August U, 1663.3 



ymyKJUAi. oiF hoetictjltuee and cottage gardeneij. 



101 



AECHEEFIELD EAELY MUSCAT GEAPE. 



^^ ITH regard to this I consider 

 it riglit — more particularly 

 towards the Fniit Commit- 

 tee of the Eoyal Horticul- 

 tural Society — to state that, 

 after having tested this 

 Vine under various circum- 

 stances, the plants propa- 

 gated from the original 

 Vine do not maintaia the 

 pecidiarly early character 

 which it has exhibited for 

 three successive years. It 

 will, of course, be taken 

 for granted that this wUl 

 prove a disappointment to all concerned ; for the pros- 

 pect of having acquired a Muscat Grape that would 

 ripen as early as the Black Hamburgh, even in Muscat 

 heat, was one of great importance. So far as the per- 

 petuation of the very early character of the original 

 Vine is concerned, I am sorry to say the matter is now 

 hopeless, and, to my mind, settled to the contrary. 



I have already publicly stated the Vine was no seed- 

 ling of mine, and I was in ignorance of its history. It 

 was planted in 1860, and in 1861 was allowed to carry 

 a few bunches ; and so early was it that I several times 

 expressed my conviction that it could not be a Muscat 

 at all. When it ripened aU doubt on this point was 

 dispelled ; and from the attention tliat it attracted from 

 all who saw it ripe while the others were green, I was 

 induced to send it to the Fruit Committee to see if they 

 knew what it was. In 1862 the eyes that were taken 

 from it were put in along with Black Hamburghs, Eoyal 

 Muscadine, Muscats of sorts, as well as other varieties ; 

 and under precisely the same circumstances, the buds 

 fi'om this mysterious Vine were ready to pot-ofF long 

 before any of the other varieties. Last year and this 

 the original Vine, as many could testify, exhibited its 

 peculiarly early properties as strikingly as ever. 



There were the strongest temptations for its being dis- 

 tributed this year, but from the mystery which existed 

 about its origin I was determined that not a shadow of 

 doubt should be leit as to its character before I could 

 allow its distribution. To set the matter at rest there 

 were a good many grafted on the old Muscat of Alex- 

 andria in a house entirely apart from the parent Vine, 

 and one was put on the Muscat that grew next the 

 original Vine in the same house. There were plants of 

 it planted at Dalkeith Park gardens in a house where 

 several other varieties of Muscats were planted of a like 

 age, and it was grafted on other Muscats there also, 

 all with the view of proving whether under different 

 circumstances the early character would be perpetuated. 

 Under these circumstances it has not proved any earlier 

 than the earliest of the other Muscats against which it 

 has been tested. In a late Muscat-house here, where 

 the various sorts are now changing colour, the fruit from I 

 No. 124,— Vol. V., New SEEiee. 



the inarches of last year are no eai'lier than that which 

 is borne by the other varieties planted in 1860. The 

 original Vine never grew as strong as the others ; and 

 probably something may be discovered that has affected 

 it, and perhaps a lesson may be learned in the early 

 ripening of Muscats. However, it is not my present 

 object to theorise on the matter in relation to the results 

 produced. Meantime I am satisfied with stating the 

 facts of the case, and wdl notice with interest the Vine 

 which has hitherto been so remarkably early in its pro- 

 duce. 



I may state that it appears under the different circum- 

 stances related above to be much more free in setting 

 and stoning than the old Muscat of Alexandria, but not 

 more so than the Bowood and Tynningham Muscats, 

 •while in bunch and berry it resembles the former more 

 than the two latter. D. Thomson, Archerfleld Gardens. 



BEDDING-OUT AT THE CEYSTAL PALACE 

 IN 1863. 



I H.iVE paid two visits this season to the Crystal Palace 

 for the express purpose of gaining as much information 

 as I coidd from the bedding-out there. Mj' first visit 

 was at the beginning of July, and my second in the last 

 week of that month. 



Some of your readers may not be aware, or have 

 forgotten, that Mr. Beaton stated last year in jSTo. 82 of 

 your Journal that some of his new seedling Geraniums 

 would be tested this summer both at the Eoyal Horticul- 

 tural Society's gardens and at the Crystal Palace — such 

 as Cybister or The Tumbler, Mrs. Whitty, Crimson 

 Minimum, and others unnamed. As I had heard, also, 

 that there were to be several new things, or, rather, old 

 things revived, but which to me were new, on my first 

 visit I was glad to have the aid of Mr. Page and Mr. 

 Vyse, the superintendents of the Eose Mount and the 

 upper terraces. I was afterwards fortunate in meeting 

 Mr. Gordon, who was kind enough to verify some of my 

 notes upon his bedding-out, and who also showed me a 

 new Lobelia of his own raising, which for size of flower 

 and colour beats our old Lobelia speciosa hollow. 



In order to enable you to foUow me to the different 

 beds I must beg you particularly to notice that I begin 

 with the fii'st round bed facing the entrance to the gar- 

 dens from the railway station. 



Suppose you have given your entrance-fee, and are 

 standing on the top step of the doorway directly facing 

 the Eose Mount, your eye is caught immediately by a 

 lovely coronet of pink, scarlet, white, yellow, and blue, 

 which forms the decoration round the upper part of the 

 Eose Mount. Bring your eye down to the base of the 

 Mount to the walk which goes round ; directly facing 

 you is a path leading up to the top of the Mount, and it 

 is to a bed on the left-hand side of this path, but on the 

 right of the walk going round the Mount, supposing in 

 your course of inspection the Mount is on your right, 

 that I wish first to direct your attention. It is a round 

 No. 776.— Vol. XXX., Old Series. 



