14 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t July 7, 1870. 



Cannon, of Hitchen, who grows largely for Bale, and is qnite 

 as distinguished with his fine Broccoli. We believe it is chiefly 

 owing to his practical treatment, giving ground entirely to the 

 Broccoli crop, and having his plants a yard apart every way. 

 This_ is a very different thing from many gardeners, who mnst 

 continue to get Broccoli when the young plants are smothered 

 and drawn up lanky when growing between Peas and other crops. 

 If a tradesman finds it so remunerative to give such a free 

 space to his Broccoli, is not this an argument, where fine vege- 

 tables are desired, to give the gardener the ground to grow 

 them in ? Bat to return to the parasol-leaved Cabbages. 

 Fine as they are, they might be too large for some of our 

 readers who have but little ground, and to them we can safely 

 recommend Veitch's Matchless. It very soon forms a heart, 

 though of small size. We have measured the leaves, which 

 stand rather upright, and find they would average about 

 8 inches by 7, with a nice compact Cabbage in the centre. 

 Such a compact kind will thrive well in rows 16 inches apart, 

 and the plants 12 inches from each other in the row. This 

 kind also yields second and third crops very freely. Of the 

 larger sort alluded to — a regular fill-basket for a large establish- 

 ment, the young Cabbages are coming so freely from the stumps, 

 that we shall be tempted to give them a sewage-watering at the 

 first opportunity. Unless the winter proves very severe, our 

 spring Cabbages generally yield profuse gatherings until April 

 in the following year. 



The seed leaves of our first-sown Cabbages are just coming 

 through the ground. We shall sow again about the time this 

 is printed. The ground turned up very dry. It was left a 

 little rough, and well soaked with sewage. When it became 

 dryish on the surface it was levelled down, the seeds (red- 

 leaded) were scattered over it, beaten in with the back of a 

 clean spade, and then covered with from one-eighth to a quarter 

 of an inch of riddled dry soil, left dry and open. The seed- 

 lings looked very well when they came through it. A little 

 charcoal dust is an excellent material to mis with the dry 

 surface covering. Thus securing moisture beneath is far 

 better than surface waterings, which cake the surface and inter- 

 fere with the seedlings supplying themselves with moisture 

 from beneath. 



Early Peas.— Sowed some rows of early Peas, and if the 

 weather promises to be fine will make one sowing more. With 

 the early kinds, so far as earliness is concerned we have no 

 fault to find. Sutton's Ringleader is good, and so is Carter's 

 Early and Chater's (of Cambridge) Early. Of all such, with us 

 Chater's was the most prolific, but though all earlier for a week 

 or so, none yielded like a good sample of Sangster's No. 1. 

 We hope our seedsmen will keep that sort true, as in crowded 

 gardens it is almost impossible to do so. Times were when 

 seedsmen would send half a dozen kinds by name out of the 

 same bag, and we fear that Sangster's will have a chance of 

 being lost, an earlier sort being sent instead that would not 

 yield a fourth of the gathering— a matter often of more moment 

 than a few days' earliness in picking. Dickson's Favourite is 

 a fine second early Pea, and our young Peas taste well, though 

 the haulm is getting mildewed. 



Mildew.— This has led us to note a little matter, though it 

 may afterwards prove to be of small moment. All our earliest 

 and second early Peas that showed signs of mildew were sown 

 in drills in the usual way. The drills were rather narrow at 

 the bottom, being drawn out with the hoe in the ordinary 

 method, and the Peas sown quite thickly enough in the bottom 

 of the drill. The second early and succession Peas— that is, those 

 coming into pod, those coming into bloom, and those younger, 

 as yet green and flourishing, and showing no signs of mil- 

 dew, were sown in the old-fashioned way we used to practise 

 many years ago, and renewed again of late, and more especially 

 this year, when signs of a dry season began to appear. The 

 ground was well dug and pulverised, and where possible mode- 

 rately enriched. A narrow trench the width of a spade was 

 then thrown right and left, say 4 inches deep, a little rotten 

 manure was thrown over its bottom, and just lightly forked in ; 

 the bottom of the shallow trench was then trodden nnd well 

 watered. In an hour or less, if the sun was bright, ihe points 

 of a fork were just drawn along the watered bottom to'make the 

 surface a little open and rough, and then the seeds were scat- 

 tered thinly over the sunk space, say 7 inches wide, the seeds 

 ranging from l.J to 2 inches from each other. The seeds were 

 patted down with the back of a clean spade, and covered with 

 nearly an inch of the dry soil from the sides. Peas so treated, 

 even in this dry summer, have as yet shown no mildew, and no 

 great signs of distress. 



