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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AJ>D COTTAGE GAPDENEB. 



t December 21, 1876. 



able, in Mr. Beaulah's opinion, to a local nurseryman, a late 

 Mr. Brown of Barton-on-Humber. Mr. Brown has been dead 

 many years, but his name is still remembered and hia fame is 

 Biill existent as a man who had a great knowledge of fruits, and 

 distributed more good varieties in north Lincolnshire than 

 any other grower. In all probability Mr. Brown on seeing the 

 Russian Apple recognised its value, procured grafts of it, and 

 eventually added it to his small but good collection of Apples. 

 Mr. Brown's catalogues are still extant. The list of Apples 

 cumbers only sixteen, and the Russian Transparent is therein 

 included. 



I have visited many gardens and. nurseries in many counties, 

 but have never seen this Apple except in north Lincolnshire. 

 I have seen many trees of it there, but I cannot remember the 

 fine specimen which I have so many scores of times elimbed 

 and robbed ever failing to supply a valuable crop of fruit. 

 Mr. Beanlah finds the Transparent equally constant now, and 

 one of the best, if not the most profitable, of all the sorts in 

 Ms well-chosen collection. The inclement weather of the 

 past spring destroyed the blossom of all the Apples in his 

 garden except this and the Cockpit, and he has for some time 

 past been selling his Russian Transparents readily at 3s. per 

 stone of 14 lbs. 



The tree forms a noble head and produces pendulous 

 branches. Its blossom is very large, white, and handsome, 

 and does not open — and this constitutes its great value — for 

 fully a week after the average period of blossoming of other 

 varieties. Dr. Hogg has examined specimens of the fruit, and 

 has favoured me with the following description: — "Fruit 

 large, roundish, somewhat oblate, narrowing towards the 

 orown, where it terminates in several prominent ridges, occa- 

 sioned by the rather prominent angles on the sides, flat at 

 the base. Skin smooth and shining, grass green, becoming 

 yellowish green as it ripens, strewed with large russet dots, 

 and containing a few pearly specks. Eye closed, with conni- 

 vent segments, set in a narrow and puckered or angular basin; 

 stamens median; tube short funnel-shaped; Beat of the styles 

 conical, broad at the base ; cells of the core closed. Stalk 

 medium, inserted in a very wide fnnnel-shaped cavity. Flesh 

 very tender and juicy, with a pleasant subacid flavour, and a 

 peculiar and agreeable aroma." I am convinced that this is 

 one of the most valuable culinary Apples in cultivation, and is 

 worthy of more than local fame." 



If I have omitted any particulars respecting it whieh are 

 worthy of being known, perhaps Mr. Beanlah, who is a Journal 

 reader, will favour by supplying them. "J. J., Laneaihire," 

 will also oblige by sending to me his name and address through 

 the Editors of the Journal of Horticulture. — J., Lincolnshire. 



PREPARING POTATOES FOR PLANTING. 



No practice in Potato culture is more important than a 

 careful preparation of the sets. At first sight this may not be 

 regarded as a cultural point, but in reality it is one of consider- 

 able moment. It should be remembered that the Potato may 

 be cultivated when it is out of the soil as advantageously as 

 when growing in it. If a plot of ground is planted with Pota- 

 toes, and the crop is left untended and becomes choked with 

 weeds, we do not call that crop cultivated, but neglected. 

 Similarly when Potatoes which are intended for planting are 

 heedlessly left in heaps to be choked with their own growth 

 they are also neglected ; but if their growth is conserved and 

 assisted from the earliest stages onward, that attention must 

 rightly be regarded as cultivation, for it adds considerably to 

 the yield and value of the crops. 



In order to have the best results in Potato-growing cultiva- 

 tion must commence several weeks, even months, before the 

 sets are planted in the garden. In many gardens only early 

 Potatoes are grown, the main crops being provided by field 

 culture. It is to girden Potatoes, therefore, to whieh I am 

 now alluding, limiting my remarks to the earliest sorts — sorts 

 which have a post of honour in being grown on the cherished 

 " south border." The ground space on this border is neces- 

 sarily limited, and every crop is consequently desired to be in 

 he fullest manner productive, including the crop of Potatoes, 

 which is one of the most important crops of the season. 



