September 4, 1873. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



169 



teggar once told me, when I said I would give him nothing, 

 that there was " no taste in that article, and that I could 

 not give him less." I have had " a taste," aud am satisfied. 

 The trees of all kinds are in beautiful couditiou, aud ai'e fast 

 forming their triple buds for nest year. 



There is one new Peach here which well deserves praise. It 

 is Mr. Bivers"s Early Louise. It is a small tree, in its second 

 year, < b an exposed east wall. Though hardly any tree on that 

 wall sets its fruit, except the Koyal George, Early Louise set 

 its blossoms well, and I gathered the crop, averaging 8 inches, 

 ripe on August 1st. On my south wall it would have been 

 ripe -Tuly 12th to 14th. The fruit is juicy and delicious. The 

 tree is full of fruit-bnds for next year. I shall put a tree of it 

 on my south wall in the autumn. I can safely recommend it. 

 Early Rivers and Eai-ly Beatrice in better situations lost their 

 flowers, so that I cannot speak of them. All three sorts ap- 

 pear to be hardy and good growers. The Royal George in- 

 doors and out, on east, west, and south aspects, beats all here. 

 Early Alfred, Barrington, Princess of AYalcs, and Nectarine 

 Peach are nest best, and well cropped for the year. Emmer- 

 ton's White Nectarine out of doors, and Rough Roman under 

 glass, beat all the others. The next best crop is Rivers's 

 White Nectarine, derived from the former. Both the White 

 Nectarines are delicious and handsome when well ripened. 



A great many of my trees, out of doors, on all aspects, either 

 did not set their fruit, or it dropped off from the severity of 

 the weather and the exposure of all my walls. If the weather 

 is not hot enough to bring out bees, it is not hot enough to 

 ripen the pollen, without which the fruit cannot set. If the 

 weather is cold, and the pollen on the stamen is pasty, fertUisa- 

 tion camiot take place. I believe bees are great helpers. I 

 found three in my vinery in the spring, and I locked them in ; 

 doubtless, they helped to set a capital crop of fruit. It is 

 said you cannot have these fruits under Vines on the back 

 wall. It is quite untrue. Cut back the Vines one-third of the 

 length of the rafter, and you will get a capital crop of Peaches 

 and Nectarines, and just as many Grapes as if you allowed the 

 Vines to go to the top of the rafter; because, when shortened, 

 they crop close to the lower wall-plate. 



Fruit under glass never colours so well as out of doors. 

 Noblesse under glass would be a delicate creamy green, out of 

 doors it is dappled like a Pomeranian coach dog, and very 

 handsome. It is the richest of all Peaches. I disbud scarcely 

 at all, and never shorten anything tUl the tree is in full foliage. 

 I then shorten some twigs to the first pair of full-sized leaves 

 for spurs, and others longer. People pull out the lungs of the 

 tree, and then are surprised that the tree degenerates. I have 

 just finished cutting oft a portion of each leaf, except where 

 fruit is, to let in light, air, and heat to the walls for the 

 maturation of the wood and to prevent excessive wood growth. 

 Visitors always admire the clean and beautiful foliage. Take 

 care of the foliage and the roots, and the rest of the tree 

 will take care of itself. — W. F. Radcltffe. 



AUTUMN-SOWN ANNUALS. 

 I so more think of omitting sowing a crop of these in 

 autumn than crops of Cabbage, Cauliflower, or Lettuce. 

 Annnals are, moreover, as certain in their issues as are the 

 vegetable sowings above named, and fill a gap in their way as 

 great. Considering, too, the outlay and trouble involved, the 

 relative returns are certainly as great as any display that can 

 be produced in the garden. Every year I can see the ad- 

 miration these simple flowers call forth and the pleasure they 

 give, and this is why I never forget to sow, and seldom forget 

 to issue a reminder to others who care to have them, to sow 

 them also. As " welcome as flowers in May," is an old and 

 remarkably expressive adage, for flowers are, in fact, at that 

 season especially longed for — and why ? because they are bright 

 and cheering messengers, telling us that another morn of 

 life is bom, sparklings of spring, and harbingers of summer. 

 Simple spring flowers must be estimated as what they are, and 

 by their own merits, or they have not due justice. A verdict — 

 and it is too common — that " they lack the glowing richness 

 of snmmer and autumn masses, and we put them out of court," 

 is not a fair one. I go further and say it is not an intelligent 

 one. What shoold we think of a man directed to admire a 

 glorious sunset taming away with, " Oh ! I don't care for that, 

 it will be ten times brighter to-morrow ? " I can understand 

 annnals not being grown because a particular system of gar- 

 dening docs not require their aid, or that they may bloom at 

 a particular time when a garden is vacated by those for whom 



it is made enjoyable, but not because they are destitute of 

 beauty, or not so bright as brighter things. 



