January 14, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
80? 
out May and June to syringe the plants with a solu¬ 
tion of 3 oz. of soft soap to a wineglass full of 
paraffin added to three gallons of water. This seems 
distasteful to the Onion fly and prevents it from 
lighting on the blades and depositing its eggs. Top 
dressing the ground with well-rotted manure is of 
much importance, and should always be done if the 
soil is light and likely to dry out in hot seasons. As 
regards varieties, the globe-shaped sort seem to find 
most favour. Ailsa Crag and Excelsior are two of 
the best, while Rousham Park Hero and Suttons’ 
A i are excellent flat sorts. 
Celery. 
The seed should be sown very thinly in boxes, in 
heat, about the first week in March. After the' 
young plants are fit to handle they should be pricked 
off into a frame, which has been prepared by putting 
3 in. of cow manure on a hard surface of ashes, then 
2 in. of soil on the top. In this the young plants 
will grow freely, and lift with good balls with a 
trowel. It is most important that the young plants 
should not receive the slightest check by becoming 
dry at the root or getting crowded, or they are sure 
to throw up seed stems, which render all your care 
and cultivation useless. About the beginning of 
May the trenches should be prepared, i8in. deep 
and i8in. in width, and filled in with well-rotted 
manure and part of the soil taken from the trench, 
bringing the whole level with the surface. The plants 
are placed i ft. apart, and thoroughly watered in. 
When the plants are making free growths the ground 
should be mulched with long litter to prevent the 
moisture escaping. About once a week liquid 
manure should be given. About seven weeks before 
the show preparation should be made for blanching. 
After all useless leaves and- side growths have been 
removed, take long strips of brown paper and bind 
this round the plant, not too tightly. This will be 
found an excellent substitute for soil, as no worm or 
slug marks will be found, and the blanching will be 
more effectually completed. It is a difficult matter 
to say which are the best sort to grow, as I think 
with Celery it is more a question of good culture 
than variety. The sorts that I grow are Sutton’s 
Solid White, Major Clarke’s Red, and Sulham Prize 
Pink. 
Leeks. 
Leeks require much the same cultivation as Celery ; 
the only difference is in the blanching. After they 
are planted in the trench paper collars should be put 
round the neck of each plant, to prevent the soil 
from reaching the centre of the leak when earthing 
up, also to help to keep the leaves in an erect posi¬ 
tion till once the blanching is completed. When the 
Leeks have started to grow freely, draw up these 
collars once a fortnight, at the same time adding 
more soil until the blanched ports are about 12 in. in 
length. They like plenty of liquid manure, and 
should never get dry at the root. Of varieties 
Sutton's Prizetaker and the Lyon are both popular 
sorts. 
Carrots, &c. 
The system that I adopt to get Carrots, Parsnips and 
Beet clean and straight and of good flavour is as 
follows In the early autuma the ground is thor¬ 
oughly trenched to the depth of three feet, but no 
manure given. In the early spring the ground is 
forked over, and rolled firm, then with a round iron 
bar holes are made about 3 ft. deep and 6 in. 
wide at the top for Parsnips, and half that 
depth and width for Carrots and Beet. These holes 
are filled up with a mixture of burnt soil, wood 
ashes, and a little soot put through a fine sieve, with 
an addition for the Parsnip of a Tittle rotted manure, 
and dropped into the bottom of the holes. At the 
proper season for sowing four or five seeds are 
placed on the top of each hole, and the young plants 
are thinned to one when large enough to determine 
which is the best. By this method there are no 
stones or rough lumps to obstruct the tender point 
from going down straight, and no fresh manure to 
induce forking near the surface, and yet there is 
sufficient nourishment in the mixture to sustain the 
plant during its growing season. As an experiment 
I had some holes made 2 ft. deep, and some of 
the Parsnips measured 4 ft. 7 in., which shows 
the depth they will go if they only get the 
opportunity. Parsnips are best sown as early as 
the state of the soil will permit, Carrots not before 
the beginning of April, and Beet the last week in 
that month-or first week in May. As regard varie¬ 
ties of Parsnip the Student is best, while for Carrots 
New Intermediate, and Beet Pragnell’s Exhibition 
and Blood Red. 
