352 
April  21,  1893. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
There  were  the  usual  social  functions,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  more 
correct  to  say — since,  judging  by  the  remarks  of  those  who  went,  there 
appeared  to  be  some  disappointment  on  that  score  — that  the  first  day  was 
not  quite  what  it  used  to  be.  However,  a  garden  party  at  Laeken 
quite  made  up  for  it.  Being  otherwise  engaged  I  was  not  of  the 
thousand  or  so  of  the  king’s  guests.  From  beginning  to  end  the  Journal 
representative  paid  his  way,  and  did  none  the  worse  for  it.  If,  therefore, 
the  present  report  lacks  something  on  the  score  of  official  guidance,  it  can 
at  least  claim  the  impartiality  which  might  be  expected  from  the  man  in 
the  street,  who  drops  in  casually,  sees  what  there  is  to  see,  and  having 
said  his  say  about  the  show,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  unprejudiced 
on-looker,  hies  him  home. — W.  Pea. 
NOTES  ON  SALADS. 
(.Concluded  from  page  307.) 
Celery  is  not  only  an  important  ingredient  in  the  salad,  but  an 
indispensable  kitchen  garden  crop,  and  worthy  of  the  best  attention  that 
can  be  given  to  it ;  but  here  I  do  not  intend  going  into  exhaustive 
details  of  cultivation.  I  will  therefore  only  allude  to  those  points  that 
are  of  mest  consequence.  The  type  of  Celery  best  adapted  to  our 
purposes  is  to  be  found  among  the  short,  or  medium  and  compact-growing 
sorts.  These  are  well  represented  by  Turner’s  Incomparable,  Seymour’s 
Superb  White,  Sandringham,  Carter's  Ivory  White,  Cole’s  Red  Defiance, 
Major  Clark’s  Red,  and  Standard  Bearer.  Several  of  these  have  more 
or  less  the  peculiarity  of  making  nearly  all  their  leaves  of  one  length,  and 
so  have  little  or  no  waste  about  them.  The  Ivory  White  just  named  has 
this  quality  in  a  marked  degree,  and  Standard  Bearer  is  the  hardiest  of 
all.  These  dwarf  sorts  of  Celery  admit  of  being  planted  much  closer 
together  and  in  shallower  trenches,  and  consequently  require  less  earthing 
up  than  the  taller  and  coarser  kinds  Sowings  may  be  made  from  the 
beginning  of  March  to  the  end  of  April  ;  the  early  ones  in  gentle  heat, 
and  the  later  or  last  in  the  open  ground.  •  I  have  already  remarked  that  the 
quality  of  salading  depends  largely  upon  its  being  grown  freely  from  first  to 
last,  and  with  Celery  this  is  a  point  of  first-rate  importance.  Great  care 
should  therefore  be  taken  that  the  young  plants  sustain  as  small  a  check 
as  possible  in  the  one  or  two  removals  involved  in  evdtivation.  Given  a 
good  variety  of  Celery,  I  believe  that  pithy  and  stringy  stalks  and 
premature  bolting  may  invariably  be  attributed  to  defective  cultivation. 
Whether  planted  in  single  or  double  lines,  in  trenches,  or  in  beds  with 
the  rows  crosswise,  Celery  requires  plenty  of  manure  under  it,  and  a 
bountiful  supply  of  water  or  clear  liquid  manure  during  early  growth  and 
previous  to  the  commencement  of  earthing  up.  The  earthing  must  not 
be  begun  too  soon,  and  preparatory  to  that  each  plant  should  have  the 
side  growths  and  a  few  of  the  small  leaves  removed,  and  be  somewhat 
loosely  tied  round  to  keep  the  earth  out  of  the  heart,  at  the  same  time 
pressing  the  soil  rather  firmly  between  the  plants.  A  second  earthing 
will  be  required  a  few  weeks  later  on,  and  when  growth  has  nearly  ceased 
a  fine  dry  day  should  be  taken  advantage  of  to  perform  the  operation 
finally,  again  taking  care  to  keep  the  soil  out  of  the  heart  of  the  plant. 
