
horses, which are in general of lighter make than English 
horses; while the light English plough in England is 
frequently wrought with three or four horses? Will the 
Scotch horses eat as much and do the same work as three 
or four English ones? Certainly not.—Not a Scotch 
Farmer, Stirling. 
Fiys.— Your correspondent in the last Chronicle, 
*¢J.N. V.,” says he finds no difficulty in growing Figs on 
the back wall of a Vinery. As Iam so unfortunate as 
not to be able to succeed, after much trouble, and with 
two or three different gardeners ; and as the same want of 
success is very general in my neighbourhood, ‘* J. N. V.’” 
would be doing a great service if he would state the par- 
ticular sort or sorts of Figs he prefers, and his mode of 
treatment. So completely have my gardeners failed in 
growing Figs against the back wall of a Vinery, that last 
year I did away with the trees, with the exception of a 
very small, delicate, pale-green Fig, which I have brought 
from the top of the back wall down the rafters, and in 
this way succeed in ripening my second crop late in the 
autumn ; the first crop generally falls. But in this way, 
you will observe, it occupies the place of a Vine. The 
house is a late house, and the Vines are only now showing 
for fruit; the Figs have attained about two-thirds their 
size, but when ripe they seldom exceed an inch and a half 
in length. From my description, can you give me the 
name of the Fig?—W.C. [Your Fig is most probably 
the Nerii.] 
Potters’ Guano.—I used some of this valuable mixture 
on Celery last autumn, with very good effect. I also 
gave some of it to a gentleman’s gardener, who used it 
on Celery, the latest row he planted, and strange to say, 
it was the first for use, and the finest in his garden.— 
T. Brock, Barking. 
Laws of Farmers.—Ownershipof Agricultural Fences. 
—Where there are two fields, separated by a hedge and 
ditch, the hedge, primd facie, belongs to the owner of the 
field in which the ditch is not ; and if there are two ditches, 
one on each side of the hedge, then the ownership of the 
hedge must be ascertained by proving acts of ownership, 
Guy v. West, 2 Selwyn’s Nisi Prius, 1827. An attempt 
was once made to establish a common law right in the 
owner of a bank and ditch, to have a width of eight feet 
from the interior line of the foot of the bank as the rea- 
sonable width ; viz., four feet for the ditch, and four feet 
for the base of the bank, if there were no ditch; but it 
was decided no such rule about an eight feet width ex- 
ists; and Lawrence Justice stated the rule about ditching 
to be this—* No man making a ditch, can cut into his 
neighbour’s soil ; but usually he cuts to the very extremity 
of his own land: he is, of course, bound to throw the 
soil which he digs out upon his own land, and often, if he 
likes it, he plants a hedge upon the top of it; therefore, if 
he cuts afterwards beyond the edge of the ditch, which 
is the extremity of his land, he cuts into his neighbour’s 
soil, and is a trespasser,’’ Vowles v. Miller, 3 Taunton’s 
Reports, 137. Proof, therefore, of the ancient width of the 
ditch is evidence that the owner’s land did not extend 
beyond the outer edge thereof. One tenant in common 
of a hedge may maintain trespass against his cotenant, if 
the latter grub it up; but a mere clipping of the hedge 
may be justified, Voyce v. Voyce, Cow. Rep., 201.—C.K, 
Cellar for Potatoes.—Y our correspondent ‘‘ Totty,” in 
last Chronicle, appears to have formed a very good plan 
for constructing a cellar for Potatoes, &c.; but pray allow 
me to caution him not to make it more than four or five 
feet wide, as I fear that the Potatoes will ferment if too 
many are crowded together in a mass.— Omega. 
