136 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEK. 
November 25. 
is, that farmers and gardeners may cut oft’ the leaves of 
j their Turnips, Carrots, and Mangold Wurtzel, or Beet, 
' and whilst using those leaves for fodder, that the roots 
; will go on increasing in size. 
Now, we warn our readers, without any reservation, 
against any such practice. It is quite true that yon may 
cut off the tops or leaves of those root-crops, and they 
will continue to put forth fresh leaves, and to increase 
in hulk, though more slowly than if the tops were left 
uninjured; but there will be no increase of solid matter. 
The roots will be more spongy, and contain a greater 
amount of water, but they will not increase in nutritive 
constituents. If only a portion of the leaves, and those 
only which age had rendered inactive, are removed; and 
if a sufticiency of young leaves are left to continue the 
elaborative functions, we all know that such treatment 
improves the vigour of the plant; brrt such judicious 
culture, for the better admission of air and light to the 
crop, is no modern discovery, brrt is to be forrnd in every 
gardening book published during the last century. On 
the other hand, so far is the removal of all, or even 
nearly all, of the leaves of our root-crops from being of 
any benefit to them, that you may, by repeating the pro¬ 
cess, gradually render the roots worthless, and even kill 
them. 
A similar delusion once existed, and perhaps still 
exists, relative to the Potato. It is well known that old 
tubers of this buried in sand, and kept in a warm dark 
place, will often produce a cluster of young tubers, 
without making any attempt to produce leaves. This 
fact we have seen quoted in justification of the practice 
which has been recommended of pulling otf the stems 
of the Potato as soon as they showed symptoms of the 
murrain; the inference being, that the tubers of the crop 
would continue to grow without the leaves and stems, 
as in the other case. Such inference is most erroneous. 
A tuber buried in sand will produce young tubers, but 
it is entirely at the expense of its own substance ; and 
so far from increasing in solid constituents, we believe 
that the old and young tubers actually contain more i 
water and less solid matters than the old tuber before 
producing the young ones. This is easily tested, and 
we are of opinion that the results of our experitnents 
will in every case be verified. We have w'eighed six 
Potatoes, and then had them sliced, and all the water 
evaporated from them by long exposure to a heat just 
below 212°. We have weighed three dozen other Pota¬ 
toes, of similar size, and buried them in sand until some 
of them produced young tubers. We sliced six of these, 
and the young tubers they produced, and. having dried 
them in a similar manner, found in every instance that 
they yielded less solid matter, in proportion to their 
original weight, than the six which had not been allowed 
to produce young tubers. 
We, therefore, repeat the warning to our readers, not 
to be induced to remove an excessive amount of leaves 
from their root-crops ; and we take the oppoilunity to 
extend the warning against any extravagant recommen- 
dation which at any time goes the length of proving, 
j if correct, that He who created jfiants was mistaken in 
His plans. If experiments are stated which seem to 
sustain such a recommendation, be assured, beyond all . 
doubt, that either the experiments or the deductions 
from them are erroneous. Never mind, though the 
authority which says that plants will increase in solid 
matter, “in the absence of leaves,” tells you that the 
contrary opinion is “a dee])ly-rooted prejudice;” it 
is a prejudice sustained not only by science but by 
practice. 
EORSYTH MSS. 
The projects of Sir John Sincl.vir for turning the soil 
of Great Britain to advantage were not confined to 
farming and gardening, but embraced many other arts, 
foremost among which was extensive planting. These 
projects he continued after he lost the Presidentship of 
the Board of Agriculture, and down to the time of his 
death. | 
There is no doubt that his Whig politics were the cause ' 
of his being deprived of the Presidentship, yet notwith¬ 
standing the castigation he received from Mr. Pitt, and 
notwithstanding all the government influence, he only 
lost the office by a single vote, thirteen voting for I.ord 
Somerville, and twelve for Sir John Sinclair. This was 
in 1798, and in the year following we find a note from 
him to Mr. Forsyth, containing the following queries. 
It is dated from .35, Craven Street, Strand, 10th of 
December, 1799. 
QUESTIONS REG.VRDING rUANTATIONS. 
]. If plantations of .500 .acres of waste lands were to bo 
made in different parts of England, what do yon imagine 
would be the average price of the land? 
2. What wonhl be the expense of fencing the land 
against sheep and cattle, if 5Un acres were included in one 
plantation ? 
3. What would be the expense of planting .700 acres with 
larch ; and for how much per acre could they bo planted, 
and upheld for seven years ? 
4. What would probably lie the value of a plantation of 
larch of thirty years growth, per tree, and per acre? 
W^e must now conclude our notice of this in¬ 
defatigable, useful, and benevolent man. No man, 
; says one of his biographers, could devote himself 
with more ardour and perseverance for the benefit of 
his country, the support of all public institutions, and 
the reward of merit wherever found ;—for the well-being 
of mankind was the object nearest his heart. How 
much his sovereign appreciated his merit is testified by 
his being created a Baronet in 1786, and by his being 
made a Privy Councillor in 1810. He died on the 21st 
of December, 1835, at his house in George Street, 
Edinburgh, aged 82 years. 
COVENT GARDEN. 
When we entered upon the preparation of these ; 
reports, the only object we had in contemplation wms i 
to furnish an account of the st.ate of the London fruit 
and vegetable markets, and of the different descriptions i 
of produce there ofiered for sale. But, as we stated last I 
week, various ideas force themselves on our mind as 
we proceed, and it may not be considered out of place 
to record them here. One of these, as we remarked in 