Tomatos. 
Tomatos are best sown in a little heat, very thinly, 
about the beginning of March, and as soon as fit to 
handle potted into 3-in. pots, and immediately they 
are ready for another sliift into 5-in. pots. For ex¬ 
hibition they are best grown in an intermediate or a 
cool house, where they can enjoy plenty of air. It is 
a mistake to have the soil too rich to begin with, 
and if they are to be planted out better have poor 
soil and moderately firm, as they make shorter 
jointed wood and set freely. They are best trained 
to a single stem. When a good crop is set thin out 
all deformed fruit, when feeding may commence. It 
is a good time then to give them a top dressing of 
manure, and when the crop is swelling freely plenty 
of liquid manure should be given to encourage the 
fruit to swell to a good size. Very often it is found 
difficult to get sufficient fruit ripe at once for certain 
shows. Any that would be too early should be 
packed in tissue paper and sawdust just when be¬ 
ginning to colour, and stored away in a dry room. 
In this way they keep in sound condition for a month 
or more, and will be found in perfect condition when 
they are taken out. As to variety, nothing can equal 
Perfection when in good condition .—James Gibson, 
The Oaks, Carshalton. 
HERBACEOUS~BQRDERS. 
At a meeting of the Manchester Horticultural 
Improvement Society, held on the 5th inst. Mr. 
William Hough, of Audenshaw, read a paper on the 
Herbaceous Border. He said his earliest recollection 
and love of flowers dated from his days of childhood 
when he admired the herbaceous flowers in his 
father’s garden. He remembered the care and 
devotion bestowed upon the flowers by his father, 
and the country folk in the neighbourhood. With 
few exceptions the cottages, however humble, had 
each its bit of garden in which could be seen clumps 
of old-fashioned flowers. The Wallflower, Primrose, 
Polyanthus, Pansy, Pink, Carnation, Hollyhock, 
Narcissus, Iris, and many more were favourites in 
the old days. 
One of the most enduring and pleasant legacies 
left to the younger inmates of the old home was 
the remembrance of the love and devotion of 
the old people for some of the flowering plants. He 
would like to know how a modern bed or border 
containing a large number of geraniums and calceo¬ 
larias compared with the same area of a carefully 
selected and tastefully arranged herbaceous border. 
It seemed to him that in this matter a move had 
been made in the wrong direction. One of the causes 
of the neglect of the herbaceous border was to be 
found in the great increase in the number of glass¬ 
houses, and the fascination which master and man 
had for new kinds of plants. 
Mr. Hough pointed out that the herbaceous border 
might be made the means of supplying flowers and 
foliage for indoor decoration, and at certain seasons 
of the year the border was surpassed. At almost all 
times something useful could be obtained from it, 
and ere the leaves of autumn found a resting-place 
the Christmas rose began to make its appearance. 
Other flowers followed. According to the selection 
and quantity of stock, of which there was scarcely a 
limit, variety, height, habit, colour, and foliage, and 
he had often noticed how anyone going to a collection 
of herbaceous plants could gather a beautiful bouquet 
without consideration as to arrangement. He had 
never seen a perfect border in any of the gardens 
visited. Some of the defects could not easily be 
overcome, such as walks, running parallel with them, 
in such places as public parks and gardens, but in 
private places a border need not follow exactly the 
same lines. Personally he would like to see a border 
laid out without any walks near, because he looked 
upon walks in a garden as a necessary evil, and 
not adding to the natural beauty of a flower garden. 
A good herbaceous border should fringe the 
lawn, running in curving lines with a background of 
shrubs, conilers, and forest trees, placed at such a 
distance as to afford protection and give effect to the 
to the beauty of the border. To the border he would 
admit all that was good and beautiful; a clump of 
pelargoniums, or calceolarias,and such new-comers as 
did not belong to the old aristocracy. He would do 
that because he thought such flowers would be im¬ 
proved in appearance by being placed in the com¬ 
pany of our old herbaceous plants. 