Yeast Plant.—The seed sent you by a “‘ Lady” is that 
of Carduus Benedictus, or Blessed Thistle, with the vir- 
tues of which I doubt not but that you are acquainted.— 
soot, alongside of it) yet I can confidently state that it is 
not injurious. The Pines under my care to which it is 
applied are of a very dark green colour, are stiff in 
habit, and produce good fruit.— Polyphragmos.— During a 
period of many years, I mixed soot regularly in my soil for 
Pines ; and I consider it to be an excellent stimulant for 
giving those plants a dark green and healthy appearance. 
T used it in the following proportions for fruiting plants : 
four wheelbarrows of friable turfy loam, cut three or four 
inches deep from a common or old pasture, at least one 
year old before using it, and to be turned and chopped 
two or three times during that period; one barrowful of 
sheeps’-droppings gathered fresh from a common, and 
dried upon mats in an open shed, or out of doors, as the 
weather suited, and pounded fine with a quarter of a bar- 
rowful of soot. The whole were well mixed together, but 
not sifted, aweek or two before being used. For succes- 
sion plants, I added two barrowfuls of leaf-mould to the 
same proportions. In the above soils my Pines generally 
had a healthy appearance, growing freely and producing 
good fruit for their age, which seldom exceeded two years. 
By way of trying an experiment, in March, 1835, I cleared 
a number of succession plants from a small pit with a 
smoke flue running round the interior. I added a little 
fresh tan to the old, turned and mixed them together, 
keeping about six inches of the old tan on the top of the 
bed ; I then selected 24 Queen Pines, which I expected 
would soon show fruit, turned them out of their pots, 
and arranged them in three lines on the tan, commenc- 
ing first with the back line, sinking their balls about three 
inches in the old tan, and filling up the spaces between 
them one inch higher than the balls, with the same com- 
post as above mentioned for fruiting plants, but not 
broken quite so fine as when used in pots. When planted, 
they received a moderate watering to settle the earth 
about their roots. The pit was kept rather close for a 
few days, until the heat rose in the tan; they were then 
frequently syringed overhead during the summer, but 
seldom required to be watered at their roots. In May, 22 
of the plants had shown fruit, and by the end of Septem- 
ber they were all cut, and weighed respectively from 3 lbs. 
to 4} lbs. each. None of the plants were above two 
years old when the fruit was cut. The two plants which 
did not fruit were fine strong plants, but they had to be 
removed and potted when their more productive neigh- 
bours were cleared out.—J. Alexander, Carton Gardens. 
——Permit me to say, in answer to “ Scrutator ”’ (p. 209), 
that we have for some time used soot as a manure for 
Pines at this place. We use it either by placing a layer 
immediately above the drainage, or as a top-dressing, by 
removing a small portion of the soil from the surface, 
spreading a layer of soot, and then replacing the soil on 
the top. Whichever way it is applied, the manner in 
which the roots seem to luxuriate in the layers of soot, 
and the rich dark green of the foliage, compared with that 
of plants not so treated, bear sufficient evidence of the 
benefit derived from the practice. It must, however, be 
added that, as a preventive to worms entering the pots, 
soot is not effectual; for although it acts as such at first, 
it soon loses its repulsive properties, and after it has been 
in the pot a short time the worms appear as much at their 
ease in the layers of soot as in any other part of the ball. 
—* Trentham Hall, x 
Wild Flowers of Germany.—Mr. Howitt, in his 
“ Rural and Domestic Life in Germany,’’—a book full of 
curious and i information, tions, in his 
account of a visit he paid to the Wild Boar Park at Hiittel- 
dorf, near Vienna, where the Emperor of Austria keeps 
up with the greatest care the breed of the old German 
wild boar, of which he has there nearly two thousand head, 
that some were so tame as to come at the whistle of the 
keeper, and run eagerly as he shook one of the wild Cornel- 
trees, which grow plentifully in the forest. Mr. Howitt 
says ‘* Those trees, unknown in England, are as large as 
Apple-trees, and in autumn are covered with fruit of a 
coral colour, as large as Cherries, but oblong. They make 
a beautiful show, and the fruit, of a sub-acid flavour, 18 
uged for dessert. The wild swine are particularly fond of 
this fruit, and as the trees were shook, and it pattered to 
the ground, they came running on all sides, and stood in 
the neighbouring thickets eager for our departure, when 
they rushed forward and ravenously devoured it.” Can 
you inform me further respecting it, and whether it is to 
be procured in this country? Mr. Howitt talks much of 
the extreme beauty of the wild flowers in Germany: for 
instance, near Salzburg, where, he says, “‘ By the road-side 
the most beautiful flowers common to our gardens hung 
from the banks or gleamed from the wood-sides, and 
tempted the hand. The leaves of the Christmas Rose 
: a 
Thomas Abbott, jun —[Yes; and they are not the pro- 
perties ascribed to the Yeast plant. We do not think 
the figure is intended for the Blessed Thistle, which is not 
known in North America, except as an introduced plant, 
and that very rarely. 