In  the  spring  of  the  year  the  remains  of  the  Celery  crop  may  be  dug 
up,  and  as  much  of  it  as  is  sound  laid  in  carefully  on  the  north  side  of  a 
wall  where  it  can  be  protected  if  necessary.  The  operation  of  removal  is 
a  check  upon  growth,  and  the  shady  position  still  further  retards  it,  and 
thus  the  Celery  season  is  considerably  prolonged. 
Radishes  require  a  generous  soil,  and  in  hot  weather  a  somewhat 
shady  position.  Wood’s  Early  Frame  is  a  good  one  to  sow  in  gentle 
heat  among  early  Carrots  and  Potatoes  in  February  and  March,  and 
there  is  no  nicer  Radish  than  the  French  Breakfast  to  sow  out  of  doors 
from  March  to  the  end  of  August.  A  sowing  or  two  of  Black  Spanish 
made  late  in  August  and  early  in  Sefitember,  where  they  can  have  a  little 
protection  it  necessary,  are  useful  in  the  winter  months.  When  Radishes 
are  required  to  be  dished  up  by  themselves  they  look  much  better  if, 
instead  of  chopping  all  the  leaves  off  to  one  length,  two  or  three  of  the 
larger  ones  are  removed  entire  and  the  green  seed  leaves  left  on. 
Chicory  and  French  Dandelion  sown  in  drills  about  the  middle  or  end 
of  May,  or  even  early  in  June,  are  quite  invaluable  for  lifting  and  forcing 
in  a  dark  place  in  the  winter  time.  If  sown  earlier  than  the  time  named, 
these  crops  throw  up  their  flower  stems  during  the  autumn,  and  are 
thereby  either  quite  spoiled,  or  at  least  much  deteriorated. 
Beet,  when  in  good  order,  exactly  fulfils  the  conditions  of  a  salad 
plant,  as  it  is  not  only'good  for  food  but  pleasant  to  the  eye.  It  thrives 
best  in  a  light  friable  soil  that  has  been  well  manured  for  previous  crops. 
A  good  time  to  sow  is  from  the  end  of  April  to  the  middle  of  May.  The 
Beet  is  a  tender  plant,  and  if  sown  too  early  is  liable  to  be  injured,  or  even 
killed,  by  late  spring  frosts  ;  it  is  also  subject  to  run  to  seed,  and  thus 
become  useless.  Small  or  medium-sized  roots  that  are  free  from  “  forks  ’’ 
are  the  best,  and  especial  care  should  be  taken  at  the  time  of  lifting  to 
avoid  all  cuts,  breaks,  and  bruises,  as  upon  this  depends  the  brilliant  cotour 
and  fine  flavour  so  highly  prized  at  table.  Three  good  sorts  to  grow  are 
the  Egyptian  Turnip -rooted.  Pine  Apple  Short-top,  and  Nutting’s  Dw  arf 
Red,  and  there  are  others  e(]ua!ly  good. 
Mustard  and  Cress  need  but  few  remarks  beyond  this,  that  in  their 
treatment  we  must  diverge  a  tittle  from  the  good  old  rule  of  “  sow  thin, 
and  sow  often,  ’  and  instead  we  must  sow  thickly,  and  often,  and  evenly’ 
on  a  level  surface  in  shallow  boxes  during  winter  and  spring,  and  in 
summer  a  shady  place  out  of  doors  will  suit  them  well.  The  two  crops 
should  always  be  sown  separately,  and  the  seed  should  be  kept  dark  and 
moist  until  germination  takes  place,  which  will  lie  a  little  quicker  with 
Mustard  than  with  Cress.  Rape  is  sometimes  used  in  this  way,  but  it  is 
altogether  inferior  in  quality  to  White  Mustard. 
