October at, 1389. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
3 3 
others, yet the -undisputed fact remains that in many establishments 
they are not merely useful adjuncts to the ordinary arrangements for 
fruit supply, but also a source of considerable profit. The Messrs. 
Rivers, both father and son, have amply demonstrated the success of this 
phase of fruit culture, and the example set has been widely followed, 
not only by amateurs but by the trade as well. For Peaches and Pears 
they are especially useful, but some grand Apples are produced by trees 
in pots in such houses as the leading exhibitors know full well. 
It is surprising to what a length of time trees will continue in health 
and bearing condition with an annual potting and top-dressing such as 
they there receive, for trees of the old English Galande Peach are shown 
thirty-eight years old. Then, too, with the numerous seedling varieties 
of Peaches raised by Messrs. Rivers a long fruit-bearing season is secured 
from the beginning of July until the end of September, three full 
months, such as at one time could never have been expected. The size 
and quality of Peaches and Nectarines thus secured are excellent, and 
from the numerous long spacious houses occupied with the trees most 
valuable crops are obtained, realising “ top ” prices in the market. 
Houses of this character cost little more than a good shed, yet if well 
managed they give returns surpassing those of much more costly houses. 
One point is, however, too frequently overlooked in regard to pot trees 
in orchard houses— i.e., satisfactory results must not be expected without 
corresponding attention. Trees under glass necessarily require more 
care than they do out of doors. Neglected insect-infested trees are 
deplorable objects and utterly useless; healthful, cleanly trees will 
compensate their cultivator with liberal returns. 
But I must stop, for some of my jottings at Sawbridgeworth will 
keep for another week, and they might encroach too much on the Journal 
»pace if dealt with now.— Pomona. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
I A paper read by Mr. A. Pettigrew at the meeting of the Cardiff Gardeners’ Association 
October 2nd, 1889.] 
It requires some forethought and perseverance on the part of the 
cultivator to keep up a regular supply of good vegetables throughout the 
year. To accomplish this and be successful, he must be always looking 
forward, and be preparing ground, as soon as it becomes vacant, for 
certain crops, which must be sown or planted in good time to get the 
best results. When crops are put in late, no matter how good the after 
cultivation may be, they never do so well as those planted at the proper 
time. It is wonderful the effect that even a few days late planting or 
sowing makes on a crop. Observe, for instance, that where plants have 
died in the main crops of, say, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Cabbage, 
or Broccoli, after planting, and their p’aces been filled up by fresh 
plants, they seldom make up in those that were planted at first-, and 
generally do very little good. 
The weather must be studied too, and no crops put in unless the 
ground has been thoroughly prepared and is dry and in good working 
condition. It is a mistake to work ground when it is wet and adhesive ; 
and the crops then, as a rule, never do so well as those put in when 
the ground is dry. 
The subject of vegetable gardening is too extensive to do justice to 
in a short paper like this. It is a subject that volumes have been written 
on, and it is not exhausted yet. There is much to be learned from books 
on the cultivation of all kinds of plants, but I believe the best learning 
any young man can get is from practical experience and by ocular 
demonstration. Anyone with ordinary ability can learn as much in 
five minutes, from being told and shown how to do a thing, and the 
results that will follow from doing it explained, as would take him a 
long time to learn from books. 
Winter is the dull time of the year, when Nature is supposed to rest 
and recuperate herself. But there is not much rest in a garden at any 
season, as work of some kind requires to be done regularly all through 
the year. In winter the gardener prepares for spring and summer ; and 
in summer he prepares for autumn and winter, and so on, as the seasons 
roll round. 
Perhaps I should state that kitchen gardening in the north is 
different in many respects from what it is here. In the north the 
seasons are later, the climate is much colder, and the summer is shorter ; 
and on that account they seldom take more than one crop off the 
same piece of ground in the year ; whereas in the mild climate, as soon as 
one crop is taken off another is put in, and the ground is always under 
crop, with perhaps a few exceptions where late Peas, Potatoes, Beet, 
Onions, and Carrots have been. It is a common thing in the north to 
have more than the half of the kitchen garden dug or trenched during 
winter for frost and snow to disintegrate and ameliorate the soil, and to 
kill insects. I question very much, however, if the frost kills as many 
of the insect pests as it gets credit for, even in exceptionally severe 
winters. Nature has provided them with ways and means of protecting 
themselves from the hardest of frosts. 
