February IB, 18C9. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



128 



good spit or spadeful then add more small coal over, so that, 

 the clay may assume a thoroughly red glow to begin with. If 

 that result ho not attained all your eitorts will be futile. A") you 

 perceive that the lira makes head you may add the clay to 

 almost any quantity with no great expense of coal, for one 

 load of coal will sulKce to form lifty loads of well-burnt clay. 

 Take every care to keep the fire as fully in the centre of the 

 mass as possible. Should windy weather prevail use straw 

 hnrdles to ward off the wind from the exposed side, or it will 

 blow the fire all to one side, or, perhaps, extinguish it. — C. C. 



THE PORTABLE ORCHARD. 



(Contlmicd frumj'afft' 107.) 



SiTPOSixo, then, that you have a Pear tree fit for pottingi 

 and the pot to put it in, the next step is to plant the tree therein, 

 and though carelessness may not do as much mischief as in 

 the case of ordinary pots, yet extra care will produce extra 

 groirth. 



First, then, see how much of the roots you can by coiling get 

 inside the pots, and cut away no more than necessary to let the 

 -tree down to the neck at the rim, or an inch or two above it. The 

 neck of the tree is that part of the stem which swells to give 

 out the roots, and in the case of Pears grafted on the Quince, it 

 ought to be no more than 3 inches below the junction of the 

 graft with the stock. Having trimmed the roots, cutting oil' 

 with a sharp knife all broken ends, and making the cuts as 

 " square" as possible to the root and just beyond an eye, put a 

 layer of broken pots, tiles, or bricks at the bottom of the pot, 

 and on the top of this layer another of some fibrous material, 

 such as cocoa-nut fibre refuse or the top-paring of a pasture. 

 Next, put the tree into its place, and introduce amongst the 

 roots bones broken up into manageable pieces, old shoes cut into 

 pieces, or any parings of hoofs from the shoeing-smith's shop ; 

 then fiU in, and by small quantities at a time, with a compost 

 formed of stiff loam, pasture parings, old manure, and old lime 

 mbbish in about equal parts, and with a stout stick about aa 

 thick as a rake handle at one end, and twice as thick at the 

 other, ram the soil firmly in between the roots, fairing good 

 care, however, not to bruise them. As the pot becomes fiUed 

 the rammer may be used more vigorously, and at last the 

 pot must be rammed quite full, fir we need not leave any space 

 for watering, as the pot is finally to be plunged overhead in the 

 ground. 



In all cases the compost should be mixed and turned over 

 some time before being used, but so much depends upon the soil 

 of each district, that there is little use in giving advice about 

 the proportions of any compost ; in a chalky soil little or no 

 lime need be added, and in very heavy soil sand or road scrap- 

 ings, with vegetable fibre, vrill improve the compost much ; but 

 in the c^se of light vegetable moulds deficient in aluminous 

 matter, it is hard to say what can be done. I rather think we 

 must look for the remedy in another direction. A lady is at 

 present trying to overcome this very difficulty in North Wales, 

 where the climate is all that can be desired for Pear trees, but 

 the soil is peat, and the subsoil syenite. The most vigorous 

 weed of the district is the Mountain Ash, consequently I sent 

 her a variety of Pear scions to graft upon it. All, I hear, are 

 growing, though I purposely sent some that would not grow 

 upon the Quince. The results will be most important in more 

 respects than this one of suiting stock to soil, for we know as 

 yet very little of the eft'ect of the stock upon the fruit, and 1 

 may say, in passing, that experiments in this direction are just 

 the right kind for amateurs to make. Nurserymen do not grow 

 trees for fruiting themselves, antl the number of combinations 

 that can be fonned out of throe or four varieties of stocks, and 

 a score only of varieties of scions, single and double grafted, is 

 so large (1600), that few men who know what amoimt of 

 patience would be needed for fairly working it out, would have 

 the courage to undertake the complete solution of the question 

 from grafting to fruiting, yet each result so obtained is a step 

 in our knowledge. 



After the trees have been potted early in autumn, and plunged 

 as before directed for a sufficient length of time to enable them 

 to take hold of the earth inside, and before the cold heavy rains 

 drench the ground (which is commonly the case early in Novem- 

 ber), they should be stored for the winter along with those 

 which have been grown on this system during the preceding sum- 

 mer. This storing may as well be described at once, as it is the 

 same for all. In the first place a trench, or double trench, as 

 the case may bo, is dug in any convenient place, and the earth 



thrown out is made the foimdation for the lowest tier of the pots 

 which arc to lie on their sides for the winter ; and unless this 

 lowest tier is raisrd above the ground, the eliances are that 

 iiiuch mischief will follow every fall of snow. 



