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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t November 14, 1S72. 



3. It should be a permanent fixture, because 



4. It screens the trees from the hurtful effects of early and 

 late frosts ; it checks radiation, and by preventing the usually 

 excessive flow of sap to the extremities of the higher branches, 

 it serves admirably to secure that equal distribution of vigour 

 in all parts of the tree -which it is the aim of good cultivation 

 to insure. 



With regard to the exclusion of light and rain, no coping 

 that I have seen would do this to a hurtful degree ; it is only a 

 very broad, sloping, roof-like coping that could do so. The 

 careful and really earnest man never depends entirely upon 

 uncertain showers to cleanse the foliage of his trees ; his eye 

 and hand are constantly on the alert examining every part 

 of them, and all wants are seen, or rather anticipated, and 

 promptly cared for ; nothing is left to chance : hence the 

 coping should be strictly regarded as a valuable aid to success- 

 ful culture, of which the gardener gladly avails himself, and 

 while it is incapable of harm it is at all times a safeguard, 

 screening the trees from many climatic influences that fre- 

 quently prove hurtful and even fatal to others left fully ex- 

 posed to their baneful effects. — Edwapj> Luckhuest. 



THE CULTURE OF THE GLADIOLUS. 

 . So many and such able correspondents have written upon 

 the culture of the Gladiolus that it may seem there is nothing 

 more to be said on the subject ; but as I have now grown it 

 probably as long as any amateur in the kingdom, and have 

 tried it on various soils, besides having seen the gardens of 

 other growers, I may perhaps be enabled to add something to 

 the general fund of information that has been brought forward. 



When (now a good many years ago) the Gladiolus came 

 prominently into notice through the efforts of Mr. Standish, 

 then of Bagshot, who with his usual zeal was engaged in hy- 

 bridising it, it was considered that it could not be grown in 

 too poor a soil, and the advice was given that if the soil was 

 not poor enough it had better be charred or burnt to make it 

 so ; but experience proved this to be unsound, and a rich soil 

 is now considered by no means unsuitable — indeed, I believe 

 the Gladiolus may be successfully grown in any soil. Certainly 

 a stiff tenacious loam does not suit it, but there are means of 

 making this lighter ; and although it would involve a greater 

 amount of labour, yet no lover of the flower would grudge this 

 to overcome any difficulties in the way of growing it. The 

 soil which M. Souchet declares best suited for it is that which 

 is commonly known as a good market garden soil, neither too 

 stiff nor too light. Mr. Touell, of Great Yarmouth, used to 

 exhibit some splendid specimens of Gladiolus brenchleyensis 

 which were grown in a soil somewhat similar to the Dutch 

 bulb gardens about Haarlem — rich friable soil at top and cool 

 underneath ; and such a soil, where springs were not far off, 

 would seem to be the most congenial for it. After all it is not 

 very particular, and provided that it is not grown in the same 

 place year after year, and does not come into contact with 

 fresh manure, no soil seems unsuitable to it. Lord Hawke, 

 who so successfully exhibited this year, made his beds with 

 slush from the bed of the Trent, which he had carted at con- 

 siderable expense, and nothing could have been finer than 

 some of his flowers ; and as it is an Iridaeeous plant I can 

 imagine it growing well in such a soil. 



It is desirable that the beds be in a sheltered, not shaded 

 position, for owing to the character of its growth it affords a 

 good hold to the wind, and unless the spikes are secured they 

 will suffer considerably from it. I make my beds about 4 feet 

 wide, so that it is easy to get at any of the plants, and I plant 

 four rows in a bed. It is generally recommended to plant a 

 foot apart in the rows, and where space is no consideration it 

 may be done, but I do not see the necessity for so doing. 

 The roots do not spread, and hence 8 inches apart would, I 

 think, be ample. M. Souchet plants his even closer than this, 

 and I have seen as fine blooms with him as have ever come 

 under my notice ; finer I cannot say, because I think nothing 

 can surpass the flowers that have been exhibited at our metro- 

 politan shows the last two years. 



There are two ways of preparing the beds, both of which I 

 have adopted, and I cannot say that I have perceived. any dif- 

 ference in the results, while one is attended with more trouble 

 than the other. One plan is to excavate the beds to the depth 

 of 9 or 10 inches, place a layer of well-rotted cow dung about 

 4 inches thick at the bottom, and then return the mould ; and 

 as the bulbs are planted at about 4 inches deep, there will 

 thenTie 4 inches between the base of the bulbs and the manure. 



