May 29, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
417 
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Royal Society at 4.30 P.M. 
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Manchester Show (to June 6th). 
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Bath ami West of England Society’s Show at Maidstone. 
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LIQUID AND ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 
LANT-FEEDING is practised in many gardens in 
a most careless manner, and cannot be too 
strongly condemned. Frequently liquid manure 
is poured into the pots of plants, or on to the 
beds of Melons and Cucumbers, long before they 
need any assistance, and instead of this benefit¬ 
ing the plants the soil is poisoned and failure 
incurred. It would indeed be difficult to point 
out any operation in the whole range of gar¬ 
dening that is carried on with such recklessness. I have 
for some years tried to have it performed on a judicious 
system; but with the most careful instructions, and every 
effort to insure that the orders given were properly executed, 
I have had plants ruined by carelessness in this respect. 
This led to the adoption of an entirely different method, 
which up to the present has answered well, and entails 
considerably less labour with scarcely any risk ; and for¬ 
tunately this plan is as simple as it is effectual. 
I do not intend to detail the system of plant-feeding by 
liquid manure that has become so general, but proceed at 
once to the system of feeding on the surface by the aid of 
artificial manures. There are many of these prepared for 
plant food, and have proved to be of importance. Since the old 
system has been discarded I have had the most beneficial 
results. In the end the cost is very much less than when guano 
and other preparations have to be purchased for use in liquid 
form. Some of the liquids made from cow and sheep dung or 
the drainage of stables have an odour which is most objec¬ 
tionable. Artificial manures applied to the surface are clean 
and free from this disadvantage, besides effecting a wonderful 
saving in labour. Suppose 500 Chrysanthemums in 10-inch 
pots require feeding; a man will apply a fertiliser to the 
surface, which will be ample for at least a week, in the same 
time that he would prepare liquid manure sufficient for one 
application. This is a clear gain, and the good condition of 
the plants is insured because it can be seen at a glance that 
the required assistance has been given according to orders, 
and that instructions have been carried out, for the”workman 
leaves his mark behind him. 
I have largely practised this surface-feeding for plants of 
various descriptions ; for Azaleas and Epacrises no other 
system should be followed. The whole of our Gardenias are 
assisted in this way, with tree Mignonette, Primulas, and 
many others. These have all shown a marked improvement. 
Mignonette is rather impatient of strong supplies of liquid 
manure, but light applications to the surface have kept the 
roots in constant action, and fine spikes have been produced 
Primulas flowered and continued longer under this system 
than formerly ; while Roses, both in pots and planted out, 
have had no other assistance than upon the surface occasion¬ 
ally, and they have never grown with such luxuriance during 
the forcing season or produced more or better blooms. 
Adiantums and other Ferns thrive admirably under this 
system, growing most satisfactorily and producing deep 
green fronds. 
No. 205.— Vol. VIII., Third Series. 
Surface-feeding has not been entirely confined to plants, 
for French Beans in pots and planted out have had no other 
aid than one or two applications to the surface after feeding 
became necessary, and the result has been all that could 
have been desired. Cucumbers and Melons have also been 
treated on this principle, with marked benefit to the plants 
and crops. 
The greatest effect has shown itself in the case of Straw¬ 
berries, for all who have seen them have been struck by the 
rich deep colour and large size of the fruits, and above all 
their excellent flavour, the variety being Vicomtesse Hericart 
de Thury. Of this variety I have grown nearly 1000 plants 
annually, and had the plants finer, and to all appearance 
better ripened, but in size and quality the fruits were never 
equal to those gathered this year ; the most remarkable 
fact of all being that the flavour was equally good when the 
fruits were gathered from the warm moist forcing house as 
from plants in cooler structures. The only difference in culti¬ 
vation has been the surface-feeding. The plants were top- 
dressed with rich material when introduced to the forcing 
house with a little artificial manure mixed in the compost, 
and after the fruit was set two applications were given 
between that stage and the ripening of the crop, these proving 
sufficient. 
On several occasions I have referred to Grapes grown in 
pots as well as Strawberries being invariably deficient in 
flavour if feeding was continued into the last stages of 
development. This is one reason I have in favour of placing 
Vines into larger pots than those in which they have been 
grown, so that they are not dependant upon the waterpot. It 
has been proved again and again that if Strawberries are fed 
until the fruit is ripe the flavour will be sadly deficient. This 
led me to the belief that artificial manures were capable of 
supplying Strawberries with food in a more substantial form, 
which would benefit them in their last stages and not 
endanger the flavour. Practice so far has confirmed that 
belief with the most satisfactory results, and this system of 
manuring will be continued. 
There remains one more point in relation to feeding with 
artificial instead of liquid manures which is by no means an 
unimportant one. When stimulants are supplied from the 
waterpot seldom indeed do the roots come in numbers to the 
surface ; on the contrary, the soil after a time has a sour 
appearance, and the roots have a tendency to grow down¬ 
wards. When the surface soil is dressed with artificial 
manures it remains in a sweet condition, and the roots find 
their way there in large numbers. This activity of the roots 
on the surface is particularly noticeable in the plants and 
fruits which have been mentioned, and that is what good 
cultivators always like to see. 
The method of sustaining and invigorating plants is now 
more largely practised in nurseries than formerly, because it 
is not only the safest but most economical system; also in 
those great establishments where plants are grown by the 
million for supplying the markets top-dressmg with artificial 
manure is almost exclusively adopted, and it is questionable 
if better examples of culture can be seen anywhere than in 
the plants thus supported. It is quite astonishing to see 
how much can be got out of a small pot by a judicious 
system of top-dressing, and the same plan is being in¬ 
creasingly adopted in large fruit-growing establishments. 
This certainly would not be the case if it was not found 
advantageous, for it is incumbent with persons who are 
engaged in commercial horticulture to obtain the greatest 
possible return with the least possible outlay in material and 
labour ; and hence it is that they adopt the plan that I have 
endeavoured to describe, and which I have not found 
wanting. 
I shall not recommend any particular artificial manures. 
First, because I do not care to advise the use of particular 
articles sold by vendors in preference to those of others ; 
and, secondly, because what might suit best here might not 
No. 1861.—Vol, LXX., Old Series. 
