134 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  13,  1898 
covered  with  Orchids,  mingled  with  a  drapery  of  creepers,  amongst 
the  latter  I  noticed  a  Passiflora.  Sugar-canes  grow  chiefly  in  the 
plains. 
“  You  could  not  imagine  anything  more  beautiful  than  some 
lofty  cliff,  as  seen  here,  decorated  with  creepers  and  blossoms  in 
almost  endless  variety  and  profusion.  One  scarlet-flowering  plant 
somewhat  resembles  the  Poinsettia  (Poinciana,  perhaps),  though  I 
have  not  seen  it  before.  The  botanic  garden  is  a  delightful  place 
from  Nature’s  own  point  of  view,  and  contains  some  magnificent 
trees  ;  one  girthed  30  feet  at  7  feet  from  the  ground.  Four  of 
these  stately  specimens,  bedecked  with  Orchids,  appeared  to  me  to 
cover  nearly  an  acre  of  ground.  The  Governor’s  house  is  situated 
here.  To  my  mind  the  Cabbage  Palm,  some  specimens  growing  to 
close  on  70  feet  high,  is  the  most  noble  of  the  genus.  Oh  !  if  but 
my  dear  friend  “  F.  W.  B.”  was  here — it  would  take  his  fluent  and 
graceful  pen  with  the  pencil  of  a  Claude  to  do  justice  to  this 
beautiful  land — this  land  with  a  maximum  of  Nature’s  gifts  and  a 
minimum  of  man’s  efforts.” 
Brother  J.  here  observes  the  noticeable  lack  of  energy  to 
develop  the  natural  resources  of  the  island  with  a  view  to  exporta¬ 
tion.  Continuing,  he  says,  “  The  cry  here  is  that  the  Home 
Government  does  not  care  to  help.  America  does  a  considerable 
trade  here,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  this  will  be  an  important 
place  for  England  yet,  with  its  grand  harbour  (the  Gulf  of  Paria) 
capable  of  sheltering  all  the  navies  of  the  world.  The  low  price 
of  sugar  ruined  the  large  planters,  but  large  planters  are  scarcely 
of  service  to  a  small  colony,  as  the  bulk  of  the  profit  goes  out  of 
the  country.  Coffee  grows  well  in  the  hill  districts,  but  there 
appears  to  be  something  wrong  somewhere,  as  in  parts  of  the 
island  there  are  no  roads,  and  the  whole  is  only  about  the  size  of 
Lancashire.  They  want  Mr.  W - here  to  do  what  he  is  doing 
for  Surrey  (presumably  not  for  literal  roadmaking,  but  to  pave 
the  way  for  systematic  fruit  culture).  Here  is  a  land  of  eternal 
summer  tempered  by  sea  breezes,  and  escaping  the  more  excessive 
heat  of  other  West  Indian  islands.” 
I  now  conclude  these  extracts  from  a  long  and  interesting 
letter,  in  which  the  writer  appears  to  have  a  fervent  desire  to 
import  into  his  new  home  the  talent  and  energy  of  “J.  W.,” 
“  F.  W.  B.,”  and  “  W.  B.”  Best  content,  Brother  J.,  in  that 
terrestrial  paradise  ;  you  have  a  great  deal.  We  want  them,  too  : 
you  also,  when  you  can  be  coaxed  back  to  Erin,  for  I  fancy  that 
our  metropolis  is  not  so  well  supplied  with  Mushrooms  since  you 
left  Tallaght  for  Trinidad. — K.,  Dublin. 
TILLAGE. 
This  important  operation  in  practical  horticulture  appears  to 
be  slowly  losing  the  prominent  position  it  held  as  an  essential  part 
of  good  cultivation  in  times  not  very  remote.  The  reasons  for  this 
are  no  doubt  varied,  and  one,  at  least,  may  safely  be  ascribed  to 
the  limited  amount  of  attention  paid  by  young  men  in  the  period  of 
their  novitiate  to  matters  connected  with  outdoor  gardening.  Not 
improbably,  also,  a  determining  cause  may  be  found  in  the  great 
reduction  in  the  working  staff  in  gardens,  the  effect  of  which 
generally  falls  to  be  borne  by  the  department  devoted  to  the 
production  of  vegetables,  and  possibly  also  the  employment  of 
chemical  manures,  which  has  developed  at  so  rapid  a  rate  as 
a  recognised  system  of  cultivation,  may  have  its  share  in  the  matter. 
