396 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDBNEE. 



[ KoTenAer 26, 1868. 



throughont the Bnmroer, although the best fronda are those 

 produced first. The variety Dickieana is a very neat form of 

 it ; the fronds are more upright, and very much shorter, it is 

 a very neat little plant for pot-culture, and is also reproduced 

 by spores. 



Trichomanea radicana I have never attempted to grow, either 

 out of doors or in the greenhouse. I grew it in a cool stove, 

 and the treatment seemed to suit it ; it was kept under a bell- 

 glass, and the pot in which it grew was never watered ; it was 

 pJunged in another pot, and the intervening space filled with 

 sand, which was always kept moist. The plant was potted in 

 turfy peat, with some rough pieces of charcoal and broken 

 bricks. It will also succeed in the greenhouse, but the plants 

 must always be under a bell-glass, and shaded. 



One more hardy Fern I will notice, and that is the Botry- 

 ohium lunaria. 1 well remember walking eight miles, after a 

 hard day's work, to the haunt of this plant, guided by a friend, 

 who had gathered specimens of it. We searched until dark, and 

 had to retrace our steps without meeting with a single speci- 

 men. It grows at " St. Martha's-on-the-Hill," near Guildford. 

 I have dried specimens which my friend found there, but I 

 would have been more pleased to have discovered it myself. 

 The Botrychium is not easily cultivated, and requires cireful 

 management to grow it well ; it ought to be potted and grown 

 in a cold frame. 



On Exotic Ferns I will not make any lengthened remarks. 

 It is not necessary to maintain a high temperature during the 

 winter months ; in fact, I think it injurious. 55° are a good 

 night temperature, or in very cold weather 50" will be enough, 

 audit will not be injurious to the majority of stove plants. 

 There will only be disappointment in summer if plants are 

 unduly excited during the winter months. I believe manure 

 in any form to be injurious to Ferns, and ammonia from the 

 evaporating troughs does not seem to suit them. Watering is 

 Tery important ; they will never succeed with stagnant water 

 near the roots, therefore see that good drainage is secured, and 

 water sparingly during the winter, but never allow the plants 

 to be dust-dry, and always use rain water. This ought never 

 to be allowed to run to waste ; large tanks ought to be provided 

 in all houses, and placed, if possible, where the hot-water pipes 

 ■will warm the water a little. 



There have been some interesting additions to the numbers of 

 Exotic Ferns within the last few years ; foremost amongst them 

 is a very pretty Lomaria, named ciUata, introduced by Messrs. 

 Veitch, of Chelsea, from New Caledonia; it is one of the most 

 distinct and elegant of the species. I have it growing freely in 

 a cool stove. Adiantum concinnum latum is another of their 

 more recent introductions ; is is very pretty, and is said to be 

 a useful exhibition sort. The true Adiantum farleycnse is still 

 scarce, and is not yet within the reach of everyone. It is 

 a very fine plant, the beauty of the individual fronds cannot 

 be surpassed ; it seems to be of moderately free growth. Lo- 

 maria zamiiefolia is a free-growing distinct sort, and will suc- 

 /:eed in a greenhouse. Neottopteris australasica, another green- 

 house species, is a grand Fern, and a full-grown specimen of 

 it is a noble feature in a collection. It is easily managed, and 

 wiU well repay all attention. It will, like most Ferns, grow 

 beat in a moist, rather warm atmosphere. 



Dicksonia antarctica I will just mention as a most desirable 

 species to grow ; it is a tree Fern, but is very fine in its young 

 state ; it succeeds as well in a greenhouse as in a stove tempe- 

 rature. It is one of the sorts which thripa are fond of, and 

 they will spoil the beauty of any Fern. The best cure for this 

 is smoking the house with tobacco until it is cleared of them. 

 J. DoncLAs. 



GROWING FRUIT FOR MARKET AT LITTLE 

 SUTTON, CHISWICK. 



MR. FRINCIS DANCEK'S. 



Mr. Dancer is so well known in the horticultural world as 

 an able aud experienced cultivator, that further introduction is 

 unnecessary. He is one of the largest and most successful of 

 our great growers of fruit for market. If about Fulham, Dept- 

 ford, and other places our greatest vegetable gardens are to be 

 -seen, assuredly at Chiswick will be found some of the finest, 

 best managed, and most productive fruit gardens, from which 

 Covent Garden receives a goodly portion of its enormous 

 supplies. 



