<GJS 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE G.ARDENEB. 



[ July 25, 1865. 



varieties, of which Velvet Cushion is the type, do not requLi'e 

 any pegs, and very httle trouble to keep them in order all 

 through the season, if the beds have been well prepared for 

 *hem before they are planted. Cuttings do not very easily 

 strike in the autumn ; some of the old pliints should, tbere- 

 Ifore, be taken up early in autumn, and all the old summer 

 shoots cut away, leaving nothing but the young gi-owths that 

 have beeid lately made by the plant. They should then be 

 potted into large (iO-pots, and placed in a frame where there 

 as a gentle bottom heat; keep them close for ten days or so, 

 Tuntii thc.y have made fresh roots, and as soon as the roots 

 Slave taken good hold of the soil, place the plants in a cooler 

 J'rame, and encourage root-action as much as passible, so as to 

 liave the plants thoroughly estabUshed in their pots before 

 ithey are placed in their winter quarters. It is, perhajis, the 

 iuest plan to strike a lot of cuttings very late in the spring, and 

 box tJiem oft', and let them remain in boxes till August, when 

 'they should be trimmed and potted as described above. In 

 the spring they should be repotted, and placed in a genial 

 atmosphere, where they will grow very freely. Fresh free- 

 growing cuttings of these will then strike as freely as those of 

 .Ihe commonest kinds of Verbenas. — J. ^\'ILLS. 

 (To be r.outinued.) 



ASPECTS, AND THEIR INFLUENCE. 



Evert garden ought to be sheltered from exposed points of 

 the compass by belts of trees at such a distance as to break the 

 ■lorce of the winds, as well as protected by walls. I am aware 

 that both these shelters are considered superfluous by some ; 

 i>nt I know very well that the removal of trees does make vege- 

 iation later, and exposes it to the wind to such a degree that 

 ■we are not able to view it after strong winds with that satisfac- 

 fion i-hich wo always feel in the case of gardens protected by 

 telts of trees and walls. " I am surprised to find how little 

 daraage had been done by the late high wind, which shook the 

 buildings to their- foundations ! " is by no means an uncommon 

 exclamaiion ; " but the tre»s in the plantation are torn and 

 Ixattered, some have lost large arms, comidetcly disfiguring 

 ihem, others uprooted, &c." Hills .and trees are Nature's shel- 

 teis. The liills protect the valleys, the trees protect the shrubs, 

 ihe slindjs th.e plants ; the gi'ass even shields the lovely Lilies, 

 and the Fera the moss at its foot. " Trees create a confined 

 atmosphere, harbour insects, and interfere with the growth of 

 ■crops." Granted — what of the crops in a cold winter and 

 j^pring ? what of the fruit of trees in a windy season ? Those 

 who advocate open exposed situations for the growth of fi'uit 

 and vegetable crops, only aim at cidtivating the commoner 

 kinds. I agree with them so far, but no farther. The ])lants 

 which we cluefly cultivate in gardens are exotics, or, it not, 

 are j'cudered so tender by improvement as to be ciiually or 

 nearly as much in need of protection as if they were. More 

 than this : we want crops early and late, we want to catch the 

 sunbeams, and to retain them when we get them. In short, we 

 want light, air, and warmth in gardens, but we want these 

 without confinement, and e(iually without exposure. Shelter 

 ■with openness is very lUfferent from shelter with overshadow- 

 iag. Isolated trees, as hedgerow timber, are almost valueless, 

 cud are frequently situated where they will not give shelter but 

 •divert the force of the current ■ in the direction of the point 

 exposed. Were they planted in masses opposite the part 

 ifiought to be sheltered it is certain they would serve the object 

 in view, and become profitable after a while, which they rarely 

 do wiien isolated. Besides, they are more ornamental in a mass, 

 grow more rapidly, and consequently make a shelter sooner. 



Few will deny that our climate is too cold for the majority of 

 irnits to be grown in open situations ; all agi'ee that we need 

 something to aid us in retaining the solar heat, and this, what- 

 ever it be, must absorb heat, and radiate it when the atmo- 

 Gphere becomes cold. Wails of brick have long been erected for 

 4his purpose, and they become heated sooner than stone, and 

 aiso radiate the heat more rapidly. They have their evils, 

 JiOTsevcr, the chief one being that they do not constitute a 

 euffieient protection against occasional severe spring frosts, 

 and in very inclement seasons the fruit does not ripen well 

 upon them. To remedy this defect glass coverings h.ave been 

 ■ej-ected over the trees in some cases, and with good residts, and 

 latterly glass houses have been employed. I do not think that 

 itjither walls, or glass houses without walls, fiilly answer the 

 Tpnrpose for ■which they are intended, but both are good aids ; 

 the glaes sti-uctaire having the advantage over a wall in ripening 



the fruit and wood during a wet season. A wall is certainly 

 necessary to secure fruit of some kinds in our climate, whilst 

 for others it must be covered with glass, or a glass house must 

 be provided in order to have them in perfection, whilst some 

 require not only glass structures, but artificial heat. It is 

 foreign to my purpose, however, to enter into the merits of 

 detached glass houses. 



