May 7, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
873 
Downside a bed of leaves is formed over six rows of 4-inch pipes, 
being separated from them by a closely meshed wire netting, 
beneath which is a tank extending under the greater part of the 
bed. From such an arrangement one very great advantage is 
obtained—namely, a constant and liberal supply of moisture 
from beneath, and with free exposure to sunlight above, we have 
a near approach to the natural conditions of tropical climates. 
The plants evidently enjoy their treatment, growing strongly, 
flowering profusely, and generally giving abundant proofs that 
they are flourishing most satisfactorily. 
To accommodate the large numbers of Odontoglossums grown 
at Downside an excellent house has been erected; and here it 
may be remarked that the majority of the new houses have 
been constructed by Messrs. Boulton & Paul, and the admirable 
manner in which the whole of the work, to the smallest parts, 
has been finished is most creditable to them. The Odontoglossum 
house is span-roof, 100 feet long, and 12 feet wide, with a stage 
on each side, but without any central pillars, thus presenting an 
unobstructed view from one end to the other. Beneath the 
stages extending the whole length ai - e open tanks into which 
runs all the rain falling upon this and the Cattleya house, a 
communication with the tanks in the Cattleya house being so 
arranged that the water flows into them after passing into the 
Odontoglossum house tanks. The rafters of the roof are so 
glazed that a space of about quarter inch is left at the base of 
each between the glass and wood, thus ensuring constant 
ventilation, but in very severe or windy weather these apertures 
can be closed by shutters, though this is rarely resorted to. All 
the rafters are grooved to prevent the condensed moisture 
dripping on to the plants, and thus one fertile source of failui’e 
w ifh “cool” Orchid? is removed. A very fine selection of 
varieties of O. Alexandra, O. cirrhosum, O. Pescatorei, O. 
Wilckeanum, and many others are grown, producing their charm¬ 
ing flowers in profusion, and rendering the house devoted to them 
one of the most pleasing in the establishment, and in the white 
or delicately tinted blooms form a striking contrast to the rich 
Cattleyas in the adjoining structure. Hundreds of Masdevallias, 
respresenting all the section of this large genus, occupy a 
house 50 feet long, and with the numerous other plants in the 
celebrated Downside collection satisfactorily testify to Mr. 
Woolford’s skill as a grower.—L. C. 
DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH GRAPE. 
Me. Thomson does not offer a good defence of his gimlet practice to 
prevent splitting. I thought it was obvious that I was aware Vines did 
not bleed when in full growth, and your correspondent must misunder¬ 
stand me. What I say and have said is that, ■i/'the berries split from an 
excess of moisture drawn up through the stem, one “ would naturally 
expect the sap to run out at the hole made for its escape.” But this does 
not happen; hence the cause assigned cannot be the right one. Mr. 
Thomson says that moisture in excess causes the splitting, and he tap 3 
the shoot below the fruit to draw the moisture off. If this is not his 
object what is it, and what becomes of the moisture that is diverted from 
the bunch 1 The gimlet hole cannot cause the leaves to appropriate 
more than they need, the moisture does not escape at the hole ; the ascent 
of the sap is not arrested. What, then, becomes of the spare water ?— 
Duke Gbowee, 
EUCHARIS CULTURE. 
In answer to the question of “ Eucharis ” as to the size of my hot¬ 
house, it is 15 feet by 12 inside, lean-to. If no flower-stalks appear 
on his plants, I suggest that he should keep them without water for a 
month or so, and wait the result. Let me in return ask him another 
question—How long have his plants been in 14-inch pots? If he has been 
“ growing them on,” as they say—that is, giving them a shift into pots a 
size or two larger at short intervals, he will get no bloom worth men¬ 
tioning. They must be cramped in their pots. My gardener declares 
that “ the new foreman ” is the person responsible for Eucharis not 
flowering. The intelligent young man (all new foremen are “ intelligent ” 
as surely as all new Roses are “ magnificent ”) finds a plant that has 
seldom or never flowered. “He will soon alter that.” So it is given a 
liberal shift into a compost of as many ingredients as my grandmother’s 
herb drinks, and he triumphs when leaves as big as Rhubarb make their 
appearance. But the flowers will not show, and at last his superior i 3 
informed that “ They have got the non-flowering variety the same as they 
had at his last situation,” and perhaps other plants are procured; but 
somehow or other the free-flowering variety never turns up ; while if he 
had been content to leave the plants alone he might have been well re¬ 
warded for waiting.— Duckwino. 
A Remarkable Gooseberry Bush.— On the wall of my garden a 
Gooseberry bush has been growing for some years. At the present moment 
it is laden with fruit. Its root seems to be between two bricks, and I 
cannot conceive why it should always be the first fruit-producing bush in 
the garden, as there seems no way in which it can derive nourishment. 
There is no appearance of roots below the bricks, and many gentlemen who 
have seen it consider it a rare specimen of a freak of Nature.— Edward 
Clare, 7, Leabridge Bond , Leyton, Essex. 
MANURES. 
[The following paper was read by Mr. Kruse, of Yew Tree Farm, Leeds, at a recent 
meeting of the Leeds and Broomfield Mutual Improvement Society.] 
