Aognst 23, 1869. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



1C3 



place 3 inches of good rotten dang, covering the whole over with 

 an inch or two of soil. Now, no one can deny but that there is 

 as little tronble in doing this aa in root-prauing ; and if this 

 be the ca?e, and the at'er-resnlts prove better, the advantage 

 entirely lies with the Quince stock. 



Our "reasons for proceeding npon these principles with the 

 Pear upon the Quince are as follows : — The Quince, as every 

 one knows, is a weakly grower compared to the Pear, therefore 

 by placing the Pear nnon it we are imposing a burden greater 

 than it can bear in a natnral way. 



It is impossible that the Quince can do the work reqnired of 

 it by the Pear without assistance, and it is still more wonderful 

 that so many intelligent and able gardeners should expect it to 

 do so. — James JI'Miixan {The Gardener), 



FRUIT-GROWING AT MR. DANCERS, LITTLE 

 SUTTON, CHISWICK 



A SOBE pleasing walk than that which I have jast finished, 

 or a more splendid sight in fruit than that which I have just 

 seen in Mr. Francis Dancer's great market fruit garden at 

 Chiswiek, cannot well be imagined. Fruits — good fruits — are 

 at all times pleasant to look upon, but when seen as they are 

 grown in Mr. Dancer's establiyhment, which was so ably and 

 fnlly noticed by " Leo " in the last two volomes, they are some- 

 thing more than that. 



Althoug'a the present is not quite snch an abundant frnit 

 season as the last — indeed, in many districts the crops are 

 painfully short, and dire complaints reach me from all quar- 

 ters — Mr. Dancer seems to have fared well, and with few es- 

 ceptions, principally amongst the Plums, his trees are cgain as 

 densely laden as ever. The lines upon lines of trees of Den- 

 yer's Victoria Plum bending beneath their heavy freight, every 

 little twig having to be supported by sturdy props, are really a 

 grand sight. The enormous weight of fruit borce by these 

 trees is very astonishing, and all the fruit are of large size 

 and splendid quality. "Tbis Victoria is the Plum of the sea- 

 son, heavily cropped everywhere, yet nowhere have I seen it 

 so fine as here, and this is attributed to the high cultivation 

 of the soil, which is heavily manured for vegetables. The 

 trees grow very vigorously, and are left unprnned, so that the 

 strength of the tree is directed towards the fruit instead of the 

 production of mere shoots, as would be the case it they were 

 pruned closely back. The other varieties of Plums cultivated 

 by Mr. Dancer are not this season so heavily laden, although 

 Mr. Dancer's favourite variety, Mitchelson's, is yielding well, 

 and there has been a fair sprinkling of that mcst excellent 

 market Plum, Gisborne's, which cannot be too highly recom- 

 mended. It commands a h-'gh price in all its stages. It is 

 one of the best kinds for bottling green, and makes an excellent 

 preserve when ripe. Plums this season, like Peaches, had their 

 blossoms destroyed by the cold, cutting winds in spring. 



Another pretty sight here is a long line of dwarf BenrrS 

 d'Amanlis Pears on the Quince stock, very heavily laden 

 with large and beautiful fruit. This is a fine-looking va- 

 riety of Pear and a great bearer, of fair average quality. It 

 is not, however, so good in quality, nor so well tnown in 

 market as Williams's Bon Chretien, which comes into use at 

 the same time, but the heaviness of the crop generally pro- 

 duced makes it not an unprofitable sort to grow. Of other 

 Pears bearing good crops, cultivated extensively by Mr. Dancer, 

 tnay be mentioned Jersey Oratioli, a really good market va- 

 riety ; Louise Bonne of .Jersey, the very best Pear in cultiva- 

 tion, taking all points into consideration •, Aston Town, a rather 

 small sort, but a prodigious bearer ; Benrrg de Capianmont, 

 Benn6 Bosc, and several others. 



The grandest sight here, however, and one which all fruit 

 cultivators ought to have seen (the fruit will be gathered ere 

 this is printed), is the crop of Small's Admirable and Lord 

 Snffield Apples, two of the finest early kitchen Apples in cul- 

 tivation. It is very extraordinary and vei7 splendid. There 

 may be somewhat over an acre planted with these trees, in 

 lines of fifties or so, and about 10 feet between the trees in the 

 lines. They are dwarf bush trees, like good-sized Gooseberry 

 bashes, and are bearing fruit nearly as abundantly ; each fruit 

 a specimen — clear, large, fine, and nearly uniform in size. 

