February 22, 1894 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
143 
A prominent feature of our landscapes is the conditions under 
which they are viewed, the normal behaviour of Nature in her 
capricious yet charming moods, when with sunshine and shower the 
hurrying clouds throw their lights and shadows over hill and vale. 
We may perhaps think there is too much shadow and too little 
sunshine ; yet there are seasons when this order is reversed, then 
the constant smile, like that which may now and again be seen on 
the face of a specimen of the genus Homo, becomes insipid. As a 
rule, and in comparison with other lands, our rain and sunshine, 
heat and cold, are provided for us well mixed, and though foreign 
visitors are apt to grumble and condemn our climate, we give them 
the best we have. Even with us the infectious go-ahead notions 
of the age lead us to look for the highest hill, the deepest gorge, or 
the biggest thing of its kind, resulting in some danger of overlook¬ 
ing the humbler scenes, breathing not less the deep beauty of 
Nature, and in these humbler scenes of rural life modern innova¬ 
tions are crushing out some of the adjuncts of the good old times, 
I recollect on one country road dotted with the picturesque villages 
and hamlets, of sunny Kent, leading to London, as all roads do, 
how sweet the music of the bell teams used to sound ; but they 
have long since gone off the road and a monster has taken their 
place in the form of a traction engine, tugging laboriously at the 
heavy loads of luscious produce for the hungry city. But what 
has a traction engine to do with the beauty of an English 
landscape ? Nothing, decidedly nothing, beyond crushing the 
poetry out of it. 
This Garden of England, how beautiful it is ! Through it, 
across it, or round its cliff - embattled south - east coast line, or 
where Father Thames laves its undulating shore, with the low- 
lying Essex coast acting as a foil. Rich in historic associations of 
Church and State, Canterbury with its Cathedral, Rochester no 
less hallowed by its associations with that unique pen-painter of 
human life, the immortal Dickens. As with countries, so with the 
counties of the three kingdoms, comparisons may be drawn, but 
each possesses in more or less degree features and outlines of 
beauty for the observant eye. Even near our great cities some 
charming views of wild gardening are to be found in those commons 
and plots of waste land, most of which are now religiously preserved 
from the hands of the builder, and their value for health and 
recreation to the busy workers of the great industrial hives is 
unquestionable. 
In the earlier days of our quiet lives we gardeners are to some 
extent rolling stones, and though proverbially the process is non- 
conducive to moss-gathering it is essential in order to gather that 
wisdom and experience which is to be our armour in the coming 
battle of life. It is in this stage of our existence that so many 
opportunities come to us for making acquaintance with fresh parts 
of our own country, and in after life it is very pleasant to take an 
occasional turn in this picture gallery of memory gathered when 
the mind is most impressionable. At this age, too, ten or twelve 
miles across country on Shanks’s mare is no extraordinary feat of 
horsemanship, and this method of travelling gives facilities for 
observation that more hurried ways of locomotion do not—the 
vantage points can be picked out, for even natural landscapes are 
not always viewed in the most favourable light. It is difficult for 
the mind to seize on the hills and valleys as they rush by you when 
seated in an express train, even then to be ever and anon shut out 
by the banks of some deep cutting. 
Rather more than a score of years have passed since I left 
Kent for the “fresh fields and pastures new” of Gloucestershire. 
The driver who was sent to meet the new man with his box at 
the station, a cordial, happy looking native, freely gave me the 
information I was so anxious to know about this terra incognita 
which was for the time being to be my home, and a very happy 
home it proved to be. Well do I remember asking him if we 
were near the Cotswold Hills, and his answer, “ Why, beest 
on th’ top now,” and on the top sure enough I was for two years, 
though there was some difficulty in reconciling these far-stretching 
ridge-and-furrow undulations with the blurred mass on the 
school map, until later on a ten-mile walk took me to the top 
of Leckhampton Hill, an outlying spur, then, looking far down 
over the Golden Valley, over Cheltenham lying below, [it came 
as a revelation. Beautiful, quaint, and lonely are these Cotswold 
Hills, hunting grounds in many senses for Nimrod, the botanist, 
or antiquary ; Roman villas to be seen in the middle of woods, 
Roman snails, large, fat, luscious looking fellows nearly white, 
curiosities in these degenerate times, not now the dainty table 
delicacies they were when established by the Roman conquerors 
2000 years ago. 