A garden walled all round, and having one face to any 

 cardinal point, whatever it be, and all the others at right 

 angles to it,mll have four aspects — east.west, north, and south ; 

 it may also happen that the waUs may not directly face any 

 of the principal points of the compass, they may then be north- 

 east, north-west, south-east, and south-west. I w ill take it for 

 granted, however, that the position of the walls is met by one 

 or other of the above cases, and will first deal with that in 

 which the aspects are north, south, east, and west. 



A south asjiect is that wall on which, if you turn yom- back 

 to it, the sun will be fidl in your face at twelve o'clock at noon. 

 The other side of that wall is a north aspect, and so with an 

 east and west aspect. An aspect is that side of a wall facing 

 the point of the compass from which it derives its name. 



The south wall or aspect receives the most light, absorbs the 

 greatest heat, and is the best for the more tender fruit trees, 

 and those required earlier than on aspects where they would 

 otherwise do well. This wall is the only one suitable for 

 Peaches, Nectarines, and also Apricots, to have them plenti- 

 fully and with certainty. Apricots on east walls sometimes do 

 fairly, but though the trees grow freely they are not to be 

 depended on for a crop. A south wall enables the trees against 

 it to ripen their fruit about a fortnight earlier than on an east 

 wall. For earliness a tree or two of the early Cherries, as 

 Early Purple Gean, and one or two of the May Duke, may be 

 planted against south walls. For the same reason some early 

 Plums may also be planted, as the Pr.'coce de Tours now 

 superseded by Early Favourite (Elvers), decidedly the best of 

 the early Plums, July Green Gage or Reine Claude Hiitive, and 

 ( jreen Gage ; likewise some of the early Pears, as Doyenne d'Ete. 

 Unless the walls are extensive it is not worth while occupjing 

 south walls with Pears, Plums, and Chen'ies. It is worthy of 

 note that fruit grown on south walls is much earlier than that 

 produced on any of the other aspects, and the juices being 

 more highly elaborated the fruit is better flavoured though less 

 juicy. The fruit on south waUs comes in a fortnight earlier than 

 that on east and west walls, and it is on this account that it is 

 desirable to have fruit trees upon them that would do well on 

 other aspects. Generally, liowever, south walls should be 

 occupied by Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, and Figs, which 

 last are a precarious crop, and are best gi'own imder glass. 

 They do, however, sometimes bear well. Where there is much 

 wall it is worthy of consideration whether a part might not be 

 advantageously covered with glass on all the aspects, covering 

 alike the wall and border, and growing bushes or pyramids in 

 the borders, so that they may not interfere with the trees on 

 the wall. There would not only be more iruit, but a larger 

 continuance of it. 



It is also worthy of consideration, whether we now make the 

 most of walls — I mean devote them to that most likely to pay. 

 For instance, a south walll'2 feet high, now exclusively devoted 

 to Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, and occasionally Figs (which 

 is the greatest waste of space that I know of), might, together 

 with from 1'2 to 18 feet of border, be covered with glass at a 

 cost of £1 per foot run ; and if planted with Vines would it not 

 make an excellent and profitable vinery, and be a good sub- 

 stantial structure equal to any used for horticidtural purposes :' 

 Vines at 3 feet apart woidd certainly pay a good per-centage for 

 the outlay. It the length were 300 feet, 100 Vines might be 

 planted, and they would be poor indeed if they did not each 

 give £1 worth of Grapes after the second year, which, taking 

 first cost and wear and tear into consideration, would be at 

 least equal to 25 per cent, profit. Another part of the wall 

 covered in like manner with glass for Peaches, Nectarines, and 

 Figs, would surely pay, in consequence of something like 

 double the amount of fruit being obtaiued from the space, 

 besides being fully a fortnight earlier. I have seen this idea 

 practicaUy ean-ied out, and with great residts. The trees did 

 quite as well on the wall as when exposed, and derived more 

 fuUy its benefit, whilst the radiated heat was not lost as before 

 in s'p.ice, but expended on the trees that occupied the border. 



Glass coverings ivpplied to the other walls woidd simply 

 make an east wall suitable for Apricots, Plums, and Cherries ; 

 the west being iised for the same, tor those Pears that are so 

 •liable to crack through the hun idity and cold of our chmate. 



