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Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 430 - Volume 17, New Series, March 27, 1852 by Various
page 58 of 70 (82%)
which process, it is well to remember, disturbs the _bloom_ on the
fruit least when directed 'downwards, or obliquely, as rain would
fall.'

As the season for gardening operations is coming on, Mr Rivers'
account may be mentioned of his mode of growing strawberries in pots;
it will be found to involve certain combinations opposed to ordinary
practice. 'About the second week in July,' he says, he filled a number
of six-inch pots 'with a compost of two-thirds loam, and one-third
rotten dung, as follows: three stout pieces of broken pots were placed
in the bottom, and a full handful of the compost put in; a stout
wooden pestle was then used with all the force of a man's arm to pound
it, then another handful and a pounding, and another, till the pot was
brimful, and the compressed mould as hard as a barn-floor. The pots
were then taken to the strawberry-bed, and a runner placed in the
centre of each, with a small stone to keep it steady. They were
watered in dry weather, and have had no other care or culture. For two
or three years, I have had the very finest crops from plants after
this method, and those under notice promise well. If the pots are
lifted, it will be apparent that a large quantity of food is in a
small space. I may add, that from some recent experiments with
compressed earth to potted fruit-trees, I have a high opinion of its
effect, and I fully believe that we have yet much to learn on the
subject.'

There is a committee sitting at the Admiralty, to devise a method for
the uniform lighting of ships and steamers at night, the object being
to diminish the chances of accident or error to vessels at sea. And
apropos of this, Mr Babbage has published a plan which will
effectually prevent one lighthouse being mistaken for another: it is,
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