244 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  29,  1898. 
One  very  important  point  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that  of  avoiding 
thick  sowing  in  the  boxes,  and  to  bring  on  the  plants  slowly  by 
providing  a  suitable  position  in  a  fairly  cool  house,  where  their 
progress  is  not  hasted  at  one  time  and  crippled  at  another  by 
extremes  of  temperature.  Onions  when  in  growth  are  very  sensitive 
of  extremes,  and  in  too  much  heat  they  quickly  elongate,  and  the 
tops  fall  over,  which  at  once  proves  fatal  to  their  sturdy  advancement. 
With  abundant  ventilation,  a  position  near  the  glass,  and  plenty  of 
room  to  develop,  the  plants  maintain  an  upright  carriage,  and  are  then 
at  the  proper  time  in  good  condition  for  planting.  The  boxes  filled 
with  a  rich  and  tempting  mixture  encourage  a  free  root  growth,  and 
the  drainage  should  be  largely  made  up  of  the  coarser  particles  sifted 
out  of  the  soil  used,  or  half-decayed  leaves  would  answer  the  same  good 
purpose.  Shallow  boxes,  too,  are  much  to  be  preferred  to  deep  ones ; 
for  these,  or  seedling  plants  of  almost  any  kind,  a  depth  of  2  inches  is 
ample.  The  soil  does  not  become  so  quickly  soured,  and  the  plants 
can  be  removed  for  transplanting  easier  than  is  possible  where  a 
greater  depth  of  soil  is  allowed.  If  anyone  doubt  this,  they  have 
only  to  prove  for  themselves  by  comparing  results  in  the  spring 
months. 
In  dealing  with  the  big  Onions  grown  by  Mr.  Bond  (page  201)  I 
note  Mr.  Pea  says  he  is  a  soil- worker  of  the  most  pronounced  type, 
“  is  at  it  all  the  winter,  scuffling  it,  worrying  it,  working  in  soot, 
lime,  and  burnt  rubbish  of  all  kinds,  not  to  speak  of  a  coat  of  manure 
between  each  two  spits.”  Both  Mr.  Pea  and  his  friend  must  needs 
find  some  qualification  for  this  continuous  tillage,  among  those  at  least 
who  have  a  heavy  soil  to  reckon  with,  for  I  fear  in  their  case  this 
scuffling  and  worrying,  if  carried  out,  would  lead  them  into  difficulties, 
and  without  perhaps  reaching  the  goal  p  tched  in  the  distant  summer 
month  that  furnishes  the  2  to  3  lb.  bulbs.  The  deep  trenching,  rough 
surface,  and  manure  coat  between  the  spits  is  quite  admitted,  and  so 
are  the  ingredients  prescribed  for  the  surface  to  be  worked  in ;  but  why, 
and  what  gain  comes  from  the  scuffling  all  the  winter  ?  Is  this  not 
better  left  until  the  time  of,  or  just  prior  to,  the  sowing  of  the 
seeds  ? 
By  specialists  in  Onionism  large  bulbs  have  been  raised  for  years 
on  similar  lines  to  that  adopted  now,  and  I  think  it  might  be  interest¬ 
ing  to  many  readers  if  record  could  he  furnished  showing  the  advance 
in  size  over  that  obtained,  say,  ten  years  ago.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
the  climax  has  been  reached,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  break  the 
record  of  the  past  by  another  pound,  or  perhaps  half  that  weight. — 
W.  S,  Wilts. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  SOILS  OF  THE 
BRITISH  ISLES. 
( Continued  from  page  201.) 
River-side  Bogs. 
There  are  peaty  and  boggy  deposits  found  contiguous  to  many 
rivers,  the  result  of  ancient  inundations  ;  and  when  obstructions  took 
place  and  accumulations  of  vegetable  debris  were  formed,  which, 
intermixed  with  silt  and  the  subsequent  growth  and  decay  of  aquatic 
vegetation,  produced  the  river-side  bogs,  so  frequently  met  with.  The 
soil  of  these  river-side  bogs  is  often  of  great  use  in  gardening  opera¬ 
tions,  being  favourable  for  American  plants,  except  when  impregnated 
with  lime  from  the  drainage  of  neighbouring  limestone  hills,  in 
which  case  they  have  to  be  employed  with  circumspection 
Although  all  are  compact  and  made  up  of  exceedingly  minute 
particles,  clays  nevertheless  present  many  points  of  difference,  both  in 
the  possession  of  certain  mineral  qualities  as  well  as  in  structure. 
