JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
582 
f December 29, 1881. 
a week ago with ice-cold water from melting sleet perhaps he 
would have grown happy over my mistake, as did two smart neigh¬ 
bours who called when I was so engaged; but if I had told him, 
as I did not tell them, that I was sure (from experiments I had 
conducted for years that my Vine roots inside were extending 
themselves at the expense of the rods, owing to the too high tem¬ 
perature of the Vine borders), that a lowering of border heat in 
winter was as necessary as the lowering of the temperature above, 
he might have written the article in question, but would have 
been obliged to attribute the false opinion in it to someone else. 
But this is anticipating what I have to say on “how, when, and 
why” 1 manure my Vines. 
I had intended answering what has been written by Mr. Iggul- 
den and “An Old Grower,” but Mr. Taylor’s second letter 
intervened ; perhaps the two cultivators referred to will find their 
remarks answered during the progress of this discussion even if 
they are not personally alluded to. The question at issue is not 
one of names, but of principles. Possibly as they read further one 
of the contributors may find there is such a thing as founding an 
argument on false premises, and the other may have a suspicion 
that assumption may be mistaken for fact.— Single-handed. 
PRIMULAS IN SMALL POTS. 
I COULD not help thinking, when reading “M.’s” notes on Pri¬ 
mulas in small pots, which appeared in the Journal of the 15th 
inst., that however commendable may be the practice of making 
a 3-inch pot a final receptacle for a Primula to those who have 
few larger pots and but little room, the general trial he solicits of 
that system would end in a very general and speedy return to 
former paths of culture. 
I am far from denying that some excellent results may accrue 
from bloomiDg Primulas in such pots, but when I read that within 
those circumscribed limits better blooms and larger trusses are 
obtained than by devoting to them pots of twice the diameter, it 
appears to me that some mistake has been made. Indeed my 
experience of Primula-growing convinces me that such is not the 
case. 
lhad this summer, like “M.,” a batch of well-rooted plants in 
3-inch pots, which, being ready, instead of engulphing them at 
once in 6-inch pots, I chose the more gradual process of trans¬ 
ferring them to pots of an intermediate size, in which a few weeks 
sufficed to fill the soil with roots. I then proceeded to give 
them their final shift into 6-inch pots, taking care to drain these 
well, and shaking some light rich soil round the balls until the 
pots were sufficiently filled. I then gently settled the whole, and 
placed them on the shelves of a warm greenhouse, where they have 
grown luxuriantly. Fine sturdy plants they are now, studded 
with crowns, from the centre of which spring huge trusses laden 
with fine blooms about the size of an old-fashioned penny, and 
the soil in the pots threaded through and through with white 
ramified roots, which, peeping from the surface, appeal as elo¬ 
quently as ever did toper for “something short in their liquor.” 
—An Old Primula Grower. 
LEEKS IN WALES. 
I have read the remarks by “A. H. H.” on page 533. By him 
Leek culture is represented to be most complicated and not well 
understood, but it will certainly not be his fault if this continues. 
He is under (he impression that in Wales Leek culture is unsatis¬ 
factory. Will he state distinctly where he learned this ? I can 
say Leeks are as common in Wales as they are in any county in 
Scotland, and their culture, as a rule, is on a par in both parts. 
To grow Leeks under the directions on the page quoted a man 
would need to have a supply of handglasses, cold frames, and hot¬ 
beds. He must also sow seed in pots, place these in stove heat, 
pot singly in 3-inch pots, shift the plants into 6-inch pots, harden 
them off, and so on ; planting out 2 feet each way, and watering 
with sulphate of ammonia. These are instructions which I call 
superfluous, and I am sure the majority of Leek-growers through¬ 
out the country will say the same. An “Onion head ” is said to 
be the “best part” of the Leek, but it, too, is “objectionable.” 
All “A. H. II.’s” teachings prove that he wants us to grow one 
batch of fine Leeks for show, and another inferior one for the 
table, and this is a course I wish to discountenance. 
Size is evidently the first and only consideration with your 
correspondent. It is a pity he did not give the weight of what 
he considered a good and perfect Leek, and say if moderately 
strong soundly grown examples are not as acceptable and weil 
flavoured as those grown in a stove and forced as described. 
Anyone wishing to grow what may be termed excellent Leeks 
for the table from November until May, will secure them if seed 
is sown on rich ground at the same time as the spring Onions. 
