FOREIGN NOTICES. 



337 



Sea-side Plawtino. — It is jrenerally allowed that 

 it is a f^reat diirieulty to fret trees and shrubs to 

 grow, much less flourish, on many parts of the sea 

 coast, so as to alFord anj' dccrree of interest and sa- 

 tisfaction. But while we admit the dilFieulty, I am 

 persuaded, with attention and care, their ijrowth 

 may be greatl}' promoted, as I propose to show 

 from two cases that have come under my observa- 

 tion ; one on the eastern, and the other on the 

 western coast. The difliculty arises, it is thouj^ht, 

 from the injurious efTects of the sea spray fallin:^ 

 upon the trees : this, in my opinion, is very doubt- 

 ful. About ten years ago I was enjjaged to fix the 

 site of a marine villa on the eastern coast, and to 

 lay out the grounds. The ground is in general flat, 

 with little variation. Between the edilice and the 

 sea there is a space of about 160 yards ; the flat 

 extends about 120 yards to a point about 100 feet 

 above the level of the sea ; the rest forms a steep 

 bank sloping rapidly down to the sands. The na- 

 ture of the ground is very stiflf, with a clay bottom, 

 but well drained. Among others I arranged a 

 plantation of trees and shrubs from the house down 

 to the sands. It was planted in the usual way with 

 trees from three to four years old, set about 4 feet 

 apart. Two years after planting, half the trees at 

 least were dead, and the rest had scarcely made 

 any progress at all. The whole was replanted 

 very thickly; the trees not being more than from 

 one to two feet apart. I visited the place about 

 three years afterwards, and found the better half 

 living, but very little improved. The young shoots 

 were mostly dead and the rest dying ; but on my 

 visit to the spot a few w-eeks ago, I found from the 

 shelter the trees had afforded each other bv being 

 thickly planted, many of them had attained the 

 height of twelve feet ; such, for instance, as the 

 Wych Elm, Willow, Sycamore, common Ash, and 

 a solitary Occidental Plane which was well shel- 

 tered by other trees, the whole having made shoots 

 this year from two to three feet long. The Tur- 

 key Oak, Larch, Lime, Mountain Ash, Horse 

 Chestnut and Laburnum, had attained the height 

 of from eight to ten feet. The Spruce and Balm 

 of Gilead Firs were healthy, and making fine 

 shoots. Such of the shrubs, also, both deciduous 

 and evergreen, a'' had survived, are now thriving 

 well ; a manliest proof that the mischief the plants 

 had previously su.siained was more to be attributed 

 to their exposure to the unbroken north and north- 

 east winds than to the sea spray; for I found some 

 of the trees, although within ten yards of the reach 

 of the tide, growing very freely on some parts of 

 the sloping bank, wherever the soil was moderately 

 free, and they not so fully exposed to the violence 

 of the winds ; and at the same distance from the 

 sea I observed Strawberries really flourishing, which 

 I was informed had been planted five years, and had 

 produced abundantly. I may also mention, as cor. 

 rolnjrative of my opinion, that the trees on the bank 

 sloping down to the sea at Scarborough are thriving 

 remarkably well wherever they are at all sheltered 

 from sweeping winds. Since, then, it is evident 

 that shelter is of the utmost importance to young 

 plantations on the sea-coast, I would recommend 

 in the first place the ground to be very thickly 

 planted, as stated above, keeping the black Spruce, 



Vol. n. 43 



i Sycamore, Wych Elm, common Elder, and Willow 

 ; on the bleak side ; and in the next place, in the 

 most exposed parts, I would have poles (not pleas- 

 ing objects, but expedient) fixed firmly in the 

 j ground, and interwoven with good hay or straw 

 ropes, three or four inches apart ; and in other 

 , parts, such as inner climips or plantinL's, the usual 

 j hurdles made of h.azel or other coppice rods, would 

 j be found vory serviceable. These were extensively 

 j used at a new place on the western coast, about 

 : half a mile from the sea, in a situation a good deal 

 1 exposed to the west wind. Protected in this way, 

 trees and shrubs in general succeeded well ; and 

 when the hurdles, &c., were removed in the spring 

 of the second and third year afterwards, they ap- 

 peared to sustain no injury. I would just observe, 

 in conclusion, that great caution must be observed 

 in thinning plantations in such localities. It is best 

 to commence by lopping off the branches of those 

 trees that are to be ultimately removed ; then in a 

 year or two to remove them altogether. This me- 

 thod would prevent the adopted plants from being 

 too suddenly exposed, and would gradually inuie 

 tliem to greater severities. This plan has been 

 adopted on the eastern coast, and after allowing 

 the trees to alToi'd protection through the approach- 

 ing winter, they will next spring be removed alto- 

 gether. Joshua Major. — Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



Brussels HoRTtcrLTURAL Show, Oct. 1. — I 

 now come to the fruit rooms ; here there were up- 

 wards of 80 exhibitors, among whom were the Due 

 de Brabante, Comte de Flandres, and Princess 

 Charlotte. I had been led to expect a large collec- 

 tion of fruit ; Flanders has the reputation of being 

 par excellence the land of Pears ; in it have been 

 raised more and better varieties than in all the rest 

 of Europe put together; I was not disappointed, 

 for certainly finer specimens, as regarded size and 

 form, it would be difficult to produce. I have, it is 

 true, seen both in England and France as fine sin- 

 gle specimens, but here you met them in almost 

 every collection. That of M. De Bavay. of the 

 Royal Nursery, Yilvorde, contained about 20u kinds 

 of Pears. Apples, Plums, and Peaches. The col- 

 lection of M. De Rasse, of Tournay, contained near- 

 ly 100 kinds of Pears, in which were also fine spe- 

 cimens; and in the collection of M. Desbuck, of 

 Louvain, were also some very fine fruit, but he bad 

 also several very small, which gave it an uneven 

 appearance. The exhibition from M. Louis, of 

 Heverle, contained very fine and large fruit, more 

 especially of Duchesse d'Angouleme, Doyenne, 

 Beurrc d'Hiver, Calebasse bosc, Napoleon, Belle 

 de Bruxelles, and Beurre d'Aremberg Pears. In 

 that of JVI. Millet, of Ixelles, were some verv large 

 Pears, and some enormous Apples. M. Weytz, 

 gardener to the Prince de Ligne, sent a small lot. 

 containing, however, some very fine fruit. La So- 

 ciete de Pomone d'Antoing also contributed about 

 100 varieties ; and M. Cotlignon furnished 115 va- 

 rieties of Pears, and the like number of different 

 Apples, some of which were very superior, though 

 not at all equal to those of M. Bavay. M. Rum- 

 mens had a small but very fine collection of Pears 

 and some very large Melons ; that of M. Joly con- 

 tained enormous fruit of Duchesse d'Angouleme, 



