August 3, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICDLTUEB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



81 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR, 















Day 



Week. 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in Sun 



Sun 



Moon 



Moon 



Moon's 



Clock Day 

 before ! of 

 Sun. 1 Tear. 



Month 



AUGUST 8—9, 1871. 



ture near London. 



43 years. Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



bets. 



Age. 









Day. 



Ninht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. B. 1 



3 



Th 



Stafford Horticultural Show. 



74 9 



60.6 



62 8 



19 



28af4 < 42af7 



S2af 9 



loaf 7 



17 



5 57 1 215 



i 



F 



East Neuk of Fife Horticultural Show. 



75 9 



5U.6 



62 8 



17 



30 4 41 7 



50 9 



34 8 



18 



B 52 1 216 



6 



S 



Crystal Palace Snpplem ntal Rose Show. 



74,5 



50.9 



62.7 



19 



31 4 40 7 



6 10 



48 9 



19 



5 46 . 217 



6 



Sdn 



9 Sunday atter Trinity. Duke of Edin- 



IH.-i 



50.8 



62.0 



21 



33 4 88 7 



23 10 



59 10 



20 



5 40 



218 



7 



M 



1. BDRGH BOBN, 1841. 



74 (i 



B0.9 



62.7 



16 



So 4 S6 7 



42 10 



after. 



21 



5 33 



219 



8 



Tn 





74.5 



49.4 



61.9 



18 



3<i 4 34 7 



1 11 



19 1 



( 



5 26 



220 



9 



W 





74.9 



49.6 



62.2 



lo 



88 4 j 32 7 



27 11 



26 2 



23 



5 18 



221 



From obaervations taken near London during fortv-three yeara, the average day temperature of ttxe week is 74 6 



% and its night tem- 



perature 50 4°. The greatest heat was 90', on the 6th, 7th, and 8th, 1858 



; and the lowest cold S5°, on the 4th, 1865. The 



greatest fall 



of rain was 0.88 inch. 









THE CULTURE OF WINTER SALADS. 



O provide salads in summer is not difficult, 

 but to keep up a supply throughout the winter 

 is not so easy. It requires considerable still 

 and forethought, and it is just what every 

 gardener, however small the place, should try 

 to do, because the demand for winter ealading 

 is rapidly increasing, and the chances are that 

 he will some day be called upon to grow them, 

 when he would find it much to his advantage 

 to have given them a share of his attention. 

 Hitherto, I believe, the French gardeners have excelled 

 the gardeners of this country in the culture of their salads, 

 but I do not think that the perseverance of the English 

 will long allow that to be the case ; the French may. and 

 perhaps always will, have a greater variety of materials 

 with which to make up a salad than we have, or indeed 

 than English palates require ; but I think salad culture is 

 destined ere long to develope itself in this country to as 

 great a degree as in France, and to become an object for 

 special preparation in most gardens. 



Under the head of salads for winter I mean to include 

 the early spring months, or that period before which it 

 will not be safe to attempt to raise a supply out of doors. 

 The materials which I have found most in demand are 

 Lettuces, both Cabbage and Cos, Endive of sorts. Corn 

 Salad, Mustard and Cress, Watercress, Parsley, Celery, and 

 Radishes, also Chicory. Beetroot, which is frequently 

 used, would, of course, be supplied from the summer grown 

 crops, and the same may be said of the Celery, which will 

 in most seasons be fit for use up to March or April. 



