February 7, 18S9. 
JOURNAL nr HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
101 
two or three years. The scarlet Heuchera would be on every 
ground one of the best contributors to such a result. It is a 
plant without a fault. — H. Selfe Leonard, Guildford. 
EARLY PEAS WITH OTHER CROPS. 
As a rule, the earliest gatherings of Peas are obtained from a 
short row or rows either sown or planted on the warmest wall 
borders. The latter, unfortunately, are in most instances of 
limited extent, and it follows a systematic rotation of crops is 
almost out of the question, and “ Pea-sick ” ground is the result. 
3 am no advocate of extreme systems of rotations of crops, far 
from it; but when it is seen the earliest Peas form weakly haulm 
of a sickly yellow hue it is very certain there is something 
•seriously wrong. Trenching or double-digging might be a partial 
remedy for this, but this w r ould lead to the destruction of the 
Toots and of much injury to the valuable fruit trees growing 
against the walls, and it ought not, therefore, to be attempted. A 
dressing of quicklime or even mortar rubbish might serve to correct 
the soil for a time, especially if the latter has been heavily manured 
for several years previous to the application of lime. Even this 
was of little avail on our early borders, and if we had to depend 
solely upon these to furnish early and heavy supplies of Peas 
failure must result. According to competent authorities the ashes 
of Pea haulm are largely composed of potash and phosphates, 
'neither of which are present to any appreciable extent in the class of 
solid hotbed manure most gardeners have to be content with. A 
free use of superphosphate of lime to a certain extent remedies 
this deficiency, and this and kainit (a crude and cheap form of 
potash) in equal quantities, sown thinly with the seed, and agiin 
when the Peas are growing strongly, will usually work wonders. 
As it happens, the value of wall borders for the earliest crops 
■of Peas is, in most instances, much over-estimated, and this, all who 
•have been able to closely observe the practices of market growers, 
must be well aware. Farmers in Essex and elsewhere, without any 
coddling or the assistance of presumably extra early varieties, can 
yet manage to gather large quantities of Peas quite as eirly —some¬ 
times earlier, in fact—as can gardeners who utilise their warmest 
borders for, and bestow much labour and care upon their earliest 
sowings. The additional shelter afforded by garden walls, and 
perhaps a fairly deep and rich root-run, encourages undue length of 
'haulm, whereas the Peas grown in the open form sturdy growth, 
and are the quickest to commence bearing. Those on warm borders 
may yield rather the heaviest crops, but these supplies are valued 
for their earliness rather than weight. 
Plenty of light and air, as well as warmth, is needed by Peas 
generally, and this they rarely get in sufficient quantities on 
•sheltered borders. Those, therefore, who are not well satisfied 
with their recent attempts to grow profitable crops on the latter 
sites ought to try what can be done in the open, or, if they prefer, 
Het them try an experiment. In many gardens there are good open 
quarters in the upper or most sunny part, and it is here where 
hoth early and second early Peas may well be grown in quantity. 
If the seed is sown as early in February as the ground can be had 
in good wo) king order, or say by the middle of the month, there 
is every probability of the crops being fit to gather quite as early 
as they would be on rows grown near walls, the quality really being 
-superior to the latter. Only one or two of the earliest, or com¬ 
paratively hardy round seeded varieties, such as First Crop, Extra 
Early, Ringleader, and Earliest of All, with William I., should be 
sown thus early, the seed of the choicer wrinkled varieties being 
liable to decay in the cold wet ground. Directly the rows of seed¬ 
lings peep through the ground the time has arrived for making a 
successional sowing of William I., and with this Telephone, Tele¬ 
graph, Paragon, or any other good second early variety. In any 
ease the second sowing of William I. is necessary, or otherwise 
there may be a slight break in the supply. We prefer to sow in 
wide drills fully 3 inches deep, are not stingy with the seed, and, 
if need be, cover the latter with fine light compost, a lumpy seed 
bed being very undesirable. If by any chance there are gaps in the 
rows, and no plants available for moving in patches with a trowel, 
the requisite quantity of seed should be soaked for a few hours, or 
till sprouted, in warm water, and then sown in 3-inch pots, set in 
gentle heat till the seedlings are well up, these being duly hardened 
off and planted where the blank occurs. 
After the foregoing rather long digression I must briefly touch 
oipon my original idea wher^placing the heading to this paper. In 
the majority of gardens the early Peas are sown or planted in rows 
from 3 to 4 feet apart, and a single line of Spinach grown between. 
As I have previously pointed out, rich warm borders favour a tall 
growth, especially when the seed is placed direct into the ground, 
and they would do far better in every way if given more room. 
