October 9, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



279 



effective. Our candid opinion is, that if there are not many 

 who would make such a circular flower garden, thero will be 

 many who will take a hint from this design of Mr. Earley for 

 making a chain border. We can fancy such a border, straight 

 or curved, without any grass, gravel, or Box, except at the out- 

 sides, and all ouo mass of contrasted colour, and of uniform 

 height, looking exceedingly well. Even a nico balancing as to 

 proportion and sizo could easily be obtained by making the 

 circumference of one circle go farther into its next neighbour, 

 and thus reduce tho present centre, and enlarge each oval. 

 The great advantage of such a composition border would bo 

 that its character and design could be changed every year, just 

 as Mr. Robson changes the pattern of his large composition 

 bed. After having seen that bed in its full beauty, we would 

 sooner contrive to keep all tho lines right with peg or string, 

 and go about among the plants as we could, than have plots 

 of glass in the centre of beds, involving the ideas not only 

 of going through or jumping over the beds, but of taking 

 donkey-loads of grass out through them by some means or 

 other. If such is our opinion, that is no reason why many of 

 our readers would not rather in this respect agree with Mr. 

 Earley, and if so, we trust they will carry out their own tastes. 

 In all that Mr. Earley says against complicated designs for 

 flower gardens wo fully agree. There is much also in his refer- 

 ence to odd numbers, that " a trio would be a more pleasing 

 circlet than four ;" but we think the very pleasure is greatly 

 owing to the simple fact that it is at once seen there arc a centre 

 and two wing.-, or a middle and one or more on each side. Have 

 a centre, distinct in itself, and put three circles on one side, and 

 one on the other, and where would be the agreeable character 

 of the chain as a whole ? Here again, however, there may be 

 much diversity of opinion ; hut after planting odd and even 

 numbers so as to make a whole, we think it much easier to 

 balance in pairs from a centre. We do not quite comprehend 

 the " dislike to even numbers when the whole are reducible to 

 a minimum quantity," though we can quite agree that odd 

 numbers may each be so treated separately as to make an har- 

 monious whole. We value Mr. Earley's plans because they 

 break in upon the usual stereotyped arrangements for flower 

 gardens, and we ought to be grateful for anything that stirs us 

 up to go out of the usual beaten track.] 



ROSE ALBA MUTARILIS— MELONS AND VINES. 



I was as much surprised to find the colour of this Rose was 

 rose colour as ,; D." was to find that I described it of the 

 colour of Alba Rosea, alias Madame Bravy. It was, at the 

 International Horticultural Exhibition, white in its outer 

 petals and rose-tinted within. Its name " Mutabilis " will 

 account for its being " variable." If its native colour is rose 

 I do not think so well of it as I did at the International. 

 Moreover, its habit is drooping, which is not a virtue. 



I thank Mr. Abbey for his various articles, and especially for 

 his article on Melons. I have gained great and useful inform- 

 ation on Grape-growing from Mr. Pearson's nice work. I hope 

 Mr. Abbey will publish a work on Melon culture through the 

 Journal office. I Lave made a beginning with Grapes and 

 Melons, and have also made " some flukes." My Melons are 

 Turner's Gem, Golden Perfection, and the old Beechwood. 

 The first and last are excellent ; the second I have not yet 

 tasted. My Black Hamburgh Grapes shanked at one time, but 

 I stopped the evil by the good advice in Mr. Pearson's work. 

 — W. P. IUdclyffe, Okeford Fitzpaine. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



After the meeting of the Floral and Fruit Committees of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society on the 2nd inst., a joint Com- 

 mittee was formed, and the subject of the Exhibition proposed 

 next year, to be continued for four days, was resumed. Messrs. 

 John Veitch, Standish, Turner, Bull, Fraser, and others, made 

 brief observations, and all approved of the suggestion, and 

 promised their support provided a proper place for the Exhi- 

 bition were prepare!, and liberal prizes were offered. Although 

 it was suggested that the prizes should be doubled, in consider- 

 ation of the time the plants would be required, we should 

 hardly think it reasonable that the premier prizes of £20 should 

 be made £40. We are quite certain of this, that the prizes offered 

 will be on a very liberal scale. It was satisfactory to find 

 that no dissentient voice was heard on the subject, and we 



sincerely hope tho result will prove equally beneficial to the 

 exhibitors as to the Society itself. Unanimity will secure both. 