Whatever  the  reasons,  there  can,  I  think,  be  no  question  as  to  the 
fact.  Ground  bared  of  a  crop  in  the  autumn,  instead  of  being 
trenched  or  double  dug,  is  commonly  simply  dug,  and  sometimes 
even  that  is  not  overtaken  until  just  previous  to  the  ground  being 
required  for  cropping  in  the  spring.  I  am  aware  that  in  former 
times  digging  might  well  have  been  substituted  for  some,  at  least, 
of  the  trenching  that  was  so  faithfully  undertaken.  It  was,  how¬ 
ever,  one  of  these  failings  that  leaned  to  the  side  of  virtue,  and 
doubtless  it  always  brought  its  own  reward  to  the  cultivator,  for 
if  we  examine  the  reasons  advanced  for  deep  cultivation,  the  chief 
ones  appear  to  have  been  the  production  of  an  enlarged  because  a 
deeper  root  run,  and  the  interchange  of  an  exhausted  surface  soil 
with  a  fresh  subsoil.  With  regard  to  the  former  of  these  it  is 
quite  plain  it  can  apply  with  force  in  the  case  of  deep  rooting 
plant*  alone,  and  to  the  latter  the  experiments  in  agriculture 
prove  that  a  fresh  subsoil  is  not  invariably  an  unmixed  benefit. 
I  venture  to  think  that  a  not  unimportant  result  of  trenching 
in  these  days  of  high  manuring  was  the  tone  it  gave  to  the  soil  as 
a  whole. 
Before  proceeding  further  with  the  question  of  tillage  and  its 
effects,  that  of  drainage  may  parenthetically  be  disposed  of.  It 
may  be  concluded  that  few  gardens  remain  undrained,  because 
draining  has  results  both  of  a  positive  and  a  negative  character  so 
important  that  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  fruit  and  vegetables 
can  be  profitably  produced  without  the  drainage  of  the  soil  having 
first  of  all  been  perfected.  It  is  well  understood  that  stagnant 
water  ha*  a  depressing  effect  on  the  whole  body  of  soil,  rendering 
it  cold,  inert,  and  unfertile  ;  and  that  drainage,  in  addition  to 
removing  such  water,  is  followed  by  other  results  of  a  beneficent 
nature  that  places  at  the  disposal  of  the  cultivator  a  medium  capable 
of  being  made  fit  for  the  production  of  any  crop.  In  the  general 
discussion  of  tillage  further  reference  to  drainage  will  be  most 
conveniently  dealt  with. 
Taking  now  into  consideration  more  particularly  the  effects  of 
double  digging  and  trenching,  in  addition  to  these  operations  pro¬ 
viding  an  admittedly  deeper  rooting  medium,  which  in  most  cases 
can  be  beneficial  to  the  full  extent  only  to  those  crops  requiring  a 
deep  root  run,  they  at  the  same  time  bring  into  operation  influences 
that  extend  to  shallow  rooting  plants.  For  example,  a  deeply 
cultivated  soil  is  throughout  its  entire  depth  affected  to  a  less  degree 
than  a  shallow  one  by  weather.  This  follows  largely  on  account  of 
its  increased  porosity  and  capillarity.  The  capillarity  of  a  soil 
resides  in  its  power  to  transmit  moisture  from  a  lower  to  a  higher 
level ;  its  porosity,  the  power  to  pass  water  rapidly  from  the  surface 
to  its  lowest  level.  The  last-named  acts  in  a  period,  however  short 
or  lengthened,  of  wet — the  first  in  a  time  of  drought.  A  like 
condition  of  soil  favours  or  hinders  both.  It  is  a  property  common 
to  each  that  the  finer  and  the  more  numerous  the  pore(s,  bo  does  the 
ratio  of  their  power  of  action  increase.  Clay  possesses  this 
wonderful  power  to  the  greate*t  degree,  and  sandy  soil  the  least. 
