November 2, 1871. ] 



JOUBNAIi OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



339 



■occasionally used, but in the case of Onions intended for 

 ■" lofting," forcing manures must be applied cautiously, as they 

 induce a luxuriant growth ; and aa bulbs which have been 

 grown too rapidly do not keep satisfactorily, the grower loses 

 the chance of selling his crop at £11 per ton in March ! The 

 cost of hoeing is £5 for the season. 



Turnip seed or Potatoes follow Onions, with a dressing of 

 gnano for the former and of soot for the latter. Turnip seed is 

 ^rown for seedsmen who supply the farmer with stock seed, 

 which is drilled at 24 inches apart, or the plants are trans- 

 planted from a seed-bed in November. One ploughing suffices 

 ior this crop. The land is ploughed in autumn for Potatoes 

 and again in spring, and the sets are planted with a dibble at 

 the second ploughing. In the case of early Potatoes a wide 

 furrow of 9 inches or 10 inches is given, and the sets are placed 

 in alternate furrows. Late Potatoes are planted in every third 

 inrrow of 8 inches or 9 inches. 



A few other particulars may be briefly noticed. Early Po- 

 tatoes (which are not earthed), and Scarlet Runners are planted 

 'in alternate rows, the latter occupying the whole space between 

 the rows (3 feet or 3{ feet) after the removal of the Potatoes. 

 A large breadth of Cucumbers is grown. They are manured 

 with perhaps 40 tons of dung per acre, planted thickly in rows, 

 Bheltered at 6-feet intervals by rows of Rye or Onion seed. 

 Some growers sow many acres with this crop. Onion seed la 

 also grown at 2-fe6t intervals, and is sometimes supported by 

 stakes and string, but more generally by earthing-up. 



General Remabks. — The preparation of the land for Onions 

 Indicates that they prefer a solid surface. In the Essex dis- 

 trict a ploughing is given before Christmas, a large quantity of 

 short dung is spread on the land during frost, and ia well 

 knocked with a fork ; it is afterwards harrowed in with the 

 seed. If dung be ploughed in, and especially it it be covered 

 deeply, it is observed that the plant does not get hold of it until 

 late in the season, and a rampant habit is induced at the end 

 of June, when the Onion ought to be bulbing. The conse- 

 quences of ploughing in dung would perhaps be less injurious 

 on old garden ground, which ia full of manure. Lisbon Onions 

 for salads are sown in August or early in September. 



Pickling Onions require the same cultivation and excessive 

 manuring. They are sown very thickly, and are bleached by 

 •easting mould over them a short time before the crop is secured. 

 The process of brining and skinning the crop for one large 

 grower, employs about fonr hundred women working in sheds. 

 Bung, which is usually placed in large heaps 5 feet high and 

 frequently 10 yards wide, is turned twice for Onions. 



Peas are not profitable in the field garden district. An occa- 

 sional piece of early Peas is sown in November, to be followed 

 by some such crop as Broccoli, which may be planted as soon as 

 the Peas are off. After hoeing, the Peas are moulded up, and 

 the haulm is laid to check over-luxuriance. 



Broccoli and Cauliflowers are largely grown on the strong, 

 deep fruit-bearing soil of Enfield, a spot which is famous for 

 the tribe, and has given a name to one of the varieties of Cab- 

 bage. The cultivation of Cauliflowers and of Walcheren Broc- 

 coli has been noticed in connection with a garden in Bermond- 

 sey. The latter are usually planted after Potatoes or Cabbages 

 at the end of June or early in July, and are cut from September 

 io December. Market gardeners also provide a crop of Broc- 

 <coli to cut early in spring, sowing the Sprouted, Winter 

 White, and other kinds to plant early in September after Pota- 

 toes, &a. A heavy coat of dung is turned in with a deep fur- 

 row, on deep soil, by three horses, or dug in when the occupa- 

 tion is small. The earliest are sold in time to sow Carrots or 

 Onions. Other varieties follow during the spring and summer. 



Lettuce. — Without plenty of manure and garden cultivation 

 Lettuces run to seed quickly. Hammersmith has given a name 

 to one variety, and they are confined in great measure to neigh- 

 bourhoods where the gardens are small. The Brown Cos is 

 ■sown in November for early use ; this and the White and better, 

 but less hardy varieties, are sown in succession from February 

 till June. The chief demand in London is at the end of May, 

 and during June and July. Early sowings are made in seed- 

 foeds, lator sowings may be made in drills without transplanting. 



