2M 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 11, 1666. 



small in number and in size, and unequal in flavour to those 

 which ripen in September. The fruit of the Fig is apt to fall 

 cfl. The tree requires muoh water. — J. J. T. 



[We prefer pinching the end of the shoot before it has made 

 the leaves.] 



GRASSES FOR LAWNS. 

 (Continued from page 167.) 

 Poa nemoralis angcstifolia (Narrow-leaved Wood Meadow 

 Grass).. — This is perhaps the most valuable of all grasses to the 

 gardener, as it grows better than any other in shady places, 

 but will also thrive in those which are much exposed ; indeed 

 it will succeed almost anywhere, forming a close and beautiful 

 green turf. Its chief value consists in its suitability for shady 

 lawns, for growing under groups of trees in parks, and for woods, 

 in order to encourage game. Its description is as follows : — Root 



fibrous, scarcely creeping. Whole plant very slender and deli- 

 cate, 1J or 2 feet high. Stems several, erect, slightly flattened, 

 smooth, streaked, leafy, with four or five joints. Leaves almost 

 all on the stem, grass green, long, narrow, flat, with three 

 principal ribs and many intermediate ones ; more or less rough, 

 especially the midrib and edges ; tapering to a fine slender 

 point ; the lowermost smooth at the back. Sheaths hardly so 

 long as the leaves, flattened, nearly smooth. Stipula very short 

 in all the leaves, and inclosed within the sheath, but visibly 

 notched along the margin. Flower-head a panicle, erect, or 

 slightly drooping to one side, very slender, with numerous, 

 half-whorled, angular, rough, wavy, compound branches. Spike- 

 lets erect, pale green and white, with a purplish tinge, their 

 general surface shining, and nearly smooth. Calyx of two un- 

 equal spear-head shaped, taper-pointed, almost awned valves, 

 each with three ribs ; the keel, or central rib, rough ; the mar. 

 gin of the larger, or innermost, much swollen and membranous- 

 Florets two or three, rarely four. Outer valve of the corolla- 

 spear-head shaped, acute, with five ribs, of which the two mar- 

 ginal ones and the keel are finely silky at their lower part, the 

 two intermediate ones smooth, and not very conspicuous unless 

 the glume be held against the light ; inner valve narrow, rough- 

 edged, cloven at the point. The base of each floret is some- 



times, not always, hairy, but there is no complicated web. 

 Stigmas large and tufted. Nectary of two acute cloven scales." 

 — G. Abbey. 



(To be continued.) 



POT-CULTURE OF PEACH TREES UNDER 

 GLASS. 



As everybody is talking of pot Peach cultivation, some ap- 

 proving, some condemning, and some undecided, I am induced 

 to send you a specimen of Royal George, Royal Kensington, 

 Millet's Mignonne, and Noblesse, in order that you may have 

 some idea of their success here (Perthshire). 



My experience convinces me that Peaches may thus be 

 grown with as much certainty of crop, as trees covering walls 

 and trellis with root-rambling freedom, provided moderate 

 quantities are taken, the product of the circumference by half 

 the diameter in feet being equal to the very highest number 

 that ought to be left, if good presentable fruit be the object, 

 and if something very fine must be had, that amount must 

 still be moderated. Eighty and one hundred fruit per tree is 

 absurd, as any lady or gentleman will find, should a house be 

 incautiously filled with trees already furnished with fruit to 

 that amount. Consult the Kentish Peach and Apple farmers, 

 as well as those whose interest it is to dispose of their stock. 



I find flat-roofed and permanently open-sided houses are 

 not suitable to this part of the country, as some empty, and 

 some full of nothing but what will succeed as well outside 

 as in, will show. If no fire heat is to be used, the houses 

 should be set to the equatorial noonday sunbeams, or even 

 10° further back (22nd February), and there should be full 

 power to shut out the cold air when necessary. What good 

 is there in raising heat in one part, if only to raise a current 

 in another to carry it off ? Objection may be taken to the 

 circumscribed area of flooring in these high pitches, and what 

 is lost in that is more than compensated in the use of the 

 wall, and a more genial and effective heat.' 



It has been said that pot Peach trees cannot be exhibited in 

 fruit. I took some last year, the distance out and home over 

 highway, rail, and causeway being some 130 miles, without 

 losing one-tenth, and within three weeks of their being ripe. 

 With loading and unloading, they were shifted seven times. 

 They are quite as easily carried as plants in flower. — Perth- 

 shire. 



[These were very fine specimens, all of them from 9 to 

 91 inches in circumference. Royal George and Millet's Mig- 

 nonne are the same. 1 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS 



In consequence of the failure of the crops at Chiswick this 

 season, the trial of Peas, which was looked forward to with 

 some degree of interest, has not been made. The first crop 

 sown was entirely devoured by grubs and slugs notwithstand- 

 ing the close vigilance of those under whose care it was 

 placed ; and the second sowing was so affected with mildew 

 that no correct observations could be made. Arrangements 

 have been made for another attempt next season, which it is 

 hoped will be more successful ; and it is intended that all the 

 early varieties shall be sown in autumn for the purpose of 

 ascertaining which is best adapted for winter sowing. Those 

 who are possessed of new varieties and are desirous that they 

 should be included in the trial, should at once forward a small 

 parcel of each to Mr. Barron, at Chiswick. 



It is with much pleasure we announce, that the great 



collection of Ferns, as well as pha-nogamous plants, formed by 

 Mr. John Smith, the late Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden 

 at Kew, has been purchased for the national collection in the 

 British Museum. Such a collection of Ferns as Mr. Smith 

 made during a long and laborious life is, we believe, perfectly 

 unique. 



We regret to have to announce the death of Mr. J. J- 



Blandy, of Reading, who has long taken a prominent part 

 in horticultural matters in this country. For many years 

 Mr. Blandy was a Member of Council of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society, for which to the last he retained a strong at- 

 tachment. He was also the deputy chairman of the Committee 

 of the International Horticultural Exhibition. He died at his 

 residence, at Highgrove, on the 2nd inst., aged 72. 



■ Two physicians, Drs. Sigerson and Divers, state, in a 



