570 TIME TO APPLY MANUEB. 



were buried. Tlie pot, which contained about one- sixteenth of a 

 square foot of mould and living vegetable matter, was placed under 

 glass, but without artificial heat, and the plant appeared above the 

 soil in the end of April. It was three times during the summer re- 

 moved into a larger pot, and each time supplied with the same matter 

 to feed upon ; and in the end of October its roots occupied about the 

 space of one-third of a square foot, its height above the surface of the 

 mould being then nine feet seven inches. In the beginning of June a 

 small piece of ground was planted with Potatoes of an early variety, 

 and in some rows green Fern, and in others Nettles, were employed 

 instead of other manures ; and, subsequently, as the early Potatoes 

 were taken up for use, their tops were buried in rows in the same 

 manner, and Potatoes of the preceding year were placed upon them 

 and covered in the usual way. The days being then long, the ground 

 warm, and the decomposing green leaves and stems affording abundant 

 moisture, the plants acquired their full growth in an unusually short 

 time, and afforded an abundant produce, and the remaining part of 

 the summer proved more than sufficient to mature Potatoes of an early 

 variety." — Knight in Sort. Trans., i, 249. 



Provided manure is of a permanent character, it does not 

 very much, matter at ^what time it is administered, because, if 

 it does not act at first, it will sooner or later ; but when it is 

 of such a nature as to be easily dissipated, like malt-dust, or 

 soot, or putrid yeast, a knowledge of the proper season becomes 

 extremely necessary. Plants wiU not receive the influence of 

 / manure so readily at any season as when they are in the most 

 \ rapid and steady growth ; because at that time the absorbing 

 lorce of their roots, and their vital energies, are all greatest. 

 It is for this reason that a top-dressing is almost useless to a 

 lawn at midsummer, but better in the spring, and best of all in 

 October. If applied at midsummer, the ground is dry, the 

 herbage closely shorn, and the vegetation extremely languid, 

 partly in consequence of the constant operation of the mower, 

 and partly because our summertide is the winter of herbage 

 grasses, which only flourish in the cool and damp seasons of 

 the year. When a top-dressing is applied in the spring, the 

 lawn profits by it so long as it continues to grow vigorously ; 

 but the quick approach of summer daily interferes with the 

 force of this kind of vegetation, and diminishes the effects of 

 the manure. On the contrary, if October is the season chosen 

 for the operation, the grasses are then beginning to grow 



