October 24, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



321 











WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



Day 







Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



Sun 



Sun 









Clock 

 aft i 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 

 Month 



of 

 Week. 



OCTOBER 24—30, 1872. 





ture near London. 



43 years. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Ago. 



Year. 











Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





24 



Th 







56.3 



39.6 



47.9 



20 



42af6 



46af4 



27afl0 



27 2 



( 



15 47 



298 



25 



F 







55.9 



38.5 



47.2 



21 



43 6 



44 4 



37 11 



54 2 



23 



15 54 



299 



26 



S 







55.6 



36.5 



46.1 



18 



45 6 



42 4 



morn. 



15 S 



24 



16 



300 



27 



Son 



22 SoNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 





55.1 



38.4 



46.7 



27 



47 6 40 4 



47 



32 3 



25 



16 5 



301 



28 



M 



St. Simon and St. Jude. 





54.5 



35.9 



45.2 



27 



49 6 ; 38 4 



58 1 



48 8 



26 



16 9 



302 



29 



To 







54.0 



35.7 



44.8 



20 



51 6 | 37 4 



11 S 



2 4 



27 



16 13 



303 



30 



W 



Hare hunting begins. 





54.9 



38.3 



46.6 



22 



53 6 I 35 4 



25 4 



15 4 



2S 



16 16 



304 



From observations taken near London during 



forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 55.2° ; and its night temperature 



37.5". The greatest heat was 67°, on the 25th, 29th, 



and 30th, 1833 ; and the lowest cold 22°, on tho 28th, 1S36. The greatest fall of ram was 1.03 mch. 



JOTTINGS ON THIS YEAB'S GARDENING.— No. 1. | 



THE POTATO DISEASE. 



HE only preliminary remarks I shall offer 

 are that the following and future " Jottings" 

 on garden subjects in 1875 have been made 

 in the north-east corner of the North Riding 

 of Yorkshire, about three miles from the 

 sea, over which the wind from the north- 

 east to south-east meets no barrier but the 

 shore, and being at a considerable elevation, 

 we are exposed to its influences, which, 

 however invigorating to man, often tell dis- 

 astrously on vegetation. From the south-east to north- 

 west, following the same course, there is no shelter but 

 distant Heath-clad hills. Northward we have the sea, 

 but the force of the wind from that quarter is broken by 

 high cliffs, with woods near at hand. The soil varies very 

 considerably — peat in some places, sandy loam, medium- 

 textured loam to strong loam, and stiff clay — the subsoil 

 being clay, sand, or gravel, rock cropping up very near 

 the surface in some spots. I think enough has been said 

 to justify a not very favourable idea of the jottings to 

 follow. They are given, however, with a view to profit. 

 I shall, therefore, deal with the most profitable subject 

 first — viz., Potatoes. 



Potatoes are generally very much diseased. The early 

 kinds planted on a south border at the end of February, 

 and comprising Ashleaf and Myatt's Prolific, had no 

 diseased tubers, as they were ripened and up before the 

 disease prevailed. They are laid on latticed shelves, are 

 greened, and show no evidence of the diseajse, which, as 

 was stated in this Journal a short time ago, a greened 

 Potato never exhibits. Of Lapstone, Early Oxford, and 

 Victoria planted at the same time (end of February), a 

 few of the Lapstone are diseased, fully half of the Early 

 Oxford — it also produced a bad crop this season, though 

 usually a good cropper — and Victoria is in as bad a plight 

 as to disease, but there is a very much better crop. The 

 soil where the last three were grown is much stronger 

 and wetter than where the Ashleaf and Prolific matured. 

 Though a light soil is best for Lapstone, there was an 

 excellent crop of it, and the little disease amongst the 

 tubers is the more remarkable. 



In March we planted in a light soil Ashleaf, Veitch's 

 Ashleaf, and King. The growth of these was not good. 

