100 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Broccoli are planted on firm ground, without manure; the 

 ground is often so hard that holes for planting have to be made 

 with an iron bar ; we thus get a firmer growth, which is better 

 qualified to stand the severe frost. 



Manure from the cowyard is solely relied upon, as it has a 

 more beneficial effect on this soil than mineral manures ; but if 

 we required to manure Potatoes or other root crops, mineral 

 manures would be used, because, if judiciously mixed and applied,, 

 they encourage root growth more than the farmyard manure. — 

 W. H. Divers, Ketton Hall, Stamford. 



II. 



The vegetable gardens here, extending to about eleven acres for 

 crops, divided into breaks averaging an eighth of an acre bylines of 

 fruit trees and bushes, are situated three miles south of the Firth 

 of Forth, at an altitude of 1G0 to 200 feet, with a south -by- 

 east exposure, and well sheltered. The natural soil is a light 

 sandy loam, not rich, about 1 foot deep, but it has been increased 

 in the gardens to a depth of about 2k feet, resting on an open 

 gravelly subsoil. With abundance of manure (well-made farm- 

 yard manure is best) and high cultivation, it produces excellent 

 crops, of fine quality, of most kinds of vegetables, especially those 

 partial to a light warm soil and a sheltered situation. 



The supply of vegetables for the family during winter, spring, 

 and summer is the chief object, and every useful kind of vege- 

 table is grown in the open, in cold frames, or forced, to meet the 

 demands of a large establishment during these seasons. Autumn 

 vegetables are not in demand with us, and consequently the 

 varieties sent to the Conference are more illustrative of the other 

 seasons. The set of Cauliflower (Walcheren and Veitch's 

 Autumn Giant) and Broccoli (Snow's Winter White, Veitch's 

 Spring White, Dilcock's Bride, Wilcove Improved, and Veitch's 

 Model) are those which supply us with a constant succession (in 

 the order they are named) of first-rate "heads" all the year 

 round. Walcheren Cauliflower is sown in the open in the middle 

 of August, picked out in cold frames for protection in winter, 

 planted out as early as safe in spring, and comes into use before 

 the middle of June. Successional sowings in spring (the first 

 under glass) keep up the supply ; and the same with Autumn Giant, 

 but all in the open air. Broccoli, several sowings in the open air 



