July 31, 1MB. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



81 



which I found very good after a heating morning's walk, Go- 

 nod, who is favourably known to us as the raiser of Madame 

 Korean, came in and promised, as I was now anxious to get 

 back to Lyons, where I had left my better hall, to bring to tho 

 hotel blooms of his new Hoses. This he did in tho evening, 

 and amongst them ho had n tine flower in the way of Virginal, 

 only somewhat larger; another was in tho way of Madame 

 Fillion, a light pink, and very promising. 



It will thus bo seen that 1 do not consider that anything 

 Very remarkablo is coming to us from Lyons this autumn. 

 When the lists are out, and I can comparo tho numbers with 

 tho names given to them by the raisers, I shall hope to say 

 something more positive; but I can only repeat now that I do 

 not think I have seen any new Rose abroad equal to Ward's 

 seedling, Mrs. Ward. Since then he has sent me a box of 

 blooms of anothor variety, Mrs. John Bemers, which also pro 

 mises well. It is an imbricated flower, of good size and bright 

 colour, and very vigorous. 



Tired as I was with my morning work, it did not prevent mo 

 from taking a broiling walk up to tho church of Notre Dame 

 des Fourvii "'res, whence, in favourable weather, Mont Blanc, 

 although a hundred miles distant, can be seen ; but the day 

 was too fine, the boat causing a haze which obscured the view. 

 After dinner we started off for Paris by night train, and it was 

 not surprising, I think, that I felt considerably tired the next 

 day. I enjoyed, however, amazingly my walk amongst tho 

 Roso gardens of Lyons, and was glad to bring home any scrap 

 of information that may be useful to the Rose-growers of 

 England.— D., Deal. 



HORTICULTURE IN HUNGARY. 



Soke observations from an eye-witness of the condition of 

 horticulture in one of the most beautiful countries of the south- 

 east of Europe, can scarcely be unacceptable, whou it is con- 

 sidered how very little, comparatively, is known of a country 

 which contains no less than 6155 geographical square miles. 

 My residence for three years was at Sziid, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Schemnitz ; but I have had frequent opportunities of 

 visiting other parts of tho country, to which my observations 

 equally apply. 



As the vegetables more commonly in use, including To- 

 matoes/are supplied almost entirely by field cultivation, the 

 kitchen garden is by no means the prominent object which it 

 is in England. The vineyards supply the finer kinds of fruit — 

 as Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, Medlars, and Figs; while 

 different kinds of Gourds are planted along the boundaries, 

 forming a loose kind of enclosure. Some of these are cultivated 

 merely as food for cattle ; others are used as Vegetable Mar- 

 rows, amongst which is a very superior one known under tho 

 name of Spargel-Klirbiss (or Asparagus Pumpkin), while others 

 are a favourite food when baked. Cucurbita melanoaperma is 

 amongst the kinds which are cultivated ; but it does not appear 

 that they have, at least north of the Danube, any variety of 

 Cucurbita moschata, which almost supersedes the Vegetable 

 Marrow where the heat is sufficient. 



The commoner kinds of fruit, as Cherries, Mulberries, Wal- 

 nuts, Strawberries, and Raspberries, grow cu the mountains, 

 on tho roadside, or by every ditch or waste piece of ground ; so 

 that even in bad years the proprietor has a constant supply 

 without any pains, and in good years he merely gathers the 

 best, and lets every one, after he is served, take what he pleases. 

 In fact, travellers, or, indeed, every passer-by, help themselves 

 for the most part without any let or hindrance. The orchard 

 is almost exclusively devoted to the cultivation of Plums (which 

 •are grown in enormous quantities), for drying, a process which 

 is performed on hurdles in a low-heated oven. The varieties, 

 however, in cultivation are very inferior to those which yield 

 the better kinds of French Plums of commerce. A few Pears 

 and Apples are grown, but of very inferior quality. Wall fruit 

 is unknown. It cannot be expected, therefore, that much at- 

 tention should bo devoted to the kitchen garden, though a few 

 hotbeds, as in England, are made for the rearing of Brinjals, 

 and ether plants which require to be brought forward artificially. 

 The better kinds of Melons and Cucumbers are grown on the 

 open ground in the garden, while the large coarser kinds and 

 Water Melons .'which are of excellent quality), are consigned to 

 the field. Cabbages, Carrots, the different kinds of Kidney 

 Beans, some of which are of very superior quality, and a few 

 other vegetables, have garden culture. A very small kind of 

 Pulse, knowc under *to name e£ Rice Beans, used frequency 



for soup, and bolonging apparently to the genus Dolichos, with 

 one or two other sub-tropical varieties, is an object of cul- 

 tivation. Fruit trees, with tho exception of a few Apricots and 

 Plums, arc for tho most part excluded ; as regards those beyond 

 the palo, scarcely anything is dono in the way of pruning be- 

 yond choppiii;' off Que dead or usolcss branches, which takes 

 placo in April. 