P Soot as a Manure for Pines.—* Scrutator,’’ at p. 209, 
inquires whether any one has used soot as a manure for 
Pines. I beg to inform him that J have seen it used, and 
that T apply it myself with success. When used fresh, it 
is an excellent material for preventing worms from enter- 
ing the pots : but the drainage must be good, otherwise it 
willsoon lose its volatility. Ifstrewed over the crocks to 
the depth of a quarter of an inch, it will answer the above 
purpose ; the roots of the plants will grow freely in it, 
and their extremities (as far as my experience goes) will 
have a clear white and healthy appearance. 1 have also 
used it mixed with the soil, and although I cannot posi- 
tively say that it was beneficial (because I had not an op- 
portunity of putting a plant in all respects alike and 
under the same circumstances, with the exception of 
were in shewing that in early spring its large 
white blossoms must have greatly beautified the scene. 
The Dog-tooth Violet started richly between the mossy 
stones. There were pretty kinds of white and yellow 
Daphne, a large blue Gentian, splendid blue and yellow 
Salvias, with very large flowers, and the rich Mountain 
Pinks grew in abundance.”” I think it would be very 
desirable if seeds could be procured of the Salvias men- 
tioned, as a “splendid yellow Salvia’ would be a great 
acquisition to our gardens here ; as would also a hand- 
some hardy blue Salvia, which the Salvia patens certainly 
is notin Scotland, as I have never succeeded in preserving 
it through the winter in the open air, although I have 
taken great pains to do so—and I do not live ina cold 
part of the country. The frost at Salzburg must be many 
degrees more severe than it is here—Christina. [The 
wild Cornel is our Cornelian Cherry, or Cornus mascula, 
a common plant in nurseries. It was formerly grown @ 
good deal in England, but has given way to other things. 
The Salvia with yellow flowers is probably S. glutinosa, 
also common in botanic gardens, anda showy species. No 
doubt the Salzburg flora is very gay and rich ; but people 
have not the same feeling for wild flowers when cultivated, 
as when they are hanging from their native rocks. ] 
Management of Home Manure.—\ have lately read, 
with satisfaction, in the Chronicle, those articles which 
treat on the collection and management of Home Manure, 
and it is to be regretted that so little regard is paid to so 
important a subject. ‘The attention of men of science has 
of late years been so much directed towards the new 
Manures, that farm-yard manure seems to have been 
lost sight of altogether, and farmers now are satisfied 
with little else but Nitrate of this, Sulphate of that, 
Guano, &c.; while, in the management of their farm- 
yard manure, they are as far back as they were fifty years 
ago. Cow-house and stable dung is thrown into the 
ard as if it were of no value; it is there allowed to be 
drenched by every shower that falls, and its very essence 
to run off in drains from the yard; or it is thrown up in 
the field in a slovenly manner, as if the more it was ex- 
posed to the weather the better it would be. From twenty 
years’ experience in rural affairs, [am of opinion that 
the drier cow-house and stable manure is kept the better, 
and that it is as necessary for the farmer to keep his 
dunghill as secure from rain as his hay and straw. My 
attention was drawn to this subject some years ago, when. 
