432 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ SI»y so, 
denied that by the successive removal of crops of the same kind, 
the mineral substances in the soil must be decreased— i.e., those in 
a state available for the food of plants. 
A change of crops being evidently desirable, it remains to point 
out which are found the best systems of rotation. At the same 
time it is impracticable to recommend any particular system of 
cropping as the best, for this must entirely depend upon the 
nature of the soil, its richness, the amount of manure available, 
and the products required from a given area. In gardens of limited 
extent a considerable variety of produce is required, and there 
must of necessity be a relatively small proportion of each. Some 
cultivators, especially those who have to obtain much produce from 
a comparatively small area, hence may justly be considered the best 
gardeners, adopt no particular method of rotation, yet as far as 
practicable they follow a system. Their crops usually are of short 
duration, and they do not as a rule grow plants for their seeds. 
They are particular not to follow with crops of a similar nature to 
the preceding, but the principle upon which they act is to apply 
manure heavily, stir deeply, trench frequently, and never let the 
ground remain idle. It would be impossible to give any particular 
system of cropping that would be applicable in all cases, as in many 
gardens a simultaneous system of cropping has to be practised, the 
ground being occupied by several crops at one time. For instance, 
we grow all our summer crops of Radishes, Spinach, and Turnips 
between the rows of Peas ; Lettuces in the alleys of the root crops, 
such as Onions, and between the rows of Celery. In like manner, 
Brassicas are planted between the rows of early Potatoes. 
As a rule the following rotations may be taken as all that it 
is necessary to observe in gardens :—1, Pod-bearers, as Peas, 
Beans, Kidney Beans, or Scarlet Runners may follow Potatoes, 
root crops of all sorts, and all plants of the Cabbage family. 
2, Cabbages, &c., may follow pod-bearers, all root crops except 
Turnips, or other crop not consisting of cruciferous plants, Lettuces, 
or other Composite. 3, Root crops of all kinds may follow pod- 
bearers and Cabbages. This is all the order of cropping that need 
be attended to in gardens, but other crops need to be considered. 
For instance, Parsley must not follow other umbelliferous plants, 
such as Carrots, Celery, or Parsnips, but any other crop. Lettuces 
may follow any crop except Endive, Chicory, Salsafy, Scorzonera 
Cardoon, and Artichokes. Spinach may follow any crop except 
Beet. Celery ought not to succeed umbelliferous plants such as 
Carrots and Parsnips, but as Celery depends for support on the 
manure introduced in the trenches it is not imperative. Leeks may 
be taken after any crop except Onions and others of an alliaceous 
character. Turnips may succeed pod-bearers, Potatoes, Spinach, 
or any other crop not of the cruciferous class, similar remarks 
applying to Seakale. 
Those are some of the points to be attended to in cropping 
ground with vegetables. Those of long duration, such as Aspara¬ 
gus and Strawberries, may follow any crop, and they may be suc¬ 
ceeded by those that are of short duration, and it may be taken as 
an axiom that ground deeply stirred and occasionally trenched will 
admit of a more frequent recurrence of the same crop than 
ground which has not been similarly cultivated.—G. Abbey. 
SUPPORTING PLANTS IN BORDERS. 
Many outdoor plants, in borders and elsewhere, require some 
means of support, for if left to themselves they invariably get 
broken by their own weight or by force of high winds. The old- 
fashioned method of tying growths to a rigid stick, set with mathe¬ 
matical exactness as to position, still prevails in some gardens. It 
is to be hoped, however, that the number is becoming less, though 
the fact remains that gardens are still to be found where the 
common white Lily is staked out with the utmost precision, where 
Carnations have each flowering spray neatly tied to a stick, and 
where commoner plants have their flowering growths assorted in 
bundles, and their beauty displayed in prim trimness. For several 
reasons I entertain a dislike to sticks. They are unsightly ; good 
ones are expensive ; where many thousands are required the’labour 
required to insert them in the soil and to tie the plants is consider¬ 
able ; still they remain a necessary evil, and as an evil which cannot 
altogether be disposed, the least possible use is made of them. It 
is astonishing how few sticks are required when one tries to get rid 
of them, and how inconspicuous most of those employed may be if 
used in a sensible manner. 
