November 8, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



347 



haps anywhere else, the conditions necessary to success are 

 much more perfect than in most other places ; and Mushrooms 

 having been grown there so long, it is not unlikely the very 

 atmosphere may be so charged with the minute bodies which 

 serve to propagate this fungus, that Mashrooms may spring 

 from them in course of time in the same way as Ferns and 

 Lycopods are produced, when in a suitable position, without other 

 aid from us than supplying the shade and moisture which are 

 necessary to their growth. I am, therefore, not altogether a 

 disbeliever in the possibility of Mushrooms being produced by 

 seed as described in the daily papers, but I more than doubt 

 the cultivator's having the means of sowing such seeds over his 

 beds when prepared, and I would advise inexperienced readers 

 to consult their seed catalogues carefully before they send for a 

 packet of Mushroom seed, unless to confer a favour on some 

 acquaintance the day after the 31st of M*.rch. It is not at 

 all unlikely that the humorous Frenchman may have sown his 

 beds with something that might resemble seeds in the presence 

 of some special correspondent, and that Mushrooms followed ; 

 but I strongly suspect sand, dust, or something of the kind, 

 formed the seeds seen by the gentleman of letters, ordinary 

 spawn having been used before. It is not at all unlikely that 

 the spawn in one bed may have run along the floor and reached 

 the other, and thus produced a crop, or the very air may be so 

 loaded with all the requirements necessary to this end that 

 only subjects to work upon may be wanted, and fresh dung 

 furnishing this, success is the result. At the same time it is 

 most likely that when tourists, visitors, and specials were not 

 in the caves, pieces of spawn were inserted in the beds and 

 that these did the work and not the mysterious Mushroom 

 seeds. M>re need hardly be said on the matter, than that the 

 caves spoken of must ba well adapted to the purpose, and great 

 credit is due to those who there cultivate the Mushroom so 

 successfully. — J. Robsok. 



Since the above was written what a sad cb.ange has come 

 over the fair and beautiful city of Paris ! Its gardens, parks, 

 squares, and even cemeteries, are converted into so many en- 

 closures for cattle, or torn up for still ruder purposes, while 

 the Mushroom caves may be turned to purposes widely different 

 from that to which they were put when the above was penned. 

 All must mourn that such a change should take place. At 

 some future time I may return to the subject of growing Mush- 

 rooms in caves, for it is not without its parallel in this country, 

 as very many years ago excellent specimens of Mushrooms 

 were produced in a ooal mine where horses were kept, and 

 Mushroom beds in chalk caves are not uncommon. — J. R. 



AUTUMN PLANTING OF POTATOES. 

 The experiment was tried upon the farm of Mr. William 

 Lawson, at Blenoerhassett, Cumberland. The sets were Re- 

 gents, chiefly whole, and varying from 3J to 1J oz. in weight, 

 If being the average, and were planted about 9 inches apart. 

 They were sorted from one field's produce, and of a uniform 

 size, to ensure equality of conditions. The plots, of three drills 

 each, were just before planting sown with a mixture consist- 

 ing of superphosphate (mineral), 5 cwts.; muriate of potaBb, 

 2J cwts. ; and sulphate of ammonia, 1$ owt. per acre. The 

 March plot was first to turn yellow, then February, April, and 

 all except May came next, M-iy beiag the last. All were raised, 

 sorted, and weighed October 6ch, with the following results : — 



AUTUMN versus SPRING PLANTING. 



Date when 

 planted . 



"Weather at time of 

 p] anting. 



Weight per 

 Acre. 



Value per 

 cwt. as 

 raised. 



Value per 

 Acre. 



1869. 



October 6 



November 5 . . 



December 15 



1870. 

 January 12 

 February 7 ... 

 March 7 



Cold winds and heavy 



showers 



Cold and slight rains. . 



Frost and slight snow. . 



Tons. Cwts. 

 3 11 



5 » 



5 8j 



6 6£ 

 9 5 

 9 104 



8 8 



9 li 



Shillings. 

 2 31 



2 30 

 2.56 



2.54 

 2.46 

 2.40 

 2.40 

 2.42 



£ s. a. 

