82 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ July 25, 1S72. 



sides all those subsidiary purposes of wrapping and packing, 

 the direct use of paper for the spread of intelligence for the 

 communications necessary to commerce and for the service of 

 literature need only to be hinted at. The reduction of cost of 

 this necessary is thus one of the many boons to manMnd. — 

 H. B. E. — (English Mechanic and World of Science.) 



NEW BOOK. 

 My Garden, Its Plan and Culture; together with a General 



Description of Its Geology, Botany, and Natural History. 



By Alfred Sjiee, F.E.S., &c. London : Bell & Daldy. 



Hitherto we have only noticed Mr. Smee's book in its re- 

 lation to the ornamental features of his garden and its sur- 

 roundings ; but that he does not neglect the useful we give the 

 following extract as a proof. It refers to the alliaceous plants 

 which he cultivates. He says : — 



" We grow four distinct crops of Onions ( Alli um Cepa). First 

 of all we have the Underground Onions, which are planted in 

 January, and yield their crop in June. A single tuber is planted, 

 which gives four or five new tubers. They are useful for ships 

 going abroad at that season of the year, but the tubers do not 

 keep well, and this crop may be dispensed with. The second 

 crop is raised by sowing seed from the middle to the end of 

 August. The plants live through the winter, afford young 

 Onions through the spring ; and the remainder, being either 

 thinned or transplanted into rich soil, produce by August fine 

 bulbs. _ These Onions attain much larger size if the soil between 

 them is stirred and small quantities of guano be given to them. 



" The best kinds for this purpose are the Flat and Globe Tri- 

 poli, the Eocca, and Spanish 

 Onions. We have grown the 

 Globe Tripoli nearly 2 lbs. in 

 weight, but at Naples they 

 have attained nearly 4 lbs. in 

 weight. The third or main 

 crop is sown in March, and 

 -when ripe is stored for winter 

 -use. The Spanish and Blood- 

 red are best for this crop. 

 The fourth or last crop is cul- 

 tivated to produce little tu- 

 bers for pickling. Our soil is 

 not well adapted to produce 

 little Onions, and we succeed 

 but badly with them, prob- 

 ably from its being too damp. 

 The cells of the skins of 

 Onions have crystals in them, 

 which may be seen when ex- 

 amined under the micro- 

 scope. We have occasionally 

 had the Tree Onion, a va- 

 riety which produces little 

 Onions at the tops of stalks. 

 They are coarse and strong, 

 and of no horticultural im- 

 portance. 



" We always cultivate the Leek (Allium Porrum), which is a 



Globe Tripoli Onion, one-tliird diam. 



Books tell us how to grow large Leeks, but what is to be done 

 with them when we have obtained them ? Leeks for the table 

 should be about an inch in diameter, and about 6 inches long : 

 they are valuable in January, February, March, April, and be- 

 ginning of May, when other fresh vegetals are scarce. We sow 

 the seed broadcast in March, so as to have plenty of smaU Leeks, 

 rather than a few which are larger. The sorts which we employ 

 are the London and Musselburgh, and they require no further 

 trouble in their cultivation than hoeing and weeding after 

 having been sown." 



s 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



Open Gardens. — The experiment of an open garden for the 

 public is about to be tried by Lord Westminster, who pro- 

 poses to lay out and plant the space now enclosed in Ebury 

 Square, and to remove the railings. If the arrangement 

 prove a success, other squares will, no doubt, in due time be 

 also thrown open, and a new feature of a pleasant description 

 be introduced into the aspect of London. Ebury Square is in 

 all respects a fit subject for an experiment of this nature. It 

 has for some time shown a tendency to follow the downward 

 path of Leicester Square, and has been allowed to fall into 

 such a state of neglect as to become an eyesore to the neigh- 

 bourhood. There are also numbers of poor children in the 

 district to whom an unenclosed square will be an inestimable 

 blessing. Ebury Square was originally Lammas land. It 

 formed part of Eybery Farm, leased by Queen Elizabeth to a 

 certain Mr. Whaske for £20 per annum, who, according to 

 Strype, sublet it to " divers persons, who, for their private 

 commodity, did enclose the same, and had made pastures of 

 arable land, thereby not only annoying Her Majesty in her 

 walks and passages, but to the hindrance of her game and 

 great injury to the common, which at Lammas was wont to be 

 laid open." — (Pall Mall Gazette.) 



There is now to be seen in the great conservatory of 



the Boyal Horticultural Society, at Kensington, a magnificent 

 pair of American Aloes in bloom, and, probably, such a 

 match has seldom or never been seen in this country. 



We omitted, in the notice of Mr. Laxton's new Pea Dr. 



Hogg in our last week's publication, to state that it was one of 

 several others of Mr. Laxton's seedlings which received first- 

 class certificates from the Fruit and Vegetable Committee of 

 the Boyal Horticultural Society. 



We have to record the death of Mr. Bamsay, late fruit- 

 tree foreman to Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, at the age of 71. 

 For the last few years Mr. Bamsay has resided at Leicester, 

 where he died only a week after being elected a pensioner of 

 the Gardeners' Boyal Benevolent Institution. 



choice vegetal in early spring. It is the hardiest of all the hardy 

 plants of the garden, standing the severest frost with impunity. 



WOBK FOE THE "WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Weeds must not be allowed to seed amongst growing crops, 

 such as Potatoes or Asparagus, where, from the luxuriance that 

 surrounds them, they are apt to elude detection till they have 

 deposited their seed. Attention in proper time to such a 

 matter does not entail one-tenth of the labour that neglect 

 ultimately does. As soon as caterpillars attack any of the 

 Cabbage tribe, give them a slight dredging with White Helle- 

 bore powder in the morning. Make a sowing of East Ham 

 Cabbage for early spring use, and the la6t sowing of Coleworts. 

 Pay strict attention to early crops of Celery ; let it be gone 

 over by hand, all the offsets taken off, and, where practicable, 

 let it have a thorough drenching with dung water, after which, 

 on the following day, give it a slight earthing to prevent eva- 

 poration. Always remember that this plant in a state of 

 nature is aquatic. Plant out succession crops. Where Garlic 

 and Shallots are ripe, take them up and hang them in bunches 

 in dry sheds previous to placing them in store for use. Make 

 a small sowing of early Peas. If the autumn prove fine they 

 may be very useful, and if they fail the loss will not be very 

 great. Continue to stock every spot with winter stuff, including 

 sowings of White Stone Turnips. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Strawberry runners that were layered some time ago in 

 3-inch pots are now ready for shifting into 5-inch ones ; for 

 this purpose prepare a compost of two parts of friable yellow 

 loam and one part of well-decomposed dung, with the addition 

 of the tenth part of the whole of charred material. Take 

 care that the pots are well drained, and have them placed in 

 a south aspect on boards or slates raised a few inches above 

 the surface of the ground, to prevent the worms finding their 



