384 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ November 21, 1867. 



price at the cheapest time in Enpland. Of course if these 

 Peaches were sent to another country they must either bo 

 pulled before being ripe or become nearly worthless on the 

 way, for n bruised Peach loses quality in haU-an-hour. Not- 

 withstanding these difficulties we are told that ' Covent Garden 

 is " crammed " with French fruit.' " 



To his opinion of the magnificent Asparagus which the 

 French grow, and the culture of which I gave a concise de- 

 scription, I thus replied : — " He compares the stalk of French 

 Asparagus to the Atlantic cable, the tenderest part of it to 

 'oozeweed,' and asserts (what a trne-born Englishman he is !), 

 that ' a hundred of English Asparagus contains twice the 

 edible substance and ten times the flavour to be found in the 

 wattle of rods imported by us from France ! ' Although in- 

 quisitive about vegetables, I have not yet tasted ' oozeweed ;' 

 but if it be as nice as the Asparagus served in a respectable 

 Parisian restaurant, I would advise ' A London- JIaeilet Gae- 

 denee' to turn his attention to its cultivation, especially as 

 French market gardeners are so successfully competing with 

 English ones for the supply of the London market with better 

 known and appreciated materials. The white stalk of French 

 Asparagus is hard, because it is blanched. To avoid that all 

 we have to do is to save ourselves the trouble of piling little 

 mounds of earth over each stool in spring ; in a word, to cut it 

 as we do now, and adopt their system in all other respects. 

 The French grower knows that to have the larger portion of 

 the stick green is the best way, but Fashion insists upon having 

 a, long white handle attached to the edible portion of the Aspa- 

 ragus. If it were brought to the Paris markets without this it 

 would not find buyers." 



There is one other point, but as we shall have to deal with 

 that in a future letter, I now omit it, having, I trust, left these 

 strange " truths" plainly before the impartial reader. 



I heard no more of the "LosnoN Makeet Gaedenee," but 

 after the lapse of a week or so a short letter appeared in the 

 Times, signed " T. F. K.," stating that "your correspondent is 

 quite correct," alluding to all I had said of French fruit culture, 

 and not containing one word of objection to anything previously 

 stated by me. The writer then proceeded to give some few 

 reasons for bis opinion, stated how many thousand plants it 

 would require for an acre, and then wound up with a few 

 words of advice to those about "planting orchards of cordons ! " 

 Now, I had not said a word about planting orchards of them, 

 for apart from Mr. liivers's reason given in Tue Jocexal of 

 HoETicuLTUEE iu 186G (" the Paradise is a surface-rooting 

 stock, and requires the cultivation of a garden"), I know many 

 reasons why the thing should not be attempted in that way, 

 and thought it much better that people should know its value 

 and cost as a garden crop before they tried it on a larger scale : 

 therefore I felt it my duty to caution the readers of the Times 

 against beginning their cordon experiences in such an unwise 

 way, and wrote as follows : — " In horticulture as well as iu 

 many other matters it is better to get used to any novel system 

 before we try it very extensively : therefore my advice is, plant 

 a snug and well exposed little border with those cordons, or 

 run them around the square of your garden as the French do, 

 taking care, however, that they are not overshadowed wherever 

 they may be placed. If we give it a fair garden trial it will, I 

 think, be quite enough till the pruning, expense, and everything 

 else connected with it be familiar to the planter." 



This harmless and almost necessary advice might not have 

 been expected to offend anybody, but very shortly after 

 "T. F. K.," who wrote at first to say that I was " quite cor- 

 rect," wrote to try and prove how very wi'ong and incorrect I 

 was, and said, among other things, that I had not stated the 

 reason why the horizontal cordon was the best — i.e., the 

 greater amount of heat received near the ground — though I 

 had distinctly stated it both in the article and in the reply to 

 our friend the " Market Gaedenee ! " Then quickly appeared 

 the article by " T. E." in The Jocesal of Hoeticultuee. Mr. 

 Bivers opens it by saying that I am " evidently a young gar- 

 dener ;" and there he is right ; but I hope to grow old at gar- 

 dening as well as Mr. Eivers. Still more do I hope that when 

 I am Mr. Eivers's age, I shall at all events not be such as to 

 come down upon any young man, working in the same path, 

 with any influence my name may possess, to attempt to retard 

 his progress and throw discredit upon his efforts. 



Thus your readers will perceive that no word of objection 

 came from " T. E.," or "T. F. B.," previous to my cautioning 

 the readers of the Times against taking the advice of " T. F. E.," 

 — " planting orchards " of cordons on wires. 



Nest week I shall deal with Mr. Eivers's essay on French 



gardening. — The Weiter op the Aeiicle on HoEiionLTOEE is 

 the " TniES." 



SURFACE OR TOP-DRESSING ORCHARD 

 HOUSE TREES. 



Whethee Mr. Pearson's plan of not disturbing the surface 

 soil of potted Peaches be or be not an improvement on Mr. 

 Eivers's system of top-dressing, turns, I think, on this question 

 — Are the surface fibres annual or perennial ? If the former, 

 their removal after their work is done, cannot be prejudicial. 

 If the latter, the plant may need them for another year. 



