The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-09 00:00:00

HORTICULTURAL REPORT FOR

APRIL,

The beautiful month of March has proved an effec-
tual remedy of every evil, retrospective or anticipated.
When our last report was placed before the reader, the
rains, that continued with slight intermissions during
eight months, had receded, giving place to the dry
frosty wea'..tier which commenced on the 16th of Fe-
-1 bruary• The frost, however, was then sufficiently
t severe Cu render the ground rather intractable, but this
1 nond.ition was speedily reduced by the power of the sun,
l) w'eieil shone with peculiar splendour in the early part
of 'March. Vegetation suffered at that time, because
f the nightly hoar frost remained on every leaf till the
I'. sun-beams liquefied it Cand in so doing, acted as through
an infinite number of lenses, scalding the leaves of young
i cabbage plants, brocolis, winter spinage ; and render-
ing them, at the best, objects of deformity.
But here ends the mischief, for the month has
proved one of the greatest of benefactors. The frost
! has had power just sufficient to pierce through the
i ridges, and to bring the soil into a completely pul-
verizable condition ; consequently, they who had fore-
sight to set up every unoccupied plot of strong ground
in ridges, find at the present moment their labour
forestalled, and their work half performed. On the
other hand, those plots which had been left flat to re-
f ceive all the ford'e of the winter's rain, and probably
j lying in a swampy and almost inundated condition, now
turn up in clods, and cannot be duly comminuted for
Ithe reception of seed or plant. 1
Let us then profit by the instructive lesson thus
benevolently afforded. All stiff soil receives benefit
from ridge trenching, and they cannot err who subject
vacant plots to it as soon as the autumnal crops are
removed ; but light sandy soils do not profit in a like
degree ; in texture they are not improved, but that is
all, for aeration exerts its influence upon soils of every

description.
The temperature of March has been decidedly low—
the wind drying, and, almost without exception, blowing
fiercely from some north-easterly point. The equinox
(i. e. the ');?th day of March, when the sun entered
Aries) was unambiguous—.the barometer rising—
mercury already two-tenths above 30 inches—weather
fine, with a lively breeze from the north. We trust
thst meteorologists will attentively observe and register
the results, fox nothing could present a more marked
contrast Caen did the late equinox with the correspond-
ins day of 1839.
Potatoes of the earlier sorts for summer use require
tkce first notice ; and in offering a few practical details,
we shall exhibit the utility of autumnal ridging. A
plo: of ground was so prepared in October, forming
drill-like shallow trenches two feet asunder. These
dells were rendered fit for the tubers, by merely
drawing the point of a hoe along a line strained in
the course of each, and then by slightly pressing the
groove with the back of a wooden-headed rake, to make
its base firm and even. The smallest tubers were placed
" rose-ends" upwards, nine inches asunder. The larger
were cut into two and three-eyed sets. All were then
covered an inch and half deep with soil, raked down
from the sides of the ridges, which fell into complete
powder with a touch, so admirable has been the action
of the frequent slight frosts upon exposed surfaces.
Finally, an inch of leafy compost manure, from an old
" lining," was laid in the direction of the tubers along
the drills. It is not prudent to plant tubers so small in
size as were many of those alluded to ; but they are
the seedling progeny of one of the finest semi-early
kidneys, and demand precaution to secure the results of
an experiment. Persons, however, who now set the
" ash-leaved," early frame, &c., should plant in the
same way, but reject every tuber which does not weigh
an ounce at the least. As the plants grow and appear
above the manure, more earth from the ridges should be
drawn against them, till at length, by the time the sur-
face shall be levelled, the tubers will be deep enough,
and the stems sufficiently landed up. By resorting to
this simple mode of treatment, frost, however keen, has
not injured a shoot during the course of the late severe
storms.

Nearly every species of culinary vegetable (excepting
the kidney-beans and brocolis) should be sown or
pl sited during the course of April, two or three times,
to secure an ample and regular succession. Artichoke
beds may now be made by taking off healthy offsets, and
planting. them in rows. To prepare the ground, select
an open piece of good yet free-working loam. Take
out an open trench two feet deep, manure the bottom
several inches deep, return one-third of the earth, mix it
with the manure ; deposit thereon another layer of black
manure (in which form dung is replete with the sub-
stance now styled humus)—return another third of the
earth, incorporating the materials intimately, finish off
the trench in the same manner, and plant about mid-
April, giving water to .each offset. Trench planting is
not sufficiently adopted—it forms one of those effective,
thorough-work operations of agriculture, which lead to
permanent results, and ultimately economise labour and
t•rne.

The protection of wall fruit-trees must be attended
to. Where nets are not at command, a few long straw-
bands led across poles, placed sloping in front of trees
in blnuoin, will do much service, and interrupt little of
air or light, if the boles of such trees be guarded, six
inches above the soil, by a barrow-load of long stable
litter, the flow of the sap at the collar will be secured.
All spur-bearing trees should be pruned back to the
best fruitful buds, in order to keep the spurs healthy
and compact. Dwarf standards should be pruned to
an of coo, regular figure, shortening the leading shoot
more or less.
Grafting in the bark, and by the ordinary process,
must not be overlooked ; the present seasonable rain, if
a mild day or two succeed, will relieve the bark, and
much facilitate the operation.