November 24, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



405 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



D o7 

 Week. 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



last 

 43 years. 



Sun 



Sun 



Moon 



Moon 



Moon's 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



of 



Month 



NOVEMBER 24-30, 1870. 



ture near London. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



bets. 



Age. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





24 



Th 





47.4 



3i.7 



39.5 



14 



84af7 



Oaf 4 



8af 9 



23 af 5 



1 



IS 8 



858 



25 



F 





46.4 



33.7 



40.0 



22 



3H 7 



58 8 



22 10 



17 6 



2 



12 50 



339 



26 



S 





47.2 



32.9 



40.0 



23 



37 7 



57 3 



21 11 



23 7 



3 



12 31 



330 



27 



Sun 



Advent Sunday. Princess ofTeckBorn, 



47.0 



33.6 



40.3 



20 



39 7 



56 3 



after. 



35 8 



4 



12 11 



331 



28 



M 



[1833. 



48.1 



33 9 



41.0 



22 



40 7 



55 3 



44 



48 9 



5 



11 51 



832 



29 



Tu 





51.3 



33.8 



42.5 



20 



42 7 



55 3 



10 1 



1 11 



5 



11 30 



333 



SO 



W 



St. Andrew. 



48.0 



34.5 



41.3 



22 



44 7 



54 3 



31 1 



morn. 



7 



11 8 



334 



From observations taken near London during the last fortv-three vears, the average day temperature of the week 



is 47 9°, 



and its night 



temperature 33.4°. The greatest heat was 62°, on the 25th, 1863 ; and the lowest cold EP, on the 25th, 1858. The greatest fall of rain was 



1.21 inch. 







THE POTATO AND ITS CULTURE. 



THE SEED. 



-No. 1. 



HE berry of the Potato is commonly called 

 " the Potato apple or plum." "When it begins 

 to change from a green to quite a light colour 

 it must be carefully watched, if seed from it 

 is wished, and when it has the slightest 

 tendency to burst it must be picked off, and 

 laid on a dry shelf in a greenhouse ; or, 

 if there is not one, place it in any dry warm 

 situation where the pulp will dry rapidly. 

 This operation requires great care, for if the 

 apple is picked off the haulm before it has arrived at 

 maturity it will rot, and render the seeds useless. On the 

 other hand, if allowed to remain on the haulm too long the 

 seeds will be shed, fall on the ground, and so in all proba- 

 bility the best will be lost. When the pulp has dried 

 sufficiently, remove the seeds from the dry skin of the 

 berry, and lay them on a board or slate, place a square 

 of glass on them, and expose them to the sun to thoroughly 

 dry them previously to putting them into the seed bag 

 or bed. 



On the treatment of the seed a great deal depends. If 

 the seed has been gathered off a first-early Potato it may 

 be sown to advantage the same season, but it will require 

 the following treatment. A piece of ground should be 

 selected on a warm south border, and after some good 

 turf has been procured the operator may begin to build 

 the walls according to the size required (of course this 

 must be guided by the amount of seed in stock), but always 

 keeping the front wall at least 1 foot lower than the back 

 wall, so that when the coverings are put on the rain will 

 run off. This done, the enclosure may be carefully cleaned 

 and dug, and if the ground is in " good heart " it will not 

 require manuring, but if not, I recommend the following 

 compost : — Lime one-fourth, wood ashes one-fourth, well- 

 decayed leaf mould one-half, all mixed together. Lime 

 will prevent the approach of worms, which are great pests 

 in the seed bed; wood ashes will improve the growth and 

 the skin of the Potato ; and leaf mould will serve as a 

 nutritious manure. This manure should be scattered on 

 the surface of the bed about 2 inches thick, and then dug 

 in, but the quantity, as I have before stated, entirely 

 depends upon the condition of the ground. The surface 

 should be well pointed, and rendered fine with the spade. 

 Drills, about 1 inch deep, may then be drawn, and in these 

 the seed should be sown. If it is in good condition it may 

 be sown very thinly. It is a good plan to sow only about 

 three-fourths of the bed ; for if the seed comes up well the 

 plants may be thinned out to a reasonable distance, and 

 transplanted on the remainder of the bed which is unsown. 

 The drills should be about 16 inches apart, and as the 

 young seedlings advance in growth they must be earthed 

 up, although very slightly. The bed should be watered 

 occasionally as the weather may render necessary. 



If the autumn is cold and wet, the lights should be put 

 on, or if lights cannot be had, make oblong frames the 

 same length as the bed is wide from outside to outside of 

 No. 504.— Vol. XIX., New Series, 



the turf wall, and about 3 feet in breadth; these frames 

 may be covered with canvas, prepared in the following 

 manner : — Mix in a saucepan three pints of linseed oil and 

 1 oz. of sugar of lead with 4 ozs. of white rosin, place over 

 a gentle fire till the whole is melted, keep it well stirred 

 while it is on the fire, and when cold it will be of the same 

 consistency as paint. It may then be laid on the canvas 

 with a brush, the canvas being stretched on the frames 

 and fastened with zinc tacks (which do not rust) previous 

 to being dressed. The canvas will require one coat on 

 the inside and two coats on the outside, and when dry it 

 will be of a light yellow colour. This ranks next to glass 

 for admitting light and heat. Where there is a cold frame, 

 of course it does away with the foregoing method, but in 

 either case air must be admitted at every opportunity in 

 order to strengthen the young plants. 



Seeds which are gathered from late varieties must re- 

 main in the seed bag till the following spring, as the 

 seedlings never do well when raised entirely by artificial 

 heat. 



When the young seedlings have come to maturity, which 

 may be seen by the haulm becoming yellow, they may 

 be dug up, and their little tubers laid on a dry piece 

 of ground exposed to the sun to become green and 

 harden. When they have been sufficiently hardened and 

 greened, they may be put in a bag and stored in a dry 

 place safe from frost till the following spring. Each of 

 these small tubers is " a set," and some growers say the 

 qualities of the seedlings may be fully tested the same 

 season as grown, but this I deny, knowing from experience 

 that it requires another season to test them fully and 

 accurately. 



THE SET. 



Next spring, on a warm south border under a wall or 

 fence, dig out trenches about 14 inches wide, a good spade's 

 depth, and about 18 inches from row to row, and lay the 

 soil on the outside or right-hand side of the trench. By 

 so doing the trenches may be placed closer together than 

 if the soil were cast on both sides. This done, prepare an 

 equal quantity of slacked lime, wood ashes, and well- 

 decayed cow dung, the quantity to be applied to the ground 

 entirely depending upun the richness and kind of soil; 

 if very light, with a gravelly subsoil, little or no lime 

 must be used. As this compost is put into the trenches let 

 the soil be mixed with it, and plant the sets from 3 to 

 4 inches below the level of the surface, and about 9 inches 

 from set to set ; then cover the sets up to the level with the 

 soil taken out of the trench. Before planting, every set, 

 small or great, must have a piece cut off the end where 

 there is a cluster of eyes ; the reason for this will be found 

 under the heading " General Remarks." K the weather 

 be very dry a little water may be applied. If it should 

 be frosty the soil must be drawn up to the seedlings, 

 leaving just the head or crown exposed, and the following 

 is a very good method of protecting them : — Procure some 

 fir boughs about 3 feet long — the ends of boughs would be 

 best, for they would be well feathered at the bottom — then 

 arch the rows over with the branches, taking care to 

 serve the ends of the rows the same as the sides to prevent 

 No. 1156.— Vol. XLIV, Old Seehs, 



