60 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
January  23,  ISO". 
Raising  Cucumbers  in  Frames. 
Persons  who  do  not  sow  seed  before  February  often  cut  fruit 
quite  as  early  as  some  do  with  an  inadequacy  of  heat-furnishing 
materials,  and  who  sow  at  the  neu’  year.  'Hie  niaterial  for  making 
up  the  bed  for  raising  the  seedlings  being  in  a  fit  condition 
for  turning  over  and  mixing  with  leaves,  so  as  to  induce  a  sweet 
regular  heat,  a  site  for  a  bed  should  be  chosen  with  a  full  southern 
aspect,  and  having  shelter  to  the  north,  as  that  of  a  hedge  or 
wall.  If  the  ground  be  rather  higher  where  the  bed  is  to  be 
formed  than  the  surrounding  ground  level,  all  the  better.  Mix 
and  beat  the  materials  well  down  with  the  fork  as  the  work  pro¬ 
ceeds,  making  the  bed  about  5ft  high  at  the  back  and  4ft  6in  in 
front,  which  will  allow  for  settling,  as  it  will  do  about  one-third. 
A  few  Pea  sticks  placed  across  and  along  the  bed  at  intervals  not 
only  prevents  overheating,  but  admits  the  heat  from  the  linings 
being  conveyed  to  the  interior  of  the  bed. 
For  early  work  frames  with  an  inner  lining  are  an  advantage. 
They  are  formed  by  placing  lin  boards  llin  in  depth  at  the  back 
and  9in  in  front,  with  the  bottom  edges  level  with  the  bottom 
of  the  frame,  nailing  strips  of  wood  an  inch  wide  and  thick  on  the 
inside  of  the  box,  and  then  the  boards,  which  form  an  inch  cavity' 
all  round  the  inside  of  the  frame,  and  thus  top  heat  is  furnished. 
In  a  week  after  making  up  the  bed  and  putting  on  the  frame  and 
light,  level  the  surface  of  the  bed  and  replace  the  box,  and  put  in 
sufficient  sweetened  fermenting  material  to  raise  the  inside  to 
within  4in  of  the  inner  frame  or  casing,  placing  partially  de¬ 
cayed  rather  dry  leaves  or  sifted  spent  tan  on  the  manure,  for 
plunging  the  pots  in  about  3in. 
For  raising  the  plants.  Sin  pots  are  half  filled  with  light  rich 
loam,  placing  one  seed  in  the  centre  of  each  pot,  covering  about 
half  an  inch  of  fine  moist  soil,  so  that  no  water  is  needed 
for  the  germination  of  the  seed.  Space  is  thus  left  in  the  pot 
for  top-d^i'essing,  which  is  preferable  to  potting  the  plants.  A 
square  of  glass  placed  over  each  pot  will  hasten  the  germination, 
but  it  must  be  removed  as  soon  as  the  plants  appear.  The  plants 
from  a  sowing  made  early  in  February  will  be  ready  for  planting 
out  early  in  March,  and  will  afford  fruit  at  the  end  of  April  or 
early  in  May. — G.  A. 
- - 
The  Value  of  Chemical  Manures. 
Under  the  ausipces  of  the  Bristol  and  District  Gardeners’ 
Mutual  Improvement  Association,  a  most  instructive  lecture  was 
given  in  St.  John’s  Rooms  on  Thur.sday,  January  9,  by  Mr. 
F.  W.  E.  Shrivell,  F.L.S.,  F.R.H.S.,  of  Golden  Green,  Tonbridge. 
His  subject  was,  “  Chemical  Manures  in  the  Kitchen  and  Fruit 
Garden,”  and  was  based  upon  the  results  of  seven  years’  experi¬ 
mental  work  carried  out  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Bernard  Dyer, 
E.I.C.,  F.L.S.,  F.C.S.  H.  Cary  Batten,  Esq.,  President  of  the 
Association,  presided  over  a  good  attendance,  and  was  accom¬ 
panied  by  Mrs.  H.  Cary  Batten,  who  also  takes  a  deep  interest 
in  the  work  of  the  society.  The  president,  introducing  the 
lecturer,  alluded  to  the  great  importance  of  the  subject  to  the 
district,  where  so  much  attention  was  devoted  to  agriculture 
and  horticulture. 
