May  31,  1900 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
459 
The  Oak  and  the  Ash. — A  record  kept  for  the  past  eighty-four 
years  has  shown  the  accuracy  of  harvest  forecasts  drawn  from  the 
leafing  of  the  Oak  and  the  Ash.  This  year  the  Oak  was  the  first  to 
leaf,  which  indicates  a  dry  and  hot  summer  and  a  bountiful  harvest, 
just  as  in  1898,  when  the  Oak  preceded  the  Ash  in  leafing  several 
weeks. 
N'ature’s  Own  Secret. — The  quality  which  gives  value  to  many 
great  vineyards  has  never  been  explained.  Two  fields  beside  one 
another  may  have  the  same  exposure,  slope,  and  chemical  constitution, 
and  yet  one  will  produce  wine  of  first  quality  and  the  other  wine  of 
inferior  grade.  In  the  Rothschild  vineyard  near  Bordeaux,  for  example, 
only  a  waggon-road  divides  the  choice  section  which  produces  a  world- 
famous  vintage  from  a  tract  that  is  comparatively  valueless. 
Open  Spaces  In  South  Iiondon. — The  grounds  of  the  Primate’s 
Palace  at  Lambeth  were  opened  to  the  public  on  Saturday.  They  will 
be  known  as  “  Archbishop’s  Park.”  The  main  entrance  to  the  park  is 
in  Lambeth  Road,  and  there  is  a  side  entrance  in  Paris  Street.  The 
work  of  laying  out  the  dismal  churchyard  of  Christ  Church,  Blackfriars 
Road,  as  a  garden  has  now  been  practically  completed,  and  it  may  be 
hoped  that  one  more  sorely  needed  open  space  will  be  shortly  available 
for  the  children  of  this  crowded  district  of  London.  The  graveyard  is 
a  large  one,  and  has  been  tastefully  arranged,  a  fence  dividing  the 
garden  from  that  portion  of  the  churchyard  which  actually  adjoins  the 
church.  It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  this  spot  was  once  a  private 
garden  belonging  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 
The  Alexandra  Park. — The  great  scheme  for  securing  the 
Alexandra  Palace  and  Park  for  the  free  use  of  the  people  for  ever  has 
made  much  progress  of  late.  Hornsey  District  Council  began  the 
good  work  by  voting  an  additional  £5000,  at  the  same  time  expressing 
the  hope  that  this  would  stimulate  other  districts  to  make  an  offer 
towards  completing  the  project.  On  Friday  the  Wood  Green  District 
Council  followed  Hornsey’s  example,  increasing  their  former  vote  of 
£25,000  by  £10,000,  making  their  contribution  the  handsome  one  of 
£35,000.  Tottenham  District  Council  was  waited  upon  by  an  influential 
deputation,  and  it  is  hoped  that  a  vote  of  £7000  may  be  the  result.  In 
Parliament  all  is  going  well.  The  Standing  Orders  Committee  on 
Friday  reported  in  favour  of  the  Bill  being  brought  in,  and  the  House 
at  once  ordered  it  to  be  proceeded  with. 
The  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin. — Apropos  of  the  retirement  of  Mr. 
Dick  from  the  post  of  superintendent  of  the  Phoenix  Park,  a  question 
in  Parliament  on  the  24th  inst.  conveyed  the  information  that  Mr. 
Anderson,  who,  to  quote  Sir  William  Waldron’s  reply  to  Mr.  T.  M. 
Healy,  M.P.,  filled  an  important  post  on  an  Irish  estate  for  the  past 
fourteen  years,  has  been  selected  for  the  important  office.  Without 
the  suspicion  of  a  thought  tending  to  detract  from  the  merits  of  the 
gentleman  who  has  received  the  appointment,  it  is  a  matter  for  regret, 
which  Irish  gardeners  will  share,  that  Mr.  Kearney,  the  courteoUg 
superintendent  of  St.  Stephen’s  Green  Park,  has  been  passed  over, 
St.  Stephen’s  Green  Park  has  long  been  regarded  as  the  last  stepping 
stone  to  “  The  Phoenix,”  hence  it  is  not  only  a  matter  for  regret  to  all 
who  know  him,  but  a  matter  for  surprise  to  many,  that  an  Irishman  so 
eminently  fitted  to  rule  over  it  has  been  denied  the  wider  scope  it 
would  have  afforded  to  his  energy,  skill,  and  experience. — E.  K.,  Dublin 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Cblswlck. — Taken  in  the 
■  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens — height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date, 
Direction  of 
Wind. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Bain. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
Lowest 
Temperature 
on  Graas. 
