162 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 24, 1876. 



Among new'sorts of Geraniums on trial in beds the Rev. i 

 T £. F. Atkinson (Pearson), a crimson, very large both in flower 

 and truss, has been striking. John Gibbons, a bright scarlet, 

 very fine. Both are somewhat strong growers. Mrs. J. F. 

 Fenn, in the way of Amaranth, a deep lilac pink, has had 

 magnificent trusses. It is a very good match for Mrs. Musters 

 or Amaranth. SirH. Stanhope is an improvement on General ; 

 Outram. Miss Strachan (Pearson), a salmon, has proved good \ 

 in beds as well as in pots ; and two beautiful bright pinks, ' 

 ■Lucy Bosworth and Lady Bjron, have both done well in beds, 

 though I think they are better for pots. Lady Stanhope as a 

 terise of the Lady Middleton type is very superior both for 

 pots and beds. Among others which I need not stop to specify 

 which have been and are exceedingly effective are Frank Miles, 

 Augusta Miles, Mrs. Lowe, Violet Hill (both the last as good 

 as ever), Bayard, Mrs. Tineent, General Outram, Mrs. Haish, 

 Lady Kirkland, Arthur Pearson; and among tricolors William 

 Sanday and Macbeth stand pre-eminent. I will add a few more 

 notes on this subject shortly. — C. P. Peach. 



VEGETABLES AND FRUIT AT SWANLEY.— No. 2. 

 Continued from page 140.) 



A notice of the soil's productions of this fertile district 

 -would be incomplete without some allusion to the vegetable 

 crops — the Potatoes and Peas— and to the fruit plantations, 

 especially of Raspberries and Strawberries, which are exten- 

 sively and ably cultivated. 



The fields are not small enclosures and to be compared with 

 the size of large gardens — indeed they are scarcely enclosures 

 at all, for there are but few dividing fences, and where there 

 -are barriers there are fewer gates, and the fields are apparently 

 open to all. Aq aspect of freedom pervades the district, and 

 restrictions as to " right of way" do not appear to be appre- 

 ciated if we may take as an example the liberty which had 

 been taken with a gate on which the owner had had printed 

 in large letters — " No Thoroughfare," and from which the 

 ■ " no " had been carefully obliterated, converting the inscription 

 into a general invitation for all to enter who chose to do so. 



The fields vary from one to five hundred acres, and far as 

 the eye can reach the undulated surface is clothed with Potatoes 

 end fruit plantations, and here and there a corn field by way 

 of a change. To such an extent is fruit cultivated in this 

 district that not less than five hundred acres in one parish 

 alone (Croken-end) are cropped with fruit trees ; and to such 

 an extent also are Potatoes cultivated that last year one 

 grower (Mr. Vincent) sold six hundred tons of Paterson's 

 Victoria, and in the spring of this year he planted a hundred 

 tons of the same variety. 



It is instructive to note the way in which the land is managed 

 for Potatoes, and how the crops are cultivated. The present 

 summer has been remarkable for the great heat and drought 

 wliieh have prevailed in the southern districts, and to this 

 Swanley has been no exception. Scarcely a shower has fallen 

 since the Potatoes were planted. The pastures were parched 

 and the roads were some inches deep in dust, yet the Potatoes 

 were in the most luxuriant health, and the haulm covered the 

 ground so completely that the rows could not be distinguished. I 

 A more conclusive instance of superior cultivation cannot well 

 be imagined than is afforded by the condition of the crops. 

 Their admirable state is attributable to deep cultivation, i 

 liberal manurings of the ground, perfect freedom from weeds, 

 and persistent surface-stirring — or "crumbing" as it is called 

 in the locality. 



The ground is first deeply dragged by the steam cultivator, 

 and is "worked" over and over again — probably seven or 

 eight times before the Potatoes are planted — to form a good 

 -" crumb." It is then formed into ridges 2J feet apart, the sets 

 being planted in the hollows, and the ridges are then " split " 

 ond the Potatoes covered. This is the system which is adopted 

 in the large Potato-growiEg districts of Lincolnshire and York- 

 shire, and the enly drawback to it is the "sole" that is left 

 by the pressure of the plough, and which in wet seasons pre- 

 vents the superfluous water from draining away readily, and in 

 dry summers obstructs the uprising of moisture from the sub- 

 sail. This drawback to a good and sound crop — and it is often 

 ■3 formidable one — is removed in the best-managed Potato fields 

 in Kent by a practice which has proved its value, and which is 

 not generally known. When the Potatoes appear above ground 

 in May — that is, when they can be seen in rows, a cranked 

 implement is brought into requisition, and this, with the aid of 

 .ihree or four horses, is made to work quite underneath the 



roots from length to length of the rows. This implement runs 

 beneath the plants, and at a depth of a foot from the surface, 

 producing the " crumb " below as well as above the roots, 

 which is so greatly coveted. After this operation the Potatoes 

 grow with great rapidity, and I was assured by one who has 

 worked amongst Potatoes all his life that the value of the 

 crops which have been thus assisted is considerably greater 

 than others which have not been " under-crumbed." The 

 Potatoes are subsequently earthed with the plough or " scuffer," 