 8 4 1 



11 IS 5 

 13 1? 9 



16 7 

 22 15 8 

 22 16 7 



April 8 





20 3 2 





21 18 9 







In Jinuary plot, the misses were very numerous ; April sets 

 were much sprouted when planted; in May the seed left was 

 insuffijient, and this plot was planted with a mixed lot, con- 

 taining Ricks ; it cannot, therefore, be fairly compared with the 

 others. Tne column " Value per cwt. as raised " is ca'culated 

 from the weights oi large, medium, and small, when hand- 



picked ; the large being valued at 4J<Z. per stone, the medium 

 at 3d., and small or pig Potatoes at 2d. They are snoh as 

 would be sorted by 1£ and lj-inch riddles. Excluding October 

 and November, and also M»y, because of its mixed seed, it will 

 beseen that the best qualiiy— i e., the highest value per hundred- 

 weight, was produced by the seed longest in the land. Thus 

 February, though 5 cwt. less per acre in weight than March, is 

 of almost equal money value per acre, because of its greater pro- 

 portion of large Potatoes, and, consequently, higher value per 

 hundredweight. As far as this one experiment goes, it shows : 

 — 1st, That for weight early in March is the best time to plant. 

 2nd, That for profit February is equally as good as March. — 

 {Mark Lane Express.) 



LILIUM AURATUM AND OTHER BULBOUS 

 PLANTS. 



I have read with much interest Mr. Douglas's note on the 

 cultivation of Lilium auratum. Will he tell us, in addition, 

 why he considers it best to shake the soil entirely from the 

 roots in preference to scratching away the loose soil ? I should 

 be very sorry to treat mine in the way he reoonimends. In 

 1869 mine threw up one stem and produced fourteen blooms ; 

 this year it threw up two Btems, which produced seventy-six 

 blooms. 



If Mr. Douglas dries-off his Hyacinths, Tulips, asd other 

 bulbs, I would advise him another summer to water them if 

 necessary as long as there remains a leaf, and report the results. 

 — Expeeto Ceede. 



[In the article on Lilium auratum referred to, allnsion was 

 made more particularly to pots containing a number of bulbs. 

 I said, " As many as a dozen bulbs are planted in a 13-inch 

 pot." As the result of roy cultivation is given. " Expeeto 

 Ceede " will observe that three bulbs in 1869 produced 

 fourteen Bpikes. In 1870 all, or at least all except two pots of 

 bulbs, were repotted about the middle of October, and on 

 shaking out the bulbs from the pot alluded to above there 

 were fourteen fine bulbs, the produoe of last year's three bulbs. 

 These were separated carefully and repotted in a 15-inch pot. 

 As there is no room for them in the frames this year, I 

 have plunged about two dozen pots of them in cocoa-nut fibre 

 refuse out of doors. They had a good drenching of rain before 

 they were plunged, and more since, which will do 1hem be 

 harm. By-and-by, if severe frosts Bet in. something will on 

 placed over them to throw off the water. They will be plunged 

 in the frame in January. If fourteen good bulbs were obtained 

 from three in one season, surely the system of cultivation must 

 be good, especially as they throw up good strong spikes which 

 flower well. Several of the spikes were 10 feet in height. 



I have frequently done as " Expeeto Ceede " seems to have 

 done with hiB one bulb in a pot — that if, only scratched away 

 a little of the earth and repotted in a larger-sized pot. TbuB 

 treated the bulbs have done well, but when three or four spikes 

 are thrown up from one bulb, I separate the bulbs and they 

 also do well ; you can then have three or four pots, or you can 

 plant all in one pot. 



One thing must be borne in mind — do not disturb Liliums 

 after they have started into growth ; they do so very boob after 

 the spikes die down. I had some Lilium lancifolium album 

 bulbs which, although standing out of doors all the Beasou except 

 the few weeks when they were in flower, had started into growth 

 by the middle of October, when the others were potted ; and, 

 further, if you wantyour w. rk well done, do it carefully, do it at 

 the right time, and do it yourself. The right time to pot Li iums 

 is when the leaves turn yellow on the Btems. — J. Douglas.] 



BOX EDGING. 



Totjr correspondent, Mr. O Dunnell, says (page 301), "As 

 soon as all the Box is planted, the whole should be clipped to 

 an equal height, and flat at the top." I presume he must 

 mean the time of planting to be the month of April, which 

 would be carrying on improvements to a very late period, if 

 the young gardener wish to keep himself equal to all the 

 demands of an establishment. Surely he could plant at the 

 end of September or October, but bett> een this time and April 

 I think cutting Box very dangerous. Should there be a sever© 

 winter the major part of it would be killed, and to replace it 

 after the work is finished in small designs is a job better dreamt 

 of than performed. 



As to cutting Box flat, that is entirely a matter of taste, but 



