October 26, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKB AND COTTAGE GAEDKNEE. 



323 



The labour bill, includiDg beer, is £1500, or £10 an acre. 

 At the time of my first visit (June 17th) the number of labour- 

 ers employed, including ten women, a wheelwright, and a sales- 

 man, was thirty-five, and their wages amounted to £30 a-week. 

 During the winter five women are employed preparing goods 

 for martet, bunching Leeks, pulling and bunching Greens, 

 putting up Onions, &a. 



The implements of the farm, besides carts and market wag- 

 gons, consist of common ploughs, a double-breasted or ridging- 

 plough, for moulding Potatoes, Beans, and Peas, and some 

 haud-drilis. A small patent tool, which resembles a Dutch hoe 

 put on wheels, must be mentioned, because its use shows the 

 mechanical effects of dung and good farming in making the sur- 

 face friable. It is not uncommon for a man to push this little 

 implement over two acres in a day, cutting up all the weeds 

 between the wide rows of the garden crops. 



A Willow-bed supplies bunching rods for tying the bunches 

 of Onions, Greens, &c. The plants are set at 2 feet by IS inches, 

 and the bed lasts twelve years. Osiers of coarser habit are 

 grown to make baskets for vegetables and fruit. I may note 

 that the cost of the baskets (with a few sacks) used on the farm 

 exceeds £50 a-year. 



Parsnips are one of the main crops which are successfully 

 grown on this farm. The chief points to observe in their culti- 

 vation are— 1st, To sow on land that is least liable to wire- 

 worms and the small creatures — probably slugs — which are said 

 to be invisible to the eye, and which soon make the Parsnips 

 so, by eating the young plants as fast as they appear ; the 

 remedy for slugs is soot, and the prevention is, sowing on land 

 that is not liable to be infested. 2nd, To take precautions 

 against having forked Parsnips, and to grow them of a fine, 

 tapering, marketable shape by breaking the land well up and 

 applying the manure to the previous crop. It is not perfect 

 management to sow after Corn, because the land is not then in 

 sufficient heart and tillage ; or after Clover and Grasses, on 

 account of the danger of wireworms and canker ; or after Pota- 

 toes, because Potato-ground ought to yield a crop of Greens 

 after the Potatoes are off, instead of lying idle till Parsnips are 

 sown. They generally follow late Cabbages or Savoys, which 

 are cleared respectively in November and from Christmas till 

 Ist of March. In either case, the field is not touched until im- 

 mediately before sowing the Parsnips, and Mr. Glenny would 

 prefer to plough, scarify, and sow on the same day, so that the 

 seeds of the crop might start fairly with those of the small 

 Nettle, Chickweed, Grass, and the Shepherd's-purse, which are 

 favourite weeds in market gardens, frequently escaping the con- 

 tinual hoeing, and almost serving to establish in some quarters 

 the theory of sjontaneous generation. Supposing the clearings 

 of the Savoys to have been bunched by the 1st of March, as in 

 1867 (14th of March in 1868, 20th of February in 1869), the 

 land is ploughed with two horses, and subsoiled with three 

 horses, and is thus moved and stirred to a depth of about 

 9 inches. It is then drilled with a hand-drill as early in March 

 as the^ state of the weather permits. Mr. Glenny objects to 

 preparing the land in autumn, because it solidifies too much 

 by the time the crop is sown. In garden-farming a stale 

 furrow and a frosted surface are not entirely appreciated, since 

 the made soil of a garden-farm is effectually pulverised by 

 manure and surface tillage. Parsnips are sown 15 inches apart 

 in the rows, and the plant is singled at 10 or 12 inches. The 

 crop is hoed, singled, and kept clean for 45s. an acre. The hoe- 

 ing this year had cost, up to 21st of June— First hoeing, 5s. ; 

 singling, 16s. Sd. ; second hoeing, 6s. Frost does not injure 

 Parsnips. The roots are raised and sent to market from the 

 field, and are in season from November till the end of Lent, 

 occupying the ground longer than any other crop. 



Dwarf Kidney Beans often follow early Cabbages, without 

 dung. The last of the three successive sowings is made about 

 the 21st of June. This delicate plant is impatient of fresh ma- 

 nure, and requires the preparation of a perfect garden-tilth. Mr. 

 Glenny always ploughs twice, and for this and similar crops the 

 land should be lightly rolled, to level it and to retain moisture. 

 Drills are formed at 2-^ feet apart by means of a small hand- 

 plough, or marker, drawn by a man and a boy ; women follow, 

 and drop a seed at every 9 inches, and the drill is then covered 

 by a man with a hoe. The plants are carefully hoed. Dwarf 

 Kidney Beans grow rapidly, and soon become what salesmen 

 call " old Beans." In hot weather they should be gathered 

 every other day, and they are cleared in about four pickings. 