For Lettuces and Endive it will be necessary to have 

 plenty of glass protection, such as temporarily-constructed 

 garden frames, hand-lights, and bell-glasses, or what the 

 French call cloches. Any of these, or all of them, may 

 be arranged on a sloping border, or any sheltered place 

 with a sunny aspect. There are very few places where there 

 are not a few glazed lights to spare, and in the absence of 

 any other protection these may be used as follows : — Select 

 the spot and level the soil, stake out a piece of ground 

 equal in width and length to the number of lights to be 

 used, drive strong stakes into the soil, and nail a 6-inch 

 board to them for the front, and one a foot or more in 

 width for the back; let the under edge just touch the top 

 of the soil — when the lights are laid on there wUl be 

 one of the most handy and useful structures that can be 

 put up for temporary use. The soil inside may be dug out 

 to any depth, so as to admit of heating materials being 

 placed inside, hotbed-fashion, in case of need ; but for the 

 protection of full-grown Lettuces and Endive, or salads 

 which require to be blanched fit for use, only a few inches 

 of soil need be taken out, imless from its poorness a better 

 sort is required. Bear in mind that in these structures 

 there must always be space allowed between the plants and 

 the glass for the circulation of air, as, during bad weather 

 in winter, much attention to air-giving wUl be necessary. 



Last summer, when I took charge of these gardens, I found 

 that a very large quantity of all kinds of salading would be 

 No. 540.— Vol. XXI. NewSebies. 



required during the winter and spring, I therefore set the 

 men to erect several ranges of the temporary frames de- 

 scribed, and nothing could have answered the purpose 

 better. Some of them were filled with sturdy plants of 

 Parsley; a few lights were devoted to Tripoli Onions, while 

 the remainder were filled with Lettuces and Endive in va- 

 rious stages of growth, always reserving enough space forthe 

 reception of a good store of various sorts of salading in a fit 

 state for use. If the roots of such plants are packed care- 

 fully in a dryish soil the leaves remain fresh and good for a 

 long time. During the severe weather last winter I erected 

 some temporary benches in the packing shed, placed on 

 them a few inches of soU, packed the Lettuces and Endive 

 as closely as convenient, and they kept in first-rate con- 

 dition. Again, after the Endive is used up, which is about 

 February or March, these frames are employed for forward- 

 ing spring Lettuces and Onions, Radishes, Mustard, Cress, 

 and Parsley, as well as various plants for out-door crops. 



The earliest crop of Radishes is generally sown with the 

 early crop of Carrots in December or at the beginning of 

 January on a gentle hotbed ; they can again be sown 

 among early crops of Potatoes on a bed of leaves. Great 

 care must be exercised that the heat is not too strong, 

 otherwise the Radishes run too much to top. Another 

 precaution it is as well to mention should be taken — that 

 is, not to use the soil for such crops as Carrots and Radishes 

 too light and rich ; if so, the same result will be produced. 

 A good plan is to press the soil firmly about the roots after 

 the plants have made a fair share of top-growth; this 

 will induce them to swell at the bottoms, and check top- 

 growth. 



Next I will speak of Mustard and Cress. There are 

 often complaints made about the difficulty in getting the 

 latter to vegetate. I have experienced the same result, 

 but it has been with old seed ; I have never had any 

 difficulty with new seed. The plan which I adopt is to 

 sow the seed in shallow boxes of convenient width, and 

 never to cover it, but merely press it into the soil with the 

 hand. Do not sow too thickly, otherwise the gummy sub- 

 stance produced upon the seeds by moisture congeals, and 

 destroys the vitality of the seed. Gentle heat and moisture 

 constitute aU that is required besides the above. There 

 ought to be no intermission of supply between the first 

 in-door crop and the last out-door crop. I begin to sow 

 in- doors during the last week of October, or sooner if the 

 weather is precarious. 



Corn Salad, or Lamb's Lettuce, though not always re- 

 quired for the salad buwl, is, nevertheless, a very excellent 

 and agreeable salad. It is very much in request here. Its 

 culture is of the easiest kind, and when once established 

 ia a garden it will come up freely enough without sowing, 

 but to make sure of a good supply, a sowing is made in 

 August for autumn use, and two more in September for 

 winter use. In many parts of England it requires no 

 other protection than that afforded by a wall, and when 

 hard frosts set in I generally cover it with long litter or fern, 

 and cut it as required, but doubtless it would be improved 

 by being grown in some cool place protected by glass. 



Chicory is, I think, becoming more commonly used than. 

 No. 1192.— Vol. XL VI., Old Seeies. 



