306 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  12,  1899. 
Beginrx  rs  would  do  well  to  start  with  Princess  of  Wales,  and  then 
add  others  to  the  collection  as  they  master  cultural  details.  This  is 
undoubtedly  the  best  of  the  pinks  ;  it  possesses  a  good  constitution,  is 
a  stronger  grower  than  the  old  blush,  and  not  so  liable  to  disease. 
The  old  form  somewhat  recurves  its  outer  petals,  and  under  certain 
conditions  loses  colour  rapidly,  bleaching  to  a  very  light  shade, 
while  the  Princess  has  none  of  these  faults. 
The  plants  selected  must  not  have  been  drawn  during  the  process 
of  layering.  This  is  too  often  done  with  the  object  of  gaining  time; 
on  the  contrary,  however,  we  are  losing  it,  and  prejudicing  the 
plant’s  constitution.  If  the  plants  are  hurried  after  layering,  to 
force  the  emission  of  roots  for  potting  it  results  in  drawn  stock, 
that  can  never,  even  with  the  most  skilful  after  treatment,  prove 
satisfactory  ;  it  must  therefore  be  avoided,  and  a  more  natural  method 
instituted.  ‘ 
It  will  perhaps  be  as  well  to  briefly  describe  the  process  of  layering. 
It  is  generally  understood  that  in  vcuth  there  is  vigour,  and  consequently 
we  prefer  ore-year-old  plants  that  have  carried  one  flower.  We 
do  not  necessarily  confine  ourselves  to  these,  but  if  two-year-old  plants 
are  used,  all  weakly  shoots  are  removed,  and  only  the  strongest  retained. 
Before  layering,  all  old  foliage  at  the  base  is  removed  to  within  4  or 
5  inches  of  the  top  of  the  shoot  or  layer.  By  this  means  we  have  done 
much  to  clear  out  the  disease  from  our  plants.  There  is  also  another 
advantage.  Such  layers  when  rooted  and  potted  have  large  foliage  at 
the  base,  and  the  plants,  when  they  produce  grass,  are  furnished  to  the 
rim  of  their  pots.  How  oltcn  do  we  see  them,  like  miniature  standards, 
with  a  leg  6  or  more  inches  in  height  ?  This  is  the  result  of  selecting 
long  growths  for  layering.  It  is  no  more  trouble  to  practise  a  system 
that  one  knows  will  favour  excellent  results  than  it  is  to  follow 
methods  that  are  known  to  be  faulty  from  the  outset. 
All  the  plants  are  layered  in  6  feet  wide  frames  made  of  deal  planks 
11  inches  deep  and  1|  inch  thick.  These  are  nailed  to  stakes  driven 
into  the  ground.  The  lights  fit  closely  together,  there  being  no  main 
bars  between  them.  These  frames  are  placed  on  ordinary  garden  soil, 
and  across  one  end  a  trench  is  made  with  a  spade  large  enough  to  hold 
a  row  of  plants  as  thickly  as  we  can  conveniently  place  them  without 
unduly  crowding  the  layers.  On  the  top  of  the  garden  soil  is  spread 
3  inches  of  compost  iu  which  to  layer  the  growths.  This  is  firmed 
down  as  the  process  of  layering  proceeds,  and  consists  of  turfv  loam, 
leaf  mould,  and  sand.  The  cut  is  started  at  a  joint,  and  extends  from 
1  to  1^  inch  up  the  stem.  The  tongue  of  the  layer  is  then  placed  in  a 
hole  made  for  its  reception  with  the  finger,  the  stem  being  pegged  down 
with  one  of  Sydenham’s  layering  pins,  which  are  cheap,  better  than 
home-made  oues,  and  with  care  last  for  years.  The  old  stem  is  lightly 
covered  with  soil,  the  object  being  not  to  bury  the  collar  of  the  young 
plant  too  deeply. 
