February 27 . 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
-107 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
n 
M 
n 
w 
Weather ‘ ear London in 
1853. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
11. &S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
af. Sun. 
Day 0 
Year. 
FEB. 27—MARCH 5, 1855. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. Wind. 
Rain in 
laches. 
37 
To 
30.415—30.321 
53—32 i W. 
_ 
53 a 6 
34 a 5 
5 23 
11 
13 
2 
58 
28 
w 
Ember Week. 
30.517—30.285 
53-19 N.W. 
— 
51 
35 
6 0 
12 
12 
51 
59 
1 
Th 
Cymindis humeralis. 
30.702—30.677 
54—18 S.W. 
— 
48 
37 
6m 26 
13 
12 
39 
60 
2 
F 
Abay mclanarius. 
30.668—30.627 
55—18 S. 
— 
46 
39 
6 47 
14 
] 0 
27 
61 
3 
S 
Hydroporus 12-pustulatus. 
30.628—30.509 
54—18 E. 
— 
44 
41 
rises. 
© 
12 
15 
62 
4 
Sun 
2 Sunday in Lent. 
30.752—30.705 
50—33 E. 
— 
42 
42 
6 a 24 
16 
12 
1 
63 
5 
M 
Hydroporus linnellus. 
30.714—30.570 
45—20 S.E. 
— 
40 
44 
7 35 
17 
11 
48 
64 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-eight years, the average highest and lowest tem¬ 
peratures of these days are 48.4°, and 34°, respectively. The greatest heat, 64°, occurred on the 28th, in 1846; and the lowest cold 15 °, 
on the 4th, in 1852. During the period 116 days were fine, and on 80 rain fell. 
Seasons of scarcity have a twofold beneficial influence 
upon man,—they humble him, and they stimulate him 
to increased exertions. That humbling and those 
exertions are not without their reward; nor have they 
been without such reward at any period of which 
records are existing Whenever seasons of scarcity have 
prevailed, a Christian community has never failed so to 
act as to secure, after the scarcity, seasons of greater 
abundanco. Higher cultivation, new crops, and more 
extensive tillage, have all been the means adopted and 
blessed with success. 
It requires but little reflection to discern that evory 
year is an effort, and a successful effort usually, to avoid 
scarcity. Every year increases our population more 
than one hundred thousand, and it has been increasing, 
year after year, from the day our country was first 
known to history; yet in proportion to that increase has 
been the increase of her eatable produce. Within the 
memory of the present generation—new manures, such 
as Guano, and Phosphate of Lime ; new tillage, such as 
drainage and drilling; and new and more productive 
varieties of every crop, from the Cabbage up to Wheat, 
have been introduced. All these efforts to increase pro¬ 
duction are to meet the increased demand for food and 
to avoid scai'city. 
Examples of this kind are now before us in the 
Chinese Yam (Dioscorea Batatas), and the Sweet Soft- 
Grass (Holcus Saccharatus). 
Wo have already noticed the Chinese Yam (page 311). 
It has been suggested for cultivation as a substitute for 
the Potato, and as a remedy for the scarcity caused by 
the continued failures of this root as a source of food. 
It is again brought to our notice by a pamphlet by 
Mr. John Henderson, who not only sells the sets required 
for the production of the Chinese Yam, but has collected 
into the pages of his pamphlet all that is known about its 
cultivation.* We have only to object to bis proposal to 
call it the “ Chinese Potato,” for which there is no more 
reason than there would be to call a Carrot from Japan, 
the “Japanese Potato,” merely because it was proposed 
to be a substitute for the common Potato. 
The following extract is evidence that Mr. Henderson 
has gathered together fresh information relative to this 
fleshy-rooted plant:— 
“ M. de Montigny informs us that the Chinese put 
aside all the smallest roots at the taking up, and place 
* The Chinese Potato, and Holcus Saccharatus . with directions for 
cultivation . By John Henderson. Price One Shilling. With Plates. 
them in pits or trenches, covering them well with straw, 
over which they afterwards spread a coating of earth. 
In the spring they are taken out and laid horizontally 
in beds of prepared mould, where they soon germinate 
and produce long trailing stems. As soon as they have 
attained about six feet in length (which is generally in 
a month or six weeks’ time) they are taken up to be 
replanted and layered. The manner in which this part 
of the operation is performed is as follows. The ground 
having been prepared and thrown into ridges, either by 
means of the plough or spade, a slight furrow is made 
on the top of each ridge with a rake or hoe, and the 
plant laid in it lengthways, and the whole of it, except 
the leaves, is covered lightly with earth, care being taken 
that they (the leaves) are left exposed: if it rains the 
same day they take immediately; but should it be dry 
weather, it is necessary to water them till they begin to 
grow. At the end of fifteen or twenty days they will 
produce tubers, and at the same time throw out loDg 
trailing stems, which ought to be examined from time 
to time, to prevent their taking root, and so producing 
another set of tubers, which would injure the full growth 
of the first or main crop. 
“ But I find that the ordinary manner in which the 
Chinese cultivate it is still more simple than the above. 
“The earth is first formed into ridges, when small 
tubers, or portions of large ones, are planted on the top, 
at about three feet apart; after the plants have attained 
a little strength, the shoots are spread over the sides of 
the ridges and pegged down at the leaf end, six or eight 
inches from each other (care being taken to cover the 
joints or parts pegged down with a portion of earth), 
when they soon strike root and throw out tubers; by 
this means, immense quantities of roots, of the size of 
early-framed kidney potatoes, are raised on a com¬ 
paratively small piece of ground. 
“ But, to obtain them of a large size, small tubers, or 
portions, are planted on ridges, at ten inches to one 
foot apart, and the plants are allowed to grow freely till 
late in the Autumn ; the tubers by this means attain on 
an average one pound and upwards in weight. The 
produce, when the ground is required for other purposes, 
is taken up and stored away for the Winter and Spring: 
and it seems a peculiarity in this root that, if exposed 
to the frost, it is not injured by it, nor does it have any 
inclination for sprouting till the natural season Im¬ 
planting. 
“ I also find a much quicker way of procuring a 
stock of young tubers for seed by growing them in a 
cold frame, or on a gentle hotbed, and taking the 
cuttings as soon as they appear; it being only necessary 
to cut off a leaf, with a small piece of wood without a 
joint, which is inserted in the mould (ordinary cutting 
mould) to the leaf—a pot of six inches diameter would 
contain about fifty cuttings—the pots should then be 
placed in a gentle heat, and kept close, either by means 
of bell-glasses or otherwise. Before the cuttings strike 
root they will throw out small tubers on the surface of 
the mould (similar to those sent out to the public); as 
No. CCCXXXV. Vol. XIII. 