Many of the Eupatoriums, North American, European, 



and tropical, have been employed as medical agents for ages, 

 and at one timo were alleged to be gifted with marvellous 

 powers of healing. Swartz found a species, which ho named 

 Eupatorium nervosum, in the highest mountains of Jamaica, 

 where it is locally known as " Bitter Bush," and was there 

 employed, it is said, with great success as an antidote against 

 cholera. The physicians in tho island consider it a most 

 reliable medicine in cases of typhus fever and small-pox. This 

 and another plant from tho same island are about to bo tried 

 in this country as medical agents. The other plant is Croton 

 humile, which Endlicher mentions is used in the West Indies 

 in medicating bottles for nervous weaknesses. Its sap i« 

 pungent, and pieces of the shoots are sometimes masticated to 

 remove relaxations of tho throat. 



A letter to us remarks—" I have just passed through 



Daventry, and it is the first town at which I have known an 

 ' Onion Fair.' I was told that the quantities offered for sale, 

 though large, were not so large as last year. The prices varied 

 from Is. 9d. to 2s. ikl. per bushel." 



The turf used for covering the raised borders in the 



International Horticultural Exhibition is now to he sold, and 

 can be had on application to Mr. Gibson, Battersea Park. We 

 are informed that the turf is in excellent condition. 



The annual ceremony of crowning the king of the 



Pumpkins at the Central Markets, Paris, took place on Sep- 

 tember 28th. The vegetable which obtained the honour this 

 year weighed 258 lbs., and measured 10 feet 4 inches in cir- 

 cumference. It was grown at Gonesse (Seine et Oise). 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Every piece of ground that now becomes vacant should have 

 the requisite quantity of manure laid on, and trenching should 

 be proceeded with at every favourable opportunity, A strict 

 attention to the order and general propriety of the garden at 

 this season will have its obvious advantages. Cabbage, plant- 

 ing can be proceeded with. Celery will still require earthing 

 up as it advances, and Endive must be tied up to blanch. There 

 should be two separate receptacles for garden rubbish attached 

 to every kitchen garden (and I allude to this matter at present 

 because the accumulation of weeds and decayed vegetable 

 matter is considerable at this season of the year), one to receive 

 the matter convertible by gradual decomposition into manure, 

 the other to contain every substance that can conveniently be 

 burnt. A good reserve of burnt earth and wood ashes should 

 exist in every garden ; the latter may be advantageously substi- 

 tuted for manure of a stronger character in rich soils, which it is 

 desirable to relieve. Some people pretend to discriminate be- 

 tween the Broccolis grown on poor soils and those cultivated in 

 highly-manured gardens around London. It is highly probable 

 that the flavour of the Brassica tribe may be heightened, and 

 not improved, by rank soil, and no doubt manure is sometimes 

 excessively and injudiciously employed in the cultivation of 

 vegetables. . 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Pay every attention to promoting the ripening of the wood 

 of Peaches and Apricots by exposure, shortening, &o. Most 

 kinds of Apples may be gathered during the present month. 

 Late Pears should be left on the trees while the weather con- 

 tinues favourable to the ripening. Prepare for planting all 

 kinds of fruit trees by putting the ground in good order. On 

 cold stiff soils it is advisable to plant on hillocks 1 foot or 

 18 inches higher than the surrounding surface. The trees will 

 not grow so fast in consequence, and will require more atten- 

 tion in summer in the way of mulching, but they will form 

 short-jointed, well-ripened wood, which is the best preventive of 

 canker, gum, &c, and will save the labour of resorting much to 

 root-pruning. Attend to former directions as to root-pruning, 

 and where this is required let it be done at once. Root- 

 pruning, however, is not of much service where the subsoil is 

 such that tho roots can strike down into it, and where such is 

 the case it will be better to lift over-luxuriant trees, and con- 

 crete the bottom of the border, as cutting the horizontal roots, 

 although it may check tho gross habit for a season, would not 

 induce a fruitful habit. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



When evergreens are to be removed let it be done as soon as 

 circumstances will admit, for the most favourable season for 



