166 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEBENER. 



[ September 3, 1868. 



if left, and stop one joint above the fruit as soon as some good 

 clusters are showing. 



When the fruits are about full grown I remove all leaves 

 that hang over them, so as to let them have the full benefit of 

 the sun to ripen them, but take care to leave enough foliage to 

 keep the plant healthy. By the above method I always obtain 

 good crops. I believe that many people fail through being too 

 late with Tomatoes, the autumn rains and early frosts coming 

 before their fruit are full-giown. This has been a splendid 

 year for them. — Loveapple. 



THE DUG DE MALAKOFF STRAWBERRY. 



From his description I have no doubt that Mr. Douglas has 

 the true Due de Malakoff. I planted six strong plants of it 

 some years ago in the spring, and gave the plants a year's 

 " grace." Three plants fruited tolerably, producing large round 

 fruit, and three had no flowers. I therefore gave it up. 



Mr. Douglas wishes me to eny if he keep eight sorts of 

 Strawberries, whether I would recommend him to retain Due 

 de Malakoff as one of them. I say, No. He wishes me also to 

 recommend four or live of the best Strawberries to ripen with 

 the Frogmore Late Pine. I recommend him to have these 

 five, all excellent — namely, Dr. Hogg, Mr. Radclyffe, Lucas, 

 Wonderful, and Cockscomb. The last was the latest here this 

 year. I also recommend him a tine late white Strawberry, 

 Bicton Pine, called also Barnes's (of Bicton) Large White. It 

 is late, and when properly ripened is amber white. It must be 

 rotten-ripe to be good. If lie add Eivers's Eliza to Frogmore 

 Late Pine and the above six Strawberries, he will have a 

 capital and successful lot. 



If he likes .\lpiues (which I am now eating), I recommend 

 the old Ked and White, and especially Galande, red. It is the 

 best of the Alpines, as Eoyal Hautbois is the best of its class. 

 The Alpines and Hautbois Strawberries to be good should be 

 rotten-ripe. I wonder people do not grow them. 



The Perpetual Pine is here. I fear it is a complete failure. 

 Except Filmore I never had a more scantily blooming sort. — 

 W. F. Eadclyffe. 



WHAT IS A GARDENER ALLOWED TO TAICE 

 AS VEGETABLES'? 



Gap.denees are often engaged to have so much wages and 

 "vegetables." Now, they sometimes find much unpleasant- 

 ness from the use of this vague term. When the term is used, 

 has a gardener a right under it to take a Cucumber when there 

 is plenty of them ? — One th.^t Wants no more than is Just. 



[The subject is of more importance than at first may be sup- 

 posed, but the difficulty in giving an answer is owing to the 

 difference of taking a kitchen garden product, because it is 

 "allowed," and taking it as a matter of "right." Whenever 

 the two words " allowance " and " right," come into collision, 

 a proof is given that the gardener will act wisely if he walk 

 surely, even it to his apparent loss. No arrangement is more 

 usual than for gardeners when engaged, to have allowed so 

 much wages, a house, and " vegetables when to spare." The 

 latter part of the sentence ought to be needless, as few gar- 

 deners would think of taking what was needed for an em- 

 ployer's table. Keeping this in view, the word " vegetables " 

 would have reference to all that was grown in the garden useable 

 for culinary purposes, except fruits. Cucumbers are no more 

 fruits than Kidney Beans. But here, again, the importance 

 appears of gardeners never depending nor trusting to mere use 

 when there is the least likelihood to be any dispute in the 

 matter, but have everything plain and settled beyond the reach 

 of controversy. In most respectable places, then, where such a 

 rule exists, the gardener will not only use Cabbages and Cauli- 

 flowers when plentiful, but have an occasional dish of Peas and 

 Beans, and according to quantity have Onions, Carrots, and 

 Potatoes, and even a Cucumber if there be enough. We have 

 known cases where, though vegetables formed part of the 

 agreement, the kitchen garden was so small, and the demand 

 so great, that the gardener could never see his way to obtain 

 more for himself than a Cabbage, or a Cauliflower too far gone 

 for the parlour table. As to Potatoes, we have known heart- 

 burnings because some employers would confine the term 

 vegetable to the varieties of the Cabbage tribe, call the Potato 

 nothing but a root, or tuber, and consider it as not coming under 

 the title of vegetable. We have known cases, too, where Cu- 



cumbers not wanted had to be taken to the house and there 

 disposed of or dispensed. We recollect a case where vegetables 

 formed part of the agreement; the gardener cared for nothing 

 himself but a Potato, but no Potatoes were grown except a few 

 early ones, and though plenty were grown in a field, he was 

 allowed to have none unless he purchased them, it being con- 

 tended that Potatoes were esculents and not vegetables. 



