May 5. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
83 
I 
flowers of a deep dark blue colour, and look quite as well as 
many plants whose names are now before the floral world. 
However, we shall have a something to say on this matter 
hereafter. 
In the first place, this Bellwort is, like many others, more 
fond of a dry, sound soil, than of a damp one, and, con¬ 
sequently, a nice, dry, well-pulverised boi’der must be pre¬ 
pared for it, sufficiently large on which to sow all the 
quantity that is likely to be wanted. On this soil the seeds, 
which are exceedingly small, may be sown broadcast, after 
the ground has been made smooth at top, as well as the 
under stratum well broken and free from hard lumps, or 
other impenetrable matter; for, as we have said, the seeds 
are very minute, and, therefore, not likely to vegetate, when, 
by the roughness of the ground, they get buried some 
distance below the surface; besides which,any description of 
soil, not well pulverised, is not likely to allow their roots to 
descend in that straight, tapering condition which constitutes 
their usefulness as an article for table purposes; in fact, on j 
rough, cloddy ground, instead of their forming a nice 
tapering root in the shape of a carrot, they prefer sending 
out a number of small rootlets, clasping and surrounding 
those cloddy lumps they were unable to penetrate through, 
and in the end a mass of plants is produced better calculated , 
for transplanting with balls in winter than taking up for 
salad purposes at that time. 
A soil made too rich by dung, or other stimulating mat¬ 
ters, is likely to be attended with equally unsatisfactory 
results, for, like carrots and similarly-rooted plants, the 
production of a mass of small, or forked, rootlets is the 
result. Where a choice of situation exists, we would advise 
one not too much exposed to the mid-day’s sun, or rather 
not exposed to the whole day’s sun. We have frequently 
seen a Rampion do very well on a wall-border, with a west 
aspect; by this they get a little shade, and not too much, so 
as to enable the root to luxuriate during the summer 
months, without suffering from a too dry soil, and the 
consequent tendency that such has to force them into pre¬ 
mature flowering, from the same cause that a dry, hot 
soil occasions lettuce plants to “ run to seed.” This, how- 
ever, is not always the case with the Rampion, because it is 
more of a biennial than the lettuce, but, at the same time, 
its table qualifications are much injured by a too niggardly 
supply of food calculated to -promote its growth. Taking, 
therefore, all together, we advise the Rampion to be sown 
on a deep, well-pulverized soil, and one on which the 
enriching matter that seems necessary to add must be 
buried, so as not to be nearer the surface than six or 
eight inches. By being there, the tips of the roots are 
encouraged to penetrate that far in search of such food ; 
as they mostly require, but if the ground be in good con¬ 
dition there is no necessity for adding any manure, but to 
dig and work it well over several times, and, lastly, making 
the top very fine, when the seed may be sown. A few 
boughs, as for instance, pea-stakes, laid over the bed, will, 
in a great measure, break the influence of the sun’s rays 
upon the bed, which may then be watered. 
Thinning must be resorted to in time, otherwise it is 
difficult to accomplish it after the plants have attained 
any size, as they are liable to become so entangled together | 
as not to be easily separated, when of a large size, without 
some injury done to those intended to remain ; however, it j 
is not necessary to make them very thin—about four or five I 
inches apart, each way, will suffice, and even less, as the j 
roots, when full grown and dressed for table, are not larger 
than ordinary market radishes, and seldom can be obtained j 
so straight, but this is of less consequence, provided they 
he large enough ; while, in dressing, it is no unusual thing j 
to leave a foi’ked root if it be of any size. Although the j 
necessity of their being so straight as radishes does not 
exist, yet some degree of care is necessary to induce that j 
healthy growth which alone furnishes the good plants from 
which suitable roots for table can be had. 
The general growth taking place long before the principal 
demand is made on them, which is the winter season, we 
recommend them to be sown the first week in May, and 
thinned whenever they are large enough to handle; they 
will most likely get large enough for use early in autumn, 
and keep so unprotected for many weeks, and even months, 
for it is only in April that the growth of the plant, in the 
shape of sending up flowering stems, renders the root useless 
for table purposes. 
As we have said, at the commencement of this chapter, 
that some cultivators shrink from the trouble this latter 
production incurs at the time of preparing it, we think it 
right to mention to the inexperienced, that it requires peeliug 
carefully [to make it eat well; but after this is done there 
is no further trouble with it; and the peeling is a much less 
tedious job than might be expected, as, after a little prac¬ 
tice, it will be found out that the rind peels off like that of 
a turnip, and quite as quickly. Of course, all the small 
spray must be cut away, and also the top, which is bushy, 
must be reduced to something like a reasonable size and 
shape; and after all is done, the root may be sent to table 
with a fair prospect of its becoming a favourite there; while, 
at the time in which it comes into use, and its differing 
much from everything else found there, its utility is further 
enhanced ; and as its summer culture is simple, and not 
attended with much trouble, the little that attends its wash¬ 
ing, peeling, and preparation for table, must certainly be 
allowed to be fully compensated for by its general merits 
and utility. 
By way of conclusion, we may add, that any plants that 
may be left on the seed-bed in April might, if advisable, be 
planted in the parterre, in patches, to flower in May and 
June, prior to the principal and newer occupants being 
turned out then, as they flower abundantly, and, for a time, 
look well; of course, they might be removed as soon as the 
bed is wanted for something else, but coming in before the 
general mass of summer-flowering plants of the ordinary 
“ bedding kinds,” this forms no inconsiderable addition to 
the best of those used as intermediate ones, i. e. flowering 
before the others commence; while to succeed it, plants will 
be in the course of preparing elsewhere, in the manner 
recommended by our able coadjutors. 
J. Robson. 
FIELD CULTURE OF POTATOES. 
The nearer the culture of Potatoes in the field can be 
made to assimilate to that of the garden, the more advan¬ 
tageous to the crop it will prove; yet there must exist a 
difference in the management of the land when the plough 
is substituted for the spade or fork. In case a considerable 
breadth of land is intended for Potato culture, the use of 
the plough will prove most expeditious ; indeed, the neces¬ 
sity for early planting, on account of the disease, and the 
scarcity of labour, has, in many districts, precluded the use 
of the spade altogether. 
In the past history of Potato-culture, the autumn prepa¬ 
ration of the soil has always been advocated; but since the 
attack of the mysterious epidemic by which this root is 
rendered so precarious in crop, it is now more than ever 
desirable that the land should be carefully tilled as soon as 
possible after harvest, in order that couch grass and root 
weeds may be destroyed, or removed from the land. When 
a good tilth has been obtained, plough the land into bouts, 
or ridges of two furrows, and in this state let it remain 
during the winter months. In the spring, land treated in 
this manner will prove in the best condition for early 
planting. Dry porous soils should be selected, as they are 
iu condition for planting at the earliest period. 
Upon soils irregular in character, or cold, requiring drain¬ 
ing, it would be unwise to plant Potatoes; for whatever 
might have been the preparation of such land, either in 
tillage or manure, the produce will be sure to prove defi¬ 
cient and defective, after the plant has suffered from an 
undue quantity of moisture at any period of its growth. 
Two modes of planting are advocated; the best is to 
plough the land into ridges two feet apart, then, distributing 
the manure along the furrows, place the sets upon the 
manure, and split the ridges with a double mould-board 
plough. In this manner the seed will be covered with light 
earth, and after the lapse of a week or ten days the land 
may be harrowed quite level. The most expeditious and 
the cheapest mode will be to lay out the manure when the 
land has been worked fine and to a level surface; spread 
the manure, and put the sets into every alternate furrow, 
raking in a portion of the dung upon them, and by plough- 
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