November 21, 1867. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



385 



wore awarded to Mr. Hoalo and Mr. James, and those for Lady Tal- 

 fonnl to Mr. .Tauios ami Mr. Snare. Mr. Kor^vth's prizes for Mr«. 

 G. Randlo were tJiken bv Mr. Wholtlal and Mr. Moxhuiu. Only two 

 aeodlintfs wore bIiowu, aud both received tirst-elass certificates. Ono 

 callod Prince84 Buatrice, camo from Mr. WyuoBS. Buckingham Pulaco 

 Gardens, aud was a hoautiftiUy iuenrvcd purplinh lilac tluwcr, inter- 

 mediate iu colour between Lady Harding aud Prince Alfred. The 

 other, named Mrs. Sharpo, came from Mr. A. Forsyth ; it was a 

 large, deep rosy lilac Howcr, distinct aud fme. 



Mes-rs. E. (i. Henderson sent a etandof blooms not for competition, 

 containing araonp others Empress of India, Qneou of Enj,'land, Prince 

 Alfred, and Prince of Wale^, of extraordinary f»i/:o ; and Mr. Ware, of 

 Hale Park Nuraerius, Tottenham, exhibited three husket^t tilled with 

 Saxifrages, Seduuis, Sempervivuras, lOchevoria sucnndu, viirieRated 

 Poloniouiom cioruleum, and a variety of other plants, the whole ar- 

 ranged so as to produce an excellent elTect. Troni Mr. Shirley Hib- 

 Iterd ciiuo a coUectiou of Ivies, and from Mr. I'orsyth and others 

 Miiscellaucous gronps of Chrysanthemums. 



THE CHILWELL NURSERIES. 

 (Concluded from page 331.) 



AnoTHEP span-roofei.1 orchard-house, fiO feet long by 20 feet 

 wide, though not of such an ornamental character as the last, 

 was certainly not less useful. Besides a number of Peach 

 trees in pots, it contained a few standards planted out in the 

 central border, and amonR them a Itoval (ieorge, which had 

 borne about a hundred fruit. The tree was by no means out 

 of bounds, although it had never been root-pruned. With re- 

 gard to the pot trees, Mr. Pearson remarked (and he has since 

 stated his views on this subject in pages 257 and 329), that he 

 had given up autumn top-dressings on account of their involv- 

 ing the destruction of a portion of the roots near the surface, 

 which are encouraged thither by the summer-dressing of ma- 

 nure and malt combs. In proof of the effect of this surface or 

 summer-dressing in enticing and keeping the roots near the 

 surface, he turned iip several pots, and in only ono were a few 

 roots found protruding from the hole in the bottom. 



A house of similar dimensions to the last is employed as a 

 vinery and Kig-house. Here was growing the Black Muscat of 

 Alexandria, or Muscat Hamburgh, as it is more commonly 

 called, on its own roots, also grafted on the Black Hamburgh 

 and on the Sarbelle Frontignan, a small, early, black variety, 

 which Mr. Pearson did not consider worth retaining in the 

 \inery. The result has been that though the Vine worked on the 

 Sarbelle Frontignan is extremely vigorous, and has made wood 

 of extraordinary thickness, neither the bunches nor the berries 

 are so good in size and appearance as those produced by the 

 Vine on its own roots, which, it may be remarked, is a 

 vigorous one, that in some years has yielded 40 lbs. of Grapes. 

 The Vine on the Black Hamburgh stock exhibited a consider- 

 able difference in the character of the foliage; the bunches 

 were larger and longer, and the berries were likewise improved 

 in size and regularity, and were of encellent flavour. It may 

 have been imagination, or the effect of tasting other Grapes, 

 but it appeared that the Muscat flavour was slightly, though 

 in a very slight degree, less strongly marked in the produce of 

 the worked Vine than in that of the Vine on its own roots ; 

 but after several tastings the attempt to distinguish a difference 

 had to be given up. However, whether such exist or not, there 

 is little room to doubt, from the experience at Chilwell and 

 Dalkeith, that the Black Hamburgh is an excellent stock for 

 the Muscat Hamburgh. The subject of stocks, not only for 

 Vines, but for other fruit trees as well, is deserving of a greater 

 amount of attention than has hitherto been bestowed upon it, 

 and discussion and extended experiments would, doubtless, 

 bring to light many valuable facts hitherto hidden altogether, 

 or known only to a few. Among several other varieties of 

 Grapes were the Alicante, bearing very heavily, and Trentham 

 Black, another excellent late Grape. No border, scarcely, could 

 be more unpromising than that on the outside of this house. It 

 was not more than H or '.I feet wide, lay between houses, being, 

 therefore, considerably shaded, and consisted of a stiff red 

 earth, mixed with lime. Little, if any, pains appeared to have 

 been taken in its making, and yet the Vines bore well and were 

 more healthy than others in cases where great expense has 

 been incurred in border-making. With a border of such a 

 description, and the roots not so near the surface as desirable, 

 shanking might have been expected ; but very few of the 

 Grapes were so affected, and this Mr. Pearson ascribed to his 

 being careful not to over-stop the Vines. The excessive re- 

 moval of foliage he considers a far more frequent cause of 

 shanking than bad borders. 



