214 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 12,1891. 
the railway porters’ bands, I will tell you how I have been helped by 
the pigs, and often by the rats, to arrive at the knowledge of quality in 
■a Potato. Formerly, as the American varieties came over to us, I grew 
them for comparative trials, as they and my own seedlings became 
■vetoed. The strains were and are destroyed by being boiled for the pigs 
■and poultry. On one occasion my man came to me in great dudgeon 
and said, “He didn't know what elded them red taters, but the pigs 
were bucking them out of the troughs all over the sty.” “ Hacking 
them out, Wooff ; do they buck them all out?” “No; only the red 
’uns.” I had boiled a copper of my condemned seedlings, and along with 
them about a bushel of the American Rose. The pigs had given the 
former the preference. “ Well, Wooff, this will never do; you had 
better take the large washing keller, and second-sized rammer, and 
smash the Potatoes all up together, then the pigs must eat them.’’ 
Wooff stood 6 feet in his stockings. I often told him he would never 
■wear himself out, and this ram-smashing caused a lot of grumbling on 
his part on “ boiling-down days.” At last I told him I would do it 
myself. I did not like to be tied to the job, so I said to my man one 
•excessively hot day, “ Let us try what the curd-crusher will do to help 
ms.” The water was strained off through a quarter-inch iron-meshed 
sieve suspended over a tub, as the tubers were laded from the copper, a 
•sieve full at a time shot into the mouth of the machine. Admirable I 
The murphies became almost sufficiently mashed for a dining table. 
No more discriminative “ buckings ” on the part of the pigs. 
I had fifty varieties of my Potatoes stored away for seed in boxes in 
■the barn last winter. The rats could take their choice ; Prizetaker was 
preferred. I was just in time to save a few fragments of them. I 
Leep on the look out, and when the rats come I stick old ploughshares 
into all the holes there may be but one; there I lay a rat trap. The 
creatures have as great an aversion to a ploughshare sticking out of 
■their holes as they have to a trap when they can see it ; but the latter 1 
•cover lightly with fine dry soil, whilst I wear a pair of leather gloves. 
By thus proceeding it is soon all over with the rats, otherwise they 
would give their preference to the Potatoes, of best quality first 
•doubtless. 
Well, the cow got over her calving, and twenty-four hours having 
elapsed to give confidence versus uncertainty, November 11th found 
-me early in the morning at the Aquarium staging my Potatoes. It 
generally takes me some time to please myself in these matters. To 
attract attention I worked around the plates an intermixture of ripe 
Honesty and Traveller’s Joy ; for a change the conceit was not bad. 
My descriptive cards read, “ A selection of Fenn’s Seedling Potatoes, 
•embracing quality and good substance, studied especially for garden 
culture,” and I will now add field culture, provided the field soil is 
•delved and dug equally well as the ground in a garden. Excepting 
four kinds not yet in commerce, which I will name presently, the above 
will be well known as having been distributed by Messrs. Buttons. 
When I see the issues which are the outcome of varieties crossed with 
any sorts, merely to gain size and appearance for the astonishment of 
the natives, my bliss is lugubrious, because this description of Potato 
cannot possibly be equal to varieties carefully studied and handed down 
■for quality from our best old English kinds, most of which have long 
since ceased to be, and cannot be partaken of otherwise than by their 
descendant pedigree blood, so to speak. Thus we can console ourselves 
in my family, as we find in these well-constituted sorts, which we 
partake of, a constant article of diet, where we formerly consumed 
■two loaves of bread daily we now eat scarcely one. We find our 
Potatoes more sustaining than the modern compounds called wheaten 
flour, or those ingenious inventions of the bakers called bread ; but we 
should be compelled to return to the old complement of loaves, under 
the commonalty of Potatoes, as they are generally found. 
It may be tiresome and useless in me thus to dwell, but as the culti- 
'vation of Potatoes must go on, and if you will allow me to do so I will 
still strive in these pages to assist to shape our courses, to make it better, 
surer, and easier to live. “Yes, then,” you may say, “what next?” 
‘There is an exemplar of “ what next ” now going on in the Messrs. 
■■Sutton’s trial grounds at Reading. I know you saw the beginning of it. 
I began “ what next ” nearly twenty years ago, when Mr. Pringle sent 
me a wild Potato, Solanum Fendleri, from South America. The diffi¬ 
culty of hybridising this wilding has proved insurmountable with me. 
I thought I had succeeded in crossing it with S. Maglia two years ago ; 
in fact I did succeed in causing a few berries to swell until they were 
about halt grown, when they fell off to my great chagrin. This feat 
■must have caused the plant thorough exha'ustion, for when I searched 
to harvest the crop not one of its tiny tubers was to be found. I then 
gave it up, as the prospect would prove too long and too expensive for 
me to go on with single-handed. The Messrs. Sutton will doubtless do 
so, but I trust they ■will not strike off into tangents for the creation of 
size. They have energy and knowledge, also one of the best hybridisers 
in the kingdom to carry out their instructions. The best has been done 
that can be done with our old sorts of Potatoes. New hopes must now 
lay in judicious crosses with the wildings and the sorts they own of my 
strains exhibited by me at the Aquarium. 
