?;& Retrospective Criticism. 



acid gas in the night-time, and give out oxygen during sunshine. These 

 appear to me to be the opinions of the latest writers on the subject of vege- 

 table physiology. Does it appear by them that the roots absorb atmospheric 

 air from the soil ? They do not. (See Phil. Mag., vol.xx. p. 307.) Mr. 

 Mitchell also says that my mode of culture will exclude moisture from the 

 roots ; but he must be aware that that excellent practical gardener, M'Phail, 

 recommends treading melon beds, to retain moisture. (Encyc. ofGard. § 3273.) 

 I have followed his recommendation, and have, in consequence, had crops 

 superior to those of my neighbours. I am confident that better crops than 

 mine were not grown even at Slapton. Mr. Mitchell seems to have a great 

 respect for cooks who delight in " sound rating and onion-throwing ; " but I 

 think most of what will please my employer. — William Whiddon. Frost's 

 Nursery, Leamington, Warwickshire, Dec. 29. 1833. 



In transplanting a Tree, ive should pilace its Sides or Phases opposite those 

 Points of the Compass which they faced before Transplantation. (IX. 580.) — C. 

 M. W. but reiterates the practice described by Virgil in his Georgics, book ii. 

 ver. 265. to 272.— Ephebicus Horticultor. Nov. 1. 1833. 



Mr. James Hart's Notes on the Mode of cultivating Early Potatoes, ivhich is 

 practised in the Neighbourhood of Dublin. (IX. 589.) — Sir, Mr. Hart begins by 

 asserting that " persons have whole acres of potatoes rotting about Dublin 

 every spring." This is not true ; and I challenge him to name instances of 

 such wholesale failures. " The cause is assigned to every thing but the right 

 thing." Why, surely it will be conceded to us of the sister isle (confessedly 

 low as we are in rural improvement) to understand the cultivation of the 

 potato at least. " The Irishman's mode of planting the potato is to cover 

 the seed potatoes with dung in the drills to keep them warm, and to spreaa 

 out the cut seeds, or sets, in the barn, to keep them from rotting : both acts 

 have just the opposite effect with early potatoes." I deny that either of these 

 acts is injurious to early potatoes. If the potatoes have not been damaged, 

 and if the sets are properly cut ; that is, so as to have one or more eyes to 

 each, it matters not whether they lie thinly on the floor, or are thrown up in 

 a heap ; but the former practice I always prefer. If Mr. James Hart had 

 only asked a few questions of his neighbours in Mud Island, any of the old 

 women there could have informed him that early potatoes are never planted 

 in drills in the neighbourhood of Dublin, but in beds from four to five feet 

 wide (called ridges in Ireland), which have deep alleys or furrows between 

 them, and are, in appearance, exactly like the asparagus beds in the market 

 grounds about London ; and that it is only the general crops, on a more exten- 

 sive scale, that are grown in drills. It is unnecessary for me to make any 

 remarks on Mr. Hart's reasons for planting his potatoes " over the dung," and 

 his would-be-learned lucubrations on the benefit of the atmospheric air. These 

 need only be read to be rightly appreciated. We are informed that " air, heat, 

 and water " (he has forgotten light) " are the causes of vegetation, and air the 

 mainspring." Mr. Hart is also entirely mistaken when he says there is no 

 advantage in " planting potatoes earlier than the middle of March." Let him 

 visit Rush, Skerries, Malahide, &c, or any place in that portion of the county 

 of Dublin called Fingal, and he will learn how and when early potatoes are 

 obtained for the Dublin market. I can assure him that at present he is a 

 mere novice in the art of growing early potatoes. I shall take my leave of 

 Mr. Hart for the present ; but strongly recommend him, before he commits 

 himself again on this subject, to take a few lessons of his near neighbours the 

 Mud Islanders, who are perfectly competent to instruct him in this branch of 

 his profession. I must observe that Mr. Hart's conclusion is in perfect 

 keeping with his essay. He says: — " If all this be observed," meaning the 

 information he has imparted, " the early potato will be plentiful enough about 

 Dublin next summer." In the name of common sense, what does he mean ? 

 I am, Sir, yours, &c. — Martin Rowan. Fulham Nursery, Dec. 19. 1833. 



Conditions under which Crops of Turnip Plants lucre, and were not, ravaged by 

 the Beetle. (IX. 505. 63 L) — Sir, I sowed seeds of the white Norfolk turnip 



