62 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 27, 1870. 



eight flowers on a single stem. The cultivation of this plant 

 seems with oar German friends the most easy thing in the 

 world, requiring, as they say, scarcely any attention. M. F. 

 Kramer kindly promised to send us an exact account of his 

 method of treatment for publication in these pages, so that if 

 this should meet his eye it will, perhaps, serve to remind him 

 of hie obligation to our readers. 



A plant of Selaginella arborea attracted our notice somewhat 

 by its intense depth of colouring — almost crimson. We were 

 informed that, the plant had been treated to some doEes of salt 

 and superphosphate of lime. If this was a genuine case of 

 colouring through the agency of these substances, the subject 

 is worthy of further trial and investigation. We noticed Yitis 

 Thnnbergii atropurpurea, with its deep crimson foliage, as a 

 very ornamental plant. We may note also, as an important 

 fact, that M. F. Kramer had secured a sport from Teleianthera 

 paronychioides, indistinguishable from — indeed, exactly the 

 same as, T. amabilis sent out by Messrs. Verschaffelt a few 

 years ago. 



In the kitchen garden some lines of espalier Pear trees were 

 very heavily laden with very fine fruit, and throughout the 

 place there reigned an air of good, sound, practical gardening, 

 reflecting credit on the talented chiefs. 



BOOTH & CO.'S NURSERY, HAMBURG. 



This is situate close to Flottbeck on the opposite side of the 

 road, and is of very great extent, but now being much dis- 

 membered through the erection of a residence in one part of 

 the grounds for one of the partners of the firm. This is a 

 very old-established nursery of world-wide popularity, contain- 

 ing a mo6t enormous collection of varieties of all hardy forest 

 and ornamental trees and shrub3. Here the grafting of Oaks, 

 Aoers, Elms, &c, has been and still is carried on to a great 

 extent. In the grounds were many fine and very interesting 

 plants, seldom to be seen or even heard of elsewhere. It 

 is a pity they should be so much neglected. A noble speci- 

 men of Quercus Robur variegata, upwards of 49 feet in height, 

 attracted our attention — by far the largest and most beautifully 

 variegated Oak we had ever seen, and a perfect tree. Auother 

 tree, Acer puWerulentum, was very striking and unique in its 

 character. We have notes of many others which, however, it 

 is needless to repeat here. A hedge or screen, 3 feet in height, 

 of the different varieties of Clematis, in full flower in front of 

 the manager's cottage, formed a gorgeous sight, being one mass 

 of lovely bloom ; Clematis Jackmanni proved by far the most 

 attractive, and in contrast to this the white C. florida (double). 



There is a great extent of glass ; the houses are, however, 

 now becoming very old, and are not very handsome. They 

 contained a fine and well-grown collection of Palms, Camellias, 

 and general stove plants ; also an immense number of Vines 

 in pots. In the flower beds iu front were masses of Cannas 

 in great vigour, amongst which, conspicuous by its height and 

 the bright yellow blossoms, we observ'ed a variety named 

 Premices de Nice, which we recommend. Like soldiers in line, 

 along the front of the principal range of glass, were a great 

 number of very handsome regularly-formed standard Bay trees 

 in tubs, which had a very stately appearance. These are 

 plants always grown and seen better on the Continent than in 

 this country. 



TRAINING PEACH TREES UPRIGHT. 

 Your correspondent, " J. G.," seems to be "rather sceptical" 

 as to the success of upright-trained Peach trees. I am not 

 surprised that he should be so if he imagined that Peach trees, 

 when trained upiigbt, should be pruned in precisely the same 

 manner as the Pear or the Cherry. May not a fruit tree have 

 its brandies trained upright, and yet receive that treatment 

 which is most suitable to its habit and growth? If you look 

 at a Peach tree trained after that method which gardeners in 

 general delight to adopt, you will perceive that one or more 

 branches about the centre of the tree will be trained upright, 

 and that these branches will be just as fruitful as any other 

 portion of the tree. If a portion of a Peach tree may be suc- 

 cessfully trained upright, why not the whole tree? Eight 

 years ago, as I was watching my gardener re-arrange the 

 branches of a large fan-trained Peach tree, I put to him this 

 very question. His reply in effect was, " I can't say why it 

 should not be done, and I should very much like to try the 

 experiment." Accordingly, an Early York Peach was obtained. 

