238 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 25, 1866. 



ance, their bright green leaves indicating a perfect immunity 

 from the attacks of red spider, also to their symmetrical 

 shapes, and not merely to the quality of the fruit, which last, 

 however, especially the Peaches, were very fine ; and although 

 they were grown in the same county as that in which Saw- 

 bridgeworth is situated, they seem to have far surpassed the 

 vapid produce upon which your correspondent, who lives in 

 the south of England, is so touchingly pathetic. Perhaps the 

 use of 18-inch pots has given me an advantage over him, and 

 I find that by giving the trees in these a good mulching, and 

 renewing it when necessary, the roots are tempted to the 

 surface, and I am thus freed from the necessity of -lifting the 

 tiees, which in such heavy pots would be no easy matter. And 

 now, being just about to start for the seaside, where I still pro- 

 pose to view everything en couleur de rose, even the hyper- 

 critical and exacting " S. B.," should I have the good fortune 

 to fall in with him, I must bid adieu to this controversy. One 

 word, however, lefore I'm off. 



There can be no doubt that the present has been an unfavour- 

 able season for the ripening of fruit. Even those samples of 

 Peaches which were sent for competition to the Crystal Palace 

 Show were observed to be inferior to those usually exhibited 

 there ; and when I ventured to speak of my success in orchard- 

 house culture to your readers I by no means meant to imply 

 that I alone was exempt from that insuperable drawback of 

 cloudy weather, from which all cultivators must have suffered 

 more or less this diastrous year ; but I considered that, if in 

 spite of this obstacle I had managed to grow Peaches, if not 

 as exquisite in flavour as under brighter auspices, yet upon 

 the whole very good, measuring, some of those under glass 

 9J inches in circumference, and outside the house 8{ inches, 

 I was fairly entitled to recount, for the encouragement of 

 others, the results of my experience. — A Constant Readeb. 



from very tender Asparagus. When boiled they were of a 

 beautiful bright green colour, and the only fault we found was 

 that there was not enough gathered. I intend, if spared, to 

 grow them more extensively next season, but in the open 

 ground. 



How can we differ so widely ? it may be asked. I rather 

 fancy that your correspondent has not used them sufficiently 

 young, and I do not think it is fair to taste a vegetable meant 

 for eating in a particular way without the usual accompani- 

 ments. Would Asparagus or Sea-kale be the same things with- 

 out the melted butter ? or Lettuce quite so good without the 

 vinegar and oil ? Therefore let not your correspondent hastily 

 condemn, but try once more, and I believe he will find this new 

 Radish a welcome addition to our vegetables. — D., Deal. 



LAXTON'S PROLIFIC EAELY LONGPOD PEA. 



After an absence from home of more than a fortnight I find 

 my letter of inquiry respecting Laxton's Pea has called forth 

 numerous other letters, the authors of which have evidently 

 written in haste or at least without thought as to what they 

 were writing about ; for if they will take the trouble of referring 

 to my letter they will rind that I did not condemn the Pea, 

 but merely inquired which of the three pods sent I was to con- 

 sider Laxton's, and I will leave it for you to say whether or not 

 there was a marked difference in them. Passing over the other 

 writers, I will only reply in part to Messrs. Laxton and Carter 

 and Co. First to Mr. Laxton, I would say he has mistaken my 

 letter, thinking that I condemn his Pea, which is not the case ; 

 and I am perfectly aware that Peas in the dry state differ 

 very considerably in appearance, as in Dickson's Favourite, 

 Champion of Paris, See., but more especially in the wrinkled 

 kinds, as Ne Plus Ultra, but they do not show that difference 

 in the growth or produce in the green state ; and, lastly, I did 

 not say that his Pea was advertised as the best Pea in cultiva- 

 tion. To Messrs. Carter & Co. I would say I am what I sign 

 myself, " an Amateur," and that I have been able to inspect 

 the Peas daily from sowing to gathering, and should feel 

 obliged if they would say why I had three such distinct kinds 

 if others had not ; for distinct they were, one growing 2 feet 

 high, another 3 feet, and Laxton's upwards of 4 feet ; and, 

 further, I beg to say that their published illustration is both 

 incorrect aud unnatural — incorrect, inasmuch as Laxton's Pea 

 (with me) has not produced two pods on one stem, and un- 

 natural as to the representation both of the Peas in the pod 

 and the pods on the haulm. — An Amateue. 



raphanus caudatus. 



