432 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ANT)  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Mr.  Denholm,  a  contemporary  of  Mr.  IiendersoD,  achieved  a  like 
success  with  Muscats. 
I  rom  the  commercial  point  of  view  the  man  whose  unit  is  “  big'” 
and  maintained,  is  equally  successful,  and  he  receives  from  two  to  three 
times  as  much  tor  his  Grapes  as  another  whose  sole  idea  is  to  load 
his  Vines  with  as  many  bunches  with  small  or  variously  sized 
berries  as  he  considers  it  possible  for  them  to  carry.  Tho  Vines 
themselves  prove  the  former  to  be  the  principle,  inasmuch  as  while 
those  of  the  last  named  are  worn  out  quickly,  the  Vines  of  the 
other  continue  for  many  years  in  a  condition  of  fruitful  vigour. 
With  hardy  fruits  exactly  the  same  thing  occurs.  Trees  crowded 
with  branches  bear  with  less  regularity  than  those  which  are  suffi¬ 
ciently  thin,  and  the  fruit  itself,  when  thinned  with  judgment, 
increases  enormously  in  size,  quality,  and  value.  So  also  with 
vegetables.  If,  for  instance,  every  Onion,  Celery,  or  Parsley  plant 
were  treated  as  a  unit,  and  cultivating  as  if  it  alone  were  the  only 
one  needing  care,  a  superior  aggregate  of  the  whole  would  be  certain 
to  result,  ho  vegetable  shows  in  so  marked  a  manner  the  value  of 
treating  each  plant  as  a  unit  as  does  the  Pea.  We  have  reached  a 
position  when  large  Peas  of  the  finest  quality  may  be  had  during 
the  whole  of  the  Pea  season  ;  but  the  seeds  must  not  be  thickly 
sov  n.  If  one  is  ot  a  mercenary  turn  of  mind  each  Pea  may  have 
a  space  in  the  row  of  3  inches,  though  this  distance  may  be  doubled 
with  increasing  gain.  The  Pea  men  have  provided  U3  with  a  large 
unit,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  the  place  of  the  gardener  not  to  lower 
it  by  mere  rule  of  thumb  methods,  as  represented  in  the  jungle 
system  of  weakening  the  items. 
Let  us  next  take  plants  grown  in  pots  for  decorative  purposes.  To 
see  these  cultivated  as  they  ought  to  be,  we  must  visit  one  or  more  of 
the  large  trade  establishments  where  certain  kinds  are  produced  by  tens 
of  thousands.  One  plant  is  a  sample  of  the  lot,  and  the  lot  is  perfect. 
If  we  inquire  of  the  courteous  manager  how  it  is  all  accomplished, 
we  find  that  each  [lant  of  the  thousands  is  treated  as  a  unit.  No 
matter  whether  the  particular  plant  is  propagated  from  seed  or  from 
cuttings,  in  all  its  stages  of  growth  it  receives  attention  of  the 
nature  it  requires,  and  at  the  correct  time.  Whoever  is  successful 
in  an  eminent  degree  in  the  cultivation  of  any  plant  works  on  the 
same  principle.  Seedlings  or  cuttings  never  choke  each  other. 
Boxed  plants  are  potted  separately  before  the  stage  of  stint  has 
arrived.  I  hey  receive  water  when  it  is  due ;  are  fed  directly  food 
is  needed ;  and  never  forgotten  ! 
And  flowers?  The  fact  is  well  known,  if  not  always  acted 
upon,  that  a  flower  may  be  developed  to  an  enormous  degree,  and 
simply  by  dividing  it  into  units.  The  unit  of  a  flower,  so  far  as  a 
florist  is  concerned,  is  the  petal ;  and  the  fact  is  also  worth  the 
consideration  of  every  gardener  who  desires  tho  best  possible  flowers. 
Lot  me  hasten  to  say  there  are  many  exceptions  to  the  strict  and 
fast  rules  followed  by  the  florist  proper,  but  the  principle,  never¬ 
theless,  holds  good.  Most  gardeners  find  time  to  cultivate  Chrys¬ 
anthemums  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  the  florist,  but  there  is  no 
reason  why  analogous  treatment  should  not  be  extended  to  other 
kinds,  and  the  plant  that  produces  them  grown  with  thinned-out 
stems,  and  the  flowers  where  necessary  disbudded. 