With respect to the weight of crops, which is the chief point 

 ■of agricultural interest, garden crops are generally removed 

 before they are mature, and they are planted thickly with that 

 object. It is not the weight, but the number of bunches, 

 that yields a large return. Prices vary so much that no pre- 

 cise eatimates on the subject can be given, although one of my 

 informants lent me his books containing exact accounts of 

 monthly sales for several years. I can report a sale of early 



Potatoes (3 tons per acre) at £11 per ton, on a Saturday in the 

 third week in June ; on the Monday the price was £9 per ton, 

 and it soon fell one-half. Cabbages when very plentiful are 

 sometimes sold at id. a-dozen, they ought to fetch 9d., and it 

 is very satisfactory to the grower when they sell at Is. a-dozen. 

 Three hundred dozen bunches of Carrots per acre, including 

 "chumps " or rough Carrots, sold to stable-keepers, are a very 

 large crop ; 2s. 6d. per dozen is a satisfactory price. This year 

 Carrots are considered to sell well at 3s. A bunch contains 

 from 50 Carrots, early in the season, to 25 when they are larger, 

 20 tons of Belgian Carrots, are considered a good crop ; 40s. a 

 ton is a common price at the stables in London. A crop of 

 Parsnips generally weighs considerably more ; the price of the 

 finest roots varies from Is. to Is. 6d. per score of 22. 



A good crop of " CoUards " is 200 dozen bunches. It varies 

 between 50 and 350 dozen, and the smaller crop may pay best, 

 reducing the land but little, and selling perhaps at a high price, 

 with comparatively small deductions for the cost of labour and 

 marketing. One hundred and fifty bushels of Peas are a large 

 crop, and £15 on the ground is a very great price, which is 

 sometimes paid by dealers for a crop that would yield 8 quarters of 

 threshed Peas; 2s. 6d. and 3s. per bushel are common prices in 

 Covent Garden, up to 8s. for the first early Peas, or for " blues " 

 when they come first to market, "whites" being then worth 

 but little. A crop of Onions, I believe, weighs about half as 

 much as a crop of Swedes in the Eastern Counties, where 

 20 tons of Swedes are a great crop, and from 10 to 15 tons are 

 common crops ; price from 5s. to 9s. per owt. Prices are 

 aiiected by a variety of circumstances which cannot be foreseen. 

 A blight in the early Potatoes would raise the price of Carrots 

 and other competitive vegetables. Cabbages were selling this 

 year at Is. a-dozen on June 14th, because there were few Peas 

 or PotatoesTin market. Each gardening district has its innings, 

 which terminates suddenly ; for example, any district which is 

 earlier than another has possession of the market so long as 

 the advantage lasts. During a fortnight last spring immense 

 quantities of Cabbages were sent from Essex to the great 

 manufacturing towns in the north. 



Lisbon sends the earliest Potatoes to London, the French 

 coast and Scilly Islands follow, then Jersey, Guernsey, Corn- 

 wall, and Holland ; and by the middle of June, these distant 

 but early districts are driven out of the market, by the arrival 

 of supplies from Essex, &a. Red Cabbages have been sold at 

 160s. per ton early in the season, and at 253. per ton a fortnight 

 afterwards ; or at from Is. to 4s. per dozen.— H. Evebshed (ia 

 Royal Agricultural Society's Journal.) 



MOOR PARK. 



This residence of Lord Ebury is remarkable for its historical 

 associations as well as for its sylvan beauty. It is situated 

 near the southern extremity of the county of Herts, and ad- 

 joins the village of Eickmansworth, to which there is a branch 

 from the main line of the North- Western Railway at Watford. 

 The visitor, after alighting at the first-named village and cross- 

 ing the river Colne, arrives in a very short time at one of the 

 lowest points of the park. The first glance is sufiicient to im- 

 press upon him the certainty that he is entering a domain to 

 which the term Park has with all propriety been applied for 

 many generations. In all directions he sees the beautiful 

 sward studded with Oaks and other trees of all ages and condi- 

 tions ; some that might be almost contemporary with the 

 Crusades, stunted and stag-headed, yet of immense girth, and 

 each grand in all the characteristics of a weather-beaten and 

 venerable tree ; others not so old by a century or two, some of 

 which might excite the cupidity of the timber merchant ; and 

 others still younger, promising to maintain that park-like cha- 

 racter of the place for centuries to come. Nature has lent her 

 aid towards perfecting all this ; for instead of the simple level 

 or uniform incline, here we have a succession of bold hills and 

 valleys, all that the lover of park scenery could wish for with- 

 out difficulty of access. These necessitate, however, a certain 

 amount of curve in the carriage road to avoid inconvenient gradi- 

 ents, which is effected without rendering the road tortuous or un- 

 meaning, and after a drive of nearly a mile, passing by on the 

 way many noble trees close to the carriage road, the mansion is 

 approached. It is a large and portly-looking stone building, the 

 carriage front consisting of a portico of Corinthian columns, 

 and presenting a front of some 180 feet or more, but owing to 

 the character of the ground, the opposite side, which looks out 

 upon an Italian garden, is one storey higher, the ground declin- 

 ing to that extent in the middle of the mansion. The site is 



