March 14, 1867. ] 



jouknaij of hobticulture and cottage gardener. 



191 



cotiuterbalanced by the heavy returns after n few years. I 

 wish these remarks to be taken apart from the fact that some 

 varieties do not thrive on the Quince ; and thoush it may be 

 desirable to grow such as bushes or pyramids, I think it is 

 a pity to work a scion on a large tree, and then to keep it 

 down, by frequently cutting its shoots, to the size of a stunted 

 shrub. Would it not be more reasonable to work on the Quince, 

 or something more nearly approaching the size at which the 

 head is to be kept, instead of on the Pear? The Pear in its 

 natural state is a tree which, though not attaining such pro- 

 portions as the Elm, Beech, Lime, or Oak, is anything but 

 low-growing ; the Quince at its best is only a low-growing tree 

 or tall shrub : hence Pear trees upon it as a stock can never 

 attain such a lai-ge size as upon the Pear stock. 



Apples on the Crab are only suitable for orchards, and for 

 walls or espaliers where long shoots are desirable or required ; 

 whilst for dwarfs, pyramids, espaliers, and walls where long 

 branches are not wanted, trees worked on the Paradise stock 

 are better, for they fruit earlier, thrive where the Crab is un- 

 healthy, produce liuer fruit, and can be grown in less space. 

 The Paradise stock is raised from layers, and its growth is not 

 so free as that of the Crab, which is raised from seed. The 

 Paradise stock has its roots near the surface, and these do not 

 descend so quickly in bad soil as those of the Crab, which, 

 from its very nature as a seedling, roots deeply ; and in the 

 case of hot, light, shallow soils the Crab stock causes canker 

 in the trees worked upon it, whole branches continually dying 

 off. On the Crab the trees are not more healthy than on the 

 Paradise stock, for what suits one suits the other, with this 

 difference, that the Paradise lives where the Crab will not. For 

 instance, I have some pyramids on the Paradise stock, also on 

 the Crab, about ten years planted : those on the Crab are 

 cankered, and produce fruit as much " pitted " as the branches 

 are spotted v/ith canker, v/hilst those on the Pci-adise stock 

 bear their half bushel of fruit without speck or crack. The 

 soil is a shallow loam over gravel. There is no difference in 

 the culture, and yet there is a great difference in the results. 

 A good top-dressing of manure is quickly consumed by the 

 trees on the Paradise, but the roots of those on the Crab have 

 gone too far dovm. These trees are 7 feet high and 5 feet 

 through. 



Three years ago we planted some pyramids on the Paradise ; 

 they each bore half a dozen fruit in the first year, in the 

 second a dozen, and last year one and a half dozen, except one 

 Mnd, Lord Suffield, which would bear itself to death if .allowed, 

 and of this I thinned out the fruit to a dozen, and such fruit ! 

 — they were as large as a man's list. The roots are so near the 

 surface that the rains have washed them bare, showing how 

 they liked the top-dressing. This j'ear the trees must not be 

 allowed to bear such a crop, for I want them larger. I may 

 state that we have some planted so deeply that the junction of 

 the graft and stock is covered ; they are rooting from the 

 Apple above this point, but I shall lift them and out away the 

 Apple roots. They cannot do better than they have done, and 

 I fear the same result with them as with the trees upon the 

 Crab stock if the roots are allowed to go down. 



The Paradise stock exerts an influence on the Apple in the 

 same manner as the Quince on the Pear, but in a less degree; 

 but the former two being more nearly related, the check to the 

 returning sap is not so great, and the growth more closely cor- 

 responds. I have not found the Paradise an unhealthy stock 

 except when surface-dressings have been neglected ; the roots 

 then go down for moisture, or they perish from want of it. 



The whole matter resolves itself into " C. C. E.'s " words, 

 that " whether Pears on their own roots and Apples on the 

 Crab are or are not better than on the Quince and Paradise," 

 appears determined " by the size they are intended to attain 

 and the soil they are to grow in ;" and the question to be an- 

 swered before planting a garden is, " Which are the best to 

 plant ?" I give my views below ; others, I hope, will state theirs. 

 Nothing can better illustrate my own ideas than the following : 

 — About this time last year I was asked to give advice in the 

 re-arrangement of an old country house and grounds. The 

 house was decayed, the gardens old, and yet there were in tke 

 orchard Pears on the Quince stock, which bore exceedingly 

 well. The junctions of the stocks and scions were covered; 

 the grass had overgrown that part, or the trees had been so 

 planted. However, they bore well, and were as large as any 

 Quince tree I remember seeing. The house was pulled down 

 and a new one is now being built, and is perhaps completed. 

