Soptomber 26, 1867. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOUTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



233 



Vrankenthal. Chasselas do Fontainebloau, C. Croqnant, Bins- 

 sard Blanc, lie Candolle, Jlnlaga, and Morilkm blano. 



M. (iandiiis, Nice, exliibits some very good Grapes, one 

 very large biincli of Ue la Palestine, wbicli is our Syrian ; 

 Hiuoat of Alexandria not very good; Clm'solat do Fontiiino- 

 bleau ; Tokay des Jardius, deep rose ; I'erle Imptlriale, medium, 

 black, oval ;" lminriHle Noire, large bunch, round berries ; 

 Terle Iinpiiialo Blanche, good size, oval ; Muscat de Tcucrou, 

 white, slightly oval ; 'rcnCiou (Olivette do Cadenel), greenish 

 white, oval, large; Chasselas Crystal du Cap do Bonne Espe- 

 rance. like the Rjyal Muscadine. 



M. Victor Chatul, Propri.'taiie, Valcongrain. exhibits several 

 varieties of Grapes which he uses for wiuo making and dessert. 

 Muscat a Flour d'Oranges is much esteemed as a dessert 

 variety ; it is our Chasselas Musqno. Chasselas de Fontaine- 

 bleau much esteemed; Chasselas Hdlif do Tt'Orriffo is about 

 a fortnight earlier; Gros Marooain (Black Morocco), is much 

 esteemed for late work, but is very subject to mildew ; Fran- 

 kenthal; Totit Corintho, white; there are only three or four 

 berries in the bnnch that swell off to the right size, the rest being 

 all small iind seedless, hence the name given to it at Constan- 

 tinople, '• III Poule et sea Tetits" — the hen and her chickens. 



A collection of some 20 or 30 varieties of Fig^ on the 

 branches was exhibited from Marseilles, showing their wonder- 

 ful productiveness. Baurjasotte Griso and Bourj isotte Blanche 

 were very good ; Col di Signora Blanca and Col di Signora 

 Nero excee iin'jly so ; very rich and firm. Monaco Blanco, 

 large ; Figuo Panacbee, beautifully striped wiih yellow ; d'Or 

 Bifera, and several others, the most of which are in the line 

 collection of the Uoyal Horticultural Society, at Chiswick. 



THE ORCHARD-HOUSE. 



Tui: great mistake connected with orchard-hou'cs has been 

 the supposition that there is a royal road to fruitgrowing. 

 Mr. Rivers has partly paved the way for this idea by saying in 

 Lis admirable book, " There can be no failure." No doubt 

 that position is fortified by certain conditions, and it is true to 

 a considerable extent that if these are properly carried out the 

 result assumed will be attained ; but in order that this may 

 be the case two things are necessary — some little acquaintance 

 at least with the habits of fruit trees, and, more especially, a 

 love for their cultivation. This latter is essential, for without 

 if there will be neglect, and neglect will inevitably result in 

 failure. 



To those who have realised the conditions I have named the 

 growth of fruits in orchard-houses is almost certain to prove 

 satisfaotoi-y. The uncertainty of growing the tinest varieties 

 of Pears and Plums in the open air verges on an utter failure, 

 and as to Apricots, Nectarines, and Peaches, there is no ob- 

 taining them in any shape without walls ; and with walls, it 

 would not, I apprehend, be dillicuU to show that the orchard- 

 house is much more certain. In all this, the conditions above 

 named must be kept in view. These statements, however, are 

 only preliminary to facts connected with my own experience. 

 It is well for general statements to bo thus confirmed and 

 supported. 



My experience in orchard-houses dates from November, 18G4. I 

 had a Green Gage Plum tree in mygarden for fifteen years, and 

 during that time ten dozen Plums formed the extreme amount 

 of the produce. I kept the tree year after year — partly from 

 the feeling, which prevails to too great an extent, of not liking 

 to do away with a tree one has planted and seen growing for a 

 length of time, and partly from the hope of better results — 

 btit one fine day, perceiving no improvement with the lapse of 

 time, I summoned resolution and got rid of it. A bush of 

 the SAmo kind of fruit in my orchard-house, '2 feet high and 

 2 feet in diameter, brought me this year, after thinning, seventy- 

 eight Plums. I had Coe's Golden Drop in the open ground 

 for twelve years, and never had a Plum from it ; a bush in the 

 orchard-house in a 12-inch pot ia now bringing to perfection 

 thirty-four. I hoped to have given an equally promising report 

 about Gansel's Bergamot Pear; but here there is some little 

 disappointment. A dozen or so set in the spring, and grew 

 as large as good-sized marbles, but unhappily fell off, with the 

 exception of one tine Pear, which remains and is coming to 

 perfection. This, however, is a step in the right direction. 