Corn  Salad,  or  Lamb’s  Lettuce  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  a  useful 
and  easily  managed  salad  plant.  It  may  be  sown  at  any  time  in  good  free 
soil,  either  thickly,  to  be  cut  in  the  mass  hke  Mustard  and  Cress,  or  thinly, 
to  be  utilised  when  the  individual  plants  are  big  enough.  It  may  also  be 
pressed  into  service,  if  needed,  by  being  sown  in  shallow  boxes  and  brought 
on  in  gentle  heat. 
Rampion  is  i  salad  plant  not  often  seen  nowadays,  and  yet  it  is  easily 
managed  by  the  timely  observance  of  one  or  two  points  of  cultivation. 
Fig.  68.— Narcissps  Lady  Helen  Vincent. 
Several  sowings  may  be  made  during  the  spring  and  early  summer  in  very 
fine  soil.  This  is  an  important  point  both  as  regards  the  seed-sowing  and 
the  after  growth  of  the  root.  The  seeds  are  very  small  and  smooth,  and 
the  long  white  Radish-like  root  is  liable  to  “fork”  if  the  soil  is  lumpy. 
The  seed  is  best  sown  in  ver}'  shallow  drills,  and  the  crop  should  be  duly 
thinned  and  kept  free  from  weeds,  and  well  watered  during  dry  weather. 
The  root  is  the  part  eaten,  and  it  should  be  peeled  before  being  committed 
to  the  salad  bowl  to  add  its  sweet  nutty  flavour  to  the  rest  of  the  appetising 
compound. 
Watercress  may  be  utilised  as  a  salad  plant  at  any  time,  its  peculiar 
flavour  and  aroma  being  always  agreeable.  Boxes  of  any  sort  or  size 
filled  with  roots  planted  in  ordinary  good  soil,  and  placed  in  a  little  heat, 
or  even  in  a  cold  frame,  and  frequently  and  plentifully  douched  with  clean 
water,  will  soon  give  plenty  of  Cresses. 
A  green  salad,  consisting  chiefly  of  Sorrel,  Dandelion,  and  Burnet,  may 
be  procured  from  our  meadows  during  the  summer  season,  and  many  such 
are  gathered  i  y  the  foreign  workmen  resident  amongst  us.  Burnet  is 
said  to  give  the  flavour  of  Cucumber  to  a  salad,  and  curiously  enough  the 
foreigners  seem  all  to  know  the  plant  we  call  Burnet  by  the  name  of 
“  Pimpernel,”  while  we  attach  exactly  the  same  name  to  a  plant  which  is 
botanically  and  otherwise  totally  distinct,  the  one  being  Poterium 
Sanguisorba,  and  the  other  Anagallis  arvensis.  The  mixing  of  a  salad 
can  hardly  fail  to  be  of  interest  to  a  gardener,  even  though  he  is  not  called 
upon  to  do  it,  and  here,  as  a  rule,  his  interest  in  it  ceases. — H.  F. 
Anemone  apennina. — The  Apennine  Windflower  is  at  present  in 
full  flower,  its  blue,  rose,  or  white  blooms  being  very  attractive.  Although 
later  than  Anemone  blanda  it  is  a  more  reliable  plant,  and  stands  rougher 
treatment.  Planted  in  grass  which  is  left  uncut  until  the  leaves  of 
the  Windflower  have  ripened,  it  is  very  beautiful,  and  thrives  splendidly. 
Although  sought  after  by  some,  the  rose  and  white  forms  are  less 
effective  than  the  dark  blue  shades.  It  has  sometimes  been  sent  out 
from  some  nurseries  in  place  of  A.  blanda,  but  no  one  who  has  seen  the 
two  can  fail  to  recognise  the  plants.  The  sooner  A.  aponnina  is  procured 
after  the  leaves  have  riptmed  the  better. — S.  Arnott. 
