60 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 27. 
some districts, where the sale tor white Wheat is limited, 
may be grown with great advantage; tor although the 
| grain is superior in quality, yet they will likewise pro- 
' duce large crops, the straw being stiff and strong, and 
not likely to be lodged easily from the effect of high 
i cultivation. Joseph Blundell. 
(To be continued .) 
ALLOTMENT FARMING— Nov ember. 
After one of the most extraordinary seasons on record, 
I as concerns the soil, and all proceedings connected there¬ 
with, we are at last approaching the confines of the year, 
and it may be well to take a retrospective glance at bygone 
affairs, as bearing somewhat on future proceedings. The 
quantity of rain which has fallen through the year has far 
exceeded the usual bounds, and this not in one district 
alone, hut, I believe, nearly all over England. This has, of 
! course, had a constant tendency to impede all cultural 
operations ; and to give the past summer a name somewhat 
in character, it would not be amiss to call it— The Weed 
| Summer. 
It is well known that ground constantly covered with 
weeds, and the scum of mosses and other minute or mi- 
; croscopic vegetation, cannot undergo the necessary degree 
of airiug, or, in other words, cannot l'eceive, with a proper 
degree of facility, the beneficial effects of the atmosphere. 
Here, then, is the position of affairs with regard to future 
progress; our gardens have all undergone bad cultivation, 
I for this summer has verily been a leveller ; the most ardent 
cultivator, and the most intense weed-hater, have been 
thrown nearly on a level with the sloven. 
This is certainly an extreme state of things; but I can 
! vouch for its being true to the very letter in this part of the 
north. What, then, is to be done to recover our lost position ? 
This is a consideration worthy of much care, during this 
| month especially. In the first place, let me repeat what I 
have so frequently urged, that every plot of ground from 
which crops have been removed should receive spade culture 
immediately, ridging the soil as high as possible, and digging 
; deep. This is the only way to recover lost ground, and this, 
of course, requires extra efforts, without which, indeed, 
another summer may prove worse than the past. Draining, 
indeed, that chief foundation-stone of most farming or 
gardening improvements, should even claim a prior con¬ 
sideration to the former; and here, we should hope, that 
those benevolent persons, who, out of a philanthropic and 
national feeling, have generously taken into consideration 
the position of the workman, by pushing forward the allot¬ 
ment system, and by granting laud for the purpose, will 
stretch forth their hand yet further, and endeavour to assist 
in the matter of drainage; for although every other process 
connected with these plots may be readily accomplished by 
the workman and his family, by extra assiduity, yet in the 
matter of drainage it can scarcely be expected; both 
material and cartage are hard-to-come-at commodities with 
the ordinary allotment holder. Hence, we may find, in 
many cases, these evils are not looked fairly in the face, and 
the importance of drainage is lost sight of. 
And, now, the first crop to which we may pay a little 
consideration is the Potato. Really one approaches this 
question with a mixture of doubt and sorrow. I must here 
! report the condition of the Potato crop, together with its 
I future chances, as decidedly worse than in 1845. We can 
I by no means report a smaller loss in the aggregate, through 
I this part of the country, than eighty per cent.! This is 
astounding enough to the most nervous alarmist; and a 
grave consideration it is. Truly, it is well that trade has 
been brisk, and the prices of other bread stuffs comparatively 
low, or who can imagine the consequences '! I have taken 
some pains to ascertain the conditions of soil, seed, &c., 
together with the previous rotations pursued on plots no¬ 
torious, either for extreme failures, or for unusual success, 
and all my evidence tends to one point, as a conclusion, viz., 
the less manure , and even the less organic matter in the soil, 
the greater the chances of success. I have no doubt that 
some of our readers will start at the term organic matter— 
by which I mean simply the turfy material of bogs—and 
will be ready to exclaim—Who, then, can grow a crop to 
pay ? This is a very natural enquiry, indeed, and is purely 
a trade matter ; but I am speaking of tbe physical health of 
the Potato, with a view to its restoration. I have lots of 
evidence about me to show that this is the case, and 1 am 
of opinion, that before the disease can be got rid of, which 
will not be in one year, that the dry gangrene must, of 
necessity, succeed the wet one. I speak not here in a 
scientific way, I merely hint that there are two kinds of 
decay in the foliage, at least, distinguished rather by their 
comparative virulence, than by any specific character. Then, 
as I take it, poverty of soil will suffer them to assume the 
dry gangrene, and rich and manured soils the moist. 
I may here tell our cottage friends, that by this clumsy 
term gangrene, I merely mean the decay or mortification 
which destroys the haulm long before its natural period. 
Some of the very best crops of Potatoes in this neighbour¬ 
hood are produced through the agency of guano alone, on 
land which is what is practically termed worn out; that is 
to say, land which has had so much of the plough, and so 
little manure, that there is little organic matter left in it. 
Now, this I know to be a fact, and an extraordinary fact, too, 
as bearing on the Potato disease. I shall have much more 
to say about this on another occasion, for I verily believe, 
that few can see why this should be so. To conclude about 
Potatoes, I can only advise care in the seed. Select well 
from the poorest of soils, dry them directly, even slightly 
green them, and keep them dry and cool as possible, short 
of freezing. This, I believe, is sound advice in tbe present 
crisis; but it would be well for our scientific men, who have 
skill and leisure, to try various disinfecting processes, for 
this is not a bad way of commencing to grapple with the 
question. 
Store Roots. —All store roots intended to be lifted in 
autumn should be in then- winter quarters by the second 
week in November. I have before so often suggested 
modes of keeping, of pitting, Ac., that I need scarcely 
repeat them here. Again, I say, dryness is the great secret, 
but not the dryness arising from artificial warmth. 
Our readers must remember that there are but two ways 
in which they may lose ground in these things; the one in 
sprouting; the other by rot; and dryness is antagonist to 
both. Strange to say, I have Mangold Wurtzel now, of last 
year’s growth, as fresh as when taken out of the soil. I his 
has been kept in-door.s, in a dry shed, lying piled in a hole 
where no damp could ever reach, and the base ot which is, 
indeed, complete dust. This is truly a wonderful root; 
surely it must be adapted for long sea voyages ; if it could 
be worked up into food for seamen, it would, in the present 
state of things, surely be most desirable. 
Swedes, of course, may remain out much later, as they have 
made such poor growth this year, especially as a secondary 
crop. Indeed, these will endure most moderate winters. 
Parsnips, too, may, as before observed, lie all the winter, 
merely spreading a little manure over their crowns. 
Rhubarb. —Those who want early Rhubarb should cover 
the crowns the moment the foliage is removed; indeed, 
cut it and remove it sooner on purpose. Litter, six inches 
thick, will keep the ground-heat in, and this is the point to 
aim at. 
In conclusion, let me advise strict attention to an early 
clearing of the soil of all exhausted crops, in order that all 
chances of corruption and stagnation be removed ; and that 
the soil be instantly broken up as before advised. Whatever 
residue be collected, let it be burned, or rather charred; 
trimming hedges, gutter sides, and collecting all possible 
rubbish, in order to wind up the old year by system, and 
acquire a renewed vigour for a fresh campaign. 
R. Errington. 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR— November. 
By J. IT. Payne, Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's 
Guide," &c. 
The Season.—M uch has been said of late years about 
bad seasons for bees, but of all the bad ones this has certainly 
been the worst; for I hear but one sad lament from all 
