400 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ November 28, 1867. 



the Bim and brown on the other, with a rough skin, and 

 was pronounced by persons to whom I had given it to be 

 superior to the fruit on the original tree, which is also a very 

 delicious Pear. Both were ripe at the same time — the end 

 of last mouth. — G. G., BuUhill, Clonmel. 



DEEP-PLANTING EOSES. 



I HAVE just read Mr. Eadclyffe's remarks on " P.'s " experi- 

 ence on the deep-plantiug of Roses. I fear that I shall only 

 add to his " astonishment " when I tell you that four years 

 ago I planted two Gloire de Dijon Roses from 18 inches to 

 2 feet deep, and nothing could have thriven better. 



They were budded on Briars at the height I have named, and 

 I planted them deeply enouRh to allow the soil to cover the 

 junction of the bud with the Briar. Each plant was a year old, 

 and had a single strong shoot, which I cut in to about the fifth 

 bud. The next year they sent out shoots from 8 to 10 feet 

 long, and in three years they covered a piece of wall about 

 22 feet square. 



I left the place this spring, so I cannot examine the trees to 

 see whether the Briar has sent out roots high up the stem. 

 The Roses themselves had not sent out roots at the point of 

 junction, for I examined them with the object of ascertaining 

 this. 



I am told by those who have seen the plants this year that 

 they were a most beautiful sight when in foil bloom, so that I 

 may conclude that they are stUl in perfect health, as they 

 were when I left them. 



The soil was a fair garden soil about a foot deep, on a subsoil 

 of clay, which was dug up, and the two mixed together, with 

 manure, at the time of planting. — H. T. 



["Wonders wiU never cease." I H)?i "astonished" at the 

 statement of " H. T." I do not doubt the fact, but cannot 

 explain it. It is contrary to my experience. I have found 

 that by planting less deeply than above, and by adding soil 

 year after year without removing the plant, the Rose had 

 deteriorated, and did not succeed well till taken up and planted 

 shallower. Briars have an affinity for clay ; and I fancy they 

 made roots higher up than the junction of the bud and stock. 



I advise " H. T." to plant Mademoiselle Aristide, a chrome 

 yellow Rose on his N.E. wall near Rugby. It is the hardiest 

 yellow knowu, grows with extraordinary rapidity, and after the 

 second or third year when not cut, or cut only a little at the 

 points, is a most abundant-flowering and fine ornamental Rose. 

 I believe it to bo the same as Madame Schultz. If he does not 

 wish to have a Rose, but Ivy, I recommend him Rasgneriana — 

 it is beautiful. 



There is another very ornamental plant which I used against 

 the north side of my house at Rushton, the Box-leaved Coto- 

 neaster, with white flowers and coral berries. I put up a trellis 

 of wire, and let the plants grow up behind the wire. 



I am stUl cutting beautiful Roses here (Dorsetshire). I cut 

 nice Roses from Louise Margottin on November 4th, planted 

 August 7th. Senateur Vaisse and others planted at the same 

 time, have fine red buds. Only one plant died out of four or 

 five hundred planted about that time. — W. F. Eadclypfe.] 



WHAT CONSTITUTES A LARGE. MEDIUM, OR 

 SMALL-SIZED FBUIT ? 



I HAVE a grumble horticultural. Whether I have any just 

 cause for this my grumble, I leave you to judge. I look at my 

 crop of fruit, and then the idea comes, that I have reason to be 

 proud of the fruit borne on this, or that tree. Then the horrid 

 thought arises — my swans may be but ducklings after all ; this 

 Apple or that Pear is only a half-starved specimen in the eyes 

 of the knowing. I desire to learn what is the average size of 

 every variety of fruit in my garden. How can I arrive at this 

 information ? If I had gone to the Pomological Congress at 

 Paris, I should only have learnt how fruit can be grown in 

 France. This would be no guide to me in Yorkshire. I go for 

 information to the Catalogues. They deal in riddles. Dr. 

 Hogg and his Manual will enlighten me. He, like dealers with 

 familiar spirits, discoursetb on mediums, and "under" and 

 "over" medium; sometimes, more mysterious stUl, he ex- 

 pandeth into " large " — large medium, I suppose. 



Who can construe " medium? " Dr. Johnson is at fault. No 

 dictionary, English, Latin, or any other language, can tell me 

 anything about this indefinite, indescribable horticultural me- 



dium. I try to arrive at some idea of it by comparison, so I 

 take Pears. Alexandre Bivort, medium ; Bergamotte Esperen, 

 medium ; Comte de Lamy, medium ; Josephine de Malines, 

 medium ; Beurre Goubault, medium ; Z^phhin Gregoire, me- 

 dium. What ! All these one and the same medium? No, this 

 cannot be. Then each has its own medium. The mystery 

 deepens, instead of growing clearer. 