Sedimentary  clays,  like  the  lias,  show  the  origin  of  the  deposit  in 
their  laminations,  the  daily  settlement  of  the  fine  mud,  first  held  in 
suspension  by  the  liassic  sea.  Bands  of  fossil  shells  also  occur  in  the 
lias,  tending  to  enrich  it.  With  the  lias  may  be  classed  the 
Ivimmeridge,  and  the  gault,  and  some  of  the  clays  of  the  coal 
measures.  Clays  of  the  weald  are  somewhat  similar,  containing 
organic  remains. 
The  boulder  drift  clay  differs  considerably  from  the  foregoing  ;  it 
may  be  called  a  washed  clay,  it  being  the  result  of  aqueous  action, 
and  shows  in  large  rounded  stones,  fragments  of  flint,  abraded  fossils 
taken  from  older  clay  beds,  the  tremulous  and  violent  character  of 
that  action.  In  composition  it  differs  from  the  sedimentary  clays, 
being  coarser,  much  blended,  and  not  laminated  like  the  lias.  The 
plastic  clays  of  the  permian  and  trias  differ  from  both  the  classes 
named  above,  being  homogeneous  in  character,  free  from  fossils,  and 
stained  with  peroxide  of  iron,  which  produces  the  redness  that 
characterises  them.  While  the  lias  is  rich  in  carbonate  of  lime,  these 
clays  contain  but  a  small  quantity  of  the  sulphate  of  lime  and  no 
bi-carbonate. 
Even  from  the  above  short  description  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the 
management  and  amelioration  of  clay  soils  the  same  methods  cannot 
invariably  be  pursued.  For  instance,  conversion  by  burning,  which 
can  be  done  with  great  advantage  with  the  lias  clay  and  those  similar 
to  it,  has  a  result  far  from  commensurate  with  the  expense  in  the  case 
of  some  of  the  plastic  clays  impregnated  with  iron,  which  when- 
calcined  often  prove  rather  injurious  than  beneficial  employed  as  a 
dressing  on  land  or  for  garden  purposes. 
Only  next  to  clays,  and  associated  with  them,  is  the  substance 
called  marl.  It  is  a  soil  much  less  general  in  its  distribution,  and' 
limited  in  the  extent  of  its  deposits.  It  is  composed  of  an  admixture 
of  cl-ty,  or  very  strong  soil,  and  lime,  the  latter  often  predominating. 
This  calcareous  portion,  borrowed  from  one  of  the  limestone  formations, 
or  from  other  sources  rich  in  the  same  ingredient,  and  amalgamated 
with  clay,  is  tempered  and  deprived  of  its  causticity  by  the  intermixture 
that  has  taken  place,  and  may  be  readily  employed  in  the  dressing  of 
lighter  soils  in  orchards  and  kitchen  gardens. 
An  account  of  soils  for  garden  purposes  would  not  be  complete 
without  allusion  to  sand,  of  which  a  very  great  variety  exists,  differing 
in  colour,  in  purity,  in  the  size  of  its  grains,  variously  derived  from 
granite,  quartz,  sandstone,  silica,  grit,  limestone,  from  which  sources 
it  has  either  been  washed  out  or  ground  by  attraction,  or  formed  by 
the  ceaseless  wash  of  waves  on  a  shingly  beach.  Sand  in  its  pure- 
state  is  a  substance  of  the  first  importance  to  the  gardener,  being 
essential  in  many  of  his  composts.  It  is  coveted  most  by  those  to 
whom  it  is  the  least  accessible. 
The  pure  silver  sand  of  Bedfordshire  and  Buckingham  is  almost 
wholly  made  up  of  silica,  its  purity  recommending  it  for  admixture 
with  peaty  soils  used  in  potting.  The  coarse  red  sands,  tinted  with 
oxide  of  iron,  are  to  be  avoided  for  Such  purposes,  as  are  the  sands 
derived  from  limestone.  As  an  instance  of  the  value  of  an  evenly 
granulated  sand  suitable  for  casting  purpose  s,  the  owner  of  a  pit  in 
which  a  large  deposit  was  found  made  by  its  sale  £2000  per  acre,  the 
original  cost  having  been  £10  !  Sea  sand,  from  old  sea  banks,  is  of 
great  value  in  horticultural  practice. 
