Aognst 26, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



161 



of space given them outside, the ground they cover is very con- 

 siderable, and they look as if it were impossible for them to 

 have occupied so small a space in winter. 



The enermous Susquehanna Teach of last year might have 

 been the result of allowing a vigorous young tree to throw all 

 its strength into two Peaches, so this year I left a numerous 

 crop on, and therefore a very heavy one, for the Peaches are 

 again very large, though of course not so large as those of 

 last year. I have just weighed and measured two that were 

 allowed to hang from the same eye, one weighs 9 ozs., the 

 other 8 ozs., and the girth of the larger is nearly 11 inches. 

 These are just about the usual size of the rest of the crop. 

 This Peach is a very good one of the yellow-fleshed class, quite 

 as good but much larger than Exquisite, which has always 

 stood alongside of it. 



Another magniticent Peach is Mr. Eivers's Nectarine Peach, 

 the average weight being more than 8 ozs., and the flavour 

 peculiar and exquisite. Princess of Wales is nearly ripe, and 

 is again of the large size of last year. As this is a very high- 

 flavoured Peach it ought to be in every collection. Lord Pal- 

 merston and Lady Palmerston are far from ripe, and haie been 

 in the middle compartment siuce January. They are already 

 very large, and in due course I hope to be able to report further 

 upon their qualities. 



Before ending I have a few words to say about the Necta- 

 rines. Rivers's Stanwick Elruge was the first to ripen, and is 

 very fine. The medium-sized Pine Apple is far superior to its 

 ancestor Pitmaston both in size and quality. Albert Victor is 

 new in texture and flavour, being a melting Nectarine — so 

 much so, that two ladies yesterday thought they were eating a 

 Peach, and one of them is no novice in Peach-eating. Victoria 

 is always good and a most abundant bearer, and I may add a 

 most useful one to have in a house, from the enormous quan- 

 tity of pollen it produces. Albert (or No. 8) is a very grand 

 one, weighing (J ozs., and exactly like the Stanwick in flavour ; 

 like it, too, it is apt to crack. Prince of Wales Nectarine I do 

 not think worth its room, though very beautiful to look at. 



Such is my experience of the season so far as these new 

 varieties are concerned ; and I should adfise all Peach-growers 

 to have Early Louise, Early Rivers, Early Silver, Eivers's Early 

 York, Early Alfred, Nectarine Peach, and Princess of Wales. 

 These give a succession and a wonderful variety of flavour. I 

 Bee I have forgotten to mention Alexandra Noblesse. It is just 

 like the old Noblesse in flavour, but larger and more vigorous, 

 and from having glands it is not liable to mildew like the old 

 variety. It must also go into the above list ; and when Grosse 

 Mignonne is added to it, along with the late vaiieties Lord and 

 Lady Palmerston, I do not know that any others need be added, 

 nnless it be one which I had from Mr. Rivers under the name 

 of Malta, but which turned out very superior to that variety. 



We have had a most inclement season in our district ; cold, 

 parching, easterly winds all through June and for a great part 

 of July blighted all the trees. Strawberries, which usually 

 grow very large here, were misshapen, and for us a bad crop. 



I am glad to see attention drawn to that most admirable 

 variety of Strawberry Vicomtesse Efiricart de Thury ; it fully 

 deserves all the praise given to it. It is not the same as Prince 

 Imperial, and as I have that variety from Sawbridgeworth I 

 take it for granted the difference is in the varieties, and that 

 they ought not to be considered synonymous. Dr. Hogg was 

 one of the few that defied the weather, and I think it the best 

 dessert fruit grown. Rivers's Eliza also did very well and 

 grew to a large size. Frogmore Late Pine failed completely. 

 Sir Charles Napier surprised me by being as good as ever. — 



W. KlNGSLET. 



PELARGONIUM BAYARD. 

 Your correspondent " Sans tedk," at page 117, speaks of the 

 above bedding Pelargonium in laudatory terms. As I have 

 grown it for two seasons both as a pot plant and in a mass in 

 a bed, I seek to express my opinion respecting its merits. I 

 unhesitatingly pronounce it the best Pelargonium at present 

 in commerce, and in my judgment of it I am supported by 

 many eminent horticulturists. I have a bed of it in a small 

 geometric flower garden adjoining my own cottage, and from 

 the time of planting until now it has been the object of general 

 admiration. Bayard is one of the best varieties of Mr. Pearson's 

 raising sent out last year ; but in his trial grounds, about two 

 months ago, I saw several others which then promised to 

 eclipse Bayard, notwithstanding its " brilliant beauty." The 

 most conspicuous were William Thomson and Douglas Pearson ; 



the former does honour to the name it bears. — Qdintih Read, 

 PUasUij Vale Gardens, Uansjield. 



