Jail. 10th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
299 
same rule that is said to prevail in the selection of 
editors, members of Parliament, and military con- 
manders—that is, thickness of skin. 
In the raising of true hybrids, there is much to be 
hoped for, and the practical men lean rather to 
Solatium Jamesi than to S. Maglia for crosses likely to 
prove of commercial value. But it must not be 
supposed that we are urged by any great necessity to 
produce hybrids. What they will prove in respect of 
edible quality and power to resist disease none can 
predict; but, as the case stands, the Potato may be 
declared more healthy and more useful than it has 
ever been, and it should be so seeing how much care 
has been bestowed upon it. 
As a matter of fact, within certain limits, determin¬ 
able by the capabilities of the soil, the climate, and 
the plant, the crop will be what man may choose to 
make it. Give it a suitable soil, say, of fertile, well- 
drained sandy loam — the routine of cultivation 
provides for the green shaws full exposure to light and 
ail-—and protect the roots by low moulding, and it is 
then the most wonderful producer of starch known to 
us, while its nitrogen compounds, although insufficient 
to constitute it an independent food, are, nevertheless, 
in proportion to the average of other starch-producing 
vegetables, a few cereals excepted. We do not need 
independent foods, and we ought to praise God that 
there are none. Nations that trust to them, as to Rice 
in India or the Potato in Ireland, are for ever exposed 
to the risk of fever and famine. Such must be as the 
consequence of the violation of the behests of the 
Almighty and the laws of nature. To crop the land 
continually with one plant is to encourage the accu¬ 
mulation in the lands of the pests that prey upon 
it. But by variety and rotation of cropping we 
systematically purge the land and stamp out the 
parasites that nature provides to prevent our living on 
bread alone .—Shirley Hihberd, Kew, in The Times. 
< _. -— o 
Seasonable Work in the Plant-houses.— 
Potting Palms.—The present will be a good time to go 
through all the Palms, from the seedlings in the store- 
pots up to the large specimens, and repot any that 
may require it. We would, however, recommend that 
care should be taken not to over-pot them. Palms in 
small pots are not only more serviceable for decora¬ 
tion, but will generally succeed better than when too 
much pot room is given, especially if the plants are 
grown where a humid atmosphere can be maintained. 
Therefore in potting off seedlings it is best to use the 
smallest size pots available, and in repotting to never 
give them more than one size larger, or where they 
have not much root they may be put back in the same 
size pots. The soil that we find suits Palms best is 
good light fibrous loam with a little sand added, or if 
the loam is inclined to be close or heavy, a little 
fibrous peat may also be added, and for the large plants a 
little good dry stable-manure may be used with advan¬ 
tage. In potting Palms the stems should be kept well 
above the surface of the soil, and should be potted as 
firmly as possible. Any palms that are not repotted 
should be occasionally supplied with manure-water, or 
a little artificial manure spread on the surface at this 
season of the year. Soot-water may be used liberally 
at any time, and this will give a dark-green healthy 
colour to the foliage. 
. - 
Sagittaria montevidensis. — This beautiful 
aquatic, which is closely allied to the Arrowhead of 
our ditches and streams, is abundant in the marshes 
of the La Plata, where it forms great bushes, 5 ft. 
high; its large glossy sagittate leaves and numerous 
racemes of flowers producing a striking effect. It is 
widely dispersed in Tropical America, from Jamaica 
to Monte Video, and from Lima in Peru to Valdivia 
in Chili. Of the numerous aquatics which have been 
introduced into our gardens, it is one of the most 
beautiful, the snowy-white petals, with blotches of 
rich maroon, bordered with yellow, producing a 
charming effect. Its cultivation is very simple, 
little being required beyond being planted in a rich 
loamy compost, and plunged in a tank in the stove. 
It is well figured in the December number of the 
Illustration Horticole, also at t. 6755 of The Botanical 
Magazine. 
The Kitchen-Gardener’s Calendar. — The 
wheeling of manure on to vacant pieces of ground, 
and the digging or trenching of the same as may be 
deemed necessary, should be pushed on to a finish as 
rapidly as possible, so that the ground may be in 
readiness for planting and seed-sowing. In the case 
of Onions, Carrots, and Parsnips, the seeds must be 
sown as early in the next or following month as the 
condition of the ground will permit of the work being 
done, without the soil adhering to the feet, but 
respecting this full particulars will be given in these 
columns in due time. 
Young Lettuce and Cauliflower plants which are 
being wintered in cold pits and frames, or under hand¬ 
glasses, should have the sashes and covers taken off 
every mild day in order to keep the plants sturdy, so 
that they may be well hardened off by planting-time 
—say the middle of next month for the first and 
smallest planting, and afterwards at intervals of a 
week or two. 
Celery plants, and also the young Lettuce plants 
which were planted closely together on warm borders 
last autumn for planting out in spring, should both 
have a slight covering of fern or some other pro¬ 
tecting material put over them as a protection from 
frost. This covering, however, like that over the 
plants in frames and handlights, should be only put 
on when there is likely to be frost, and should be 
taken off as soon as it is gone. See that autumn- 
sown Onions, Spinach, Lamb’s Lettuce, and Cabbages, 
together with plantings of Broccolis, Winter Greens, 
and walks are kept free of weeds. Look over 
breadths of Broccolis at short intervals, and cut all 
the heads which have attained to table size, and 
bend the leaves over those which are not sufficiently 
large for that purpose as a slight protection from 
frost.— H. TV. Ward. 
-Hf<- 
Carrots and Parsley: Cultivation under 
difficulties. —Amongst the many difficulties with 
which gardeners in all parts of the country have to 
contend must be included that of keeping up an 
adequate supply of good Parsley, and the trouble 
seems to be quite irrespective of soils, as we hear 
complaints from so many different quarters, with 
various kinds and conditions of soils and subsoils. 