in the service of-a late nobleman, who allowed his princi- 
pal labourers to keep a cow, with as much potato-ground 
as their cow’s dung would cover. In consequence of 
some alterations in the labourers’ outhouses, one of them 
had to house his cow in an old barn, and there being no 
convenient place to deposit the dung in, he piled it up in 
a corner of the barn. When the season arrived for plant- 
ing Potatoes, this man’s cow-dung was taken into the 
field with that of his neighbours, and their Potatoes 
planted within a few hours of each other. By the time 
the crop was fit to hoe, it was quite evident that the 
man’s Potatoes whose cow-dung was kept dry were the 
best in the field; and not only that, but the spot upon 
which his manure was spread could be traced out for 
several years after.—Colo. [No doubt. But it will never 
do to keep stable litter dry ; for if you do, how is it to be 
decomposed? We are persuaded that the true mode of 
managing it is that described in a leading article a few 
weeks since. When once made, if it cannot be used, the 
drier it is then kept the better] 
Iron Stake-holder.—The accampanying sketches are 
taken from an iron stake-holder, used here to support 
plants of Epiphyllum truncatum, grafted upon tall stocks 
of Peréskia Bleo, which I had found it very troublesome 
to secure by common stakes. This plan fully answers 
the purpose, and as I am not aware that anything like it 
is at present in use, it may probably be serviceable to 
those of your readers who may be similarly situated with 
myself. If made of suitable dimensions to accord to the 
stake or plant to be secured to it, it will, I think, be also 
equally useful for plants in the open air, such as standard 
and Pillar Roses, &c., which are often injured by the 
manner in which they are usually supported. ‘The lower 
eye, a, is made with a female screw and a little smaller 
than the upper one, 0, and to give it a firmer hold, the 
lower part of the stake (which may be a common one) 
should be cut in the form of a screw to suit the lower eye. 
Being passed through the upper and screwed into the lower 
one, the stake is supported without penetrating the soil ; 
its utility will, therefore, be at once obvious, both as re- 
gards diminishing the risk of injury to the roots and the 
greater durability and strength of the support. The pot 
must be selected of a proper size, so that the holder fits 
tightly to it, and it should be placed in the pot when the 
plant is fresh shifted ; ¢ represents a front view of one of 
the side supporters; da transverse section; and ¢ a side 
view of ditto ; f exhibits the stakeholder complete.—John 
M 
‘Webster, Gardener to Mrs. Huskisson, Eartham. 
Coverings on Vine Borders.—I observe that in the 
Calendar of Operations,”’ at p. 251, Mr. Beaton states 
that the mulching may safely be removed from Vine 
Borders, and the latter exposed to the weather, My men, 
on the contrary, have been busy during the early part 
of the week, in giving the Vine-borders extra protection, 
by adding more fermenting material. What will my more 
northern neighbours think, who have followed the above 
advice, especially with their early houses? My registering 
thermometer came down the night before last (the 11th, 
to 20°, and even the netting on the flued walls (with fire)» 
had upon them a partial covering of snow. ‘The thermo- 
meter fell last night to 27° with a cold wind N.N. by Ww. 
The hills around are covered with snow.—James Roberts, 
Eshton Gardens, Skipton, Yorkshire. 
Properties of the Carnation.—I was not. surprised to 
find a champion in favour of the very full flowers I 80 
much condemned in the paper read by me on the 21st of 
March, before the Floricultural Society. J am, however, 
somewhat astonished that “C. K.,’? or any other persons 
should draw an inference the very opposite to that in- 
tended by the paragraph selected, at p. 230, from my 
paper. If he will re-peruse the paragraph, he will see 
that I found fault with Flora’s Garland on account of the 
“irregularity of its marking.’? Had ‘! C. K.’ read the 
remaining part of the paragraph referred to, he could nob 
have supposed me to have meant that, because a Carna- 