The first thing to be done is to improve the habit of the plants. 
Left to themselves most border plants grow much too thickly, and 
the growths are in consequence weakly and easy to upset. If, 
however, by a judicious thinning as early in summer as it can be 
done, room is given for a healthy and full development of foliage, 
the stems on that account become more rigid and require less 
supporting. With regard to plants which are started or raised 
under glass, the plan to follow is to grow these as short a time as 
possible under glass, so as to have them firm and sturdy when 
placed out. This is really a matter of some importance, for if 
plants such as Dahlias are propagated early and drawn up in warm 
structures large stakes are a necessity from the very first. 
When beginning to attend to plants in a mixed border, those 
which do not require stakes should first be noted, such as all the 
tall-growing Irises, the Hemerocallis, some Lilies, Japanese Ane¬ 
mones, Sidalceas, Spiraea Aruncus, and S. Ulmaria fl.-pleno, Phy- 
gelius capensis, and Papavers ; then there are certain plants which 
merely require a string run loosely round and tied to make a perfect 
support. Large clumps of Phloxes, Solidagos, Chrysanthemums of 
the uliginosum type, Aconiturns, and the stiffer-growing Michaelmas 
Daisies are examples. 
Coming next to plants which require stakes, it will be found 
that a comparatively short stake will in general be a sufficient 
support to the majority, the point to be aimed at being to make 
it sufficient to keep the base of the stems from swaying. Thus 
Lilies which require staking will have ample support if tied up to- 
12 to 18 inches clear of the ground. Delphiniums, Gladiolus, and 
most plants producing their flowers in spikes may be supported 
in the same way. Small plants of the same kind, as a rule, 
require more support than those which are older and of a larger 
development. Thus yearly Pentstemons from cuttings require to 
be staked, while seedlings and old plants are best without tying. 
Young Phloxes, again, require the support of sticks, while clumps 
do not. In the case of transplanting seedlings, such as Asters, Snap¬ 
dragons, Salpiglossis, &c., the best way is to draw drills with a hoe, 
plant the seedlings in these, and in due time, by levelling the 
ground, a sufficient support will be found them. With regard to 
Dahlias and other plants which can be treated in the same way, 
the simplest plan is to peg the plants close to the ground as soon 
as they have made sufficient growth. The shorter varieties when, 
properly managed do not require any stakes when thus treated, 
and the general habit of the plant is, moreover, much improved. 
This rule is absolute, either where pegging down the shoots is 
resorted to, tying with string, or supporting with stakes, that allow¬ 
ing the work to be passed must not be tolerated. A thunderstorm 
ora summer gale, finding unsupported plants will leave them in a 
state which it will be impossible to altogether get the better of for 
the season. If taken in time the labour is insignificant, and the 
results worth much greater work, whereas delay will bring in¬ 
creased labour, and at best very unworkmanlike plants when 
finished.—B. 
THE FERTILISATION OF GRAPES. 
The various means adopted to secure well set bunches of 
varieties of Grapes generally considered to require artificial aid to 
promote perfect fertilisation are somewhat perplexing. Some 
writers aver that syringing the bunches when in flower is a sure 
and efficacious method of attaining the object in view ; others 
depend entirely upon the rabbit-tail or camel-hair brush. Some 
give no further attention to the matter than merely tapping the 
rods several times daily ; while others resort to a combination of 
shaking, syringing, and brushing. With so many aids to fertilisa¬ 
tion recommended it requires no small amount of judgment on the 
part of the inexperienced to strike out for themselves the course 
most likely to succeed in their own case, as it is well known to 
those who have had charge of Vines in different localities that the 
means used to secure a good set in one place will not have the 
desired effect in another—not perhaps that the locality in itself 
makes the difference—but so much depends upon the manner in 
which the border has been made, the quality of the compost used, 
the attention given to watering, and the general health of the 
Vines at flowering time. In some cases I am inclined to think 
that failure occurs through trying too many systems. 
The weather during the present season has not been such as is 
generally considered favourable for the setting of Grapes. The 
genial sunshine so welcome to Grape growers has generally been 
