November ti, 1BG6. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



346. 



or less extensively, each grower having favourites of his own ; 

 while all aro in some degree influenced by the demand of the 

 public, who are attached to a few names, and who regard inno- 

 vation with suspicion. — J. Bouson. 



VENTILATION. 



A shout time ago Mr. Bithaut called our attention to the 

 evils of cold draughts in houses ; yet orchard-houses are built 

 with an express provision for the admission of such draughts, 

 and on the ground that the ventilation is thus rendered moro 

 complete, and the air, reaching the under surface of the leaves, 

 makes the rod spider uncomfortable. I observe, however, that 

 narrow orchard-houses are now giving way to broad ones, and 

 it is possible that tho superiority of the latter may arise as 

 much from the comparative absence of draughts as from their 

 greater immunity from frost. 



I havo built my orchard-houses as I was told, but long be- 

 fore these structures were thought of I built myself an uuheated 

 vinery upon the reverse principle — namely, giving air at tho 

 top only. My idea was that the cold external air while descend- 

 ing was met by the warm ascending current, that it fell to the 

 floor with its chill off, and then slowly rose among the foliage. 

 The success of this vinery has been remarkable. There is no 

 front ventilation whatever except a few air-bricks in the front 

 wall, which are stuffed up with hay till the Grapes begin to 

 ripen, when the hay is removed, and a current allowed to pass 

 through the house day and night. Possibly Peaches might not 

 thrive under such treatment, but Vines certainly do.— G. S. 



THE NEW ROSES. 



I have already, in giving a short account of an afternoon at 

 Vitry, said something about M. Eugene Verdier's new Roses ; 

 and although I cannot positively pronounce on more than one 

 or two of them, I would not set this down as condemnatory of 

 the remainder. In looking over a very large number of flowers 

 of any sort one is apt to become bewildered, especially if the 

 time for doing so be short; and as I have explained, owing to 

 a misapprehension I had but little time, nor had I the advan- 

 tage of M. Eugene Verdier's company in seeing his Roses. I 

 therefore give now my opinion of the ten with this reservation. 

 Hia own description, excepting that of the foliage, which has 

 very little interest for us, iB first given, and then, as before, 

 my own judgment. 



11. Comte Litta. — Flowers large, full, well formed; petals 

 elegantly waved, very large, a magnificent velvety colour, fiery 

 red, indescribable purple, and edged with violet. An extra 

 variety. 



12. Jules Calot. — Flowers not very large, blooming in clusters 

 of from ten to fifteen, full, very well formed, and holding 

 themselves well, beautiful carmine red, strongly bordered with 

 blush. A very pretty variety. 



13. Madame George Paul. — Flowers large, full, imbricated, 

 well formed, large round petals, beautiful shaded lively rose, 

 strongly shaded with a whitish border at the outer edge. A 

 superb variety. 



14. Madame la Baronne Haussmann. — Flowers not very large, 

 in clusters of from three to eight, full, well formed, beautiful 

 lively carmine red. Very good variety. 



15. Madame la Baromie Maurice de Graviers (!) Flowers not 

 very large (they ought to be with such a name), blooming in 

 clusters of from three to eight, well formed, and holding them- 

 selves well, beautiful cherry red shaded with rose and carmine ; 

 reverse of petals blush. A remarkable variety. 



16. Madame la Comtesse de Turcnne. — Very vigorous. Flowers 

 large, full, flat, imbricated, in clusters of from three to six, 

 delicate flesh colour, with bright centre. 



17. Mademoiselle Annie Wood. — Plant vigorous. Flowers 

 large, very full, perfectly imbricated, beautiful clear red. An 

 unexceptionable variety. 



18. Mademoiselle Eleanor Grier. — Piant vigorous. Flower 

 largo, full, of perfect form, and holding itself well, beautiful 

 shaded lively rose. A very remarkable variety, reminding one 

 of the most beautiful Provence Roses. 



_ ■ 19. Napoleon III. — Plant vigorous. Flowers large, blooming 

 in clusters of from three to six> full ; magnificent and unique 

 in colour, of two different and perfectly distinct colours — very 

 lively scarlet, and shaded slaty violet. An extra variety of the 

 very first order, and of an incomparable effect. 