In  wet  land  there  is  naturally  little  if  anything  of  either  of  these 
forces  at  work.  In  drained  soil,  thoroughly  tilled,  one  or  the  other 
is  constantly  coming  into  play,  so  that  no  part  of  the  soil  under 
ordinary  conditions  is  much  wetter  or  drier  than  another  part. 
It  will  thus  be  apparent  that  soil  in  a  finely  divided  state  is 
highly  favourable  to  the  maintenance  of  an  equable  condition  a* 
regards  moisture.  Hence  in  trenching  or  in  digging  it  is  not 
sufficient  that  the  clods  are  merely  transposed  as  the  work  proceeds  ; 
they  ought  to  be  broken  as  finely  as  possible  in  the  mass.  It  is, 
perhaps,  not  customary  to  be  so  particular  in  the  breaking  down 
of  the  soil ;  but  it  has  important  results,  and  well  repay*  the  extra 
time  spent  on  so  treating  the  land.  Perhaps  no  better  example  of 
the  beneficial  effect  of  this  treatment  is  to  be  found  than  in  a 
Celery  ridge.  Though  only  a  narrow  ridge  of  soil  elevated  quite 
above  the  general  level,  and  exposed  to  the  greatest  extent  possible 
to  the  drying  influences  of  sun  and  air,  crops  are  grown  to 
perfection  on  these  ridge*  without  being  any  more,  if  as  much, 
affected  by  drought  as  those  planted  on  the  level. 
There  are  other  reasons  why  soil  should  be  divided  into  fine 
particles.  One  is  that  a  very  largely  increased  feeding  space  is 
provided  for  roots,  and  it  will  follow  that  a  piece  of  ground  that 
has  been  turned  over  three  or  four  times  between  the  seasons  of 
cropping  will  be  relatively  more  fertile  than  if  dug  only  once. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  repeated  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  if 
only  for  a  short  time,  may  also  exert  a  beneficial  effect ;  but  apart 
from  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  benefit  resulting  from 
mechanical  trituration. 
As  to  the  time  of  year  that  trenching  may  be  undertaken  with 
the  best  results,  autumn  is,  I  think,  to  be  preferred  to  any  other. 
Tben  the  soil  is  somewhat  moist,  but  not  wet,  and  in  the  best 
condition  for  the  work  being  done  with  despatch.  Digging  is  also  best 
fo  te  in  the  autumn,  but  it  is  preferable  to  complete  the  trenching 
first.  It  ought  to  be  the  aim  of  the  cultivator  to  have  as  little 
digging  as  possible  during  the  summer.  The  most  cogent  reason 
is  the  scarcity  of  time,  and  also  because  it  consumes  more  time 
relatively  in  the  summer  to  dig  a  given  piece  of  ground  than  it 
does  in  the  winter.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  garden  without 
summer  digging,  but  it  is  as  possible  as  it  is  convenient  to  reduce 
it  to  very  small  dimensions.  For  instance,  ground  set  apart  for 
Celery  can  be  prepared  early  in  spring,  and  in  the  case  of  that 
wanted  for  the  later  crops  of  Peas  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  dig 
any  more  than  the  narrow  trench  devoted  to  each  row. 
The  system  of  arranging  crop*  so  that  one  may  follow  another 
without  the  necessity  of  digging  the  ground  for  each  is  worth 
consideration.  In  this  way  ground  producing  Potatoe*  may  be 
cropped  after  lifting  without  any  preparation  beyond  forking. 
Catch  crops,  such  as  Endive,  Lettuce,  Radishes,  Turnip*,  Cole- 
worts,  Kale,  and  Winter  Spinach  do  well  managed  in  this  way.  I 
commonly  rotate  Broccoli  and  other  winter  and  spring  crops  after 
