436 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 453. 



were put in the cutting bench, and at the same time an equal 

 number of cuttings set in an adjacent bench filled with fresh 

 coal ashes. All struck root, and on March 18th, when they 

 were removed for potting, plants from the cutting bench had 

 roots averaging one and a half inches in length, while those 

 from the coal ashes had roots an inch long. The ashes did 

 not hold moisture as long as the sand, which, perhaps, may 

 account for the difference in length of the roots. 



It is only recently that coal ashes have been used as a medium 

 or soil in which to grow plants. Silted to pass a screen with 

 four meshes to the inch, and mixed with three or rive percent, 

 of peat-moss, ashes form a soil which is at once light and fria- 

 ble, does not bake or puddle, and in which roots develop 

 nicely, and the plant makes a satisfactory growth, provided 

 there is plenty of plant-food present in a form to be taken up 

 and assimilated. The peat-moss which has been mentioned 

 is baled and sold for use in stables. This must also be sifted 

 when used in making an artificial soil, and is added to the 

 ashes to render the mixture more friable and more retentive 

 of moisture. Plants stand more firmly in it, too, if peat-moss 

 has been added, though some plants are known to grow well 

 in the soil when the peat-moss has been left out entirely. A 

 soil so constructed is practically sterile as far as plant-food is 

 concerned. The ashes contain a little potash and phosphoric 

 acid, but no nitrogen. The peat-moss has about one-half of 

 one per cent, of nitrogen, but this is in a form not to be re- 

 ceived readily by the plant. Hence it is necessary to add 

 plant-food in order to produce a crop, but the exact amount of 

 each chemical element necessary for the best growth and 

 development of the plant can be determined, of course, only 

 by experiment. Such a soil is especially valuable for use in 

 experimental work with nitrogenous fertilizers, and has been 

 employed for four successive seasons at the Connecticut Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station in a series of vegetation experi- 

 ments to determine the relative availability of organic nitrogen, 

 and for two seasons the same mixture has been used in green- 

 house benches in studying the fertilizer requirements of 

 forcing-house crops. Not only has this soil produced good 

 crops with the proper application of fertilizer chemicals, but in 

 some cases a larger yield resulted than could be obtained from 

 a good natural soil with a liberal quantity of stable-manure 

 added. Tomatoes, Lettuce, Radishes, Cucumbers, Melons, 

 Cress and Carnations have been grown in it with more or less 

 satisfactory results, while in the first series of experiments 

 Corn, Oats and Rye were grown. Both bituminous and anthra- 

 cite ashes have been used ; the results have been about the 

 same, and ashes from the two kinds of coal seem to differ 

 very little either in physical character or chemical composition. 



It is not improbable that an artificial soil consisting largely of 

 coal ashes may soon come into commercial use for green- 

 house work. The freedom from all living organisms is a 

 strong point in favor of such a soil. Nematode-galls will not 

 be formed upon the roots of plants growing in it. The grower 

 must, however, be well versed in the chemistry of fertilizers in 

 order to understand the effect of each ingredient, and know 

 how much of each element of plant-food to apply. It is doubt- 

 ful if the cost of preparation exceeds or equals (hat of the 

 compost ordinarily used by gardeners, and it is probable that 

 any crop which responds to the fertilizing influence of chemi- 

 cal manures in readily available form, may be produced from 

 a soil of coal ashes and peat-moss, especially under glass, 

 where all atmospheric conditions may be controlled. 



Agric'l Experiment Station, New Haven, Conn. rv. -C. Bi'ltton, 



The Vegetable Garden. 



A T this season, when frosts have destroyed all tender crops, 

 -**- the vegetable garden makes an untidy appearance unless 

 the plants are promptly cleared away. Tooolten they are left 

 on the ground and are an eyesore until spring. Of course, 

 such habits are unknown on well-regulated places, but many 

 gardens only look tidy when the ground has been dug and 

 cropped in April or May, and thus weeds are allowed to exhaust 

 halt the nourishment from the soil. Wet, sunless weather has 

 recently interfered with outdoor work, but as soon as the 

 ground has dried off we shall clear away any remaining useless 

 crops and hoe the weeds clean from all fallow ground. 



With the coming of colder weather Celery must be well 

 earthed up on a dry, sunny day, when the soil is not wet or 

 pasty. The early varieties, such as Paris Golden and White 

 Plume, which have been blanched by boards, should be 

 banked with soil or have hay or leaves scattered over them. 