20. Velours Pourpre. — Plant vigorous. Flowers medium siae, 

 blooming in clusters of three to six, full, lively velvety crimson, 

 heightened with shaded brown, scarlet, and violet. A very 

 pretty variety. 



This seems, and is, a large number to bo let out by one 

 raiser, especially as they aro all his own raising ; but in looking 

 at our Rose lists it cannot be denied that wo owo a great many 

 of our really good Roses to M. Eugene Verdier. Not to go 

 beyond last year, I find th.il uraily nil 11 iowi . even those 

 who keep their lists most select, have placed in them Charles 

 Ronillard, Marguerite Dombrain, and Jean Lambert, while 

 others speak very highly of Fisher Holmes, Alba Mutabilis, 

 and Princo de Porcia ; and thus out of his ten of last year 

 there are six which promise well. I have no hesitation in 

 saying that I regard Napoleon III. as the very brightest RoBe 

 in cultivation. I saw it amongst a multitude of other bright- 

 coloured flowers, and it immediately attracted my notice by the 

 intensity of its scarlet colour. Comte Litta I also consider as 

 good. The same may be said of Mademoiselle Annie Wood ; . 

 but unquestionably the best is Napoleon III. It and Antoine 

 Ducher I considered to be the best two Roses I saw on the 

 Continent. Next week I hope to take up those flowers which. 

 I have not seen, and in which we must be guided by other 

 evidence. — D., Deal. 



GROWING STRAWBERRIES FOR PROFIT. 



There is a dispute between two market gardeners about 

 growing Strawberries to the best advantage for market, and we 

 thought that we could not appeal to a better referee than you. 

 No doubt there are many ways of growing them, all turning out 

 pretty well, and every person thinks his way the best ; but at 

 the same time there must be a rule for this as well as for other 

 things. 



I am very sorry to see but very little from the hard-working 

 market gardener. He seems to work from morning to night, 

 and nover think3 of looking at a book or paper to see hovr 

 things have altered since he wa3 a boy. How many a hard 

 day's work could he lighten, how much more money could he 

 save, by expending a little to have some new sorts of things to- 

 bring him in about four times as much as the old ! Take for 

 example the Strawberry. Look at tho old Black Prince and 

 the old Carolinas ; compare them with such as Frogmore Pine, 

 Sir Harry, Myatt's Eleanor, or Eliza, or any such sorts. Put 

 the old Black Currants against the new, say the old Black 

 Dutch against the Black Naples ; and in Gooseberries it is the 

 same, to say nothing about Pears and Apples, and many other 

 things. 



But the old stagers say, " We have had them many years, 

 and have done very well, and it 's not worth while to change I" 

 That stand-still system will not do for us youngsters. We 

 can see the difference, and now we come to ask you to decide. 



My plan is, first to find out the best croppers and those that 

 will bear travelling, for that is a great point for the grower as 

 well as for the buyer. I have seen two sorts put together after 

 they had come twenty miles, and have made from id. to 6d~ 

 per quart more of them. Alice Maude and Myatt's Eleanor 

 are the best that I havo had yet, one for early and the other 

 for late supply. 



And now about growing them. We always like to have our 

 ground trenched twelve or eighteen months before planting, 

 applying plenty of good rotten cowdung, and we do not put in 

 too heavy crops before we plant the Strawberries, but always give 

 plenty of dressing with them. Our last crop before planting 

 them consists of early Potatoes, and we dig these up as soon 

 as the Strawberry plants are large enough to put out, which is 

 about July. We put early ones in beds, three rows in a bed, 

 and two-feet walks between the beds. We let this plantation 

 remain for three years, and then we dig out the middle of the 

 beds, and line the plants in rows with a good coat of dressing. 

 We thus get them to give good crops for two or three years longer. 

 We also plant some in early borders pretty thickly just for one 

 year ; we find this succeed, as the plants do not consume the 

 dressing from tho fruit trees. We obtain a crop between the 

 planting every year for our late ones. If our ground is wet 

 and heavy we plant them on ridges, just the same as for Man- 

 gold WurtzeL. * We find that the large sorts require it to get 

 plenty of sun and air, otherwise they rot. If the ground is 

 light we put them in in rows 2J feet apart, and 1 foot between 

 the plants in the row. 



And now for the other plan. So far as I know it is »j» 