RUST ON GRAPES. 



I LATELY saw a curious instance of rusted Grapes, one or 

 two facts in connection with which are worthy of note. The 

 vinery in which these Grapes are growing is a small lean-to, ven- 

 tilated by means of sliding sashes in front, and on the upper halt 

 of the roof by moveable lights, which slide down and are pulled 

 up by ropes. The house contains two Vines managed on the 

 extension system ; one is a Black Hamburgh and the other a 

 Black Prince. Both are carrying a heavy crop, both are alike 

 vigorous, and hero the similarity ceases; for with but one 

 slight exception the foliage and fruit of the Black Prince are 

 perfectly healthy and free from any disease, while the Black 

 Hamburgh is diseased both in fruit and foliage. The backs or 

 under sides of all the leaves developed in the earlier stages of 

 its growth are covered with warts, and almost the whole of 

 the fruit is regularly encrusted with rust, and yet although so 

 severely aSected, the fruit has continued to swell; but so un- 

 sightly is the effect produced by the rust that hardly a bunch 

 will be fit to send to table. The fohage of the sub-laterals is 

 perfectly healthy, so that it is quite evident the diseased foliage 

 does not arise from any debility of the Vine, but from external 

 causes. The disease of the foliage is doubtless caused by its 

 being subjected to the action of a close warm temperature 

 saturated with moisture, and that of the fruit in this case by a 

 sudden change in the temperature of the house during setting, 

 in consequence of which the cuticle (peculiarly sensitive at that 

 period of its growth) became affected, and the rust has gradually 

 spread till it has almost covered the entire surface of the berries. 

 Slight traces of rust visible on a few berries of Black Prince at 

 the top of the house, right under the part at which the cold air 

 must have entered, tend to lead one to the above conclusion, as 

 with this slight exception the Black Prince Vine is entirely free 

 from disease ; its tougher cuticle and more hardy constitution 

 apparently enabling it to withstand the effects of a treatment 

 which has proved so fatal to the crop of its more delicate 

 neighbour. — Edward Luckdurst, Egertvn House Gardens, Kent. 



YUCCAS, AND THEIR FLOWERING. 



Amongst the results of the dry summer of 18G3 the extra- 

 ordinary blooming of trees this season is not the least remark- 

 able. The Paulownia imperialis bloomed where it had never 

 bloomed before ; Edwardsia microphylla and other greenhouse 

 plants which had withstood the winter, also flowered out ol 

 doors ; while the flowering of the Elms and other trees showed 

 the effects of the hot, dry autumn. To a like cause I attribute 

 the unusual number of blooms we have at the present time 

 (the end of July) upon our Yuccas. The tendency of this 

 plant to push up its flower-spikes at all seasons, often leads to 

 the destruction of its blooms when they appear late in autumn. 

 It often happens, after a fine summer, that a great number are 

 sacrificed in this way, and many were so destroyed last winter; 

 but it would appear that others were not so matured in the 

 bud as to expand in the autumn, and have done so now. 

 The exceeding beauty of these excites the admiration of every- 

 one ; no flower spike of any other plant that I am acquainted 

 with can at all compare with that of the Yucca in elegance of 

 shape and density of bloom, and a full-grown spike is a load 

 for anyone. Besides, the plant presents a tropical aspect, 

 when thriving has a sturdy appearance peculiar to itself, and 

 when a number of plants are in flower at one time the effect 

 is very striking. We have now upwards of fifty of the larger 

 species in bloom, varying in height from 5 feet to nearly 11 feet, 

 most of them being about 7 feet high, and more than half 

 this height consists of bloom. The species or varieties seem to 

 run into each other so imperceptibly that it is difficult, in fact 

 almost impossible, to distinguish between them, more especi- 

 ally as two portions of the same plant often present different 

 features. However, as the specific names, gloriosa, recurva, 

 aloifolia, acuminata, and some others, are used, it is well to 

 retain them. Y. filameutosa is of humbler growth, and flowers 

 more freely than the abovenemed, but it is no hardier. The 

 variegated forms of Yucca are not yet sufficiently plentiful to 

 be much used out of doors, excepting in some particular spot, 

 and where, probably, their flowers are not desired. 



The soil suited to the Yucca has been variously described, 

 some considering lime and other calcareous matters injurious. 