From the above remarks it will be observed that a calendar of garden 
operations for a kitchen garden in the south would not do for one in 
the north, and my remarks will be confined to gardening in the south. 
Digging and Trenching .—These are important matters, and should 
receive the best attention of the workmen. When dung is used it 
should be spread regularly over the surface, and dug deeply into the 
earth, and the ground kept level all over, no matter whether it is rough 
digging to stand over the winter, or fine digging in spring for sowing or 
planting. Nearly all the writers that I have read on the subject, if 
1 remember rightly, but it is long since I read up the subject, recom¬ 
mend that all the bare ground in the garden not under crop should be 
trenched or dug in the autumn with the view to its getting the full 
benefit of the winter frosts to operate on it, and to make it work well in 
the spring. The frost, no doubt, is beneficial to heavy retentive soils, 
but I do not think it does much good to dry light ground to have it 
turned up in autumn, and exposed to all kinds of weather during 
winter. 
My observation and experience lead me to think the harder and 
firmer light soils are kept the better crops they will yield, and in my 
opinion most crops do best when the ground is manured and dug 
immediately before planting or sowing, not only light ground, but most 
kinds of ground. When this plan is adopted the ground is trod firmly 
all over after it is dug before planting or sowing in it. In light soils 
rough fresh stable manure is preferable to decayed manure. It lasts 
longer in the ground in this state than if it was decayed, and supports 
the plants better through the growing season. In heavy soils decayed 
manure is best, as rough dung takes longer to decompose in it, and 
get into the state that plants can assimilate it in their growth. 
Sowing and Planting .—The mistake of sowing seeds and planting 
too early in the season is as bad as sowing and planting too late. 
When Celery, Leeks, and many members of the Brassica family are 
sown in heat too early, they run to seed and the crop is lost. Potatoes 
when planted too early are liable to be injured by frost, and Peas 
suffer from cold and wet and the ravages of birds and slugs. 
Onions, Leeks, Parsnips, Peas, Broad Beans, Spinach, Lettuce, and 
Radish should be sown in the open as early in February as the state 
of the weather will admit, and Jerusalem Artichokes, Shallots, Garlic, 
and Potato Onions planted. I think it is hardly worth while saying 
that Onions, Parsnips, and Lettuce should be sown in drills, the former 
a foot apart, and the two latter 18 inches, and not more than from 
2 to 2J inches deep; Beans 2 feet, and Peas 5 and 6 feet apart. Jeru¬ 
salem Artichokes should be planted in drills 2 feet apart, and from 
5 to 6 inches deep. Garlic, Shallots, and Potato Onions a foot apart, 
and 6 inches in the drill. In planting these I prefer covering the 
bulbs to having them planted on the surface, as when so planted they 
are liable to throw themselves out of the ground when they begin to 
grow and have no top pressure to keep them down until the roots take 
hold of the earth. When seeds are good and can be relied on thin 
sowing should be adopted, and Onions should never be sown so thick 
as to require thinning for the principal crop. If extra large specimens 
are wanted for exhibition purposes that is a different thing, but those 
are generally sown in pans and boxes under glass early in the season, 
and potted off into small pots, hardened off, and planted out after all 
danger of frost is past. Of vegetables none but the best strains 
should be grown. It is as easy to grow the very best varieties as the 
worst, and cultivators cannot be too careful in their selection of seed. 
The loss in every way from the use of bad seeds can hardly be 
over-estimated. 
A long article might be written on the cultivation of each of the 
vegetables I have named, but I will content myself by giving a calendar 
for the sowing and planting a few of the principal crops in each month. 
March .—This month is reckoned the end of winter and beginning 
of spring. It generally “ comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.” 
March and April are the two busiest months in the garden. The main 
crops of some of the principal vegetables should be sown from the 
beginning to the end of the month, such as Cabbage, Cauliflower, 
Brussels Sprouts, early Carrots, Turnips, Radishes, Lettuces, Beans, Peas, 
and Spinach. The Brassica family should be sown in beds 3 or 4 feet 
wide in a warm sheltered position, and protected from birds, which are 
fond of the seeds just as they germinate, and would soon destroy them 
if they were not protected. I have seen many methods tried for this, 
but I prefer covering the beds with netting to all other kinds of pro¬ 
tection. Horseradish, Rhubarb, Chives, Seakale, and Cabbage plants 
may be planted any tirqe during the month in fine weather, and all 
spare ground dunged, and dug as soon as the crops are taken off. 
'April .—The weather during this month is generally stormy, inter- 