1600. 
May. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
At 
1-ft. 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
Ad 
Oi 
b£ 
3 
■s 
0) 
o 
1-1 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
ins. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Sunday . .  20 
N.W. 
54'6 
47-1 
65.1 
34-5 
— 
52-1 
51-3 
49-8 
27  •! 
Monday . .  21 
s.s.w. 
61-4 
52 -9 
64-2 
42-2 
o-n 
53-8 
51-7 
49-9 
S5*l 
Tuesday  22 
s.s.w. 
56  0 
53-7 
56-4 
53’8 
0-22 
55-3 
62 -5 
50-1 
62-2 
Wed’sday  23 
s.w. 
53-0 
51-1 
60 '4 
47  5 
0-14 
53-5 
62-5 
60-2 
41-1 
Thursday  24 
s.s.w. 
53-3 
49-8 
57-1 
47-0 
0-23 
54-4 
52*7 
50-5 
41-8 
Friday  ..  25 
W.N.W. 
53-7 
48-7 
60-7 
44-1 
— 
54.7 
53-1 
50-5 
37*5 
Saturday  26 
N.E. 
4<J'G 
47*0 
62-7 
41-5 
64-9 
63-4 
50 -e 
32-9 
Total 
Means  .. 
54-5 
50 '0 
61-0 
44-4 
0-70 
. 
64-1 
52-5 
50-2 
38-2 
A  week  of  dull,  cold,  windy  weather,  with  rain  on  four  days. 
Old-time  IlannriDg. 
A  DIP  into  old-fashioned  works  on  gardening  and  those  of  a 
kindred  nature  reveals  the  fact  that,  in  theory  at  least,  we  are  not  so 
greatly  advanced  in  the  principles  of  manuring  and  the  methods  of 
application  of  fertilisers  as  one  might  suppose.  We  are  certainly  in  a 
position  to  command  manures  in  quantities  comparatively  beyond 
anything  old  cultivators  could  ever  have  dreamed  of,  and  because  of 
this  we  are  perhaps  less  careful  of  materials  possessed  of  manorial 
properties  than  they  were  obliged  to  be.  Nothing,  in  fact,  came  amiss 
to  them.  When  they  write  of  dungs  they  almost  always  refer  to  the 
unmixed  excrement  of  animals  or  of  fowls,  and  not  infrequently  this 
was  permitted  to  remain  for  a  couple  of  years  to  rot  before  being  con¬ 
sidered  fit  to  use,  a  preparation  that  explains  the  large  proportion  of 
dung  put  into  composts,  sometimes  amounting  to  one-half.  The 
employment  of  dung  in  a  crude  form  was  always  condemned,  though 
it  would  appear  that  the  market  gardeners  round  London  transferred 
the  material  heaped  up  in  the  “  lay-stalls  ”  with  which  the  streets  of 
the  metropolis  were  furnished  previous  to  the  great  fire  in  1666 
directly  to  the  soil,  a  practice  which  was  considered  by  some  writers 
to  produce  vegetables  not  altogether  fitted  for  consumption. 
Several  old  writers,  following  perhaps  the  teaching  of  Roman 
authorities,  advise  the  formation  of  pits  not  more  than  4  leet  in  depth, 
and  of  dimensions  according  to  the  quantity  of  material  possible  to  be 
gathered  together.  Into  this  receptacle  everything  that  would  rot — 
rags,  leather,  bones — soot,  lees  of  wine,  the  washings  of  dishes,  night 
soil,  weeds,  leaves,  clearing  of  roads  and  streets,  hair,  &c.,  was  mixed 
with  dung  and  soil,  and  when  it  had  assumed  the  properties  of  a  com¬ 
post  it  was  used  in  the  garden.  Pigeon  dung  dried  and  sifted  was  then 
as  now,  sown  on  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  considered  one  of  the  most 
efficient  manures.  Lime  was  largely  used  where  it  could  be  easily 
procured,  and  Markham  recommends  it  300  years  ago  as  one  of  the 
best  of  manures  for  certain  classes  of  soil.  A  hundred  years  later 
lime-kilns  were  not  at  all  uncommon  for  supplying  lime  for  agricultural 
purposes.  Sea  sand  was  also  considered  of  value  as  a  manure,  and  the 
various  strong  growing  Fuci,  but  more  particularly  Fucus  vesicularis, 
cast  on  shore  by  the  waves,  have  been  employed  lime  out  of  mind. 
