August 2U. lbC3. ] JOUFvNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAliDENER. 



109 



siiccimens of soeaiiiiK M.lona exhibited, none of wbicli, however, 

 Dossesscil merit sutlicinit to entitle them to any iiwaiil hy the Com- 

 mittee ; they nmir hom }.h: Cluu-le.s Ilul.hunl, \Vou,l.-ote Un^.; 

 C«r.hiilton ; M.'ssrs. K.lw.iy & Son, L,u.KT"rt; Mr. .I..hn \S .U», 

 Oulloii Park, ami fr..ni Mr. Muir, Chilton Loil;;.', Hnn-erfortl. Ihere 

 was also another Melon from theSoeiety'a Oanleu, ealleil Sinlur, which 

 \taa also very deiieient of flavour. . i i j 



A Pino Ajiple was sent from the Garden of the Society which had 

 hdcn rineuod out of doors on the Reothermal-lied, which is now in such 

 beauty at Chiswick. It was of tho Quei-n viirii^ty, and was iierfoctly 

 ripo and so well ilavoured that it was remarked thut fruit hud often been 

 eaten from under },'lass niueli inferior to that which was then exliibitcd. 

 Mr. I'licbard Smith, Ciilderstonc, near Liverpool, scut ft tine siiecinieii 

 of Pine to he luuned, and wliicli proved to lie .Vntigua (Jneen. Mr. 

 R. Laing, Twickenham, sent a very showy variety of seedling Crab 

 about the size of a (iolden Pippin hut entirely bri(,'lit red. It is a very 

 oraaincntal sort, and in pleasure gi-ounds cMimot fail to form .a strildug 

 feature. Messrs. Osliorii A; Sons, of iMilliam, sent fine specimens of 

 Jambosa aquea in fruit, which were much admired. Mr. Hale, of 

 Harefield, sent a dish of a seedling Currant, which was so like Ruby 

 Castle as not to be distinguishable from that variety. 



Anniversahy of the L.iTE PniNCE Coxsort's BiRTiinAY.— On 

 Saturday last, tho iKth inst., the gardens were thrown open to the 

 pnilic in accordance with Her Majesty's desire, and upwards of 

 129,000 visitors aviuhnl themselves of tho privilege. They were a 

 highly rospectablt! and well conducted class of people, and the sum 

 total of the damage done amounted to the tnrf being worn iu places ; 

 but two or three I'.iivs of this moist weather will put that right. 



KOSE Mil, DEW AXI) GISHURST COIMPOUND. 

 After reading Mr. Eadelyfl'e's interesting letter ou Rose 

 mildew at •page 123, No. i'i^, I coulJ not help very much 

 wishing that he would try Gishurst compound ; it has the 

 double action of washing as a soap, and of applying sulphur in 

 Its soluble and therefore most active form, and I believe in his 

 experienced hands would prove a more certain remedy than 

 others which he has used. 



Ahout a fortnight back an experienced Austr.aliau hoi-ticul- 

 turist gave me an account of the use of Gishurst iu the neigh- 

 bourhood of Melbourne, where blights appear to live and breed 

 all the year through, and he wound up with the fact, which to 

 my mind said gi-eat things, that the cultivators around pro- 

 posed presenting him with a testimonial for having introduced 

 Gishurst. — G. W. 



MANAGINCr A HOLLY HEDGE— GARDENING 

 IN NEW ZEALAND. 



Will you oblige a New Zealand subscriber to your useful 

 Jom'nal, with an account of how a Holly hedge is to be managed, 

 from the sowing of the ben-ies until it has attained the fuU 

 size of a hedge ? Tho soil here is a light vegetable mould, from 

 10 to 15 inches deep ; the subsoil a peculiar yellow earth, suffi- 

 ciently tenacious to allow of wells being sunk 100 feet or more 

 in depth, without boarding or bricking-up, but which becomes 

 quite friable and light immediately upon exposure to the at- 

 mosphere, and without a stone to be met with. Our cUmate is 

 a very equable one ; during upwards of twenty years' experience 

 I have never known frost remain on the grovmd after 9 a.m., 

 unless in a shaded place where the sun's rays cannot get at it, 

 and the heat in the summer is not so great as in England, 

 although the season lasts longer, as we generally have fine 

 warm weather luitil the end of May, corresponding to your 

 November. Many of what are greenhouse plants with you 

 remain in the ojjen garden with us all the year round, and 

 this summer I have had a plant of CoUetia bictonensis in the 

 open borders oovered with its small white Heath-like blossoms. 

 I mention this because I saw a notice iu yom' Joui'nal that this 

 plant does not blossom ui England. 



