u 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



potatoes, and, forgetting that it is a radish, 

 count it a small carrot. Eear in mind that 

 this is not the first salad plant that gar- 

 deners have given to agriculture ; for the 

 red beet was, and is still, a salad plant, or 

 rather a salad root; and the mangold vvur- 

 zel, or field beet, is a very valuable salad 

 to agriculturists now-a-days. Late pota- 

 toes are generally planted in May : surely 

 there is time for a crop of radishes to come 

 to maturity before that. When cabbages 

 are planted, there is room for a line of 

 radishes between the i-ows ; and now that 



their usefulness as a boiled vegetable is 

 pointed out, there is little fear of their 

 being cultivated. As the seed is a good 

 size, it is not, like carrots, diiTicult to sow- 

 regularly ; and as it is cheap, it is quite 

 within the reach of very poor people, and 

 even the more experienced gardener may 

 find a handsome dish of well-flavoiu-ed 

 radishes very useful at his master's table, 

 especially at that season when Mr. Knight 

 so clearly saw the gap in the succession of 

 culinary crops. — A. FoESTTH, Alton 

 Towers (Gard. Chr on,, 1847)- 



TO CORRESPONDEE'TS. 



gKLECTio:r OF Fbuits ¥0n A Wet Clat Soil. 

 — Dr. D,, Pinner. — The Iriend wlio writes on your 

 behiilf does not state particulars of the extent 

 of ground to be planted, nor the breadth of walls 

 to be covered. Nor ;ire we informed whether 

 you wish for advice only on open ground plantiufr, 

 or for suggestions on stucldng orchard and forcing- 

 houses in addition. In all wet soils the pot-culture 

 of grapes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and pears 

 is of great importance, as in such a season as 18(iO 

 there wouUl be a certainty of fruit, and of the 

 wood being well ripened, such as could not be 

 insured in the case of trees exposed to the vicis- 

 situdes of excessive wet and insuiReient sunshine. 

 As the season is i'ar advanced it would be well, per- 

 haps, to defer planting till February, when the 

 ground will, perhaps, be in abetter state. There 

 are signs of improvement, however, and if the 

 weather continues mild, it might, perhaps, be best 

 to plant as soon as possible, provided the soil is in 

 a workable condition. AVe must caution you, how- 

 ever, that as there is an immense deni::nd for fruit- 

 trees of all kinds this season, those who give orders 

 late will not be sure of the best, for the stocks are 

 being picked over every day. As to obtaining them, 

 it is not our practice "to recommend dcalei s, but 

 this we are always prepared to do, namely, to re- 

 commend purchasers to deal with their neigh- 

 bours if they can, and the plan has this advantage, 

 besides its iairness, that the nurserymen of a dis- 

 trict know better what wOl suit the district than 

 those who live far oil'. 



The fruit which most delights in wet is the 

 quince, and a most useful fruit it is. Plant a few 

 of the Portugal in the wettest part of the ground. 

 Plums win do well with you, esj^ecially if the sta- 

 tions where they are to be planted are first libe- 

 rally dressed with burnt clay. As a rule, hush- 

 trees are better than standards for private growers, 

 because giving more amusement and a much 

 greater variety, as regards space of ground occu- 

 pied, than can be obtained from standards. Be- 

 sides this, they can be lifted annually or biennially, 

 which wiU prevent their roots getting out of reach 

 of sunshine, and prevent canker and rank growth, 

 two evils common to wet clays. Apples on Douoiu 

 stocks, and pears on quince stocks, will give good 

 crops on soils which would ruin them on crab and 

 pear stocks. Even the llibslon Pippin, the most 

 subject to canker of any apple we Jiave, and one 

 that no one can avoid planting, never cankers 

 when grown as a manageable bush, or pyramid, 

 and lifted every year. For the wall-trees the bor- 

 der should be made up with a hard bottom of 

 brick rubbish and old plaster, rammed hard on the 

 present level, then on that foundation lay two 

 feet of the soil of the place, with a good propor- 

 tion of burnt clay to render it porous. This will 

 raise it two feet above the surface, and the trees 



will thrive. We will not promise them to thrive if 

 planted on the present level, without such prepa- 

 rations. Clay will always correct itself, if a por- 

 tion is burnt and returned. Apricots, peaches, 

 and nectarines, plant as umally sent out by the 

 nurseries, on muscle stocks. If you can get a 

 few apricots worked on apricot stocks, give them 

 the preference, but do not have any of this class 

 of fruits on almond stocks. In planting the wall- 

 trees, fill in the holes with a mixture of burnt 

 clay, leaf-mould, and the most pulverized portion 

 of the soil of the p'ace. Cherries will do no good 

 at all unless pbiUted on platforn.s,so as to be lifted 

 out of the wet, and with about a fourth or sixth 

 part of sand chopped up with the soil in a space of 

 at least one f-quare yaid for each tree. The fol- 

 lowing varieties will furnish early, medium, and 

 late supplies, nnd the culinary and dessert kinds 

 are in proper proportion to each other for the ordi- 

 nary wants of private families. 



Apples, Standahds. — Kitchen : Keswick Cod- 

 lin, Lord Suffield, Cox's Pomona, Hawthornden, 

 Bess Pool, Dunielow's Seedling, French Crab, Nor- 

 iblk Beefing, Winter Maaetin. Dessert: Kerry 

 Pippin, Court of Wick, Golden Pippin, Court 

 pendu-plat, Hubbard's Pearmain, Ncnpareil, Eib- 

 ston, Sturmer Pippin. 



Apples, hushes or espaliers. — Boston Kusset, 

 Eibston (our best Eibstonsin 1860 were from busb 

 trees), Sturmer Pippin, Braddick's Nonpareil, 

 Mank's Codlin, Golden Pippin, Golden Harvey, 

 Margil, Pinner Seedling, Scarlet KonpareU, De- 

 vonshire Quarrcnden, Baron Ward. 



Peaks, Standards or pj/ramids on pear sioclc. — 

 Swan's Egg (this is splendid now from the crop of 

 1800), Autumn Bergamot, .Jargonelle, Jersey Gra- 

 tioli, SufTolk Thorn, Windsor, Williams' Bon 

 Chretien, Colmar. 



Peaks, Bushes or espaliers on quince sfocJc. — 

 Marie Louise, Winter Kelis ; Beurre d'Amanlis, 

 Baronne de Mello, Glout Morccau, Zephirin C-ire- 

 goire, Flemish Beauty, Forelle, Huyshe's Berga- 

 mot, Prince Albert, Conseiller de la Cour, Colmar 

 d'Ete, Easter Beurre, Josephine de Malines is 

 best workect on the hawthorn, but will do on the 

 quince. 



ApiticoTs. — Koisha, Large Early, Moorpark, 

 Peach, Shipley, Turkey. 



Peaches. — Early "Grosse Mignonne, Early 

 York, Grosse Mignonne, Noblesse, Salway and 

 Eoyal George in the warmest and driest position. 



Nectakines. — Downton, Early Newington, 

 Elruge, Pitmaston Orange, Violette Hative. 



Plums. — July Gage, Greengage, Coe's Golden 

 Drop, Late Orleans, Jetlersou, Mitchelson's, Dia- 

 mond, Victoria, Goliath. 



Grapes, TFoWs.— July Muscat, Esperione, Pit- 

 maston, White Cluster, iRoyal Muscadine. 



Geapes, Cool AoM«e.— CbasselasMusqu^, Mus- 