Mr.  Shrivell,  wdio  illustrated  his  remarks  by  a  series  of 
diagrams,  explained  that  for  many  years  dung  was  the  chief 
manure  both  for  the  farm  and  garden,  but  they  were  now 
trying,  by  means  of  a  series  of  experiments  at  Tonbridge,  to 
discover  whether  it  was  better  to  use  large  quantities  of  dung,  or 
to  use  a  smaller  quantity  with  chemical  manure,  or  to  use 
chemicals  entirely.  With  regard  to  the  system  upon  which  their 
experiments  were  conducted,  the  land  on  which  each  vegetable 
or  fruit  was  grown  was  divided  into  sections,  each  being  in  area 
a  fiftieth  of  an  acre.  One  section  was  manured  with  heavy  dress¬ 
ing  of  dung ;  a  second  with  light  dressings  of  dung ;  a  third  with 
chemicals  only ;  and  the  other  three  with  a  light  dressing  of 
dung,  an  ordinary  dressing  of  phosphatic  manure  (either  basic 
slag  or  superphosphate  of  lime)  and  vai-ying  quantities  of  nitrate 
of  soda.  Diagrams  were  shown,  proving  that  after  seven  years’ 
experiments,  the  best  result  was  obtained  by  employing  a  small 
quantity  of  dung  with  the  use  of  chemical  manures,  this  being 
specially  noticeable  in  the  case  of  Broccoli,  Potatoes,  &c. 
Nitrogen,  phosphates  and  potash  were  the  elements  of  farmyard 
manure.  The  value  of  dung  was  that  it  was  such  a  marvellous 
mechanical  agent.  On  light  sandy  soil,  for  instance,  in  dry 
weather  it  tended  to  keep  moisture  in  the  ground  and  prevented 
evaporation.  In  the  clay  soils  it  tended  to  lighten  it  and  aerate 
it  to  a  very  considerable  extent.  That  was  the  great  advantage 
of  farmyard  manure  or  what  v'as  ordinai'y  called  dung.  But  it 
had  a  great  disadvantage,  and  that  was  its  cost.  Speaking 
with  Regard  to  Fruit 
the  lecturer  said  experiments  had  been  made  by  treating  its 
culture  in  the  same  way  as  the  vegetables  were  treated — heavy 
dressings  of  dung,  light  dressings  of  dung,  plus  chemicals,  and 
chemicals  alone.  He  had  experimented  on  Gooseberries,  Black 
Currants,  Red  Currants,  Raspberries,  and  Plums  with  light  dress¬ 
ing  of  dung,  plus  chemicals,  and  with  chemicals  alone ;  and 
induced  some  interesting  infonnation  upon  the  effects  on  the 
different  fruits.  For  the  purpose  of  bush  fruit.s — Currants, 
Raspberries,  Gooseberries,  &c.,  the  quantities  for  100  square 
yards  (broadcast)  should  be  lOlb.  superpho.sphate,  101b  kainit,  to 
be  applied  during  autumn  or  winter,  and  in  early  spring  71b  to 
101b  nitrate  of  soda.  With  regard  to  Strawberries,  experiments 
showed  that  they  could  not  grow  Strawberries  entirely  by  the 
aid  of  chemicals,  but  that  with  a  light  dressing  of  dung  added  to 
chemicals,  they  would  be  much  more  satisfactory  to  the  grower. 
Chemical  manures  were  also  useful  for  the  pui-poses  of  growing 
Onions,  Beet,  and  Celery.  With  regard  to  the  latter,  he  knew 
that  mofst  gardeners  were  much  in  favour  of  sewage,  when  they 
Could  obtain  it,  but  he  strongly  advised  them  never  to  use  sew¬ 
age,  for  there  was  a  great  objection  to  its  use  in  groAving  any 
vegetable  that  Avas  eaten  raAV.  SeAvage  should  never  be  used  for 
anything  that  Avas  not  cooked.  By  its  use  in  this  respect,  they 
Avere  apt  to  spread  such  diseases  as  typhoid  and  diphtheria.  In 
the  use  of  chemical  manure  for  Celery,  they  Avould  have  to  use  dis¬ 
cretion,  but  they  Avould  find  that  a  small  qiiantity  judiciously 
used  AA'ould  ensure  a  splendid  ci'op.  Then,  again,  they  could 
make  a  good  liquid  manure  for  Cucumbers  and  Melons.  One 
ounce  of  nitrate  of  soda  in  a  gallon  of  AA'ater  used  once  or  tAvice 
a  Aveek  Avould  considerably  assist  them  in  groAving  the.se.  Chrys¬ 
anthemums  again  were  the  most  difficult  plants  to  deal  Avith ;  a 
light  liquid  manure  of  half-ounce  of  nitrate  to  one  gallon  of 
Avater,  might  be  used  Avhen  the  buds  began  io  form,  but  they 
should  stop  to  use  it  Avhen  the  buds  began  to  break.  In  the 
kitchen  garden,  chemicals  for  100  square  yards,  AA'ith  half  a  load 
of  farmyard  manure,  should  be  used  thus:  Superphosphate,  141b: 
kainit,  101b.  This  should  be  dug  in  with  the  manure  in  autumn 
or  early  spring  ;  and  later  on  they  should  sow  on  the  surface  101b 
of  nitrate  soda  in  two  or  more  dressings. 