I  have  endeavoured  to  demonstrate  the  utility  of  woiking  from  a 
high-class  unit  in  general  gardening.  In  preparing  produce  for 
exhibition  in  every  stage  it  is  invaluable.  In  the  case  of  flowers, 
where  the  judgment  is  reliable,  the  petal,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
has  been  the  unit  from  which  the  judge  has  worked.  A  constant 
tailing  in  uninstructed  exhibitors  is  the  manner  they  give  themselves 
away  by  neglecting  to  remove  petals  which  are  inferior  to  the  others 
that  make  up  a  flower.  It  is  the  superior  alone  that  counts,  while 
that  which  is  inferior  detracts  from  the  value  of  the  flower  as  a  whole, 
and  what  is  out  of  sight  or  imperfectly  displayed  either  dees  not 
count  or  else  lowers  the  value.  A  few  bad  or  small  berries  in  Grapes 
otherwise  good  have  also  a  bad  effect.  And  so  in  like  manner  have 
small  fruits  among  others  of  high  quality,  or  a  huge  unshapely  Potato 
placed  in  a  dish  to  compensate  for  the  deficiency  of  the  remaining 
too  small  tubers.  Their  infer iorit y  in  size  as  a  unit  is  greatly 
emphasised  by  the  addition,  which  is  in  itself  a  second  unit  of 
inferiority  coarseness;  as  if  two  bads  could  make  one  good  and  win 
a  prize. — A  Northern  Gardener. 
December  8  1898. 
EXPERIENCE  WITH  MANURES. 
Gardeners  as  a  body  owe  you  thanks  for  the  outspoken  remarks 
which  follow  the  notes  on  garden  manures  by  “A.  D.”  (page  411). 
Those  of  us  who  have  experimented  with  manures,  and  are  still  using 
them,  and,  in  a  manner,  still  experimenting  with  them,  will  agree  with 
the  tone  of  the  whole  article.  Chemical  manures  are  an  undoubted 
aid,  but  they  are  not  everything,  and  I  am  sure  those  who  have 
employed  them  the  longest  will  be  the  first  to  say  they  can  never 
take  the  place  of  farmyard  manure;  nor  do  they  save  the  cultivator  in 
tillage,  because,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  only  in  well-tilled  ground  that 
the  full  benefit  of  their  application  is  secured. 
Pegarding  “A.  D.’s”  remarks,  will  you  kindly  permit  me  space  for 
a  few  “  thoughts  ?  ”  And  as  a  preface  I  may  note  that  we  seem  to 
have  advanced  but  slightly  since  Ville  {laced  the  question  of  artificial 
manuring  on  a  basis  such  as  any  intelligent  man  could  work  from.  His 
reasonings  and  assumptions  were  by  no  manner  of  means  all  alike 
correct,  but  he  gave  definite  expression  to  a  few  facts  about  plants  and 
their  food  which  were  simply  invaluable.  Science  appears  to  be  moving 
in  the  direction  from  which  it  started  off  at  a  tangent  some  twenty 
years  ago;  but,  in  the  meantime,  according  to  “A.  D.,”  how  utterly 
helpless  must  it  be  ! 
I  see  no  reason  why  it  is  not  feasible  for  gardeners  to  experiment 
with  manures.  Consciously  or  unconsciously  they  ore  obliged  to  do 
so.  That  as  a  body  they  should  be  expected  to  go  systematically  into 
the  question  is  vain.  It  is  only  here  and  there  that  gardencis  can  bo 
found  capable  of  doing  so.  A  man  must  either  be  trained  or  train 
himself  to  systematise,  and  those  who  have  so  qualified  themselves  are 
undoubtedly  in  a  position  to  direct  work  and  catch  opportunities  that 
the  untrained  cannot  accomplish.  It  is  in  this  way  that  a  gardener 
finds  the  value  of  “  artificials.”  He  works  from  an  ascertained  point, 
or  at  least  one  that  has  been  said  to  have  been  ascertained,  and  he  is 
able  to  eliminate  that  which  is  unnecessary,  as  well  as  to  ascertain  to 
a  nicety  that  which  is  helpful,  and  to  make  use  of  it  in  the  manner 
that  best  promotes  the  end  he  has  in  view.  Anyone  who  has  a  garden 
in  charge  is  surely  capable  of  discovering  the  potency  of  any  manure  ; 
in  fact,  nothing  but  this  ability  has  rendered  the  sale  of  proprietary 
manures  so  universal.  Though  expensive,  if  they  are  really  efficient, 
as  I  know  some  of  them  to  be,  their  cost  is  not  so  great  as  to  prove  a 
drawback  to  their  employment.  They  have  indeed  helped  many  a 
gardener  over  a  stile. 
