THE GARDENERS 



CHRONICLE 





^a^K I pl«»ing effect powibK besides which , 

 SKLm. of the %l*n i. evident, as the pyramid. 



tie tconoray 



Willi! 



bempiugn, m B cn „u» - obtained ; and by placing 

 SToW alternately with them, no space is lost, 



V 



mrt of every tree. , 



A kitchen-garden having the borders along the 



sides of the principal walks furnished with neatly- 

 trained fruit trees and bushes, has a much better 

 appearance than when the Apple, Pear, Gooseberry, 

 ind Currant, are intermixed one with another, and 

 the stronger growing kinds are allowed to overshadow 

 the weaker, by throwing their coarse watery shoots 

 jo high into the air as to exclude the sun from every- 

 thing near them. A few years back the space at 

 Trentham devoted to fruit trees and bushes in the 

 kitchen -garden was reduced to nearly one-half, with 

 the view to growing more vegetables ; the Apples 

 and Pears were trained to vase-shaped and bell- 

 shaped trellises alternately ; and the Gooseberries 

 and Currants as standards and pyramids. By hav- 

 ing the trees planted on a prepared bottom, and 

 carefully root-pruned when necessary, and the 

 branches properly pruned and trained, there is now 

 not only an increased quantity of fruit, but the 

 quality is finer. 



No doubt there are parts of this country where 

 .Apple and Pear trees grow almost as freely as Wil- 

 lows, and yet ripen their wood perfectly, even when 

 Feft nearly to Nature ; and in such places orchards 

 of considerable extent are formed : but we have in 



that the false and temporary excitement which was 

 raised in the minds of speculators soon died away ; 

 but every calm observer must continue to wonder 

 that these bogs are not turned to any real and last- 

 ing advantage. Though we do not allow ourselves 

 to be carried away by the golden dreams of the over 

 sanguine, yet we cannot shut our eyes altogether 

 to the value of the substance, the practical uses to 

 which it unquestionably might be applied, and con- 

 sidering the large quantity of it which exists in 

 Ireland, the great importance of it to the nation 



at large. 



A number of ingenious men have, from time to 



• a * - V 1 . 



dormant 



and 



view such situations only as the best of our new hardy 

 kinds of Pears and Apples do not succeed in, and 

 where the gardener is notwithstanding expected to 

 have plenty of fruit. In such circumstances is it 

 that the placing of the various kinds of fruit trees 

 bushes under as perfect control as possible, 

 becomes a matter of importance not only to the gar- 

 dener but to the owner. 



Another plan adopted at Trentham would be not 

 only economical in kitchen gardens of limited space, 

 but a most agreeable thing, particularly during hot 

 weather. It consists in throwing a light arched 

 trellis of iron about 8 feet high over a walk or walks 

 running south and north, or in any other direction, 

 if the kind of fruit intended to be grown on it is 

 saited to the aspect. Such trellises as these are 

 cheaply put up, and are not only much admired for 

 their effect, but are so readily got at to prune, tie, 

 and otherwise manage the trees, that we look upon 

 this as the very best way of growing the hardier 

 kinds of Pears and choice Apples. The effect of an 

 occasional red Currant planted between the other 

 toes upon these arched trellises is excellent, and is 

 the nearest approach that can be made in the open 

 air in this country to the Vine-covered walks of 

 warm climates, as we sometimes see them repre- 

 sented m old Italian paintings. 



coal is no doubt preferable to most other kind "" 

 fuel, even though the latter could be had at 1 ° f 

 cost. ^ ** 



Peat charcoal is also valuable as an element 

 manure, for which some of its properties eminent 

 fit it. It appears to possess the property of abs t*J 

 ing gases to a very considerable degree, a powert 

 which its peculiar open porous nature greatly 

 tributes. The value of charcoal as a constihLw 

 the soil depends almost wholly on its physical 

 dition ; for a dense charcoal, like plumbago j^ 

 little or no use ; and the more cellular and poro^i 

 is, the more serviceable it is to plants, acting a$ 



timef Wd "their° "attention to the' subject, have I constant .magazine of gaseous food Peat charcoal^ 

 ' - - - - ■ ■ • ^ -* [ horticultural purposes, will probably be found of 11 



use by the gardener, both as an addition to soik 

 and also in the formation of manures. In the p^ 

 paration of various composts, and in reducing njL. 

 soil and similar fetid waste matters into a porWfc 

 and convenient state, its value is considerable. That 

 it can be so used with very great advantage there it 

 no doubt ; the only question is, whether it can t* 

 supplied at a sufficiently low price . It is the in! 

 terest of those who make it to sell it at the lowet 

 figure, which leaves them a profit, and not to try ani 

 give it a fictitious value, by comparing it *$ 

 guano, or any similar manure. Really good manure* 

 are not unfrequently altogether kept out of the market 

 by this foolish system of standing out for a fancy 

 price, instead of looking only for a small profit audi 

 large sale. As a disinfecting agent, peat charcoal 

 will be peculiarly valuable, because we are cei- 

 tainly still in want of a good, efficacious, and eco- 

 nomical mode of removing the smell of night-soO; 

 and a great deal of good manure which is now hi 

 altogether, would no doubt be saved and useMy 

 applied, could its offensive odour be thus removed, 



and have endeavoured in various ways to overcome 

 the practical difficulties which interfere with its 

 general use ; but their experiments have nearly all 

 been failures. It is not enough to tell us that the 



experiment was tried, and that at last the result was 

 perfectly successful, if we find that, after a year 

 or two, the very man who had obtained this success- 

 ful result abandoned his process, and returned again 



to some old mode. 



