40* 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Docember 18, 1806. 



of the Pocket Melon, is only one example of the truth of the 

 dictum. The comparative want of flavour in this variety of 

 Melon has caused it to drop out of general cultivation, and 

 it is not likely to maintain its new popularity unless the ex- 

 perience of the succeeding summer shall show that it will ripen 

 its fruit with less Leat than other and hotter varieties. I trust 

 that those who may make any experimental trial on this point, 

 will communicate the result in the autumn. 



There is another antiquated Melon, introduced as far hack as 

 a.d. 1597, hut which would now be a novelty. I allude to the 

 Banket Melon (Cucumis flexuosus), cultivated at Nagasaki, 

 and said by Miller to be delicious. Can any of your readers 

 enlighten us as to the real value of the fruit, or whether it is 

 still cultivated in England ? — G. S. 



A FEW OF THE ZONALE AND VARIEGATED 

 PELARGONIUMS OF luce. 



It is very pleasing to observe the improvement taking place 

 ill these favourite flowers from season to season ; and when 

 many are added to the large number we already possess in the 

 catalogues cent out by the many nurserymen of the present 

 day, no doubt readers of The Journal of Horticulture 

 would like to know what are really worth growing for general 

 purposes. 



_ In order of merit, I place first, Le Grand, a fine-habited va- 

 riety, a good grower and free bloomer, with immense trusses of 

 carmine scarlet, shaded with rose ; could one throw a white 

 eye in the centre it would be more beautiful still. 



Sir 7?. Peel is another gem of the first water, in colour a fine 

 orange scarlet, with large trusses of bloom, habit dwarf, and a 

 free bloomer ; a first-class Zonale in every respect. 



Gladiateur, for size of flower, is unequalled in its class ; in 

 colour it is of a light salmon, fine truss. A magnificent Pelar- 

 gonium for the conservatory ; of strong habit. 



II. W. LontifiUutr. — A pretty dark-shaded salmon, good truss ; 

 a useful variety. 



May Queen. — Habit and truss good, lighter in colour than 

 Beaute do Surosues, flower-stalks well elevated above the foliage ; 

 a desirable variety. 



I now come to the variegated class, and how beautiful these 

 varieties are ! Here I place first 



Queen of 'i'runhirs. — The flowers of this variety are very large, 

 and combined with its beautiful foliage and general good habit, 

 it will take- its stand as one of the best of the tricolor class. Its 

 foliage has a fine dark centre of green, and a wide edging of 

 fine yellow, with a rich hand of crimson running into the 

 yellow. 



Bronze Queen is a variety of the Golden-leaf section, of very 

 dwarf habit, and an excellent bloomer ; trusses of good size, in 

 colour orange scarlet. It has also a fine bronze zone on the 

 yellow leaf ; it would make an excellent second row in a ribbon 

 border. This variety must be grown to be appreciated. 



I think many readers of your Journal will join me in thank- 

 ing Mr. Pearson for his excellent paper on the culture of this 

 interesting class of plants. I quite coincide with him. — Nil 

 Desperanbuii. 



PINCHING FRUIT TREE SHOOTS— PEAS- 

 POTATOES. 



I was both interested and amused some weeks ago by the 

 first letter of your reverend correspondent, " A Constant 

 Reader" (see page 140); and I thought what a fortunate man 

 he was to have been so very successful in such a season as the 

 ungenial and sunless one we are now splashing through. My 

 smile, however, was anything but an ill-natured one, for I am 

 as fond of gardening as anybody, and I think it a pleasant 

 thing to see a quiet-paced hobby, especially if it be a gardening 

 one, ridden, and patted on the shoulder with so much pleasure 

 and contentment. 



"A Constant Reader" appears indeed to have gained 

 wholesome experience and knowledge upon a point respecting 

 which a little information from him would greatly oblige me. 

 He says, " Do not be in too great a hurry to pinch in your 

 young shoots," and he adds that this is an error he has 

 learned how to rectify. Now this is precisely the mistake I 

 begin to think I have myself fallen into, and if he will kindly 

 inform your readers what the error was, what the result of the 

 wrong-doing, and, finally, what is his practice now, and by 



what rules and times he guides it — I, for one, shall feel myself 

 not a little indebted to him. 



