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.70UKNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 11, 1866. 



between each Vine. I do not recollect that a single lateral was 

 broken in the tying. 



Supposing the trees were planted in pots, and taken out of 

 the house to ripen their fruit, we should then have a secured 

 crop with the highest flavour. A Quickset hedge, planted on 

 purpose, with the ends returning a few feet, would probably 

 answer as well as anything. As all my water has from 30 to 

 50 feet of pressure I have no difficulty in watering a large space 

 of fruit trees if necessary. In pot-culture we are able to move 

 the trees on all sides to the light, and thus obtain a high 

 flavour in every part of the fruit. — A Constant Reader. 



BROWN TURKEY FIG. 



I have long been convinced that two distinct Figs are culti- 

 vated under the same name, and I send you a specimen of each. 

 They are taken from two potted plants growing side by side. 

 Possibly a comparison of these two solitary specimens will 

 hardly convey an adequate impression of their difference ; but 

 this difference was shown very strikingly at the Crystal Palace 

 on the 5th of September, where the dish exhibited by Mr. 

 Turner was of the sort marked No. 1, and Mr. Dennis's prize 

 dish of No. 2. The latter is the Fig which is imported from 

 the Channel Islands into the London market, and which forms 

 the staple of the Fig gardens at Taring. It is much long< r 

 than the other, and more juicy, to my taste decidedly superior. 

 Its colour is between purple and green, and upon cutting it 

 open the flesh, particularly near the eye, is dark purple. No. 1 

 is flatter at the apex, and brown or reddish brown both inside 

 and out. Its consistence is fleshy,- but when highly ripened, 

 which I fear the accompanying specimen is not, it is very sac- 

 charine. I would suggest that the name Brown Turkey be con- 

 fined to No. 1, while No. 2 might be called the Common Purple. 

 The latter name would be at least descriptive, for it is the only 

 Fig in England both purple and common. I imagine that old 

 Miller was well aware of the difference, for although he docs 

 not name the Brown Turkey, 1 conceive that he describes it as 

 his No. 7, and calls it Murrey or Brown Naples. The blue or 

 purple Fig he mentions by name. The Castle Kennedy Fig, 

 again, is his No. 1, and called by him Large Brown Ischia. 



Having alluded to the Crystal Palace Show, I would add that 

 the two dishes furnished by Mr. Dennis, one of Brown Turkey 

 and the other of Brunswick, were the finest I ever saw either 

 in this or any other country. Their intense colouring in this 

 sunless season was remarkable. Among the other exhibitors 

 there were several instances of misnomers ; the two varieties 

 correctly named by Mr. Dennis doing duty elsewhere as White 

 Genoa, Black Turkey, &c.— G. S. 



[The two Figs are doubtless quite distinct. That marked 

 No. 1, and which was exhibited by Mr. Turner, appears to us 

 to be either l'Archipel, or St. Ursule d'Avignon. We should 

 Tather incline, in absence of the foliage, to the supposition that 

 it is the former.] 



THE BEST ROSES. 



The colours can be seen in any catalogue. 



Bourbon*. — Acidalie, Souvenir de la Malrnaison, and Baronne 

 Gonella. 



Tea-scented Noisettes. — Solfaterre, Triomphe de Rennes, 

 Celine Forestier, and Gloire de Dijon. 



Hybrid Perpetuate. — Charles Lefebvre, Senateur Vaisse, Pro- 

 fessor Koch, Prince Camille de Rohan, Seeur des Anges, Pierre 

 Notting, Madame Victor Verdier, La Ville de St. Denis, Cecile 

 de Chabrillant, Maurice Bernardin, Due de Cazes, Due de Rohan, 

 Duchesse d'Orleans, Jules Margottin, Marechal Vaillant, Madame 

 Boutin, Caroline de Sansal, Madame Boll, Alfred de Rougemont, 

 Souvenir de Comte Cavour, Baronne Prevost, Comte de Nan- 

 teuil, W. Griffiths, Monsieur de Montigny, Lord Clyde, Lord 

 Macaulay, Madame Knorr, Victor Verdier, Madame Clemence 

 Joigneaux, Souvenir de la Reine dAngleterre, Baronne Pelletan 

 de Kinkelin, Madame C. Crapelet, General Washington, Leopold 

 Premier, George Prince, Duchesse de Caylus, Rushton Rad- 

 clyffe, Ducde Wellington, Mademoiselle Amelie Halphen, Glory 

 of Waltham, and Madame Moreau. 



From sight only I recommend Marguerite de St. Amand, 

 Monsieur Boncenne, Rosea alba, and Alba mutabilis. The last 

 two are Tea Roses, and were very good in pots at the Inter- 

 national. 



