Jane 16, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



423 



G. W. Heneage, rosy purple, is a very pleasing free-flowering 

 kind, with fringed petals. 



Mr. Jons Waterer, of Bagshot, who has held his annual 

 exhibition at the Royal Botanio Society's Gardens, Regent's 

 Park, for upwards of twenty years, has this season again a 

 good display, although his plants have suffered from the same 

 drawbacks as those already adverted to. Still the exhibition, 

 as a whole, forms, as it ever does, a pleasing picture. Joseph 

 Whitworth, Mrs. John Penn, Michael Waterer, Concessum, 

 Everestianum, which have been noticed several times before, 

 well maintain their good character ; and of newer kinds the 

 following are very fine — viz., Frederick Waterer, with large 

 trusses of bright crimson flowers ; Madame Masson, white, 

 with yellow spots ; Mrs. William Agnew, soft pale rose, edged 

 with brighter rose, and having yellow spots ; Lady Southamp- 

 ton, bright rose ; and Decorator, with large trusses of intense 

 crimson scarlet flowers, and the plant of good habit, and con- 

 stant in blooming. 



THE AMATEUR GARDENER. 



(CHAPTERS NOT IN WALTON.) 



(No. 1 continued.) 



Cms. — Are the varieties of Strawberries many ? 



Hortator. — I could furnish you with a list as long as a law- 

 yer's brief, and as profuse in professional technicalities ; but 

 many of them are so similar that Dr. Hogg himself would be 

 puzzled to discriminate a variation from that so named. There 

 is but one objection to his namesake Strawberry — its consti- 

 tution is delicate. 



Civis. — A fruit with a delicate constitution ! Well, I am 

 amused ! It is the first time I ever heard such a term applied 

 to fruit. 



Hortator. — Nevertheless, it is correct. Plants, fruits, and 

 flowers vary as much in their constitution as do the family 

 human, and this said Strawberry cannot bear the bleak cold 

 wind of an exposed situation, but revels in warm sunshine and 

 in southern breezes. 



Cms. — My friend, you are becoming poetical. 



Sylvia. — Prosy rather, thus to dwell on the constitution of 

 a Strawberry ; had his eloquence been elicited in a description 

 of my Rjses, I would have pardoned his inflated expressions. 



Civis. — Bless mo, what a breakfast I have eaten ! either the 

 Strawberries or morning air has given me an unconscionable 

 appetite. 



Sylvia. — Call it not " unconscionable," or you unintention- 

 ally reflect upon your host. See the mountains of Strawberry 

 stalks upon his plate, and as for eggs and slices of bread and 

 butter they have vanished like dew in sunshine. 



Hortator. — Ah, my friend, believe me, it is the early morn- 

 ing air which has effected this. Remember the old distitch — 

 " Early to bed, and early to rise, 

 Makes a man healthy, and wealthy, and wise." 



Civis. — Hungry, but not wise, for I doubt the wisdom of 

 indulging thus early in Pomona's profuse gifts. 



Sylvia. — Fear not ! 



Cms. — Well, time, like the Strawberries, has vanished, and 

 I must say farewell. I thank you warmly for your generous 

 hospitality and this charming introduction to horticulture. 



Hortator. — Thanks, my friend, are only due to you for yonr 

 kind companionship. Pray make a speedy return, and if you 

 will condescend to become the pupil of Sylvia and myself, I 

 think we shall find an apt soholar, not only in the cultivation 

 of Strawberries, but flowers also. 



Cms. — At all events a willing one ; but my aptitude I doubt. 



Sylvia. — Despair not. When Hortator took me in hand my 

 knowledge was confined to distinguishing a Cabbage from a 

 Potato, a Rose from a Hollyhock, and now I flatter myself I 

 could read even Hortator himself some lessons. 



Civis. — Well, farewell. You may rely upon my speedy return, 

 but be careful not to press your invitation too strongly lest you 

 should regret your generosity. 



No. 2.— A LITTLE LATER IN THE MONTH OF JUNE. 



Civis. —Good day, Hortator. 



Hortator.— Ah, Civis ! good day. I am heartily glad to see 

 yon. 



Cms. — Ton perceive the trouble your generosity has involved 

 npon you. Like a bird which has been fed and petted in 

 the winter, disappearing in the spring, returning again in 

 inclement weather, accompanied by another of his species, so 



you see I have ventured to bring my friend Rusticns with me, 

 who has often heard of, and has long wished to see, your 

 celebrated garden. 