As  the  layering  in  each  frame  is  completed  a  slight  watering  is 
given,  the  light  being  replaced  and  the  layers  shaded.  The  surface 
of  the  soil  is  kept  damp  afterwards  by  the  aid  of  the  syringe.  The 
lights  are  kept  close  and  shaded  daily  during  bright  sunshine  until  the 
layers  stand  upright.  Air  is  then  admitted,  and  is  gradually 
increased  with  the  commencement  and  progress  of  rooting.  If  the 
weather  prove  exceedingly  wet,  the  lights  are  placed  O'-ar  them,  but 
light  showers  cause  no  trouble.  The  plants  are  thus  exposed  until 
good  roots  have  been  formed,  and  the  young  plants  can  be  properly 
lifted  with  balls  for  pottiDg.  It  will  bevobseived  that  the  plants 
cannot  become  drawn  and  weakly  fiom  ihe  abundance  of  air  they 
receive,  and  the  later  stages  are  similarly  natural.  I  wish  to  lay 
particular  stress  on  the  advantages  that  accrue  to  following  the  lines 
here  suggested,  as  the  difference  between  what  may  be  termed  a 
rational  system  and  the  reverse  frequently  spells  success  as  against 
failure.  Every  successful  grower  does  not  necessarily  adopt  these 
precise  lines,  but  the  basal  principles  are  invariably  the  same,  the 
slight  variations  being  in  subsequent  cultivation. 
These  details  may  be  tedious,  but  they  are  necessary  for  beginners, 
and  may  save  them  trouble  in  finding  out,  as  we  had  to  do,  by  actual 
experience. — Wm.  Bardney,  Osmaston  Manor. 
(To  be  continued.) 
OUTDOOR  TOMATOES  AND  THEIR  USES. 
Tiie  subject  of  Tomato  culture  being  one  receiving  a  considerable- 
amount  of  attention  in  the  Journal,  and  the  practice  of  cultivation 
outside  having  increased  so  much  of  late  years,  I  venture  to  send  a  few 
remarks  dealing  with  my  experience  in  this  respect — an  experience- 
based  now  over  the  last  six  years  in  two  very  different  parts  of 
England.  Curiously  enough  my  first  venture  was  as  successful  as  that 
of  any  succeeding  year,  excepting  that,  towaids  the  end  of  the  summer, 
which  had  been  a  very  good  one,  heavy  rains  set  in,  with  the  con¬ 
sequence  of  disease  being  rather  widespread  and  sufficiently  serious  to 
negative  the  benefit  of  particularly  large  fruit  and  heavy  clusters.  I 
grew,  perhaps,  this  first  year  about  150  plants,  and  was  so  encouraged 
by  the  result,  that  I  in  consequence  have  grown  largely  ever  since. 
I  say  largely,  for  I  cultivate  them  entirely  for  our  own  consumption, 
having  various  uses  for  them  over  and  beyond  what  the  generality  of 
persons  employ  them  for,  as  I  will  mention  anon.  I  found  the  some¬ 
what  heavy  clayey  loam  of  Somersetshire,  where  I  was  living  (between 
Yeovil  and  Taunton,  on  rather  high  ground),  suited  them  apparently 
better  than  my  later  trials  on  a  distinctly  light  sandy  loam  in  Warwick- 
shite.  Jn  the  former  county  I  grew  them  almost  entirely  between  the 
rows  of  Straw  berries,  and  they  seemed  quite  content  to  flourish  in  the 
half-spent  manure  that  had  been  spread  for  the  benefit  cf  the  Straw¬ 
berries  before  the  winter.  This  said  manure,  I  may  mention,  as  a 
conti  ibution  on  the  vexed  question  of  peat  moss  litter,  was  of  the  latter 
mixiure,  and  I  never  had  any  ill  results  either  to  the  Tomatoes  or  the 
Strawberries  from  its  use.  Indeed,  my  Strawberries  were  ti  e  admira¬ 
tion  and  envy  of  all  our  neighbours.  I  had,  too,  an  unlimited  amount 
of  liquid  manure  which,  if  the  weather  was  at  all  dry,  when  in  fruit 
they  received  pretty  liberally.  Another  excellent  place  where  they 
cropped  most  heavily  was  the  Vine  border.  Here,  too,  they  were  in 
ground  whose  dressing  had  been  put  on  some  mouths  previously. 
