October 13, 1870. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



281 



into consideration. It succeeds Myatt'a Prolific, and continues 

 good longer than most varieties. It is a very weak grower in 

 its early stages, and is tender on heavy, wet soils, which are 

 not suitable to it ; light and medium-textured Boils are the best 

 for it. Huntingdon is not unlike the Lapstone, but is a larger 

 kind, many of the tubers weighing upwards of a pound under 

 ordinary circumstances. It is not so tender as the Lapstone, 

 and is better for heavy soils, otherwise it is inferior to the Lap- 

 stone. It is also later. Sultan is a pink Kidney ; indeed, a 

 pink Lapstone, having all the good qualities of the latter, and 

 none of its defects, so far as I have experienced ; it is not 

 liable to disease, and is a first-rate keeper. The above are all 

 Kidney sorts. 



Of the Round kinds, Early Oxford is a second early, succeed- 

 ing Hyatt's Prolific. It is an excellent cropper, of good quality 

 and size, but has the drawback of forming deep eyes ; never- 

 theless, it is excellent from July to November, or later. Regent 

 is, in my opinion, not superseded as a late Round sort, quality 

 and productiveness being considerations. Fully two-thirds of 

 the white Round Borts are but the Regent under different 

 names. 



The above are all the kinds I grow, or can see the advantage 

 of growing. There are, no doubt, many others which will pass 

 muster, yet I think the fewer the kinds grown the better, for 

 there is the trouble and annoyance of having binds which are 

 often desirable only for affording a slight and not unfreqnently 

 supposed variation. 



As respects planting, the ground being prepared as already 

 described, the rest is easy. The line is stretched lengthwise or 

 across the plot of ground, allowing from the outside of the plot 

 half the distance the rows are to be apart. With a spade take 

 out a straight trench 3 inches deep ; in this place the sets, and 

 cover with the soil from the next row. They need not be 

 covered deeper than 3 inches, so that a wide trench is altogether 

 unnecessary. If large enough to receive the sets at the proper 

 depth, it is enough. For the Ashleaf I allow 2 feet between 

 the rows, and place the sets 10 or 11 inches apart. To Myatt's 

 Prolific I give 2 feet, placing the sets 1 foot apart in the row. 

 Lapstone, Huntingdon, Sultan, and Early Oxford are allowed 

 2 feet 6 inches from row to row, and are planted 1 foot apart 

 in the row. I like the rows to be a good distance apart, but to 

 be so planted that the fork can hardly be got in, when taking 

 up, without feeling the Potatoes. All the late sorts are allowed 

 a yard between the rows, and the interval between the sets is 

 15 inches. Thus they form a mass of Potatoes. Some sorts 

 I have grown would do well with an interval between each 

 other in the rows equal to half the distance that the rows are 

 apart, many being all top. 



As to the time of planting, that will depend on the wea- 

 ther. Some have fixed times of planting, but there is no ad- 

 vantage in planting when the ground is wet and cold. The 

 Ashleaf I like to have in by the third week in March, Myatt's 

 in the fourth week, along with the second earlies, and the late 

 sorts by the Becond week in April ; but I would rather defer the 

 planting a week or ten days than plant with the ground wet 

 and cold. There will be exceptions to these times of planting 

 as regards the early kinds iu warm situations, but in open 

 though not very much exposed situations I find the times stated 

 sufficiently early for safety from frosts, whilst ensuring a good 

 growth before hot dry weather sets in, and as a consequence 

 the produce is good and well matured long before the autumn I 

 rains — a point I hold to be of importance. 



The after-management consists in hoeing between the rows 

 as soon as any weeds can be seen, and when the tops are 6 inches 

 high I earth well up. I am aware some do not advise earthing- 

 up, but I find that where it is not practised many green-ended 

 tubers unfit for human food are produced ; besides, they do not 

 attain so large a size. The wider the rows are the better. A 

 deep wide furrow between the rows is injurious by drying the 

 ground, and preventing the rains from wetting the soil for a 

 time after dry weather. 



After the eanhing-up no further care is required. The haulms 

 will grow and keep under all weeds, but should any gain a 

 hold, pull them up. As soon as the haulm turns yellow, the 

 crop should be taken up and stored. It would be well if the 

 tubers could be placed in a cool dry shed, but they should be 

 kept dark. Light will cause them to become green, and they 

 are then unwholesome. After they are dried no plan is so good 

 as pitting. They keep most plump that way. For the pit a 

 dry situation should be chosen. 



