July 11, 18B7. ) 



JOUaXAIi OF HOB'BICULTURB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



S5 



- Maclean's Hero, green wrinkled Marrow, ia a few days earlier 

 and dwarfertban Veitch's Perfection. A prolific and very good 

 Tea. 



The I'lince (Stnart & Jlein), green wrinkleil, ia a first-class 

 Pea, with n fiiif vif^oroun CDtisfitution, from ;j f<M't to 3 feet 

 () inches lii^h, producing large well-filleil pods. An abiindiint 

 bearer, and very fine Pea, tbree or four days later than Veitoh's 

 Perfection. 



Green wrinkled Peas (E. (i. Henderson), resembling, but no 

 improvement on Voitch's Perfection. 



Lord I'lilmcrston is ideiiticiil with Veitch's Perfection. 



Laxton's t'hiimpion (jreen wrinkled Marrow;, is no improve- 

 ment on Neiteh's Perfection. 



Prince of Wales, green wrinkled Mirrow, about 3 feet high, 

 very jirolitie, Hmaller podder, and a few days earlier than the 

 Prince, or Veitch's Perfection. 



Fortyfold and l''airbeard's Fortyfold, greeft wrinkled Marrow, 

 are identical, three to four days later, am] with larger pods than 

 Champion of En^lund, evidently selected from that variety. 

 An excellent Peu, height Ij feet. 



Pearce's Gardeners' Delight is identical with Ne Plus Ultra. 



Knight's Albert Edward is Ne Plus Ultra. 



Strathniovo Hero, I'ompetitor, and Moto Marrow are the 

 same as Tall Green Marrow. 



TARER'S EARLY PEKFECTION PE.\. 



Sef.isc; that the Early Pea controversy has been already 

 resumed in your pages, I may, perliaps, be allowed to record 

 my experience of the above variety. At the outset, I have to 

 state that I obtained the seed from Mr. K. Dean, seedsman, of 

 this place, as he had his supi>ly direct from Mr. Taber, owing 

 to its being reported that there was a spurious stock in the 

 market. \ near neighbour of mine operated at the same time 

 with Sangster'6 No. 1. said to be from a " pure stuck " obtained 

 from a reliable source. Wo sowed at the same time, soil and 

 position being of a similar cliaraoter in each case. Dy some 

 days Taber's was the first to bloom, to slat, and to yield a 

 picking — not merely a few pods, but a good picking. 



The foliage of Taber's is of a much darker green than 

 Sangster's, and, indeed, any other early Pea I have yet grown. 

 It appears, also, to be of a remarkably hardy constitution ; 

 for while Sangster's appeared to " wince," and that consider- 

 ably under the effects of the late frosts, Taber's came out of 

 the ordeal unscathed ; Raspberries growing close by had the 

 entire crop destroyed. The haulm grew from '2* to :i feet high, 

 and yielded fine and well-filled pods from bottom to top. I 

 obtained several good pickings, not two or three merely, as is 

 usually the case with early Peas. I say nothing about flavour, 

 as it is simply a question of hair-splitting. 



What is required in an early Pea is a hardy constitution, a 

 dwarf branching habit, yielding freely pods in pairs, which 

 should contain from six to eight Peas in each. These essen- 

 tials I find to be more characteristic of Taber's Early Perfection 

 than any early variety I have yet tried, and I cordially com- 

 mend it to my brother amateurs as a good variety, and well 

 worthy of their attention. — H. A. STErniixs, Ealing. 



RHITBARB. 



A NTW Oia\NTU' VAIUETY — CCI.TURE — COOKERY. 



Mr. Mii.i.er, nurseryman, of Andover. informs me that one 

 stalk of this variety which I forwarded to him recently weighed 

 upwards of :! lbs., stalk and leaf together. I had previously 

 ascertained that they measured in all somewhat more than 

 5 feet in height, while the edible part of the stalk was '2 feet 

 it inches long, and 6 inches in circumference. The circum- 

 ference of the leaf was 18 feet. 



As there may be some doubt of its being a seedling from the 

 Victoria, owing to the difference of habit, I beg leave to state 

 that there can be no mistake on that head. 



The only varieties from which I have ever caved seed for 

 sowing have been the Victoria and the Albert, and I have taken 

 great care to have no other variety in flower at the same time. 



The seedlings from the Albert I have found to possess a very 

 distinctive character ; round, smooth, and succulent in tlie 

 stalk ; smooth and fleshy in the leaf, and this always round, 

 never peaked ; and in all of these respects different from those 

 of the Victoria. 