Those who are interested in the solution of the question, 

 may easily bring the rival systems to issue, by treating some of 

 their trees in one way, and some in the other ; but it will re- 

 quire several years to come to a definite conclusion, as the soil 

 in a pot, if unrenewed, may supply support for three years, and 

 yet fail in the fourth. — G. S. 



STOKE XEWINGTON CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW. 



CnRYSAXinEMUMS are always seen in great perfection at this SlioW : 

 and at that held on the 14th and 15th inst., though as a whole scarcely 

 equal to those exhibited during the last two or three years in quality, 

 they were above the average in quantity. For a season so unfavourable 

 to the Chrysanthemum as that which we have experienced the display 

 was most satisfactory, and the only wonder was that so many exhibitors 

 could produce blooms in such excellent condition as they did ; for all 

 varieties arc unusually late this year, and many appear likely not to 

 open at all. 



Specimen plants in pots, notwithstanding some amount of forcing, 

 were for the most part not in such full bloom as they would have been 

 a week or ten days later. The best in the class for six came from Mr. 

 Forsjlh, who had Dr. Sharpe, a vei-y effective dark crimson ; Alma. 

 Golden Chi'istine, Lady Harding, Annie Salter, and Yesta, all of 

 which were very well grown and in good bloom. Mr. George, gardener 

 io Miss Nicholson, Stamford Hill, who was second, had Vesta in fine 

 bloom ; Prince of Wales, a fine-grown plant, but not forward enough ; 

 and St. George, a sport from Golden Hermine, with reddish buff 

 tlowers. evidently a fine variety for specimens. For three plants Mr. 

 Drain, De Beauvoir Town, was first, and Mr. George second, with 

 Christine, Vesta, Golden Christine, Prince Albert, and Lady Harding. 



Of specimen Pompons the best six were furnished by Mr. Butcher. 

 the kinds being Bijou de rHorticulture and White Cedo Nulli, especi- 

 ally good ; Lilac and Golden Cedo NuUi, HcKne, and Andromeda. 

 Mr. Forsyth was second with, among others, White Trevenna in fine 

 bloom, Cedo NulU, and General Canrobert. In the class for three 

 plants the same exhibitors occupied the same relative positions, Mr. 

 Batcher being also first for six pyramidal plants. For six standards 

 Mr. Forsyth was first, having Lilac and Golden Cedo Nulli, Andro- 

 meda, and Calliope in excellent bloom. Mr. Butcher was second. 



Cut blooms were with but few exceptions very good. The best 24 

 came from Mr. Slade, of Kingsland, and consisted of Beverley and 

 Golden Beverley, both very fine ; Formosum, White Globe, Jardindes 

 Plautes, Pi-iuce of Wales, very large and fine ; Golden Dr. Brock, 

 Mrs. George Ruudle, a beautiful pure white, though not large ; Gloria 

 Mundi, Prince Alfred, very fine ; General Slade, Lady Harding, fine ; 

 Lord Ranelagh, (leneral Slade, Rev. J. Dix, Orange Pei-fection, Che- 

 rub. Gloria Mnndi, Lnteum Formosum, King of Denmark, and Duchess 

 of Wellington. Mr. James, Stoke Newington, was second ; and Mr. 

 Berry, gardener to the Earl of Leven and Melville, third. Mr. Berry 

 was first for 1*2 blooms with Empress of India and Queen of England, 

 each nearly 5 inches across : Lady Harding, Nil Desperandum, Prince 

 of Wales, and Lady Slade, also very fine. Mr. Slade, who was third, 

 had a beautiful bloom of Prince Alfred, and others likewise very good. 

 In another class, also for 12 blooms, Mr. Heai'd, De Beauvoir Town ; 

 Mr. Howe, Shacklewell ; and Mr. Drain, took prizes in the order of 

 theii- names, exhibiting, besides varieties already named, Sir Stafford 

 Carey, Kitleman. John Salter, St. Patrick, Abbe Passaglia, and No- 

 velty. For sis blooms Mr. Wheldal took the first prize with Mrs. 

 George Rnndle, Her Majesty, Golden Beverley, and Beauty, both 

 very large. Prince of Wales, and Pio Nono. Mr. Mosham was second 

 with Prince Alfred, very fine ; St. Patrick, Beverley. Jardin desPlantes. 

 Lady Harding, and Golden Beverley ; Mr. Heai-d being third. 

 In the maiden class for the same number of blooms the prizes were 

 taken by Mr. Shields, Stamford Hill ; Mr. Crute, HoUoway ; and Mr. 

 Smith, Haggerstone. Venus. Empress of India, Queen of England. 

 Prince of Wales, and other varieties were very fine. 



The first prize for Anemone-flowered varieties was taken by Mi*. 

 James, who had fine examples of Madame Godereau, Gluck, Fleur de 

 Marie, George Sand, Queen of Anemones, Prince of Anemones, and 

 Marguerite d'Anjou. Mr. Howe, who was second, had also a fine 

 stand. The same two exhibitors were respectively first and second 

 for 36 Anemone Pompons, of which Antonius, Regulns, Mrs. Astie, 

 Florence Nightingale, Madame Montels, Sidonie, and Firefly were 

 conspicuous. 



The extra prizes offered by Mr. Salter for Countess of Warwick 



