246 
[ March SI, 1887. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUR 
on losing twenty-five more each following season, we shall still 
have to keep on forking out 12s. Gd. each year. One hundred 
Roses on the seedling Briar, all of which will most probably live 
and flourish for years—yes, twice as many years as those on the 
Manetti, will be much cheaper in the long run, even if we have to 
pay 60s., or even 70s., for them. For my own part I cannot see 
why seedling Briar Roses should be any dearer than those on the 
Manetti, and it is my firm opinion that they will soon be to b9 had 
at the same money. 
The Manetti may answer on light dry soils where the Briar fails, 
but for real business give me the Briar. The Manetti makes 
grand plants the first year, even finer than the Briar in some cases, 
and I am half inclined to think that this is the reason why so many 
nurserymen grow it.—D. Gilmouk, jun. 
(To be continued.) 
SALADS AND S4LAD CULTURE. 
[A paper read before the Liverpool Horticultural Society by Mr. F. Harrison, The 
Gardens, Knowaley Hall, Prescot]. 
Among the many duties of a gentleman's gardener that of 
providing a regular supply of salading for his employer’s table is 
one of the most important, few things being more freely criticised or 
more keenly relished than the salad. At some tables the salad is of as 
much importance as the dessert; and as with a dessert so with a 
salad, it is required to be not only good to eat, but pleasant to look 
upon. Of course tastes differ occasionally as to what is good, and 
opinions vary as to what looks best, but that only goes to prove the 
truth of the axiom that appearances go for much. Before going 
further, I beg to remark that it will be impossible for me, within 
the limits of this paper, to enter into all the details of the various 
branches and interests connected with the subject. I shall therefore 
■confine myself to the routine of practice that applies to a gentle¬ 
man’s garden chiefly. The first thing I would like to impress upon 
the mind of the cultivator of salading is, that what may be termed 
the essential qualities of the produce can only be fully developed 
by the careful and timely observance of a few leading rules and 
principles of cultivation, and that mere cultural details are an 
elastic and variable quantity, which may be made to fit in with the 
circumstances of time and place; and, secondly, that whatever is 
destined for the salad bowl should be grown well, and as quickly as 
is consistent with the nature of the plant and the season of the 
year, and this should be accomplished by what I will call “ fair 
means.’’ I would deprecate the use of sewage under any circum¬ 
stances, and oven ordinary liquid manure should be eschewed in the 
finishing stages of growth ; in fact I would insist upon the culti¬ 
vation being throughout of a cleanly and wholesome character, and 
this it may be if the land is kept in good heart, deeply and well 
worked, and the crop is allowed sufficient room for full develop¬ 
ment. These are what I will call “ fair means,” and by them we 
• can surely and unfailingly raise salading of the necessary succulent 
quality. Everything, then, should be fresh, clean, crisp, juicy, and 
“nutty;” nothing of a woody, woolly, or fibry character is ad¬ 
missible. It is well, too, to provide as much variety as means will 
afford, and though some portion of green is generally liked, w r e 
must never be short of well-blanched foliage. A Frenchman, whose 
■salads used to be much admired and praised, once observed to me 
that in England a salad is often spoiled by too much vinegar and 
too much water. Well, I suppose the gardener has seldom anything 
to do with the vinegar, but he may be responsible for some of the 
water if his salading happens to require much washing, a condition 
which I know full well is not easily avoided in a climate where 
■clouds of dust and showers of rain come alternately. But that does 
not matter ; what we have to bear in mind is, that the less washing 
is requisite, the better. This remark, I need hardly say, applies to 
such things as grow above ground only, and not to underground 
parts. And now, having said so much upon leading rules and 
principles and essential qualities, I will refer to the practical or 
cultural part of the subject.. 
LETTUCES. 
First as to Lettuces. It has been said, and with some truth, 
that the heart and soul of a salad is a Lettuce, for it would be 
difficult to find a perfect substitute for a good Lettuce, Cabbage 
or Cos. Each has its patrons and admirers, and in each class there 
are numerous varieties, some being most suitable for sowing at one 
season of the year, and some for another. In early spring it is 
desirable to sow such sorts as turn in quickly, as at that time there 
is generally more or less of a scarcity of salading, and at the same 
time a large demand for it. The Early Paris Market is one of the 
best for the first sowing, and if put in early in February, and 
brought on for a while in gentle heat, and finished in a cold frame, 
is most useful. Another charming little Lettuce is Perfect Gem. 
E AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
It also grows quickly, turns in rapidly, occupies but little space, 
and it has the further good quality of hearting up so closely as to 
insure blanching. Other good sorts of Cabbage Lettuce are—All 
the Year Round, Brown Genoa, Brown Dutch, Hammersmith 
Hardy Green, &c. The two last-named are most useful for sowing 
for late autumn and winter use, as they are not only hardy, but 
their size and habit of growth render them well adapted for culti¬ 
vation under handlights, a position in which they will survive the 
hardest winter, provided they are strong to begin with and the 
glasses are kept close. Among the best of the Cos Lettuces may 
be named Paris White, which I fancy is the parent of, or the stock 
from which has been selected numerous “ Superb Whites with 
the vendor’s name prefixed. Be this as it may, it is an excellent 
Lettuce. Sugarloaf, Brown Cos, Black-seeded Bath, and Hicks’ 
Hardy White are also good and reliable sorts, and of course there 
are many others. Summer Lettuces require good rich soil, and I 
prefer sowing them where they are to stand when that can be done. 
Circumstances, however, will not always admit of this, and then we 
adopt the next best plan of sowing thinly in a bed from which they 
can be transplanted while yet small, care being taken to shade and 
water them according to the requirements of the time. When the 
young plants are well established and growing freely, a mulching of 
old Mushroom bed, or something similar, laid on soon after a soaking 
of water, is beneficial in several ways, and will help to develope 
those fat-looking Lettuces that are admired and appreciated by 
nearly everybody. If liquid manure is used, it should be applied in 
a clear state, and only in the earlier stages of growth. There 
should be no suspicion of anything of the kind about the Lettuces 
when they come into use. Blanching must not be forgotten when 
the time for it arrives, and it may be accomplished in a variety of 
ways. Tying up with a piece of matting answers very well, and 
is generally sufficient, but if a special pride is taken in this part of 
the work, a clean flower pot may be turned upside down over each 
Lettuce—a few at a time, according to the demand—care being 
taken not to leave them on too long, or the Lettuces will very soon 
either decay or “ bolt.” It takes about five or six days in the summer 
time, and later in the season a little longer, to blanch a green 
Lettuce of some of the Cos sorts, but such as have the habit of 
folding closely over often require but little doing to. Seed should 
be sown frequently during the spring and summer, and in July 
three or four sowings should be made, as from these will come the 
autumn supply, while sowings for winter use may be made during 
August and the early part of September, perhaps a little later in 
some localities. 
ENDIVE. 
Endive is indispensable for autumn and winter use, and about 
three sorts are as many as need be grown. The Moss-curled is a 
good sort to sow about the middle of June for early use, to be 
followed i by the Hardy Green-curled and the Round-leaved Bata¬ 
vian about the first week in July and again about the end of that 
month. These three sowings will cover the period when Endive is 
most in request, but a small sowing a -week or two earlier, and one 
rather later than the times named, may be made if circumstances 
demand it. Very early sown plants are, however, given to run to 
seed prematurely, while very late ones do not develope fully before 
the cold weather puts a stop to growth. The cultural details for 
Lettuces will apply equally well to Endive with a little variation. 
Blanching is most easily effected by placing a piece of clean board 
over as many plants as are likely to be required in five or six days, 
pushing it on from time to time when a cutting is made, so as to 
keep up a constant succession of well-blanched Endive. Tying 
and inverted flower pots may be resorted to where those methods of 
blanching are preferred. Some people lift a portion of the later 
sowing of this crop before hard weather sets in and plant it out in 
a cold frame or house along with some of the later sown Lettuces, 
but I much prefer growing a batch of each in the frame where they 
are to remain, as these seem les3 liable to decay during winter than 
such as have been lifted when fully developed. 
®To be continued.) 
SIGNS OF SPRING. 
The protracted winter has been remarkable for 3evcre and long con¬ 
tinued frosts, keeping hardy plants effectually in check. Scarcely any 
plants are in flower yet out of doors save Winter Aconites and Snowdrops, 
and these are always welcome. The only plant which has really never 
ceased flowering throughout the winter is Viola Brilliant, in colour a 
golden yellow, with dark blotch in centre. It is worthy of note that 
the young plants of this particular variety, inserted as cuttings last July, 
had bloom buds upon them when planted early in November in their 
permanent quarters for this year's flowering. Many of these buds ex¬ 
panded after this time, and others were ready to open when the snow 
came and hid them, but when the snow departed the buds still con¬ 
tinued to open in spite of all weathers, and indeed three blooms had 