FRUIT DEPARTMENT. 



We did much work in shortening the shoots of fruit trees, 

 as referred to last week, and gathered a large quantity of Straw- 

 berries and Raspberries for preserving. If we have rain or 

 can water freely, there will be plenty more of both. Our house- 

 keeper tells us she never before had Strawberries that stood so 

 well to bulk and remained so firm. No doubt this was owing 

 to the sun and dryness leaving little moisture in the berries. 

 We know of many instances in which the makers of Rhubarb 

 jam complained of the hardness of the Rhubarb stalks, but 

 now they are forced to own that they never had such rich and 

 firm jam and jelly before — there was so little watery juice in 

 the stalks. We must think of taking off Strawberry runners 

 for forcing nest season. Cherries on walls this season, un- 

 watered and unsyringed, are very good ; Cherries on standards 

 in the open have been smaller than usual ; Cherries in pots in 

 the orchard house have been fine, because to these water must 

 be given or the plants would die. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Here our chief work has been switching the lawn with the 

 Daisy knife to remove Plantain stalks, a few Daisies, some 

 flowers of Dutch Clover, and yellow blooms of the Lotus corni- 

 culatus. The lawn is a little brown, but a good shower would 

 make it green. Clipped the sides of walks, and swept and 

 rolled to give a fresh smooth surface. A few dull days would 

 give us more growth in the beds, and then there would soon 

 be masses of bloom. Watered Roses with sewage water. They 

 much like it if not too strong. The wood is now in good order 

 for budding, and we know do more delightful work for the 

 amateur and the cottager to engage in. In most gardens of 

 any size where the labour power is always at full stretch, it 

 will be most economical in every way to obtain supplies from 

 our great Rose growers. The regular budder, from practice, 

 puts his buds in with a rapidity and a certainty that mere 

 casual budders might look on with astonishment. 



Bedding plants have now obtained good hold, and mostly 

 must cater for themselves. The showers encouraged us to 

 turn out lots of Asters, Stocks, Wallflowers, and annuals. 

 Firmness in planting is a great point in such a season aB this 

 — in fact, in any season. When the dibber is used it is the 

 one oblique stroke that fastens the roots securely. When the 

 trowel is used for a plant with a ball, the chief error is to 

 attempt to fasten the roots by pressing downwards, which is 

 apt to disarrange and destroy the roots. The right way is to 

 make the hole large enough, and to press the finely-pulverised 

 earth to the ball laterally. When this is done, water well, 

 to settle all the roots in their places, before quite finishing at 

 the surface. 



Much has been done in pricking off and potting Chinese 

 Primulas, Browallias, Cinerarias, and potting and repotting 

 Balsams. The Cinerarias, fresh potted in 3mall pots, we 

 placed under glaBs in a cold frame, with its high side to the 

 south, as they will want less water than if they stood out of 

 doors. 



Much has been done in repotting, and here wo met with 

 several instances where the plants did not seem to be right, 

 and yet the modes detailed the other week for knowing whether 

 a plant was damp enough at the roots had been tried without 

 avail. The surface and bottom of the ball were quite right as 

 respects moisture, and so was the ball for about 2 inches deep 

 all round ; therefore, though we had suspicions that part of the 

 roots were dry, the suspicions were lulled by the dull sound 

 that came from the pot when struck. The truth is that the 

 outside of the ball was moist enough, and contained fine, 

 healthy roots ; the inside of the ball was dry. To make it 

 wet without repotting, it would have been necessary to have 

 made small holes, or to have set the pot in water. In our case, 

 after getting rid of a lot of the old soil, the ball was set in 

 water until the centre was thoroughly moistened. Very likely 

 these plants had been potted last, when the ball was compara- 

 tively dry. This would account for the surface and the out- 

 sides of the ball being moist, whilst the centre was so dry. 

 There is no more common error — none that ruins pot plants 

 more than this — potting them afresh whilst the soil of the old 

 ball is dry. No common watering will ever thoroughly wet 

 that dry soil again ; the moisture given will always escape by 

 the looser soil at the sides. Make sure, then, first of all, that 

 the ball of a plant is sufficiently moist before placing it in a 

 new and larger pot. And once more, in repotting use soil 

 neither wet nor dry — -wet enough to retain the marks of your 

 fingers when you squeeze a handful tightly, dry enough that 

 that handful will fall to pieces when you lay it down on the 



