September  29,  1898. 
24)5 
JOURNAL 
OF  HORTICULTURE  AND 
CO  TTA  GE  GARDENER 
STEM  TUBE  RATION  OF  POTATOES. 
The  accompanying  illustration  furnishes  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
examples  I  have  seen  of  the  determination  of  the  Potato  plant  to  create 
tubers  somehow,  in  other  words,  to  honourably  fulfil  its  mission  or  duty 
in  the  economy  of  Nature  to  the 
best  of  its  ability.  Apart  from 
being  a  vegetable  curiosity,  the 
example  should  have  for  the  plant 
physiologist  intense  interest,  be¬ 
cause  it  shows  that  there  are  con¬ 
ditions  of  existence  in  plants  when 
surroundings  are  not  favourable, 
that  compel  them  to  change  their 
nature  or  operations,  yet  remain 
absolutely  true  to  their  kind. 
The  specimen  illustrated  is  but 
the  lower  portion  of  the  stems'of 
a  Potato  plant,  divested  of  leaves, 
but  all  the  stems  for  more  than 
double  the  length  shown  were 
equally  tubered.  The  example  was 
found  in  August  last  in  a  field 
attached  to  the  ground  of  Regent 
House,  Surbiton,  Surrey,  by  Mr. 
Porbes,  the  gardener,  who  gave  it 
to  me.  The  variety  was  the  well 
known  Beauty  of  Hebron.  There 
were  in  the  breadth  just  a  few 
others  similarly  tubered,  but  in 
much  less  degree.  Nothing  definite 
could  be  found  to  show  the  cause 
of  the  withering  of  the  bark  round 
the  stem  beneath  the  soil,  but  it 
may  have  been  caused  5  by  the 
depredation  of  some  grub  or  perhaps 
wireworm. 
In  any  case  the  bark, became 
injured,  and  the  result  was  "that 
the  tuber-forming  sap  elaborated 
in  the  leafage  could  not  continue 
its  downward  course  to  form  a 
good  crop  of  tubers  underground, 
but  was  checked  or  arrested  by  the 
lack  of  continuity  in  the  bark  of 
the  stem.  The  result  was  as  seen, 
in  the  development  of  real  but 
aerial  Potato  tubers,  from  thejbuds 
at  the  axils  of  the  leaves,  thus 
showing,  as  has  been  so  often 
stated,  that  Potato  tubers,  so  called, 
are  not  real  tubers  after  all,  but 
merely  clusters  of  fleshy  {"plant 
buds.  It  need  hardly  be  said^that 
the  tubers  found  under  the]  stem 
were  few. — A.  D. 
ONIONISM. 
Whether  Mr.  W.  Pea  is 
correct  in  giving  it  as  his  opinion 
that  Onionism  is  a  new  cult,  or 
a  developing  mania,  I  am  not 
prepared  to  argue ;  but  it  is  no 
doubt  true  that  more  gardeners 
are  annually  adopting  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  forwarding  at  least  a 
portion  of  their  crop  by  sowing 
in  boxes  during  January  or 
February.  I  should  certainly 
think  Mr.  Pea  justified  in  de¬ 
scribing  it  a  tendency  to  tall 
talking,  when  a  bed  of  Onions 
averaging  I2  lb.  each  bulb  is  called  picklers.  At  the  same  time, 
it  estimates  more  or  less  correctly  the  ambition  of  the  man  for 
Onion  advancement  in  the  matter  of  size.  Mr.  Deverill  of  Banbury 
has  done  much  in  popularising  this  phase  of  Onion  growing  in 
the  raising  and  selection  of  superior  stocks,  and  at  the  same  time 
offering  piizes  for  the  best  among  his  patrons.  Messrs.  Bowermao, 
Beckett,  Lye,  Ivneller,  \\  ilkins,  and  Pope  are  a  few  among  many 
others  whose  names  are  familiarly  associated  with  Onions  of  large 
type,  and  it  must  be  honestly  admitted  that  these  giants  of  the 
vegetable  garden  command  an  admiration  equal,  and  often  superior, 
to  any  other  kind  staged  in  the 
vegetable  classes  at  shows. 
A  good  Onion  bed  is  invari¬ 
ably  held  as  the  pride  of  the 
garden,  all  classes  of  growers 
devoting  more  than  ordinary 
attention  to  the  preparation  of 
the  ground  intended  for  them. 
The  present  season  has  had  a 
varying  influence  bearing  on  this 
crop  ;  in  very  light  and  poor  soil 
they  are  small  and  prematurely 
ripened,  and  in  ground  deeply 
trenched  and  well  manured  they 
are  better  than  is  usual.  My  bed 
— sown  with  Ailsa  Craig,  Brown 
Globe,  and  Rousham  Park — 
realised  by  measure  5  bushels  to 
the  perch,  and  by  weight  about 
2  cwt.,  the  total  of  the  bed  being 
2  tons.  The  bulbs  are  of  good 
size,  solid  and  well  ripened,  these 
conditions  being  favoured  by  the 
great  tropical  heat  and  the  dry 
state  of  the  ground.  Mildew, 
which  in  some  years  commits 
such  havoc,  was  strangely  absent, 
and  to  some  extent  this  accounts 
for  the  greater  weight  yielded. 
Another  smaller  bed  was 
divided  between  an  outdoor  sow¬ 
ing  made  in  March,  and  one  sown 
in  boxes  and  placed  in  a  cool 
house  in  F ebruary.  The  difference 
between  the  two  is  very  marked  ; 
some,  indeed  many  among  the 
latter,  would  weigh  nearly  or 
quite  2  lbs.  The  average  of  the 
outdoor  ones  may  be  halt  a  pound 
each.  The  difference  is  brought 
about  solely  by  the  early  sowing, 
which  was  thinly  made,  so  that 
none  but  a  final  transplanting 
was  needed,  and  that  early  in 
April.  As  in  the  case  quoted  dry 
Mr.  Pea,  no  water,  either  manure 
or  clear,  was  given  artificially 
from  the  time  of  planting  until 
they  were  drawn  in  September. 
What  size  they  would  have 
attained  under  high  feeding  in 
a  liquid  state  I  will  not  venture 
to  estimate. 
It  is  strange  that  a  difference 
measured  only  by  such  a  short 
extension  of  time  in  sowing,  should 
be  so  easily  secured  in  the  size  of 
the  bulbs,  the  preparation  of  the 
ground  being  the  same,  and  the 
treatment  during  the  growing 
period  identical.  Where  Onions 
are  valued  for  cooking  as  a  vege¬ 
table  this  method  is  well  worthy 
of  attention,  and  for  exhibition 
purposes  it  need  scarcely  be  said 
to  be  absolutely  essential.  It 
would  be  folly  itself  for  the  man 
who  depends  on  outdoor  sowings 
to  enter  into  competition  where 
the  Onionism  mania  is  in  evi¬ 
dence.  The  man  of  tall  talk 
might  reasonably  exclaim,  What 
picklers  !  At  the  same  time, 
1  believe  the  day  is  far  distant 
when  indoor  sowing  and  early  planting  will  be  largely  and  univer¬ 
sally  adopted,  for  whatever  might  be  said  in  favour  of  the  practice 
for  special  purposes,  smaller  bulbs  are  the  more  economical  as 
applied  to  ordinary  kitchen  use,  and  they  keep  better  when  stored 
for  the  winter  and  spring. 
Fig.  43. — Stem-tubering  Potato. 
