September 21, 1371. 



JOUBNAL OF HOllTIGULTUHE AND COTrAGE GABDENEB. 



213 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR, 















Day 



Day 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 













Clook 



Day- 



Month 



Week. 



SEPTEMBER 21—27, 1871. 



tore near London. 



43 years. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



bets. 



Age. 



Sun. 



of 

 Year. 









Day. 



Nisht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 





.m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 







21 



Th 





66.4 



45.6 



66.0 



24 



45af5 



Oaf 6 



1 af 2 



45af 9 



J 



6 52 



264 



22 



F 





66.4 



44 7 



55.G 



21 



46 5 



68 5 



6 3 



4S 10 



8 



7 13 



265 



23 



S 



Aatnmn commences. 



66 8 



46.7 



55.9 



22 



48 5 



66 6 



1 i 



52 U 



9 



7 34 



266 



24 



Sdn 



16 Sunday after Tbinity. 



6B.1 



43.5 



54.8 



19 



49 5 



64 6 



42 i 



morn. 



10 



7 64 



267 



25 



M 



Day breaks 8.57 a.m. 



65.8 



48.1 



54.4 



21 



61 5 



52 5 



12 - 5 



8 1 



11 



8 15 



268 



26 



TV 





65.7 



43.8 



64.7 



21 



63 5 



50 5 



36 6 



28 2 



12 



8 36 



269 



27 



W 





65.3 



44.6 



65.0 



24 



65 5 



47 6 



67 5 



48 S 



13 



8 56 



270 



From observations taken near London during fortv-tbree years, the average day temneratnre of the week is 66.0 



', and its niaht tem- 



peratnre 44.4°. The greatest heat was 82^ on the 2Dth, 1832 ; and the lowest cold 27°, on the 25th, 1863. The greatest iall of fain was I 



1.68 inch. 







SALT AS A GARDEN MANURE. 



ALT as a manure has long been applied to 

 garden and farm crops. Its principal use, 

 however, in gardens has been in the destruc- 

 tion of weeds, for it is well Icnown that in 

 large quantity it is destructive to vegetable 

 life ; hence it is employed for scattering over 

 walks, or they are watered with a strong so- 

 lution of salt, to destroj' the weeds and moss 

 appearing on them. On the other hand, in 

 moderate quantities its application is attended 

 with very satisfactory results ; for, as remarked by Mr. 

 Jolmson in the " Science and Practice of Gardening," 

 page 119, " The day has long passed when it was disputed 

 whether saline bodies are promotive of vegetable growth," 

 and the same author continues — " It is now determined 

 that some plants will not even live without the means of 

 procuring certain salts." 



Although salt, or saline matter, enters into the com- 

 position of all plants, it is evident, from the experiments 

 made by Dr. Voelcker, that the application of a quantity 

 of salt which proves beneficial to one kind of plant will 

 be injurious to another. This he demonstrated by water- 

 ing plants with water holding varied proportions of salt, 

 and it is a remarkable fact that to most of the crops of the 

 horticulturist even in very strong solutions it did not prove 

 injurious. Even at the rate of twenty-four grains to a pint 

 it " decidedly benefited Radishes, Onions. Lentils, and 

 Cabbages," but " plants of Anthoxanthum odoratum (Sweet 

 Vernal Grass) were killed by a solution containing twenty- 

 four grains of salt per pint, after the lapse of one month." 

 " Grasses are aftected by salt more readily than any of the 

 plants experimented upon." We may, therefore, conclude 

 that salt in a certain quantity is beneficial to most vege- 

 table crops, for we have Radishes or Raphanese, Crambe 

 (Sea-kale), Brassica, including Cauliflower, Broccoli, Bore- 

 cole, and Turnips : Liliacese, including Onions, Leeks, and 

 Asparagus, and, I may add, many of our most beautiful 

 bulbous plants, and those with succulent leaves. Dr. 

 Voelcker remarks, " Bulbous plants and plants with succu- 

 lent leaves are especially benefited by the application of 

 salt ;" also Lentils, Peas and Beans, and, may we not 

 safely conclude all the order Legurainosna, or pod-bearers, 

 as the Dwarf Kidney Bean and Scarlet Runner ? Dr. 