I gave you on a former occasion the results of my experience 

 regarding the early Peas of 1H05. This year I grew for the first 

 time Dickson's First and Best. It may, perhaps, be a little 

 earlier than Sangster's No. 1, but I did not find it in any other 

 respect better, and as it is by no means so good a cropper, I 

 shall go back to my first love. Laxton's new Pea is just as 

 large, as handsome, and as free a bearer as its raiser said it 

 was, but I do not like the flavour, too much Pea, and I shall 

 not grow it again. For the same reason, and because it is not 

 in my soil a productive Pea, I dismiss Veitch's Perfection. 

 Sangster's No. 1, Fairbeard's Surprise (which I prefer to its 

 twin brother Champion), Advancer, and Wonderful, will quite 

 content me and keep my family, not a small one, well sup- 

 plied. The last-named is, as well as Advancer, a seedling of 

 Dr. Maclean's, and is of good flavour, 2{ feet high, and a profuse 

 bearer. 



Of Potatoes, Mona's Pride, and I speak now from the 

 experience of several seasons, is first rate ; and Rivers's Boyal 

 Ashleaf is equally good and prolific, but not quite so early. — 

 Theta. 



POTATOES. 



To those who prefer the useful to the ornamental the root 

 about which I write to-day is of far greater interest than that 

 about which I wrote last. It appeals to a more general want. 

 We can do without a Gladiolus, hut it is very hard to do 

 without a Potato. " Them Haricot Baines " are but a poor 

 substitute even at the table of the well-to-do ; while to the 

 poor man, whether he be John Bull, Sandy McAllister, or Paddy 

 O'Rourke, it is an indispensable ; and albeit political econo- 

 mists have told ns that it was Paddy's ruin and Sandy's bane, 

 yet it will take many a generation of William Cobbetts to per- 

 suade either of them that they must do without their Potato. 

 This general want, and the desire consequent thereon of pos- 

 sessing good kinds of Potatoes, have led to a great multipli- 

 cation of sorts said to be distinct, but many of which are very 

 far from it ; in fact, without accusing the sellers of dishonesty, 

 it is easy to account for the many so-called sorts and the 

 comparatively few really good ones. There is first of all the 

 raising of seed. In this way many have been obtained. Like 

 seedlings generally, they have been vigorous, productive, over- 

 flowing with juvenescence, and hence have appeared in the 

 eyes of the raiser superior to any known sort. A few of his 

 neighbours are led away by his enthusiasm, readily endorse 

 his opinion, and Brown's Eclipse or Smith's Flourball finds 

 its way into public notice. There is another cause still more 

 productive of increase of sorts — viz, that of selected strains. 

 It frequently happens that some one or two roots are superior 

 in their produce, size, and goodness to others of the same 

 variety. These are carefully nurtured, the stock is increased, 

 and acquires considerable local fame : perhaps this has been 

 mainly dependant on the character of the soil and situation, 

 and when the stock is sold and distributed it resumes in 

 other places its normal character anel the variety is lost. 

 Again, the same variety exists in different parts of the country 

 under different names. It has been sent to some friend at 

 a distance, the name is lost, and it acquires another for the 

 purpose of distinguishing it : thus, I have known the Red 

 Kidney under three or four different names. 



It is somewhat surprising to me, seeing how universally the 

 Potato is regarded with favour, that there is so little discrimi- 

 nation as to flavour. The handsomest-looking Peach in the 

 world, if it were woolly, would be considered worthless, while, 

 again, a good-flavoured one might be retained, even though it 

 were ugly instead of beautiful, but a combination of both is 

 what is looked on as the desideratum ; yet I know many 

 persons who, provided a Potato is mealy (some, Goths in- 

 deed, like them waxy), care very little whether it is strongly 

 or delicately flavoured ; and others think nothing of a Potato 

 looking like a boy who has indulged too much in plum pudding 

 — "all eye." I must own to liking to see a combination of all 

 the requisites, and to having a handsome, well-flavoured, and 

 mealy Potato, steamed in its jacket, and gently laid in a white 

 napkin when it comes to table. Having in the past season had 

 sent to me from various quarters several varieties, or so-called 

 varieties, I gave them all a trial. My object is to obtain, not 

 a market gardener's Potato, but one that suits my own table 

 and wants, and I have before this expressed my decided prefer- 

 ence for the Kidney Potatoes. I may, perhaps, modify my 



