JOUKNAIi OF HOKTICULTUKE AJID COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ October 12, 1871. 



de Lessepa, and Perfection de Ljou will prove good, the last 

 named a difficult opener. Paul Neron, of immense size, is 

 coarse, but may prove good. Madame Liabaud is choice in 

 colour but small. 



In the lists of Teas given by your correspondents, I do not 

 find Homere. I saw three trusses exhibited in one collection 

 during the past summer most lovely in colour, being beautifully 

 edged with pink like a Picotee, and of good size and shape. 

 Win some one who has grown it kindly say if it succeeds well 

 in the open air, and if it is as hardy as Souvenir d'nn Ami, 

 Madame '^Ulermoz, and lladame Bravy, all of which have been 

 beautiful with me during the past summer? 



I never saw Pioses so free from mildew as they are this 

 season ; even at this late period there are scarcely any traces 

 of it, the stronger-growing kinds having sent up fine strong 

 stems from 4 to 6 feet high. In pruning I always cut all the 

 old wood out, and shorten the new well in. Nearly all my 

 plants are grown on the Manetti stock, which I consider to be 

 the best form of Eose-growing, especially in light soUs, such as 

 my own. — J. B., Darlington. 



SUPERIOR JilELONS. 



ToTJK correspondent, "GK-en Thomas" (No. 547, page 215) 

 in his list of superior Melons, may with every confidence add 

 another first-class fruit to his number — namely. Golden Gem, 

 raised by Mr. Cos, of Madresfield Court, and from its superior 

 quality, handsome appearance; and good bearing, he will soon 

 find it to be second to none. I quite agree with him that 

 Golden Queen is a first-rate variety, but I have never been 

 fortunate enough to grow it to anything like the weight which 

 Mr. Thomas mentions — namely, 4 lbs. to 5 lbs. each, nor do I 

 know anyone else who has done so. I received my seed direct 

 from the Messrs. Stuart & Mein, of Eelso, in the spring of 

 1869. I have never allowed more than from two to four fruit 

 to swell on a plant, but could not exceed 2J lbs., nor could 

 my friends, but all pronounce it a first-class JUelon. I confine 

 my list to three varieties — viz., for first use Malvern Hall ; for 

 general crop. Golden Gem and Golden Queen. — S. Tayloe, Sion 

 Hill, Kidderminster. 



POTATOES— EARTHING yebsus NON-EARTHING 

 —ESTIMATE OF VARIETIES. 



A SHOET time ago the subject of Earthing versus Non-earth- 

 ing Potatoes was discussed in these pages, and, by what I 

 could gather, the majority were for non-earthing. There was, 

 it cannot be denied, some weU-seasoned remarks thrown oat, 

 and much I fancy that most of us are well acquainted with. 

 Well, the Editors said. Give us something more than " I think." 

 At the time I read the discussion the men were earthing-up 

 Potatoes. I had four short rows left unearthed, and the four 

 next rows were left earthed-up until this week. We then took 

 them up and found the unearthed wanting, when brought to 

 the test of being weighed, by 11 lbs. in the four rows, say about 

 12i square yards. I think that at a rough calculation it makes 

 just 2 tons diEierence per acre, there being 56 lbs. in the earthed- 

 np portion, and 45 lbs. in the unearthed rows. 



I have been a long time convinced that earthing-up Potatoes 

 is the right plan, and that, too, in aU classes of soil. The 

 same subject was much discussed four or five years ago. In 

 the following year I left a quarter unearthed ; I then con- 

 sidered, when they were taken up, that a third were lost. I 

 can go back sixteen or eighteen years when the good old rough 

 Beds and Blues were grown, and remember distinctly when 

 there were a few rows left unearthed, that few Potatoes could 

 be found in them. 



I am for shallow planting with plenty of room between the 

 plants, and plenty of earth placed around them, and that, too, 

 as early as possible, say when about 4 inches high. Dn- 

 doubtedly the damage in earthing-up is when they are too 

 high. The advanced say, Plant deep in shallow ground. I say. 

 Plant moderately shallow with plenty of room between, and 

 earth-up with a good broad ridge not less than 15 or 16 inches 

 through, and 4 or 5 inches deep. 



In wet clayey land plant them on the surface and ridge them 

 np when planted. Much of this will be worked down in cleaning, 

 but must be renewed afterwards. I may here state, that this 

 has been a rather wet summer, but it is no criterion with respect 

 to the comparative merits of earthing and non-earthing ; for two 

 years ago, when I had the quarter mentioned above not earthed, 

 it was a very dry summer. 



