228 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
[Fesrvary 23, 1895, 
quently enters, it is what is technically termed 
tierced, that is to say, each discharge-pit receives 
at its upper end about one-third of its viiia 
of pr water conveyed into it a t the upper end 
a special pipe of larger pein than those 
which have been previously spoken of, 
CULTIVATION, 
The Cress is propa pagsted by sowing or by trans- 
planting young slips, which are always provided 
with 1 1815 rootlets. 
Sowing is carried on from the end of March, and 
through Me month of April and May, by throwing 
the seeds thickly ur gpk after having previously 
well-fertilised the ripe straw-d 2 for, 
ry to what might os Ped tort 5 
readily from manure 
and — 
is — ore 
of manure to the soil, it is of 
pe importance to carefully level the floor of the 
bed, allowing a gentle slope, as has been already 
described. 
Planting by means of slips should be effected 
under the same conditions as sowing. It is 4007 57 
g vigorous carn having 
additional justine, then by gently manipulating 
with the finger», to bring them within 4 or 5 inches 
of one another in every direction. 
om the time that the sowing, or pricking out 
the slips, takes place, it is prere to keep the 
beds pro drained, for which purpose small 
drains called censuraur, running along the bottom 
of the banks for phair entire 8 are 2 
way, or is ed i ese, 
thus 8 the sae to spring T 3 7 
the slips to firm r ae water 
carefully passed into the Cress-beds, as soon as * 
eee to grow, but without n cover- 
ing wan It is 8 keep pace with the 
to 
vater at a level with the leaves, until it 
height of 4 inches, which cast not be 
— a 
GATHERING. 
Although the duration of the Watercress is not 
limited, there is an advantage in allowing for a new 
wth, to om exten t. e 
till the end of August, or in be; 
tember; that of a crop from slips may be as 
as within a month or so, When gathering the Cress, 
the workman follows the direction of the current of 
laced across the bed, 
pai knee-pads and a split Osier 
the workman, daken down on the plank 
, stalk b , with a curved knife, 
so as not to drag it; he makes up the bunch where 
120 bunches in au hour, at the spring gathering; 
four or = dozen only in the winter, 
aae slower t 
e ö gathering of the * 
— — O 
the frost is severe. As tals period 
the workman takes care to place the bunches at the 
edge of the apea with * leaves turned down 
water, s0 as not to 
m yellow leaves that are found 
near the base of the stems. 
After a bed has been well cleared, it can be 
picked over og be fortnight. In winter it is 
not advisable repeat the picking sooner than 
ee -five pike and it should then be lightly 
When the Cress has been gathered and tied S 
bunches, it is removed in large wheel-barro 
the washing-house, where it is packed up. The 
washing-honee, or een is a shed containing a 
large rectan trough. Here each bunch is again 
deprived of any remaining flowers or yellow leaves 
that may have escaped the notice of the 4 * 
Next, the Cre 
height, and 3 feet broad at the 
holding about twenty dozen of ordinary bunches, 
which, after being rinsed singly, are packed in a cir- 
o that they all point 
ot 
e 
alteration during the carriage to the consumers, 
WORK TO ne DONE AFTER GATHERING. 
800 asible after every gathering, it is 
in 3 to submit the Cress to various pro- 
cesses, which have for their object to keep up an 
abundant and continuous crop. These are as 
Sit 
7 "Rolling. —This a arr ganas part in the 
cultivation of Watercr rted to, not 
only after each nem. gc r every three 
or four days, It is conducted by means of a cylin- 
drical wooden roller, about 5 feet in length, which i * 
passed over each bed; the object being to push t 
stems of the plants into the water, and to keep eee 
in that Par 
B. Manuring.— This is indispensable after every 
gathering, the best method being by spreading well- 
seasoned cow-dung very lightly over the surface of the 
bed, usually two days after the gathering, 
Schuellage.— The Wees ps manure e 
the ee rnd of a proc of German origin, when 
its name of schuellage (onali): P This ene 
which is Ee, to the cultivation of Watercress, is 
performed with a special sehr ant called a schuel, 
which is a thick piece of wood, 44 feet long, and 
1 foot wide, attached by its centre to a handle 6 feet 
Two workmen, walking on either side of the 
bed, gently pat the Cress with the flat part of this 
directio e stream of water 
the bed. This operation, which is 
ing at the time of the * and summer 
gatheringe, is intended to mass the Cress more 
closely together, and to ss irea 55 ground both 
those ieh mé have been 
accidentally loosened dating’ he — 
. Pacquetage.—This process does Pii th W 
cress in the winter what schuellage does at — 
asons of the year. It is performed with a special 
implement called a pacque, which is a flat piece of 
0 wit 
more apart, and 5 its handle set in like that 
of an ordinary bat. ə Watercress is beaten flat 
with this instrument in pee the holes See 
the action; otherwise the natural 
ess. 
