810 



JOUBNAL OP HOBTICULTURE AKD COTTAGE 6ABDENEB. 



t May 2, 18«7. 



GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 

 Collection of species and varieties of Agave. 



First prize, M. Cels. Second, M. Cliantin. 

 Collection of select species of Agave. 



First priie, M. J. Verschaffelt, Ghent. 

 Collection of Aloes. 



Second prize, M. Pferfidorff. 

 Collections of Bonapartea, Dasylirion, and Littea. 



J'irst prize. M. J. Verschaffelt. 

 Collection of Greenhouse Yuccas. 



Second prize, MM. Jamin et Durand. 

 Collections of Himalayan and Japanese Ehododendrons in 

 flower. 



Third prize, M. Knifiht. 

 Cinerarias in flower. 



f ecoud, prize, M. L'Hnillier. Third, M. Bonatre, Ncuilly. 



Hyacinths, species and varieties in pots. 



First prize. MM. Krelape et fils. Second, The Prussian Govern- 

 ment. Third, M. Thibaut-Prudent, Paris. Honourable Mention, 

 MM. Havart & Co., Paris. 



Twenty-iive varieties in pots. 

 First prize, MM. Krelage et fils. 

 Collections of Pansies. 



Second prize, M. Falnise, nin^, Boulogne (Seine). Honourable 

 Mention, M. Falaise (Edmond), Rue de Billanoonrt, Paris. 

 Collections of Eoses. 



First, M. Jamain (Hippolyte), Paris. Second, M. Margottin, Bourg- 

 la-Reine. 



New Plants. — Collection of seedlings. 



Honourable Mention, M. Cocher, for Beschorneria multiflora. 

 Collections of Forced Vegetables. 



First prize. Horticultural Society of Clermont (Oise). 

 Asparagus. 



First prize, M. Louis Lherault, Argenteuil. 

 Collection of Trained Fruit Trees. 



First prize, M. Cochet, Suisne, for Palmette training. First, MM. 



Jamin et Durand, Bourg-la-Reine, for Pyramids. Second, 



MM. Croux ft fils. Scenux. Third, M. Deseine, Bougival. 



Honourable Mention, M. Defresne and M. Gilekains (Belgium). 



Trained Peach trees. 



First prize, M. Chevalier, MontreuU. Honourable Mention, M. 

 Giilekains. 



Cherry, Apricot, and Plum trees trained in different ways. 

 Honourable mention, M. Croux. 



Four Apricot trees trained for walls and espaliers. 



Third prize, MM. J.tmiu et Durand. 

 Four Plum trees trained for wall? and espaliers. 



Honourable mention, MM. Jamin et Durand. 

 Vines. 



Honourable mention, M. Rose Charmeux, Thomery. 



ASSISTANTS. 



First prize, M. Forest, for the training of the trees exhibited by 

 M. Cochet. 



INSIDE ^^NE BORDERS. 



Theee has been some pleasant controversy in yotir columns 

 about Vine borders, some of your correspondents advocating 

 inside borders, and some the converse. I am not a grand 

 Grape-grower, showing for prizes, hut I delight in Vine culture 

 in my small cottage way, not caring for large bunches, but 

 having a great relish for Grapes of fine flavour. 



I have what is called a vineyard under glass, which to me is 

 a great source of delight. It is a small span-roofed house, 

 20 feet long, and 14 feet wide ; there is a path in the centre, 

 and a border on each side. In each border I have fifteen Vines, 

 trained to upright rods and spurred in. This is the third year 

 of their growth, and nearly every Vine is showing abundance 

 of fruit, three or four times more than they must t e allowed 

 to ripen. 



I happened to be in my house on this sunny day (Api '129th) 

 — a rare thing this spring, and on observing the 71^ irons 

 shoots my Vines are making, with their roots in myinside 

 borders, and the comparatively backward state of some Vines 

 with their roots in a border outside, sloping to the south-west, 

 in a dry sandy soil, I was induced to sink two thermometers 

 in the borders about 8 inches in depth. I allowed them to 

 remain there, well covered with earth, to an exact level with 

 the surface of each border, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. On taking 

 them out I found that which had been buried in the inside 

 border standing at 62°, and that from the border outside, only 

 18 feet from the inside border, standing at 51°, giving a tem- 



perature 11° below that of my inside border. Please to tell 

 me if I am right in considering a warm border better than a 

 cold one for the roots for Vines. — A Younq Vi.ne-groweb. 



