244 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ October 1, l«€a 



of doors in his garden at Buckingham Villa, Ejde, Isle of 

 Wight. 



OKEFORD FITZPAINE IN THE AUTUMN. 



I HAVE recorded my visit to my good friend Mr. RadcljSe in 

 July, and I should now, at the close of this most trying season, 

 just like to say what I have seen to-day (September 23rd) ; 

 and you, my friend, who are mourning over your mildew and 

 orange fungus, over puny growth and weakly shoots, who begin 

 to think that Briars are after all doubtful, would only have to 

 come here and have all your doubts confirmed, and go back 

 and say, " Nothing but JIanetti for me." I have been through 

 all my friend's garden to-day, and everywhere the proofs of 

 high cultivation, great skill, and thorough knowledge of all that 

 he takes in hand are to be seen. Hr. Kadcljffe holds the first 

 place as a rosarian, if by that we mean one who thoroughly 

 understands tha nature and culture of the Rose — who loves it 

 for its own sake, and not for the prizes which it brings. Well, 

 all Eose-growers know how this season has " bothered " them, 

 and in how many cases it has conquered their energies, and 

 made them give up in despair all hopes of doing anything this 

 season with Roses. But not so with my friend. " Never de- 

 spair " is his motto ; and so he has fought and fairly conquered 

 his enemies. With knife in hand and scissors at his belt, he 

 cut off all wilding shoots and mildewed leaves ; while a bucketful 

 of manure to a tree, and a gallon of water every second day 

 to each, for seventy-five days of this broiling summer, sup- 

 plied the moisture and vigour that the skies denied. And now 

 •what is the result ? Clean foliage, shoots from 5 to 6 feet long, 

 heaps of flowers all over his garden ; blooms of Charles Lefebvre 

 5i inches across, of Souvenir de la Eeine d'Angleterre 5J ; beds 

 of Souvenir de la Malmaisou a sheet of snow ; and Triomphe 

 de Rennes with corymbs of flowers that would not disgrace a 

 stand at the best time of the palmiest year. I have been 

 through many a Rose garden this autumn, and have seen 

 thousands of Roses and plenty of mildew ; but I have not 

 seen — I say it advisedly — any plants to equal in vigour and 

 beauty those at Okeford Fitzpaine. Jlr. Radclyffe has added 

 again to his rosery this autumn, and I expect his garden 

 next year will be indeed a fine sight. 



Mr. Radclyffe's three Peach trees at Rushton have often been 

 noticed with approbation in the columns of The Journal of 

 HoRTicuLTUEE, and I believe we shall have by-and-by to say as 

 much of the Peach trees here. His wall is now covered with 

 & number of young healthy Peach and Nectarine trees ; and I 

 ■was quite surprised to find that they were all denuded of their 

 leaves — so much so that I thought they were dead, but found 

 that they had been halt cut off, and then syringed with water 

 in which blue vitriol, in the proportion of two ounces to three 

 gallons, had been dissolved. This had caused the leaves to 

 drop off, and given the wood a line opportunity of ripening. 

 The blossom buds were all well developed, and a fair chance 

 given to them. We had some delicious samples of that first- 

 rate fruit, the Princess of Wales, raised by Mr. Ri%-ers, to-day. 

 It is one of the most luscious and juicy Peaches I ever tasted, 

 and Mr. Rivers may well be proud of having raised such a fruit. 

 It is not often that a prize is obtained by Peaches grown on 

 trees the first year of planting, and yet Mr. Eadcljffe was 

 enabled to do this at the Blandford Show this year. 



Another fruit here taken in hand is the Strawberry — indeed, 

 has not Mr. De Jonghe dubbed Mr. Radcljiie the prime arbiter 

 of the destinies of every new Strawberry ? Here, assuredly, the 

 Strawberry is well treated. Noble plants were to be seen on 

 a.11 sides, runners of this year making splendid growth, and 

 well furnishing themselves to withstand the winter's frost. 

 Dr. Hogg, Mr. Radclyffe, Cockscomb, Wonderful, Bictou Pine, 

 Iiucas, Frogmore Late Pine, and Elvers' Eliza were the sorts 

 most grown, and with them Galande, Red and White Alpine, 

 and Royal Hautbois. Nor is it for himself all this is done. 