 They came up and were all along weak ; the only crop 

 good was Veitch's Ashleaf, and of it very few were dis- 

 eased. King was fully half diseased, Ashleaf not many 

 diseased; it was, however, a poor crop. At the same 

 time as these were put in we planted in stiff soil Mona's 

 Pride ; a round but rather flat sort, name not known ; 

 Early Rose ; and a late kind of Lapstone that has a 

 purple sprout like that kind, but very strong and stiff. Of 

 Mona's Pride one-fourth was diseased, and of Early Rose 

 about the same ; of the "unknown" flatfish round kind 

 about a tenth was diseased ; and of the Lapstone variety 

 referred to fully half, this being the third season of its 

 growth, up to which it resisted the disease. 



No. 604.— Vol. XXIII., New Series. 



Early in April we planted Early Rose and the Lapstone 

 variety, rose or pinkish-skinned, in light soil. These 

 produced a heavy crop, and when mature one-sixth of 

 the Early Rose and one-fourth of the rose-skinned Lap- 

 stone variety proved to be diseased. The last kind being 

 like the other variety of Lapstone in its third year, up to 

 which it showed no symptoms of disease, says nothing in 

 favour of kinds recently raised escaping the disease better 

 than the sorts that have been many years in cultiva- 

 tion. Last season I had a great many more kinds, but 

 though some were heavy croppers, and others of tolerably 

 good quality, I did not consider them deserving of garden 

 culture, and the kinds I have now might be reduced to 

 three or four— namely, Veitch's Ashleaf, Myatt's Prolific, 

 Lapstone, and Victoria. The best of the lot is, as to 

 crop and quality, Lapstone. It ought to be stated that 

 there are numerous forms or types of the Lapstone, many 

 of them poor croppers and of inferior quality. The true 

 kind has a flat, broad, thick, and not very long tuber ; 

 eyes few and small, scarcely visible ; skin rather rough or 

 russety, free from irregularities ; sprout bright purple, 

 very thin or small, and not showing many rootlets ; haulm 

 stiff ; leaves large, light green ; flowers large, white, not 

 plentiful; "apples" few; fit for use about the middle 

 of July ; ripe and fit to store by the end of that month 

 or beginning of August. The " flatfish round sort " I 

 have without a name I had highly recommended as a 

 second first early, coming in at the same time as Myatt's 

 Prolific. Whether it is a kind of local name and origin 

 I have not been able to ascertain. Whatever its name or 

 origin, it is a flatfish round tuber, eyes few and small, 

 skin rather rough and russety, sprout reddish purple, 

 moderately strong, haulm stiff and short, leaves large, 

 flowers none. Fit for use the middle of July, and ripe 

 the end of that month or early in August. The cropping 

 quality is good, the tubers being of a good and even size 

 with scarcely a small one. I am so well pleased with 

 this that I shall prove it more extensively next season, 

 and grow it largely should it bear out its good character, 

 which is that it is as early as any of the second early 

 kidney sorts, and equal to the Lapstone in quality. All 

 the round sorts that I know, used before mature, are so 

 waxy and watery as to resemble a Turnip or Jerusalem 

 Artichoke. It is the same with the round kinds, whether 

 grown in frames or the open ground ; until the haulm 

 be yellow or the skin set, it is of no use expecting any- 

 thing approaching mealiness or dryness in them. Unripe 

 (and they are later than most kidney sorts), they may- 

 suit those who do not value a Potato only because it 

 is " new," and have no heed to quality. Mona's Pride 

 I can only speak in favour of for frames, and that because 

 it attains maturity soon ; the tubers, though not nume- 

 rous, arrive at good and even size, and their quality is 

 good. That kind, Veitch's Ashleaf, and Myatt's Prolific, 

 I consider the best for frames. 



Respecting the disease, I would submit that it has 

 never presented itself with me in the kinds grown in 

 pots or planted in beds under glass. They are planted 

 early, commencing in November, 'and planting is con- 

 No. 125C— Vol. XLVIII., Old Series. 