SORGHUM TARTARICUM. 

 It is with much regret I note in your Journal of April 25th 

 the remarks respecting this new cereal : for, relying on Messrs. 

 Carter ,t Co.'s advertisement. I have not only planted a 

 quantity of it myself, but many friends, to whom I recom- 

 mended it, have also been to the same expense and trouble ; 

 and now our seed is but scarcely in the ground, when yon in- 

 form us that it is an old failure under a different name, and 

 that it will never be of any service in this country. That 

 Messrs. Carter must have been deceived is very evident, and it 

 is fortunate they are so well known as an honourable and re- 

 spectable firm, but if the statement in your Journal is correct, 

 some explanation is surely due from "them concerning it. — 

 W. P., Cadburii. 



ORCHARD-HOUSE MANAGEMENT— WATERING. 



AN EXAMPLE FOR AMATEUP. OAEDENERS. 



I TAKE a great interest in my orchard-house. It is a span-roof 

 built of wood and glass after Mr. Eivers's plan, and I have put 

 a four-inch pipe round it ; it is 42 feet long by 14 wide. I am 

 in a peculiarly cold and backward climate, and wish to push 

 the trees a little. My present system is to keep the ventilators 

 at the two ends of the roof open day and night. I open all the 

 side ventilators at eight o'clock, unless the wind is rough or 

 cold, when I keep the shutters closed, or nearly so, on the side 

 towards the wind. I keep the pipes warm day and night, and 

 shut up the house, except the two top ventilators, at three 

 o'clock, when I syringe. At present the trees louk as well as 

 they possibly can, and the fruit is set beautifully. My doubt 

 is whether I do not waste heat by giving so much air. I wish 

 for information how to manage the house from this time tUl 

 the fruit is ripe, so that I may have the crop as forward as is 

 safe. 



1 often hear persons, especially gardeners, rail at orchard- 

 houses, and I observe one great point with them all is the 

 trouble of watering, supposing the trees to be in pots as mine 

 are. I think this objection has not been met in your pages 

 with the very sufEcieut answer " that such trouble as that of 

 watering the tree is not skilled labour." My " head man " is 

 not sixteen years old, and he is perfectly competent to water 

 the trees — the pruning, &c., being a pleasure to myself. I 

 think it worth while, then, to try to prevent persons from being 

 discouraged by gardeners who, very probably, can make a 

 Peach-house with trellis answer better than an orchard-house ; 

 but with a large proportion of amateur gardeners there is the 

 skill and willingness to do the light and easy work of the 

 orchard-house, while the heavier woik may be done by a boy ; 

 the regular t each house, on the other hand, requires the eye 

 and hand of a trained gardener. 



I have but little time for gardening myself ; but I have five 

 houses heated — all, of course, small ; and with the occasional 

 help of a labourer, say three days a-week, from April 1st to 

 September 30th, and my superintendence, my sixteen-year-old 

 man manages the whole, and about two acres of garden and 

 lawn. My houses, sheds, soil, water-tank, &c., are placed close 

 together. My walks are edged with tiles, so that salt keeps 

 them clean. My lawn is mown with ii machine, and my wall 

 trees and pot trees I prune and nail myself ; and I believe my 

 garden bears comparison with many where the expense in 

 labour is threefold. — C. P. 



[High praise is your due for keeping your garden and 

 houses with such a small amount of labour, but as yon do so 

 much yourself con amore, your case could hardly be cited as 

 applicable to those places where little is done either with the 

 eye or the hands of the proprietor, except to make work instead 

 of lessen work for others to do. 



Even though the watering of orchard-house trees in pots can 

 be done by unskilled labour, yet that labour, and especially if 

 water is scarce and has to be brought in pails or barrows from 

 a distance, becomes a serious item, and more especially when 

 houses, water, &c., are not placed so near together as yours are. 

 A proprietor, and an amateur who is one, can arrange these 

 things to suit best and thus save labour ; but many gardeners 

 find it difficult to get a shilling spent in these directions, even 