 Voelcker mentions the Thistle as being benefited by salt, 

 and we may consider the Globe Artichoke and Cardoon 

 to be equally so. Mr. Johnson completes the list on the 

 authority of Saussure — viz.. Beetroot, Rhubarb, Potatoes, 

 Jerusalem Artichoke, Carrot, probably also the Parsnip 

 and Celery, as these two belong to the same natiu-al order ; 

 so that salt is beneficial to every kind of vegetable crop. 



Of the value of salt there can be no doubt; in fact, 

 from its application this season, I have come to the con- 

 clusion that to the gardener it is one of the most valuable 

 of manures. I have come to regard it as not only valu- 

 able, or, as stated by Mr. Thompson in " The Gardener's 

 Assistant," page 121, " a necessary addition to the soil 

 wherever marine plants, or such as naturally grow near the 

 No. 547.— Vol. XXI., New Sebies. 



sea, are cultivated ;" but to all, except it be Grasses ; and 

 even to these in small quantity, or less than for other 

 plants, it is very beneficial. For some fruit trees it seems 

 not to be so desirable as for others — for instance, the 

 Apricot, Apple, and Cherry, but the Peach, the Pear, and 

 the Plum are benefited by it. 



I need say no more respecting its value, but will proceed 

 to its application, of which there are several modes, but I 

 shall only name two — namely, alone and mixed with other 

 substances. 



Salt fipplied alone. — As a top-dressing salt may be 

 applied to every kind of kitchen-garden crop at the rate of 

 ten bushels per acre, or half-a-gaUon per rod. It may be 

 given at the time of sowing, putting in, or planting the crop, 

 but I consider it most advantageously applied when crops 

 from seed have arrived at the thinning stage; to "put-in" 

 crops, as Potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes, it may be 

 applied when they are well above ground, and before the 

 first hoeing ; to planted crops as soon as they are again 

 rooted. Ten bushels per acre I think a sufficient quantity 

 for a general dressing. Some crops will bear much more 

 salt than the quantity named; for instance. Asparagus is 

 not overdone at lib. per square yard, or 43 cwts. per acre, 

 and the best time to apply it is when the heads are appear- 

 ing, and again early in May. 



Cabbages may have repeated applications of salt, and so 

 may most cf the Cabbage tribe. Cabbages planted in 

 September to stand the winter may in October be dressed, 

 and again in March ; Broccoli and Winter Greens after 

 planting, and in October or early in November ; whilst for 

 most other members of the same family one application 

 will be sufScient. 



The value of salt as a manure may be estimated princi- 

 pally from its entering into the composition of plants ; but 

 it possesses other values — one being that it is destructive to 

 predatory vermin as the slug, and is found a complete cure 

 for grub in Turnips, and club or ambury in the other repre- 

 sentatives of the Cabbageworts. It has also another most 

 valuable properly — that of protecting plants from injury 

 from cold, or as it is stated in the " Science and Practice 

 of Gardening," page 144, it protects " plants from suffering 

 by sudden reductions of temperature by entering into their 

 system, stimulating and rendering them more vigorous, 

 impregnating their sap, and consequently rendering it less 

 liable to be congealed." There can be no doubt of salt 

 being advantageously used for plants of a succulent nature, 

 such being liable to suffer in case of sudden reduction of 

 temperature. 



Salt mixed with other substances. — This, I believe, is the 

 most satisfactory method, for all soils require to be con- 

 stituted of several ingredients for the production of healthy 

 plants. Gardens long enriched with stable or farmyard 

 manure in time become sick or worn out. Lime-dressings 

 have been advised, and are indeed very beneficial, often 

 more so than dressings of stable manure. " When caustic 

 lime, or, as it is more commonly called, quicklime is added 

 to a soil, it decomposes the salts of ammonia which the soil 

 contains, driving off the ammonia, but which is absorbed 

 and retained by the alumina in the soU. Caustic lime also 



No. U99.-V0L.XLVI.. Old Seiies. 



