January 4, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



has mourned for generations over countless litters of cb-owned 

 kittens, and grndgingly allowed one live one ; perhaps whole 

 litters will gambol about her in the future, and gratify her 

 motherly instincts. Who can tell? A cat helps to make a 

 home ; and a wise man said, " A servant is not worth having 

 until she talks of our cat." Pigeon-fancier and ignorant 

 blackguard used to be associated ideas with some people, yet 

 how untrue that association would now be. 



A man of great mteUect, though I cannot agree with one of 

 his books, Mr. Dar^vin, was thus spoken of in the Saturday 

 Review of last March : " When Mr. Darwin was pursuing his 

 inquiries into the origin of species he was known to one class 

 of mankind simply as a pigeon-fancier. They supposed, it 

 may be, that his ambition was limited by that which formed 

 its more immeiliate goal, the production of a pigeon with a 

 beak a tenth of an inch longer (!) than its ancestors, or with 

 rather a more brilUaut iris on its neck (!)" It is quite clear 

 that the reviewer is no pigeon-fancier, but utterly pigeon- 

 ignorant. Still, when men of Mr. Darwin's calibre delight in 

 fancy pigeons, it shows there is much in them to cause in- 

 tellectual pleasure. A modern authoress, of whose mental 

 powers no one doubts, Mary Russel MUford, thus writes to 

 Miss Barrett, afterwards Mrs. Browning, " I love to see my 

 tame pigeons feed at the window, and the saucy hen tap at the 

 glass if the casement be shut. She likes to come in and to sit 

 on the innermost ledge of the window-sill, and Usteu and turn 

 her pretty top-knotted head to this side and that while I talk 

 to her. This pleasure I owe to you, having taken to the 

 home-loving domestic pigeons as a rustic imitation of your 

 doves, and they blend well with my Tlowery garden." Thus 

 we have the author of " Julian " and " Kienzi " loving pigeons, 

 and Mrs. Browning, the most learned of modern ladies dehghts 

 in keeping doves. But go further back to another woman, a 

 great historic character, Maiy Queen of Scots ; in a letter dated 

 1574, she writes to friends abroad, " I beg you procure me 

 pigeons, red pai'tridges, and hens from Barbary. I uitend to 

 endeavour to rear them in this country, or to feed them in 

 cages, as I do all the small bu-ds I can come by — a pastime 

 for a prisoner." Thus how faj- diffused is a love of pet birds, 

 and how much pleasure they afford ! We of this Journal help 

 to foster these gentle tastes. No advertisement on our pages 

 reads like this — "Fox-terrier pups, bred to murder." Cruel- 

 sounding, certainly. 



And now to draw near to a conclusion. The past year saw 

 one of our staff pass away, one whom even the soft air of 

 Devon could not keep in life — I mean Mr. Woodbury. I knew 

 him not in person ; his hobby is not mine ; but I read enough 

 of what he wrote to know that he was an able and a kindly 

 man. Peace to his memory ! May the honey bee he loved so 

 well make its solemn music over his grave ! 



Tlie New Yeai' promises well. May it fulfil all its promise to 

 aU who write or who read our pages. I know of some who 

 not only read but long for the next number to read on. May 

 our bark float this yeai' in smootli waters, with a bright sun 

 and a favouring breeze, and, whether to those on board or 

 those who look on, may the new year be a healthy and a happy 

 year, and more than fulfil its promise. — Wiltshike Eectok. 



PRUNING LATERALS. 

 By M. J. Van Hclle. 



As a rule, pruning-time still falls within the months of 

 February and Mai'ch. In this article we would remind our 

 readers that the winter, unless it be frosty, is by no means an 

 nnfavom-able season for pruning, and experience has taught us 

 that October or November is a more favourable time still for 

 the purpose. In either of these cases the gardener will obtain 

 at least one advantage, and that is his work will be considerably 

 lessened in the spring, when, as everyone knows, gardeners 

 have enough to do. By completmg the pruning at this period 

 the laceration of the trees at a season when the sap is beginning 

 to flow, and which should not be inflicted unless they are in 

 a very vigorous condition, is avoided. 



