126 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Anguat n, 1871. 



Tersity of hnmau nature — at least of my human nature — would 

 liave said as we reached a certain gate about which were ar- 

 ranged busts and vases — " It's no use going in there, it's only 

 a pottery," but hs uneunningly said, "Let us go in there." 

 So I, of course, said, " Oh ! no — it's only a pottery !" Others 

 of my companions being of the more pliant and inquisitive ses 

 thought otherwise ; so " the Ayes had it," and in we went, and 

 glad I was, and glad I am, that I was outvoted, if it were only 

 for the satisfaction I had of conversing with a man so cour- 

 teous, so calm, and so obliging as Mr. Brock. He is the very 



fitting manager of the works 

 of " The Watcombe Terra 

 Gotta Clay Company." 



Never did I expect to see 

 such fictile work of English 

 manufacture. I had been dis- 

 gusted with the vulgar red 

 figures in the arcades of the 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society's 

 Garden at Kensington, and 

 thought that all home-made 

 must be similar. Tne earth 

 used at the Watcombe Pottery 

 produces a ware of the pure, 

 soft, classic terra-ootta colour, 

 and the statuettes, busts, and vases constructed from it are 

 worthy to stand by the side of the genuine Etruscan. The 

 manufactory is not common pottery, but within its rooms 

 are skilled artists. I saw the entire details of the manu- 

 facture from the washing of the earth — a red sandstone-tinted 

 clay — the puddling of the dough, the turning of the. vases, 

 the baking; the artists (all women) with camel-hair brushes. 



pots, flower vases, window or Mignonette boxes, are among the 

 utilities produced. The plain yet tasteful flower-pota are as 



\i- 



\% 



X'f. 



suferior to the vulgar-shaped heavy pots commonly in use as 



adding the Etruscan patterns, and the sculptor designing 

 forms and ornaments. 

 It is not a manufactory of the ornamental only, tiles, flower- 



Hyperion was in grace the superior of a Satyr. Of the more? 

 ornamental flower-pots, vases, and boxes, the accompanyiDg, 

 are specimens, but there are many others. — G. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN OAKDEN. 



Stir the surface of the soil among all growing crops where 

 practicable. Trench or dig every spare piece of ground. 

 Earth-up all the Cabbage tribe that are sufficiently advanced, 

 and make succession plantations of Brussels Sprouts, Buda Kale, 

 and Broccoli. Plant a considerable breadth of Endive and 

 Lettuces. Prick out in nursery beds the Cabbage plants iu- 

 tend-ed for spring use, that they may become stocky previous 

 to their final planting. See that the Celery as it advances has 

 every attention to weeding, the removal of offsets, and earth- 

 jng-up, but in no case let the earth be raised so high as to in- 

 jure or choke the heart of the plant. Collect and dry horse 

 droppings for making a bed for Mushrooms. Keep the droppings 

 spread thinly in a dry airy shed, and turn them frequently, for 

 unless they are well dried it is difficult at this season to pre- 

 vent the bed heating excessively, and this should be guarded 

 against, as it exhausts the manure, and then there is only a 

 poor chance of a good crop. Should a failure of the Potato 

 crop occur, there will be an unusual demand for other vegetables 

 in the spring. Let Stone and Dutch Turnips be sown on spare 

 plots, and let all other vacant ground be planted with Cole- 

 worts, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, Savoys, &c. Ash-leaved 

 Kidney Potatoes intended for seed may now be taken up and 

 exposed to the sun till they are green. Should the disease 

 attack the other sorts, let them be taken up at once, dried, 

 sorted, and packed in dry earth or charcoal. 



FKDIT GAEDEN. 



The prevalence of damp cloudy weather has caused free 

 growth in fruit trees, and, excepting such as are bearing a pood 

 crop of fruit, they have in most cases already made as much or 

 more young wood than there is much chance of their ripening 



in the course of the autumn. It will, therefore, be advisable 

 to go over the trees and stop about half the shoots, beginning, 

 of course with the strongest, for a general stopping at this 

 time would probably induce the production of a mass of useless 

 spray, whereas stopping the stronger shoots, or those which, 

 incline to grossness, will divert the sap into the weaker ones, 

 which will be strengthened, while the buds on the shoots that 

 have been stopped will become full and plump without starting 

 into growth. The only effectual method, however, of curing, 

 a gross habit of growth, when this is the case in ordinary 

 seasons, is root-pruning, or keeping the roots within proper- 

 limits by means of shallow, well-drained borders. Should it 

 be found that the shoots after stopping incline to start into 

 growth, it will be advisable, as soon as the fruit is gathered, to 

 open a trench at a moderate distance from the stem of the 

 tree, cutting the strongest shoots. This will be of the greatest 

 service in checking growth, and will probably do more towards 

 Feeuring ripe wood than anything else that could be adopted. 

 Let the Strawberry plantations intended to stand for next 

 season be trimmed as soon as convenient, cutting off and clear- 

 ing away the runners, &c., so as to afford the leaves plenty of 

 room. 



FLOWEE OAKDEN. 



In many neighbourhoods green fly ia very troublesome on- 

 the Verbenas, &e. Tobacco water and soapsuds have been 

 used with success. Nothing cheaper or more efficient can be 

 used by those whose plants are infested. The strength of the 

 mixture should be tested by dipping into it some of the shoots- 

 most affected ; use it sufficiently strong to kill the insects, but 

 not so strong as to injure the leaves. It should be applied in- 

 the evening, when there is a prospect of a dry night, using a 



