October 24, 1867. I JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



31S 



called Alexandre Lambr,', and Mr. Stewart said it was a fine 



Pear for nse in March, and not gritty.— Upwams and Oswakes. 



(To bo continued.) 



GAIIEYA ELLIPTICA IN FRUIT. 



I have been accustomed to see it stated in books and perio- 

 dicals, even of the highest authority, that this interesting Cali- 

 fornian shrub is known in England only as to the male plant. 

 AUow mo to state that I last week saw a female plant covered 

 with racemes of ripe fruit. It grows in the shrubbery belong- 

 ing to the very elegant and delightful residence of Mr. Finzell, 

 Clevedon, twelve miles south-west of Dristol, only a few yards 

 from high-water mark of the Bristol Channel. The racemes 

 are from 3 to 3 inches long, and consist of thirty or forty little 

 capsules the size of Teas, but of the colour and having the 

 downy surface of unripe Peaches. They are packed almost as 

 closely as the drupeohu of a Raspberry. The plant has fruited 

 at least once previously, and gives plentiful promise of a re- 

 newal of fruit next season. Several male plants stand, as 

 would be expected, in other parts of the grounds. My attention 

 was invited to the Garrya by Mr. FinzeU's very intelligent and 

 courteous gardener, Mr. llennie, who was unable, however, to 

 soy from what immediate source the plant had been obtained. 



Should any of your readers visit Clevedon, they will do well 

 to ask permission, not only to see the Garrya, but Mr. Rennie's 

 admirable Cucumber-house, certainly the best-managed and 

 best-provided that I have ever entered. Various ornamental 

 plants are also very well managed. Without making pre- 

 tensions to a grand display, the conservatory is compact and 

 well-appointed, and shows, in more than one instance, what 

 may be done by a man who will think for himself, and resolves 

 to have as good plants as his neighbours. Witness a capital 

 Cycas with as noble a crown of fronds as can be desired, which 

 was literally rescued from a rubbish-heap, and horticulturally 

 rebuilt. — Leo W. Grindon, 85, Humfonl Strcft, Mam-liisti.'r. 



P.S.— Internally, I should add, the Garrya fruits contain 

 purple juice of insipid flavour, and a couple of large seeds. 



more valuable, as its fruit is ripe just at the time when good 

 Pears are scarce. 



Here Doyenne d'Ete, a bush, opens the Pear season on the 

 Ist of August ; then follow in due succession the .Jargonelle 

 and Uourrc Gillard. It is a mistake to plant these varieties 

 against a wall : both of them, the Jargonelle especially, when 

 double worked on the Quince stock bear abundantly as bushes 

 in the open quarterB of the garden. Then comes an interval 

 of four, live, or six weeks according to the season, until Wil- 

 liams's lion Chretien is ready. The Uavour of this variety is 

 BO musky that many persons do not like it, in which case the 

 interval is prolonged until Beurru d'Amanlis is ripe. It is no 

 small recommendation to the Summer Beurru d'Aremie.-g that 

 it fills up about three weeks of this interval ; and that it does 

 not enter into competition with any first-rate variety, but occu- 

 pies a time of year when a really fine Pear is much needed.— 

 C. J. M., Garjravc, LectU. 



A NEW PEAR.— PJVEnsS SUMMER BEUERE 

 DAllEMDEUG. 



A or.EAT pomological authority has said, " New Pears are 

 like the so-called new Roses and new Strawberries, so nume- 

 rous as to be almost ridiculous." Under these difficult yet 

 ludicrous circumstances, how can we small people, who wish 

 to introduce a new Pear into our gardens with the view to im- 

 prove our collection of fruits — how can we arrive at a satisfac- 

 tory choice '.' Allow me in some degree to relieve this difliculty 

 of choice by recommending Eivers's Summer Eeurrij d'Arem- 

 berg to a situation in our gardens. I can honestly give it a 

 most excellent character. 



In the autumn of 18C.5 I planted a pyramidal tree of the 

 above at the end of a row of Pear bushes, fifteen in number. 

 This tree, as well as the bushes, flowered in the spring of 18G6. 

 A sharp frost in May made almost a clean sweep of the blossoms. 

 The fifteen bushes managed amongst them to rear one fruit ; 

 the Summer Beurru d'Aremberg produced three. This fact 

 shows that its blossoms are quite on a par as to hardiness 

 with those of other hardy Pears. In the course of the summer 

 some persons were allowed to see the gardens. Soon after they 

 had left, it was discovered that two of these fruit had dis- 

 appeared ; the third came to an untimely end : so I am unable 

 to state whether this variety will ripen its fruit on a pyramid 

 in the cool west of Yorkshire. 