But, whatever be the pruning-time, we would particularly 

 advise persons in then passion for beauty, their regard for 

 symmetry, or in then devotion to the rule which says " that 

 the side branches should be pnined as short and as near the 

 mother branch as possible," not to fall into the mistake of 

 cutting the laterals, which either bear or promise to bear 

 flower-buds, too short. He who scrupulously pays attention 

 to the above-quoted advice, continues but too often to respect 



it for a number of years, when he finally attains his object'; 

 but on reflecting that this time has been spent in forming Ithe 

 framework of the trees, and that no fruit has been gathered in 

 the intervals, he must confess that it has cost him dear. As 

 for the Peach, in which the bearing-wood is the chief thiag, 

 there are reasons why it should be pruned a httle shorter, but 

 we, nevertheless, think that it is better not to push this 

 practice too far. There is a greater probabUity of having 

 fruit on a branch with from 8 to 10 inches of wood left 

 untouched, than upon the same branch if shortened to the 

 fourth or fifth bud lower down. The bearing-wood must not, 

 however, be forgotten. 



It is more especially in the case of the Pear that we would 

 recommend that the laterals should not be pruned too short. 

 Certainly these, if woody and too strong, ought to be cut to 

 the base or well broken as fai' as the sixth or seventh bud, or 

 still more — breaking to the second or third bud would only 

 give rise again to undesirably strong shoots — but all the 

 other branches, although they might not be " spurs," provided 

 they resemble these up to a certain point, should be left 

 untouched, be they 8 inches in length or even more. We are 

 aware that it is a gi'ave infringement of the rule, stUl it is 

 really not only a question of shape, but also one of fruit. The 

 unpruned laterals nearly always bear flower-buds at their ends, 

 and as the branches must of necessity bend beneath the weight 

 of the fruit arising from these, the consequence is that there 

 will be fruit at the lower pait much sooner on the " spurs " — 

 spurs as fine as those of any tree treated on the short-pruning 

 system. Once these spurs have come into being, they ai'e sure 

 to grow agaui. 



Thus it is that the desired object is attained ; in fact we secm-e 

 the fruitiug-wood very short and as neai'ly as possible in the 

 couiUtion for forming the friunework, more sui'ely and sooner 

 by prunmg the lateral long than by pruning it short ; and 

 mth this noteworthy difference — that in the meanwhile a 

 supply of fruit has not been wanting. — (Cercle d'Arbori- 

 cultarc.) 



MADRESPIELD COURT GRAPE. 

 The following information may be usefiU to " J. W." I 

 have not gi'own this Grape yet, but having seen it in very fine 

 condition I obtained two plants of it, intending to grow it both 

 in the early and late vineries. I am now assured that it is 

 not at all adapted for late vineries, as it will not keep after 

 Christmas. Indeed Mr. Stevens, of Trentham, exhibited ex- 

 ceDent examples of it at South Kensington last year, and it 

 was stated on his authority that it was not likely to keep after 

 that date. I also saw it tine in Scotland in September last ; 

 but in a communication received from one of the best Grape- 

 growers in that coimtry, dated December 9th, the writer says, 

 " Madresfield Court Grape has all gone rotten with me, and I 

 find it is doing so elsewhere ;" so I think we ought to be 

 cautious how we plant it in late houses. That old vai-iety» 

 Gros GuUlaume, better known as Barbai'ossa, is not so much 

 grown as it ought to be for late work. It requu'es the tempe- 

 rature of the Muscat house. It is also a noble Grape in ap- 

 pearance, and superior to Lady Downe's in flavour'. I grow it- 

 on its own roots, and it could not possibly do better. The true 

 Black Alicante keeps weU, and is also of superior flavour. Mr. 

 Sage, of Ashridge, took the first prize with it at South Ken- 

 sington on March 1st in the class for late Grapes, beating very 

 superior examples of Lady Downe's. Mrs. Pince's Black Muscat 

 even when well grown, generally colours baiUy, and is the first 

 to show signs of shrivelling in the berries ; it is, however, vei-y 

 distinct, and the flavour is very rich. The following black 

 varieties are distinct and adapted for gi-owing in late houses — ■ 

 AUcante and Gros Guillaume requii-e the most heat. Mrs. 

 Pince and Lady Downe's can be grown in a lower temperature,, 

 but they ought to be quite ripe by the first week in September^ 

 — J. Douglas. 



THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



[The foDowiug wiU supply the information asked for by 

 "W. M."] 



Vaeiations of temperature have many controlling causes, for, 

 as observed by Dr. Thomson, the temperature is altered by 

 an almost infinite number of circumstances; thus, altitude, 

 latitude, longitude, horary and seasonal periods, the presence 

 of aqueous meteors, winds, and the physical relations of the 

 locality — even the aspect of the horizon^whether it is rugged 