Wliere space is an object it is well to put up a two-course 

 wall of the pots, leaving the stems of the trees to stick out 

 horizontally on bolii sides ; but wliere a wall can be found fit 

 for piling them against, 1 tliink it is better to Iceop to a single 

 <-oinac, and a nortli wall is the best for the puiTiosc, aa it helps 

 to retard the trees. The first layer ought to Ijo firmly packed 

 closely together, and with soil Ijctwcen the pots to keep them firm 

 and prevent the access of cold winds to the roots, and it will ba 

 very necessary to take care that the end pots are scoured from 

 rolling out by driving a stake in, or liaving some such security. 

 It will also be easily seen that the next course cannot be' put up 

 from the front, as the projecting stems are in the way, and in 

 all cases the best plan is to complete the pile up to the highest 

 course as soon as possible by Laying only so much of the founda- 

 tion course as is wanted. A four-course pile will require four 

 pots to he laid for the foundation, a five-course will require five, 

 and these piles will be quite as high as can be made with ad- 

 vantage. 



Each course is levelled and filled up as the work goes on. 

 If I could obtain cocoa-nut fibre refuse in sufficient quantity I 

 would use nothing else for filling up the interstices ; as it is, I 

 generally use for the purpose the compost heap, which thus gets 

 a turning. 



After the whole pile is completed it requires a sloping cover 

 of sods, or a rough thatching to throw the rain off. A thin facing 

 of straw in front of the pots is needed to prevent the freezing of 

 the soil, which would bo apt to take place in severe weather, 

 the expansion of the water in becoming ice forcing out the soil 

 near the surface, and unless this were covered, rain beating 

 against it would be sure to leave moisture enough to allow of 

 such mischief It may be said, AVhy not store the trees in a 

 room ? My answer is. The branches are all the better for the ex- 

 posure, provided the roots are dry ; if they were under cover 

 they would start too early. Covering all is quite right when 

 there are means of keeping up the temperature and raising it 

 steadily as the blossoms expand ; but that requires glass, and 

 we are now trying what can be done without it. Figs, I think, 

 may be successfully treated in this way, at least in the warmer 

 parts of England, for last year I kept some in a wooden out- 

 house till the end of May, and they did not cast the small Figs 

 formed in the preceding autumn, but ripened them well. — "W. 



KiNGSI-EY. 



(To bo continued.) 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



February IOth. 



Frttit CoMjnTTEE.— G. F. Wilson, Esq., F.K.S., in the ch ail*. The 

 exhibition of fruit this day was one of the finest we have ever seen at 

 this season, two long tables beinj^ covered with numerous varieties, 

 which for beauty could not be suii)assed. 



At this meeting various prizes were offered ; ■ but before examining 

 the collections sent in competition the Committee took those which 

 were sent merely for exhibition. Mr, Kivers, of Sawbridgeworth, sent 

 a rich collection of twenty-two sorts of Apples splendidly kejit, and 

 good specimens of the sorts, among which were Baddow Pippin, Mau- 

 nington's Pearmain, Calville Blanche, Yellow Belletleur, Gooseberry, 

 Boston Russet, Baldwin, and others too numerous to mention. To 

 these a special certificate was awarded. Mr. Gooding, gardener to 

 Sir John Neeld, Grittleton, sent well-grown fruit of the Malta Blood 

 Orange, large and handsome, but they were acid. Mr. Charles Allen, 

 gardener to Capt. B. Clegg, Withiugtou Hall, sent a small bunch of 

 Chasselas Napoleon. This was rather an interesting exhibition, as 

 there are two varieties grown under that name, one an interior variety ; 

 but this was the true sort, and is a large white oval Grape, as large as 

 a Muscat of Alexandria. Mr. l)avis, of Barnet, sent a basket o£ 

 10 lbs. of Lady Downe's Grapes, vei"y fine indeed in size of bunch, and 

 colour. They were awarded a special certificate. Mr. Miles, gardener 

 to Lord Carrington, sent fruit of a Solauum which had been received 

 from a gentleman under the name of Solanos gnisados. It is an oval 

 fruit, the size of that of Passifiora cxrulea or kermesina, and of a bright 

 orange colour. Mr. Gilbert, gardener to the Marquis of Exeter, Burgh- 

 ley, seu^ baskets of Mushrooms of very hirge size, '* the buttons " being 

 as large as a good-sized orange. They elicited the admiration of the 

 Committee. He also sent a winter salad, consisting of Celerj-, Chicory, 

 Lettuce of three kinds. Onions, Kadish, Mustard and Cress, Tarragon, 

 Parsley, and Beet; likewise some forced Asparagus, Sea-kale, and 

 Cucumber. To ihe whole collection a special certificate was awarded. 

 Mr. Ilenry Vallance, Farnham Royal, Bucks, sent dishes of good 

 specimens of Winter Greening or French Crab, also a specimen of the 

 same two years old. Mr. A. Hoasack, the Gardens, Alderley, sent 