The weight of a Gooseberry is known to a grain. Why 

 should not that of other fruits be published. The letter scales 

 are on every writing-table. It is no difficult matter for a per- 

 son well acquainted with fruits, to weigh what he considers to 

 be an average-sized fruit of each variety within his reach, and 

 publish the result. We fruit growers in our several gardens 

 would then have a standard of excellence to aim at, and sur- 

 pass, it possible. We should not be so completely in the dark 

 as to the result of our produce as we are present. 



ghown in ht gakden, 18G7. 



Zephirin Gregoire, 6J ozs., three on 



one flower-stalk, lib. 1:^ oz. 

 Four Winter Nelis, 1 lb. 

 Doyenne Boussocb, 7ozs. ; on bnsh. 

 Beurre de Rance.T^ozs. 

 Fondante d'Autonme, M ozs. 

 Autumn Eergamot, 4^ oze. ; 



years old tree here. 

 Passe Colmar, 5 ozs. 

 Bergamotte Esperen, 43 ozs. 

 Josephine de Malines, 5 ozs. 

 BeuiTL- Goubault, 31 ozs.; 



crop. 



WEIGHT OF PEABS 



Marie Louise, 6 ozs. 



Louise Bonne, 5^ ozs. ; large 



crop. 

 Beurre Superfin. 8Jozs. 

 Beurre d'Amaulis, 7^ ozs. 

 Summer Beurre d'Aremberg, 



iiuite 4 ozs. 

 Baronne de Mello, 4^ ozs. 

 Beurre Sterckmans, 6^ ozs. 

 Beurre Diel, 7^ ozs. ;' large 



crop. 

 General Todtleben, 8{; ozs. 

 Easter Beiure, 7i ozs^ 



not 



two 



largo 



APPLES. 

 Two Lord Suffield on one flower- 1 Dumclow's Seedling, 9 ozs. 

 spur, 13i ozs. each ; the two. New Hawthomden, 1 lb. 1 oz. 

 lib. 11 ozs. 



— C. JIaksden, Gargravc Rcciory. 



WINTEE-BLOOMING PLANTS. 



It has been my duty, my good fortune, and my pleasure 

 during the last sixteen years to devote a considerable portion 

 of my time to keep up a continuous supply of stove and green- 

 house flowers all the year round. I have tried nearly every- 

 thing in cultivation, anxiously seeking for such forms of beauty 

 as should afiord the best mattrld for accomplishing my object. 

 I needed colour, durability, perfume, and diversity of habit or 

 form, so that my arrangements or floral pictures might present 

 a pleasing combination of the above requisites, for although 

 much depends upon judicious arrangement of character and 

 colour, nevertheless, it is very important to select the kinds or 

 varieties of plants which are most suitable, or best adapted to 

 meet our requirements. If these points were carefully con- 

 sidered by men of experience, there would be fewer disappoint- 

 ments in this particular department of gardening, for there 

 is no great difficulty in supplying an abundance of flowers 

 throughout the winter, if the right sort of houses, plants, and 

 men are provided. 



I am pleased to observe that one of your correspondents has 

 particularised Salvia splendens, as a worthy and desirable 

 winter-blooming plant. I heartily endorse what he has stated 

 respecting its merits. It is an old plant, it is true, but it we 

 look for real merit, or fitness, we shall not require any particu- 

 lars respecting the date of introduction. We adopt a similar 

 course in our treatment to that practised by Mr. T. Winkworth, 

 with this exception, that we do not plant out because of the 

 trouble of having to establish the plants when taken up in the 

 autumn. We pot into 10-inch pots during the middle of May. 

 We select a shady situation, and plunge our pots to the rim in 

 half-decayed litter. They require little further trouble than 

 stopping and well watering, and can be at once removed to a 

 forwarding-bouse. Tliey require very little attention in pro- 

 portion to the effective display which they make. For table or 

 bouquets they are equally effective, and they are within the 

 reach of all. 



I believe that very many gardeners have a notion that this 

 Salvia requires heat during its g.-owing season. I know when 

 I was an apprentice it was grown as a stove plant, and I re- 

 member it was very frequently my duty to wash the Salvias, 

 for the red spider patronised it extensively ; but now that we 

 treat the plant rationally we are not troubled with washing it : 

 in fact, we treat it exactly the same as our Chrysanthemums. 



Those who wish to make up a cheap and effective display for 

 this dull season should secure some Salvia splendens and yellow 

 and white Chrysanthemums, which, together, can be made to 

 ' form a very pretty picture. 



