Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/300

288 288 HORTICULTURE [VEGETABLES. leaves of trees are closely packed round the pots, and raised to about a foot above them. When fermentation commences, a thermometer should be occasionally introduced into a few of the pots, to ascertain that the temperature within does not exceed 60 Fahr. , and the thickness of the leaves is to be regulated accordingly. In a month or six weeks the shoots will be ready for cutting, and by means of the movable lids they can be examined and the shoots gathered without materially disturbing the covering. If the crowns are thus covered up by about the end of October, the crop may be cut by about the third week of December, and by starting a batch at various times a supply may be kept up till the middle of May. Strong plants may also be taken up and planted on hotbeds, the sashes being kept covered close ; or they may be set thickly in boxes as recommended for rhubarb (par. 183), and placed in any heated structure, or in the mushroom house ; but, to have the shoots crisp and tender as well as blanched, light must be completely excluded. Besides the common purple-leaved, there is a green-leaved sort, which is said to blanch better. Shallot. 189. The Shallot, Allium ascalonicum, is a native of Palestine, and is much used in cookery for high-flavoured soups and gravies, be sides which it is excellent when pickled. It is a hardy bulbous perennial, and is propagated by offsets, which are often planted in September or October, but the principal crop should not be got in earlier than February or the beginning of March. The mixing of soot with the manure has been recommended as a protection against maggots. In planting, the tops of the bulbs should be kept a little above ground, and it is a commendable plan to draw away the soil surrounding the bulbs when they have got root-hold. They should not be planted on ground recently manured. They require the same general treatment as garlic and rocambole, and should be stored in a similar manner. They come to maturity about July or August. There are two sorts the Common, and the Jersey or Russian, the latter being much larger and less pungent. Skirret. 190. The Skirret, Slum Sisarum, is a fleshy-rooted perennial, native of China and Japan, the roots of which are boiled, and after wards served up like salsafy. It requires a free, deep, and much en riched soil, and is generally raised from seeds, which should be sown in drills a foot apart about the end of March, the bed being well- watered in dry weather. The roots will be in use about November, and will continue fresh through the winter if carefully stored. Sorrel. 191. The Sorrel, Rumex Acetosa, is a hardy perennial, found throughout Europe, in Asiatic Russia, and. in North America. The leaves are used, more so on the Continent than in Britain, in soups, salads, and sauces. Sorrel grows freely in any good garden soil, and is increased by dividing the roots during the early part of spring. They should be planted in rows 15 to 18 inches apart. The leaves, when fully grown, are gathered singly. The common garden sorrel is much superior to the wild plant ; but the Belleville, which is the kind generally cultivated near Paris, is still better, its leaves being larger and not so acid. The Blistered- leaved, which has large leaves with a blistered surface, has the advantage .of being slow in running to seed. The French Sorrel, Rumex scutatus, is a hardy perennial, native of France and Switzerland, with densely-branched trailing stems. The leaves are roundish heart-shaped and glaucous ; they are more acid than those of the common sorrel. Spinach. 192. The Spinach, Spinacia oleracea, is an annual plant, which has been long cultivated for the sake of its succulent leaves. It should be grown on good ground, well worked and well manured ; and for the summer crops abundant watering will be necessary. The first sowing of winter spinach should be made early in Aug ust, and another towards the end of that month, in some sheltered but not shaded situation, in rows 18 inches apart, the plants, as they advance, being thinned, and the ground hoed. By the begin ning of winter the outer leaves will have become fit for use, and if the weather is mild successive gatherings may be obtained up to the beginning of May. The Prickly-seeded and the Flanders are the best for winter ; and these should be thinned out early in the autumn to about 2 inches apart, and later on to 6 inches. The Lettuce-leaved is a good succulent winter sort, but not quite so hardy. To afford a succession of summer spinach, the seeds should be sown about the middle of February, and again in March ; after this period small quantities should be sown once a fortnight, as summer spinach lasts but a very short time. They are generally sown in shallow drills between the lines of peas. If a plot of ground has to be wholly occupied, the rows should be about a foot apart. The Round- leaved is the best sort for summer use. Tomato. 