IG 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 1 , 18tl. 
leaved and bud-casting plants into specimens with Laurel-like foliage 
and flowers like Camellias ; also Clianthus Dampieri from a pale hue 
into a deep green healthy state. These have root nodules, 
tubercles of a fungoid character. Mere watering with soot water 
was enough, but Dr. Griffiths states iron sulphate is “ a means 
of destroying fungoid germs which may be present in any 
cultivated soil.” That is good news. From half to three-quarters 
of a cwt. of the iron sulphate is enough per acre ; and, therefore, 
6 to 8 ozs. per rod may be taken as a minimum and maximum 
quantity respectively, or a quarter oz. per square yard. This 
very small quantity, therefore, would be sufficient to mix with 
7 bushels of soil for Cucumbers, Melons, or Tomatoes, to save 
them from disease. 
There is another point. We throw the remains of Cucumber, 
Melon, Tomato plants, &c., with their soil on rubbish heaps, and 
thus spread the disease wholesale. A little sulphate of iron 
sprinkled over these heaps would in all probability save the plants 
from their enemies. Sprinkling rubbishy leaves and partially 
decayed ref use of all sorts with a solution of iron sulphate, just 
damping them in using for hotbeds, would certainly be beneficial, 
or even sprinkling the bed before putting on the soil would help 
in keeping down this Cucumber plague, but it is well also to 
impregnate the soil. 
“ Iron sulphate is composed of iron, sulphur, and oxygen. The 
'■active manurial ingredient in this compound has been given by 
some to the iron, and by others to sulphur. We believe that both 
ingredients are important plant foods, and that iron sulphate is one 
of the, if not the, most important sulphates used in scientific 
agriculture. Professor A. Miintz (LTnstitut National Agrono- 
mique, Paris) says With any sulphate (ammonium sulphate is 
not excluded) there is an increase of 13-54 per cent, in the growth 
of crops,_ but with iron the increase is 30-2 per cent.’ M. Miintz 
also obtained an increase of fi-G per cent, of chlorophyll in those 
crops grown with iron sulphate.”—(Manures and their Uses, 
page 143). 
As iron increases phosphoric acid increases, and potash decreases, 
also sulphuric acid. Phosphoric acid is essential as a food for 
protoplasm. Iron hastens the decomposition of organic matter in 
order to seize on the ammonia. What more is needed ? Only 
this. Dr. Griffiths states ; —1, “ Iron sulphate maybe sown broadcast 
by hand as a top-dressing when the crops are a few inches above 
ground or mixed with two to ten times its weight of sand or soil. 
Iron sulphate may also be used in solution and distributed by means 
of a water cart or water pot. 2, It is essential to bear in mind that 
from half cwt. to 1 cwt. of iron sulphate per acre are the only 
proportions that give good results. 3, Iron sulphate must always 
foe used on wet ground.” 
What of iron with relation to canker in trees ? Well, I do not 
believe in iron having anything whatever to do with it except to 
cure it. I will go further, and say that whether it is the cause or 
•effect fungus is inseparable from it. There is no cause of the evil 
in an east wind ; the cause is in the tissue of the plant affected by 
that wind. Cold, it is said, produces blister in Peach leaves. It 
does nothing of the kind, It only produces a condition of the host 
■suited to the fungus—the fungus causes the blistered leaves ; no 
east wind or cold will cause them to become distorted to the 
millionth of an inch. Pay strict attention to warmth, and thei-e 
will be no blister.’ L.eep the east wind back, and there is no 
need of the warmth. Tne fungus is there, and it causes the 
blistered leaves. Prevpt it by all means, as a physician stamps 
out fever by renaoving imparities of water and air. These fester 
the germs of disease ; get rid of them, and what ? There is no 
disease ! The east wind, it is said, bring caterpillars innumerable. 
Yes, whatever weakens a fortress causes it be easier taken ; but kill 
the caterpillars. What then ? The winds may blow as they list. I 
do not believe in any savant’s assumption of knowledge of first 
causes. Three out of five Apples and Pears I have seen” this year 
were scabbed with Cladosporium dentriticum ; similarly both 
■fruits were pierced by the Codlin moth grub (Carpocapsa pomonella). 
Kill the spores of the first and the moths or eggs of the latter, and 
we shall put as clean fruit in the market as the importers. Act 
like the physician ; destroy the germs. 
In the Journal of Horticulture, vol. xxvii.. new series, page 299, 
Mr. Robson states in a description of Seacox Heath, “ Decomposed 
sandstone is the basis of the surface soil. The soil is 
generally of a pale yel'ow colour, and contains few stones, and 
these generally soft, but it is very fertile, and most crops attain 
great perfection, notably many kinds of fruits, and it is a singular 
feature of the district that Apples grown here produce a different 
’kind of cider from that which is made from the same variety grown 
in the neighbourhood of Maidstone, the latter being an inferior 
liquor, although the fruit appears to be finer, thus showing that 
certain soils supply food of a different kind to what others do. 