In fact, they require no more attention than the Onions except in 
earthing up.— J. Jones. 
TORTOISES IN GARDENS. 
From a barrow in the London streets I purchased some two or 
three months since a tortoise, which the bill exhibited by the 
vendor informed me was of African extraction, and “ good for 
killing all manner of garden insects.” I conveyed my tortoise 
home, and ensconced him in my garden, which, being surrounded 
by a brick wall, ensured the tortoise’s safe custody. Since then I 
have watched the horny gentleman on many occasions, but I have 
never seen him kill or devour insects. During the summer he 
confined his attentions principally to young Lettuces and Clover, of 
which latter edible he appeared extremely fond, and conscien¬ 
tiously nibbled every bloom to be found on the lawn. To all 
appearances he has enjoyed life up to the present time in a 
leisurely manner, burrowing in cold or wet weather beneath the 
Rhododendrons in a peat bed, and apparently contented excepting 
in frosty times, when he appears to become perfectly torpid and 
remains immoveable for several days. Can you inform me 
whether I ought to remove him from the garden during the winter 
and give him a corner by the kitchen fire, or otherwise protect 
him from the frosts and rains of our climate ? And if so, what 
I ought to feed him on until the warmth of spring will enable 
him once more to pick up a living in the garden ?— Testudo. 
[The reply we gave to a correspondent early in January last 
appears applicable in this case :—“ There are a great number of 
species, most of which are natives of warm regions of the globe ; 
but those that live in colder climates burrow and sleep during the 
winter. They are quiet inoffensive animals, extremely tenacious 
of life, and remarkable for longevity. Individuals are stated upon 
good authority to have lived upwards of two hundred years 1 The 
common tortoise, or tartaruga,Testuda grteca, is a native of the south 
of Europe, and almost all the countries bordering on the Mediter¬ 
ranean. It is found in the islands of the Archipelago, Corsica, 
Sardinia, and in Africa, and is thought to be more common in 
Greece than elsewhere. It is from 6 to 8 inches long, and weighs 
about 48 ozs. This species is often brought to this country, and 
kept in gardens. One was brought to ihe archiepiscopal garden 
at Lambeth, in the time of Laud, in 1633, where it lived till 1753, 
owing its death more to neglect than the effect of age. You had 
better place your pet in the greenhouse, or other suitable place, 
and supply it with food. They live mostly on vegetables, but will 
eat almost anything, including bread soaked in milk.”] 
SECKLE PEAR. 
“E. L. 0.” asks “ Where did * Wiltshire Rector ’ obtain the 
sample of this Pear which was so very small and of a vulgar sweet 
taste ?” I reply that I had that sample, many dozens indeed, 
from a tree in my own garden, which tree I had from Messrs. 
Smith & Co. of Worcester, and also others from a large espalier 
near me. I have known the Pear for years, and was some time 
before I made up my mind to denounce it. I live in a grand 
fruit country, being less than a dozen miles from Bath. I ask, 
Why grow such a small Pear of what I consider a vulgar sweet 
taste, fit only for a huckster’s shop, when you can grow a large, 
handsome, and magnificently flavoured one, such as Beurr6 Hardy, 
ripening at the same time 1 I think if we are to compete with 
importers of fruit it is by only growing the best, and not allowing 
our gardens to be crowded with, or even to have any, inferior 
varieties in them. I am daily having at dessert the old Golden 
Pippin and Cox’s Orange Pippin. But how inferior the former 
is to the latter ! It might have been the best Apple in its day, 
but that day is over. Just so, too, of Juneating and Irish Peach. 
Why grow the former when you can the latter ? We need to 
clear our minds of old fancies and preferences, and see what is 
the best, and grow only the best. When at Worcester I saw 
perfect batallions of Dumelow’s Seedlings and Lord Suffields, 
while only thin ranks of older and now proved to be less valuable 
sorts of Apples. I say, Choose carefully the best, and gradually 
advance new claimants to the first rank as they deserve it, but 
away with the second-rate sorts. I only know of two small Pears 
that are indispensable—Winter Nelis and Monarch, and the latter 
is not very small.— Wiltshire Rector. 
Chrysanthemum Sports. —Remembering that some of the best 
show Chrysanthemums we have were originally obtained as sports— 
for instance, Mr. George Glenny and Mrs. Dixon, from Mrs. George 
Rundle, the following extract from a letter just received with a box 
of blooms from a lady in Sligo may be of interest—“ I enclose you 