Our advice to gardeners is, to leave nothing uncertain in 

 these matters when making their agreements. Two conclusions, 

 however, are perfectly clear to us. 



1st, A gardener worth having will take good care that his 

 master is well supplied with vegetables, including Cucumbers, 

 before he would take one himself, or give one to a neighbour ; 

 and the employer will act wisely in trusting to the careful 

 honesty of such a man, which will more subserve his interests 

 than any paltry restrictions. 



2udly, Wherever there is much carping about the definition 

 of a vegetable, and such parleying occurs as — " This you may 

 have, that you must never taste ;" " this you are allowed, that 

 you have no right to :" then, for the benefit of all parties, the 

 sooner the connection of employer and employed is dissolved 

 the better. There can be no comfort where there is distrust 

 on the one hand and a sense of injustice on the other, and it is 

 always well, even for the best of men, to avoid rather than 

 fight through a temptation. All disputes would be avoided if 

 employers and employed, trusting nothing to what is considered 

 customary, had everything stated definitely.] 



THE ORCHARD PIOUSE DURING THE PAST 



SUMMER. 



Fon two consecutive seasons you have honoured my commu- 

 nications with a place in your Journal, and I must not allow 

 this hot season to evaporate in mist without offering something, 

 at least, for your acceptance. 



Some of your correspondents may remember the letter in 

 which I ventured to strike a balance between the j'ros and the 

 cons, as regards orchard-house culture. My summing-up was 

 then in favour of the ^oos, and nothing has since transpired to 

 induce me to reverse my decision. Had I done so the extra- 

 ordinary success which has attended my brother's cultivation 

 of the Peach and the Nectarine would have necessitated a 

 prompt return to my former favourable opinion. I am now 

 his guest, having left my own fruit to be enjoyed, as I trust, 

 by my locinn tennis, and, therefore, I am not in a position to 

 predicate anything about either its quantity or quality ; but 

 without disparagement to myself, I must frankly concede to 

 my brother the palm. I take peculiar interest in his trees, 

 because two years ago I was instrumental in saving them from 

 destruction. Happening to pay bim a visit in the spring, I 

 found his valuable trees terribly infested with aphides, while 

 no measures were being taken to get rid of this pest. He tells 

 me that it was owing to the immediate and effectual fumigatory 

 measures which I then insisted upon that his trees were pre- 

 served. It would have been a thousand pities for lack of a 

 little tobacco paper to have sacrificed trees which are now in 

 such a thriving condition. 



I will only speak of one of his two orchard houses, which is 

 55 feet in length, by 15 in width. It contains three rows of 

 bush and pyramidal trees planted in the ground, which have 

 yielded an abundant crop ; but I wish to call particular atten- 

 tion to his back wall 12 feet high, because it shows results of 

 which Mr. Brebaut himself might well be proud. Fastened to 

 iron rods, placed at an angle of 45°, are sixteen triple cordons, 

 cultivated according to directions furnished in Mr. Br^haut's 

 treatise. These trees are now in their prime, and are laden 

 with fine fruit. When our glorious chieftain, Mr. Eivers, sur- 

 veyed these cordons some six weeks ago, he admired them so 

 much that he pleasantly said, " I shall go away, and dream of 

 those cordons." I wish he could have seen them since, for he 

 would be fain to confess that their produce is not " such stuff as 

 dreams are made of," but veritable flesh and blood, rich, juicy, 

 and melting. 



Those late American Peaches, which find some advocates, 

 but which we consider more insipid than Turnips, and resem- 

 bling croquet balls covered with flannel, if gifted with speech, 

 might well cry out, " Oh, that this too too solid flesh would 

 melt !" but my brother's Sulhampsteads have no reason to 

 say so, being all that the most fastidious taste could desire. 

 I can really find only one fault— too common with begin- 

 ners—and that is that the crop is abundant to excess. When 