I know annuals have charms to many, aud, used in con- 

 junction with bulbs and' spring perennials, a garden can be 

 made as fully attractive in April, May, and .June as at any 

 other period of the year. But gardens worked on the oidiuury 

 massing system, it is only practical to say, are sometimes in- 

 terfered with by a prolongation of spring bloom iu the beds, 

 and the holding-back of thousands of plants, involving much 

 labour iu attention to their wants, iu pots and stores. To 

 have the crop of flowers off by the middle or end of May, only 

 a limited number of plants, besides bulbs, are available. Iu 

 addition to Hepaticas, Daisies, early Pansies, and the Prim- 

 rose family, the following may be used: — Silenes, especially 

 pendula, to be sown at once ; Forget-me-nots should be now 

 ready to prick-out ; ColUusia verua, better sown in August, but 

 will do now ; Veronica glauca, sow now ; Virgiuian Stocks, 

 sow second week in September, or even Jebruary ; Lasthenia 

 californica, and a chance of Nemophila aud Limuanthes, sown 

 any time before the 15th iust. These are all early and give 

 white, blue, pink, yellow, and orange. August-sown plants of 

 the pretty Saponaria all flower early, but are not always past 

 their best until May is out. For beds intended for more tender 

 subjects, as sub-tropical plants, a prolongation of bloom in 

 autumn-sown annuals is an advantage. They are the very 

 plants to use freely. To some or all the foregoing, the Clarkias, 

 CoUinsias, Campanulas, especially pentagonia and Venus's 

 Looking-glass, Viscarias, Candytufts, Platystemon, Larkspurs, 

 and a few others may be sown any time from the 5th to the 

 20th inst., except CoUinsias (excluding verna), which are 

 better not sown until quite the end of the month, or their 

 upright, rapid, succulent growth may render them a prey to 

 frost-damages. 



In mixed beds or borders autumn-sown annuals always show 

 to advantage, and give an air of cheerfulness to a place at ii 

 particular season in a way which nothing else can do. What- 

 ever charms may belong to hardy annuals, they can never b-j 

 fully brought out except by autumn sowing aud spring flowering. 



Sown in spring, and, as is often the case, neglected, they 

 are little better than rubbish, but sown now and tended they 

 are reallj' gay and attractive. Sown iu autumn the plant* aro 

 stronger, their flowers finer, and duration longer, than when 

 sown iu spring. In fact, their period of flowering is long 

 enough. 



These simple flowers have a beauty of their own, and are to 

 most people pleasing. There is nothing to go into raptures 

 about ; they give a quiet soothing pleasure. I know a rectory 

 where a batch of blue NemophUa has for years taken care of 

 itself. Every morning of every spring, when in flower, it was 

 visited by the rector, who derived more pleasure by this simple 

 sheet of blue than any other flower bed in his garden, hi 

 their management a few points must be attended to. As to 

 site, let it be as far as possible away from the lurking placets 

 of slugs and snails, as old walls, .spreading herbaceous plants:, 

 etc. As to soil, do not have it rich or dig it, but run the hoo 

 through, lightening it to the depth of an inch. That is all 

 that is necessary, and better than doing more. As to sowing, 

 let it be done in drills a foot apart, regulating depth according 

 to size of seed — Nemophila, for instance, being covered hale 

 an inch, Venus's Looking-glass merely dusted over. It dry, 

 soak the drills thoroughly before sowing ; it is of no use water- 

 ing after. Further attention must be given — first to thinning, 

 letting each plant stand separately and stool naturally. Thi'f 

 is important, and makes all the difl'erence between crop aud 

 no crop ; second, running the hoe through frequently, and by 

 every means keeping slugs at bay ; third, in severo frost and 

 no snow, covering lightly over with Asparagus tops or Fern, 

 but snow is the best protector. After all, however, thinning 

 early and sufficiently is the best safeguard against frost. 

 Attention to these hints will result in a supply to be lifted and 

 transferred to the beds on the first fine weather in spring. If 

 an early-and-soon-over display is wanted, plant as thickly ns 

 possible, covering the ground at once ; but if a lengthened 

 bloom is desired, plant t!jinner in proportion. Finally, if tbo 

 worst come that can come, and a hyperborean winter kills 

 all (which is seldom), the money loss will be trifling and the 

 land loss nothing, and disappointment may merge into a 

 determination to try again. I have not had one total loss iu 

 fifteen years. — J. Wrioht. 



Gabden Nettikg. — I am glad attention is being called totho 

 question of selling nettiug by what can scarcely be called any- 