 I had an espalier of this fruit in my garden for twelve years, 

 well trained, and never had a Pear off it. I shall at least have 

 an opportunity of tasting this much-lauded Pear, about the 

 fUvoor of which I am at present qaite in the dark. 



Hero I may say, for I wish to state matters fairly, that my 

 Pear trees in pots for some reason have not done well this 

 year, but four idnnled out on the border have all of them 

 yielded a good crop. The trees are about 5 feet high, and from 

 2 feet to 2J feet in diameter. A Bon Chretien pri>duced 

 lifteen Pears .I j ozs. each ; Benrrfi d'Aremberg, thirty-six ; 

 Louise Bonne, (urty-eight ; and Bergamotte d'Esperen, seventy- 

 five fruit. 



Not having a wall in connection with my premises, I had no 

 experience whatever of Apricots, Peaches, and Nectarine.^ until 

 I adopted the orchard-house Kystem. The produce this year 

 of four Apricot trees, two in pots and two planted in the 

 borler, is eighty-three. I do not perceive any particular ad- 

 vuutago in plaotiug this fruit tree in the border, notwithstand- 

 ing what has been said about their supposed failure in pots. 

 In my case the pot trees are about on a par with thofe in the 

 border. The Nectarines have done well, four trees after thin- 

 ning producing exactly one hundred fruit, an average of twenty- 

 live to each. The Peaches have done moderately, five trees 

 producing seventy, some of them 8 inches in circumference. 



In addition to the Plum trees I have mentioned I had sixty 

 on an Early Favourite. A bush of Kirke's produced firty, 

 scma of them weighing IJ ozs. A Jefferson had upon it 

 eighteen, the weight of some of these 3 ozs. There are twenty- 

 seven on an Ickworlh ImpCratricc ; and a Heine Claude de 

 Bav.iy furnishes forty-four. The foliage of this Plum is very 

 fine ; 1 measured one leaf S inches long from the stem, and 

 some of the fruit weighs 2 ozs. 



In order to give as fair a report as I can, I will add that my 

 two lean-to houses contain forly-.^ix trees, varying in age from 

 three to seven years from the bud ; thirty-six are in 12inch 

 pots, and ten are planted in the border ; thirty-seven had more 

 or less upon them, and nine were fruitless. In my hou-eg 

 I have managed to keep down aphides and red spider wiihout 

 using tobacco and sulphur, brushing off the insects as they 

 appear, and giving constant and abundant syringing till the 

 end of August. I now perceive some appearance of the red 

 spider ; but if the trees are healthy and green on the 1st of 

 September they may he considered in the main right for the 

 season. 



One of the most important points in orchard-honse culture 

 is the proper ripening of the trees. This may seem a simple 

 operation, but it is in reality a very nice one, and is Lot to be 

 learned in a day. It requires special attention, too mach 

 water being almost as mischievous as too little. 



What a pity it is we cannot obtain more certain data about 

 the season in which different kinds of Pears ripen. There is 

 no dependance on the definitions in the various lists. Jo- 

 tophine de Malines and Bergamotte d'Esperen are represented 

 as being in season during March and April.* What I had of 

 these varieties last winter was in perfection before the middle 

 of January. When once one can make an impression with the 

 thumb upon a Pear it is on the verge of perfection. It may 

 become a little softer ; but my opinion is that as regards flavour 

 it is better at that time than in any of its after-stages, and a 

 very short period after that will sulUce to render it comptkra- 

 tively worthless. — J. M. 



BEDDING PELARG0NIU:MS. 



" Wnicn do you consider the best — most telling in effect — 

 of the Pelargoniums for bedding purposes you have seen this 

 year ? My purse is not a long one, and I shall not go to long 

 prices ; but I should like to hear of some Pelargoniums, horse- 

 shoe foliage preferred." Now this question, which reached me 

 some time ago, I have not replied to , because there were a few 

 places I wished to visit where I knew I should see some Pelar- 

 g iniums, and could bo bettor able to answer my correspondent's 

 question after I had seen them. The question is somewhat 

 vague, for no mention is made whether they are to be Nosegays 

 or the ordinary Zonal varieties, or what coloured flowers are 

 sought for, nor what varieties the writer already possesses ; 

 but surmising that I know nothing on the?e points, I shall 

 endeavonr to give the result of my observations. 



Were I asked which was the most effective Pelargonium I 

 have seen this year, I am bound to say that uotwithetanding 

 I have not yet got over my objection to Nosegays, it must be 

 Stella. I saw a long strip of it in a ribbon border at Linton 

 Park, and it far eclipsed everything else ; but then it was 



* lIoRg's "Fruit Miinua] ' namea February for the flnt-oamcd Pear 

 and Juioary for the second.— Ess. 



