•164 



jodknaij of hokticulture and cottage gabdener. 



[ September 3, 1868. 



Now, my idea was this : If common roots could be obtained, 

 partaking of the nature of both Myrtles, and if these roots 

 could be made to form adventitious buds, or, in other words, 

 to throw up suckers, as Myrtles when potbound are very apt to 

 do, these suckers could be nothing more nor less than what I 

 call — for want of a better word — pure hybrids. 



After growing the plant for a considerable time until the pot 

 was full of roots, the points were stopped, and all buds picked 

 out from the axils of the leaves, a little soil was also removed 

 from the top of the ball so as to expose the roots ; in a very 

 short time suckers did appear, some of the small-leaved sort, 

 some of the large, and, what clearly proved this little theory to 

 be correct, some neither the one nor the other, but as truly 

 hybrids as are Jackman's Clematises. The normal forms were 

 taken off, and, twelve years ago, this plant — a little curiosity in 

 its way — was doing daty as a greenhouse plant at Preston 

 Grange, in East Lothian. 



What led to this experiment was the repeated failures which 

 I encountered in attempting to form a conjoint bulb from two 

 leaves of different Gloxinias united mechanically, and inserted 

 as cuttings. Neither this nor the formation of one bud by 

 the conjunction of two Begonia leaves I believe to be practicable, 

 as both experiments have been frequently tried by the curious 

 without success. 



Despite the wholesome advice given us the other week to 

 " Beware of the Wonderful," and illustrated as it was by a 

 somewhat ludicrous example, I have yet ventured to send yon 

 these few notes. The whole subject is one of peculiar interest. 

 On the score of utility any information which we yet have 

 concerning it is of no value, but, by-and-by, new facts may 

 be elicited, and processes devised, which may prove highly 

 serviceable to all cultivators of fruits and flowers. — Aveshiee 



GiEDENEr.. 



XOTES ON A KENTISH ORCHARD. 



THE PLUM. 



So beautiful is the appearance of an orchard where the trees 

 are healthy and in bloom, that the most careless of Nature's 

 observers can seldom pass such an object without some »x- 

 pression of admiration ; and as that beauty is the forerunner 

 of that which is both beautiful and useful, we view an orchard 

 with widely different feelings from those we experience when 

 surveying an expanse of Gorse, Broom, or Heath, all of which, 

 however graceful asiwell as rich in colouring, leave us nothing 

 of importance to hope for afterwards. On the contrary, a good 

 bloom on a fruit tree is one of the precursors of a useful crop, 

 for although every blossom does not become a fruit, yet no fruit 

 is obtained without it. Even apart from all expectations, there 

 is a beauty in the bloom of our larger hardy fruit trees when 

 seen in mass, and I am, therefore, not surprised that the denizens 

 of large towns very often travel long distances to view the or- 

 chard districts, and the sight often well repays the journey. 

 The clear white of the Cherry contrasts well with the deep 

 rose of the uuexpanded bloom oi the Apple, while the hardy 

 Plum is the first to open the spring, and the Pear, as a tree, 

 presents greater diversity of form than any other, and its 

 blossoms are not less beautiful than those of the other trees. 

 Of a well-managed orchard, therefore, most people possessing 

 one are justly proud, and the vale of the Medway presents 

 many such orchards, differing, of course, in some respects, as 

 the requiremeuts of the case or the fancy of the proprietor may 

 dictate, but all more or less beautiful. 



As orchards and Hop gardens form a very considerable por- 

 tion of the ground under crop in mid-Kent, and both being cul- 

 tivated by hand, it may be inferred that the use of the spade 

 is familiar enough to the tiller of the soil, but such is not the 

 case ; the spade is rarely used, but in its stead a three-pronged 

 fork of local make, and not bj' any means prepossessing in ap- 

 pearance, is employed in turning up the soil. As most or- 

 chards during their formation are for some years on tilled land, 

 although the ground may be laid down in grass when the 

 trees attain some size, yet the aid of the three-pronged fork 

 for digging is not less necessary than the pruning knife in 

 the early culture of an orchard. As I hope to notice more fully 

 the formation and management of orchards, I will confine 

 myself at present to some notes, made a few days ago, on a 

 Plum orchard situated a very short distance from the place 

 where I now write, and there are many scores of similar orchards 

 within a radius of four or five miles. 