An abience of calcareous matter (that is worth remembering), and 
a corresponding preponderance of iron cause much of the differ¬ 
ence, and iron works existed in the neighbourhood, and was 
worked to advantage long before the present seats of the im¬ 
portant iron trade in the northern counties were ever thought 
of. Lamberhurst, a village a few miles to the east of Tun¬ 
bridge Wells, supplied the iron from which the railings that 
surround St. Paul’s Cathedral were made, but the furnaces have 
long ceased to be worked, and the neighbourhood is as exempt from 
the smoke of iron foundries as it was in the days of Julius Caesar. 
But the loss of the iron trade is amply compensated by the im¬ 
proved cultivation of the land,” &c. The bottom iron became 
mixed with the top sandstone, both weathered into a favourable 
fruit soil, rivalling Maidstone in its products. Two things that 
deserve note, irony sand “ improved cultivation.” 
Turn to page 358 of the same volume, where “ G.” writes, “I 
observed in my previous notes upon the fondness for gardening in 
some of the Sussex ncoks, bat I should have included orcharding. 
No nooks of any other county contain more old (note that) fruit 
trees, &c. In these nooks are to be recognised dog-irons and fire¬ 
place backs, used when fires were kindled on the hearth, and manu¬ 
factured two centuries ago, when iron-smelting was an extensive 
operation in Sussex. There the ore (iron) is part of the subsoil.” 
That is conclusive. Apples thrive on heavy soil, even Duck’s 
Bill, the oldest Apple in existence. Mr. Douglas tells us in the 
“ R.H.S. British Apples Report,” page 47, how he cured Apple 
trees of canker on a light soil over a gravel subsoil by bringing in 
clay. There is the iron and alumina, for they are inseparable from 
clay, and both prevent bleaching because they lay hold on ammonia. 
Mr. Douglas’ good cultivation did it—freed the trees of canker. 
Mr. Cheal works on a heavy soil, he mixes the iron with the 
soil, stirs it up with a subsoil plough. “ One of the best prepara¬ 
tions for fruit planting is to grow a root crop on land that has been 
deeply cultivated and well manured.” That is the way to do it, 
bring in ammonia for iron to ammoniate. Call it good cultivation 
if you like, none of those panaceas are a particle of use without 
iron. It comes in everywhere. Even Mr. Tonks applies it direct, 
and Mr. Wright stands sponsor. He tells us the soil was heavy, 
and Mr. Tonks “ having ascertained what the soil lacked and what 
Apples needed, the necessary ingredients were obtained and applied.” 
The soil was heavy, there was iron in it, yet the trees were as if 
devoured by canker. The soil had not been sufficiently worked— 
ameliorated, and the iron would corrode the roots for the simple 
reason that it got no ammonia, for iron is like everything else liable 
to rust for want of using, and it never acts on itself for any good. 
Mr. Wright tells us what Mr. Tonks used—namely, superphos¬ 
phate, lime, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, nitrate of potash—■ 
“nitric acid (equal to 13-8 per cent, of nitrogen, 46-59 percent, 
potash”—(Griffiths). But who can afford to use saltpetre? (There 
is no sign of its less need for making gunpowder). Salt, of which 
little is understood, chlorine, sulphate of magnesia or Epsom salts, 
sulphate of iron. Let us examine these physically. 1, Super¬ 
phosphate-phosphoric acid, the energiser of the protoplasm. 'The 
trees w.^re given new life, of “special importance on clayey and 
stiff calcareous or damp soil.” Nitrogen:—1-76 per cent? Not a 
very powerful fertiliser on that score. 2, Nitrate of potash, 
growth and development of plant, and a corrector of the burning 
of phosphoric acid in a dry season, hence perhaps its liberal use in 
this case, and nitrate instead of chloride or muriate of potash 
for a similar reason. Of course, lime in the superphosphate 
(50 per cent.) will economise the potash. There is also the 13-8 
per cent, nitrogen. 3, Salt, dissolved silica, this is found in Apple 
fruit, 4-32 percent., wood 206 percent.; but what of the bark ? 
There is reason to believe it obtains largely in the bark of the 
Apple kept clean. 4, Magnesia, sulphur, aids formation of tissue. 
5, Iron, sulphur protoplasmic. 6, Gypsum, another fixer of 
ammonia, a liberator of potash. Lime is the great thing used. 
The concensus of opinion favours the antiseptic properties of lime. 
It is found in all cankered wounds— i.e., at the edges, for canker is 
a dry gangrene—the effects of a fungus.—G. Abbey. 
(To be continued.) 
LETTUCES AND ONIONS. 
Lettuces. —This is an excellent time for the gardening fraternity, 
amateurs and professional, to discuss their favourite vegetables when 
the pressure incidental to showing is removed, and when 12° of frost in 
the south of Ireland and 24° at London —vide last issue—compels the 
most active to find indoor occupation. I am reminded of the above by 
seeing the references by Messrs. Harding and Easty, last number of all 
gardeners’ favourite Journal, which generally manages to bring before 
its readers the right subjects at the right time. A rough division of 
Lettuces would be into Cos varieties, represented by, say. Carter’s Giant 
White, Bath Cos, and Hicks’ Winter Cos, and Cabbage varieties repre¬ 
sented by All the Year Round, Nonpareil, and Hammersmith. If only 
