January  23,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
73 
All  Seeds  sent  Carriage  Paid  on  receipt  of  remittance. 
THE  BEST  SEEDS  IN  THE  WORLD  for  securing  a  supply 
of  Vegetables  “the  year  round,’’  and  for  keeijing  the  Flower 
■  Garden  and  Greenhouse  always  gay,  and  with  abundance  of 
.Flowers  to  out  for  vases  and  bouquets. 
BARR’S  SEED  GUIDE  contains  a  select  List  of  the 
ibest  Vegetables  and  the  most  beautiful  Flowers  for  Garden 
and  Greenhouse.  It  is  full  of  Practical  Hints,  and  will  be 
found  invaluable  to  Gardeners,  Amateurs,  and  Exhibitors, 
'Sekt  feee  on  application. 
BARR’S  21/-  COLLECTION  OF  VEGETABLE  SEEDS 
■contains  a  liberal  assortment  of  the  following  useful 
Vegetables :  Beans  (Broad  and  French),  Beet,  Borecole, 
Broccoli,  Brussels  Sprouts,  Cabbage,  Capsicum,  Carrot, 
'Cauliflower,  Celery,  Colewort,  Corn  Salad,  Cucumber,  Cress, 
Endive,  Herbs,  Leek,  Lettuce,  Melon,  Mustard,  Onions, 
Parsley,  Parsnips,  Peas,  Radish.  Salsafy,  Savoy  Cabbage, 
Scorzonera,  Spinach,  Tomaso,  Turnip,  and  Vegetable  Marrow. 
OTHER  COLLECTIONS  of  BARR’S  VEGETABLE 
SEEDS,  5/5,  7/6,  12/6,  42  -,  63/-,  and  103/-. 
FtiU  particulars  on  application, 
BARR’S  CHOICE  FLOWER  SEEDS-The  “Seed  Guide” 
contains  a  Select  List  of  all  the  most  beautiful  Annuals  and 
Perennials.  Special  Collections  for  all  purposes,  and  manv 
Sterling  Novelties.  ^  j 
All  Seeds  sent  Carriage  Paid  on  receipt  of  remittance. 
BARR  &  SONS, 
11, 12,  (S 13,  King  St.,  Covent  Garden,  Londoa 
Nurseries:  LONG  DITTON,  near  SURBITON,  SURREY. 
.  .  THE  .  . 
BEST  DWARF  BEANS 
FOR  EARLY  WORK 
m  .  ARE  .  . 
SUTTON’S  FORCING. 
Per  Quart,  2/6. 
Dwarf  prolific,  and  quick  in  producing  the 
crop.  No  other  Kidney  Bean  possesses  in  the 
same  degree  the  essential  qualities  for  culture 
Under  glass. 
“The  dwarfest  and  most  prolific  variety  I  liave  ever 
grown.  After  a  great  many  years’  experience  in  forcing 
1  have  never  found  anything  to  equal  it.’’ — .VI r.  .1. 
.Spottiswood,  Gardjner  to  A.  J.  BliinuE,  Ksci. 
SUTTON  S  PERFECTION. 
Per  Pint,  2/-. 
“This  is  an  excelleiic  variety  for  inside  culture.  It 
keeps  for  a  long  time  without  going  striug-like.  lu 
flavour  and  appearance  it  is  nnsurpas.sed.”— ■“  .1.  G.,’’ 
Ihe  Retreat,  C  .in,  Gloucester. 
SUTTON  &  SONS,  READING 
ECKFORD’S  . 
GIANT  SWEET  PEAS. 
"  The  purity  and  stamina  of  these  Home-Grown 
Stocks  are  so  conserved  by  special  methods  of  culture, 
that  the  seeds  possess  phenomenal  strenpth  and 
vitality. 
Twelve  Giant  varieties,  quite  distinct,  splendid 
for  Exhibition,  ?  •  post  Irce, 
The  following  splendid  noveltirs  for  1  o  are  sup 
plied  in  »/-.  packets — '•  Loid  tosebery  ”  (Rosy 
Magenta  Self);  ‘'.Tcanie  Gordon”  (Bright  Rost 
shaded  Cream);  “Gracie  Greenwood”  (Cream- 
shaded  Pink,  edged  deep  Pink). 
The  above  if  varieties  and  3  novelties  (Id  in  all) 
when  ordered  together,  5  <6  post  free. 
Send  tor  a  Catalogue  wi  h  full  description  free. 
ECKFOROS  .  . 
UMRIVALL'^D  CULINARY  PeAS. 
Nothing  on  the  nar.rket  lilie  them  for  Flavour  and 
Cropping  capacity.  Enormous  yields  under  favourable 
conditions.  CoUcetions  for  o  months  continuous 
supply  (see  page  -•  Catalogue). 