A lean-to vinery, 34 feet by K), the first-built of the houses 

 at present existing in the nursery, and that some thirty years 

 ago, contained in the two divisions of which it consisted Purple 

 Constantia, Red Frontignan. Alicante, Black Hamburgh, Koyal 

 Muscadine, and Chasselas Rose Royal, bearing well, and some 

 of the bunches were very good. The next houees were four 

 span-roofed structures, ranging from .36 to 42 feet in length, 

 and from 10 to 13; feet in width. These are amply provided 

 both with top and bottom heat, and seem to be very useful for 

 a variety of purposes, snch as growing Cucumbers, and shelter- 

 ing seedling bedding Pelargoniums, Vines in pots, and other 

 subjects; they are likewise employed in turn as jiropagating- 

 houses. Two of them had been just cleared out and sulphured, 

 having been cropped with Cucumbers, of which frequently ten 

 dozen had been cut in a morning to send to market. A small 

 orchard-house, 40 feet by 20, was filled with seedling Peaches 

 and Nectarines, of which Mr. Pearson believes he has obtained 

 some desirable varieties. Other two houses, 40 feet in length 

 and l.'J aud 11 feet in width, were respectively filled with Vines 

 in pots and young Conifers, among which were between three 

 and four thousand Chinese .Junipers, that being about the 

 number propagated every year. 



A small span-roofed house, 26 feet by 12, is used for raising 

 seedling Rhododendrons. Formerly, when these were out ol 

 doors, many perished, owing to their being deluged with rain 

 or exposed to strong sun ; but Mr. Pearson, reasoning that the 

 seedlings imdor natural conditions come up under trees, and 

 are, consequently, shaded from sun and to a great extent 

 sheltered from rain, had this house specially constructed, and 

 dulled the glass. The result has been that the seedlings come 

 up by thousands, and with scarcely a failure. In connection 

 with Rhododendrons, Mr. Pearson remarked that instead of 

 side-grafting, as usual, which he objects to on account of the 

 Rhododendron ponticum stock not growing equally fast with 

 the vigorous kinds worked on it, he saddle-grafts in spring; 

 and although the failures are numerous, the plants propagated 

 in this way are much better, being feathered to the ground. 

 Of this there was abundant evidence in the beds on the lawn, 

 where Alarm and some other kinds which are usually leggy, 

 were as bushy as could be desired. 



The conservatory, which is the last structure to be noticed, 

 is 60 feet long by 24 feet wide, and, as might be expected in 

 the beginning of September, was not crowded with a number 

 of plants in flower, but it contained a fine stock of Camel- 

 lias, remarkable for the thickness of the wood which they had 

 made and their luxuriant foliage, and this even in the case of 

 weak-growing kinds, such as Sarah Frost and Fimbriata. Be- 

 sides a noble plant of the Double White, upwards of 6 feet in 

 height and nearly as much in diameter, and a fine specimen of 

 Countess of EUesmere, there was a fine stock of the leading 

 varieties worked in the spring of the present year, the mode 

 adopted being saddle-grafting, which Mr. Pearson prefers to 

 whip-grafting and other methods, as being more certain and 

 furnishing stronger and straightcr plants. The whole stock is 

 grown in fresh turf soil, and otherwise managed as described 

 vol. X., pages l.i9, KSO, and certainly more healthy, vigorous 

 plants of the size could nowhere be found. The shoots were 

 unusually thick, but well-ripened, and the leaves large and of 

 that glossy dark green which makes a Camellia, even when out 

 of bloom, one of the most ornamental plants in a conservatory. 



It has been remarked that some of the houses are partly em- 

 ployed in winter for sheltering seedling bedding Pelargoniums. 

 These are raised by thousands, and destroyed to nearly the 

 same extent after selecting the most promising for propagation. 

 Mr. Pearson has tried a very large number of crosses, and has 

 found that when a green-leaved Zonal Pelargonium is crossed 

 with a Variegated Zonal variety, some of the progeny will come 

 up green-leaved, whilst in others the leaves will be variegated, 

 but that afterwards the green-leaved seedlings often become 

 variegated, and when this takes place are quite as good and 

 sometimes better than those which are variegated at first. He 

 has also arrived at the conclusion, that if variegated kinds are 

 used as the female parents, the majority of the seedlings will 

 be of bad constitution, many of them proving albinoes, or 

 nearly so, and, therefore, for the most part dying off, but that 

 some of the progeny of such crosses prove to be fine tricolored 

 varieties. 



Although the seedlings had been severely weeded out both 

 before and after propagation, a considerable number of varie- 

 ties still remained, constituting one of the most interesting 

 features at the Chilwell nurseries. Of the Variegated Zonal 

 varieties, one called Walter Pearson was very conspicuous by 