(Bteuumjs fnn m fhi> 
nf Bx mm. 
Fruits of Mulberries.— Mr. L. H. Bailey gives a 
review of the Mulberries grown in America, in 
Bulletin 46 of the Cornell University Experiment 
Station. He complains of the neglect into which 
the Mulberry has fallen, and while advocating the 
culture of the species and varieties for the sake of 
their fruit, he says they would be valueless for 
market purposes, simply because there is no demand 
for them. He urges, however, that the fruit has 
merit for dessert purposes, and might be grown in 
the home garden and orchard. The species of 
Mulberry are not very numerous, but the varieties 
are exceedingly so, and Mr. Bailey mentions sixteen 
varieties as suitable for fruit bearing. The new 
American variety is the best for the Northern States 
on account of its hardiness. It originated or was 
brought into notice about 1854, and has glossy black, 
oblong fruit, ranging from 1 in. to 2 in. in length. 
It is a variety of Morus alba. Large trees will keep 
on ripening their fruits from the end of June till 
September, giving about 10 bushels each in that 
time. Downing is one of the most popular varieties, 
but has almost died out in the Northern States It 
originated from the broad-leaved M. alba multicaulis. 
The fruit is oblong, black, and of excellent quality, 
although possessing a slight acidity not to be found 
in many of the varieties of M. alba. The fruit of 
M. japonica is short, oblong, and red. The globular, 
black, and bramble like fruit of M. nigra is pretty 
well known in this country, especially in the south 
of England, where it is hardy and ripens its fruit in 
the open. The Red Mulberry (M. rubra) is a native 
of the United States, and has oblong fruits sometimes 
over an inch in length. They are deep red or almost 
black when fully matured with an agreeable acidity. 
Notwithstanding its name, the White Mulberry (M. 
alba) has violet as well as whitish fruits, and some¬ 
times they are quite black. It is therefore liable to 
much variation. The Russian Mulberry (M. alba 
tatarica) has small creamy-white, violet, deep red, 
or almost black fruits, but they are rather insipid. 
The native Red Mulberry is well suited for the 
United States, has already proved very variable, 
and as the fruits are of good quality, it is probable 
that the improvements of the future will proceed 
from this species. 
Advantages of quick fertilisers for* Tomatos. 
—A series of interesting experiments have been 
carried on for some years past at the Cornell. 
University Experiment Station as recorded from 
time to time. The result of the experiments during 
1892 are recorded in Bulletin 45. Farm yard 
manure, especially if applied in spring, keeps the 
plants growing late, consequently they are liable 
to be killed down by frost, while the bulk of the 
fruit is still green. Last year certain plots were laid 
off, planted with Tomatos and supplied with a heavy 
dressing of nitrate of soda, all given at one applica¬ 
tion. Other plots had the same amount of nitrate of 
soda applied at four different times. Frost held off 
till the second week in October, so that the late 
applications of the manure made themselves felt .giving 
the heaviest return. In 1892, however, frost occurred 
on the 1st of October, so that the plot to which the 
whole quantity of nitrate of soda was given at one 
application showed the best results. Three pounds 
of the nitrate were given to a plot containing 15 
plants, on the 20th of June, and the plants gave an 
average \Veight of 10 pounds of ripe fruit each, and 
the green ones added to this gave an average of 17 8 
pounds per plant. In another case the same 
amount of the nitrate was given in four applications, 
namely, on June 20, June 28, July 4 and July 27. 
The plants gave an average of 87 pounds each of 
ripe fruit, and including the green ones, 16 6 pounds. 
An unmanured plot gave an average of 5 8 pounds of 
ripe fruit to each plant and g'S pounds with the green 
fruit added. The advantage of the manure was seen 
on all the three plots which had it, but the largest 
return of ripe fruit was certainly obtained from the 
plot which had the whole of the nitrate applied on 
June 20th. The next best crop was from th'e plot 
where the last of the four applications was given on 
the 27th of July, or just a month earlier than plot 
3. Had the fine weather lasted a month longer the 
advantage of repeated and late applications would 
have resulted in a much greater total yield than the 
single heavy application. 
