April 9, 1868. ] 



JOOBNA.L OF HOBTICULTUBB AND OOTTAQB GARDENER. 



271 



end of August, or beginning of Septomber, if they are wanted 

 to como in next season. 



Clntli of Gold is growing hero this winter and spring (30 far) 

 better than I ever saw it at any plaeo. I have some plantH 

 ;5 feet 4 inches in diameter. They look well in the conser- 

 vatory or greenhouse when mixed with other well-grown i'elargo- 

 niums, it the foliage is line. 



The compost I use for the above-named plants consists of 

 good turfy loam three parts, decomposed cow dung ono-fonrth, 

 and white sand one-tenth, with a small quantity of bone dust. 

 These ingredients are all well mixed together, and the whole 

 is allowed to acquire a proper temperature before potting. — 

 J. A. RoNEV, yVisUiston. 



which "OnsEnvEn" enumerates, cannot be the real cause of 

 bis failures, for, if not the causes, they are co-existent with 

 my snocesB. In gardening matters there is often something 

 wanting ; it is our business, by patiently comparing fact with 

 fact, to find out what that something is. — H. NlcKOliLS, Hawk* 

 hurst Lodge, Burdocks, IJorsliam. 



PE.\CII AXD NECTARINE TREES OUT oi- DOORS. 



I KOTioE in a recent number a letter from " Ouseiivke," en- 

 titled " New Glass Structures for Growing Fruit," in which he 

 speaks of Peach and Nectarine trees having lost their constitu- 

 tional strength, and as being now no longer hardy as in former 

 years ; and he goes on to say that " a wall heated while the 

 sun shines on it, and a wall rendered cold by wind and evapo- 

 ration when the sun is off, does not seem to suit these now 

 tender plants, neither does too groat an amount of moisture to 

 the roots, especially in autumn, agree with their delicate con- 

 stitutions. Cold, moisture-absorbing winds cause a chill. Bring- 

 ing the trees in too close contact with walls by nails cripples 

 them," &c. 



Now, as statements of this kind often appear, particularly 

 from advocates of orchard houses, against which I have nothing 

 to say, inasmuch as they are delightful accessories to any gar- 

 den, I should be glad to know whether in the south of England, 

 or at all events south of London, your readers can endorse the 

 opinions of " Obsekvek." For my own part, living in Sussex, 

 I have never failed for the last six years to have a good crop of 

 Peaches and Nectarines out of doors. 1 mention six years, 

 because I did not attempt much gardening before then. I 

 have been successful on the chalk and the stiff Wealden clay ; 

 but as the loam of the latter district is far stronger than any 

 soil to be found on the chalk, I have more vigorous trees and 

 heavier crops on it than I ever could obtain on the chalk. I 

 have found a change from the chalk to the loam with a clay 

 subsoil very beneficial ; and I have one tree in particular, which 

 labours under all the supposed disadvantages mentioned by 

 " Observer," a perfect picture of health and vigour, carrying 

 regularly almost any amount of fruit, and, as a matter of taste, 

 I prefer the flavour of a Peach off a good warm wall to that of 

 those from orchard-house trees, with which, also, I have had no 

 difficulty. 



I think there is a tendency in these days to go into far too 

 many extravagances in the way of "new structures," which 

 may be all very well for those who have unlimited means, but 

 are quite unnecessary for Peach, Nectarine, or Apricot trees in 

 this i)art of the country, and I do not like to hear that some 

 of our most choice and national fruits are becoming debilitated 

 and unfit for out-door cultivation, for now that glass houses 

 are so common,! imagine the true reason is that sufficient 

 care is not bestowed on the things which our fathers brought 

 to perfection in the open air, when, as far as I know, the 

 winters were even more severe than they generally are now. 



Only the other day I saw an Apricot tree quite 30 feet high 

 spreading over the gable end of an old farmhouse. Its stem 

 was like the stem of a large Apple tree, and a neglected grass 

 lawn entirely covered its roots, which were, doubtless, far down 

 in a wonderfully stiff and very wet soil, yet none of its limbs 

 seemed to fail, and the farmer told me it almost always had an 

 abundant crop. It has now quite a mass of bloom, as very 

 little pruning has troubled it for many a year. Yet I hear and 

 read that there are no old Apricot trees now-a-days, and that 

 they must be grown under glass. If these fruits are required 

 early they must be forced under glass ; but with proper manage- 

 ment, or even as this Apricot tree seems to say, with no 

 management, they may be grown very well here without it. 



