Uocombor 5, 1867. I 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTOBE AND COTTAGE QABDENEB. 



*n. 



Rceat work upon gardening, and Mr. Barron, the present Saper- 

 intendent of the Chiswicic Gardens. They both know well 

 that in ordinarily favoured partH there is no wall fruit that 

 will repay attention more surely ; that the cultivators that 

 liave supplied I'liria so well for af»es take more care to protect 

 their trees from frost and attend to them in every way than we 

 do: and that by a liK-e amount of attention we may supply the 

 Loudon market quite as cheaply as the French do theirs. 



Mr. Kivers wound up his article with the following para- 

 graph :— "This," alluding to my statement, " as I well know, 

 is quite contrary to facts, for in our hrst-class gardens they 

 are as one hundred to ten of the same class in Franco ; the 

 Peach and Nectarine trees trained to walls are models of beauty, 

 perfect training, and fruitfulness. Wo must, therefore, con- 

 ehide that the person in Paris who writes eo fluently in the 

 I'inu-:, knows but very little either about English gardens, 

 Knglish gardeners, or fruit-tree culture." He had previously 

 stated that he did not dispute my '■ facts," and solely founded 

 liis mild and generous conclusion ou my .statement of the con- 

 dition of the Peach upon open walls in this country. 



I will now out out a slip from the last edition of his " Mini- 

 ature Fruit Garden," iu which he very clearly gives his opinion 

 on exactly the same subject — "A wall covered with healthy 

 Peach or Nectarine trees of a good ripo age is rarely to be seen ; 

 failing crops and blighted trees are the rule, healthy and fertile 

 trees the exception." I will in charity write down no conclu- 

 sion from the foregoing, and hero bid good-bye to Mr. Thomas 

 Kivers. — Tub Writes of the Article os Hobticcltdbe in 

 xai; Times. 



GAUIiTHERIA SHALLON. 



•(Jax you inform me if the berry of the Gaultheria Shallon 

 is of any use as a preserve, or otherwise .' My employer has 

 been informed that it is largely used in the London hospitals 

 in making cooling drinks for fever patients, if so, could yon 

 describe how it is prei)areJ ? 



Vi'e have growing on the lawn a very fine clnmp of the Gaul- 

 theria, which forms a vei-y pleasing object in .July, with its 

 thick clusters of white bell-shaped flowers, and then, again, in 

 October, with its dark purple berries shining underneath its 

 glossy green leave?. Altogether it is a plant that deserves to 

 be more generally cultivated, even as an ornamental shrub. If 

 its fruit possesses medicinal, or other valuable properties, its 

 worth will be very much enhanced. — r.L.iND G. Sinclair, (lar- 

 tlcnei- to II. AUson, Esq., Wooltim /^!;/t'.<■. 



[The berries of this species ore much relished by the North 

 American Indians, but we have never heard of their being em- 

 ployed medicinally. The loaves of Gaultheria procumbens 

 make an excellent beverage known in North America as " Moun- 

 tain Tea," and the fruit is used to give a pleasant flavour to 

 medicinal mixtures, and other preparations. An oil, highly 

 aromatic, is also obtained from the fruit, and used as an anti- 

 .spasmodic and diuretic, but if taken in quantity it has caused 

 death, by inducing inflammation of the stomach.] 



FRENCH TEACHES. 



Tnr. writer of the article on French gardening (page .'183), 

 Rpeaks of Paris Peaches of prime quality, late in the season, at 

 two francs the basket of eight. In lHri2, I passed the latter 

 half of September in Paris. The weather was remarkably 

 warm and sunny. The restaurateur's windows displayed mag- 

 nificent specimens of Bellegarde, deeply coloured on one side, 

 cut green, very green, on the other. I continually went to the 

 market to purchase Peaches, but was never able to get a single 

 ripo one. Sa we need not envy the Parisian? their sour Peaches 

 in September. In former j-cars I have tasted ripe ones in the 

 streets in August, but nothing remarkable as to quality. No, 

 give me a Noblesse from a sunny English wall. — O. S. 



DcTcn BoLi>3. — The Putcli have long been celebrated for 

 their cultivation of bulbous roots, espejially Tulips and Hya- 

 cinths, and from .March till June the district around Haarlem 

 i.^ carpeted with a succession of bouutiful flowers, beginning 

 with Crocuses and ending with UinuncuU. The sandy soil of 

 the district, which is derived from the dunes, is highly favour- 

 able to bulb culture —indeed, some of the flowers grow on the 

 sand hill, and hundreds of acres of valuable land are, in con- 

 sequence, devoted to flower farming. Iu the proper season, as 



one drives along the roads in the neighbourhood of Haarlem, 

 he is surrounded on all sides by plantations of Hyacinths and 

 Tulips in full bloom, forming a mass of colour, exceedingly 

 varied and rich, while the scent exhaled is most deliciouij. 

 Every house and villa has its bulb garden, and fur long distances 

 the eye can feast on glorious masses of richlyhued flowers. 