The fruit gardens around Chiswick form, indeed, quite a 

 ■feature of the place, as much so as do the Lettuces and Cab- 



bages of Fulham, the Onions and Cucumbers of Sandy, or 

 the blue Lavender of Mitcham. It is curious, and instructive 

 as well, to observe how certain districts become devoted to 

 the cultivation of one particular product. This is especially 

 noticeable in market gardening. It is even so with fruits. 

 Locality and soil are not alike suitable for all classes of plants, 

 or every system of culture, neither will every variety of fruit 

 succeed equally well in the same place. Now, as the object of 

 growing fruit for market is mainly that of profit, it is perfectly 

 natural to suppose, when we see a certain district chiefly de- 

 voted to the cultivation of certain things in certain ways, that 

 that system is a profitable and proper one. 



The specialities of fruit culture about Chiswick, and those in 

 which Mr. Dancer particularly excels, are : — lat. Plums, which 

 are cultivated on a very large scale, and most successfully. 

 Every season the trees are heavily laden, and literally breaking 

 down with their enormous crops of large and handsome fruit. 

 '2nd, Pears, which are also largely and well cultivated, but not 

 quite so extensively as Plums ; 3rd, Apples ; 4th, Currants, 

 which last are an extremely pet subject of Mr. Dancer's, and 

 one deserving of especial notice. 



Having now had for some years abundant opportunities, 

 through Mr. Dancer's kindness, of observing all the various 

 methods and details of his culture and the results, I have been 

 enabled to form some opinion of their respective value, how- 

 ever slight. Although the few observations I am about to 

 make may refer chiefly to the results of the past season, which 

 was in many respects a very exceptional one, the conclusions 

 I have tried to arrive at, or the lessons learned therefrom, are 

 the impressions of a series of years. 



There is, I may premise, a very great difference between 

 growing fruit for market and growing fruit for a gentleman's 

 table. The method of cultivation, and the end desired — good 

 fruit, may be the same, yet the one is generally for quantity, 

 while the other is for quality and variety. The best fruits in 

 quality are seldom the most profitable for general market pur- 

 poses. Usually the highest-flavoured are tlie most delicate 

 growers and least productive ; and again, a certain variety may 

 have all the good qualities, yet if it is not known in market it 

 will not sell. A fruit to become a profitable market variety 

 must be well known. A particular colour, even, will frequently 

 cause its rejection in Covent Garden. Tastes change, however, 

 and a variety which may at one time be much disliked may 

 afterwards become very popular. The masses of the people, 

 however, the London mechanic and his wife, who are the great 

 consumers of Covent Garden fruit, appreciate and care but 

 very Uttle whether a fruit is fully up to any horticultural stan- 

 dard of perfection or not, provided they have plenty for their 

 money. Quantity is evidently more prized than quality, espe- 

 cially if the latter is attended with scarcity. 



Of Plums, one of the principal varieties cultivated by Mr. 

 Dancer is Gisborne's, a rather shabby-looking, medium-sized, 

 oval, yellow Plum, with a rather firm yellow flesh, not very 

 juicy ; neither is it of very excellent flavour in general. In the 

 past summer, however, I tasted some fruit which were very 

 fine indeed, and they were of an extraordinary size, although 

 the trees were all very heavily laden with the crop. They 

 were so large and so highly coloured that they could scarcely 

 be distinguished from the fruit of the Jefferson. The flesh parta 

 freely from the stone, whereas the Jefferson is somewhat of a 

 clingstone. 



Gisborne's, or Gisborne's Early, is a favourite Plum in Covent 

 Garden. Its excellent qualities are so well known that it com- 

 mands a very ready sale. As a tart Plum it is much in re- 

 quest, and as a preserving Plum it has no rival. It is first-rate 

 for the latter purpose. This is one of the most profitable 

 Plums to cultivate. The tree is hardy, not a very tall grower, 

 and a most abundant bearer. It is very rarely indeed that 

 Mr. Dancer misses having a crop of Gisborne's ; during the 

 past season the trees were not so loaded as usual, still the fruit 

 was finer and larger, and consequently filled the measures 

 quickly. I counted on some twigs, and there were plenty such, 

 about two dozen fruit within the space of 12 inches. I am 

 afraid to say how many trees Mr. Dancer cultivates of this 

 variety, or how many bushels of fruit are gathered annually. I 

 know, however, that one day there were no less than 153 bushels 

 ol this sort sent to market. This is Plum culture in earnest. 

 Gisborne's is one of the earliest Plums to ripen, but Mr. Dancer 

 generally gathers all his fruit before they have arrived at that 

 stage. Nearly all the Plums sent to market are gathered from 

 the trees in this half-ripe state. Thty may not be quite so 

 good for dessert, but as they are princif ally used for tarls, &3., 



