Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/290

278 278 HORTICULTURE [VEGETABLES. Duke of Buccleuch very large, roundish, greenish-amber berries. Foster s White Seedling largish, roundish-oval, greenish-yellow berries. Frankenthal (Victoria Hamburg)- large, roundish-oblate, black berries. Grizzly Froutignan medium, round, grizzly red berries ; musky. Gros Colmau very large, round, black berries ; late, requires to hang long. Gros Maroc large, oval, purple-black berries ; very line, late. Lady Downe s largish, roundish-oval, black berries ; late, a good keeper. Madresfield Court large, oval or oblong, black berries ; slightly musky. Mill Hill Hamburg very large, round or oblate, hammered, blue-black. Muscat of Alexandria large, oval, pale-amber berries ; musky flavour. Muscat Hamburg large, oval, black berries ; musky flavour. Raisin de Calabre -large, round, transparent white berries ; late. Trebbiano medium, roundish-oval, greenish-white berries ; late. Venn s Black Muscat medium, oval, brownish-black berries ; musky. West s St Peter s largish, roumlish-oval, blue-black berries; late. White Frontignan medium, round, greenish-yellow berries ; musky. For the open wall, the Early Ascot Frontignan, Early White Malvasia, and Royal Muscadine may be preferred oi the white sorts; and July Frontignan and Black Cluster of the blacks. For a greenhouse vinery, Black Hamburg and Madresfleld Court, black; and Foster s White Seedling, Buckland Sweet- water, and Royal Muscadine, white. For early forcing, Black Hamburg and Muscat Hamburg, black ; Foster s White Seedling, Royal Muscadine, White Froutignan, and Duke of Buccleuch, white. For a general midseason crop, Black Hamburg or Frankenthal, and Lady Downe s, black ; Grizzly Frontig nan, reddish ; and Muscat of Alexandria and Raisin de Calabre, white. For hanging late, Alicante, Gros Colman, Gros Maroc, Lady Downe s, and West s St Peter s, black ; and Muscat of Alexandria and Trebbiano, white. Walnut. 138. The Walnut, Juglans regia, is a lofty tree, native of Persia and Asia Minor. The fruit, whilst young and tender, is much used for pickling, and when ripe is a favourite article of the dessert. The tree succeeds in deep sandy or calcareous loams, and in stiff loams resting on a gravelly bottom. It requires free exposure to air and light. It is propagated by seeds, and occasionally by budding, grafting, or inarching for the perpetuation of special varieties. The trees form their heads naturally, and therefore little pruning is re quired, it being merely necessary to cut off straggling growths, and to prevent the branches from interlacing. The best time for per forming this is in the autumn, just after the fall of the leaf. Plants raised from the seed seldom become productive till they are twenty years old. The fruit is produced at the extremities of the shoots of the preceding y ar ; and therefore, in gathering the crop, care should be taken not to injure the young wood. In some parts of England the trees are thrashed with rods or polos to obtain the nuts, but this is far from being a commendable mode of collecting them. Besides thecommo.i walnut, there are several varieties cultivated, particularly the Thin-shelled and the Thetford or Highflyer, which last is by far the best walnut grown. Orcha; 1 1- 139. Orchard-house Trees. The fruits that may be successfully house. grown in unhcatod orchard-houses are peaches, nectarines, apricots, trees. plums, figs, cherries, pears, and apples; and all, except the last two, are more readily obtained in those which are judiciously heated. The trees are sometimes planted out, and sometimes grown in pots. The potted trees are decidedly to be preferred, for those which are planted out are less at the command of the cultivator, and unless the houses are large are apt to outgrow the space ; they do not indeed require so much attention as regards water, while pot trees entail very much labour in this respect from the time the fruit is fairly set until it is near the ripening stage ; but on the other hand a much greater variety may be grown in this way, and the trees can be shifted from place to place, as required, with the utmost facility. While at rest in winter they can be set close together without injury, and may be continued in this way until they come into flower. After the setting of the fruit, the hardier sorts, as plums, pears, and apples, can be taken out, and put under temporary awnings till it is safe to plunge them beside the walks in the open quarters of the garden, where they grow and swell, if duly watered, as well as if established in the ground. In dry summer weather they need a good watering two or three times a day, and besides this should have a dose of liquid manure occasionally. This removal of the hardier plants to the open air leaves more space under glass for the tenderer sorts. The trees are most convenient when trained in the pyramidal form, or as compact bushes ; and the summer treatment should consist in pinching back the points of all the growing shoots after they have formed two or three leaves. The vigour of pot fruit trees is greatly due to judicious surface- dressing during the summer months. It should be applied at intervals of ten or twelve days, and should be made up of equal parts of horse-droppings, turfy loam, and malt dust, the whole being laid up in a heap and frequently turned. The dressing should not, however, be applied within three weeks of the ripening of the fruit. The trees should be repotted in autumn as soon as the leaves have done their work, in similar compost to that first employed good turfy loam, with about a sixth of rotted manure, and a sprinkling of bone dust. They are to be turned out of the pot, and a slice of about an inch in thickness pared off with a sharp knii e, and are then to be replaced in a pot of the same size as that in which they previously grew, unless in those cases where