Hortator. — Welcome equally both. But call not my garden 

 " celebrated," or you may raise a spirit of pride within my 

 heart which would ill comport with the simplicity of a gar- 

 dener, or the humility of a Christian. 



Rusticus. — Nay, sir, it is indeed the talk of the country and 

 the envy of all aspiring amateurs. 



Hortator. — Indeed it should not ; there is nothing in it that 

 is remarkable, and certainly nothing that an industrious and 

 persevering man with ordinary taste may not easily effect with 

 a very moderate outlay. 



Civis. — I have always understood that gardening is a very 

 expensive luxury, and have frequently heard amateurs con- 

 demned as extravagant who have indulged in its pursuit. 



Hortator. — If their means are very limited, and their ideas 

 very expanded, the charge may indeed be just ; but did the 

 accusers ever reckon up the cost of a dinner party or a box at 

 the opera, and see how far the indulgences of such luxuries 

 would go in the purchase of plants or flowers for a parterre ? 

 And it is seldom indeed that a horticulturist has the taBte or 

 inclination to indulge in both. 



Bdsticus. — What a beautiful lawn ! why it is as soft as 

 velvet and almost as smooth too. What attention it must 

 require to keep it in such order. 



Civis. — What a bowling-green it would make ! 



Hortator. — Ah, Civis ! city games have, I see, taken deep 

 root, and will crop up. 



Sylvia (who had unseen joined the party). — Like horticul- 

 tural phrases, my good husband. 



Civis. — Madam, good day (taking off his hat), I thank you 

 heartily for coming to my rescue with that home thrust. 



Hortator (calling to tho gardener). — Richard ! My friends 

 here think we must have a very troublesome business to keep 

 our lawn in such neat trim. As the work principally devolves 

 upon yon, perhaps you will best ttll them how we manage it. 



Richard. — Well, sir, in the first place the lawn must be 

 good turf, obtained, if possible, from an old lane or common, 

 and when properly laid down, which every gardener knows how 

 to do, the great secret will be to keep it frequently rolled and 

 mown; it should be mown at least once a- week during the 

 growing season, and the more frequently it is rolled the better. 



Rusticus. — Do you use the scythe or machine ? 



Richard. — We use the machine, except perhaps once, or 

 may be twice, in the season. But bless you, sir, see the labour 

 it saves ! Why, with the help of a lad I can do as much work 

 in one hour as I could do in four ; besides, I am not obliged 

 to work only when the dew is on the grass, which is a mighty 

 help. 



Rusticus. — What machine do you use ? 



Richard. — Well, sir, we use Green's, and at t'other place I 

 used Shanks's ; but I am told there is a new American one 

 with a big name which is talked much about. 



Rusticus. — Tou mean the Archimedean. 



Richard. — Yes, sir, that's it ; but, la ! sir, it's these croquet 

 games that drive us gardeners mad, they spoil all our lawns. 



Hortator. — And tempers too, Richard, I'm afraid sometimes. 



Richaed. — Well, master, it is trying to see those iron things 

 stuck into 'em, and the ladies and gentlemen frisking abont 

 'em like lambs in our cow pasture, mauling and moiling the 

 grass. 



Rusticus. — But are not these verges difficult to keep in 

 order? 



Richard. — -Well, sir, they be, and to save trouble I've known 

 gardeners cut 'em every year with the " half-moon" till they 

 are as narrow as ribbons, and then to my eye they look 

 miserable-like. 



Hortator. — Have you been in Paris Rusticus ? if you have, 

 you would see how they manage there with Ivy as verges, 

 instead of grass, especially in the private gardens at the Louvre. 

 The Ivy is planted and pegged down, and only now and then 

 requires to be trimmed-up. I assure you the effect is excellent. 

 — Hortator. 



Potato Crop of New York State. — The total Potato crop of 

 the State of New York, in 1809, was about 25,000,000 bushels. 

 The six great Potato counties are Washington, Rensselaer, Sa- 

 ratago, Monroe, St. Lawrence, and Genesee. Only one other 

 county (Oneida) produces 300,000 bushels ; three others 600,000; 

 one, 500,000 ; six, 400,000. New York county returns a crop of 

 1700 bushels. The entire crop of the State, 25,000,000 bushels, 



