344 
journal  of  horticulture  and  cottage  gardener. 
April  16,  1896. 
aerial  mode  of  life.  The  amount  to  be  supplied  depends  upon 
circumstances,  and  with  regard  to  the  plant  or  crop  to  foilow. 
Ordinarily  the  land,  whether  grass  or  arable,  is  in  three  states  : 
— 1,  Clean  and  in  good  condition  ;  2,  Moderately  clean  and  in  fairly 
good  heart ;  3,  Neglected,  foul  alike  with  both  weeds  and  vermin. 
On  well  worked  soil,  and  where  there  has  not  been  any  particular 
trouble  from  ground  pests,  2 5  cwt.  per  acre,  If  lb.  per  rod,  1  oz.  per 
square  yard  is  a  proper  dressing.  This  amount  will  not  prejudice 
any  kind  of  crop  whatever,  even  when  sown  with  the  seed  or  the 
setting  of  the  plants.  It  is  the  smallest  amount  of  any  service 
against  ground  pests,  or  as  a  manure  for  the  potash  =  35  lbs.  per 
acre.  This  is  a  fair  annual  allowance  of  potash  on  loams  and  clay 
soils,  in  addition  to  that  supplied  by  not  less  than  10  tons  of  good 
animal  manure  per  acre,  and  the  amount  of  chlorine  is  not  so  large 
as  to  injure  crops,  while  it  is  hateful  to  pests  either  in  the  soil  or 
out  of  it,  as  the  chlorine  certainly  enters  the  plant  and  is  mostly 
retained  in  the  leaves,  thus  made  distasteful  to  their  enemies . 
In  fruit  gardens  and  orchards,  where  there  is  fair  balancing  of 
the  constituents  essential  for  fruit  production,  and  on  land  in  fairly 
good  order  and  condition,  5  cwt.  per  acre,  3£  lbs.  per  rod,  2  ozs. 
square  yard  is  a  good  and  full  dressing.  It  will  supply  70  lbs.  of 
potash  per  acre,  and  according  to  Mr.  R.  Warington’s,  F.C.S., 
“  Chemistry  of  the  Farm,”  the  following  ten  farm  crops  require 
a  goodly  supply  : — 
17 
tons  Turnips  with  their  tops  abstract 
149 
14 
„  Swedes  „ 
55 
80 
22 
„  Mangolds  „ 
55 
301 
6 
„  Potatoes  „ 
55 
80 
„  Meadow  hay 
55 
51 
2 
,,  Red  Clover  hay 
jj 
83 
30  bush.  Beans  with  straw 
55 
67 
30 
„  Wheat  „ 
55 
29 
40 
„  Barley  , 
55 
36 
45 
„  Oats  , 
55 
46 
lbs.  of  potash  per  acre. 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
5  J 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
55 
5*5 
55 
55 
55 
Kainit  is,  therefore,  desirable  for  supplying  potash,  and  looking 
at  the  large  amounts  abstracted  by  Turnips  and  Mangolds  the 
dressing  is  totally  inadequate,  and  remember  these  crops— cruciferous 
and  chenopodiaceous — are  greatly  benefited  by  the  chlorides  as  well 
as  by  the  potash.  For  Swedes,  Potatoes,  Clover  and  Beans  the 
dressing  is  about  ample,  considering  that  there  is  always  some 
waste,  and  that  the  land  will  supply  some.  As  regards  garden 
crops  the  percentages  of  potash  contained  in  the  ash  shown  below 
indicate  that  the  application  would  not  do  harm  on  that  score  : — 
61 
per  cent. 
Parsnips 
. .  461  per  cent. 
51 
55 
Turnips 
..  491 
55 
41 
55 
Apple,  fruit 
..  384 
55 
37 
55 
Cherry 
..  51 
55 
43 
55 
Gooseberry 
..  38 
55 
32 
55 
Pears  . . 
..  54| 
55 
37 
j; 
Plum  . . 
..  59 
48 
55 
Strawberry 
..  21-49 
55 
37 
55 
The  Grasses 
. .  20-42 
55 
contain  about  half  as 
much 
potash 
is  the 
tubers,”  and 
“fruits,” and  there  chlorine 
comes 
Asparagus,  straw 
Broccoli,  heart 
Cabbage,  whole 
Beans  . . 
Peas 
Onion  bulbs  . . 
Potatoes,  tubers 
Beet,  roots 
Carrots . . 
