358 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
proceed with some other points on which, perhaps, there 
may be a difference of opinion. 
Stiff, clayey lands, which, in times long since gone by, 
used to produce excellent crops of Potatoes in dry 
summers, rarely now furnish a good crop; and not 
unlrequently it is a total failure. This is to be accounted 
for by such lands being generally later than dry, sound 
lands, and the crop being overtaken by disease before 
it be far enough advanced in growth to resist it with 
effect, the result is often little short of total annihilation. 
Lhis state of things can only be remedied by effectually 
draining such lands, and adopting a better mode of 
tillage, whereby its tenacious qualities are altered. This, 
oi course, is the work of some years, and other crops will 
be more beneficial on such lands than Potatoes. Where 
Potatoes must be grown on sucb land, a liberal applica¬ 
tion of mortar-rubbish, or lime, in addition to other 
loosening substances, must be well worked into the ground 
prior to the Potatoes being planted; but it must be kept 
in mind that these substances do not unite with the soil 
when they are first applied, but some time necessarily 
elapses ere the union is completed. Yet, they exercise 
a useful influence at once; because, in the subsequent 
diggings or ploughings they get into the ground, and 
getting betweeen portions of the stiff clayey matter, 
prevent these uniting again into one impenetrable 
mass, thereby permitting the entrance of the air; and 
as lime and chalk, and their kindred substance, 
mortar-rubbish, seem all agreeable compounds to the 
Potato, their presence is beneficial rather than other¬ 
wise to the crop. Even stones of a soft or sand¬ 
stone kind have been found beneficial fertilizers to a stiff 
soil; and though I cannot say that I have ever scon it 
tried particularly for Potatoes, I have seen stone-shatter, 
from a sandstone quarry, applied at the rate of upwards 
of a hundred tons an acre, on stiff' land, with the best 
effect to com and other crops. Stiff lands are also 
benefited by judiciously digging or tilling the ground at 
the right season; but as this subject has been dwelt 
upon in a former article, I will not repeat it here, but 
will merely say, that the most important fertilizer or 
assistant to such lands is a fine, dry spring, when the 
tilling and planting is supposed to be going on; while the 
worst evil that can befall such a soil is a spring of the 
contrary description, followed by a dull, cold, and per¬ 
haps wet summer. However, under the most favourable 
circumstances. Potatoes do not thrive so well in a clayey 
soil as in a dry, loamy one. I do not mean a poor, 
hungry gravel or sand, where each succeeding crop is 
merely the creature of the moment, and success or failure 
due to the natural and artificial means adopted at the 
time; but one of those deep, rich soils, which, having 
sufficient moisture without tenacity, are capable of 
supporting a healthy vegetation through a dry season 
as well as a wet one, without those artificial means 
being used at the moment, which cannot well be done 
on a large scale. 
Perhaps, one of the most effectual means that can be 
adopted to guard against disease in this useful tuber is 
to plant the soundest sets that can be had on the best 
ground, in order that a vigorous and early growth may 
take place, instead of a late and weak one; the early 
being less likely to be attacked than the latter, and if it 
be attacked, its constitutional energy will enable it, to a 
great extent, to resist his attack. 
There are many modes of preparing the seed Potatoes, 
but I confess having but little faith in any one of them. 
A writer in a contemporary journal, and, in fact, backed 
by the editor of it, strongly recommended the sets to be half 
roasted before planting. This fiery ordeal seemed an 
extreme one, and, certainly, liable to end, in some cases, 
in total failure : and the results of the past year has not, 
seemingly, confirmed its utility. Washing the sets with 
a strong solution of lime, is, certainly, a more rational 
February 6. 
one; but I could never see bow the washing of the seed 
in January or February could affect the crop in July or 
August, because, at that time they are drawing their 
support from the medium in which they are growing, 
and not from the parent set; and we all know, that 
late in summer is the time when the disease makes 
itself manifest, not slowly and imperceptibly, but all at 
once. Nevertheless, the amateur who has taste for 
experiments may try different rows operated upon in 
different ways, and the result will tell for itself. 
Allowing the seed Potatoes to lie on the ground some 
time in Autumn, so as to to get “ greened,” has also been 
found successful, and we have more faith in that being 
so, than in the efficacy of any “ mysterious wash ” being 
of service some six months after it has been used. 
J o sum up the whole, the most certain way of com¬ 
bating the evil is to get the ground into the best order, 
and, as early in the season as possible, to plant good 
Potatoes without cutting them, giving them plenty of 
room, and as soon as they are up, to commence a course 
of tillage between, whereby a strong, vigorous, and 
healthy growth is encouraged; and if an adverse season 
facilitate disease, the chances are, those who have been 
best done by will be in the best condition to resist it, 
and will suffer much less than those which have been 
treated in an opposite way. 
Attention ought also to be paid to the kind of Potato 
planted ; but as each district has its own favourite,little 
can be said on that score, except again enforcing the pro¬ 
priety of only planting early leimls. If any really new 
varieties, obtained directly from the seed, can be bad, a 
lew of them are certainly worthy of attention. 
J. Robson. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING.— February. 
There is no system more generally appreciated by those 
whom it concerns than the allotment system. It is now 
abundantly proved to be the fertile parent of many advan¬ 
tages to every portion of the community. The labourer 
finds in his allotment the means of turning his spare hours 
to advantage, which would otherwise, most probably, be 
spent in the beerhouse, to be succeeded by domestic broils 
and misery. He finds it the means of eking out his scanty 
wages, and in a system of labour, which, from its very 
nature, being in the association of his wife and children, 
under his own direction and management, and for his own 
immediate and personal benefit, becomes a pleasure instead 
of a toil. It quickens bis intelligence, in making agricultural 
experiments upon a small and useful scale. It gives him 
an interest in the soil; it attaches him to his home; it 
makes him feel interested in all the risks of the public 
safety, and makes him the friend of public peace and order. 
It makes the cottage a peaceful and happy home, and the 
allotment a healthy training-school for the children. 
At many of the Horticultural Shows, where cottagers com¬ 
pete for prizes, I have seen as fine fruit and vegetables grown 
by cottagers as by gentlemen’s gardeners. If you ask each of 
them how he managed to grow them to such a size, and in 
such perfection, every one of them will tell you that he is 
indebted to the ccsspunl for his success. 
The exhalations produced from stagnant waters are very 
unhealthy; as the agues and fevers so prevalent in badly- 
drained districts generally prove. Vegetable and animal 
matter left in the open air to decompose is the great cause 
of producing an unhealthy atmosphere; and at the same 
time that the slovenly Cottager is allowing this matter to 
breed disease, contagion, and malaria in his neighbourhood, 
for the destruction of himself, his family, and his neigh¬ 
bours, he is allowing the best part of the manure—the 
ammonia and carbonic acid gas—to pass into the atmosphere. 
It would be desirable for every landlord to have a receptacle 
built for receiving all the soapsuds and other refuse from 
the cottage; the receptacle to be four or five feet square, and 
three or four feet deep, bricked and cemented at the bottom 
and sides, with a lid on hinges to cover over, and a drain to 
