Oetobar M, 1867. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



309 



In Bui-li case Uo will do well to dig a dry well in front of tbe roots, 

 and till it with flints, and then cover them over. Tea and Tea- 

 scented Noisettes like good land made light, free drainage, a 

 West Indian sun, and plenty of water ; but they do not like, 

 nor does any Hose like, water lying at the roots. All Bosos 

 like plenty of water poured over the foliage and roots in sultry 

 weather, and from time to time, but they do not like being in a 

 Bwamp. 



I cannot account for the poverty of " W. B.'s '" flower."!, 

 except by the coldness of his ground. I have a large and 

 splendid stock of Tea-scented Yellow Noisettes here, in the 

 open ground and against walls — Celine Forestier, Triomphe de 

 Rennes, Oloiro de Dijon, Marcchal Niel, and Isabella Gray, 

 and no Roses can boat them for good results. I may say, in 

 conclusion, the Briar suits the Marrclial admirably. Isabella 

 Gray is on her own roots, and has given splendid and more 

 golden blooms than her beautiful son. Marshal Niel is a very 

 hardy Rose, and makes firm wood with a good tough skin. — 



W. F. IlADCLYFrE.] 



VAKIORUM NOTES. 



ORCIIARD-HOUSE CULTUUE-UOOT-PK0NING, &c. 



Im No. :U1, page 272, Mr. Rivers modestly asks a question — 

 " How is it that Peach trees planted in ground as hard as a 

 threshing-floor are fat and flourishing ?" I venture to suggest 

 that he has answered his own question when he tells us " The 

 borders are of a dense calcareous earth." This being the case, 

 it appears to me that the large amount of carbon contained in 

 the soil is the real cause. I should like to know if they are as 

 fruitful as vigorous. When fruit trues produce " riutiniiamis," 

 1 suspect they are in a soil more favourable for forest than 

 fruit trees. No pruning will keep such a tree in absolute sub- 

 jection. Trees that are over-fed aro subject to those sucker.'', 

 not feeders, which produce notning but leaves — the melancholy 

 condition of the Fig tree which is not in its proper situation 

 and element. My remedy is not altogether root-pruning, al- 

 though large wood-roots and strong wood-shoots generally go 

 together, but ramming down the subsoil and giving it a found- 

 ation of broken stones not deeper than IS inches. 



My experience agrees with tlie remark of a correspondent as 

 to the cause of stone fruit falling being want of water at the 

 right time. Water being so largo a constituent of plants, we 

 must supply artificially what Nature withholds. I have watched 

 the rapidity with which a newly planted drooping Laurel ab- 

 sorbs the contents of the waterpot, the hanging leaves speedily 

 becoming erect. The sap of plants being a solution of various 

 matters, itis evident that the best modeofadmiuisteringnourish- 

 ment is by liquids, and, therefore, as Mr. Rivers observes, 

 top-dressing potted trees is not so good as watering; and 

 there can be no question that our pots are too deep. I have 

 long advocated shallow pots or pans to give the roots more 

 room for horiioutal growth. Mr. Rivers remarks that tho 

 roots come to tho surface to receive their food. I do not think 

 Jie has correctly expressed himself; with ail due deference I 

 say it. Nature, ever watchful and mindful of her offspring, 

 forms roots n-car the surface to correct deticiencies arising from 

 unnatural modes of culture. On the road from Devizes to 

 Potterne is a cutting through green sand. On the to]! of the 

 bank, l(t feet t.bovo the foot-path, are some stunted Firs, tho 

 roots of which, in search of congenial food, force their way 

 through crevices down to tho roadway, throwing out on their 

 passage innumerable rootlets, by whi<;h they imbibe moisture 

 only ; but the growth of tho trees is scarcely progressive until 

 the roots orriTO at loam. Large masses of sand are frequently 

 detached by iite agency ot these wood«a wedges. 



Your correspondent, " C. I. M.," asks the cause of cracked 

 Pears. 1 havo seen thea this year in the house and out of the 

 house. I attribiite th« «auso in the house to a lack of root 

 moisture, and out of tlie house to uncongenial soil. I never 

 saw the Beurre Diel subject to it; but another tree growing 

 side by side nlwaya had cracked fruit ; the soil was a sort of 

 hard sandy day. It is an evident sign of defective nutrition. 



