476 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



'•' Our honorable oollcnciie, M. Ligier pe i.a 

 pRADE, liiui l'ri>(]iu'ntlv siiokcn to us of a new cliorry 

 which lie had i.ii.served on his estate at Me/.ol. 

 This vear, wishin^^ to he assured respecting the qua- 

 lities'and ori-xin ol' this iVuit, M. Limner requested the 

 Society to dciejiate a committee lor its examination, 

 and Messrs. Carlier, Bravy, and Martial de 

 Champelour were apjiointed to proceed to the spot 

 to prove the merits of this novelty. A messayre from 

 M. Ligier announced its maturity on the 18th of 

 June, and the ei)minittec liastened to reply to his 

 appeal. A lady of the Horticultural Society was 

 desirous to join us, in order to taste and appreciate 

 the new fruit, of which she gives a faithful portrait, 

 finely and richly colored. At ten o'clock in the 

 morning, some of us were beneath the cherry-tree, 

 and others fairly among its branches. It stands in 

 a vineyard a sliort distance from the elegant chateau 

 now being Imilt by M. Ligier. 



The fruit was abundant, and, as is often the ease 

 with the Bigarreaus, their season of ripening was 

 unequal, so that the tree bore, at once, cherries of 

 a deep brownish purple, others red on one side only, 

 and others again of a scarcely perceptible flesh-tint. 

 The tree was tall, at least thirty years old, and 

 grafted low on the stock. 



" The cherries were most abundant ; and sorne of 

 the upper branches were bending under their weight 

 in the most graceful manner. 



" The weight of this fruit is remarkable. Some of 

 the cherries Xveighed ten grammca (6^ dwts.) each, 

 and, on an average, eleven of them, weighed accu- 

 rately, completed a heciograinme (nearly a fifth of a 

 lb.,) which gives one hundred and eighteen cherries 

 for a kilogramme (2 lbs. 3^ oz. av.,)— an enormous 

 weight when compared with that of other known 

 cherries. 



One of the cherries measured 0'".083 (nearly four 

 inches) of circumference in breadth, and 0"'.090 of 

 circumference in height.* When we add, that the 

 season was not a favorable one, and that the fruit 

 was affected by a species of blight which has ap- 

 peared several times at Limague during their ripen- 

 ing, and therefore they had not acquired the size 

 that a favorable year would have given them, the 

 extreme beauty of the fruit, which we were requested 

 to examine and test may be apjjreciated. 



" The form is oval, slightly llatlened on the sides, 

 a little obtuse at the base, slightly irregular on the 

 surface, concave at the point where the stalk is in- 

 serted, which is slender and of middling length. 



" The skin is a fine verniiliion red, mingled with 

 carmine, glossy and brilliantly polished on the sur- 

 face. The flesh is rose-colored, lirra though melt- 

 ing, sweet {seurie,) and very good. The pit is 

 small. 



" The tree is very vigorous. We measured leaves, 

 taken, indeed, from a young graft, of which the 

 length was ()".19 (TJ inches,) and the width O'".!!, 

 giant foliage, which gives the tree a foreign as- 

 pect. 



" Some other trees of the same kind are growing 

 at Mezel ; they are all of the same age, and all 



* The dimensions of the fruil represented in the pUite are 

 not 60 great as those stated in the report. 



grafted. Nevertheless, the cherry of M. Ligier 

 appears to us entirely new, and we do not hesitate 

 to pronounce it the most beautiful and best Bigar- 

 reau that we have yet seen. We believe it to be 

 unknown except at Mezel, where, without doubt, it 

 has originated accidentally. These grafts having 

 been gathered by persons struck with the beauty of 

 the fruit, it has thus been rescued from destruction 

 and oblivion 



" Trees of this variety will be for sale this autumn 

 (1846,) at the horticultural establishment of Messrs. 

 Bravy &.Co., at Clermont-Ferrand. LECoci." 



Superphosphate of Lime. — When a small por- 

 tion of superphosphate of lime is mixed with seeds 

 when sown, in sullicient quantity to give them the 

 appearance of being limed over, the seeds germi- 

 nate quicker and stronger, more especially m the 

 case of old seeds ; and it is also found that the 

 plants are less liable to damp olf, or be injured by 

 insects. — Geo- Gordon in Jour. Hort. Soc. 



Dwarf Dahlias for Bedding. — The Dahlia is 

 well adapted for growing dwarf, in the manner of 

 Verbenas, and in this way makes flower beds of the 

 most gorgeous appearance. The management re- 

 quired is by no means diffieult, though it needs con- 

 siderable attention to produce a fine eflect. Those 

 sorts only should be chosen which are naturally of a 

 dwarf habit, and as there is an abundance of this 

 class now in cultivation, t'le selection is not dilficult. 

 In planting them, they should be jdaced as nearly 

 flat as possible ; as fast as the shoots grow, they 

 should be fastened down, not in the usual way with 

 pegs only, but with small pieces of bass matting 

 tied to a long wooden peg ; the bass should be tied 

 loosely around the shoot, allowing free room for fu- 

 ture growth, and the peg may be gradual)}- driven 

 deeper into the soil as the downward growth ren- 

 ders it safe — without this care the shoots are apt to 

 be broken. This applies principally to the leading 

 shoots ; the laterals being left to grow to flower up- 

 ward, they will generally require thinning, as this 

 mode of growing them increases their natural luxu- 

 riance greatly. The following sorts are well ada|)t- 

 ed to this sort of culture : — Marchioness of Ormon- 

 de (Browne's) clear white, tipped with violet-pur- 

 ple ; Dazzle (Keyne's,) rich dark scarlet; Duch- 

 ess of St. Albans (Whales,) delicate primrose, tip- 

 ped with mulberry; Bermondsey Bee (Proctor's,) 

 deep purple; Orange superb (Dod's,) dark orange; 

 Lady Grey (Harrison's,) light lilac. There are 

 many others equally good, but these I have tried 

 with complete success. — /., London Hort Mag. 



Late Raspberries. — Mr. John Mearns thus de- 

 scribes his mode of obtaining a strong autumnal 

 crop of late Raspberries: — "In May remove the 

 young fruit-bearing shoots from the stalks or canes, 

 leaving, in some cases, one or two ej-es; in others 

 cutting them clear off. Under either plan, they 

 show an abundance of vigorous shoots, frequently 

 three or four from each eye, which produce plenty 

 of blossoms in the beginning of July; and on these 

 a good crop 9f line raspberries is borne in August, 



