66 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTrUE AXD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ JaDuary 23, 1666. 



Now, I only rtiltivate fruit in a BmuU way, yet every step I 

 take, and every fragment of experience I pick up. serves to 

 convince me of the soundness of these opinions ; and with the 

 view of eliciting the experience of others, I will relate some of 

 uiy own observations, not only as to the soils and climateB 

 smtcd to the various sorts of Tears, but also to their treatment 

 after being gathered. 



Kur instance : .Mr. Rivers classes the Benrrfi do Capiaiimont 

 among the baking and stewing Pears. Here, besides being on 

 an ea.^it wall one of the most jnoductive Pears in my collection, 

 when gathered before it is too ripe and placed in a warm room 

 (not under tW° Falirenheit) as soon as gathered, it is rich, molt- 

 ing, and excellent. It docs not, however, keep more than a 

 few days after arriving at maturity. As I have said before in 

 this Journal, it was quite worthless with me as a standard, 

 even in the last fine season. 



The Beurrfi de Ranee growing here in a stiff clay little, if 

 any, better than puddle, and di.uble-worked on the quince, is 

 of "admirable quality ; whilst in the rich alluviums of Wh-irfe- 

 dale, into which ihstrict I sent some to a friend, this variety 

 is utterly worthless. I think Mr. Pearson, of the Chilwell 

 Nurseries, confirms this opinion, as he says this variety is only 

 of good quality on the clay. 



.*gain : theDunmore here is excellent when double-worked 

 on the quince ; on the Pear, both on the walls and as a 

 standard, it is of very indifferent quality, although it bears 

 well. 



.iVgain : Williams's Bon Chretien, which seems almost a 

 standard of (juality in the Loudon markets, is here utterly 

 worthless. Of course some allowance must be made for dif- 

 ference of taste ; but admitting this, I can scarcely suppose 

 that any good judge of fruit would be satisfied with the quality 

 of Williams's Bon Chretien as grown here ; and the Glou 

 Morceau must be classed in the same Ust. 



Mr. Rivers has somewhere said that every fruit has its own 

 peculiar season, when its excellencies are more perfectly deve- 

 loped than in other years apparently more genial. I allude to 

 tins remark because my Seckle Pears and the Louise Bonne of 

 Jersey, grown on an east wall, were of better quality in the 

 cold and wet year of 1860 than they have been either before or 

 since. 



I had written so far when I received the Journal of the 9th 

 inst. containing an article on the gi'owth of bush Pear trees 

 on qnince stocks in the Yorkshire hills, which is exactly the 

 sort of communication I want to elicit from j'our correspondents. 

 Your conespondent " C. I. M." has, however, omitted two 

 points, which I hope he will add to his next communication, 

 these are, the sort of soil in which he giows his Pears, and the 

 elevation of his garden above the sea. I, like him, find the 

 BeurrS Supertin a shy bearer even on an cast wall, and the 

 quahty with me is by no means what I had hoped to liud it. 



The Hessle bears well with me, and the quality is much 

 improved, judging from one example, by being gi-afted on the 

 Thorn ; but, unfortunately, the tree is then only shortlived. I 

 have not tried it double-worked. 



Mr. River.-:, some time ago, said that a dwarfing stock for 

 Plums had not been met with hitherto : has the Damson or the 

 Sloe been tried, doubled- worked ? A friend of mine budded a 

 Green Gage on the Sloe, many years since, but I do not think 

 that any increase of fertility resulted from the experiment. 



I hope that the letter of " C. 1. M." may elicit many other 

 communications of the same kind, which will, I think, greatly 

 increase our knowledge of Pear-growing. — T. G. 



MUSA VITTATA FRUITING. 



Will you inform me, has Musa vittata fruited in cultiva- 

 tion ? We have a noble plant. It feet high, with a fine cluster 

 of fruit, which is beautifully variegated. — J. S.iVEiis, Gaidfinr 

 to Thos. BiiiUy, Enq., lilackrock, Co. Dublin. 



[I have made several inquiries, but cannot find that Musa 

 vittata has fruited before in tliis country ; still, if my memoij 

 does not deceive me, I have seen somewhere an account of its 

 having done so. However, be this as it may, it is very desirable 

 that the fruit should be well ripened ; and as Musa \ittata is 

 only a beautiful variety of the ordinary fruiting sort, I see no 

 reason why tliis should not be accomplished. 