I am sorry to endorse what has been said with regard to the 

 closeness of the Early Eose Potato this season. We find the 

 same remark stands for all sorts — in fact, we have scarcely any 

 really good, still I am glad to bear testimony that the Early Eose 

 has been less aflected with the disease than any kind we have 

 had this year. We have taken up a sack of it "this week, and 

 not half-a-peek was rotten ; and as to the crop, I had a trial of 

 ten sorts, and in the amount of produce the Early Eose far 

 exceeded any of the rest, being triple that of some. I find on 

 distributing some of them and the Eed-skinned FlourbaU 

 amongst the cottagers, that the Early Eose was generally 

 small, so that it is evident it likes rich ground. The Eed- 

 skinned FlourbaU turned out a good cropper and produced very 

 large tubers, so that it carried all before it at our Cottagers' 

 Show — an infant of two-years growth, but doing extremely well. 

 This Potato is an excellent late sort, and will, I hope, take the 

 place of the degenerated White Eock, which is generally grown 

 here. It can hardly be designated a garden variety, as the 

 haulms grow so long. Mine this year grew from 3 to 4 feet long. 

 The sets should be planted in good ground at least 3 feet apart. 

 Of its quality I cannot speak, as it is evident the tubers should 

 be kept until after Christmas before being used. Quality, how- 

 ever, is little thought of here with the mass of people, as they 

 boil all their " Tattoes " in their " coul " (broth), and as you 

 are doubtless aware. Leeks constitute the first and largest part 

 of it. I would certainly prefer the Irish style of having good, 

 rich, mealy Potatoes mashed with butter or new milk. 



Has it been generally noticed that coloured Potatoes, especi- 

 ally blue or purple sorts, do much better than white in dark- 

 coloured soil, notably bog soU, while Potatoes generally there 

 grown taste earthy and are more liable to disease, and Kidneys, 

 generally speaking, are oftener found black at the end? — J. T., 

 Maesgwynne, Wliitland, South Wales. 



THE FOREST TREES OF HINDOSTAN. 



(Conti7iutd from page 160.) 



Of Magnoliaces we have more than twenty fine species in 

 the Indian empire, most of them with fiowers difiaslng an over- 

 powering perfume to a great distance, and even producing sick- 

 ness and other severe affections in nervous individuals. Some 

 of the MicheUas are grand trees, seen about temples and places 

 of pilgrimage, their golden hue and indescribable fragrance 

 having long ago placed them among the sacred symbols of the 

 Hindoo religion, and gradually led to a wide distribution of this 

 choice class in cultivated groves and reserved lands. Others 

 fm-nish the famous timber rarely met with in Christendom, 

 there being no outlet from the remote woods and mountain 

 forests where these trees flourish. A backwoods predecessor of 

 mine, however, brought down to civilisation by boat a few 

 planks, which were worked up into a dining table of wondrous 

 beauty. The breadth of each piece was at least 4 feet, the grain 

 was most curiously wavy and striped, the mixed hues of brown, 

 black, red, and yellow, giving the well-polished surface the 

 similitude of a tiger or zebra skin. As a piece of house furni- 

 ture it was worthy of a palace. 01 Anonacese, though we have 

 something like one hundred in this tropical order, not one sup- 

 plies any wood worth cutting, though as an avenue tree and 

 usefal to shade the traveller, Guatteria longifolia (ot Mast 

 tree, so named from its tapering, lofty growth) is here men- 

 tioned. This tree is very roughly handled by hurricanes, while 

 its substance is so soft and corky as to preclude its " wrecks " 

 from furnishing even fuel. 



In DiUeniaceffi, another very tropical order, our virgin forests 

 of the north-east are very abundant ; more than nine genera 

 exist within Indian limits. The wanderer in the swampy 

 watershed of the Barrampooter valley will pass many days in 

 the shade of DiUenia speciosa, which there attains a gigantic 

 grovrth its admirers at Eew know not. The flower is truly 

 barbaric and oriental, coarse and beautiful, the bright green, 

 sharply-serrated foliage in full keeping, and lastly the abundant 

 juicy fruits, yield a favourite repast to the pachydermata and 

 larger fauna of the forest, and are not unacceptable to the 

 various tribes of homo as an acid adjunct to their fish curry. 

 The timber of some kinds is hard, and of such girth as to 

 furnish canoes, while the leaves yield admirable material for the 

 substratum of thatched roof^, besides being used by primitive 

 artisans in the manner of " Dutch rushes " for polishing wood. 

 Were there not so many finer and handsomer timber-producing 

 trees in the same locality, DUlenia wood might have entered 

 the market, as it is close-grained, and has been tried in gun- 

 stocks with good repute. 