A  Booklet  on  “  How  to  grow,  and  when  to 
sow  Culinary  Peas”  free  with  each  order. 
GENUINE  ONLY 
direct  from  'VVein, 
Awarded  no  less 
than  60  Gold  & 
Silver  Medal?. 
ECKFORD’S 
PURi  VEGETABLE 
Si:f  DS. 
Eesa  ts  ixom  all  quarters  prove  them  to  be 
tmequalled  tor  purity,  vigour,  and  yield.  They  are 
beyond  all  doubt  absolntely  the  cheapest  and  best 
ever  offered  to  the  public.  Coll&ction  for  12  months 
sapv  V,  12/C’,  21  42/-,  ^ k’—fD 
oarrlttge  paid.  Other  collections,  2/9.  5/-  I'll'l  7/9 
post  tree, 
CHOICEST  flower  SEEDS. 
No  expense  or  pains  are  spared  to  ensure  the 
highest  merit  in  these  pure  and  selected  stocks,  They 
are  '/ar  above  the  average  in  quality. 
EGKFORDS  ILLUSTRATED  CATALOGUE 
(with  valuablp  Cultural  Notes)  should  be  in  the  hand 
of  e-\ery  Gardener  (Amateur  and  Professional)  and 
is  sent  ia  1 1  ot  receipt  of  postcard. 
HENRY  ECKFORD, 
Seed  Grower,  WEM,  SALOP. ^ 
WILLIAM  BAERON  &  SOS 
Landscape  Gardeners  and  Nurserymen, 
ELVASTON  NURSERIES,  BORROWASH,  DERBY, 
Invite  intending  planters  to  inspect  their  unrivalled 
STOCK  of  ORNAMENTAL  &  FOREST  TREES, 
RHODODENDRONS,  ROSES  &  FRUIT  TREES. 
Send  for  Catalogues  and  List  of  Publio  and  Private  Works 
carried  out  by  them. 
Grape  Vines  in  Pots. 
Extra  strong  Fruiting  and  Planting  Canes 
In  all  Leading  Varieties. 
All  Leading  Sorts— Bushes,  and 
Fan-trained  for  Walls. 
DICKSONS  Nurseries  CHESTER 
Juminal  4 
THURSDAY.  JANUARY  23,  1902. 
Soil  Cultivation. 
N  the  Journal  of  Horticulture 
some  few  years  since,  we  had 
an  interesting  discussion  on 
the  subject  of  spring  versus 
autumn  or  winter  digging,  and 
after  a  certain  amount'  Of  Argu- 
ment,  philosophic  and  otherwise, 
O  we  were,  1  think,  pretty  much  in  the 
same  place  we  were  before  the  con¬ 
troversy  commenced.  Since  those  days  some 
of  us  may  have  learned  something  more  of 
the  subject  than  we  then  knew,  and  at  least 
i  a  certain  proportion  of  experience  must  have 
been  gleaned. 
The  germ  theory  has  gained  ground  and 
become  a  subject  of  more  general  belief  than 
it  was  wont  to  be.  That  the  land  we  tend 
season  after  season,  year  in  and  year  out,  and 
which  we  come  to  look  upon  more  and  more 
as  something  sensient  and  responsive  to  our 
care,  is  alive  with  organisms  in  an  active  or 
quiescent  state  according  to  the  temperature 
of  the  soil,  has  become  now  a  settled  belief. 
These  organisms  in  the  warmer  months  of 
the  year  are  actively  engaged  in  the  work  of 
converting  crude  manurial  matter  into  a 
suitable  form  of  nutriment  for  supplying  the 
wants  of  myriads  of  hungry  rootlets  which  at 
that  period  of  the  year  may  usually  be 
expected  to  be  foraging,  hungrily  intent. 
The  subject  of  digging,  trenching,  and 
manuring  may  at  first  sight  be  looked  upon 
as  a  rather  prosy  one.  liut  when  we  come  to 
look  further  into  the  whole  question,  the 
theme,  though  old,  opens  up  vast  possibilities 
for  wonder  and  amazement  at  the  working  of 
natural  forces.  Everyday  sort  of  things, 
and  common-place,  in  a  measure  some  at  least 
are  repellant  to  more  than  one  sense.  Into 
the  earth’s  all-receiving  maw  we  pi-ess  great 
stores  of  food,  we  tear  the  surface  soil  asunder 
into  rough  blocks  and  ill-shaped  lumps,  but 
Readers  are  requested  to  send  notices  of  Gardening 
Appointments  or  Notes  of  Horticultural  Interest, 
intimations  of  Meetings,  Queries,  and  all  Articles  foi 
Publication,  officially  to  “  THE  EDITOR  ’’  at 
12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E.C.,  and  to  no  other  person  and  to  no  other 
add.ress. 
No.  1123.— VoL.  XLIV.,  Third  Sebies. 
