February  2,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
01 
What  any  particular  soil  will  grow  depends  on  the  cultivator  who 
has  it  to  handle,  and  who  sees  the  natural  vegetation,  very  much  more 
than  on  any  mystery  man  locked  up  in  a  room  in  some  “  foreign 
land  ”  or  elsewhere.  As  a  cultivator  1  know  this  to  be  true, 
because  I  happen  to  have  been  much  more  bothered  than  helped  by  a 
gentleman  with  science  on  the  brain,  and  who  was  really  more  than  a 
no  chemist.” 
If  a  gardener  who  digs  down,  into  the  soil  and  examines  it  carefully, 
notes  the  trees,  vegetables,  flowers  and  weeds  growing  on  it,  and  then 
cannot  make  the  best  of  it,  there  are  plenty  of  others  who  can.  I  lear 
“  H.  H.  K.”  has  no  very  good  opinion  of  British  gardeners,  since  all 
he  has  written  goes  to  show  how  far  they  are  behind,  because  they  do 
not  analyse  the  soil  in  the  way  he  approves.  Yet  I  venture  to  say 
that  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  of  all  the  best  examples  of  cultivation 
he  has  seen  have  been  produced  in  the  absence  of  what  he  fancies  to  be 
necessary. 
IIow  any 'person  who  is  “  no  chemist  "can  cite  in  support  of  his 
views  an  author  who  is  a  chemist,  and  this  very  author  does  not 
support,  but  confounds  him  in  the  extracts  on  page  24,  and  then 
passes  these  extracts  —  the  proofs  against  himself  —  without  an 
acknowledgment  of  their  existence,  is  beyond  my  comprehension.  If 
“  II.  II.  R,”  is  right  Mr.  Cousins  is  wrong  on  this  question  of  soil 
analyses.  That  is  the  point  at  which  we  arrive,  while  the  confessor 
of  ignorance  in  chemistry  complacently  assumes  that  he,  himself,  is 
right.  On  one  point  be  does  not  insist,  namely,  that  an  analysis  for 
lime  alone  would  be  cheap  at  £G,  but  quietly  drops  £5  10s.  This 
shows  progress,  even  if  that  of  the  man  in  the  boat — backwards. 
One  word  more  as  a  test  of  the  practice  of  “  II.  II.  R.”  Has  he 
worked  all  the  long  years  he  implies  in  his  own  cultures  on  the  basis 
of  soil  analysis  ?  Has  he  sent  what  he  demands  from  others — the 
results  of  analyses  of  his  own  soil  to  the  editor?  Of  course  he  may 
have  done  so,  and  the  figures  have  not  been  published.  But  has  he  ? 
And  with  what  results  ?  Let  me  say  that  years  ago  I  sent  records  of 
my  experiences,  so  I  am  not  asking  of  others  what  I  have  not  done 
myself  as — An  English  Gardener. 
TOMATO  CULTURE. 
{^Continued  from  page  62.) 
Sowing  Seed. — Plants  from  seeds  are  superior  to  those  from 
cuttings  in  produce.  If  the  seed  be  sown  during  the  first  fortnight  of 
January,  and  early  varieties  are  selected,  such  as  Early  Dwarf  Red 
and  Early  Ruby,  with  Comet  and  Mayflower,  the  plants  being 
grown  strongly  and  without  check,  ripe  fruit  may  be  had  from  them 
in  April  or  early  in  May.  Sow  the  seeds  very  thinly  in  well  drained 
pots,  pans,  or  shallow  boxes,  using  light  saudy  soil.  The  soil  should 
be  rather  firm  to  induce  the  seedlings  to  grow  sturdily  and  push  roots 
At  the  “  neck.”  Cover  lightly  with  fine  soil.  The  practice  commonly 
pursued  is  to  plunge  in  bottom  heat,  cover  with  glass  until  the  seeds 
have  germinated,  then  transfer  the  pots  to  a  shelf  near  the  glass.  If 
the  heat  is  not  great  and  the  removal  be  gradual,  no  check  will  be 
given  the  seedlings. 
There  are,  however,  risks  in  it,  and  the  better  plan  is  to  either  have 
the  plunging  bed  so  near  the  glass  that  the  seedlings  cannot  possibly 
“draw,”  or  dispense  with  bottom  heat  altogether.  The  latter  system 
means  hard  plants,  blue-green  in  colour,  and  short  stems  ;  while 
the  former  implies  yellowish  foliage,  a  considerable  up-growth,  and  a 
somewhat  spindling  stem.  This  can  be  obviated  by  keeping  the  top 
heat  relatively  low  and  letting  every  plant  have  all  the  light  and  air 
possible  by  judicious  thinning  of  the  seedlings,  always  withdrawing 
the  leggy  and  weak  and  retaining  the  sturdy  and  most  promising.  In 
a  Cucumber  house  with  a  night  temperature  of  60°  to  65°  day,  70°  to 
75°  up  to  90°  with  sun,  Tomatoes  can  be  raised  very  well  on  shelves 
fixed  1  foot  from  the  glass.  The  bottom  heat  tends  to  weaken  the 
plants  and  make  them  more  susceptible  to  “sleepy  disease”  and 
eelworm.  The  Tomato  appreciates  a  little  air,  a  temperature  of  55°  to 
60°  at  night,  65°  by  day,  and  70°  to  75°  with  gleams  of  sun. 