Unintentionally I have let my thoughts run away with me, and 
have nearly betrayed myself into particularising on a subject which 
to say the least is vast and comprehensive. To sum up, or rather 
find the difference in value between our quiet peaceful island land¬ 
scapes and those Titanic scenes of foreign lands, we can, while 
allowing them, say six points, justly take half a dozen for 
ourselves.—E. K., Dublin. 
SOWING SEEDS. 
{Concludedfrom 'page 104.) 
A LAUDABLE desire to be somewhat ahead of our neighbours in 
the production of early crops of vegetables sometimes places us 
in the opposite position. Our anxiety on that point induces us to 
sow seeds before the soil is in proper condition for that purpose, 
and when our better judgment teaches us that we are making a 
mistake. Perhaps most of us require a few salutary lessons to 
convince us that nothing is gained by inserting seeds in ground 
which has not acquired the necessary degree of warmth to effect 
germination ; and that the longer seeds lie in wet cold soil before 
this occurs, the greater is the risk of losing some of them by 
decay, and the slower will be the progress made when growth 
begins, because the operation o£ sowing under such condition clogs 
the soil, and prevents or retards aeration, without which rapid and 
healthy root action in young plants cannot take place. 
The weather and condition of the soil this year have been 
more favourable than usual for seed-sowing, and the season 
promises in all respects to be an early one. All quarters intended 
for seed beds if not recently dug should, when the frost departs, 
be forked up so as to allow the soil to become dry upon the surface. 
If a bright drying day is then chosen for sowing, and the drills 
are drawn early in the morning, sowing may with advantage be 
deferred for a few hours to allow the soil in the drills to become 
warmed by sunshine, and in the best possible condition for the 
reception of seeds. 
I make a practice of scattering soot upon the surface of all seed 
beds before the drills are drawn; being such a well-known antidote 
against insects and so excellent a fertiliser, I attach great import¬ 
ance to this cultural detail. Those who have heavy soils to deal 
with usually experience considerable difficulty in rendering it fine 
enough for the reception of seeds. In such instances I think 
burnt refuse might with advantage be much more freely used than 
it is, for in most gardens abundance of it may be had by keeping a 
fire constantly going at the rubbish heap. Some of this should be 
sifted and scattered along the drills before the seeds are sown in 
sufficient quantity to admit a portion of it being drawn over them 
with a rake previous to filling in the drills with the natural soil, 
which, of course, ought to be made as fine as circumstances permit. 
The great point is to get plenty of finely divided crumbly earth 
nearest the seeds, so that the young roots may freely penetrate^ it 
till they have gained sufficient strength to contend with opposing 
obstacles. It is not of so much importance to make the surface 
soil fine, as that is certain to crumble down under the influence 
of the weather. Even when sowing seeds on light well pulverised 
soils, where burnt refuse is not required to act in a mechanical 
way, I find the young plants grow much stronger in the early 
stages when this useful substance is placed in the drills, than when 
only the ordinary soil is used. My own opinion as to the cause of 
this is, that burnt refuse contains a greater per-centage of soluble 
matter than common soil does, and is therefore at once available 
as plant food. 
Do not sow seeds too deeply in soil which is the least stiff, for 
should wet cold weather follow, many of them would inevitably 
nerish. In sowing Onion seeds on land of this nature I prefer to 
have the drills only half or three-quarters of an inch in depth, 
instead of the regulation inch. Again, some soils are so light and 
sandy that they may with advantage be made IJ inch in depth, 
from 10 to 14 inches being a good distance to set them asunder, 
according to whether large or medium-sized bulbs are required. 
Where extra large ones for exhibition purposes are aimed at, a good 
plan is to have them in bed~ containing only two rows each, these 
being set 18 inches apart, 2 feet being allowed between the beds. 
There is then ample room to atteui to their cultural require¬ 
ments without injuring the tops. A row of Lettuce may be 
planted in the alleys between the beds, which will be cleared off 
before the Onion tops have made much growth. Carrots of a 
similar type to Early Gem and Early Nantes, which are usually 
sown on a warm border where the space is valuaole, succeed well 
if the drills are placed only 9 inches asunder, as the roots are 
invariably drawn as soon as ready for the table. For those of the 
intermediate type 15 inches between the rows is not too much. 
The same distance answers well for Parsnips unless large roots 
are required ; while for Beet 1 foot is usually sufficient, as large 
roots are not to be commended. ■ • ii. 
After sowing seeds of the above descriptions, and filling in the 
drills with the back of the rake, if the soil is light and dry, a thorough 
treading ought to be given before the bed is levelled with a fine 
