March 16, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
213 
Root Crops. 
Potatoes, Parsnips, Carrots, Jerusalem Artichokes, Turnips, and Onions 
come under the above heading. 
Potatoes .—Sandy loam is the best natural soil for Potatoes. Should 
the land be stiff means should be adopted to improve it. All the old 
mortar that can be had should be used, and if sand is near labour could 
not be more profitably employed than in carting it upon the heavy land. 
Wood ashes and burnt refuse generally are excellent for this important 
crop. 
I will describe an experiment of my own. We had a very large heap 
of rubbish, which was burnt with plenty of wood ; about thirty loads of 
this were put upon an acre, and about 15 tons of farmyard manure. 
Half a hundredweight of sulphate of iron was also spread on, and all 
ploughed in together. The Potatoes were planted after the plough, and 
the next round was turned upon the planted Potatoes, the whole of the 
manure falling upon them. The crops of all the varieties—early, 
medium, and late—were good, Chiswick Favourite exceptionally so. 
The tubers were of exhibition quality, excepting about one bag per acre. 
The yield was three to four bags (of 180 lbs.) per rood, and the Potatoes 
are fetching Is. 6d. per bag above other people’s, because of quality. 
Grown without any manure, the yield was from one to one and a half 
bags (of 180 lbs.) per rood, including many diseased tubers. I should 
add that 3 cwt. of superphosphates and 3 cwt. of kainit were given 
before the plants were ridged up. 
Parsnips in deeply prepared and well pulverised ground always do 
well with a dressing of the chemicals just named, and basic slag as con¬ 
taining lime is excellent for this crop. 
Carrots are often very difficult to obtain good. I grew about an 
acre this year, the finest I have seen, and the credit for this I give to 
kainit. I had the ground ploughed and ridged, then sown with 3 cwt^ 
of kainit per acre. The ridges were split and the seed drilled above the 
kainit. The crop was heavy and the roots fine without any being 
injured with wireworm, yet in a patch close by not dressed with kainit, 
the roots were spoilt by that pest. 
lurnips .—These will do in any fertile garden soil if plenty of 
lime is used, top-dressing with nitrate of soda ; the nitrogen will 
improve the Turnips if too much farmyard manure has not been given. 
Superphosphate will supply the lime ; it may be used mixed, say, in the 
proportion of 3 lbs. of superphosphate to 1 lb. of nitrate of soda, and 
given at the rate of 8 lbs. per rod. 
Onions ,—Soil made rich with farmyard manure should form the 
basis for this crop, adding all the wood ashes and burnt soil obtainable. 
Good drenchings with strong cesspool liquid once or twice during 
growing period will materially increase the value of the yield. 
Green Cr(Sps. 
Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflowers, Broccoli, Kales and all 
classes of the Brassicas, come under this heading. If the soil is treated 
as mentioned in the trenching for fruit trees, little else is required, but 
a slight dressing of about 1 to 1J lb. of nitrate of soda and twice that 
quantity of kainit per rod will improve the heads and hearts without 
causing grossness. The per-centage of common salt, potash and soda is 
high in this family ; and additions of kainit and nitrate of soda will 
supply these essentials. Phosphoric slag is also applied at the rate of 
4 lbs. per rod. 
Leguminous Crops. 
Peas and Beans comprise all the important leguminous plants that 
concern the gardener. Very little nitrogenous manure need be given 
to this family, as it is considered that they can appropriate the free 
nitrogen. I prefer growing them in trenches containing a 6-inch 
dressing of good cow manure. Kainit and superphosphate, at the rate 
of 6 lbs. per rod’, may be applied with advantage in rainy weather. 
Manures for Plants Grown under Glass. 
This is a most comprehensive subject, and is in itself enough for a 
whole essay; it will be impossible to do it justice in the small space 
that I have at my disposal. I will treat upon the soil first, and then 
divide the plants into groups for the application of manure. 
Loam is the most important material for potting. This should be 
obtained from a pasture several years old, where the fibrous roots are 
6 or 8 inches deep. In that case it can be dug and carted into 
stacks that should be weatber-proof ; manure from fat stock being 
spread between the layers of soil, and to every third layer a good 
dressing say 4 lbs. of k.ainit to each 4 square yards. The heap 
should be allowed to stand several months before using, and the soil 
will then be in first-class condition. 
