November 6, 1860. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



:U9 



as tliese involve as much loss in preparing for table as deep- 

 eyed Potatoes. 



4. The shorter the shoulder of the Cucumber and tho more 

 distinct it is the better — that is, no blending of the shoulder 

 with the general length of the Cucumber, but that general 

 length or gun-barrel part should start with au abrupt round- 

 ness at once from the shoulder, and proceed with the same 

 diameter until it ends as abruptly at tho point. 



5. It is well that the point should be quite green, and if the 

 blossom be attached to it all the better. If the bloom on the 

 Cucumbers is fresh from end to end an extra point will be 

 gained. 



6. As respects proportion, nine diameters used to be con- 

 sidered a good proportional length ; and hence a well-grown 

 symmetrical brace, '.i inches in length and 1 inch in diameter, 

 will have many admirers besides our correspondent. We would 

 prefer that for longer Cucumbers the diameter should be a 

 little less proportionally — that is, a little less than 2 inches for 

 IS inches in length. 



7. We have kept length to the last, bat it will ever form a 

 favourable item in judging when united with freshness and 

 symmetry. Shorter fruit will beat long only when more fresh, 

 more symmetrical, covered with richer bloom, Are. 



There is, however, many a nice crisp Cucumber for nse that 

 may have a long tapering shoulder, be slightly crooked instead 

 of straight, have no blossom at its point, and be deficient in 

 the rich greyish hloom over its shining green coat ; but then 

 no one would think of showing these on an exhibition table.] 



WALTON'S NURSERIES, 



Edcik Em>. m.ap. BrEM.r.Y, Lancashire. 



Tht.se nurseries are situated on the side of a very bleak 

 hi ll , about three miles from Burnley, and the nearest railway 

 station is Brierfield on the East Lancashire and Yorkshire 

 Railway. The traveller, after alighting at the Brierfield station, 

 has to climb a long and rugged hill before he reaches Mr. 

 Walton's nurseries, and there is but little to attract his atten- 

 tion on the way. The scene is very cheerless, for not a vestige 

 of healthy vegetation is there to be seen, except the grass, 

 which appears to grow very luxuriantly ; the smoke from the 

 numerous manufactories does not appear to injure its growth 

 in tho slightest degree. It is certainly the last place in the 

 world where I should have ever dreamt of establishing a 

 nursery. Mr. Walton must have had an undaunted spirit 

 and indomitable resolution when he first made up his mind 

 to start a nursery business on such a cheerless and desolate 

 spot. He could see nothing before him but weary hours of 

 ceaseless toil, for he had not at that time a large sum at his 

 banker's — less than i.''20 he told me was all he had to start with. 

 He no doubt consoled himself with the idea that he had not 

 much to lose. Large houses now well filled with Orchids. 

 Camellias, Azaleas, Hoses, Pelargoniums, stove plants, fcc, 

 show that his untiring zeal has been crowned with success. 

 The lesson all should learn from his success is " Xi! desptran- 

 and however great the difficulties they may see before 

 them, all should take a lesson from Napoleon, who, when one 

 of his generals made use of the word " impossible " in his 

 presence, said, " Impossible is a word only to be found in the 

 dictionary of fools." 



The first house which I entered was devoted to the growth 

 of Camellias ; these were in a free and vigorous state of 

 growth, remarkably clean, and handsome. Another house con- 

 tained some thousands of young plants, which had only been 

 worked last spring ; these were growing very rapidly, and 

 gave promise of soon becoming good saleable plants." It is 

 astonishing how soon Camellias may be brought into a flower- 

 ing state after grafting if they are properly treated. As soon 

 as the graft has taken and has made a little growth, the points 

 of the shoots are pinched out ; this causes the plants to grow 

 very compact, a habit which they will always retain. The 

 great fault of imported plants is that they are generally very 

 leggy. I noticed a large number of fine saleable plants of the 

 following new and beautiful varieties — viz., Bicolor de la Reine, 

 Clementina Magnani, Comte de Gomer, Lavinia Maggi, Countess 

 of Derby, Cup of Beauty, Emilia Bandieri, Jenny Lind, Laura, 

 Princess Frederick William, Queen of Beauties, and a host of 

 others too numerous to mention. 