I  have  already,  some  years  ago,  affirmed  in  “  our  Journal  ”  that 
garden  ground  in  good  condition  requires  no  addition  of  potash.  I 
have  experimented  with  potassium  chloride,  potassium  nitrate,  and 
potassium  sulphate,  and  without  exception  they  have  proved  of  no 
value.  “  A.  D.,”  the  Editor,  or  anyone  can  ascertain  whether  this  is 
a  fact  or  not.  All  that  is  required  is  to  cultivate  the  soil,  deeply,  if 
you  please,  but  in  any  case  let  every  clod  turned  over  be  pulverised 
into  particles.  If  poor,  mix  with  it  a  6-inch  layer  of  good  manure 
from  the  farmyard,  and  the  only  artificials  that  may  be  required  for 
the  next  three  years  will  be  phosphates  or  nitrates. 
Phosphates  are  the  most  valuable  of  all  artificial  manures  for  the 
garden.  I  use  both  supers  and  slag,  but  prefer  the  former  for  most 
things.  Superphosphate  has  the  invaluable  property,  not  only  of 
being  a  plant  food,  but  what  is  perhaps  of  more  importance,  it  promotes 
root  action,  and  either  by  this  means,  or  by  some  other  property  it 
possesses,  it  enables  the  plant  to  cater  for  the  food  proper  to  its  kind. 
As  a  rule  superphosphate  is  best  applied  to  the  surface  of  the  soil  and 
hoed  in;  and  the  best  time  to  apply  is  when  the  crop  it  is  intended  to 
succour  is  planted.  It  is  wasteful  to  apply  previous  to  winter.  In 
our  climate  I  find  March  and  sometimes  April  to  be  sufficiently  early. 
In  these  months  I  use  it  largely  as  a  surface  dressing  to  Narcissi, 
Tulips,  Iris,  and  other  bulbs. 
Another  peculiarity  of  superphosphate  I  must  not  pass  over  is  the 
remarkable  power  it  possesses  of  carrying  crops  successfully  through 
periods  of  drought  such  as  we  experienced  during  the  past  summer. 
I  have  orten  remarked  it  previously,  but  never  with  such  marked 
effect  as  this  year.  One  instance  was  furnished  by  the  Celery  crop ; 
2000  heads  are  required  to  supply  the  house  from  October  to  April, 
and  it  would  have  been  nothing  wonderful  had  a  percentage  bolted, 
but  so  far  as  I  am  aware  of,  not  a  siDglc  plant  has  been  lost.  But, 
what  about  water  ?  The  trenches  were  not  once  watered,  only  the 
plants  in  each  as  they  wrere  set  out  received  a  slight  watering,  and  in 
the  very  driest  time  a  2-inch  dressing  of  soil  was  laid  among  them. 
Without  the  surface  dressing  of  supers  applied  previous  to  the  planting 
of  each  trench  I  am  confident  the  crop  would  either  have  suffered  or 
recourse  must  have  been  had  to  watering.  In  this  case,  as  in  others, 
the  crop  was  kept  moving  in  the  driest  w’eather,  and  labour  to  an 
enormous  extent  saved  in  watering. 
Then  may  I  say  that  the  desire  to  work  with  these  manures  on 
poor  soils  in  order  to  test  their  value  is  of  no  cultural  benefit.  It  is 
one  of  the  curses  clinging  alike  to  poor  gardening  and  to  poor  farming 
that  so  many  persons  culpably  allow  the  soil  to  sink  into  an  unfertile 
condition.  Nothing  whatever  can  be  made  of  such  farms  and  gardens 