Tho flower garden is of far more importance, and is in general 

 large, and laid out in beds of various shapes, in tho midst of a 

 lawn, which is, however, not kept clo6e-shaved as in England, 

 but is mowed three times only in the year, as the proprietor 

 depends on tho grass plots for the maintenance of his cows in 

 summer, tho meadows being devoted to the production of hay 

 for the winter food of tho sheep. It is mowed by tho cowherds, 

 who carry it away on a curiously-shaped cart drawn by two 

 donkeys : the cart is made without a piece of iron or a single 

 nail. The paths are made of silt, which is brought from the 

 larger rivers, and the beds separated from the grass by a very 

 prettily worked edging of wickerwork, tho bark of the Osierg 

 having first been carefully removed. The flowers aro of much 

 the same sorts as those cultivated in England, though, from the 

 severity of tho winter, some perennials which succeed with ua 

 do not admit of out-door cultivation. Numerous white chairs 

 and tables are scattered everywhere, which, with the wicker- 

 work of tho borders, give the ground a gay appearance. 



What, however, strikes an English eye the most is the entire 

 absence, in most Hungarian gardens, of anything like ever- 

 greens ; for there are no Yews, no Cedars, no Firs, no Holly 

 trees, nor anything that is green in winter ; in consequence of 

 which there is a comparative want of contrast in summer, and 

 an appearance of utter desolation in winter. In summer the 

 foliage is afforded chiefly by Acacia3, Gleditschias, Poplars, and 

 occasionally Oaks. 



The garden is cultivated by peasant girls under tho superin- 

 tendence of the gardener, who are paid 2d. a-day. They always 

 go about without shoes or stockings, as the only time when the 

 Hungarian peasants wear shoes, which are considered a luxury, 

 is when they are at church, or when the snow is on the ground. 

 As was formerly the case almost universally in Scotland, tho 

 boots or shoes are carried in the hand, and put on only when 

 they arrive at the church-door. 



The tool3 generally used in a Hungarian garden are very 

 large heart-shaped hoes and wooden rakes. A spade is very 

 seldom seen. The wheelbarrow holds no more than a bushel, 

 and is made entirely without iron, the wheel consisting of a 

 disk of board, and the spindle of a piece of juniper or other 

 tough wood. 



Tho most prominent feature on entering a Hungarian gentle- 

 man's garden is the hothouses, which, though not as magni- 

 ficent as they aro frequently in our own gardens, are on an ex- 

 tensive scale, adapted to the exigencies of the climate. They 

 are of three different kinds : 1, the Szaporfto Haz (the slip or 

 propagating-house) ; 2, the Hajto Haz (the forcing-house) ; 

 3, the Hideg Haz (or cool-house, answering to our greenhouso 

 or orangery). 



The Szaporito H;iz is a neat structure with four stone walls 

 and a sloping roof of glass, the front wall being 4 fee' high, and 

 the back wall 7 feet. It is heated by means of a flue, which 

 goes round the house from the furnace to the chimney. The 

 flue is enclosed in a wall or bricks about 3' feet high, in which 

 there are four doors for the insertion of pans of water, which 

 are placed on the top of the flue. Deal boards, which have 

 numerous holes pierced in them, are nailed to the two walls 

 over the flue, and on these the mould is placed, the holes in tho 

 boards being first filled up with moss, so as to prevent the soil 

 falling through, and at the same time to admit the steam which 

 arises from the pans. Cuttings inserted in the mould, which 

 are either uncovered or protected by bell-glasses, grow, when 

 treated in this manner, with astonishing rapidity, and aro soon 

 ready for potting-off. 



The Hajto Haz is built in the same manner as the propagat- 

 ing-house, but has simply a flue. Into this the cuttings are re- 

 moved as soon as they are potted, and arranged on stages. The 

 furnace is heated with wood, of which only a small quantity is 

 necessary. It is in this house that Rose-grafting is conducted, 

 the stocks being got forward in it by the beginning of February. 

 The top is then sawn off horizontally, a slit made in the out 

 surface, and the graft inserted, and secured by a cement made 

 of resin, wax, and Venice turpentine. When treated in this 

 way, scarcely a single graft fails, and tho trees bloom well in 

 the summer. This method is found to answer far better than 

 budding, which is not suited to the climate. 