As Ireland is again pushed to the front in her need for help in regard 
to this year’s Potato crop, I singled out four of the sorts that I felt 
almost sure would add to reliability in maintenence for her favourite 
•esculent food—Ringleader, first early (suitable for Ireland) ; Early 
Border (Sutton’s Favourite), second early, to be dug for intermediate 
market purposes at once the moment the disease spot the leaves ; Lady 
Truscott, second early (suitable for Ireland) ; Early Regent, second 
early (suitable for Ireland). This is my only seedling that I ever grew 
into “ stock” sufficient for Messrs. Buttons to be enabled to catalogue at 
once for distribution. 1 had so good an opinion of the variety that I 
grew it under the provisional name of Eliza Fenn. I consider it to be 
of the best of my raising, and Lady Truscott almost its equal ; both of 
them very nearly disease-resisting, good all-round Potatoes. Then there 
are the following :—Rector of Woodstock, not to be beaten for flavour ; 
Harlequin, a natural coloured sport from Rector of Woodstock ; Wood- 
stock Kidney, second early, to be dug for intermediate market purposes 
directly the disease spot appears upon the leaves ; Prizetaker, Reading 
Russet, Reading Ruby, Fiftyfold (suitable for Ireland) ; Kate Fenn 
offers to be the earliest of all, not in commerce ; Sir Polydore de 
Keyser, not in commerce ; Sir Charles Douglas, a very late variety not 
in commerce ; Newest Bountiful, coloured variety not in commerce. 
These last four I showed merely to let the Potato public know that I 
am not napping. 
Evening.—“ Now, Bob, I have completed my commissions. To¬ 
morrow I shall have nothing on my mind, and we will go and get a 
good look at the Chrysanthemums, and I will brush up old friends. G-ood 
night, my boy.” A letter was lying on my breakfast plate next morning 
with “ Immediate ” written upon the face of it. “ From Alice,” I said. 
“Something gone awry with the assessment lists, perhaps.” “ My dear 
Father,—Cow died this morning with milk fever.” “ Oh, dear, Bob ! 
the cow is dead. I must go home at once to mother, as she will be so 
distressed, and won’t know what to do. Take my members’ ticket and 
this pass, and go in the evening to the Aquarium. Bundle the Potatoes 
into the case anyhow. Explain to the Messrs. Sutton’s people why I 
am absent, and ask them to kindly take charge of the package to 
Reading.” But, you see, Mr. Editor, how, “ The plans of men and 
mice gang oft aglee,” As of a Dream.— Robt. Fenn. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Spring Cabbage. —There is a very great scarcity of small plants, 
while the majority of those put out last autumn have cut up badly. 
Borecoles and Broccoli being even more scarce, there is all the more 
necessity to take extra pains in forwarding plants raised in heat. It is 
to be hoped much seed has already been sown, otherwise no time should 
be lost in the matter. Sow the seed somewhat thinly in pans or boxes, 
and place these in gentle heat. Before the plants become drawn place 
them on a shelf near the glass still in gentle heat, and transfer to warm 
greenhouse shelves or other light positions soon after the first rough 
leaf has formed. In about another week they will bear being pricked 
out in boxes, though they will pay well for being potted off, as they 
will transplant the most readily from pots. Two plants may be sunk 
deeply into the soil in every 3^-inch pot, and these can be parted when 
planted out without much injury to the roots. In any case keep the 
pricked out plants in moderate heat and a light position till well 
established, hardening off and planting out on rich ground before they 
beeome badly root-bound. Cabbages, notably the small quickly grow¬ 
ing varieties, including the popular Ellam’s Early, succeed admirably in 
handlights treated exactly the same as Cauliflowers, and this season 
would amply compensate for the extra trouble taken with them. Those 
who fortunately have fairly well-filled beds of plants, and some also left 
in the seed beds, should fill up all blanks at once, or if there are none 
of the latter one-half of the beds may be broken up to fill up the 
vacancies in the other. Transplant with trowels, saving a good ball 
of soil about the roots. A surfacing of soot, or some kind of special 
manure, stirred in with flat hoes will be the means of forwarding the 
crops considerably. 
Spring Beds. —Frames are not too plentiful in most small gardens, 
and in very many instances cannot be spared for raising a few early 
vegetables and plants. Much may be done without them. For instance, 
a capital lot of Carrots, Radishes, Mustard and Cress, and Lettuce, 
Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, early Broccoli, and Celery plants might 
be grown on a good sized shallow hotbed. Tall stout stakes should be 
driven into the corners of the bed, and more midway between, these 
answering the double purpose of keeping some stout boards, 11 inches 
wide or thereabout, and the soil enclosed by these well together, and 
will also support the fish netting or mats used for protecting the seed 
and seedlings from birds, cold winds, and frosts. Any light sandy soil 
will do, a depth of about 6 inches being ample. The seed of Horn 
Carrots may be sown thinly over a greater portion of the bed, quick 
growing Radishes, Cauliflowers, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts if sown 
with it coming off before they would much interfere with the Carrots. 
Celery germinates more slowly, and may well have a corner to itself, 
while Mustard and Cress should be sown thickly in patches at one end 
of the bed. Now is a good time to form one of these beds. They pay 
well, and the produce would be far ahead of any that could be raised in 
the open, and not far behind the same kind grown under glass. If it 
fails, the most probable cause will be overcrowding, too much being 
attempted on a small bed. It should be added that these “ spring beds” 
