332 
JOURNAL  OF  EORTICULrURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  14,  1898. 
NOTES  ON  PARSLEY. 
There  is  probably  no  product  of  the  garden  so  frequently  in  demand 
as  Parsley,  unless  it  be  the  indispensable  Potato,  and  although  there  is 
continuous  inquiry  for  the  herb  throughout  the  year,  there  are  many 
instances  where  it  gets  but  scant  cultural  attention.  In  some  gardens 
Parsley  is  relegated  to  out-of-the-way  spots,  or  used  as  a  margin  to  some 
other  crop,  and  when  sown  left  very  much  to  chance,  the  plants  not 
even  receiving  the  attention  of  timely  thinning,  so  as  to  give  light  and 
space  to  allow  of  their  becoming  strong  and  fully  developed.  Sometimes, 
too,  one  sowing  during  the  year  is  regarded  as  sufficient  for  all  purposes, 
but  those  who  do  so  find  they  have  made  a  mistake  at  a  time  when  they 
are  left  without  a  remedy. 
These  remarks,  however,  have  no  general  application,  for  the  gardener 
who,  whether  he  has  a  large  or  a  small  supply  to  find  every  day  in  the 
year,  must  needs  give  the  subject  more  than  passing  notice,  and  Parsley 
obtained  from  the  excellent  strain;  now  in  cultivation  certainly  provides 
as  pleasant  a  feature  as  any  other  garden  crop.  The  old  type,  such  as 
one  occasionally  finds  in  cottage  gardens,  although  it  may  possess  all  that 
is  needed  for  flavouring  purposes,  would  not  call  forth  any  favourable 
comment  either  as  a  garnish  or  growing  jdant. 
The  most  densely  curled — and  this  is  what  constitutes  the  feature  ol  a 
summer  Parsley — is  not  usually  dependable  for  outdoor  gatherings  in 
winter.  Summer  and  wunter  uses,  however,  need  special  culture  and 
selection  of  variety,  unless,  of  course,  there  is  adequate  provision  for 
growing  it  under  glass,  where  it  is  not  subject  to  extremes  of  cold 
weather.  In  such  a  case  the  exquisitely  curled  will  be  just  as  suitable  for 
one  season  as  another. 
For  the  earliest  summer  gatherings  I  always  sow  under  glass  in 
.lanuary  or  February,  which  produces  strong  plants  to  put  out  in  the 
beginning  of  April.  They  are  planted  singly  in  rows  from  16  to  18  inches 
apart,  and  about  9  inches  between  the  plants.  Here  they  grow  strongly, 
the  density  of  the  leaf  becomes  fully  developed,  and  during  the  summer 
months  they  not  only  furnish  a  daily  and  almost  unlimited  supply,  but 
the  beauty  of  the  plants  calls  forth  unstinted  praise  from  everyone  who 
sees  them.  Sown  in  the  ordinary  way,  left  unthinned  and  unattended 
to,  there  would  be  no  comparison,  and  it  would  be  passed  by  the  casual 
observer,  and  regarded  simply  as  Parsley.  No  doubt  there  is  Parsley 
and  Parsley,  to  use  a  common  phrase,  and  both  may  be  had  from  one  and 
the  same  packet.  I  have  been  long  since  convinced  that  this  everyday 
plant  deserves,  as  much  as  any  other  garden  vegetable,  the  best  attention 
that  can  be  given  it. 
It  may  not  be  generally  credited  how  long  these  earlj^-raised  plants 
will  continue  to  furnish  the  daily  needs  of  the  kitchen.  The  present 
winter  could  not  be  taken  to  prove  this,  but  in  severer  ones  I  have 
had  a  supply  lasting  until  the  new  bed  is  ready  the  following  summer,  or 
some  sixteen  months  from  date  of  sowing.  Not  that  it  would  be 
advisable  to  depend  on  them  for  winter  and  spring  use.  Three  sowings, 
and  sometimes  four,  would  be  a  safer  practice.  A  late  one  outdoors 
would,  in  the  case  of  those  having  little  room  to  spare  under  glass, 
answer  the  same  purpose,  and  if  sown  in  a  small  lied  the  plants  can  be 
protected  and  transplanted  into  better  soil  in  March  or  April,  according 
to  the  conditions  of  the  soil  and  the  weather. 
Parsley  germinates  slowly  in  the  open  garden  at  any  season,  but  sown 
in  a  box  of  fine  soil  and  placed  in  a  warm  house  there  is  no  more  trouble 
experienced  than  with  any  other  vegetable.  This  slow  growth  of  the 
seed  germ  prompts  some  to  lay  boards  or  slates  over  the  drills  to  maintain 
a  uniformity  of  moisture,  which  is  so  necessary  a  condition  in  the 
raising  of  any  plant  from  seed.  By  such  a  course  the  crop  may  be 
advanced  many  days,  and  it  may  be  weeks,  when  the  ground  continues 
in  a  dry  state  over  a  long  period. 
