324 



JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABBENER. 



t October 20, 1888. 



brighter, and it is earlier ripe and sooner gone. This is not 

 BO flat as the true Nonpaicil, nor is the jnice so sharp, though 

 it is a good Apple in its season.' — Thoaias Kivers." 



BnuRiiK Du Ceeclf. Pear. — This is a new Pear of mnch 



promife. It is the first season of its bearing fruit in this 

 country to our knowledge. A little pyramidal tree in the Royal 

 Horticultural Society's garden, Cfaiswick, has this season pro- 

 duced half a dozen large and beautiful fruit, which have proved 

 of really excellent quality. The fruit is large, obovate, tapering 

 irregularly towards the stalk ; surface irregular, bulging out in 

 places. Skin smooth, of a beautiful pea-green colour, with a 

 slight patch of russet round the stalk. Eje small, open, set in 

 a very shallow angular basin, almost level with the surface. 

 Stalk long and slender, inserted a little ou one side without 

 depression. Flesh greenish white, delicate, buttery, and melt- 

 ing, very solid, with scarcely any core. Flavour rich and 

 pleasant. 



This is a Pear which we anticipate will take a high rank. 

 In appearance it is somewhat like a Glou Jlorreau, but is dis- 

 tinguished by the very long slender stalk and the deep green 

 skin. The tlesh resembles that of the Marie Louise and Glou 

 Moreeau. Eipe in Or'tober. Grafts of this variety were received 

 by the Society in ISSO from the Soci^te Impuriale et Ccntrale 

 d'Horticulture du Departement de la Seine Infurienro. 



— ■ — At the last meeting of the Fruit Committee of the 

 Royal Horticultural Sneiety, the six splendi<l specimens of 

 Beurbk Ci.AiRGEAn Peae, exhibited by Mr. Cox, of Redleaf, 

 ■were, on being weighed, found to be 5 lbs. 141 ozs. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



Adcltee-Vtion or Seeds. — On Friday last, some members of 

 the seed trade met the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 to consult on this subject, in accordance with the recom- 

 mendation of the Sub-ComraJttee, whose report was published 

 in our number of the loth inst. 



We have a fair sample of Walnut-leaved Kidney 



Potatoes, being part of the second crop this year. A planting 

 •was made on April l-lth, tbo crop from which was taken up on 

 tlie 8th of July. Some of this crop were planted again on 

 the 10th of .July, and the crop from them, of which we have 

 the sample, was taken up on the 20th inst. We received the 

 sample from Mr. L. E. Pocock, gardener to N. M. Forbes, Esq., 

 Elmwood, Bickley, Kent. 



WOEK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN OAKDEN. 



DiGGlKG and trenching ground, and whecliug manure should 

 be reserved for frosty weather. On light soils all fruit trees 

 ought to be planted during this month, but on heavy cloy soils 

 some persons prefer the middle of February. Caiilij!(jin'rx, hand- 

 glasses are awkward when in one pi'ice, and when placed over 

 CauUflower plants thin boards .<^hould be put down between the 

 rows to walk on when giving air and stirring the soil. Endive 

 and Lettuce in the open ground and in frames require great 

 attention this month, lest they damp off or be attacked by 

 .slugs or snails. Peas, where there is no convenience for forcing 

 Peas in February, a few rows are generally sown early this 

 month, and chopped Gorse tops are put into the rows over the 

 Peas to keep away mice, but nine times out of ten those sown 

 in autumn are lost, or nearly so, by being sown too early. 

 Except in the case of very sandy soils, and in high situations, 

 the last week in November is time enough to sow. Asparagus, 

 iiea-kale, and lilmbarh, preparations must now be made for 

 forcing these where they are wanted early. For the first 

 nothing is better than a late Melon bed that still retains a 

 moderate heat, or a slight hotbed may be made so as to mo- 

 derate the heat at pleasure if it should prove too strong. Place 

 the plants as closely as possible, and so near the glass as just 

 to allow the shoots to grow the requisite height, and then they 

 may be had green or blanched at pleasure, unless the weather 

 should be very severe. The best method to adopt fur the Sea- 

 kale and Rhubarb is to form a small hotbed in any convenient 

 place, take up a number of roots, place them on it, with a little 

 soil of any sort amongst them, and defend them from the 

 ■weather and light by any old boards that can be obtained. 

 Where a Mushroom house is at work a better place could cot 

 be found. 



FRttIT GARDEN. 