 A new garden had to be made, and a terrace garden and croquet 

 ground were to take the place of the orchard, which had to be 



stubbed up. The soil is a good substantial loam, over gravel, 

 and .A.pple and Pear trees, respectively upon the Crab and Pear 

 stocks, thrive in it. To plant an orchard of Pear, Apple, 

 Plura, and Cherry trees would not be advisable, for tho family 

 would need fruit of the kinds named many years before Pears 

 on the Pear stock. Apples on the Crab stock. Plums on stan- 

 dards, and Cherries on the Cherry stock, would come snlflciently 

 jnto bearing to meet its requirements, but I advised and planted 

 an orchard of such trees. On both sides of all the walks in 

 the kitchen garden 1 have planted or shall plant Pears on the 

 Quince stock. Apples on the Paradise stock (the English Para- 

 dise, the French is worthless in our climate), and afew Cherries 

 on the Mahaleb, and the walks being numerous a goodly num- 

 ber are already planted, .and more will be placed there. Those 

 planted are plentifully furnished with fruit-buds, and will bear 

 this year if allowed. I have in addition planted a row of Pears, 

 and another of Plums in a sunny open strip of land, about 

 70 yards long, the Pears on the Quince stock at 4i feet npart, 

 and the Plums at twice that distance ; and I should have 

 planted a row of Apples on the Paradise stock, only some of 

 those from the orchard, also on the Paradise, were removed, 

 and there are some standard trees. The wall trees were planted 

 in the usual way. The bush and pyramid trees will bear and 

 afford a sufiicient supply of fruit until the orchard trees come 

 into bearing. Had the bushes and pyramids been omitted I fear 

 the gardener's post would not have been an enviable one. There 

 is fruit for the time being and prospectively. — G. Abbt.\. 



PELARGONIUMS OF THE PAST SEASON. 



By this term I mean simply those of the greenlioijse ; all 

 those which go under the names of Zonal, Bedding, or Nosegay 

 Pelargoniums I have nothing to say about. The last season 

 "Was so exceptional, so thoroughly hostile to all the occupants 

 of the garden, that it was impossible to say which were good 

 and which bad, for all were bad alike ; even the old-est.ablished 

 favourites looked poor and washed out, comparatively speaking. 

 I must, therefore, pass them by with this one remark, that I 

 did not see anything that struck me as likely, even in good 

 seasons, to be of a particularly striking character. There are 

 a few promising flowers this season, among them three by a 

 new raiser, Mr. Groom, of Ipswich, which, I have been told 

 by those who know such things well, are in shape and substance 

 beyond anything that we have. 1 mean, then, to confine my 

 remarks to those which are ordinarily known as Greenhouse 

 Pelargoniums or Geraniums, and of these the varieties raised 

 by Mr. Hoyle and Mr. Foster still take the lead. Others 

 follow, but it is at a very great distance. 



As far as I have been enabled to judge, the best three flowers 

 of last season were — 



1. Charles Turner. — k fine scarlet variety, v;ith a pure 'white 

 throat. The upper and under petals are of a fine orange 

 scarlet. The upper petals have a deep maroon spot, the lower 

 ones are plain. The shape of the flower is excellent, and the 

 pure white throat gives it a very brilUant appearance. The 

 variety is also of excellent habit and growth. 



2. Progress. — A flower own brother to John Hoyle, but even 

 better than that noble flower in its form. The substance of 

 the petals is very good, and the whole habit of the plant very 

 fine. 



3. Ti'iUiam Iloylc. — Certainly the very darkest variety that 

 we have ; in the style of Achilles. The upper petals are almost 

 black, with a very narrow margin of light carmine; the centre 

 of the flower white. Unfortunately, hke its progenitor, the 

 growth is delicate. 



Of the other flowers of Mr. Hoyle's there were — 



Albertine. — -'V. very pretty flower, soft-looking in colour, and 

 with the lower petals somewhat tinted with lake. 



Decision. — Lower petals deep rose, tinted and shaded with a 

 deeper colour; top petals rich deep maroon, narrow carteine 

 margin, with a very light edge. A good and well-shaped flower. 



Iai Jihmde. — Rose lower petals shaded with deep rose, broad 

 edge of rose. 



Lady of Qvality. — .\ refined flower ; rose lower petals, dark 

 maroon top, narrow margin of carmine 



L'-Inconome. — Another shaded flower, but of no particular 

 character. 



2Irs. ll'aite. — Bright pink lower petals; upper petals of a 

 brighter and. deeper shade ; centre of the flower white. A 

 good grower. 

 r Xabob. — A fine-habited flower ; ground colour a bright rose, 