 As a rule, we do not have severe frost until December, and 

 the two varieties named give us a supply until Christmas, and 



Giant Paschal, Kalamazoo and Boston Market are depended 

 upon until about the end of March. Much has been written 

 about methods of storing and preserving Celery for winter use, 

 but there can be no question that if a sweet, nutty flavor is 

 desired the plants must not be disturbed at the roots and 

 stored in a dry cellar. The most satisfactory way to have clean, 

 crisp stalks is to protect the ridges with a thick coating of 

 leaves or seaweed. It is easy to dig into the trenches, even 

 in the most severe weather, and decayed, useless heads are 

 rare if banking and protecting have been carefully adhered to. 

 We work some slaked lime among the soil when we bank up 

 our plants; this serves to keep worms away. 



This is a good time to manure and dig over any vacant 

 squares of ground, thus lessening the strain of spring work. 

 For root crops, such as Carrots and Parsnips, which do not 

 grow straight and clean in heavy land, we deeply trench the 

 ground and work in a liberal quantity of sand, road-scrap- 

 ings and fine coal ashes, in addition to manure. For 

 places where crops have been grown for many years, 

 trenching will be found of great advantage. For Onions 

 the soil should be heavily manured and dug over now 

 and the surface left rough for frost to pulverize it. Onions, 

 unlike most crops, seem to do best on the same land year after 

 year. We have discontinued sowing these outdoors. Our 

 experience of the past three seasons proves conclusively that 

 it pays much better to start the seed in boxes and transplant 

 them in spring. A much heavier and more even crop is se- 

 cured and no more labor is entailed, all things considered. 

 Danvers Yellow and Red Wethersfield gave us the most even 

 lot of bulbs the past season, although they are smaller than 

 some other kinds. Prizetaker produces extra-fine bulbs, usually 

 of good shape and very solid. I recently saw some specimens 

 of this Onion grown by Mr. A. Mclntyre, gardener to Mr. F. N. 

 Washburn at West Harwich, on Cape Cod. Six onions weighed 

 eleven pounds three ounces, the largest specimen tipping the 

 scales at two pounds two ounces. These were grown in sandy 

 soil and liberally supplied with liquid and chemical fertilizers ; 

 they were from seed sown the middle of February. Cranston's 

 Excelsior and Ailsa Craig are two English sorts which produce 

 very fine bulbs here and are good keepers. 



Brussels Sprouts will stand outside some time yet. We 

 recently broke off all the lower leaves from our plants to give 

 the sprouts more light and air. This desirable member ot the 

 Brassica family is being grown more generally as its merits are 

 better known. Cauliflower is still heading up nicely outdoors, 

 but it will soon be necessary to store the heads in cold pits as 

 a safeguard from frost. Parsley and Lettuce have recently 

 been planted in vacant frames lor winter supplies, and these 

 are given abundant ventilation on all favorable days. Beets, 

 Carrots, Turnips, Salsify and Parsnips have been lifted and 

 stored in sand in an open shed. A thick coating of dry leaves 

 when colder weather arrives is all that is needed to keep these 

 in good condition during winter. Early Tomatoes in pots now 

 have fruit of a good size, and will commence to ripen early in 

 November. Hand-fertilization of the blossoms during the 

 next three months is necessary to secure a good set of the 

 fruit. A sowing was made early in October, which will give 

 fruit from the end of February onward. Varieties used are 

 May's Favorite, Eclipse and Chemin. The young plants are 

 kept on a shelf close up to the light to make them as sturdy as 

 possible. 



Taunton, Mass. IV. N. Craig. 



Notes on Violets. 



IN the culture of the various forms of the Neapolitan Violet 

 one meets with new experiences almost every year. Perfect 

 success is rarely attained. It can scarcely be said that the best 

 Violets grown are free from traces of disease. One season a 

 stock may be, to all appearance, in perfect health, and the next 

 it will be badly infested, and the same stock will succeed and 

 fail in different places the same year. The Farquhar we hoped 

 much from, but it is badly diseased in some places, and it, 

 therefore, becomes as unreliable as the Marie Louise, which 

 it was expected to displace. It is curious to note in this rela- 

 tion that runners taken from the Farquhar during early sum- 

 mer from plants which were hopelessly lost later in the season, 

 made good healthy specimens the following winter, and stock 

 from these is quite healthy this autumn, while runners from, 

 plants which were healthy last summer are diseased this. I 

 have had to fall back upon the more reliable Lady Hume 

 Campbell. It spots badly at times, and, like all other Violets, 

 is liable to attacks of nematodes, a more insidious foe to battle 

 with than the spot, for, unless we are watchful, these are apt 

 to pass into winter quarters unnoticed on the balls of earth 