Parsley,  like  ^everything  else,  delights  in  good  and  well-manured 
land,  and  I  have  noticed,  too,  that  a  change  of  soil  is  as  agreeable  to 
these  plants  as  to  other  crops.  To  stand  the  winter  firm  ground  is 
advisable,  and  there  is  not  the  need  for  this  to  be  freshly  dug  or  manured, 
but  a  plot  chosen  that  has  produced  an  early  summer  crop.  There  is  much 
more  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  “plant’’  at  midsummer  than  in  the  spring. 
Watering  of  the  drills  prior  to  sowing  the  seeds  is  an  incentive  to 
early  growth,  but  if  the  soil  remain  dry  and  hot  for  only  a  few  days 
this  will  be  soon  evaporated.  A  covering  with  slates,  boards,  or  straw, 
will,  if  put  on  at  once,  reduce  the  necessity  of  watering  considerably,  and 
the  ultimate  results  will  be  more  satisfactory.  Of  disease  and  insect 
troubles  I  have  not  had  much  experience.  By  giving  the  change  of  site 
for  each  sowing  and  planting,  early  thinning,  and  an  occasional  light 
sprinkling  of  salt  and  soot,  I  have  generally  obtained  what  is  required — 
an  ail  the  year  round  supply. — W.  S.,  Wilts. 
WALLED -IN  GARDENS— A  FALLACY. 
Perhaps  it  would  interest  some  of  your  readers  to  hoar  of  my  expe¬ 
riences  with  a  walled-in  garden  as  a  place  of  protection  to  plant  life.  I 
have  two  gardens  here,  one  an  old  one,  perhaps  between  200  and  300  years 
old,  bounded  on  all  sides  by  high  flint  walls.  That  on  the  north  side  is 
quite  15  feet  high  ;  the  south,  east,  and  west  walls  are  nowhere  less  than 
10  feet  high.  The  whole  garden  is  not  more  than  an  acre. 
On  the  south  face  of  the  north  wall  I  have  Peaches  and  Apricot 
trees  ;  the  latter  ten  days  ago  were  in  full  blossom.  On  the  south  border 
I  have  Potatoes,  some  of  which  were  up  6  inches  or  more.  Six  yards  to 
the  south  of  the  north  wall  there  is  a  bed  of  Roses,  which  were  very 
forward  ten  days  ago.  Now  when  one  is  in  this  garden,  surrounded  as  it 
is  by  these  high  walls,  one  would  think  that  if  ever  there  were  a  sheltered 
spot  this  would  be  it.  But,  no  !  The  north-east  winds  we  had  lately 
seem  to  have  been  turned  into  a  whirlwind  within  the  walls,  and  have 
made  the  Rose  bushes  look  as  if  they  had  been  burnt,  and  the  Apricot 
trees  have  been  treated  likewise,  while  Currant  bushes  have  been  whirled 
round  and  round  till  their  stems  have  bored  big  holes  in  the  soil. 
Now  in  the  other  garden  we  have,  and  which  is  open  to  the  south 
and  not  very  well  protected  by  hedges  add  trees  from  the  north  and  east, 
nothing  has  suffered,  although  Roses,  Pear  trees,  and  other  plants  are 
very  forward  on  account  of  the  mild  winter  and  spring.  I  think  this 
clearly  shows  that  walled-in  gardens  are  a  fallacy,  and  not  to  be  recom- 
.mended. — W.  E.  Napier,  Wiveton  Hall,  Norfolk. 
CHINESE  PRIMULAS. 
The  popularity  of  the  many  varieties  of  Chinese  Primulas  is  now  so 
vast,  that  it  matters  little  where  one  goes,  specimens  are  practically  sure 
to  be  found.  The  amateur  with  only  a  small  greenhouse  always  includes 
in  his  heterogeneous  collection  a  few  Primulas,  while  the  gardener  in  a 
large  establishment  would  probably  find  their  place  difficult  to  fill  if  the 
stock  failed  from  some  unexpected  cause.  For  the  greenhouse,  the 
conservatory,  and  for  table  decoration  the  single  varieties  are  almost 
invaluable,  small  plants  in  3-inch  pots  being  particularly  charming  for 
the  latter  purpose.  The  semi-double  and  double  varieties,  which  are 
comparatively  numerous,  are  not  only  available  for  the  purposes  above 
named,  but  are  exceedingly  useful  for  supplying  cut  flowers.  Is  it  any 
matter  for  surprise,  then,  that  these  plants  are  so  universally  popular  ? 
Not  at  all,  but  rather  the  reverse — indeed,  the  numbers  that  are  grown  at 
the  present  moment  might  advantageously  be  doubled. 