It grows into a well-shaped tree, has a healthy and vigorous 

 growth, an abundance of rich green foliage, makes fruit-spurs 

 freely, and ripens its wood well ; also it did not sustain the 

 slightest injury from the last most severe winter. In Novem- 

 ber last I planted against a south stone wall in a diagonal 

 direction, according to the newest fashion, a single cordon of 

 the Summer Beurru d'Aremberg, which produced three fine 

 fruit, weighing about 4 ozs. each, and ripening on the 2'2nd of 

 September. It is most probable that when this tree is fully 

 estabhshed, not only will its fruit be larger, but that they will 

 also ripen some days earlier. These three fruit showed not 

 <he slightest tendency to crack ; the skin was smooth and clear, 

 and as thin as silver paper ; flesh very fine throughout, scarcely 

 any core, not a trace of grit, melting, sugary, juicy, with a 

 distinct and delicious flavour. This excellent variety is all the 



niOLIFEROUS FERNS. 

 Is giving any new instances of prohferous Ferns, it would 

 be desiroble that the circumstances under which the plants 

 have been grown should bo stated, as well as the number of 

 seasons they have displayed that property, the proportion of 

 fronds on the plant that have been affected, what is the average 

 number of bulbils produced on the fronds, and with what 

 degree of constancy such production is maintained. The con- 

 fined moist atmosphere of close glass structures has, no doubt, 

 considerable influence on Ferns in occasioning prohferous 

 growth, and some of the varieties of Scolopendrium vulgare, 

 which are profusely prohferous under glass, are scarcely at all 

 so in the open air. 



Another circumstance, which may sometimes give rise to 

 this curious quality, is the sudden check in the growth of 

 healthy plants, whether caused by their transplantation to a 

 less congenial soil, or from being deprived, by accident or other- 

 wise, of the majority of their fronds while in an immature 

 state. I have noticed one or two instances of bulbiferous 

 growth in plants of Polystichum angulare, which I should be 

 inclined to ascribe to this cause. 



I have two plants of Polystichum angulare which seem to 

 belong to the sub-tripinnatum rather than the bi-serratnm 

 group, one from near Drogheda, the other from the county of 

 Wicklow, both of which have been grown for the last two years 

 in an open-air fernery near the sea. At the time of finding 

 them I did not notice any bulbils on either of them, but at 

 present three-fourths of the fronds on each plant bear a pair 

 j of bulbils in the axils of the two lowermost pinnre, in various 

 I stages of development ; some of these tiny plants having a 

 I couple of fronds about an inch long, with distinct piunie and 

 I pinnules. I do not think, however, that such plants can lay 

 claim to be ranked as distinct varieties, they only show that 

 the varieties sub-tripinnatum and biserratum of Polystichum 

 angulare, sometimes become proliferous even under no ap- 

 parently exciting conditions. 



Under glass cultivation the following Ferns have been more 

 or less prohferous with me :— Polysiichum angulare liiieare, 

 . Polystichum angulare cristatum, Polystichum angulare inter- 

 i ruptum, and Polystichum angulare oxyphyllum ; the first two 

 ' very slightly, the next one rather more so, and the last very 

 ' freely.— W. O'B. 



WORK FOE THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAP.DEN. 



Asparapits, the beds should be cleared and dressed for the 

 winter. JiroccoH, this is an excellent period to lay the spring 

 sorts. It is best performed by two persons, one on each side 

 of the drill or row. Keep a good trench, and sink all the heads 

 to the north, burying the stems with soil up to, and even 

 amongst some of the lower leaves. This proceeding will protect 

 them very considerably against a severe winter, first by reason 

 of their position, second by thus avoiding sudden changes or 

 excitement, and lastly through the reduction of succulence. It 

 is no uncommon or new practice for good kitchen gardeners to 

 throw their overgiown Lettuce or Cauliflower plants on the 

 ground to shrivel before planting them. Plants in this state 

 will endure hard weather better than those in luxuriant growth. 

 Cardiions, tie up with hay or straw bands ; or, after fastening 

 the stalks together with matting, thatch with clean drawn straw 

 almost to the extremities of the leaves, and then earth them 

 up. Caulijiotcers nearly fit for use may be taken up and placed 