 I do believe his greatest pleasure is to send " Steevie " round 

 to his neighbours with the well-filled dishes of fine fruit pro- 

 duced by such skill and labour, for nothing is done without 

 high cultivation here ; and whether it be the Peach, the Eose, 

 the Strawberry, or the Potato, nothing is left to chance, con- 

 stant care and liberal supplies of good food being provided for 

 all his pets. 



I have just mentioned the Potato, about which there has 

 been such difference of opinion. Mr. Radclyffe has strenuously 

 maintained that where the haulm was green then the tubers 

 ought to be left. We examined some to-day treated thus, 

 and the produce was wonderful — in one instance fifty Potatoes 



from one plant, and from another 11 lbs. weight! and this, in 

 such a season as the present, is a result by no means to be 

 despised. 



There are many more things that might be said about my 

 excellent friend's garden, but enough has been said to show 

 that what he advises he practises himself, and the results which 

 he promises to follow from his mode of treatment are reaUsed 

 in his own garden. — D., Deal. 



METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT BOARD OF 

 TILU)E. 



Havint, annually remarked the great superiority in quality of 

 the second crop of Figs in a warm orchard house over the; first, 

 and having attributed it to the dryness of the atmosphere in 

 the autumnal months, when the Peaches are removed from 

 the house and syringing discontinued, I was curious to learn 

 what was the state of the atmosphere in those places where the 

 Fig out of doors attains its greatest perfection. With this object 

 I referred to the tables furnished daily to the papers by the 

 Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade, but the only 

 place that fulfilled my requirements was Toulon. Great was 

 my surprise to find that on every day during the last fortnight 

 on which I have seen the tables, the wet and dry bulbs stood 

 exictly at the same figure, though no rain was falling, which 

 is absurd. 



Now, these tables, coming out as they do from a Government 

 office, are likely to carry great authority with them, and to be 

 made hereafter the foundation of meteorological science. A 

 medical man, relying on their accuracy, might forbid his 

 patient going to Toulon, on the ground that it had a damper 

 climate than any known locality on the globe. When Admiral 

 Fitzroy was alive, I pointed out to him that the temperature 

 recorded as of Dover was obviously too high, and he afterwards 

 added a (?) to the figures. 1 inspected personally the position 

 of the instrument, and found that, though sheltered from the 

 direct sun, it received some reflected heat. Upon this I urged 

 the Admiral to depute some competent person to visit the 

 several stations, and to examine — first, whether the instru- 

 ments were trustworthy ; and secondly, whether they were 

 rightly placed. An accurate observer is a third desideratum. 

 — G. S. 



LECTURE ON PARASITIC FUNGI 

 AFFECTING PLANTS. 



Bv :TUFFEN west, F.L.S., F.R.M.S. 



It may not be amiss to preface the following by a lew intro- 

 ductory remarks on Fungi, the parts of which they are com- 

 posed, and the way in which their presence may induce disease, 

 either in vegetation or in animal life. 



Fungi may be defined as plants of a low type, and of the 

 humblest structure. Mushrooms, Toadstools, and Puff-balls 

 are Fungi ; so are the blue moulds of paste and of cheese, whilst 

 brewers' yeast presents us with one of the tribe in its simplest 

 form. 



Fungi are almost universally present in decaying organisms. 

 The multiplied observations of scientific men in various parts 

 leave no room for question that they are the principal agents 

 in inducing ferment-changes and decay. Many kinds infest 

 plants, occurring principally on the under (or respiratory) 

 surface of the leaves. When such occur in greater number 

 than usual, their effects may prove of serious consequence to 

 the gardener or the husbandman, and even may be sources of 

 national calamity, when, as in Ireland, the produce of one 

 kind of vegetable is too exclusively relied on for the staple 

 article of food. The injury done to Vines by their parasite 

 Fungus — the Oidium — will be in the recollection of all. As 

 examples of these leaf-loving Fungi, readily accessible and 

 familiar to most, may be named the one found on Bramble 

 leaves, whilst it is almost impossible to take up a straw with- 

 out finding brown spots on it (called mildew by the farmer). 

 These spots are constituted by masses of spores of a minute 

 Fungus. 



The term mycelium is given to delicate transparent filaments, 

 which represent the root fibres of higher plants ; these are 

 present in all Fungi. In favourable circumstances these 

 threads become, by multiplication with repeated forking, much 

 matted together, and are then called thallus. The structures 

 bearing the fruit are in their simplest condition only short 

 upright branches, but various forms, often very elaborate, are- 



