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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. ,[ February 17, 1863. 



and kept in boxes and pans elsewhere during the winter, but 

 they were not all wanted, and consequently were left to their fate 

 in this cold pit, with nothing over them but a single light, and 

 they almost touching the glass ; yet the frost we had at that 

 time, and the damp and neglect which followed, have not entirely 

 killed them, as several are still alive and pushing out fresh 

 leaves amongst the mass of dead and decaying ones by which 

 they are surrounded. The pit is quite exposed, but their having 

 abundance of air sideways, is, perhaps, the reason of their 

 escaping the evil effects of so much damp weather ; for, although 

 we have not had many heavy rains in the last two months, my 

 register records twenty rainy days in December and twenty-six 

 in January, with little sun either month. In fact, the absence 

 of sunshine these two months has been anything but favourable 

 to the preservation of bedding Geraniums in the places they are 

 usually kept ; for, it being too mild to require fire heat, there 

 was an unwillingness to burn fuel to no purpose, while at the 

 same time there was not that dryness of atmosphere necessary 

 to protect a tender half-rooted cutting from succumbing to the 

 decaying influences by which it was surrounded. Other plants 

 more able to withstand damp than fire heat have, of course, 

 suffered less ; and many Verbenas and such like that were left 

 out of doors will doubtleBs produce cuttings that may be turned 

 to account ; but all ours were destroyed when they were no longer 

 ornamental. 



It would be easy to point out other instances of the mildness of 

 the season, as Primroses having been in flower since September, 

 and Fuchsias budding up to the tip ends of the last year's Bhoots ; 

 but anxieties are more directed towards the future. And if any 

 confidence can be placed in predictions it is easy to find out 

 what is said about the weather to come. Unfortunately the 

 mistakes of the weather-prophets as to the past give us little 

 confidence in their foretellings of the future. — J. Robson. 



SELECTION OF SEEDS FOE A KITCHEN 

 GAEDEN. 



In a late Number of The Jouenal oe Hoeticultube was 

 given a list of vegetable seeds suitable for an ordinary kitchen 

 garden. As regards quantity, this list gave just Buch a pro- 

 portion of each kind of seed as I should choose for a kitchen 

 garden of, say, an acre ; but as regards the quality and selection 

 something more is required, and on these points it is no easy 

 matter to give any definite statement suitable for all localities 

 and all kinds of soils. I have chiefly had to deal with small 

 kitchen gardens, considerably less than an acre in extent, and 

 of various kinds of soil, from a light loam to a stiff marl, and yet 

 I have found that the quality or selection of seeds is of far less 

 importance than the management of them, and the cultivation of 

 the soil. 



It will be seen from my former remarks, that I regard plenty 

 of room as one of the most essential points in good culture. 

 However small the space may be, let the quantity sown be small 

 in proportion, so that when the plants grow the air may cir- 

 culate about them, and the light shine on them from all parts, 

 and they will not be drawn-up into making a superfluity of leaf 

 and Btalk, which wastes the energies of the plant in making 

 growth which is not required by the cultivator. 



I also regard moisture as most essential to vegetation during 

 the period of growth, and where the soil is of such a nature that 

 moisture quickly evaporates, endeavour either to prevent its 

 doing so by mulching, or supply the loss abundantly from the 

 water-pot. Beyond this, plants require sustenance, to be given 

 in the form of manure, which should be in such a state that 

 they oan appropriate it at once. Again : The surface of the 

 Boil should be pulverised, and subjected to the action of the air 

 as Nature intended it should be. I do not find in Nature any 

 such thing as throwing up the ground to the surface from a 

 depth of 3 or 4 feet, in order that plants may luxuriate in the 

 soil thus thrown up. In this I think we are apt to steer too 

 wide of what Nature teaches, and this applies more particularly 

 to small gardens, where a larger amount of labour is given in 

 proportion to what gardens of greater size receive. I think if 

 theBe points were fully considered and acted upon, there would be 

 little difference found in the result of the management of different 

 kinds of soil ; at least, I have found the difference not so great 

 as many would have us believe. 



With regard to the selection of seeds, I can confidently 

 affirm, that report appears to me to exaggerate the qualities of 



various sorts, and that what are spoken of as distinct varieties 

 have turned out so nearly alike, that the difference has been im- 

 perceptible to the ordinary observer, and that more difference 

 is found to result from different management, difference in the 

 season, and like causes, than from any difference in the sorts. 

