270 



JOURNAL OF nORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( April 10, JS66. 



were trontcJ the samp, auJ they looked well and bore ns well as 

 trees siiuiliirly tniiteil KoiiiTaliy do — tlmt is to Bay, iu favour- 

 able seasons like IHM iind 18(15 there was plenty of fruit on 

 I'ears and I'lunis, while in latjl there was scarcely any. The 

 trees were, I believe, somewhere about eight years old or more, 

 and had come from Mr. llivers, of Sawbridgevvorth. I believe 

 the gentleman hud received many llattering couipliments from 

 friends to whom he had given fruit in seasons when this was 

 plentiful ; such ciim|ilimeuts the u.sages of society never deny, 

 and are mistaken by some jieople for opinions. \\\i\. time 

 rolled on, and in the great uncertainty of most earthly things. 

 our worthy gentleman was suddenly called to another world ; 

 as is not unusual in such cases, the estate was speedily offered 

 for sale, and it being determined to make every shilling from it 

 that could be done, the fruit was to be sold, and an eminent 

 salesman of Covcut IJardeu consulted with, and made fully 

 aware of the advantages the fruit had over such as ho hud 

 sent him from elsewhere. The fruit was in due time sent up ; 

 but, alas ! for the dulness that " T. It." speaks of, the buyers 

 could not see in which way it differed from other fruit of the 

 same kind ofTered to them, excepting in being somewhat 

 smaller, and they would only give a second-rate price for it ; 

 and after deducting commission and carriage, the estate realised 

 the sura of 17.<. ;ii/. on the jjroduce of about 100 trees, and 

 that mostly for Plums. Now, these trees had been carefully 

 attended to, looked well, and I understood had a fair crop upon 

 them. So much for absolute, not ideal, £ .■;. d. remuneration. 



" T. H." seems fond of quoting the practice of our French 

 neighbours ; in this I cannot hold much argument with him, 

 not having seen sufficient of their practice to warrant an 

 opinion. Certainly I have seen some of the gardens around 

 Paris, and those of some other towns, and that too in the height 

 of the fniit .-ieasou, and from what I saw my ojiiuion would be 

 that a better dessert could be obtained in Covent Garden from 

 English-grown fruits ; and taking into consideration the ad- 

 vantages which the climate of France affords, I think English 

 fruit-growers may take some credit to themselves. This matter, 

 however, deserves to be carefully considered, and the forth- 

 coming International Horticultural Exhibition will, no doubt, 

 throw much light on this subject. 



" T. 11." alludes to my not being in the mercantile world of 

 gardening, and not kno^Ting much of what is taking place in it. 

 I certainly do not propagate fruit trees for sale, aurl am, there- 

 fore, not liable to the imputation of puffing any particular class 

 of tree, but as a disinterested person I wish for nothing but 

 the truth. I am, however, far from classing the Paradise and 

 Quince stocks amongst absurdities ; on the contrary, both, 

 more especially the latter, may be and are useful in their way, 

 but are they of such national importance as those opposed to 

 them ? I am verj' much mistaken indeed if the verdict of the 

 fruit-growing and fruit-eating public will not be a decided 

 negative, whatever fruit-tree propagators may say to the con- 

 trary. It is not my intention to deprecate any particular mode 

 of growing fruit, but if a certain mode present a chance of 

 growing two good fruits instead of one, it is my duty to advise 

 that. Let " T. R." inquire of the great salesmen of Covent 

 Garden whence they receive their supplies, and follow up his 

 inquiry, and he will find that the large orchards which furnish 

 the best fruit are all worked on the Crab stock, and liis own 

 remark of the Paradise stock being known and used in England 

 for a century, and being still not general, is a tolerable proof 

 that its superiority is more than questionable, excepting for 

 growing small quantities of small or medium-sized fruit on 

 trees from which elderly gentlemen can gtither it while stand- 

 ing on the ground. These advantages it would be wrong to 

 undervalue. 



With respect to the Quince stock for Pears, I will go further, 

 and admit that it is of service in more ways than the Paradise 

 has been for Apples ; but has fruit so growu ever excelled that 

 grown on the Pear stock in size, llavour, or abundance ? The 

 test of our fruit shows and fruit markets is a better criterion 

 to go by than the words of the sellers of young trees so worked ; 

 and if " T. K." rebukes me for giving an opinion on the Para- 

 dise stock, the public can judge for itself whose opinion carries 

 with it the least appearance of self-interest. Fruit-growers as 

 a body can well afford to hear themselves called dull and slow ; 

 but few classes of men are more alive to their own interest and 

 that of those for whom they provide than are some of the large 

 fruit-growers in this neighbourhood. Not content with visit- 

 ing other parts of the kingdom famed for good fruit, they 

 occasionally take a tour to Belgium, the Channel Islands, and 

 France, and observe the modes of cultivation practised there. 