One  of  its  old  names  was  “herapweed,”  indicative  of  the  value  attri¬ 
buted  to  it  as  a  manure  for  Hemp.  ‘‘  Orewood”  is  another  very  old 
designation,  and  if  we  are  to  credit  Markham,  it  was  sought  for  in 
boats  and  gathered  with  hooks  from  the  sea. 
Pure  salt  was  long  ago  highly  esteemed  as  a  manure,  and  is 
rt commended  by  Lord  Bacon  for  fruit  trees.  Evelyn,  who  used  it  as 
a  weed  killer  on  his  walks,  found  its  manurial  properties  to  counter¬ 
balance  its  destructive  ones,  and  came  to  use  it  only  as  a  manure.  I 
possess  a  curious  pamphlet  written  to  show  the  national  importance  of 
utilising  salt  as  a  manure,  and  how  by  its  use  England  might  be  able 
to  produce  Wheat  not  only  sufficient  for  her  own  use,  but  have  a 
surplus  (o  export.  A  Mr.  Liveings  in  the  early  years  of  last  century 
had  a  place  of  business  at  Bow  Bridge,  Essex,  where  he  sold  a 
“compound  manure”  at  2s.  6d.  per  bushel,  which  was  said  to  be 
nothing  but  salt.  Switzer,  in  a  little  treatise,  “  A  Compendious 
Method  for  the  Raising  of  the  Italian  Broccoli,  &c.,”  commends  this 
manure  very  highly  for  horticultural  purposes,  and  a  Samuel  Trowell, 
gardener  at  Poplar,  published  a  work  on  agriculture  and  gardening 
which  is  largely  a  puff  of  the  same.  The  manure  was  scattered  on 
the  ground  ”at  about  8  cwt.  per  acre.  Shortly  after  this  Rme  Baron 
Von  Haake’s  composition  was  offered  as  a  reliable  fertiliser  of  farm 
and  garden  :  16  to  22  lbs.  was  the  quantity  of  this  recommended  to 
be  applied  to  an  acre,  and  it  was  sold  at  Is,  per  lb.,  “  but  to  prevent 
trouble  not  less  than  8  or  10  lbs.  will  be  sold.”  The  formula  of 
William  Ellis,  a  noted  farmer  of  Gaddeston,  for  an  acre  of  ground 
was  12  lbs.  common  salt,  1  lb.  saltpetre,  20  bushels  wood  or  coal  ashes. 
Saltpetre  (potassium  nitrate)  had  long  been  in  use  as  a  manure. 
Bacon,  for  example  in  “  Sylva  Sylvarum,”  recommended  Coleworts  to 
be  watered  with  salt  water,  “  and  much  more  with  water  mixed  with 
nitre.”  “  Hartshorne  shaven  ”  was  by  the  same  authority  commended 
for  “  Mushromes.” 
It  is  noticeable  that  Bacon,  as  above  quoted,  was  aware  of  the 
value  of  manure  water,  and  as  a  fact  it  was  in  common  use,  if  we  are 
to  credit  old  writers,  not  only  in  gardens,  but  also  in  field  culture.  Cow 
dung  then,  as  now,  was  appreciated  as  a  valuable  aid  when  diluted  in 
water.  In  some  cases  it  would  appear  to  have  been  literally  only 
diluted,  and  was  applied  in  a  semi-fluid  condition.  _  A  not  uncommon 
way  of  using  liquid  manure  was  to  fill  vessels  with  it,  place  them  clos® 
to  the  plants  to  be  refreshed,  and  using  a  woollen  rag  as  a  kind  of 
syphon,  with  one  of  its  ends  in  the  liquid  and  the  other  laid  to  the 
root  of  the  plant,  it  slowly  but  surely  soaked  into  the  ground. — 
R.  P.  Beotheeston. 