 Some lines of these trees are grafted on the EnRli^h Paradise, 

 and some on the Crab stock as received from Mr. Piivers, and 

 a more capital illustration of the superiority of the one stock 

 over the other could not be desired. Those worked on the 

 Paradise are not nearly so large ; they are, however, bearing 



nearly double the quantity of frnit, and further, the frnit is 

 finer, clearer, and larger. The difEerence ia very marked in 

 every way ; the strongest and the most vigorous trees bear- 

 ing not only the smallest quantity, but the smallest fruit, 

 and these are on the Crab stock. Who would use the Crab 

 stock for Apples, excepting for large rampant standard or- 

 chard trees, after seeing such superior results obtained by 

 the use of the Paradise under exactly the same conditions ? 

 These dwarf frniting frees are much preferred by Mr. Dancer 

 to the tall orchard standards generally to be seen in market 

 gardens ; they produce frait more abundantly, more regularly ; 

 thty are more easily attended to, and the crop is more easily 

 gathered, which last is no small consideration, the expense and 

 the danger in gathering frnit on tall trees being very great. 

 Farther, the fruit on the dwarf trees are not so liable to damage 

 and loss as those on tall ones, which are at the mercy of every 

 little gale. 



Amongst other Apples bearing profusely here this season 

 may be mentioned a variety named Barchard's Pipijin, a late 

 sort, in the way of King of the Pippins, and of very good 

 quality. It is a clean and vigorous grower, and always a very 

 determined bearer, consequently a valuable market sort. 

 Manks Codlin also looked well. It must, however, be very 

 vexing to Mr. Dancer to see acres of his beautiful orchards 

 being felled to the ground for the erection of ricketty fake-in 

 buildings and unprofitable railways. Cox's Orange Pippin is 

 also bearing eiiormously — some hundreds of bushels of fine 

 fruit. The little Yellow Ingestiie Pippin is also greatly culti- 

 vated, and found very profitable ; also the Golden Noble, Cox's 

 Pomona, &a. 



The practice here followed in fruit culture is to grow the 

 trees well, to plant thickly, so as to cover the ground quickly, 

 to obtain the fruit as near the ground as possible, and to leave 

 pruning and pinching alone, dcing nothing further than shorten- 

 ing the ends of some long straggling shoots, and thinning the 

 branches where too thick, so as to allow plenty of light and air 

 to every portion of the tree. That it is successful is best deter- 

 mined by the results, the like of which I have never seen. — 



AltCHiJIBiUD. 



HOLLYHOCK CULTURE. 



This noble autumn-flowering plant is very much neglected 

 being interspersed amongst other plants in shrubbery borders 

 but if planted in rows in rich, well-drained soil, so as to form 

 a background to a neat border, it would well repay the grower 

 with a splendid display of bloom. 



It is propagated by cuttings, single eyes, and seeds. The 

 cuttings should be taken off the plants early in spring, and do 

 best dibbled in light soil in a frame where a slight bottom 

 heat can be given. When well rooted take them caretuUy up, 

 and plant them in 6-inch pots, using one-half rich Icam, one- 

 fourth well-decayed manure, and one-fourth leaf nftuld, with a 

 good dash of silver sand, all well mixed together. Remove the 

 plants to a cool frame for a short time to harden-off previous to 

 planting them out in the open ground. This mode of pro- 

 pagation has the advantage of affording a succession of blooms 

 after the old plants have succumbed, and though the spikes are 

 not so fine in the first season as those on old plants, they will 

 fully equal them the next. 



The next mode cf propagation is by single eyes takenoff in 

 July and August, and inserted in light soil, in pans! well 

 drained, and plunged in a frame in tan or leaves, so as to have 

 the assistance of a little bottom heat, giving air as required. 

 When the eyes have made a little growth, and are sufficiently 

 rooted, pot the young plants singly in 3-inch pots, replace 

 them in a close frame for a few weeks, and when the pots 

 become full of roots another shift will be required, this time 

 into 6-inch pots, using soil as directed for cuttings. At this 

 stage the plants may be placed in a cool pit or frame to protect 

 them through the winter, admitting plenty of air on all favour- 

 able opportunities. They will be ready for the open ground 

 in spring. 



The third method of propagation is'rty seeds, which should 

 be gathered early in the autumn from the most double blooms 

 of the finest shape and colour, and sown in pans, giving the 

 seedlings the same treatment throughout as plants from single 

 ryes 



Plants established in the ground, if planted in well-drained 

 soil, may be left there all the winter, merely protecting them 

 with a covering of coal ashes. — - • 



I have practised the mode of culture I have described, and 