The same difficulty, too, exists in growing Carrots. 
I know of very many gardens where the attempt 
to grow a crop of these roots has been met by 
failure year after year, in spite of many so-called 
remedies having been tried, that it has now been 
abandoned as not worth the labour. In this 
locality, however, this is not so very serious an affair, 
as there are several places in the neighbourhood 
where Carrots do well, and they are grown as a 
speciality for the market, so that it is easy to obtain 
any quantity required for the winter supply, and with 
a bed or two of Early Horn, in frames or specially 
prepared ground, the demand can generally be met. 
But it is otherwise with Parsley required in a green 
state, as then it becomes a constant struggle to keep 
up the supply, and which is not always overcome by 
more frequent sowings, as, in our own case, it abso¬ 
lutely refuses to grow in the natural soil beyond the 
first rough leaf. No spot of ground we have about 
the garden is clear of the grub, which begins 
to attack it when at that stage, and then the 
case is hopeless. Deep cultivation seems to be no 
remedy, as our ground has a regular course of 
trenching about 2 ft. 6 ins. deep. Last autumn 
a piece of ground 40 ft. by 17 ft. was set apart 
and trenched up roughly, and having a dressing 
of 1 cwt. of salt applied in turning over the 
top spit; early in February another half cwt. was 
spread on the surface and left to dissolve, and at the 
end of the month the ground was well stirred with 
the fork and the crop sown. The seed gave a 
beautiful “braird,” and went on so well, that I hoped I 
had at last got over the difficulty, but in the beginning 
of June, the usual symptoms appeared and gradually 
increased until at last the whole had to be cleared off, 
the roots being just in as bad a state as formerly. The 
best results I have yet had, were obtained by stretching 
the line, and in place of drawing drills, we inserted a 
spade at the side, working it backwards and forwards 
along the line so as to form a V-shaped trench. This 
was then filled up level with wood ashes and the seed 
sown. This year I mean to go on somewhat the same 
plan, but in place of the spade to make holes with 
the Potato-dibber and fill them with the ashes and 
sow on the top. This will afford the roots much 
more of that material to work in, than is the case in a 
gradually narrowing slit, and I hope the results will 
be such as to give no occasion to go begging, as I 
have sometimes been compelled to do.— B. Stevens, 
Paston, Cornhill-on-Ticeed. 
[The advice given by “ M.” in the following para¬ 
graph should be valuable to our correspondent, and 
others who may experience similar difficulties with 
their Parsley crop.— Ed. 
Parsley. —In some districts gardeners are often 
sorely puzzled to know how to maintain a supply of 
Parsley through the winter months. There is not 
much difficulty in growing it during the summer 
months, as that which is sown early in March grows 
fast enough through the summer until towards the 
end of October, when it turns yellow, and eventually 
dies. This is frequently due, I think, to the preval¬ 
ence of wire worms in the soil, and I know that in 
many parts of Lancashire this pest abounds. Some 
growers go to the extra trouble of taking out all the 
soil to a depth of 2 ft., and filling up with fresh soil, 
loam, or anything that can be procured different to 
the natural soil of the place, often with the result 
that in the autumn the same thing happens again— 
the Parsley turns yellow, and will not stand the 
winter. 
I would advise those who experience the same 
difficulty to adopt the following method of cultivation, 
which I have found to answer admirably, and which has 
enabled me to keep up a continuous supply. Early in 
August fill a cold frame, or pit, with leaves, on which 
place about 1 ft. of soil, composed of loam, leaf-soil, and 
wood ashes, mixed with a little well-rotted manure. A 
turf-pit answers well if frames are scarce. Sow the 
seeds, and cover them lightly, but do not put on the 
lights for some time after, which will induce a much 
more stocky growth than that produced under the 
glass. Towards the end of October, should the 
weather be very wet, place on the lights, and as soon 
as the soil becomes a little dry, water the whole bed 
thoroughly with water mixed with paraffin at the 
rate of about two wineglassfuls to four gallons of 
water. Thoroughly mix the oil with a syringe when 
pouring the mixture on the soil. The oil seems fatal 
to all grub life, and has the effect of producing a deep 
green colour in the Parsley. The smell of the oil 
will soon pass away if the lights are taken off when¬ 
ever it is not raining or snowing.— M. 
-- 
Broad Beans. —In order to be able to make 
gatherings of Broad or Longpod Beans as early next 
May or June as possible, seeds of Seville Longpod or 
Carter’s Leviathan should be sown at once in boxes 
three parts filled with rotten manure and good soil. 
Cover the seeds with soil and then place them in heat, 
and, as soon as the Beans have made a couple of 
inches of growth, gradually harden them off prior to 
transplanting them in a warm situation in rows 3 ft. 
to 4 ft. apart and 6 ins. to 9 ins. apart in the row. The 
individual plants should be taken carefully out of the 
box with a portion of the rotten manure adhering to 
the roots, and the soil should be pressed moderately 
firm about the latter in planting. Then put a stick to 
each plant for support, and afterwards draw a little 
soil up to them and protect with spruce boughs, as 
recommended for Peas at p. 288. Then lay on a good 
mulching of rotten dung on either side the rows, and 
when the Beans have attained to a height of 3 ft. 
pinch the points' out, which will cause them to pod 
quicker than they would do if not stopped. Give 
plenty of water to the roots during dry weather. 
About the same time the sowing is made in the boxes 
one should be made out-of-doors in a favourable 
situation, and afterwards at intervals of a fortnight or 
three weeks until the middle or end of June, for 
yielding successional supplies.— H. TV. W. 