Before closing, a word about cooling Potatoes. There is no 

 mode equal to washing them clean, and then boiling them 



until soft through ; then strain off the water, and place them 

 on the fire a minute or two until the water is dissipated, and 

 finally peel either as you require them for eatiog or just pre- 

 viously. It is the most economical way of cooking, and the 

 only one in which the full flavour is preserved. By peeling 

 beforehand, and steaming or boiling afterwards, much of the 

 best properties of the Potato will be oarried off by the steam 

 and water. The latter may be considered a cleaner process, 

 but Potatoes cooked unpeeled will go nearly twice as far, and 

 are fully twice as good. — G. Abbey. 



BEET FOR ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES- 

 STORING BEET. 



Allow me space for a few notes upon the Red Beet's treat- 

 ment here (his year. The seed waB sown on the 6th of April 

 in a box placed in a pit heated by a flue. The seedlings were 

 pricked out into other boxes when fit to handle and returned 

 to the pit, where they were kept until well rooted. I then 

 placed them in the -open air in the shade, fearing that the sun 

 would burn and spot them. On the 1st of June they were nice 

 plants, and were planted out iu the centre of two largo beds to 

 match, with two rows of Cloth of Gold Geranium all round, and 

 bordered with two rows of Lobelia speciosa. The Beet is now 

 a rich dark bronzed purple. Growing in rich ground it is not 

 more than from 9 to 10 inches high, not one of the plants 

 running to seed. 



I think Dell's Beet should be a boon to the flower garden. 

 Last year it stood the whole winter in the ground without any 

 protection, still holding its leaves and looking very fine iu the 

 spring. What can be better in the way of foliage for the spring 

 garden ? Of course we cannot have Iresine, Amaranthus, 

 Coleus, or Perilla in the spring garden. 



I have this year a quantity of blood red St. Osyth Beet in 

 the kitchen garden as good in colour as Dell's. There is more 

 scarlet in its leaves than in Dell's, which causes it to glitter 

 when the sun shineB upon it, but it is not nearly so good in 

 form as Dell's. 



The best way I find for storing Beet for table ubo is in 

 heaps in the open air covered with earth, which prevents it 

 shrivelling or drying up, as it would do if it were kept in a dry 

 shed or loft. I have had it here in good order for the table 

 until the middle of July. — J. W., Coravahn Gardens. 



ORCHARD-HOUSE EXPERIENCE. 



I sutpose there is hardly any subject which does not admit 

 of argument both for and against. It must be so in a world 

 where nothing (uot even fruit and flowers) is quite perfect. 

 Thus it is small matter of surprise that there should be much 

 variance of opinion upon the subject of orchard-hou^e culture. 

 This, no doubt, in common with other questions, has its pros 

 and its cons, and the wise man is he who, with impartial 

 judgment, setting the one against the other, aims at striking a 

 fair balance between the two ; whereas the man of narrow mind, 

 leaning to one side only, becomes, like the reader of a single 

 newspaper, either a too zealous partisan or too bitter an oppo- 

 nent. Now, I will confess at the outset that, after several 

 years' experience, I am an advocate for growing fruit under 

 glass, but though an advocate, not one of such ultra views 

 but that*! see the expediency of aiming at the happy mean 

 lying between the two extremes of opinion upon this matter. 



Now, at the risk of provoking a smile from some of your 

 readers, I will try to illustrate what I mean by striking a 

 balance between the pros and the cons as regards orchard-house 

 culture by referring them to Tupper's lines descriptive of a 

 baby. A baby, like orchard-house culture, has its pros and its 

 cons. It gives you smiles, but also wry faces; it crows, but 

 it cries ; it is a great comfort, but an unmitigated nuisance 

 at times. Upon the whole it is a desideratum. But to my 

 quotation — 



" A babe ia a bouse is a well-spring of pleasure, 

 A messenger of peace and love, a resting-place 

 For innocence on earth, &c." 



An enthusiastic commencement, truly! So far the pros, if 

 I may venture to apply so equivocal a word to poetry, seem to 

 have it all their own way ; but stay ! mark what follows : 



" Yet it is a talent of trust ; a loan to be rendered back with interest ; 

 A delight, but redolent of care ; honey sweet, but lacking not the bitter." 



All this is a true description, not only of a baby hut of an 

 crchtrd house. It is " a well-spring of pleasure," especially 



