June 22, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOETIGULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



433 



WEEKLY CALENDAR, 



Day 



^7 



ot 



Month 



Week. 



22 



Th 



23 



P 



24 



S 



25 



Sun 



25 



51 



27 



Tn 



28 



W 



JUNE 22—23, 1871. 



Spalding Horticaltaral Show. 

 Cambridge Easter Term ends. 

 MiDSUMiiER Day. 



3 SnSDAT AFTER TRrsiTY. [ 8.30 P.il. 



Meeting of Royal GeoRrapbical Society, 

 Royal Horticultural Society's Nottingliara 

 Coronation Day. [ Show opens. 



Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



Snn 



Snn 



ture near London. 



43 years. 



K.ses. 



Seta. 



Day. 



Night. 



Mean, 



Days. 



m. h. ' m. h. ! 



73.6 



48.8 



61.2 



17 



44afS 1 ISafS 



72.7 



47.1 



69.9 



17 



45 8 [ 19 8 



74.1 



4S.9 



61.5 



15 



46 8 ; 19 8 



73.0 



49.1 



61.1 



20 



46 8 : 19 8 



7i.3 



49.2 



61.7 



20 



46 3 18 8 



7-2.8 



48.2 



60.5 



15 



46 S 1 18 8 



73.7 



49.1 



61.4 



16 



46 8 1 18 8 



Moon 

 Rises. 



43 af 7 

 52 8 

 6 10 

 20 11 

 after. 

 55 1 

 18 3 



Moon 

 Sets. 



m. h. 

 22afll 

 44 11 

 morn. 



4 

 24 

 42 



1 1 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 6 



10 

 11 



Clock j Day 

 before of 

 Sun. I Year. 



173 

 174 

 175 

 176 

 177 

 178 

 179 



From observations taken near London daring forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 73.5^, and its night tem- 

 perature 48.6°. The greatest heat was 93', on the 27th, 1826 ; and the lowest cold 84°, on the 2Sth, 1841. The greatest fall of rain was 

 0.8J inch. 



EAETHING-UP POTATOES AND OTHER 

 CROPS. 



O earth-up or not to earth-up " is a question 

 which has been often before the gardening 

 world, and may be so again, as it is difficult 

 to dismiss an opinion once formed. It is not 

 unlikely that the advocates for earthing- up, 

 and those for not earthing-up, may both be 

 right as regards their respective localities. 

 The subject calls for some remarks, and all 

 the more, because at page .399 the Editors 

 condemn the practice, whUe " R. F.," at page 

 407, approves of it. " W-i-EsioE," at the first-mentioned 

 page, may be regarded as neutral, for he asks the reason 

 why Potatoes are earthed-up, and then gives a valid rea- 

 son — namely, to prevent the tubers becoming green. He 

 seems, however, to doubt whether that is a sufficient reason 

 for the practice. He also mentions one or two other bene- 

 fits resiiltLDg from earthing-up, and at the same time points 

 out its evils. This is so far fair, but the propriety of earth- 

 iog lip is left in doubt. 



In entering on this question I avow myself at once an 

 advocate for earthing-up Potatoes, as well as all the Cab- 

 bage tribe that have to stand the winter, excepting in 

 certaia situations ; and one of my reasons is, that by 

 throwing the ground into ridges a greater amount of surface 

 is exposed to the action of the atmosphere, especially in 

 winter ; while the earthing-up of Potatoes, as " Wyeside " 

 admits, prevents that greening of the tubers which spoils 

 them for the table, and it often happens the finest are at 

 the surface. Now for its evils. "Wyeside" compares earth- 

 ing-up to placing an umbrella round the plant's waist. I 

 gi-ant this comparison is well founded when the earthing- 

 up is imperfect, which, I am sorry to say, is often the case, 

 but the system ought not to be condemned on that account ; 