The time must certainly come, and the sooner it 

 comes the better, when the true value of peat will 

 be better appreciated, and when it will be largely 

 and profitably employed in various w T ays. From the 

 bad mode in which it is at present generally pre- 

 pared, and from the imperfect manner in which it is 

 dried, more than one-third of what is cut is ren- 

 dered completely useless. This may obviously be 

 prevented by mechanical compression, artificial 

 drying, and protection from the weather when dried. 

 At the present time three distinct processes are 

 practically at work on peat, from each of which, 

 some benefit may be reasonably anticipated ; these 

 are, its compression, its distillation, and its car- 

 bonisation. 





The compression of peat is, in the first instance, a 

 purely mechanical operation, but it is one which 

 modifies the chemical properties of the peat and 

 renders it a much better fuel. By getting rid of the 



large quantity of water which it contains, and by _ _^ x 



condensing it into a smaller bulk, either by simple over a few of the very largest heads he could find on t 



* * ** * extensive beds, which covered about 30 acres. Ik 



heads were cut and shown in market as a new aft 



MARKET GARDENING ROUND LONDON. 



No. VI. Asparagus. — There is but one kind i 

 Asparagus. A Mr. Grayson, an extensive grower e 

 the south bank of the Thames, introduced what he calti 

 his " Giant" Asparagus ; but it proved to be only to 

 usual kind. He made it a u giant " bv putting 



When it was aUU eQ, a iew years ago, that certain 

 wonderful discoveries had been rrJkde, and that 

 means had h n found of extracting all sorts of 

 valuable materials out of Peat and turf ; in short, 

 that the bogs of Ireland (instead of being, as now 

 almost a curse to the country) were henceforth to 

 he regarded as inexhaustible mines of national wealth 

 and prosperity ; though the announcement was 

 naturally received by the many with applause and 

 rejoicing yet, for the most part, shrewd, practical 



Wen held hank nUf\<r*iU*i, . 4k ' ' *\. 



Mitilf unbelievers. 

 that, when a reall 



There is no doubt whatever 



araTW . / S 00(1 thi &g is found out, men 



I?w wT -Mh " * dA * ^ attention of ^hers 



eT 1 y r ab ° Ut ; the ? *o on as quietly a s 



f ? >i wd , are content if th *y make a W 



SSTS hSl:nK without an j p* »^y to 



call all their neighbours around them, to share in 

 their good luck. When a scheme is greatly lauded 



Slw e V^- m ? e * Se P rofits t0 be ^lisedVre vei 

 widely advertised, it is generally known that the 



cheme is really good for very lift! 



pressure, or by pressure and the subsequent addition 

 of tar or some similar substance, peat is rendered a 

 more powerful and economical fuel ; because one of 

 the chief objections to the use of peat as a fuel, 

 where intense heat is required, is its bulky spongy 

 state, which renders it incapable of acting like the 

 denser kinds of fuel. 



In the distillation of peat the substance itself is 

 wholly destroyed, for the sake of various matters 

 which are formed during its decomposition. Some 

 50 years ago Platel and others proposed to distil 

 peat, something in the same way as wood is distilled 

 in the manufacture of pyroligneous acid; the 

 products obtained were excellent peat charcoal, 

 abundance of combustible vapours which were 

 employed to aid the heat of the furnace itself, water, 

 tar, certain combustible oils, and a portion of nitric 

 acid. It is curious to see in the account of these 

 old experiments how closelv they resemble the 

 results which are at the present time brought out 

 as new. The chief difference between the new 

 mode and the old one appears to be, that whilst 

 formerly the peat was really distilled, which must 

 be obviously a very expensive process, now it is 

 burnt m a large kiln or close furnace, all the 

 products of its imperfect combustion being caused to 

 pass through a condenser. " " * 



They were about 18 inches or more in length, and II 

 heads weighed 42 lbs. ; but unfortunately, like otfae 

 Asparagus, only 3 or 4 inches were fit for eating. Tte 

 can be no doubt that the present plan of saving m. 

