402 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 10. 
In the Pine-stoves, on the curb-stones I noticed several 
plants in full flower of that pure white blossom, the Bal- 
■samina latifolia alba, a plant of great beauty at this season 
of the year. It is a good addition to our winter-blooming 
plants, but requires plenty of heat and moisture to keep 
it in health and bloom 
In a cool Peach-house 1 noticed a groat quantity of 
bedding-out Scarlet Geraniums. These, Mr. Burn, the 
gardener, informed me, had been propagated in a very 
simple manner. The cuttings were taken oil' in August, 
stuck thickly in pots, and set on a gravel walk, behind 
the espaliers alluded to above. They were never watered, 
but just took what fell from the clouds, and every cutting 
grew, and those that I saw were the stock thus, 1 might 
almost say, carelessly stuck in. 
^ Rufford Haul, near Ollcrton, Notts, the seat of the 
Earl of Scarborough ; a fine old place, with a good 
garden. The wall trees are uncommonly well managed. 
The Seymour system of training the Peach consists in 
not allowing any shoots on the under side of the main 
strong branches. It is a beautiful regular mode of 
training, and is much practised in various places in 
Yorkshire; but Mr. Chapman, the gardener at Rufford 
Hall, has adopted the singular mode of not allowing 
any young shoots to remain on the upper side of the 
main branches; and he assured me, he found the sap 
more regularly distributed, and the young shoots more 
equal in strength, than by Seymour’s method. The fruit 
was regular and ripened equally throughout the tree. 
Peach-growers may try this, and thus prove whether 
there is any advantage in it. T. Apfleby. 
CARROTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 
There are few things more precarious, as a garden 
crop, than the Carrot, as, from a variety of causes, a 
good crop cannot always be commanded on ground that 
seems capable of producing most other things in great 
abundance, for though there is every reason to believe 
the parent of the cultivated variety is indigenous with 
us, yet the high state of cultivation to which it has been 
brought, by breeding in and in, has so far diminished its 
hardihood, or made it less accommodating in its habits, 
that wo often see it refuse to grow on ground that other 
crops flourish upon. This state of things is certainly, 
in a measure, owing to the improvement effected on 
certain parts of it which require a certain amount of 
food of just such a kind as all land does not possess in 
the requisite quantity, and though there be a super¬ 
abundance of a contrary kind, still the habits of the 
plant, or rather its constitution, refuses to benefit by it. 
Another reason of the failure of the Carrot crop arises, 
not unfrequently, from the attacks of enemies against 
which it is not always sufficiently robust to protect 
itself; this occurs more often in old gardens, or 
grounds rich in manure and other compounds of a 
like nature, but it may be seen in newly broken up 
grounds as well. However, we occasionally see good 
crops in circumstances similar to both the last named ; 
ancl it is not always that the eye of the experienced 
can pronounce whether a soil pointed out to him is a 
good Carrot-bearing one or not, for it often happens 
that the most unpromising do well, while the better¬ 
looking one falls oil' sadly. Nevertheless, if we look to 
the best districts where Carrots are produced in quan¬ 
tities, wo shall glean a little of the reason “ why they 
do so.” 
1 believe I am right in saying, that a great bulk of 
the Carrots used in the great Metropolis are grown on 
tho southern part of Bedfordshire and its adjoining 
county, Herts. These roots are grown on land, which, at 
all seasons, does not present such a fine, mellow surface 
as other lands elsewhere, which are not favourable to 
this crop, the soil being a light hazel loam, rather than 
that sandy or gravelly soil with which we are too often 
wont to associate the name ol Carrot. Nevertheless, a 
certain amount ol good working and good management 
is requisite in all cases whore good crops are expected. 
Now, as every garden does not possess a soil so nicely 
balanced to the growth of the Carrot as that of which 
I speak, it may be well to mention a few of the 
“ points’ which tend to secure a crop, noticing, at the 
same time, some of the causes of failure. 
In the first place, we shall suppose the only eligible 
site for a Carrot-bed is in an old garden, which has 
been under crops of various kinds for many years, and 
received a liberal allowance of manure in the ordinary 
way. This soil, rich in humus, which, doubtless, grew 
excellent Cabbage, Lettuce, and similar crops, is not 
exactly the one for Carrots, it being too rich, and most 
likely abounds in the enemies so much to be dreaded in 
the Carrot crop. Now, the only way to manage this 
well, is to consider some time before-liand where the 
Carrot-bed is to be, and have the ground trenched in 
the autumn, burying a considerable part of the top soil 
at the bottom, and mixing some of the bottom with | 
what remains at the top; this is done, of course, only j 
in such places where a sufficient depth of soil is to be | 
found, and must not be carried out too far, neither must 1 
it be delayed until just before sowing time, otherwise 
there will not be time for the earth to get thoroughly 
pulverised by the action of the air, as well as rendered 
sweet, and capable of germinating and supporting 
delicate seeds like the Carrot. Now, in addition to the 
trenching just spoken of, it would be prudent to take 
advantage ol two or three favourable occasions when 
the top of the ground was dry, during the winter, and 
dig it all over, one spit deep; the last digging might 
only be a sort of stirring, the top side remaining as top 
side again. This movement of the soil is best done 
when a slight frost allows the ground to be trod upon 
without pressing it, while the tool of the operator is still 
able to work. It is almost needless to say, that at the 
last the ground ought to be made very fine, and ad¬ 
vantage taken of a fine day to sow the seed; the crop 
may be fairly expected to be good, the season being 
favourable, and all vermin kept at bay. But it would 
bo wrong to say that it would assuredly be good, for i 
old gardens are not always the best places for Carrots. 1 I 
ought, also, to mention, that it would be well (where a j 
choice can bo made) to have the Carrot following some 
other crop than one of the Cabbage family, for they 
generally leave behind them a train of enemies which 
prove fatal to the Carrot. Nevertheless, there may be 
instances where this may be necessary; in such cases, 
more energy in preparing the ground, so as to froe it 
from such impurities, accompanied by a favourable 
season, will generally effect a cure; lime, of course, 
being also an ingredient not to be dispensed with. 
The Early Horn variety of the Carrot is supposed to 
contain the best table qualification, but it is smaller ; 
than the other; the Orange is, perhaps, the next best, 
the Altringham having, of late years, appeared so hard 
and unpalatable ; but much depends on the season, the I 
kind of soil it is grown upon, and other conditions, that 
I have no doubt the Altringham may be a favourite 
when the other kinds are condemned. In one respect it 
differs from many others—there is a much larger portion 
of it out of the ground than there is of the others. 
In summing up this subject, it is proper to observe, 
that when all means ol securing a good crop of Carrots 
from wire-worm, &c., have failed, a partial one may be 
found by sowing this root with a crop obnoxious to the 
vermin spoken of; as I can well remember, ininy younger 
days, seeing Carrots and Leeks sown in alternate rows; 
the latter produce, being offensive to the wire-worm, 