Bemove all green laterals from Peaches and Apricots that 



the growth of the trees may he checked, and with a new birch- 

 broom gently switch off the matured leaves, taking care not to 

 injure the buds, repeating the operation at short intervals bo 

 that the young wood may be ripened by expo.?ure. To afford a 

 still greater amount of this, cut out any small twigs that will 

 not be wanted, and loosen from the wall, as soon as convenient, 

 those shoots intended for bearing next season. When, un- 

 fortunately, the leaves are still green and adhere, no time 

 should be lost in going over the trees and cutting all the stronger 

 leaves. This will tend to check luxuriance and hasten the 

 maturity of the buds without rendering the shoots either 

 shrivelled or receptacles of unelaborated sap liable to break out 

 in gum or canker, which in such cases is often the result when 

 recourse is had either to indiscriminate rcot-cuttingor a whole- 

 sale deprivation of leaves. Constant attention should be paid 

 to the trnit-room until all the autumn fruit is over. Short 

 memoranda should be made of the qualities of the different 

 sorts as they become fit for table or kitchen use. After a few 

 years these may be compared, and will be found very useful. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



The business of this department is now in a great measure- 

 confined to the clearing-up of leaves, worm-casts, and decaying 

 vegetable matter, and making the lawns, &c., as tidy as the sea- 

 son will admit of. It the bulbs are planted — and if they are 

 not, no time should be lost in putting them into the ground — 

 those beds which are unoccupied may receive their winter- 

 digging, or, where necessary, winter-trenching, taking care if the 

 soil is strong to expose it as much as possible to the action of 

 the atmosphere. While, however, you dig the beds, avoid 

 touching the shrubbery borders, for though they look much 

 better after being dug, plants do not grow any faster from being 

 annually root-pruned, and such is the effectof an annual digging. 

 Worms are now very troublesome, especially in weather when 

 it is difficult to clear their casts away, but their ranks may be 

 materially thinned by watering the ground with fresh lime 

 water or with water containing corrosive sublimate, though in 

 the latter case they are merely driven out of the ground and 

 require to be gathered-up by hand and afterwards destroyed. 

 Corrosive sublimate is very quickly brought into a liquid state 

 by mixing it with spirits of salt. If the Auriculas are in their 

 winter quarters they should be protected from damp, and 

 especially from rain finding its way in by the glass of the 

 frame and dripping into their hearts. In order to prevent this 

 the laps of the glass ought to be puttied. If pots become 

 saturated with rain and are neglected but for a few days, the 

 destruction of the plant is almost inevitable. In many parts 

 of the country Dahlias have been cut cffby the late frosts ; where 

 such is the case they should be taken up. otherwise they will 

 start again at the crown. With strong metallic wire attach to 

 tliem zinc labels which have been numbered, and they may be 

 hung up for a few days to dry in any airy shed preparatory to- 

 cutting off the stems, and storing the tnbeis for the winter. 



GEEENnOUSE AND CONSEEVATOEY. 



Ipomiea tyrianthina and Tacsonia pinnatistipula are two 

 beautiful climbers for the conservatory, requiring exactly the 

 same treatment, but they are rather diijiciilt to manage in 

 modern structures, as they are impatient ci confinement, and 

 do not like bright sunshine. The best way to treat them is to 

 plant them in the front border, and have the tops taken out 

 to the open air through the summer, but this style is in- 

 admissible when a conservatory forms part of an architectural 

 assemblage ; in that case they should be planted near the doors 

 or sources of ventilation, or against the back wall. In either 

 case they should be trained low, and kept particularly shaded, 

 and never allowed to reach the top of the house. They are good 

 subjects for old-fashioned houses, where they may ramble at 

 {a«e. Because Chrysanthemums are thirsty plants, and apt to 

 draw in confinement while they are growing, some people think 

 they must have large doses of water, and a free circulation of air 

 while they are in bloom. Try them, however, in a close, cool, 

 dry house, and you will find that half the usual quantity of 

 water is enough for them. They will continue in bloom longer, 

 and do not become drawn. 



STOVE. 



By the end of October stove plants, not winter growers, 

 should be thoroughly ripe, and will require less heat than 

 they have had for the last six weeks. A temperature of 60^ is 

 now high enough at night, and that should be about the standard 

 heat for the next six weeks, after that 50° will be high enough 

 till the return of fine weather early in spring. If the air in the 

 house could be kept as pure as that in the conservatory througlt 