Advice is occasionally given as to the best time for planting 

 Potatoes, also as to the size of tubers best for sets and the 

 manure which is the most suitable for the crop. That advice 

 may be, and has been, good in itself, but I assert with that 

 confidence whioh is warranted by experience that neither the 

 time of planting, size of sets, nor choice of manure is so im- 



portant as the preparation of the tubers — in other words, the 

 cultivation of the Potato when out of the ground. 



That cultivation must begin now. Not one more day's delay 

 should willingly be permitted. The growth of early Potatoes 

 has already commenced ; do not neglect that growth, but 

 assist it — cultivate it. If the tubers are covered with straw and 

 soil — graved — young growth will now be active, for the weather 

 is mild, and for some time the temperature has been high for 

 the season of the year. Open the " graves " and remove the 

 tubers required for planting, and place them thinly in a light 

 position, so that their growth may be conserved and directed to 

 a good purpose instead of being wasted in the dark regions of 

 the " grave." If the tubers have been stored in boxes or 

 hampers, placed in dark sheds, empty them at once and place 

 the tubers thinly in a place where they can have light. Even 

 if they are placed thinly in a dark place their growth will not 

 be useful growth ; it will be white and wiry, and more likely 

 than not to be broken or injured when placed in the soil. 



It should be remembered thit Potatoes will produce growths 

 of greater length in a dark place, even it is cool, than they will 

 in a light place if it is warm, but the growth produced under 

 the influence of light is a certain gain to the future crop, whSe 

 that produced in darkneES is a certain loss if the growth pro- 

 ceeds far. The growth of a Potato in a light place is stout 

 and firm and cannot be injured or knoeked off by any fair or 

 ordinary means, but the growth produced in a dark place is 

 liable to destruction, either by removal of the tubers before 

 planting or by the pressure of the soil after they have been 

 planted. 



If anyone desires to note the advantage of careful prepara- 

 tion of the sets before planting them, let him take half a dozen 

 tubers which have made their growth under the influence of 

 light. The growth on each set should be half an inch in leDgth, 

 green, and Btout as the tip of one's little finger. It will adhere 

 to the tuber firmly, so firmly that it cannot be severed from it 

 without considerable force ; the growth will also be studded 

 with rootlets at its base, and which will rest firmly on the 

 parent tuber. L9t him also take another half-dozen tubers 

 which have not been prepared, but which have produced as 

 best they could a cluster of white thin appendages which are 

 broken with the slightest touch. Let him plant these two 

 half-dozens in pots, and place them in a frame or house for 

 the purpose of producing an early crop. He will find that the 

 produce from the prepared tubers will be of double the value 

 of that of the unprepared tubers, and the former will also be 

 ready for use much sooner than tbe latter. The advantages 

 of preparing the sets is equally striking in outdoor cultivation, 

 and one peek of tubers well prepared will give a better return 

 than will two peeks the tubers of which have received no care 

 previous to planting them ; the gain thus resulting from care- 

 ful and good cultivation out of the ground is effected by a 

 direct and important saving of land, manure, labour, and seed 

 tubers. That is not deducible by logic merely, or is a " pretty 

 theory looking well on paper," but is the result of careful ex- 

 periment and practice, as plain and actual as even the practical 

 Mr. W. Taylor could desire. Indeed, I should not be surprised 

 if that cultivator has not himself proved it. 



I will now go a step further, and assert without any reserva- 

 tion that tubers not much larger than walnuts will, if properly 

 prepared, produce a better yield than will other tubers of 

 three times the size which have received no preparation. I am 

 warranted even in going further than that, for I have proved 

 conclusively that if a good-sized tuber is cut in halves and 

 both are well prepared, that either of the halves will produce a 

 better return than will one large whole tuber that has received 

 no attention in preserving and assisting its early growth when 

 out of the ground. 



All Potatoes intended for producing the earliest crops out of 

 doors should now be placed closely together, with their growing 

 ends upwards in a light position, and in a place more or less 

 warm according to the backwardness of the growth and of the 

 amount of light to which the 6ets are exposed. In a very light 

 place the tubers puoh growth slowly, even if the temperature 

 is high, while in a semi-dark place they grow rapidly in a 

 moderate temperature. When tnus placed the tubers take up 

 but little room, and those who have not adopted the plan will 

 be surprised how small is the surface occupied by a peek of 

 kidney-shaped Potatoes when closely packed on their ends. 

 By thus packing them only the main eyes will elongate, the 

 side eyes remaining nearly dormant, and thus very vigorous 

 stems are provided which are essential for producing a perfect 

 crop. If only a very few tubers are required in the best condi- 