The  leafy  parts 
“  hearts,”  “  roots,”  “  1 
in  most  pronouncedly. 
In  cases  of  extreme  foulness  10  cwts.  of  kainit  may  be  applied 
per  acre,  7  lbs.  per  rod,  4  ozs.  per  square  yard.  Even  this  large 
quantity  will  seldom  do  any  harm,  particularly  on  soils  liable  to 
“  burn  up,”  a  liberal  dose  on  these  not  being  objectionable.  On 
specially  cold  heavy  soil  kainit  may  not  be  an  advisable  application, 
either  from  a  fertilising  or  pest-destroying  point  of  view,  as  such 
soils  are  not  deficient  in  either  saline  matter  or  chlorine. 
In  applying  kainit  to  land  after  February  it  should  be  in  con¬ 
junction  with  superphosphate  and  nitrate  of  soda,  using  in  every 
case  as  much  superphosphate  as  kainit,  and  a  quarter  the  amount 
of  nitrate  of  soda.  Examples  :• — 1,  Kainit,  2£  cwts. ;  raw  bone 
superphosphate,  2|  cwt. ;  nitrate  of  soda,  2£  qrs.  =  5  cwts.  2j  qrs. ; 
mixture  per  acre,  3  lbs.  15  ozs.  per  rod,  2  ozs.  per  square  yard. 
2,  Kainit,  5  cwts.;  raw  bone  superphosphate,  5  cwts.;  nitrate  of 
soda,  1|  cwt.  =  11|  cwts.  ;  mixture  per  acre,  8  lbs.  per  rod,  4  ozs. 
per  square  yard. 
3,  Kainit,  10  cwts.  ;  raw  bone  superphosphate,  10  cwt.  ; 
nitrate  of  soda,  2£  cwts.  =  1  ton  2£  cwts. ;  *  mixture  per  acre, 
16  lbs.  per  rod,  8£  ozs.  per  square  yard. 
The  respective  mixtures  should  be  distributed  evenly  and  lightly 
harrowed  or  raked  in  with  the  seed  or  crop.  As  a  top-dressing  on 
bare  ground  to  fruit  trees  rake  in  lightly,  also  for  other  crops  as 
practicable.  In  orchards  in  grass  distribute  evenly  when  the  ground 
is  moist,  never  when  dry ,  and  with  the  herbage  fairly  free  from  dew 
or  rain,  so  as  to  allow  the  mixture  to  fall  on  the  ground  or  trickle 
down  as  the  grass  is  moved  by  the  wind,  for  the  rain  to  wash  in. 
The  advertised  fertilisers  contain  the  substances  named  for 
*  To  be  supplied  at  two  or  three  dressings  when  likely  to  injure  crop  by  overdose. 
compounding  the  mixtures,  or  their  equivalents,  in  various  forms, 
and  on  those  grounds  I  strongly  advocate  their  use  as  fertilisers, 
destroyers  of  ground  pests,  aiding  the  plant  to  withstand  climatic 
changes,  resist  the  attacks  of  fungoid  and  insect  enemies,  and 
enabling  it  to  produce  full  and  perfect  crop,  whether  of  leaf, 
flower,  fruit,  or  vegetable.  Understand,  therefore,  that  the 
mixtures  are  not  intended  to  clash  with  proprietary  preparations, 
but  are  given  as  effective  for  the  destruction  of  ground  pests,  and 
at  the  same  time  acting  as  first-elaBS  fertilisers. 
During  the  summer  or  growing  period  the  whole  mixture 
respectively  may  be  supplied  with  discriminative  judgment,  but 
after  July  the  nitrate  of  soda  should  be  omitted,  using  the  kainit 
an  1  bone  superphosphate.  This  mixture  of  kainit  and  superphos¬ 
phate  may  be  supplied  early  in  autumn  or  in  the  early  spring,  not 
later  for  fruit  trees  than  the  end  of  February,  or  as  soon  as  the 
winter’s  frosts  break  up,  following  with  the  nitrate  of  soda  when 
the  bushes  or  trees  commence  growing.  This  is  better  from  a 
fertilising  point  of  view,  but  from  that  of  both  a  manurial  and 
pest-destroying  the  whole  mixture  acts  well  supplied  when  bushes 
or  trees  swell  their  buds  or  when  seeds  are  sown  or  plants  set. 