 I have grown a dozen varieties assumed to be distinct, of late 

 Broccoli, and found no more difference in them than if they 

 all had come from the same packet ; and every reader of The 

 Joubnal oe Hoeticultuee must be aware of the number of 

 names given to what have proved to be one and the same sort. 

 But, then, we know there are sorts that really have a distinction, 

 and this sometimes of a very wide nature ; for instance, in the 

 various sorts of Peas, where none would mistake the Emperor 

 for the Scimetar, either in the seed, or in any Btage of growth. 

 The Potato and the Lettuce also offer similar distinctions. It 

 is a gardener's duty to make himBelf properly acquainted with 

 these distinctions and other pointB in the selection of seeds, so 

 that he may be enabled to lay before his employer a list in every 

 way suitable for a proper succession, adapted to the space, and 

 also to some extent, if possible, to the nature of the ground. 



I have seen much relative to the making of seed lists, and 

 a3 a rule, I have observed that quantity is given the precedence, 

 and that the selection is either a yearly repetition, or that such 

 sorts are inserted as are moBt highly recommended in the cata- 

 logues ; but the employers find no perceptible difference. Some 

 particular crop may, it is true, come extra fine, and this more by 

 chance than management, for it is tried again the next season 

 with a very different result. I have been in the habit for years 

 past of making out a freBh list every season, and have tried 

 such sort of Peas, &c, as are reported of superior quality ; but 

 I have also found that suitable treatment is necessary to bring 

 out those superior qualities, and what that treatment is will be 

 apparent to any observer. It is no use trying to evade the fact, 

 that to bring out the good qualities of any plant, it must be in 

 the hands of one who understands how to do so, and is willing 

 to apply the means. 



A seed list such bb I should make out for half an acre of 

 kitchen garden would contain about 5 quarts of Peas, 1 each of 

 Sangster's No. 1, or Emperor, Auvergne, Champion of England, 

 Imperial, and some tall sort, as Ne Plus Ultra or British Queen, 

 for if properly treated these bear largely and continuously; 

 from 2 to 6 quarts of Broad Beans, according as they are liked 

 or not ; 1 pint of Scarlet Runners ; 1 of Dwarf Kidney Beans ; 

 Carrot, 2 ozs. of Early Horn ; 3 ozs. of a large keeping kind, 

 as Long Surrey or Altrincham ; 3 ozs. Parsnip ; 2 ozs. Beet ; 

 Onion, White Globe, 2 ozs., Lisbon, 2 ozs. ; Spinach, 2 quarts, 



1 of Round-leaved and 1 of Prickly-seeded; Early Dutch Turnip, 



2 ozs., White Stone Turnip, 2 ozs. ; Savoy, and Brussels Sprouts, 

 half an ounce each. Of Enfield Market Cabbage, Green Coleworts, 

 Walcheren, Early Cape, Purple Late Sprouting, and Miller's 

 Dwarf Broccoli — Mammoth Celery, Incomparable Dwarf White 

 Celery — White Cos, Brown Cos, White or Victoria Cabbage, 

 and Hardy Hammersmith Lettuce— and of Endive, there should 

 be half an ounce each. Other Balads and herbs in proportion. 



This I merely give as a sample of what I should consider as 

 a fair proportion of what seeds would be required for the space 

 and how I should select them ; but I do not say that the list 

 should be exactly the same every year, or that I should select 

 more than once in that manner. Far would I be from reoom- 

 mending it as a guide to others ; such matters are beBt left to 

 those who alone have to deal with local circumstances, and who 

 can, or at least should, be the best judges in the matter. 



I Bimply write this in answer to "An Oid Subscbibeb," 

 who expresses interest in my former remarks, and so far I am 

 glad to learn that they have been received with any interest 

 at all ; but I am also sorry if they have cauBed any unpleasant- 

 ness between the employer and employed. There is such a 

 thing in the world as trying to pleaBe all parties and pleasing 

 no one, and when one iB pleased another is displeased ; but it 

 is very difficult indeed to please all alike. If any dispute should 

 have arisen between this employer and his gardener through what 

 I have said, it is inadvertently on my part when tjrying to point 

 out what I have found successful. But on the part of gardeners 

 I must say that, although they do not always make the most 

 of the means at their command, those means are more often 

 too limited than otherwise, and that many of them have to work 

 againBt adverse circumstances until they become tired of it and 

 careless of the results. 



There is one part of "An Old Subscbibeb's " letter which 

 rather surprises me. I have alwayB found that both Sea>ialfl 