We  will  now  give  a  short  recapitulation  of  the  substance  of  our 
articles  on  soils  with  the  classification  we  have  adopted. 
Under  the  head  of  primitive  or  natural  soils  we  have  placed  all 
those  derived  directly  from  the  disintegration  of  the  rock  or  formation 
on  which  they  rest  without  admixture  of  extraneous  matter. 
Loam  we  have  described  as  a  fertile  soil,  invariably  a  river  or 
estuarine  deposit,  containing  the  distinctive  matters  of  the  formation 
through  which  the  streams  have  passed  ;  essentially  a  compost  formed 
by  natural  agencies  and  enriched  by  organic  matters  of  both  land  and 
water. 
Alluvium  is  distinguished  as  a  marine  deposit  formed  on  a  shallow 
and  shelving  sea  coast  or  bay  or  estuary  into  which  rivers  have 
conveyed  the  lighter  sediment  of  the  land,  and  which,  instead  of 
settling  at  one  spot,  have  been  dispersed  by  the  action  of  the  waves 
over  a  wide  area,  the  whole  being  intermixed  with  the  organic  waste 
of  the  sea,  often  resting  on  beds  of  gravel  or  sand,  or  both.  Peat  we 
have  defined  as  a  silicious  soil  with  the  fibrous  remains  of  vegetation, 
dark  in  colour,  naturally  poor,  and  free  from  lime,  Heather,  Moss, 
Ling,  Gorse,  and  Vaccinium  having  supplied  in  most  cases  the 
vegetable  matter  of  which  it  is  partly  composed,  varying  in  quality, 
and  partly  dependent  on  the  base  on  which  it  rests. 
Bog  soil,  although  partly  composed  of  the  vegetable  matters  that 
form  peat,  differs  in  many  important  particulars.  It  is  the  result  of 
the  accumulation  and  decay  of  vegetable  matter  in  hollows  and  low 
positions,  and  generally  saturated,  sometimes  formed  by  the  sub¬ 
mergence  of  forests  and  the  subsequent  growth  and  decay  of  moss 
and  aquatic  plants. — P.  T.  Ingram. 
(To  be  continued.) 
TOMATOES  FOR  EARLY  FRUITING. 
If  fruits  are  required  for  use  or  exhibition  next  May  the  present  may 
be  considered  a  good  time  to  sow.  Tomato  plants  stand  the  winter  best 
when  they  can  be  grown  through  the  earlier  stages  of  their  existence  in 
a  moderately  cool  house  until  necessity  compels  their  removal  to  a  shelf 
near  the  glass  in  a  warmer  structure.  As  soon  as  the  seedlings  have  a 
couple  of  rough  leaves  pot  in  60  s  and  place  in  a  half-spent  hotbed  frame  ; 
one  that  had  been  used  for  the  August  propagating  would  answer  very 
well.  The  frame  should  be  kept  close  and  shaded  during  bright  sun¬ 
shine,  and  cover  the  glass  on  cold  nights.  Water  the  plants  after  potting, 
and  afterwards  with  much  dis  -retion,  to  prevent  damping.  The  soil  well 
suited  for  Tomatoes  is  turfy  loam,  leaf  soil,  and  refuse  from  a  spent 
Mushroom  bed  in  equal  parts,  pressing  it  firmly  to  encourage  sturdy 
growth.  When  the  roots  are  well  through  arrange  the  plants  near  the 
glass  in  a  light  house  with  a  temperature  of  from  50°  to  60°.  Beware  of 
starving  the  plants  at  all  times,  but  never  give  large  shifts  when  potting. 
The  Tomato  needs  during  its  winter  career  slight  shifts,  a  happy  medium 
in  temperature,  and  all  the  light  possible,  that  it  may  emerge  in  spring 
firm  and  stocky,  instead  of  being  so  drawn  and  attenuated  that  they  have 
to  be  manipulated  round  their  permanent  pots,  and  a  little  deception 
practised  to  induce  the  observer  to  imagine  they  are  ideal  plants.  By  all 
means  avoid  this  with  good  culture.  Varieties  to  grow  are  so  numerous 
and  good  that  I  only  name  two  that  have  come  out  well  in  trials  of 
several — viz.,  Webb’s  Regina  and  Vick’s  Criterion,  both  of  which  proved 
excellent  growers  and  free  setters  during  a  period  of  more  darkness  than 
daylight. — An  Old  Grower. 