Thus  two  birds  are  killed  with  one  stone,  which  is  what  the 
cultivator  usually  aims  at,  and  accomplishes  effectively  when 
using  the  right  materials  in  the  proper  amount  and  at  the  fit  time. 
— G.  Abbey. 
(To  be  continued.! 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
The  tortoiseshell  butterfly  flitting  from  flower  to  flower  seems 
the  emblem  of  the  flower-lover  in  these  delightful  April  days,  for 
the  eye,  distracted  by  so  many  fair  forms  and  colours,  rests  not  for 
long  on  any  one,  but  roams  from  plant  to  plant.  Thus  it  is  that  it 
is  difficult  at  this  time  to  concentrate  our  thoughts  on  a  few 
flowers  instead  of  straying  among  them  here  and  there,  culling  a 
blossom  from  each  for  our  posy  to  be  depicted  by  the  pen.  Still, 
it  must  be  done,  and  with  a  sigh  at  the  thought  that  flowers  of 
beauty  must  merely  be  glanced  at  we  turn  our  thoughts  to  a  few 
alone. 
One  of  the  charms  of  gardening  is  that  of  bringing  us  into 
association  with  master  minds  of  long  past  years  and  with  the 
superstitions  and  thoughts  which  in  bygone  times  clustered  around 
the  flowers  we  love  to  grow.  And  in  this  no  branch  of  gardening 
is  like  hardy  flower  growing,  for  these  plants,  which  come  up  from 
year  to  year,  come  in  time  to  form  as  much  a  part  of  the  lives  of 
those  who  love  them  as  the  homes  they  render  doubly  dear  by  their 
grace  and  beauty.  Thus,  as  we  turn  up  the  flowers  of  the  Crown 
Imperial  and  see  the  pearly  drops  which  stand  within,  we  think  of 
what  others  have  seen  in  this  plant,  stately  as  it  is,  though  some¬ 
what  stiff. 
The  quaint  German  legend  in  which  the  tale  of  how  the  Crown 
Imperial,  once  white  and  with  erect  flowers,  came  to  have  its 
coloured,  drooping  blooms,  comes  fresh  to  us  each  year  as  we  see  its 
stout  stem  with  its  row  of  pendent  flowers  surmounted  by  a  tuft 
of  leaves  like  some  warrior’s  plume  or  the  feathers  of  some  savage 
on  war  intent.  The  legend  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  last  simile, 
for  it  tells  that  the  drooping  flowers  and  the  coloured  flowers  came 
as  the  result  of  sorrow  and  shame,  so  deep  was  the  contrition  of 
the  flower  at  not  having  bowed  its  head  with  the  other  flowers 
when  our  Saviour  on  the  night  of  the  Agony  was  in  the  Garden 
of  Gethsemane,  and  that  these  pearly  drops  were  the  tears  shed  by 
this  Imperial  Lily  in  its  grief.  Smile  as  we  may  at  the  quaint 
conceit  of  the  legend,  who  is  there  among  us  who  will  not  say  that 
the  flower  is  made  dearer  to  us  by  the  tale  ?  Then,  too,  it  was  one 
of  Shakespeare’s  flowers,  and  was  named  in  his  “Winter’s  Tale.” 
Admired  it  must  have  been  by  George  Herbert  also,  for  he  tells  us 
in  his  poem  on  “  Peace,” 
“  Then  went  I  to  a  garden,  and  did  spy 
A  gallant  flower, 
The  Crown  Imperial,” 
and  thought  that  a  flower  “  which  shew’d  so  well  ”  might  possess 
that  object  of  his  search.  So,  as  we  look  at  the  flower,  we  are 
reminded  of  the  author  of  “  The  Temple,”  and  we  think  that 
mayhap  the  garden  in  which  he  saw  the  “  gallant  flower  ”  was  his 
own  one  at  Bemerton,  and  that  he  may  have  passed  and  looked  at 
the  flower  many  times  in  the  few  spring-times  he  saw  in  his 
Wiltshire  rectory  garden.  But  one  must  cease  from  this  aspect  of 
the  Crown  Imperial,  or  Parkinson  and  Gerard  would  require  to  be 
quoted,  and  a  little  should  be  said  about  the  more  prosaic  points  of 
varieties  and  cultivation. 
The  red  varieties  of  Fritillaria  imperialis  are  commoner  than 
the  yellow  ones,  and  it  is  but  seldom  that  we  meet  with  the  latter 
in  ordinary  gardens,  and  the  variegated-leaved  forms  are  even  rarer, 