193. The Tomato or Love Apple, Lycopersicum esculentum or Solanum Lycopersicum, is a tender annual from South America, much esteemed in England as an esculent, either raw or cooked. Tomatoes were formerly raised from seed sown in gentle heat in February or eaTly in March, potted singly into small pots, shifted on into larger pots, and gradually exposed to the air till about the end of May, when, if the season was favourable, they were planted out against a wall with a south aspect, or in the warmest situation at command. As they grew, they were nailed to the wall, or other wise supported. Only the earlier of the fruit ripened out of doors in an average season; and when a fair quantity had set, the plants were stopped, the secondary branches being also stopped above the fruit, and laterals, removed gradually. Under these circumstances the fruit began to ripen in August, successively coming to maturity, at which stage, and when perfectly dry, it had to be gathered and hung up or laid on shelves. The partially ripened fruit had to be got in before it was injured by frost, its maturation being completed in a vinery or other heated house, and, though not acquiring the lull flavour, the forwardest of these late fruits thus became usable. Forcing. The outdoor treatment remains as above sketched out, but, owing to the precarious nature of the crop in bad seasons, large quantities are now grown under glass. Mr G. T. Miles, of &quot;Wycombe Abbey Gardens, has explained in the Gardeners Chronicle his mode of culture, of which the following is an abstract: &quot; To grow it properly, it requires considerable heat and every possible ray of sunshine, as well as a free circulation of dry warm air. The compost should consist of about one-half rough turfy loam, one-fourth of roadside scraping s, and one-fourth of decomposed manure or horse-droppings, mode rately fresh. For planting out, a ridge of soil 2 feet wide and 15 inches deep should be placed on a warm bed of tan or leaves. For poi cultivation those from 12 to 15 inches in diameter are most appropriate, and these should not be quite filled, in order that surface dressings of the same material or of pure manure may be applied afterwards. For early work a sowing should be made in January, and the plants moved onwards until they have moderately filled 5-inch pots with roots, when they are transferred to the bedsorfruitiiig-pots; in each case the plants are kept about 2 feet apart. Other sowings may be made at intervals till about the end of August. From the last sowing a supply is obtained for a considerable period onwards through the winter months. The plants are restricted to one main stem, which is allowed a rim of 6 feet or more, as the position may admit, and from this all laterals are removed in an early stage of growth. Top-dressings of rich materials should be applied when the surface soil becomes full of roots ; copious supplies of stimulating manure-water are also necessary, and the fruits should be kept perfectly free from damp while they are ripening. For this purpose, if close confined pits are used, a chink of air should be kept on continuously.&quot; Tomatoes may also be allowed to run freely over the back wall of a forcing house, and, if sufficiently fed, will bear fruit abundantly. Mr Miles observes that these plants, when grown out of doors, aif generally placed in an excellent position, but Ihe main point the enrichment of the soil is overlooked or not sufficiently attended to. A portion of good soil should be provided for each plant, and heavy mulchings of manure should be placed upon the surface as soon as practicable after planting, in order to prevent the soil becoming dry and parched. In these cases three or more main shoots are allowed to each plant, because it often happens that the space will not allow a good run, and a certain amount of growth with foli age is essential to the well-doing of the plants. The following varieties afford considerable choice : Red-fruited: Early Gem, small, but a good cropper, and the quickest to ripen ; Vick s Criterion, small and free-bearing, particularly adapted for growing in small pots ; Vilmorin s Dwarf Early, dwarf and free-bearing ; Hathaway s Excelsior, one of the finest, a great cropper; Trophy, large and very fine ; Conqueror, large and prolific. Yellow-fruited : Carter s Green Gage, of a distinct yellow colour, and of fine flavour. Smaller-fruited : Cherry Red and Burghley Pet, round, prolific, and agreeably flavoured ; Uickson s Queen of Tomatoes, with pear-shaped, and JS esbit s Victoria, with plum-shaped fruits, both being prolific sorts. 194. The Turnip, Brassica campestris Rapa, is a hardy biennial, Tumi found in corn-fields in various parts of England. The cultivated varieties have bulbiform roots, much esteemed as an esculent. Turnips should be grown in a rich friable sandy loam, such as will produce medium-sized roots without much aid from the manure heap, and are better flavoured if grown in fresh soil. In light dry soils well decomposed hotbed or farmyard manure is the best that can be used, but in soils containing an excess of organic matter, bone dust, superphosphate of lime, wood-ashes, or guano, mixed with light soil, and laid in the drills before sowing the seed, are bene ficial by stimulating the young plants to get quickly into rough leaf, and thus to grow out of reach of the so-called turnip fly. To get rid of this pest, it has been found beneficial to dust the plants with quicklime, and also to draw over the young plants nets smeared with some sticky substance like treacle, by which large numbers will be caught and destroyed. It has been also recommended as a palliative to sow thick in order to allow for a percentage of loss from this and other causes, and, as a preventive, to scatter gas-lime over the. surface after the seed has been sown. Mr Thompson (Gardeners Assistant) also recommends the following remedy: &quot; In the first place, let a supply of water be brought close to hand, or say to each end of the quarter ; then let one person move steadily along one side of the piece of ground from one end to the other, delivering the water through a rose as he proceeds. The fleas will jump forward as the water approaches them, and a second person, following the first, will keep them on the -hop forward, whilst a third will drive them still further, and so on till the whole are driven off the ground.&quot; The first sowing should be made on a warm border with the pro tection of a frame or matted hoops, in January or February, the second on a well-sheltered border in March, after which a sowing once a month will generally suffice. In May and June the plot should be in a cool moderately shaded position, lest the plants