The orchard, or rather series of orchards, for there were 

 several enclosures adjoining each other that had been planted 



at various times, was on land inclining to the west, a favourite 

 direction for orchard planting in this county, on account of tha 

 greater probability of the spring frosts disappearing before the 

 Bun fairly strikes on the trees. The soil diljers very much in 

 character, varying from a light thin soil to a stiff clay, with 

 some intermediate soil resting on a subsoil of stone shatter, 

 and this year it was curious to observe the difference in the 

 appearance of the trees according to the soil in which they 

 were growing. Those on the stony soil, owing to the roots de- 

 scending deeply, seemed not to suffer, while on a small portion 

 of the ground which rests on a sort of hungry gravel, many 

 looked almost dying. 



Tillage seems also to have exercised considerable influence 

 this year, and of a different kind from what it did in former 

 seasons. The extreme heat and dryness of the weather had 

 evidently reached the roots more than had been the case for 

 many years, and where another crop competed with the 

 trees for the little moisture and nourishment afforded by the 

 ground, the effects were shown on the trees ; so that the gene- 

 rally-established opinion that certain fruits succeed best in a 

 grass orchard was reversed this season, and some that are 

 said to do best on tilled land were found to be in better con- 

 dition when growing where their roots had no chance to be 

 disturbed — namely, with these under the turf. Some other 

 peculiarities were pointed out to me which will be best ex- 

 plained in the description of the particular fruit in which they 

 occurred. 



The orchard or orchards presented a great diversity of fruits, 

 some parts being planted with a mixture of several kinds, 

 others with one kind only, or nearly so ; some were in grass 

 arid some in tillage, some old and some young; and yet each 

 part was distinct from the other, a promiscuous mixture being 

 no part of the arrangement. As I went for the purpose of 

 seeing but one kind of fruit, and that in various stages of 

 growth, I will confine my remarks to that fruit, which was the 

 Plum. The occupier, though his holding was not by any 

 means extensive, was sending some fifty bushels or more daily 

 to the London markets, ^.nd some of the fruit was of its kind as 

 good as is usually met with, while, on the other hand, some was 

 small in consequence of the dryness of the season, but more 

 frequently from the heavy crop on the trees. 



Of the trees of various ages which formed the orchard, some 

 of the young ones were well loaded, and would have broken 

 down with the weight of fruit had they not been propped up 

 by hop poles. All the trees, however, were not so loaded, on 

 the contrary, some had only a light crop on them. So capricious 

 is this fruit, and so uncertain are some of the choice kinds, 

 that I was told the crop as a whole was not so good as that of 

 1865, the total produce of the orchard not being likely to 

 equal the yield of that year by several hundreds of bushels ; 

 but sufficient was visible to show what a good crop is. I 

 should have much liked some of the advocates of miniature 

 trees, trimmed into whatever fanciful shape they liked, to have 

 seen these heavily-laden standards, many of which would yield 

 half a dozen bushels of good fruit, while others not bearing so 

 heavily were much finer, and might cope with the generality of 

 wall fruit of its kind. The commoner varieties are the most 

 productive, and as most fruits for market are gathered before 

 they are ripe, quantity with a moderate show of quality is the 

 requirement most looked after, rather than a very small 

 crop of fruit of superior excellence. Certain conditions 

 seem also to govern the metropolitan market, appearance 

 being often of more consequence than quality, yet Londoners 

 seem to understand well enough how much better a Green 

 Gage Plum is than a Mogul, and the price ranges accordingly, 

 but X cannot say how many other kinds of green Plums are not 

 passed upon them as Green Gages. In the orchard here de- 

 scribed there was not much chance of that being done, as there 

 were but few trees of the (rrccn Gage, and only one or two of a 

 bastard variety resembling that favourite. 



A grower of Plums has to keep several things in view. Yery 

 early fruits as well as very late are both wanted, and in the 

 uncertainty of our seasons he usually plants several kinds, so 

 that when it does happen that one is entirely destroyed, which 

 has been known to be the case, he has something else to fall 

 back upon. Various fruits are likewise grown, otherwise what 

 would his workmen have to do if all were gathered at once ? 

 In the case of my friend the occupier of the orchard, both the 

 Plum and all other fruits held a secondary position with him 

 compared to Hops, and such is very generally the case where 

 the latter are cultivated. I must also observe that the follow- 

 ing short list of Plums does not by any means represent all 