This  present  summer  here  in  Warwickshire  rich  soil  certainly 
made  a  marvellous  difference.  About  200  plants  outside  were  culti¬ 
vated,  and  for  the  most  part  planted  between  the  early  Potato  rows 
when  the  haulm  was  dying  down.  The  soil  is  light,  and  had  not  been 
enriched.  The  result,  owdng  to  the  extreme  and  prolonged  drought, 
was  not  satisfactory.  Numbers  tf  the  plants  made  very  insufficient 
growth,  and  became  badly  crippled  bv  fly,  the  consequence  being  very 
little  fruit  came  to  maturity.  A  good  minority  of  the  plants,  however, 
were  fortunately  planted  in  stronger  or  manured  ground,  and  less 
exposed  to  the  lull  glare  of  the  sun,  and  these  cropped,  perhaps,  almost 
as  well  as  they  invariably  did  iu  my  Somerset  garden. 
Apart  from  the  fly  trouble  this  year,  I  may  mention  that  hardly 
half  a  dozen  plants  per  season  have  failed  since  I  have  grown  Tomatoes, 
and  these  have  been  mostly  early  in  their  growth  and  apparently  from 
wireworm,  or  other  disease  at  the  roots  or  in  the  haulm,  and  not  from 
disease  in  the  fruit  itself.  The  variety  chiefly  grown  has  been  all  along 
Sutton’s  Earth  st  of  All,  which  for  our  private  purposes  has  been  per¬ 
fectly  satisfactory.  On  the  whole,  I  think  only  one  season  were  the 
fruits  themselves  attacked,  and  that  was  my  first  year,  when  disease- 
was  rampant  among  Potatoes  also  all  over  the  country.  Apart  from 
this,  the  produce  has  generally  attained  to  a  fair  size. 
Considering  that  I  eto  no  thinning,  and  except  on  occasions  late  in 
the  season,  and  notably  at  the  present  time,  very  little  cracking  has 
resulted.  Excepting  that  1  make  for  good  sturdy  plants,  beyond 
keeping  well  tieei  up  to  their  stakes  and  planted  as  much  in  the  open 
as  possible,  but  with  a  protecting  wall  not  far  behind  them  to  give 
them  a  south  or  south-east  aspect,  the  only  assiduous  care  they  require 
I  find  when  firmly  established  is  to  keep  slipping  off  all  side  shoots 
and  topping  the  plant  itself  about  mid-August,  when  als  >  I  cut  away 
a  good  deal  of  leaf  growth,  severing  the  leaf  not  entirely,  but  about 
h  ilf  its  length.  It  must  not  be  imagined,  however,  from  these  notes 
that  my  fruit  necessarily  ripens  outside — au  contraire,  a  very  large 
portion  does  not.  Indeed,  I  make  a  practice  all  through  of  cutting 
when  of  mature  size,  and  ripening  under  glass.  I  suppose  the  flavour 
is  not  so  good,  but  for  culinary  purposes  probably  the  diffeience  is 
hardly  appreciable. 
And  this  brings  me  to  the  various  uses  to  which  Tomatoes  may  be 
put.  Growing  so  many  plants  merely  in  a  private  garden  (for  we- 
have  besides  another  100  plants  under  gla^s),  it  may  seem  surprising 
how  we  can  consume  all  the  produce.  It  is  true  towards  the  end  of 
the  season  some  50  to  100  lbs.  have  been  generally  sold,  as  being 
beyond  our  requirements,  and  have  realised  without  being  pushed 
about  3d.  per  lb.  But  the  main  bulk  of  the  Tomatoes,  some  200  to- 
400  lbs.  indeed,  we  have  found  an  actual  use  for.  Used  fresh  in  the 
ordinary  way  for  luncheon  or  breakfast,  or  in  salads,  is  responsible  for 
a  considerable  quantity.  Many  more  merely  stewed  account  for 
another  good  quota,  while  others  are  employed  to  fulfil  the  functions 
of  an  entree  at  dinner,  served  in  many  cunning  and  epicurean  methods, 
according  to  the  skill  and  enterprise  of  the  cook. 
But  a  further  and  invaluable  use  for  them  I  have  still  to  advocate 
— viz.,  make  them  into  jam.  We  make  about  100  lbs.  of  it  every 
year,  and  most  delicious  it  is,  generally  indeed  the  favourite  preserve 