 The latest-sown Beans are out down by the slightest frost. 



Scarlet Eunnera are generally sown in the last week of April, 

 after Greens. The land is ploughed twice, with an interval of 



two or three weeks. The rows should be 3 feet apart, and a 

 seed is planted in every foot of the drill. Eunners continue to 

 bear until they are cut down by severe frost. When manured, 

 they are liable to become too luxuriant in damp summers ; they 

 should, therefore, be planted on good land, without manure. 

 It does not pay to support them on sticks, except when they 

 are grown as a shelter for Cucumbers ; and instead of giving 

 them artificial support, an upstanding habit is induced by con- 

 tinually topping the vine from the period of its beginning to 

 " run," about the middle of June. 



Unless Dwarf Kidney Beans and Eunners are gathered when 

 very young, they should be sorted before sending them to 

 market, in order that the broad ones may be picked out. 



Cabbages. — A second crop in succession was planted this 

 year, on June 2l3t, after ploughing in a second and heavy coat 

 of dung with a 7-inch furrow. After rolling Ihe land a line is 

 used in setting the plants, which are put in with a short dibble, 

 at a distance of 22 inches by 20 inches. In the case of " Col- 

 lards," which are planted 12 or 14 inches each way, a light roll 

 after the plough is followed by the " fiddle " — resembling a 

 rake with four or five long teeth — dragged by a boy, to mark 

 drills for the plants. 



Eed Cabbages for pickling are planted in October, a yard 

 apart in each direction, and occasionally Collards are set pre- 

 viously between the rows in which the Cabbages will afterwards 

 be planted. The catch crop is sent to market early in spring, 

 before the ground is required by the main crop. — H. Evebshed 

 (in Royal Agricultural Society's Journal.) , 

 (To be continued.) 



MEALY BUG. 



I HAVE an early vinery which by some means became infesteij 

 with mealy bug, and I have tried the following plan, but with 

 what success I must leave the future to decide. As soon as 

 the fruit was set I packed all the stems of the bunches with 

 cotton wool, which in a great measure prevented the bug from 

 travelling over it and lodging amongst the berries. The crop, 

 which was excellent, averaged 30 lbs. to each Vine, and was 

 borne on single rods spurred. The principal variety was Black 

 Hamburgh. The bunches were all cut by the end of May.. 



1 then vigorously applied clear water with the syringe twice 

 a-day, and at intervals of a week Gishurst compound at the 

 rate of 4 ozs. to a gallon of water ; and as soon as the Vines 

 were stripped of their leaves I washed the stems with soft soap 

 and warm water applied with a hard brush, then scraped every 

 particle of old bark off, gave another scrubbing with the same, 

 and lastly painted with Gishurst compound as directed for 

 winter dressing. I painted all the wood — rafters and sashbars 

 — with turpentine, and the back wall with hot lime. I pared 



2 inches of soil off. all the inside border, burying it in the 

 kitchen garden, and I intend giving the Vines another dressing 

 or two before they are started this winter. Should I be success- 

 ful in stamping out this horrible pest I will not fail to let you 

 know. — McGkegoe. 



[Our correspondent wishes "Obsekvee" would send moro 

 details. See our number published September 7th. — Eds.] 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



Me. George Mills, formerly gardener to Baroness de 

 Eothschild at Gunnersbury Park, died on September 30th, at 

 his residence, (Jxbridge Eoad, Ealing, aged eighty-four years. 

 After spending some time in the garden of Mr. Goldsmith at 

 Eoehampton, and Messrs. Lee & Kennedy's nurseries at Ham- 

 mersmith, he went as gardener to Mrs. Hall Dare, of Cranbroob 

 Park, Ilford, who, on her death, left him a pension of £80 per 

 annum. He continued to fill the same post, along with that of 

 bailifi, under her son, E. W. Hall Dare, Esq., M.P., remaining 

 altogether twenty-two years at Cranbrook Park. In 1833 he 

 became gardener at Gunnersbury, first to Mr.. Copeland, ami 

 afterwards to Baroness de Eothschild. He retired in 1853, 

 and after being engaged for some time in giving advice on 

 laying-out gardens, he took to Eose-growing for market. He 

 was celebrated as a successful cultivator of the Cucumber, 

 Melon, and Pine Apple, and some very heavy specimens of 

 the last-named fruit were grown by him. He published a 

 treatise on the cultivation of the Cucumber and Melon, and 

 another on that of the Pine Apple. The former, which wa 

 believe was revised by the late Mr. London, passed through 

 three editions. 