A very near neighbour of mine sent upwards of 1300 bushels of 

 Plums to Covent Garden last year; but there are other still larger 

 growers, and Apples and Pears are, of course, still more exten- 

 sively grown. Growers have followed their calling long enough 

 to know what is likely to answer best in their respective locali- 

 ties, and though there are but few wlio do not make experi- 

 ments, the result arrived at is, that the situation that will grow 

 a fruitful tree to a large size, and healthy and vigorous, is the 

 one to plant with that fniit, and there the tret will be likely 

 to till both the basket and the pocket. Those who prefer dis- 

 torting a tree into whatever fantastic shape the fashion of 

 the day may dictate, be that fashion a cylinder, basin, um- 

 brella, or cone, can accomplish their object ; the tree will 

 endure it, and the term beauty may be applied or misapplied, 

 as the idea may be, to each or all of them. Be it observed, 

 however, 1 do not mean to say that some of these forms are 

 not beautiful, but the question arises. Is the fruit better or 

 more plentiful ;' If it were so, those who grow for market 

 would have adopted it long ago. Filberts are all i>runed-in 

 with a severity and exactness to shape and size which from 

 long study and careful practice the growers have found is the 

 best way to secure a cro]i, and the same would have been done 

 with other fruits had a similar practice been attended with a 

 like result. — .1. Robso.n. 



APPLE TREES ON THE FRENCH PARADISE 

 STOCK. 



Havino planted a number of young Apple trees from Mr. 

 Scott's nurseries at Merriott, I have naturally felt much interest 

 in reading the various papers relating to the Paradise stock in 

 The Jouunal of Houticcltubk. It is a matter of no small 

 interest to gardeners and others, for we are anxious to produce 

 as quick and permanent a return as possible for the outlay we 

 incur. In the absence of large orchards, and being confined 

 to the kitchen gardens and strips outside, dwarf trees are un- 

 questionably the most convenient, interfering but little with 

 the general cropping of the garden, and of these we can plant a 

 goodly number, making up in some measure for the produce of 

 larger trees, which would shade the ground too much for vege- 

 table crops. I know well the value of a good large orchard. 

 For sixteen years I lived where there is, perhaps, one of the 

 finest orchards in Somerset, and I have gathered as many as 

 twelve or sixteen bushels of good marketable fruit from one 

 tree, and there are many such trees in the same orchard. 



In the autumn of IHdii I paid a visit to Mr. Scott's nurseries, 

 and selected a number of dwarf .\pple and Pear trees to plant 

 in thehe gardens. Nothing could look better than the trees in 

 the nurseries, no canker nor the least bit of moss was there to 

 be seen on the trees, and the bark looked as though it had 

 been polished ; again in the autumn of ls<li4 1 had some more 

 trees from the same nursery. Our soil is a cold retentive loam, 

 and the situation Of the garden is low, cold, and damp, and 

 early and late frosts are, perhaps, more injurious than in any 

 part of the county of Somerset, but I am pleased to say that 

 the trees, without exception, are doing well ; and of those 

 planted in November, 18(iH, most bore a fair crop of good fruit 

 last summer, esjiecially Cellini, Winter Hawthornden, and 

 Northern Spy. Thus in by no means a favourable situation 

 have trees grafted on Mr. Scott's French Paradise stocks done 

 well, and come into bearing early, the latter an object much 

 wished for in these days. Allow me to add a few words in 

 favour of that beautiful Apple the Cellini. It is very hand- 

 some, and attracts the eye of every passer-by. comes into 

 bearing early, and bears freely. Dr. Hogg says of it, " Flesh 

 white, tender, juicy, with a fine brisk balsamic flavour and 

 high aroma. "—G. D. Vallasce, Gardener to Sir )('. C. Medhj- 

 cott, liarl., I'll! Ildll. 



CULTURE OF TOPACCO. 

 Now is a good time to sow Tobacco seed. Any one who has 

 a warm dry frame can raise the seedlings as well as in a hot- 

 house. My plan is to sow now in a broad pan 3 inches deep, 

 ])ut in a viiiery at work, having a temperature of oo'. The 

 seed must not be covered more than a quarter of an inch deep, 

 and very tine soil should be employed for that purpose. It is 

 advisable to keep the pan shaded until the seedlings appear, 

 otherwise it will be necessary to water twice a-day when there 

 is much air and sun. 