Yield of a Watercress-bed 75 yards long is 
very variable, according to the season, and even the 
month of the year; and it is interrupted during the 
months of June, J 17 and August, when seeding is 
the method u or multiplying the crop. In 
of the yield of Watercress daring the 
parted ta Vitek joe 
— 5 — ‘actos = bed. 
Daring ‘the space of nine monthe, therefore, the 
yield amounts to 1000 dozen bunches, or 12 
bunches, bed 75 yard — es 
average selling price varies from 1 es (1 
n Od 
to 258) for a basket o twenty dozen, the valu : e of 
each dozen may bs set down at 75 pers mes id), Je 
making the annual production of of 
nai 
are naturall pe th 
in doaki, y mon 2 3 Watercress is ra 
NEW OR NOTEWORTHY PLANTS, 
CYPRIPEDIUM X MAGDALENA, 
Tuis is another fine hybrid which must go to awell 
the list of beautifal Wr trouvés, It would be 
well if others nt 
raiser of Cypripedium x Magdalena, and not 
a guessed-at origin. It is a fine bold flower, and 
nearest perhaps to the handsome C, x Lueienianum; 
but in this there is a lack of the purple 7 at 
the back and front on the upper half of t 
, as seen in C. X Lucienianum. The . in 
lip and petals, whilst resembling those of a large, 
purple-tinted C. villosum, has a large u 
shade of purple ; the spots towards the margin are 
small, while those up the centre are large, and 
running into each other. 
Cyrpripepium X FRHX FAURE (GODEFROYE X 
3 CALLOSUM), 
Belonging to a beautiful class, of which we are Je 
likel to hay ve too many, this cross seems to m 
e 
allemagne, of Rambouillet, 
up sepal bearing some fifteen well - defined 
blotched and feathered Tints of rich purple, extend- 
ing from the base to è the e margin, where 2 ries me 
fainter own, 
The petals are 8 1 with emerald · green a the re 
and irregularly spotted over eee whole irda with 
purple, and the interior of t and its face is 
tinged on het sepa 28 Th 
known ; 2 on but it differs pe the 
prese e . materially, a circumstance easy to 
understand when we e consider the great Ane in 
C. Godefroyx. James O 
THE HERBACEOUS BORDER. 
DORONICUMS TET BANE). 
Tuese are among the earliest of early spring 
flowers to ex their numerous cars 
blossoms in the herbaceous border, and all 
. Nor r planting 
in groups in the shrubbery border they are og 
fitted, and do in a most agreeable man angers 
the too-frequently sombre hue of the 3 adj 3 
Svergree 
Doronicums that ntage t0 
brighten many of ite flower-beds in our large Lon 
arks and gardens in the early spring, before 5 
other perennials are really awake; and in the sont 
n again, although taller than the m9) 
variety, When flowering is over they may be taken 
up, cut down, and planted in the reserve “iF 
ppearing to suffer much from 
out h 
ges A few flowering clumps, if potted at oct 
placed in a cold frame, 4 be found 3 ight 
en 1 e cool rvatory . Pot- 
in ni aar supplies of 3 er for gr 
d inds, for example, D. a 
“ad D. Clusii are the best. D. Harp 1 
plantagineum excelsum (fig. 30, p. 
handsome kind, 3 feet high, with flowers 3 to 4 inches 
across, 
ct 
z 