What astonished me most was the magnificent collection of 

 Indian Azaleas. There are several houses full of these, and 

 they are certainly the finest stock of young plants I have ever 



seen. Mr. Walton and his clever propagator appear to possess 

 a particular mode of their own in propagating and managing 

 Azaleas ; they seem to propagate them almost as easily a3 a 

 Verbena. I was quite astonished to see a fine stock of several 

 hundred plants of the new hybrid Azalea, referred to in The 

 Journal or Hor.Tici-i.Tnu: of February :27th, page 190. When 

 the plant was brought to me it was not more than a foot high ; 

 it was in a four-inch pot. It is certainly tho most beautiful 

 Azalea I have ever seen; it is named Walton's l,)ueen of the 

 North. 



The stock used for working the Azaleas on is the old Alba 

 magna ; this Mr. Walton considers the best. I noticed scores 

 of cutting-pans full of this for stocks ; and as soon as the cut- 

 tings are rooted they are potted off into small thumb pots, kept 

 in a brisk heat, and when they have taken hold of the new 

 soil they are fit for grafting. Mr. Walton uses the smallest 

 tops of the new varieties for grafts. These are worked on 

 the small delicate plants, merely fastened with a small piece 

 of matting, and in a week or so the union is complete. The 

 plants are then placed in a position where they can have the 

 benefit of a brisk heat, with a nice humid atmosphere, and they 

 seem to grow with astonishing rapidity. The fine stock of the 

 new hybrid Azalea mentioned above was worked in this way. 

 The plants are now on clean stems, 8 or 10 inches high, 

 with beautifully compact heads, and are the prettiest lot I ever 

 saw. The point of the graft is taken off as in the case of 

 the Camellias, as soon as the union is complete; the graft 

 then throws out three or four side shoots, and these, as soon 

 as they have made eight or ten leaves, are stopped again ; the 

 process is repeated as soon as the third set of shoots has 

 grown sufficiently long to bear decapitating. This is how Mr. 

 Walton has worked up such a stock of the above variety in so 

 short a time, and not a single top has been wasted. I also 

 noticed large numbers of other new kinds of Azaleas, which 

 had been grown on in a similar way. This house was so inter- 

 esting, every plant being a model of symmetry and beauty, 

 that I could not refrain from going into it again before leav- 

 ing the nursery, to take a last look at the plants. I have 

 seldom seen a sight that pleased me more ; there was so much 

 to interest me in examining the different stages cf growth, 

 first from the cutting, after this the fresh-grafted tiny plants, 

 then the well-formed head, in many instances covered with 

 prominent buds, which give promise of their coming beauty. 

 I was also very much gratified by the kind and free manner 

 in which Mr. Walton's propagator explained the different pro- 

 cesses of propagation and management, for propagators gene- 

 rally like to keep their little secrets of success to themselves, 

 and clothe their operations in mystery. 



The following are a few of the new kinds I jotted down, all 

 are of beautiful habit, and are perfect models : — Beauty of 

 Wi iking, Comet, Excelsior, Forget-me-not, Grande Duchesse 

 de Bade, Imperialis, Oracle, Punctulata, Reine des Pays Bas, 

 Roi des Beauttis, Stella, Vesuvius. Yirginalis. 



I noticed a large plant of one of the common kinds, and all 

 the points of the shoots had been grafted with little bits of 

 Stella. Some scores of grafts had been put on, and the union 

 in every instance was complete. By grafting large plants of 

 the old and worthless kinds in this way, splendid specimens 

 may be had in a very short time. I noticed several beautiful 

 white-variegated sports from Eulalie Van Geert. Xo plant has 

 been more improved in a short time than the Azalea. There 

 yet appears to be plenty of scope for improvement, and by 

 hybridising the choicest varieties with some of the recent 

 hybrid Rhododendrons many magnificent varieties might be 

 produced. 



In the propagating-house I noticed very successful hits with 

 the following plants, many of them are very difficult to deal 

 with, showing that Mr. Walton has the right man in the right 

 place : — Genetyllis tulipifera, Boronia pinnata, Acrophyllum 

 venosum, Eurya latifolia, Franciscea Lindenii, Rogeria gra- 

 tissima, several of the choice Retinosporas, choice hybrid Rho- 

 dodendrons, Gardenia radicans variegata. Ericas, and Epacrises. 

 There was also a fine stock of Ericas and Epacrises in different 

 stages of growth looking remarkably healthy. Creeping on the 

 roof of a large house I noticed a large plant of the variegated 

 Cobaea scandens. This plant had thrown out a beautiful golden 

 sport which I consider very pretty and well worth distribut- 

 ing. The leaves have a nice bright green centre with a thick 

 golden margin ; in appearance the variegation is very much 

 like that of the golden Arabis, only the leaves are much larger 

 and the colours more clearly defined. I consider this superior 

 to the variety it has sported from. 