When  well  into  rough  leaf,  not  more  than  a  pair  other  than  the 
seed  leaves,  place  the  plants  in  3-inch  pots,  lightly  drained,  using  soil 
warmed  to  the  temperature  of  the  house.  If  the  plants  are  sturdy 
and  are  carefully  potted  they  will  hardly  flinch.  It  is  the  lankiness 
(fig.  21,  A)  and  the  tenderness  (a)  that  causes  the  seedlings  to  hang 
their  heads  after  potting,  while  many  such  may  have  the  stems 
crushed  (6),  which  then  decay  and  the  plants  are  spoiled.  Care 
must  be  taken  to  avoid  that,  placing  a  little  of  the  roughest  soil  over 
the  crocks,  then  a  little  finer,  and  enough  to  raise  the  seedling  with  its 
stem  buried  to  the  seed  leaves  in  the  soil,  a  quarter  of  an  inch  from 
the  top  of  the  pot.  That  space  will  be  sufficient  for  holding  water 
for  the  plant. 
Observe  what  a  difference  there  is  between  a  drawn  plant  and  a 
stout  short-stemmed  one  (Be).  For  the  first' ((7)  the  3-inch  pot  is 
hardly  deep  enough,  its  radicle  has  to  be  bent  on  the  rough  compost, 
and  reliance  placed  on  the  emission  of  roots  from  a  part  of  the  plant 
containing  little  stored  matter.  It  cannot  be  pressed  ;  the  soil  so 
treated  would  crush  its  life  out,  therefore  very  light  potting  and  a 
gentle  tap  down  is  all  the  weakling  wilt  bear.  The  stout-stemmed 
seedling  (D)  takes  a  lot  of  soil  below  its  radicle  or  tap-root,  and  it 
has  so  many  side  roots  as  to  practically  come  out  of  the,  seed  pot,  or 
pan  or  box,  with  a  ball.  It  need  not  be  sunk  deeply  to  get  it,  with, 
the  seed  leaves,  just  clear  of  the  soil  at  the  proper  level,  hence  no 
weak  stem  in  the  soil  to  fall  prey  to  vegetable  or  animal  parasites, 
wliile  it  takes  to  the  compost  at  once. 
To  get  good  plants  it  is  better  to  prick  off  the  seedlings  when 
coming  into  rough  leaf  (E),  like  Cucumbers  and  Melons,  and  either 
pot  them  in  “  thumbs”  or  place  round  the  sides  of  pots  not  less  than 
an  inch  apart.  1  found  that  shifting  checked  the  tendency  to  weak¬ 
ness,  and  the  extra  transplantation  had  a  material  effect  in  the  matter 
plants  transferred  to  O-inch  pot 
of  early  fruitfulness.  The  plants  cannot  be  too  stiff,  and  the  seedlings 
certainly  root  better  at  the  sides  than  in  the  middle  of  pots,  no  matter 
what  size. 
Some  growers  pot  the  seedlings  two  in  5  or  6-inch  pots,  called  the 
pair  system,  strong  plants  being  selected.  It  may  also  be  called  the 
one-sliift  method,  single  jdants  being  given  4-inch  pots,  out  of  which 
they  go  respectively  into  10  or  12-inch  pots  for  fruiting,  or  into  either 
boxes  or  narrow  beds.  The  newly  potted  plants  should  be  kept 
somewhat  close,  and  shaded  from  bright  sunshine  for  a  few  days. 
The  “miffy”  plants  will  profit  by  a  little  bottom  heat,  and  even 
extra  warmth  for  a  time;  but  they  are  not  worth  either ;  far  better 
throw  them  away,  and  be  a  month  later  with  sturdy  healthy'  plants. 
For  these  reasons  I  lay  stress  on  the  “  hard  as  nails  ”  plant,  potted 
or  pricked  off  early,  and  then  transferred,  before  root-bound  or  grown 
too  large,  into  5-inch  pots  for  singles  (F),  and  6-inch  pots  for  pairs  ((7). 
In  these  keep  them  until  the  first  blooms  appear  or  show,  then  transfer 
to  the  fruiting  quarters.  If  they  are  grown  “  hard,”  they  will  do  this 
before  they  become  root-bound  or  much  weakened  in  growth,  but  by  no 
means  allow  them  to  become  stunted,  but  repot  as  required,  whether  from 
the  small  pots  into  large,  or  from  these  into  the  fruiting  rpiarters.  Soine 
growers  do  not  wait  for  the  development  of  the  first  bloom”,  but  shift 