 nay, if earthing is well done it meets the very requirement 

 which " "Wytiside " puts against it — viz., it coaxes the rain 

 down the stems to the collar of the plant instead of throw- 

 ing it oft'. It is now going on for half a century since a 

 mode of earthing-up Potatoes was explained to 'me, and 

 I have not seen a better. It was to work up the earth in 

 such a way as to leave a sort of slight furrow where the 

 Potatoes grew, and not to close the earth tightly around 

 them in the ridge-fashion of which your correspondent 

 complains. I fear instructions of this kind in matters of 

 detail are not so often given as they were at the time to 

 which I have referred : hence the imperfect way in which 

 this and some other operations are performed. I may also 

 observe that in earthing-up Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, 

 and the like late in summer to stand the winter the ridge 

 was made as pointed as it could be, the object being to 

 protect the stem from being shaken by the wind, and to 

 give it assistance. There are but few cases in which the 

 omission of earthing-up is likely to be beneficial, but there 

 may be some, and it is only fair to mention them. 



Where Potatoes are grown on a dry, shallow, sandy or 

 gravelly soil, and in a neighbourhood where but little rain 

 falls during the growing period, it may be advisable not to 



No. 5'34.— Vol. XX, New Sebies, 



earth them up ; on the contrary, if the ground could be 

 scratched over, and a covering of short grass or other litter 

 were put over it to prevent evaporation, I believe much 

 good would be effected ; but as this cannot well be done 

 on a large scale, it is necessary to depend on slight lioeings, 

 so as to break up the surface-crust after heavy rains until 

 the Potato haulm has so far grown as to shade the ground, 

 when the purpose will be accomplished. In very shallow 

 soils of the kinds just referred to, and in dry years, the crop 

 is seldom good, although in a showery season it is often 

 a fair average, and the mere fact of earthing-up or not 

 makes but little difference in the result. Where the soil 

 is so shallow as hardly to allow sufficient depth for the 

 roots after earthing-up it would, perhaps, be better not to 

 resort to it : but in the case of all retentive soils I would 

 on all occasions advise it, as the action of the sun and air 

 on rough unpulverised clods must be beneficial to future 

 crops as well as to that which is growing. It often happens 

 that on such a soil there may not have been time to com- 

 pletely break up these clods before the Potatoes were 

 planted, hence the utility of after-tillage, and the ridge is 

 better than the flat system for accomplishing that purpose. 

 If earthing-np Potatoes were detrimental to the field 

 crops, I should think there are close-inspecting and in- 

 quiring minds amongst the many hundreds who are en- 

 gaged in their culture, and that if it were not considered 

 beneficial it would long ago have been abandoned. I have 

 never seen any serious fracture of the roots caused by the 

 plough, such as " Wy'eside " complains of, unless the work 

 has been very roughly done. Now and then the roots of 

 a Potato, perhaps out of the row a little, may come in the 

 way of the ploughshare, but the generality certainly do 

 not by the time they are earthed-up. From the almost 

 universal adoption of the practice it would be rash to con- 

 demn it, especially as it is of such long standing, withouf; 

 some just reason for doing so ; and as '■ R. F." afiirms that 

 a better crop follows earthing-up than would otherwise be 

 the case, it ought not to be too hastily condemned by those 

 who have not had proofs of an adverse character. For my 

 own part I have adopted the earthing-up system so gene- 

 rally, that I am not prepared to speak with confidence on. 

 the merits of the non-earthing plan, but I believe in the 

 former. If, however, I were asked where it might with 

 advantage be omitted I would say, Only in the cases which 

 I have already mentioned ; in all others I am its advocate, 

 stipulating, however, that instead of forming a pointed 

 ridge enclosing the stem of the Potato, along the top a 

 slight gutter should run, which would allow all rain falling 

 on the stem to run down to the roots ; and the space in the 

 centre between the rows being rendered very small, no 

 great harm is done by the uncovering of the roots. It will 

 also often happen that by the time the roots reach that 

 point — say 15 inches from the place they started from — the 

 top will have attained sufficient dimensions to aflord the 

 necessary shade, and no harm is done, but, on the contrary, 

 a benefit is gained. — J. Robsox. 



I HAVE made several experiments, but to give a satisfactory 

 explanation as regards the lessons of experience is a doubtful 



No. 1IS".-"Voi. XLV., Old Sekies. 