There is no tropical fruit grown in England the ripening of 

 which is so Uttle understood as the Musa or Banana. I have 

 tasted, I may saj without exaggeration, hundreds of the fruit 

 ripened in this country, and out of all that number I only 



remember four that were fit for anything ; the rest were either 

 completely flavourless, or tasted like very over-ripe Pears. 

 Now this is not as it should be. The Banana may be ripened 

 here as well as abroad with a Uttle trouble ; and as I have been 

 very successful in giving the fruit a ff^'i flavour I will just 

 mention a few of the principal points. 



In the first place, then, from the time the fruit forms until 

 it begins to ripen the plant should be plentifully supplied with 

 weak liquid manure as well as water, and a high moist tempe- 

 rature should be kept up in order to swell the fruit to a hand- 

 some size. Little air should be given by day, but considerably 

 more by night, and the temperature should then always be 

 from 10° to 15° lower. My day temperature without sun during 

 this period was 80°, allowing a rise of 10° by sun heat. 



Secondly. The plants, particularly the variegated ones, should 

 never be watered over their foUage by day, as it injures their 

 beauty and is not good for them. My plan was, always the 

 last thing at night to give the foliage a thorough syringing and let 

 the water stand on the leaves all night. This, strange as it may 

 appear, I found wonderfully beneficial to the plants. As the 

 moiTiing advanced of course they became dry, and were not 

 again touched even in the hottest weather until night. I be- 

 lieve this to be a great secret of success. 



Thirdly. \\Tien the fruit begins to ripen, which may be 

 known by its not swelling any more, all water must be with- 

 held from the roots, and the air kept hot and dry. This is 

 most important, for upon it will depend the flavour of the fruit. 

 The temperature may now range as high as 90°, allowing a 

 little more by sun heat, and no air must be given by day, 

 although it should be given plentifully by night. Everj- even- 

 ing the floors, pipes, &c., may be well syringed, and the plants 

 themselves very slightly ; but as I said before, no water should 

 touch the roots until the fruit is ripe, unless they flag very 

 much. By these means, and by giving all the light possible, 

 the Musas may be ripened with an excellent flavour in England, 

 and the fruit is then a melting and most delicious one. — J. H.] 



v.vinous. 



Essex Rival Pea. — At page 262 of last Volume "Nickep.eob" 

 asked for information of Mr. Eley as to the parentage of Essex 

 Rival Pea. If it is new there could not be much difliculty in 

 the raiser gi\ing the parentage ; but how comes it that the new 

 Pea Essex Rival of 1865 is synonjTnous with a Pea which has 

 been grown for years in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, 

 and is now advertised by a midland house at one-third less 

 than by Mr. Eley himself ? and it could be sold for still less. 

 It may be a good Pea, but it is an old one to some persons. 

 ^\'hy have these double names to seeds and plants ? 



Fesxias System of Using Sewage. — Many may not like the 

 trouble or have the opportunity of heating sewage as Mr. Fenn 

 has done ; pennit me, therefore, to .state for the benefit of yotir 

 readers a case in my own experience. About the year 1852 or 

 1853 I took charge of a garden near Bristol for a short time ; it 

 was in the spring, and there was a scarcity of Lettuce, and, 

 haling some standing under a south and south-east wall, I 

 was anxious to bring it on for use. There was at the stable- 

 yard a large tank which took all the diaiuage from the stables, 

 cow-sheds, and piggeries, and the washings of the fowl-houses ; 

 the stable was on the other side of the mansion, and, to convey 

 the liquid manure, we had only the garden engine, and the 

 wheeling had to be done early in the morning, as we were 

 robbing the fields, so said the " great authority." Well, I used 

 to take the engine and use it myself, lest any of the men 

 should fall into disgrace, and pumped this sewage well into the 

 soil round the Lettuce, and most assuredly with benefit to that 

 crop. The giound after the appUcatiou was always raked over 

 to check evaporation as much as possible, but on this wall 

 were some Peach trees which had the " curl," and were infested 

 with millions of giecu fly. I therefore tried the experiment of 

 pumping on them, giving them a good washing, and, after 

 three or four dressings, there was unmistakeable evidence of 

 the utility of the liquid ; the trees rallied and giew, carried a fine 

 crop, and had good shining foliage. Since then, whenever I 

 could obtain it, I have always used sewage for green fly, and 

 never, that I remember, have lost or injured a plant by it. Use 

 it as it comes from the tank, but not while the sim is on the 

 trees at mid-day. 



Vabiegatios and Disease. — Some time since we had a dis- 

 cussion on " Variegation, is it Disease ? " Have any of your 

 correspondents been able, by observations, to throw any more 