I do but little in Tea Rose/. Sombreuil is a very hardy ex- 

 cellent white Rose. These appear to be the elite of such as 



I know : Devoniensis, Madame Willermoz, Souvenir d'Eliso 

 Souvenir d'un Ami, Adam, La Beule d'Or, and Rubens. 



At the National Rose Show Mr. Hedge's L'Enfant Trouve, 

 and Souvenir d'Elise, and Mr. Moffat's globular specimen of 

 Gloire de Dijon, were masterpieces. Tea Roses may be grown 

 out of doors under certain conditions, but their proper place is 

 under glass, for which purpose they are the best of all Roses. 

 It is a pity that there are not among them any full-sized high- 

 coloured Roses. 



The Bourbons, Tea-scented Noisettes, and Hybrid Perpetuals, 

 recommended above, are all excellent, and of good growth, con- 

 stitution, and habit. Washington does not always open freely, 

 but it is a grand Rose, a huge red turban. All the rest are free 

 and constant bloomers. — W. F. RiDCLYrrE, Oleford Fitzpaine, 



P.S. — I saw at Rushton two plants each of Glory of Waltham, 

 and Madame Moreau, in splendid bloom. 



GERANIUM PRATENSE AND SYLVATICUM. 

 VIOLA CORNUTA. 



As the subject of carrying improvement as far as possible 

 into the class of Geraniums used for bedding purposes is now 

 receiving much attention, would it not be worth while to eall 

 in the aid of species hitherto despised or not cared for, and 

 ascertain if something could not be obtained from them? 

 Hitherto improvement has run in one course, or nearly so, 

 and it must be admitted that the alteration is so great that the 

 original can scarcely be recognised ; still, further advance seems 

 to be the order of the day, and the industry of hybridisers is 

 now and then rewarded by something fresh. The introduc- 

 tion of Flower of the Day formed a feature, which, followed 

 by Osborn's Brilliant, led the way to many other improvements ; 

 and here I would ask, Is there any Geranium of the present 

 day more prolific than the old Brilliant ? I do not know of 

 any. Golden-leaved varieties have also multiplied, and seem 

 likely to do so, and I suppose that by-and-by the zonale mark- 

 ing on the foliage of Geraniums will have to conform to a 

 clearly-defined line, with no jags or running, but accord with 

 strict rule, like prize Tulips thirty or forty years ago. 



Be this as it may, assuredly there is still room for explora- 

 tion in fresh directions — some openings for a wide departure 

 from the route taken by the generality of hybridisers. I have 

 already pointed out the Ivy-leaved section as deserving notice ; 

 also the small-leaved class represented by Shrubland Pet, in 

 which scent as well as beauty forms an important point ; 

 but I am now anxious to direct attention to a member of the 

 Geranium family still further removed from the brotherhood 

 of ornamental objects, in fact, I am disposed to ask those 

 having the means and the opportunity to call in the aid of one 

 of our British species — a common weed, and ask them to ex- 

 periment with it, and who knows whether something very 

 ornamental may not be produced:' The Pansy and Carnation, 

 I believe, both owe their present degree of perfection to the 

 long-continued exercise of skill and care on the part of culti- 

 vators, both being of British origin, and why not a Geranium ? 

 Our moist meadows and woods contain members of this 

 family, possessing a colour which none of our cultivated ones 

 has yet approached. Geranium sylvaticum and G. pratense, 

 both British plants, have flowers of a pretty bluish purple hne, 

 just that which is wanted among our bedding plants ; and 

 to converl the thinly-clad spike of flower into the compact 

 corymb of the cultivated varieties, presents difficulties no 

 doubt, but the colour is worth the attempt, and if either of 

 these wild species could in any way be made to assist in the 

 production of a Zonale Geranium, having flowers of the same 

 hue as itself, a great boon would be conferred on the public. 



I think I have stated that most of the colours from white up 

 to scarlet have pretty good representatives, and but little 

 further improvement is wanted, or, shall I say, necessary ; but 

 in those classes which may be called a purplish crimson, farther 

 advance is certainly desirable, and if these wild Geraniums 

 of a tolerably good blue can be made serviceable, why, then, 

 perhaps a step towards perfect hardiness may also be made. 



Geranium pratense and sylvaticum, I have not seen for many 

 years, and I could not find them in the few places where I had a 

 chance to look for them at the time they would be in bloom- 

 namely, early in June ; but I hope others know where to look 

 for them. I have seen them flowering beautifully in moist 

 meadows and hedgebanks in the north of England many years 

 ago ; but doubtless Mr. Wills may find them out, and by no one 

 is it more likely that their beauties will be turned to account. 