Tho following facts respecting Pear trees may interest some 

 of your readers. I was tolling a friend at Devizes tho benefits 

 that sometimes attend tte root-pruning of Pear trees, by which 

 barren trees become fruitful. '• Well,' ho said, " I can corro- 

 borate what you say, foi- having occasion to enlarge my pre- 

 mises I removed a Pear tree that never bore, cutting oiT the 

 roots and head. It was set up in the garden for a clothes pole ; 

 tiiere it sent «ct coots SJti formed a isead, which bore irait of 



an excellent quality." The following is another instance. A 

 friend called ujon me respecting a barren Marie Luuise Pear 

 tree of mature growth. I advised him to make a circular 

 trench round the tree, to cut off the large wood-roots, fill up with 

 rubble of any description, and not to shorten the boughs. Ho 

 did so, and has since had abundant crops. The luxuriant wood- 

 growth being checked, I apprehend the sap is diverted into tho 

 fruit-buds. I speak only of standard trees. I am not certain 

 whether the same treatment would suit espaliers. I have tried 

 it, but did not remain to see the result. — Kicelsiob. 



THE PARIS UNIVEllSiVL E.\IUUITIOX. 



Althouoh I have notes on many subjects and places which 

 sooner or later will, I hope, find a place in the Journal, yet, as I 

 have just been again to the Paris Exhibition, and seen the jardin 

 ri'.terrr under a different form from tiiat which it presented in 

 May last, perhaps a brief notice thereof may not be without 

 interest ; and as I, out of the reach of the .loumal, do not 

 know whether I may not have been anticipated, especially as I 

 am aware one of the Editors was to be there about the same 

 time— mindful of this, I shall say as little as need be of the 

 department on which he is one of the first, if not the first, 

 of authorities in England. 



Whether it was the last " c<viC'nir.< " or not, or whatever one 

 it may have been, there was au unnsual collection of snbjectg 

 brought together, and all the various houses wore filled with 

 the different productions the horticulturists of France had sent 

 in. Before noticing them, let me say that my opinion of the 

 jardin itself is in no way altered. It looks infinitely better than 

 it did in May. The grass is admirable, and does great credit 

 to the Messrs. Carter, who selected the seeds for it, for they are 

 evidently tho very best for the purpoiie. The trees look green 

 and well, but tlie same faults strike one still — the number of 

 buildings crowd it up too much. The aquarium is out of place, 

 and a great "sell" into the bargain, for there is Jiothing of 

 any interest in it — not half so much as in the " grand aqua- 

 rium" on the Boulevards, or in our own aquarium at tho 

 Regent's Park ; in fact, it seems to have been got up for the 

 express purpose of advertising the firm which has supplied the 

 rockery, and there is altogether a cockney look about it ; and 

 Paris cockneyism, if not quite so onln; is as objectionable as 

 London cockneyism. 



With regard to the Fruits, which formed tho major part of 

 the Exhibition, I do not think that I have ever seen .so large a 

 collection of Pears and .\pples brought together. On mention- 

 ing this to my friend Mr. Smith, of Worcester, his reply was, 

 that his i-ccoUection of tho great show at St. James's Hall some 

 years ago was that it was larger. .\t any rate, Aj'ples and 

 Pears of all kinds were to be met with on every side. Not only 

 was the vestibule of the great con.*crvatory filled, but several 

 smaller houses also. A\'hat their quality is, I cannot say. One 

 thing, however, struck me as noticeable — viz., that the dif- 

 ferent pomological societies, as we should call them, sent up 

 collections contributed by their various members, not as in- 

 dividuals, but from the society. This undoubtedly pave them 

 an opportunity of making a finer display, and at the same time 

 contributed to that cxprit de cnrjis which is nowhere stronger 

 than in France, and which not very long since successfully re- 

 sisted the removal of the effigies of the Plantagenets from Fon- 

 teveraiilt to England, because they belonged to the department, 

 even although tho offer had been made by the Emperor himself 

 to the Queen to give them to the English nation. The other 

 fruits did not strike me as particularly fine. There was a large 

 collection of Grapes ; also a small one of Peaches, Pine Apples, 

 ifec. As tho Grapes were mostly from the open air, they wore 

 mainly such as are used in the vintage, with the exception cf' 

 the Chasselas de Fontainebleau and the Frankenthal ; but I 

 fancy none of these, even, were so fine as those I saw afterwards 

 at Fontainebleau itself. Our countryman, Mr. Knight, of Pont- 

 chartraiu, contributed the finest Grapes there, grown according 

 to the English method, and elicited great approval from many 

 of the French exhibitors. 



I was indebted to the Exposition for a sight which I had not 

 at all anticipated — a sight of M. Souchet's Gladioluses ; for in 

 prospect of this he and other growers had kept back some of 

 their bulbs and did not plant them until tho end of June, and 

 tho result was a sight worth coming to Paris to see. Threo 

 collections were staged — namely, those from M. Souchet, 

 M. Eugi-ne Vcrdier, and M. Loise. They were shown in bottles 

 plunged in sand on the ground, so that you looked down on 