With regard to the variety to which I now direct attention, 

 following the plan stated in a paper on the cultivation of 



Bhnbarb, which the Royal Horticultural Society gratified me 

 much by publishing in their " Trantnctions " some years ago, 

 I was struck with the dilference of its appearance from that 

 of other plants raised from seed growing on the parent stem, 

 and saved and sown at the same time while it was yet in the 

 seed-pan, and almost immediately on its appearing above 

 ground. 



In consequence of this, at the proper season, I selected it 

 from among the others, and planted it in a situation where I 

 could observe its progress. 'The result is the present variety. 

 Allow me to remark, for a reason wliich will immediately ap- 

 pear, that the longevity of the Rhubarb is somewhat marvellous. 

 I found in my garden here a bed of what, in every respect ex- 

 cept in want of colour, is a very excellent variety. For more 

 than forty years I have, every season, gathered from it for use, 

 and this season found it in a state of more vigorous growth 

 than it was when I began to do so. After saying this, I need 

 hardly add, that it has been well manured, and that it never 

 has been forceil. 



The effect of forcing in weakening and injuring Ibis plant is 

 scarcely less remarkable than is the length of time during 

 which it retains its health and vigour when this is not done, 

 and when otherwise not properly treated. In this case the 

 Rhubarb may. indeed, be considered not merely a perennial, 

 but almost, if not altogether a perpetual plant. The bed 

 above referred to, I know for certain was planted fully eighty 

 years ago. Contrasted with this, I ni.ay mention that I had a 

 very excellent seedling variety growing to a very large size. 

 This I forced for two, but it may have been for three years con- 

 secutively. Tlie consequence has been that, although the last 

 time this was done was many years ago, it has never yet, and 

 probably never could recover the injury caused by this weak- 

 ening and exhaustive process. In its present dwarfish ap- 

 pearance no one could recognise, if they had seen ii, the 

 original vigorous and healthy plant. 



The inference I draw from this is, that except where the 

 plants are in suflieient numbers to sacrifice those operated upon. 

 Rhubarb never should be forced. Where the quantity is 

 moderate, and a suflicient supply for household use is required 

 at the natural season, forcing is a practice that ought never to 

 be followed. 



With regard to its general raanngement, I should say that, 

 judging from my own experience. Rhubarb, in one respect, re- 

 sembles the soil in which I have grown il ; the remark, how- 

 ever, applies to the soil of North Hants in general. This, if 

 left to' its own natural resources, is too poor to show itself 

 generous. It is, however, just and grateful, always giving 

 back in proportion to what it has received. The Rhubarb 

 plant will do the same. It will always, within reasonable 

 bounds, make a return according to the care and the expense 

 bestowed on its cultivation. 



Acting upon this at the end of every season when the growth 

 is entirely over and the decayed leaves removed, I give it a 

 good dressing of short, well-niade stable manure, mixed with 

 superphosphate of lime and wood ashes. 



Having allowed this to receive the autumn rains, so as to 

 carry the fertilising principles down to the roots before the 

 early frosts come to cool the ground, I cause the whole to be 

 covered with a thick coat of leaves, remaining through the 

 winter, impervious to the cold. 



Of the success of this mode of treatment I certainly have 

 had no reason to complain. It is now a good many years since 

 I gave up raising Rhubarb from seed. Having, however, re- 

 tained what I had planted out while experimenting in that 

 way, under the management described, the quantity I have in 

 my garden never fails to call forth an expression of surprise 

 from those who see it, with a look, which seems almost to say, 

 " Is it not foolish to devote so large a space to the cultivation 

 of a single plant 1 " All I say on this head is, that were the 

 quantity quadrupled I could tind use for it all. 



Coming at a season when no kind of fruit is to be had, my 

 poorer neighbours are most thankful to receive it, and never 

 tire of it for their Sunday puddings. To some of my richer 

 neighbours it is equally acceptable, they not understanding, or 

 not going to the trouble in its cultivation. The latter value it 

 for the purpose of making a preserve, for which some of my 

 varieties, from their superior flavour, are admirably adapted. 

 These, I may mention, are all from the Victoria. In giving it 

 for the latter purpose, I always request my friends to give their 

 cook strict injunctions not to remove the skin. In doing this, 

 along with the fibres that are attached to it, they deprive the 

 Rhubarb of almost all its colour, and of a great part of its 