My experience of this new vegetable entirely differs from that 

 of your correspondent at Malvern Well.-, and I rather imagine 

 there must be something wrong in his treatment and manage- 

 ment. I had four seeds early in the year, aud sowed them in 

 pots. From these I gathered seed again, and sowed some in the 

 open ground, and my judgment of it is this — that as a vegetable 

 uncooked it does very well to mix with salad ; but that I should 

 not grow it for that purpose, but as a cooked vegetable I consider 

 it a great delicacy. I gathered the pods when about 9 inches 

 or a foot long, and directed the cook to treat them as she would 

 Asparagus. They were accordingly served up on toast, with 

 some melted butter to eat with them ; and I feel convinced that 

 few persons would have been able to have distinguished them 



IVY ON TREES. 



Will you state your opinion as to the benefit or disadvan- 

 tage of cutting off the Ivy from trees on which it has attained 

 a very considerable growth ? I have several large Oaks, Ashes, 

 and Pines, on which, from neglect, the Ivy has fastened 

 strongly, having enveloped many of them to the very top, and 

 become as thick as a man's arm at the root. I cut some of 

 the Ivy a year ago at the root, and it is now hanging brown 

 and lifeless, and dropping off by degrees, but the trees look 

 much more unhealthy than those on which it has been left 

 undisturbed, and I fear to kill them by removing it. Your 

 advice as to this, aud also time and method, will much oblige 

 —J. S. L. 



[We have several times had trees in the condition you speak 

 of, aud found them much relieved by the Ivy being cut away. 

 Perhaps, however, the benefit was not always perceptible in the 

 first year, but it certainly became so. We did exactly as you 

 have done, cut the Ivy at the root and allowed it to remain on 

 the tree until it dropped off by decay, a process which on one 

 occasion we believe took eight years or more ; but the tree, an 

 Oak, looks much better now than it did while the Ivy was on 

 it, and several others less encumbered have shown similar 

 good results from being relieved of so tenacious a parasite. 

 Care, should, however, be taken in cutting the Ivy, not to cut 

 through the bark of the permanent tree also. When the Ivy 

 is as large as you describe, a hand-saw is a very good tool for the 

 purpose. We prefer letting the dead Ivy remain on the tree, 

 as it then drops away by degrees, rather than suddenly strip- 

 ping the tree of a clothing which, though hurtful to it, has 

 no doubt rendered the bark more accessible to the influences 

 of atmospheric changes, and when once it is dead the tightness 

 of its grasp is relaxed, and the tree throws it off when the 

 proper time comes. We have seen several trees strangled 

 with Ivy, and which have died after, of course, a struggle of 

 greater or less duration. It is, however, quite possible that in 

 the very last stage of a tree's struggle for life, it may not 

 benefit by the relief given, as it may be too far gone. If your 

 trees are not so, we think you may safely cut away all the Ivy 

 and await the result with a certainty that most, if not all of 

 them, will be in a healthy condition half a dozen years hence, 

 and probably before that time, unless adverse seasons or treat- 

 ment intervene.] 



ROSES. 



Mr. Kent has kindly reminded me of "omissions" and 

 " insertions." With regard to " omissions," he reminds me 

 of that excellent Rose John Hopper, of which I have twenty-five 

 tine plants, and Beauty of Waltham. He is quite right. I 

 see John Hopper in the copy of the article. 



Please to add these to my list— John Hopper, Beauty of 

 Waltham, Mrs. W. Paul, Madame C. Wood, Gloire de Vitry, 

 Empereur de Maroc. For deep loams only and protected 

 situations I recommend Louise Teyronny, Madame Vidot, and 

 Madame Rivers. The last two have not yet been beaten in 

 their line of colour. I have put down Alba Mutabilis as a 

 Tea Rose instead of a Hybrid Perpetual. Both Rosea Alba 

 and Alba Mutabilis at the International Exhibition looked so 

 like Madame Bravy that I supposed them to be Teas. Mr. 

 Kent objects further to the omission of General Jacqueminot 

 and Mdlle. Bonnaire. The former is superseded by many fine 

 crimson Roses that are full to their centres ; the latter is very 

 beautiful, but a bad grower. The General may be retained for 

 ornament. 