After  referring  to  the  dressings  for  herbaceous  borders  (basic 
slag,  141b  ;  kainit,  81b,  pricked  in  in  autumn  ;  and  nitrate  of  soda, 
81b,  in  March  and  April,  to  the  100  square  yards,  Mr.  Shrivell 
spoke  on  another  subject  AAhich  he  said  Avas  important,  and 
especially  to  the  professional  gardeners.  This  AA'as 
The  Subject  of  Lawns, 
He  knew  that  many  gardeners  w'ere  troubled  Avith  Daisies  and 
different  weeds  on  laAATis.  He  tlrought  that  wherever  they  had 
got  a  ground  with  a  tremendous  quantity  of  Aveed  on  it,  that  told 
the  tale  that  the  ground  AA'as  really  veiy  poor.  If  he  gave  them 
something  to  make  their  lawns  groAV,  they  should  not  grumble 
at  him  if  they  had  to  cut  the  grass  more  often.  There  Avas  a 
suggested  dressing  for  a  laAvn  of  100  square  yards — 141b  of  basic 
slag  with  91b  kainit,  and  a  later  dressing  of  51b  of  nitrate  of  soda. 
This  combination  was  a  plant  food  to  produce  the  finer  Grasses 
and  Clover,  AA'hile  it  Avould  do  aAvay  Avith  the  Daisies  and  com¬ 
moner  weeds  in  a  laAA  n.  It  did  not  folloAv  that  if  they  put  this 
on  one  year  that  they  need  put  it  on  the  next.  The  basic  slag 
and  kainit  had  a  tendency  to  stimulate  the  groAA’th  of  Clovers; 
and  if  they  did  not  AA'ant  Clovers,  they  must  keep  these  two 
aAvay ;  but  if  they  wanted  a  little  Clover  or  Trefoil,  put  it  on. 
That  Avould  do  aAvay  Avith  the  Daisies.  W^henever  they  saw  a 
meadoAv  full  of  Daisies  and  Buttercups,  they  kneAV  perfectly  Avell 
that,  as  a  rule,  it  was  a  poor  meadow.  They  must  use  nitrate  alone 
if  they  did  not  Avish  to  groAV  Clover.  His  OAvn  feeling  Avent  to 
the  balanced  manure.  It  Avas  very  rarely  that  laAvns  had  a 
dressing ;  the  only  thing  they  OA'er  got  was  a  little  lawn  manure, 
which  Avas  simply  sand  plus  nitrogenous  manure.  The  lecturer 
gave  many  other  instances  of  the  value  of  chemicals,  and  con¬ 
cluded  his  address  amid  applause. 
[We  must  apologise  to  the  Bristol  gardeners  for  having  held 
over  this  interesting  and  valuable  report.  Necessity  bas  no 
law ! — Ed.] 
- «««•»* - 
The  Value  of  Sunflowers. 
The  first  year  of  the  twentieth  century  closed  Avith  a  curious 
sale  on  the  Baltic  of  a  cargo  of  SunfloAver  seeds,  which  changed 
hands  at  £11  5s.  per  ton.  Though  a  small  trade  has  been  done 
in  SunfloAver  seed  for  close  on  200  years,  this  transaction  was  the 
first  in  which  ,  a  whole  cargo — 300  tons  from  Odessa— Avas  dealt 
with.  In  Russia,  where  the  cultivation  of  the  SunfloAver  and  the 
manufacture  of  oil  from  its  seed  is  conducted  on  a  large  scale,  the 
grandiflora  is  the  variety  soAvn.  So  rich  is  it  in  oil  that  the 
seed  of  one  of  the.se  monster  plants  Avill  yield  fifty  gallons  of 
oil,  Afhile  the  refuse  of  the  seed,  after  this  quantity  of  oil  has  been 
expressed,  Aveighs  1,5001b  Avhen  made  into  cattle  cakes.  Few 
people  in  England  who  groAv  the  Sunflower  for  ornament  have  any 
idea  of  its  usefulness.  It  is  among  neglected  crops  in  Avhich  there 
is  money.  The  leaves  furnish  an  excellent  fodder,  while  in 
Russia  the  stalks  are  prized  as  fuel,  and  their  ashes,  Avhich  con¬ 
tain  10  per  cent,  of  potash,  are  readily  sold  to  soapmakers. 