The other plan is to place some well-rotted manure on the 

 bed and then dig-in deeply, or, indeed, as some do, to trench 

 the beds. November is about the best time for this operation. 

 They can then have thebenefitof the winter frost; and, indeed, 

 during severe weather it is better to turn up the surface roughly, 

 so as to give them all the benefit of its sweetening power. 



The time for planting will vary according to the situation. 

 There is at least a fortnight's difference in the period of bloom- 

 ing between the north and south of England, and about ten 

 days between the south of England and Paris. At Fontaine- 

 bleau from the Sth to the loth of August is the length of the 

 bloo min g; with us from the loth to the 30th, and in the north 

 of England from the 25th of August to the 7th of September, 

 as far as I can judge. I generally plant between the 2nd of 

 March and the 10th of April according to the character of the 

 weather, being never in a hurry to plant before the first-named 

 day, and ready to seize any fine weather after it. It is very 

 undesirable with it, as with any bulb or plant, to place it in 

 the ground when the soil is " stodgy." 



In planting, I take out with a good deep trowel the soil to 

 the depth of 6 or 7 inches, and make a hole about 5 inches 

 across ; this I fill with a mixture of sand, powdered charcoal, 

 and light soil in about equal proportions, so that the bulb, 

 when it begins to start and throw out its rootlets, has a light 

 and dry material into which to penetrate, and thus is likely to 

 be saved from rotting. When I have one row finished I cover 

 up and commence the second, placing a label to each sort, 

 and writing the beds in my garden book, so that if the label 

 go wrong I am not at a loss, while the presence of the label 

 enables me to tell the sort without having to refer to my book. 



The nature of the plant necessitates in dry weather a great 

 amount of watering, and happy are they who have good soft 

 water. Here mine comes from the chalk, and so impregnated 

 is the water with it, that my kitchen boiler, which I had 

 cleaned out the other day, had in it a deposit of lime in some 

 parts more than an inch thick. I believe this to be injurious 

 to the bulbs. Certainly this year, when I had but little water- 

 ing to do, they have been better than during the dry seasons 

 we have had, and when I had to water I had plenty of rain 

 water to go to. My paper warns me that I must stop, and 

 hope to continue next week and to enter on the vexata qiusstio 

 of the disease. — D., Deal. 



CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OE POTATOES. 



Heke (Dorset) the Potatoes in my gardens were but little 

 diseased. I have been offered a guinea a-sack for them. I 

 hear the dealers are buying up Potatoes for 10s. per sack. I 

 began planting last autumn on October 24th, and mainly ended 

 on November loth. This autumn I commenced planting Octo- 

 ber 28th, and shall continue, weather permitting, till I have 

 finished. The object in planting now is not to stop disease, 

 but to save the tubers from growing out in store, which must 

 weaken the seed. I have a right of furzery on Okeford Com- 

 mon : in the spring I had two hundred furze faggots cut, much 

 mixed with rough grass ; with this I plant my Potatoes, and it 

 protects the tubers from severe frost. Clean wheat or barley 

 straw will also serve the purpose. Straw laid over the surface 

 will likewise protect them. 



I plant the Potatoes whole at 1 foot apart in the row, and 

 22 inches from row to row. If the tubers are small they are 

 planted 9 inches apart. The larger the tuber the better will 

 the crop be. The sorts I use are early ripeners. I usually 

 get them out quite ripe by August 7th. As soon as the skin 

 adheres to the sides the crop may be lifted, even if the haulm 

 and leaves are green. The sorts I use are all good ; they are 

 Rivers's Royal Ashleaf, Veiteh's Ashleaf, and GryfTe Castle 

 Seedling, a shoit-haulnied early ripener — they serve till Christ- 

 mas — and the Cobbler's Lapstone, and its three congeners, 

 Pebble White, Yorkshire Hero, and Taylor's Yorkshire Hybrid, 

 last till new Potatoes come in. 



The late-ripening and long-haulmed Potatoes are usually 

 the greatest sufferers from disease ; one-half are destroyed by 

 it, and the other half, being unripe, are uneatable. As soon 

 as the crop is lifted the pig Potatoes and the best of the dis- 

 eased ones should be boiled-up at once. A little salt might be 

 added. Little or nothing need be lost, as the pigs will eat 

 them. 



Addison said, " No one is ever thanked for advice ;" I will, 

 however, venture to give some. I know of no remedy for the 

 disease ; it seems to be dependant on atmospheric influences 

 and the state of the plant and tubers at the time it sets in. 