 In one of the blocmextries there is a bed of Tulips, 200 yards in 

 length, which, in the spring-time, is resplendent with gorgeous 

 colour ; and. in order to the better setting of them off, they are 

 framed in a border of Crown-Imperial Lilies, and bridged over 

 for effect every here and there with a wooden arch. It is a 

 great pity that such a lovely flower as the Tulip is scentless ; 

 Nature must have exhausted herself in the colouring. The 

 Hyacinth, however, exhales a delicate perfume, especially about 

 midnight, and at Haarlem great beds of these favourite flowers, 

 covered over with roofs of canvas to protect.them from extreme 

 heat or rain, may be seen so arranged as to present the most 

 vivid contrasts, or exhibit the finest harmonies of colour. — [Once 

 a Week.) 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



DECEMDr.K Zim. 



FariT Committee. — G. F. Wilson, Esq., F.R.S., in the choir. 

 Mr. Cox. of Kedleaf, exhibited a ilish of very lar^o and bandsomo 

 fruit of Hoary Morning Apple. Mr. Sidney Ford, St. Leonards 

 Lodge, Horsham, sent specimens of the fmit of Physalis alkekengi, 

 which a member stated he knew bad been nscd as a euccessf nl core for 

 pont, by two or three of the berries being eaten every day, or every 

 other day. Mr. William Paul, of Waltbam Cross, sent a seedling 

 Apple, of conical shape, rich yellow pronnd, coloured ou one side with 

 broken streaks of crimson ; the flesh is tender, and the flavour good,, 

 bat the frnit was past its season. Mr. Krister, market gardener, Whit- 

 ton, near Honuslow, sent a seedling Apple, for cuUuary purpoe**,. 

 which is stated to keep till May. It was considered a very Milnablo 

 Apple for nmrket purposes, and he was requested to send it again in April 

 or May. so that the Committee may form an opinion as to its keeping 

 properties, Mr. Tillcry, of Welbeck, sent samples of Mill Hill Ham- 

 Irargh, Welbeck Tripoli, anil Frankcnthnl, to compare tho flavonr of 

 the throe, the berries of the Ia?t being rcddi.sh and not black, and the 

 preference was given to Krankeuthal. Mr. Tillcry also sent a berry 

 of a seedling tlrape of extraordinarj- size and shape, raised from the 

 Black Hamburgh crossed by pollen of Groa Gnillanmo. It was jet 

 black and tho shape of a Tomato. Tho flesh was firmer than that of 

 the Black Hambargb, having more of the character of Gros Guillanme. 

 bnt with the flavour of the Black Hamburgh. Mr. Sidney Ford, of 

 St. Leonards Lodge, Horsliam, had a special certificate awarded him 

 for a veiy tine collection of Pears, the specimens of which were large, 

 finely grown, and excellent iu flavonr. It consisted of Glou Mor^ean, 

 .los. phino de Malines, Triomplic do .Todoignc, Broorapark, For«lle, 

 and Easter Beurre. Another special certificate was given to Mr- 

 Ford for a largo collection of Apples, consisting of twenty-three dishes 

 of flne-grown fruit. Messrs. Lane & Son, of Berhampstead, had a 

 apcfial certificate awarded them for their collootiou of Grape?, con- 

 sisting of Muscat Hamburgh, Alicante, Chaouch. Gros Gnillaome 

 (called Black Baibarossa), and Black Prince. The bnnchca wore 

 large, handsome, and atti-acted much admiration. A certificate was 

 also awarded to a Black Alicante in a pot, which carried eleven largo 

 bunches. Mr. Ingram, of Frogmore. sent a splendid specimen of tiio 

 Smoothloavcd Cayenne Pine, weighing SA lbs. It was awarded a 

 special certificate. Mr. Kivers sent specimens of Apple trees grafted 

 on French Paradise and Donciu stocks, showing that the scion grafted 

 on the former, when covered with tho soil, emits roots, which ulti- 

 mately become the sustaining medium of tho tree, and tho stock itself 

 becomes useless. Mr. W. Panl exhibited specimens of the Donciu 

 and the Paradise stock. Mr. Sidney Ford sent a collection of twenty 

 vaiieties of Potatoes. 



Flor-vl Committee. — As might be cxpectcil, from the severe 

 weather. vcr\- few plants made their api>carance. Messrs. Smith, 

 Dnlwich, agiiln sent n collection of their Variegated Zonal Pelargo- 

 niums, with bcantifnlly bright and highlycolonrcd foliaffe. proving 

 the advantage of these plants for whiter decoration. Mr. .T. JenningB, 

 Shipstonon-Stonr, sent a few plants of Cnprcssns macrocarpararie- 

 Ratn, very ornamental, but. like C. macrocarpa. not always hardy. 

 Mr. Green, gardener to W. W. Sannders, f^sq., exhibited a beantifnl 

 variety of Odontoglossum Alexandra-, to bo named Bowmanni, being 

 one of the plants sent homo by Mr. Bowman. The flowers were 

 beantifoUy marked with rosy purple spots. A first-class certificate 

 was awarded it. Billbergia siiccies, with crimson flowers and leaves 

 spotted with white, also came from the same exhibitor. 



Messrs. K. G. Henderson sent blooms of a Cbrjsanthemnro, a sport 

 from Princess of Wales, a bcantifnlly formed white flower, in which 

 the florets aro recurved : it received a first-class certificate. A col- 

 lection of fine cat specimens also came from the same firm ; amoof* 

 them were some remarkably fine flowers of Ijady Margaret, a pore 

 white .\nemone.flowercd variety. A special certificate was awarded 

 for the collection. Mr. Cannell again sent his Variegated Ivy (eared 

 Pelargoninm Duke of Edinburgh ; this promises to be a useful plant. 



