440 



JOUKNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ December 6, 1877. 



As if conscious of the startling nature of his proposition, also 

 of the incredulity of the public, the author " fancies some 

 leaders laughing at the idea." We rather fancy so too ; it is 

 an " idea " of a class to provoke a smile. Yet with that 

 characteristic confidence which figures inspire, Mr. Wood has 

 no doubt of his ability to prove satisfactorily that the hand- 

 some sums named can be realised. We do not share the 

 author's confidence in the plan projected, which in Section I. 

 is briefly as follows : — 



A series of brick walls are to be built 4 feet high, with a 

 border 4 feet wide on the south side, curbed round with two 

 courses of brickwork, and at the front of the border a path is 

 to be made 2 feet wide. This work " is to be " done by the 

 acre, for we are not told that it has been done. Estimates 

 (too low) are given of the cost of the walls, and the mode of 

 carrying out the " idea " is detailed. On the south side of 

 the walls Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots are to be planted 

 " about 5 feet apart," and two Tomato plants are to be grown 

 51 between each of the trees." Don't smile, gardeners, for 

 recollect this is multum in parvo gardening. The reason why 

 Tomatoes are to be so grown is stated to be the " obvious " one 

 that " they cannot be grown without walls or glass." If the 

 author had taken a trip into some of the market gardens near 

 London last summer it would have been equally " obvious " to 

 him that they can be and were grown and ripened " by the 

 acre " in open fields, and we could point, too, to a garden as 

 iar north as Lincolnshire where they are successfully grown 

 an a similar manner. We predict that they will be grown on 

 this "impossible" plan much more generally than the new 

 " idea " promulgated in the book will be adopted. 



The north sides of the walls are to be covered with Red 

 Currants, the trees to be planted in a border 9 inches wide, 

 which border is also to contain a row of Strawberries which 

 should produce "an average of two hundred fruit per plant" 

 - — multum in parvo again ; or Auricula seed is to be grown in- 

 stead of Strawberries, and if the seed is of a very superior 

 strain it may be sold for 5s. per ounce, unless " some difficulty 

 should arise in disposing of it," on which account Strawberries 

 are given the preference as they "always sell." 



The south borders are to be cropped with early Potatoes and 

 Eadishes, which are, perhaps, the most reliable of all the crops 

 recommended, to be followed by Dwarf Kidney Beans, and 

 probably (although that is not stated) by red spider for the 

 Peach trees. Adventitious crops, such as Lettuces, are men- 

 tioned, but they are not relied on, as anett profit of £624 5s. 9d. 

 ■per acre can be obtained without them. The amount received, 

 after deducting £129 4s. 3d , is accounted for as follows : — 



Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots ^330 



Red Currants 70 



Tomatoes 50 



Eadishes 156 



Early Potatoes 50 



Dwarf Beans 58 10 



Strawberries 39 



Total 753 10 



Annual expenditure 129 4 3 



Kett proat 624 5 9 



" It is astonishing," adds the author, " what can be done 

 ■with one acre of land." It is, and we shall be astonished to 

 Shear that Mr. Wood has done what he has represented as being 

 so easy of attainment, and the more astonished if it is an 

 average (and it is no use without) of a series of years. The 

 crops mainly relied on, and which involve the greatest outlay 

 in preparations — namely, Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots, 

 are notoriously uncertain when glass is not afforded them. 

 We have inspected many gardens in different counties during 

 the present year, and notwithstanding that those gardens are 

 tinder thoroughly competent men, we have deplored with the 

 ■disappointed managers the failures of the crops mentioned 

 from causes wholly beyond their control. Neither has the year 

 in this respect been particularly exceptional; many similar 

 failures have preceded the dearth of tender stone fruits of the 

 present year, and many more will follow where the trees are 

 exposed. We do not heBitate to say that there are far more 

 blanks than prizes in growing the fruits in question on exposed 

 walls. Shall we, therefore, ignore the teachings of long and 

 dearly bought experience, supported by evidence that in its 

 nature is incontrovertible, in favour of a speculative theory — 

 an "idea?" Notwithstanding the author's confidence in his 

 argumentative ability we continue to indulge in " incredulous 

 smiles." We regard his premijes unsound, his logic faulty, 

 and his figures fallacious. 