 and are dug with forks by the " tatyers," who take them up 

 at a price per acre as is agreed upon according to the nature of 

 the crops. Stable manure brought in trucks from London, 

 and also street-sweepings known as " tackle," are the stimu- 

 lants mainly relied on to produce large crops of Potatoes. 



Peas are also grown on a large scale in the locality — not small 

 early round-seeded kinds, but entire fields of Ne Plus Ultra. 

 This fine Pea flourishes admirably under field culture and 

 yields productive crops. The Peas are sown in drills about 

 21 feet apart. The horse hoe is run between the rows to de- 

 stroy weeds and to promote " the crumb," and the crops then 

 receive no other attention beyond that of the "podders" — 

 men, women, and children, who arrive in duo time to gather 

 the Peas for market. 



More important, however, than the crop of Peas are the 

 crops of fruit. Plums, Cherries, Currants, Strawberries, and 

 Raspberries are the kinds which are principally grown. Taking 

 a survey of the district from a commanding eminence it is 

 found to be freely, almost heavily, wooded. The woods and 

 plantations in most districts are composed of forest trees, but 

 here the plantations are plantations of fruit trees. There are 

 a few copses here and there of stunted Oaks and Hazels, but 

 these are gradually being removed, and their sites are being 

 more profitably occupied with fruit trees and Strawberries. 

 In the hedges Damson trees appear to grow spontaneously — 

 in fact, the " hedgerow timber" of the district is composed 

 almost entirely of these trees. After the trees have produced 

 fruit for a number of years they are pollarded, or cut down 

 precisely alter the manner in which Willows are often treated, 

 and from the old stumps fresh shoots push freely, and in a 

 few years the trees have new heads and yield larger and finer 

 fruit. This mode of heading-down old fruit trees was last 

 year advocated in these columus by Eeveral correspondents, 

 and, as may be remembered, others dissented from the practice 

 as being rude and barbarous ; but it must be admitted that 

 hundreds of Damson trees in Kent bear witness to the useful- 

 ness of the practice which is adopted of " heading them down." 



Large plantations of Currints are also to be seen. There 

 are many acres of bushes heavily laden with fruit, and the 

 bushes are very severely pruned, more eo than is usually the 

 case in gardens. Raspberries are also very largely grown 

 under field cultivation, and produce annually many tons of 

 fruit. The ground is deeply dragged and well manured, and 

 the canes are planted in rows about 4 feet apart, the plants in 

 the rows being about 15 inches distant from each other. .The 

 Boil between the rows is frequently stirred with the horse hoe, 

 and weeds are prevented growing and a loose surface is pro- 

 duced which arrests evaporation. The canes grow very short- 

 jointed and become well matured. They are shortened in 

 winter to a height of about 3 feet, and no support in the 

 way of stakes, &e., is given to the canes, each cane, in fact, 

 being sufficiently stout to support itself. The crops produced 

 by this mode of cultare are very large, and the fruit is fine, 

 highly coloured, and well flavoured. A favourite variety ap- 

 pears to be Carter's Prolific. 



The Strawberries yet remain to be noticed. Hundreds of 

 acres of land are devoted to Strawberry cultivation, and hun- 

 dreds of tons of fmit are produced annually. The rows of 

 plants are about 2 feet apart, the plants being about 18 inches 

 distant in the rows. The rows are as straight, even if they 

 are a quarter of a mile in length, as are the rows in a well- 

 kept garden, and the plants are perfectly healthy and produce 

 large crops of superior fruit. Each plantation occupies the 

 land for about five years, producing four crops of fruit, and is 

 then destroyed. In the summer, after the fruit is gathered, 

 the runners are trimmed off and also most of the old foliage. 

 The trimming of the plants was being proceeded with in 

 August, when not more than half a dozen leaves were left in 

 the centre of each stool, the others being all cut away. No 

 doubt reasons, might be advanced proving that practice pre- 

 judicial to the crop, but the fact remains that the mode of 

 culture here adopted is a profit ible mode, and failures are 

 exceedingly uncommon. The fruit attains the largest size, 