a larger one may be afforded, and then the roots need not be cut away. This disrooting may some times be done before the leaves are quite ready to fall, in which case care is necessary to prevent the tree from flagging ; and, if the weather be hot, the tops should be kept moist by frequently dewing the foliage with the syringe, but no water must be given at the root for a day or two after repotting. If the wood has been well ripened, trees treated in this way will benr freely during the following season. Whether placed on the floor of the house, or plunged outdoors, the pots should stand on two bricks placed a little apart, so that worms cannot gain admittance by the draining-hole. The fruit obtained from trees well cultivated in pots in an orchard- house will compare, as regards size and quality, with the best fruit ripened on an open wall or in a forcing-house ; but, when grown without fire heat, it is of course but little in advance of the outdoor crops. To the amateur this mode of culture will be found to present many attractions. VII. Vegetables. 140. Under this head we include those esculents which are largely eaten as &quot;vegetables&quot; or as &quot;salad V while the various &quot; herbs &quot; which are used chiefly for flavouring or garnishing will be referred to in a supplementary paragraph. 141. The Artichoke, Cynara Scolymus, is a stout-growing hardy Ar perennial, cultivated for the sake of the immature flower-heads, ehc In France the whole of the leaves of the involucre are eaten when in a young and tender state, en poicrade, or with pepper, salt, and vinegar ; but the only parts of the flower-head used in England are the base of the leaves of the involucre, and the immature floral receptacle called the bottom, freed from the bristly seed -down which is called the choke. In old plantations about to be destroyed the central leaves are sometimes blanched and eaten ; this edible part, like that of the nearly related cardoon (par. 150), is called the chard. The artichoke requires a deep cool dry soil, well enriched, and deeply trenched. It is propagated by parting the roots in April, the sets being planted in rows 4 or 5 feet asunder, and 2 feet apart in the rows. As the young plants afford a crop which suc ceeds that of old plants, a new plantation is made in some gardens every year. During summer the artichokes require little other attention than to be kept clear of weeds. In November the decayed stems and leaves are removed, the ground cleared, and a cone of a foot deep of sifted coal-ashes, or rotten tan, or littery dung, is placed close round the base to defend the stools from frost. In April this is taken away, the stocks are examined, and two or three only of the strongest shoots are permitted to remain ; a dressing of manure is given well-rotted hotbed dung or seaweed and the ground between the rows is forked over. The offsets, carefully removed, afford materials for young plantations. The heads are cut when nearly full grown, before the scales of the involucre open out. The varieties most esteemed in England are the Green or French, which has conical heads, and is considered the highest flavoured ; the Globe, which has dull purplish heads, and is well adapted for a general crop ; and the Purple, which is the earliest. The Laon is that most widely grown at Paris. 142. The Asparagus, Asparagus ofricinalis, is one of the most As delicate of our esculents, possessing well-marked diuretic properties, raj and is grown extensively in private gardens as well as for market. The asparagus prefers a loose light deep sandy soil ; the depth should be 3 feet, the soil being well trenched, and all surplus water got away. A considerable quantity of well-rotted dung or of recent sea weed should bo laid in the bottom of the trench, and another top- dressing of manure should be dug in preparatory to planting or sowing. Nitrate of soda appears to be the best artificial manure, and salt applied at the rate of 2 lt&amp;gt; to the square yard is a good dressing while the plants are growing. The beds should be 3 fnet or 5 feet wide, with intervening alleys of 2 feet, the narrower beds taking two rows of plants, the wider ones three rows. The beds should run east and west, so that the sun s rays may strike against the side of the bed. In some cases the plants are grown in equidistant rows 3 to 4 feet apart. Where the beds are made with plants already prepared, either one-year old or two-year old plants may be used, for which a trench should be cut sufficient to afford room for spreading out the roots, the crowns being all kept at about 2 inches below the surface. Planting is best done in May, after the plants have started into growth. To prevent injury to the roots, it is, however, perhaps the better plan to sow the seeds in the beds where the plants are to remain. The seed should be sown in March in slight drills ; and it is a good precaution to sow more than is necessary, and to thin out towards the end of the first summer, to the distance of about 6 inches in the rows. The ground must be hoed and kept clear of weeds. Frequently slight crops of lettuce are taken from the surface of the beds, ami of cauliflower from the spaces between them. The asparagus heads should not be cut before the third spring, and are not in perfection till the fourth or fifth. The manuring of asparagus, which can scarcely be overdone, should be performed in the end of autumn, when the dead steins are removed. When the plants are in beds, the surface should be stirred with a fork ; a layer of well-rotted hotbed dung should then be laid on, and the whole covered with a sprinkling of earth from the alleys. If the plants are grown in rows, the manure is simply dug in between them by means of a digging fork, care being taken not to injure the roots. These operations are repeated annually, and no other culture is required ; but it is necessary to observe a due