We find great ditliculty iu finding a suitable plant for live 

 fences. The 'White Thorn does not thrive excepting in sheltered 

 situations in the bush ; probably it does not thrive ou the sea 

 coast. The Furze grows very rapidly, but it is apt to be at- 

 tacked with a fimgus which kills it, and it is, besides, very 

 troublesome from scattering its seed and encroaching on the 

 land. I have a plant of Osage Orange, which for three or four 

 years scarcely grew at all, but since I have removed it to a 

 situation where a great deal of water di'ains on to its roots, it 

 has made great growth, and this season has thrown out seven 

 or eight shoots upwards of 6 feet long. This plant was at one 

 time much talked of as a fencing plant, and many poimds of 



seed have been sown here ; but, I believe, not above fifty seeds 

 vegetated ont of the whole. ]-)o you liud this plant grow well 

 in England :' If you can suggest any fencing jdant that you 

 think would suit our soil and climate, I shall feel much obliged 

 by your mentioning it in your Journal. Tho Holly hedge I wish 

 to raise is for a garden, but this plant would be too expensive 

 ftud too long in forming a fence to be available for agricultural 

 pui-poscs. 



There appears to bo a peculiarity in our soil or climate which 

 docs nut suit sorao descriptions of fruit trees. Teaches fruit 

 so abundantly with us iu the open ground as standards, that I 

 believe tlio fruit would bo the cheapest food that could be 

 grown for feeding pigs. Some are of excellent quality. They 

 receive no cultivation : the trees are planted, and with very Uttla 

 attention to pruning, they bear such heavy crops iu sheltered 

 situations as to require to have the branches staked up to pre- 

 vent their brealdng down. Apples do moderately well, but aro 

 subject to the American blight, which sju-eads much more rajndly 

 thau in England. The common Cherry, like an inferior 

 Kentish iu appearance, fruits tolerably well ; but tho good cul- 

 tivated sorts do not bear at all well — it is ilifficult, indeed, 

 to make them fruit at all. The same remark applies to Plums, 

 Pears, and Apricots. Pears bear tolerably well after tho 

 trees are from fifteen to twenty years old, but fruit is rarely 

 produced until they aro from twelve to fourteen years old. 

 Plums and Apricots so seldom fruit that their cultivation is 

 almost abandoned. Gooseberries do very well and yield heavy 

 crops ; but Currants of all sorts scarcely fruit at all. That the 

 soil has aU to do with it is, I believe, evident, as in the neigh- 

 bouring province of Nelson aU trees fruit abundantly. Thero 

 the soil is very stony, and what we should consider a hungry 

 one, and the trees make very moderate growth. With us, on tho 

 contrary, the soil is very good and tho trees make a gi'eat deal 

 of wood, but bear no fruit. I have lately begun to remove my 

 trees on Mr. Hivers's plan, hoping to check the growth of wood 

 and throw them into beariug ; but there is not sufficient timo 

 yet to test whether this plan will answer. If you could give 

 any suggestions in your Journal to obviate our difficidties ill 

 this particular, you will much oblige myself and my fellow 

 colonists. The removal plan may do in a small garden, but 

 would not be appUcable to fruit-growing on a large scale in a 

 coimtry where labour is scarce, and an ordinary farming-man's 

 wages 6s. a-day.— A Sulscrider, Nein Pliimimtli, New Zealand. 

 [We are very much obhged by the interesting information 

 which your letter afl'ords. We are always pleased to receive 

 such commimications. Wo trust that some of our more ex- 

 perienced readers will be able to enter more iuto the subject 

 tlian we can do ; but we will, at least, show our wiUiugness 

 to oblige if we can. 



From your description of the rich surface vegetable mould, 

 we have "little doubt but that the Holly would thi-ive well as a 

 fence, more especially if some 1'2 inches of the yellow soil 

 were trenched-up and incorporated partly with surface soil, 

 say 2 or 3 inches mixed with the rich soU, and the rest kept 

 mostly at the bottom. No plant makes a better hedge than the 

 Holly', and after it is established it needs but httle care, as 

 the annual growth is so short and stubby. As to the manage- 

 ment : As the seeds are a long time in vegetating, it is best to 

 treat them much like those of the Hawthorn. Mix them with , 

 earth or sand in a heap, and turn them now and then until aU 

 the fleshy covering is rotted, which will take a good part of a 

 season, then the seeds may be separated from the earth by sift- 

 ing, and aovm in nicely pulverised beds, and covered with half an 

 inch of fine soil. If the weather should be very hot, after sow- 

 ing it would be advisable to cover the beds with fem or other 

 litter to keep the seeds moist and cool. Your heat wUl be the 

 worst enemy to the young HoUies. We advise thus sowing iu 

 beds, as the seeds mil be the more easily protected from birds, 

 &c. If the seeds are imported, it would be best to wash them 

 free of pulp, di-y them well, and sow at once. In the second 

 year after thus sowing, the young plants may either be trans- 

 planted for another year into rows 1 foot apart, or into the 

 hedgerow at once, placing them about 1 foot apart. Before doing 

 so we would bring some of the surroimding rich soil, slightly 

 mixed with the under soil so as to give a depth of at least 

 2 feet, if more all the better. Thus treated, we beheve the 

 Holly will grow with great vigour. Little attention will be 

 required except stopping the plants that grow more strongly 

 than their neighbours, and any very strong shoot that threatens 

 to rob or take the strength from the lowest tier of branches. 

 These should be encouraged so as to stand out from 18 to 

 1 21 inches from the stem. The wedge-shape will thus be secured, 