 It was intended to carry this tree up with three branches of 

 equal strength. However, tLe right and left branches took the 



lead, and reached the top of a 12-feet wall in 18G8. These 

 were trained after the herring-bone plan, so well described by 

 Mr. Radclyffe in the pages of " our Journal," and they just 

 occupy a yard of wall in length. The centre shoot was kept 

 down, and it supplied the base of the tree with bearing wood. 

 Last year this tree gave forty-five fine fruit without exhibiting 

 the slightest signs of exhaustion, and it appears to be quite 

 prepared to do as much or more this Beason. I dare not allow 

 the fan-trained trees to bear so largely, because they have only 

 one set of roots to sustain their wide expanse ; while the 

 double cordon possesses roots equal almost to any strain you 

 might put upon their energies. 



The rule to be observed in thinning fan-trained Peach trees 

 is to leave one fruit for each square foot of wall occupied by 

 the tree. This is quite a sufficient crop for the tree to carry 

 annually, if fine high-flavoured fruit are desired. This rule 

 allows of thirty-six Peaches for each yard in length of a 12-feet 

 wall ; but an upright-trained tree possesses such ample root 

 power that it is able to support uninjured a larger crop — say 

 from fifty to sixty fruit. What an enormous crop this would 

 be, three hundred fruit from 6 yards of wall in length ! The 

 upright training of the Peach tree possesses these advantages : — 



1st, The wall is completely covered with fruit-bearing 

 branches in six or seven years. 



2mdly, A larger crop can be obtained year by year than by 

 any other mode of training. 



3rdly, It enables those who have but a limited extent of wall 

 to grow early, midseason, and late Peaches, and so have a suit- 

 able succession of this most exquisite fruit. — C. M. 

 (To be continued.) 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Council have the satisfaction of announcing that ar- 

 rangements have been made with Her Majesty's Commissioners 

 for the Exhibition of 1851 (in connection with the proposed an- 

 nual International Exhibitions to be held by the Commission) 

 for the completion of the gardens and arcades, without entail- 

 ing any liability on the Society. The Commissioners will also 

 construct conservatories on the upper arcades, by which the 

 first floor of their permanent exhibition buildings to be erected 

 on the annexes adjoining the central arcades will be put into 

 direct communication with the Society's conservatory. 



These works will be completed before the 1st of May, 1871, 

 the date fixed for the first of the series of International Exhi- 

 bitions. The exhibitions will consist solely of objects which 

 have some special interest or recommendation ; and while 

 pictures and other attractive works of art will form part of each 

 exhibition, selected manufactured objects, of a few classes only, 

 will be admitted in any one of the series, so as to extend this 

 branch of the exhibition over a sufficient number of years to 

 allow time for improvement before the same class of objects is 

 again brought forward. 



Whilst these exhibitions will be held in connection with the 

 gardens of the Society, which will participate in any profits 

 that may arise from the exhibitions, not onlv will the present 

 rights and privileges of the Fellows be maintained, but con- 

 siderable advantages over the public, as respects admission to 

 the exhibition itself, will be given to them. Another subject 

 in which the Fellows are interested, and may look for informa- 

 tion from the Council, is the progress of the Royal Albert Hall. 

 By means of it the Society hope to obtain an additional ac- 

 cess to the garden, and better accommodation for their shows, 

 meetings, library, reading-room, &c, and they cannot but feel 

 that the prosperity of the garden, and to some extent that of 

 the Society itself, must be materially influenced by the suc- 

 cess which may attend this and the other undertakings, which 

 Her Majesty's Commissioners have entered upon on their es- 

 tate. The Council have therefore pleasure in informing the 

 Fellows that the building is proceeding with rapidity and 

 success, and that there is no doubt that it will be finished and 

 ready for opening by the same time as the new exhibition 

 buildings on the annexes. 



PROTECTION FOR SMALL BIRDS. 

 I wish some of the able contributors to " our Journal " 

 would write in favour of protection for small birds. Can the 

 very numerous admirers of British songsters be aware of the 

 oruel system carried on by tramping birdcatcbers from Man- 

 chester and other large towns? They come here (Hereford) 

 three times in the course of the year — viz., early in spring, 