This can be afforded them in a most advantageous manner. Thus, 
I if the rows of medium height Peas were disposed fully 9 feet apart, 
between them could be sown four rows of such excellent dwarf 
early varieties as Chelsea Gem, American Wonder, and Bijou, or 
the still earlier Carter’s Lightning might well be grown in these 
positions. The outer rows of these ought to be 18 inches clear of 
the tall varieties, or otherwise the latter cannot well be staked and 
attended to. The dwarfs crop very well without being staked, but 
succeed better if lightly supported. If preferred, rows of Cauli¬ 
flowers, including Extra Early Forcing, Dwarf Erfurt, Mammoth, 
and Mont Blanc, may be substituted for the dwarf Pea«. Broad 
Bean and Beck’s Dwarf Green Gem is suitable for those positions. 
These sheltered spaces are also admirably adapted for forwarding 
Old Ashleaf, Mona’s Piide, Victor, Veitch’s Improved Ashleaf, or 
any other favourite short-topped variety. Not only do the rows of 
Peas screen them from cold winds, but they also ward off light 
frosts, and, in some instances, give shade, and therefore insure a 
gradual and safe thaw after a rather severe frost. It is not, advis¬ 
able, however, to plant the Potatoes so early as the Peas are sown, 
the middle or end of March, as a rule, answering best. 
This, by no means novel practice, may not exactly meet the 
ideas of, or be suited to, the convenience of all, but there is no 
reason why a modification of it should not be adopted. If the 
warm borders are somewhat limited in extent, the rows of medium 
height Peas may be disposed 5 feet apart, an 1 between these be 
sown two rows of dwarf Peas, or a similar number of rows of 
Cauliflowers and Potatoes planted, this being much to be preferred 
to the old plan of crowding the row3.—W. Iggulden. 
SEASONABLE HINTS ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Auriculas. —“I am come to see your Auriculas,” was the startling 
announcement of a strange parson the other day. Startling, for 
although I have been at my present residence for upwards of twenty 
years I have never had such a visitor before. I have had those who 
came to see them, indeed, but they knew nothing about the flower, and 
generally pitched on the seifs as the “lovely” ones of the lot, the others 
they cared nothing about. They aie those visitors to whom one does 
not care much to show flowers. “ Passionately fond of flowers you 
know,” “ altogether too lovely,” and so on, but alas! no knowledge or 
real floristic appreciation of what they see. Well, my friend was 
evidently an enthusiastic lover, a though I fancy he loved “ not wisely, 
but too well,” for he had grown his plants in chalky soil. He hailed 
from Yorkshire, and living on the Wolds he had used the native soil, 
and was somewhat surprised when I told him I did not think that 
would do. On talking over varieties I found that there was a con¬ 
siderable divergence of opinion between us, and when he mentioned 
Colonel Champneys as a fine flower I was at once convinced he wanted 
educating, and was surprised when I discovered it, and said the Lan¬ 
cashire men wou d not admit it to be an Auricula—a watery eye, un¬ 
decided edge, too much, although brilliant, body colour, and a cupped 
shape were all assuredly enough to place it very low down. It has one 
redeeming quality, it is very strong and a rapid increaser, but, like the 
Irishman’s horse, what's the good of that, when he told an admirer— 
“ Oh, yes ! He’s fine to look at, but it takes me half a day to catch him, 
and when he is caught he aint worth the trouble.” However, my 
visitor’s coming was a boon, it taught me that it was now time to think 
about them ; but as I told him, it was about the worst time to see 
Auriculas, and they were only just beginning to wake up. His, he said, 
would sleep on for another fortnight. 
It strikes me that unless the unforeseen occurs, we shall have a 
forward season after the wonderful winter, and on looking over mine I 
find many showing their trusses. Here we are, on January 18th, the 
anniversary of that memorable snowstorm we had some years ago, ab’e 
to sit with our window open and enjoy the delightful sunshine. I have 
given up what used to be at this season a troublesome business—top¬ 
dressing. All the older florists thought much of it, and although they were 
in some things wiser than their successors, yet I feel bound to say that in my 
opinion in this case the moderns are right. I am now about to remove mine 
from the frames into the pit where they will flower. It is earlier than 
usual, but they seem to be quite ready for the change. I carefully take 
off all dead or decaying foliage, stir up the surface of the soil, and should 
any green fly be found carefully brush it off. I then place them in 
the pit, and should, in a little time, any aphis appear, I shall fumigate 
them carefully. The plants should be quite dry when this is done, and 
then there is no likelihood of any damage arising. Of course, as 
they will soon begin to make growth water will have to be applied more 
frequently, but even then care must be taken not to allow it to get into 
the heart of the plants, as Auriculas, like most florists’ flowers, suffer 
more from damp than frost. 
Carnations and Picotees.— These, although many of the layers 
were taken off late, have withstood the winter well, and the pots are 
now well filled with roots. The plants will require looking over, taking 
off any dead foliage, and should there be any green fly it should be 
carefully brushed away, and if this is not sufficient they should be 
fumigated, for nothing more cripples their growth than this pest, which 
is moreover a proof of want of care, for it ought never to be allowed to 
get hold of the plants. Now is a good time to get ready the compost 
for potting. I place mine under an open glass shed open at all sides. 
The loam is first laid out thoroughly iu this to get dry, it is then care- 