The subject of manures is one of chief importance, not only to farmers 
and market gardeners, but to everyone who grows fruits, vegetables, or 
flowers, for it means supplying these with their necessary food. To grow 
plants well suitable food must either be originally present in the soil or 
must be supplied by means of manure. We must first of all consider what 
plants take out of the ground and consist of, so as to know what to supply 
to them, and I will try to explain this as simply as possible, and hope to do 
so in such a manner as you will understand. The five principal food 
elements plants use are phosphorus, nitrogen, potash, lime, and sulphur, 
the importance of them being according to the order in which they are 
given, and the first three being considerably the most valuable. There are 
other substances, such as iron, magnesia, soda, silica, &c., which are required 
by plants, but which we may generally ignore, as they are probably either 
already present in the soil, or are supplied along with other manures. We 
will now consider those that are actually required, and we must provide 
our plants with all of them if they are to be healthy and to be profitable, 
for even if one is deficient and there is plenty of all the others, the plant 
will not flourish, nor will the other things which have been supplied be able 
to be used as they should be, and so they will be partly wasted. It is the 
same with ourselves and our own food. Suppose we eat plenty of food 
which makes flesh and keeps us warm, yet if we do not eat food which 
makes bone as well we shall not be strong and healthy, and will suffer from 
various diseases. To return to our subject. I prefer to commence with 
nitrogen. This is supplied in ordinary farmyard dung, which also supplies 
phosphorus and potash, so that you can see why dung is so generally pre¬ 
ferred, because it supplies the three most necessary things, besides others 
as well. But it does not supply enough phosphorus for all crops, because 
the bones of the animals are not included with their excrement. Therefore 
more phosphorus should be added in the form of bones or otherwise ; but 
this we will consider presently. Guano is a good manure for supplying 
nitrogen, as it also supplies phosphorus (but not potash). Fowl dung and 
pigeon dung are also rich in both nitrogen and phosphates. Liquid excreta 
contains a large amount of nitrogen, and also potash. It is not generally 
known that the liquid manure from an animal is worth more than the solid ; 
also, a ton of cow liquid is worth double as much as a ton of farmyard 
dung, while a ton of horse liquid is worth double that of the cow. If this 
liquid is used by itself as a manure, it should be mixed with at least six 
times as much water. It is a good plan to mix it with dry earth or ashes. 
When dung is left out in heaps exposed to the weather it will lose a great 
part of its value. If we pass by such heaps after a heavy rain we find a 
dark brown liquid has come from them. This contains some of the best 
part of the manure. If dung is stored in the open it should always be 
covered with boards or thatched, or at least ridged up and plastered with 
earth. Loose earth should also be put underneath to soak up any liquor 
which may drain out. This will be worth as much as the dung. Manure 
from stables if left in heaps is apt to become heated and firefanged. This 
means that the principal part of its value has gone into the air, and such 
manure, when compared with dung which has been trodden and soaked 
under by animals, will be found to give a poor result. To prevent fire- 
fanging the heaps should be turned several times and moistened a little; if 
with animal fluid all the better. Horse manure prepared in this way is then 
very valuable. 
All growing crops and all sorts of vegetable refuse contain nitrogen 
besides potash and phosphates ; therefore all these should be carefully pre¬ 
served and dug in, wherever practicable. If burnt all the nitrogen is dissi¬ 
pated into the air, and only the potash and other minerals are left. The 
brushings of hedges, which will not rot, and twigs are better burnt, for if 
dug into the ground they engender fungus. There is a certain amount of 
nitrogen always in the air in the shape of ammonia, which the leaves of 
plants drink in, so that by digging a crop in as manure we put back into the 
ground more than we took out. It is much more profitable to have the 
ground covered even with weeds if they are afterwards dug in than to have 
it bare; for the leaves not only absorb nitrogen from the air, which will 
manure the following crop, but their roots also take up much nitrogen that 
would be washed out of the soil by the rain, if the ground were bare. Fish, 
flesh, blood, seaweed, rapedust, and soot all supply nitrogen ; so also do 
flock dust, wool waste, feathers, skin waste, horns, hair, and rags, but these 
do not supply anything else, so that phosphorus and other minerals have 
to be altogether supplied in other ways. The same may almost be said of 
nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia. These act much quicker than 
what are called waste product manures, such as skin waste and the others 
mentioned above; but the waste products do not get washed out of the 
ground so easily by the rain, and last longer, and also encourage worms 
which are a great benefit to the soil, so for my own part I prefer them to 
chemical manures. But we must not forget that these waste products and 
nitrate of soda, &c., only, or almost only, furnish nitrogen ; and anyone 
giving their crops these is only giving them one article, whereas they want 
several, so that unless these others are naturally in the soil the plants can¬ 
not do well, and if they are partly in the soil it is robbed and made poor. 
Indeed, were giving nitrogenous manures alone persisted in the soil would 
become exhausted of its phosphates and would become partially barren. 
Generally speaking giving nitrogen makes a growth of leaves; that is 
why too much given to corn will make the straw too long, or to Turnips will 
make too many leaves, and the bulbs will be small, while giving phosphates 
produces flowers and fruit. Phosphates impart quality. While speaking of 
nitrogen I mentioned that the leaves of plants absorb it in the form of 
ammonia to a certain extent from the air, and the soil also absorbs it to 
a small extent, especially when there is a fine crumb on the surface. 
Rain and snow also contain it, and so bring it to the. roots, but 
mineral food— i.e., phosphorus, potash, lime, &c.—must be in the soil, 
as they cannot be drawn from the air. So that you spe how njucb 