The second part of the book, that relating to the profitable 

 culture of greenhouse plants, consists of only half a dozen 

 pages, which we will dispose of in little more than half a dozen 

 lines. Market plants can be grown profitably by those who 

 have been trained to the trade, and a man, even if he is a good 

 general gardener, may easily invest money in a calling with 

 which he may feel himself familiar, and lose it. We agree 

 that the cultivation of greenhouse plants by competent men is 

 " an agreeable mode of getting a living supposing " (the italics 

 are ours) " he is so situated to sell all off as the things come on." 



The book also contains an appendix, with nothing noteworthy 

 in it, about insects. It reveals also the cause of the Potato 

 disease — namely, " atmospheric influences " in the form of 

 " sulphureted hydrogen," which communicates the disease to 

 the plants. As evidence of the power of the "atmosphere" on 

 Potatoes we cannot resist quoting the concluding lines of this 

 sensational book at the risk of provoking further " smiles : " — 



" The atmosphere sesms to affect this plant for good or bad 

 more than it does any other vegetable. I had it once stated to 

 me by an old man whose word I have no reason to doubt that 

 upon one occasion he was in Newfoundland, being one of a ship's 

 crew, when the master set them to plant some Potatoes in his 

 garden, and which were of a white kind, brought out from 

 England. They stayed there until they were ready to dig np, 

 and when this was done they all turned out to be red ones. 

 This proves that the Potato is very easily affected by the 

 atmosphere." 



We should not have noticed this book so fully had we not 

 felt that its tone is misleading, and that caution is necessary 

 in putting the author's " idea " into practice. 



Our notice on the larger and better book alluded to above — 

 Thompson's " Gardener's Assistant " — must be deferred. We 

 can only say now that it is a sound and splendid work. 





NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



During November, at Ticehurst in Sussex, just 9 inches 

 of rain fell ! The highest temperature was 59° and the 

 lowest 30°. Eain fell on twenty-six days. 



A cobeespondent " Q ," writing to us on zinc labels 



foe Eoses states — "I have many failures every year, and 

 numbers of dead branches have to be cut away. I am disposed 

 to think that possibly the zinc being fastened on with copper 

 (causing galvanic action), may have something to do with it. 

 The opinions of other roearians will oblige." 



There is always something worthy of note in Loed 



Londesboeough's celebrated garden at Norbiton. At the pre- 

 sent time several Orchids are attractive, especially Oncidium 

 Londesboroughanum, which was not long ago awarded a first- 

 class certificate ; it is remarkable on account of its fine and 

 richiy-marked sepals and petals. Cattleya exoniensis is also 

 flowering and is extremely beautiful, as also are C. El Dorado 

 spleudens, C. labiata and C. labiata Pescatorei; also C. mar- 

 ginata and C. marginata prjestans, the last-named being espe- 

 cially fine. Vanda caerulea continues producing a fine display, 

 and several varieties of Oncidium varicosum and Odonto- 

 glossum triumphans are flowering freely ; noticeable ako are 

 Masdevallia tovarensis, white, and M. Davisii, bright yellow. 

 Less aristocratic but not less useful is a houseful of the old 

 white Geranium Madame Vaucher ; the plants are flowering 

 with great freedom and the colour is very pure. Similarly 

 valuable is a stock of robust young plants of Miss Marshall 

 Fuchsia, the plants being covered with fine flowers. A house- 

 ful of Heliotropes, the " old sort," tells at a glance how useful 

 this plant is for affording a supply of flowers, which are always 

 valued during the winter on account of their refreshing per- 

 fume. The plantB are grown in 48-sized pots. On another 

 occasion Mr. Denning's mode of growing Eucharis amazonica 

 may be noticed. 



Early Potatoes. — Earliness alone considered, the old 



Ash-leaf Potato is not yet surpassed. It is also very dwarf, 

 and therefore easily covered. Myatt's Prolific and Veitch'a 

 Improved Ashleaf yield double the weight of crop, but are ten 

 days or a fortnight later than the first named. There is not 

 much gained by planting earlier than the middle or end of 

 February, and even then only in dry and sheltered positions. 

 The sets should be placed on end at once in a light cellar or 

 shed secure from frost, and they will make strong sturdy 

 shoots before planting. — William Taylob. 



A vert good proof of the mild autumn, writes a Fulham 



correspondent, is shown here by the cumnion Primrose, which 