Now, surely, one instance like that of this Apricot or my 

 Peach tree puts a negative on the assertions of " Ou.sertee," 

 and reduces the facts that may have come under his observa- 

 tion from the region of climate or other source of supposed 

 degeneracy to culture. The conditions which maintained that 

 Apricot in health and fertility for fifty and more years would 

 have maintained any number of trees similarly circumstanced, 

 and the supposed evils of training a Peach tree on a wall. 



OLD YEW TREE. 



In the churchyard at Oresford, near Wrexham, Denbighshire, 

 is a large old Yew tree. Its circumference at the ground, 

 following the irregulaties of the trunk, is 31 feet fi inches, and 

 at 3 feet from the ground, 32 feet 1 inch. At 3 feet 6 inches 

 from the ground the girth, on merely passing the tape round, 

 is 20 feet 3 inches. The tree has evidently been in declining 

 health for some years, as some of the upper branches are bare 

 of foliage, otherwise it is perfect ; the trunk, a low one of 

 6 feet, particularly so, having no holes in it. The bark, how- 

 ever, is not good all round, still the stem is sound. 



In Loudon's " Gardener's Magazine " I find the following 

 notice of this tree at page 530 of the volume for 1830 : — "A 

 Yew tree in Gresford churchyard, near Wrexham, is 29 feet in 

 girth at 5 feet from the ground ; height 52 feet, and the dia- 

 meter of the head 30 feet.— J. E. Bowman, July 1, 1836." 

 From the decay of the upper limbs the tree is studded with 

 small branches or twigs at the setting-on of the branches, and 

 at 5 feet no correct circumfemce could be arrived at . ■ 



The church is surrounded with Yew trees in a flourishing 

 state, and few of less age than five hundred years. — G. A. 



BOILERS FOR HEATING BY HOT WATER. 



Mr. E. Featherstone stated that his employer, Mr. Butler, 

 purchased one of Clarke's water-jacket furnace boilers some 

 two or three years ago, but that it fails entirely when he has 

 to burn inferior fuel, such as they use in the garden, and that 

 he objects to hollow firebars, as they tend to prevent thorough 

 combustion. 



I have had two of the above boilers at work for about the 

 same period, and I can conscientiously testify that the heat is 

 so intense in my water-jacket furnace, that it would melt 

 cinders. Would this be considered thorough combustion ? and 

 if Mr. Butler's boiler will not do that, there is something 

 wrong with the draught. Our boilers are heating piping for 

 top and bottom heat for one thousand Cucumber plants. We 

 sow in January, and cut fruit of the same plants in March. 

 — Jaiies Whiiakee, Barh Ilouse, Prescot. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



April 7tii. 



Fruit Committee.— George F. WUson, Esq., F.R.S., in the cbair. 

 Mr. W. Hallett, oi Cossington Honae, BridgM'atcr, sent two braces of 

 Cucumbers, one named Cossington Hero, and the other Hallett's Per- 

 fection. Mr. S. Brister, Whitton, near Honnslow, sent a seedling 

 Apple which was not of any value ; and Mr. Whiting, of The Deepdene, 

 sent specimens of Wilcoveand Wilcove Improved Broccoli. 



Floral Committee. — Another meat successful meeting was held 

 this day ; it is most gratifjing to witness how much interest these fort- 

 nightly meetings have excited ; the liberal support of so many exhibi- 

 tors tends to the success, and desei-ves the thanks of the Society. It 

 is now evident that the spirit of horticnlturc, pure and simple, ia in 

 the ascendancv, and we may now confidently expect better days for 

 the Society. Indeed, the co'lkction of hybrid Colens, exhibited from 

 the Society's own gardens at Chiswick, must have convinced the most 

 sceptical that the dear old garden is still vigorous. Mr. Banse's 

 seedling Coleus cannot be too highly commended, they are vigorous 

 and a vast improvement in this family. All honour be to the inde- 

 fatigable hybriJiser, who is so devoted to his caUing. Without doubt 

 tbcy are one of the greatest advances yet made in this direction. 

 These plants will be highly esteemed in the horticultural world, and 

 will be very beneficial to the Society. 



The awards made were numerous. Messrs. Veitch exhibited several 

 new plants, especially Orchids, but some not being recognised by name 

 they must await their awards. Some of them were very fine, especially 

 an Anguloa, which is of first-rate merit. A special certificate was 

 awarded for Angrsecum citratum ; a first-class certificate for Pandanua 

 gramineus ; and a special certificate, for the beaatiful collection of 

 Orchids. 



Mr. Davies, Ormskirk, sent a hybrid Azalea.caUed Odorata, pro- 

 jusely covered with white flowers and very ornamental ; it received a 

 first-class certificate. Messrs. E. G. Henderson sent Primula elatior 

 Golden Prince, a true Polyanthus with deep yellow trusses, moat 