Leaf soil should be stored in heaps, and a little soot or a small 
quantity of lime may be added to clear it of worms, snails, and insects 
Cow or sheep manure rubbed through sieves may be added to the 
compost before use ; but care should be exercised to have the manure 
heated first to destroy the eggs of insects. Old Mushroom bed refuse 
affords a good addition for quick-growing plants. Artificial manures 
ought not to be added to potting compost, as they are much better given 
when the plants are established. 
Cinerarias, Calceolarias, Pelargoniums, Primulas, Fuchsias, and 
all similar plants, when established, can be watered with solutions 
made in the following proportions, to be applied at short intervals in the 
growing period :—Nitrate of soda, 1 lb. to 20 gallons rain water ; super¬ 
phosphate, 2 lbs. to the same quantity of water ; sheep manure, 1 peck to 
25 gallons, or guano, 1 lb. to 25 gallons of water. Cow manure and soot 
placed in bags in tubs, 4 gallons to 20 gallons of water. Only one of the 
above to be used at a time. 
As top-dressings, Thomson’s, Clay’s, Beeson’s, or Standen’s fertilisers 
may be used at the rate of a teaspoonful to a 6-inch pot, blood manure at 
half, and guano at a quarter the above strength. 
Crotons, TabernEemontanas, Gardenias, Dracaenas, Ixoras, Bougain¬ 
villeas, Stephanotis, Clerodendron, and similar plants should be 
encouraged by frequent application of liquid and top-dressings of 
manure. The period of application of manure will begin in March for 
all the above, and last till August, after which time less dressing and 
weaker ones must be given ; do not drop off altogether or the plants will 
suffer in winter. I cannot do better than recommend the manures 
above mentioned, which are those I use myself with excellent results. 
Liquid Manure. 
The urine and drainings from stables, cow-sheds, and other places 
should be carefully collected. It is a good plan to have a cistern or 
tank underground, into which the whole of these drainings can run. 
These are especially valuable as containing about 80 per cent, of the 
whole of the nitrogen produced in the excretions. 
In making liquid from artificial manure, it must be noted that, as a 
rule, only soda, potash, and ammonium salts and calcium superphos¬ 
phates will dissolve, and that a residue will remain which will be 
valuable, so that the turbid liquid should be well stirred before applica¬ 
tion, or, if allowed to stand, the residue should be used as a top-dressing. 
These remarks especially apply to some of the mixtures I hare 
recommended. 
Concluding Remarks. 
Farmyard manure is invaluable on clayey loams, because it contains 
a little of all the ingredients required by plants. This soil does not 
require so much manure as do light sandy soils, not only because of 
what is naturally contained in them, but on account of heavy soils 
retaining the matter added. Owing to the slow decomposition of farm¬ 
yard manure nitrogen may not be liberated fast enough to allow of the 
plant to appropriate the potash and phosphates at its disposal ; in that 
case Peas, Beans, Carrots, and Potatoes will be stringy or hard, and it 
will be necessary for an application of a nitrogenous manure, such as 
nitrate of soda or nitrogenous guano ; chemical manure containing 100 
lbs. of nitrogen will supply this element at once for assimilation by plants, 
yet that quantity in farmyard manure might not be liberated in six 
months because of its slow decomposition. Dressing with lime will 
liberate nitrogen both from farmyard manure and from organic matter 
in the soil. 
Sandy soils are deficient in manurial qualities, and great care should 
be exercised in selecting manures, so that the least waste is occasioned. 
Good well-decayed manure from fat cattle is the best possible manure 
for sandy soils; clay added, and allowed to be exposed to the frost for 
disintegration, will assist in retaining moisture; and the farmyard 
manure will supply phosphates, alkalies, and silicates in a soluble form. 
For the assistance of crops which require potash and phosphates, kainit 
and superphosphate must be added at the rate of 3 to 4 cwt. of each per 
acre. Light sandy soils are deficient in nitrogen, owing to its being so 
quickly washed away into drains and subsoils, therefore it must be 
supplied by surface dressing with nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia 
during the growing period of the crop, at the rate of ^ to 1 cwt. per acre. 
One or two dressings may be given to these soils. Phosphates, and if 
necessary kainit, should be used at ihe same time with the nitrogenous 
manures. 
In the few remarks I have yet to make may I again call the atten¬ 
tion of readers to the composition of the various manures given in the 
first part of this essay, where they will see their constituents i The 
following gives the dominating constituents of the various garden crops 