 from the strongest plants has much improved Asparap 

 Immense quantities of roots are forced on 2 feet i 

 dung in trenches, having 6 inches of mould to plaafi 

 These are then hooped over, and blanched, to mai 

 look fine and white ; the beds are prepared by putfc 

 on an immense quantity of manure, and trenching 4 

 ground 8 or 4 feet deep, mixing the manure as I 

 work proceeds. In March the ground is measw 

 out after the following manner. Suppose that a fm 

 runs south and north, or otherwise, 3 feet is allow 

 between it and the first row ; a drill is drawn tk 

 2 inches deep, and the seed is sown thinly—^ 

 6 inches or a foot apart, which gives choice of drawiff 

 out the weakest, in order that the permanent cropffl* 

 stand 1 foot apart. The next row is sown 18 in* 

 from the one just mentioned ; then for the alley andt* 

 sides of the bed 5 feet are allowed ; then another wf | 

 seeds and so on, which gives two rows to each hi 

 The first year Onions are generally sown all orer 4 

 ground ; the second season Lettuce, or any (h* 

 growing vegetable that will not choke the Aspanp 

 and so on until the third year, when the beds are fort* 



of apparatus, &c, is greatly diminished ; but, on the ' pui on xne crowns 

 other hand, the charcoal is lost. ~ 



•riginal 



e ; m most cases 



tiZ^h M* l^y to give 



.. ... „ „ impracticable, or not likelv to 



£em any immediate return for the r money 

 S >" t S if possible, to get back the SomTj 



are 



fe We a ,read; expander MSt* 

 * got up and the merits of the scheme are 

 greatest possible degree. 



peat bo*s whicvf ber ^ ^ extent of th * &M> 



ceruiaw « very remarkable that 



comp 

 puffed 

 When w< 



,_. 4 It is stated that 



100 tons of peat may be burnt or distilled in such 

 a kiln in 24 hours, and that exclusive of four tons of 

 ash, and an enormous volume of combustible vapour, 

 it yields enough ammonia to make a ton of sulphate, 

 enough acetic acid to make 14 cwt. of acetate of 



r\nnf u DS ° f 7 ood s P irit or naphtha, and more 

 than 1000 gallons of tarry and oily matters. Whether 

 m the face of all this, the plan turns out a profitable 

 one and really paps, remains to be seen. 



«J*£ lhe . d I? 1 tlllati o i > of Peat, the charcoal is burnt, 

 and the volatile matters only are saved ; so, in its 

 carbomsation, the charcoal alone is cared for, and 

 the \olatile products are entirely burnt. 



deep. 



little has been done to ren 



them useful 



convince erery 



us 



are 



a slight knowledge of the subL^ 

 one that, as a source of national 

 of very great value. The absun. 

 were current a few years since, when 



*onld hardly deceive any one; and no one can wondS 



modes of doing this have been devised, the principle 

 being in all, of course, the same. The peat is dried 



%£*£ ? P ° SSible ' and then ' eitW in its Mtural 

 state, or after compression, is burnt in a kiln or stove 



he supply of air to which is under thorough con- 



all 



heads are cut this year. Autumn arrives, afldff^ 

 the haulm is cut the whole of the ground is forked or 

 and planted with Cabbage, Colewortff, or Winter Gtee* 

 then in spring the beds are largely supplied with i£ 

 ' A " J he alleys, covering the crowns from 8 to 10 u* 



The finishing of the cutting must be # left to * 

 grower. A fair crop of heads must be left after io& 

 fire weeks' cutting, in order in some ro eas ^! 

 strengthen the young buds for the next year's grtj* 

 and to restore to the roots what has been taken f* 

 them in the shape of a crop ; but not one head m^* 

 allowed to grow until you leave off cutting eiitW!,' 

 the end of the fourth year. When the haulm ge*fj 

 it is all cut down, and the mould thrown into the w 

 and there enriched, and the whole of the beds and W 

 are planted again with Cabbages, Greens, &c. 



Seakale.— This is propagated by roots, or p<>*£ 

 of them, after the following manner .—Towards sp^ 

 after the produce has been all cut out of the Wf 

 beds, the roots are removed, all the * thongs" & 

 off, and laid in large heaps ; and as soon as the crtf 

 or upper portion becomes calliced, ground is P*F\ 

 for its reception, by manuring and trenching. ^ !J 

 are then planted out a foot apart, in rows 1» * 

 asunder, and a crop of Lettuces is planted between ^ 



as SOOn as tliA hnAa K^,™,. ..:„:r.i.. «1I nr^ cut 0W} 



rt ff ih* * ~ £ ■ r ~-~™ matter is driven 



ott , the access of air can be at once shut off, and the 



peat charcoal allowed to cool. There is no question , ~ - r — , 



Uiat the charcoal thus obtained is an excellent and M soo , n as the buds ^ome visible, all are cut 



owerful fuel, particularly that prepared from thp I Cept the stron S est > the ground is kept clean, and boj 



•Hmressed peat. Its absolute value must of course ^ ? ^ ne mta November, when forcing * J 



depStaL^ the cost of ftfW ^,„ !^,l^ Ur8e m * n< * d - Then all the frames are removed, the « 



and mould where Cucumbers grew during sunim w 

 taken away .for .Cabbace* or Coleworts, The treu^ 



its purity* 





\ 



