December 5, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



439 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAF 

















Day Day 





Average Tempera- ' Rain in 



Sun 



Sun 



Moon 



Moon 



Moon's 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



of 

 Month 



of 

 "Week. 



DECEMBER 5—11, 1872. 



ture near London. 



43 years. 



Rises 



Sets. 



RiseB. 



Sets. 



Age. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. m. h. 



m. h. 



m. b. 



Days. 



m. s 





5 



Th 



Meeting of Linnean Society, 8 p.m. 



49.0 



35.2 



42.1 



25 



52 af 7 



50 af3 



after. 



6 9 



5 



8 58 



340 



6 



F 





48.2 



36.7 



42.4 



22 



53 7 



50 3 



47 



31 10 



6 



8 32 





7 



S 





48.4 



38.5 



43.5 



21 



54 7 



50 3 



5 1 



54 11 



3> 



8 6 



342 



8 



Sun 





46.9 



33.6 



40.3 



19 



55 7 



49 3 



21 1 



morn. 



8 



7 40 



343 



9 



M 





46.7 



84.9 



40.8 



17 



56 7 



49 8 



37 1 



13 1 



9 



7 13 



344 



10 



Tu 



Royal Horticultural Society's Examination 



47.0 



82.8 



39.9 



26 



57 7 



49 3 



53 1 



33 2 



10 



6 45 



345 



11 



W 



[ of Gardeners. 



46.5 



32.6 



39.5 



17 



58 7 



49 3 



10 2 



50 3 



11 



6 18 



346 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average flay temperature of the week is 47.5°; and its night temperature 



349= 



. The 



greatest heat was 63' 1 , on the 11th, 1811 ; and the lowest cold 13°, on the 8th and 9th, 1867. The greatest fall of ram was 1.1 



l inch. 



ASPARAGUS FORCING. 



ORCED vegetables of many kinds may be 

 said to form an important item in every 

 garden, whether large or small. As an es- 

 teemed luxury Asparagus stands second to 

 none. It is true Asparagus culture often 

 comes under discussion in gardening period- 

 icals, but I have no recollection of having 

 seen or heard any argument in the Journal 

 as to the best method of forcing this excel- 

 lent vegetable. 

 As there is a great demand for forced Asparagus in 

 almost every large establishment, and in many small 

 ones, allow me to offer a few remarks on the subject, in 

 the hope that some valuable information may be elicited 

 from other correspondents. For several years in my 

 previous situation I was expected to keep up a good 

 supply of Asparagus from the early part of December 

 until it could be procured from the open ground, and this 

 I succeeded in doing by growing it on what I may term 

 the old-fashioned way — viz., by lifting the roots from the 

 oldest beds in the open garden, and planting them on a bed 

 of prepared fermenting materials, over which are placed a 

 frame and lights. That good Asparagus can be grown in 

 this way there cannot be a doubt ; but at the same time 

 I consider it when so grown one of the most extravagant 

 luxuries that can possibly be produced in a gentleman's 

 garden, and for this reason — to have good roots fit for 

 forcing, four years' growth at least are required, during 

 which time very little can be grown that is fit, or ought, 

 to be cut. After being forced in this way the roots are 

 absolutely of no use, except to enlarge the size of the 

 rubbish-heap. Notwithstanding, I think I may safely say 

 this method is adopted in the majority of our gardens 

 throughout the country. 



The mode of forcing Asparagus which I wish to bring 

 under the notice of your readers, and which I consider 

 highly commendable, is that which is practised at Nyne- 

 head Court, near Wellington, Somerset, the seat of W. A. 

 Sandford, Esq., where on several occasions I have seen 

 it growing in great perfection on what appeared to me to 

 be a very simple and economical principle. It is grown 

 in beds 5 feet in width, with alleys 2£ feet in width be- 

 tween each bed. These alleys are sunk to about 4 feet 

 in depth, and when forcing is commenced they are filled 

 with fermenting material, the heat from which is con- 

 ducted through the beds by 9-inch round drain tiles, which 

 are placed about 2 feet from the surface of the beds, and 

 at about the same distance apart. Over the surface of 

 the beds span-roofed frames with boarded sides, 2 feet in 

 depth, are placed, the latter allowing the application of 

 additional linings in severe weather, during which period 

 the roof is also kept well protected with -litter. With 

 four of these frames 4J feet in width and 8 feet in length, 

 and by paying due attention to the linings, &c, and by 

 keeping them changed in pahs when required on beds 

 opposite each other, Mr. Bray, the intelligent and per- 

 severing head gardener, is able to keep up a constant and 

 No. 61".— Vol. XXIII., New Series. 



abundant supply for a large establishment from the early 

 part of December until plenty can be gathered from the 

 open ground, and that, too, with four beds 50 feet in 

 length. These beds are, however, only forced every 

 alternate year, so that eight beds are kept entirely for 

 forcing purposes. 



The linings in the trenches are allowed to remain there 

 during the summer months, during which time the roots 

 of the Asparagus in large numbers luxuriate in them. A 

 good medium for growing Vegetable Marrows, ridge 

 Cucumbers, &c, is also thus provided. The frames are, 

 moreover, turned to a useful account for Melon and Cu- 

 cumber growing, &c. 



That the plan is not altogether a new one I am well 

 aware, but with many, I believe, it has Med to give such 

 satisfaction as required ; that it is, however, eminently 

 successful with Mr. Bray is evident from the fact that 

 during the seasons of 1869 and 1870 he was awarded by 

 the Royal Horticultural Society three special certificates 

 for forced vegetables ; and again at the same Society's meet- 

 ing on March 1st, 1871, he was awarded the first prize, the 

 chief merits for which on each occasion lay in the Aspa- 

 ragus. In the present year, at the Society's meeting on 

 January 17th, Mr. Bray was awarded a cultural certificate 

 (the first presented ,by the Committee) for forced Aspa- 

 ragus. He also received a first-class cultural certificate 

 at the winter meeting of the Manchester Botanical and 

 Horticultural Society, which was held on the 20th of 

 February. This, in my opinion, is quite sufficient to 

 prove that the system is a meritorious one. Mr. Bray 

 attributes his success to the copious supply of liquid 

 manure which he gives to the beds during the summer 

 months, and to the extra care which he pays to the 

 fermenting material to prevent it from scorching the 

 roots. 



Asparagus, growing in beds encompassed with a 4i-inch 

 brick wall,' with brick flues underneath, or what are more 

 commonly called pigeon-hole flues, is to be seen in some 

 gardens devoted to forcing purposes ; but as a rule these 

 means are unsatisfactory and objectionable, not only on 

 account of the extra expense they cause, but from their 

 liability to get deranged, and therefore to quickly get out of 

 working order, and which cannot very well be rectified 

 without mutilating the beds, consequently it does much 

 damage to the established plants ; but with the 9-inch 

 drain-tile system this objection is entirely obviated, as 

 any derangement can be easily set right. Doubtless there 

 are a great many who have some spare lights,. with box- 

 frames, at their command who could easily sink the alleys 

 between their established beds to the required depth, and 

 place the drain-tiles beneath them with very little trouble. 

 I hope these remarks will induce some -to adopt this 

 practice, and they will, I trust, in return give your readers 

 the benefit of their experience.— Thomas Foote, Gardener, 

 Clevedon Court, Somerset. 



A NEW NEW-ZEALAND DRAGON TREE. 

 This apparently new species of Cordyline or Dracaena 

 seems to me to deserve especial attention, its stem at the 



No. 1262.— Vol. XLVIII , Old Series. 