Like  all  other  flowers,  however,  they  must  be  well  grown  if  their 
highest  merits  are  to  be  developed,  for  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  some 
Chinese  Primulas  with  which  one  occasionally  meets  are  scarcely  worthy 
the  name.  Not  that  well  grown  means  large  plants.  Nothing  of  the  sort, 
for  the  medium-sized  plant  in  about  a  5-inch  pot  will  look  handsomer  than 
an  ungainly  specimen  in  one  2  or  3  inches  larger.  Immense  leaves  have 
a  coarse  effect,  and  the  very  large  flowers  sometimes  produced  on 
luxuriant  plants  have  not  the  delicacy  and  refinement  of  smaller  ones 
on  medium-sized  plants.  To  a  certain  degree  the  size  of  the  plant  must 
be  governed  by  the  object  that  the  grower  has  in  view,  but  as  a  general 
rule  it  is  probable  that  the  smaller  will  be  the  more  useful.  Each  plant 
must  have  foliage  that  is  clean  and  healthy,  and  be  surmounted  by  flowers 
of  perfect  form,  substance,  and  clear  in  colour.  Such  as  these  are 
happily  often  seen  in  gardens  and  nurseries,  and  it  is  in  examining  a 
large  collection  that  one  appreciates  to  the  full  the  value  of  Chinese 
Primulas  as  winter-flowering  plants. 
One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  perfection  to  which  Primulas 
can  be  grown  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London  was  seen  several 
weeks  ago  in  the  Perry  Hill  nurseries  of  Messrs.  J.  Carter  &  Co.,  the 
Holborn  firm  that  has  for  so  long  been  famed  for  its  stocks  of  these  as 
well  as  other  plants.  The  visitor  then  could  see  some  7000  plants,  all 
growing  in  48-pots  and  almost  the  whole  of  them  in  full  flower.  It  was 
a  glorious  sight,  and  waa  well  worth  the  time  occupied  by  the  visit. 
Amidst  such  a  plethora  of  excellent  varieties  it  appears  an  almost 
impossible  task  to  select  a  few  that  stand  above  the  others  for  quality,  and 
were  a  dozen  plants  alone  of  each  grown,  it  is  probable  that  everyone 
would  shrink  from  the  task.  At  Perry  Hill,  however,  each  was  represented 
by  a  mass  comprising  many  scores  of  plants,  and  such  being  the  case,  the 
best  stood  out  conspicuously  above  the  others,  either  by  reason  of  their 
greater  floriferousness,  the  quality  of  the  individual  flowers,  the  elegance 
of  the  leafage,  or  the  purity  of  colour  of  the  blooms.  It  is  becoming 
customary  in  making  selections  of  this  nature  to  place  them  in  order  of 
merit,  but  in  this  particular  instance  no  such  effort  will  be  made,  as  they 
were  jotted  down  as  they  were  observed  and  points  of  merit  were  not 
allotted.  If  one  were  seen  that  was  decidedly  inferior  to  the  others  it 
was  passed  and  no  mention  made  thereof,  but  such  as  this  were  rare,  in 
fact  only  one  or  two  were  observed. 
Floriferous,  and  delicate  in  shade,  is  Imogen,  of  which  the  flowers  are 
rose,  but  it  is  scarcely  equal  in  some  respects  to  Princess  May,  of  which 
the  colour  is  a  rather  softer  shade  of  rose,  the  shape  of  the  flowers  being 
very  fine.  Dwarf  in  habit,  and  very  free  in  producing  its  shapely  white 
flowers,  is  Elaine,  which  is  known  by  all  and  accepted  as  a  general 
favourite.  Bouquet  has  not  yet  had  a  chance  to  attain  to  such  great 
popularity,  but  will  be  welcomed  by  many.  The  white  or  tinted  flowers 
appear  surrounded  by  the  green  calyx,  and  the  effect  is  unique,  and  of 
course  a  perfect  buttonhole  bouquet  is  ready  for  wear.  Quite  different 
in  all  respects  is  Ruby,  with  its  brilliantly'hued  flowers  of  richest  rose. 
Such  names  as  Carter’s  Scarlet  and  Carter’s  Rose  are  sufficiently 
expressive  to  render  explanation  superfluous.  The  Fern-leaved 
Elaine  is  as  charming  as  its’  Palm-leaved  sister  named  above,  while 
Rose  Queen,  which  resembles  Princess  May  in  many  respects,  is  certain 
of  admiration.  Holborn  Queen,  of  a  pure  white  colour,  is  very  fine  in 
every  way,  and  should  be  very  widely  grown,  and  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  Holborn  Salmon,  Magenta  and  Carmine,  of  which  the  name  tells 
the  colour. 
Turning  from  the  single  to  the  semi-double  varieties  we  find  the  same 
general  excellence.  Lilac  Queen  tells  its  own  colour,  but  cannot  convey 
an  idea  of  its  good  quality  any  more  than  can  Vivid,  which  is  a  peculiarly 
rich  deep  carmine  flower  of  the  best  form  and  substance.  Aurora,  a  soft 
rose,  is  one  of  the  best  of  its  colour  in  the  whole  of  the  immense  collec¬ 
tion,  Carmine  Empress  being  another  that  is  distinctly  above  the  average 
