183 



JOURNAL OF HORTrCULTDBB AND COTTAGE OABDENEB. 



[ Septsmbw 8, IBU. 



bed to plaot it. It will heat Ls'ly Culliim. f <r, lirilHaut as tlie 

 latter i-', tlipre is tuu maoli dark b^owai^hc^im>jan iu the leaf tu 

 make it as efluaiive ; it wants lighting up. — D., Deal. 



LANCASHIRE GOOSEBERRIES. 



TDK GoosHlitrrii'B I fent. are not Blmw berries, but are all 

 fronj ilie gHri^en of Jnnios Muttbewr, of Hinsted, betneou Littlu- 

 boriuiKb Hiid B 'Chdttlf.and are verj fair specimeua of tbe average 

 of (mil ill a WL'll-Ohred-fur G.iosehprry purdea. TliB grower took 

 a oiipi er krtile with sumo from C imiianion, and 9s. wilh some 

 from G.iiilmliii, on Siturdny, July 31-<t, at tho first Oi'iseberry 

 show 'if Kie sia<on. It was held in a publio-honse iu Milorow, 

 Tim Bolibin'H binhpUce. Tbo hinlii;i>t prize given there is a 

 pan, the Beuuud a kettle, imd no on ihrouiib a great number of 

 deoroafinn uioi o.v prizes. I think I am right in snying that 

 four colour."! are bhown. and e'ght kindx iu eunh. The winner 

 of the pan can onl.v take 'fix other piizcs The best show of 

 the Res!-on, one i>p-n lo all Eoglund, i« held at " The rulstsfl," 

 a pulilio-houi-c iu Mmket P..ice, Ma icbesler. The ompetitorB 

 all meet tliero uu August 7'.li, I believe at naon, and each 

 opening his lot, the specimens aro measured and weighed 

 before all ; ihey are then tnpi^ed and tailed, to ensure their not 

 being showi) a;»in, nn 1 put in open dishes, and the publio are 

 •admitted, 'ihu berries after the show here are the property of 

 the landlord. It seems that all these shoivs are held at public- 

 housen, and in other places begin at four iu the afiernoon. 



Tbw trees are pruned of ih-ir middle hranches, and trained 

 so 8< to allov a free curim*. of air amongst the branches, which 

 are beiit or tied, so us to be uniform in prn»th, all buds near 

 tiie base of ttie stem being nipped nS. The berries are early 

 tliinned according lo the fnuoy and ambition of the owner, eomu 

 taking almost all <ff ; others, as in (he ca^o of the grower of 

 these specimens, merely thinning them pufljciontly to prevent 

 the winfl knocking the berries against laih <tber. S>me grow 

 them in liiile glass gl.b s nith a very smsU hole, into which 

 the Uoi'seberry when qui'e small is introduced, hut these are 

 fev; some grow tbem under shades of various sortt ; ull pro- 

 tect tbtm frim the north wind. With some kinds of berries 

 the old tree i< cboseu for the show f i nit, wilh others (he young ; 

 ip all the shoots of the last jejr bear the best fruit. Sumo kinds 

 reqiiir» stronger manure than others, but all that is used must 

 be well rotted. Somn use blood ; but as the roots grow wide 

 and not deep, such rich manure as would be used for the Vine 

 or the Plum is to be avoided. Bioks are written on these 

 shows, which are only to be had by tbo groner. The real Goose- 

 berry showers do not send their fruit to mixed shows, nor is 

 the prize fruit to be bought. 



I could not get the show Gooseberries at the show of August 

 7th, so send soma of the laruest of the rejected tha' I could ob- 

 tain Ht the show. I sent ild John over to see it, and his account 

 was noy. I asked him if it was a sort of thing I could have 

 got e to. "Yes," he said, "it was as husht as a chapel. A 

 route of f"lk cowered down on bencbc! all round th' room, and 

 the lardlird tappit on the table if onybody stirred, and then he 

 and the judges weigbed and measured the berries in things on 

 purpose, and turned tbem oil sei, and if there was a spot, or a 

 mark, or nui<ht it would naw do. One man had brought one 

 weighed 89 pennyweights, and were 7 inches round, but it were 

 just a bit bur'. The bic^est wiuut blemish were 27 penny- 

 weights, and 5 inches. Man as took that had a route mora 

 same sort. I said, ' I'm a man as knows a Gooseberry when I 

 gee-s it, and what's fair for it ; win yon sell onj ?' He says, 

 'Well, you're a man as I never sot ees ou afore. I've friends 

 who'll want all as theie is, or I'd have let yon have some.' 

 Ano'li'^r chap said, 'You shaw ha all I have for half a flove- 

 reif n ' I said, 'Dun yo think I'm a foo, mon ?' But if you 

 oould ba seen show berries, missus, you wouldn't have lookit 

 at the-e." I said, " Did you get any fresh information about 

 the Browib? Did that man with the big one tell you how he 

 mtniged his?" "I'll tell yo what, missus, if you want to 

 get HUt^ht out of a gardener, yo win get a mon wi wite and ma 

 him f"n wi diiuk afore he'll tell yo aught. Biggest I ever had 

 wern 6 inches, and weighed 35 pennyweights and a bit over." 



That is John's account as truly as I can render it, John's 

 totiyue loosened by moderate imliibing. 



Tlie year is a bad one for Gooseberries. The largest are grown 

 ill N'l'tinghamshire, the next in Yorkshire and Cheshire, the 

 next in ljino«>hire, I think, since these last are from Cheshire. 

 Tlie fiist I sent were from about the coldest Gooseberry garden 

 I know of, the last were uot so ver; much better. I put them 



by the side of Green Gages and other Plums, and the GooseberriM 

 were the largest. J,<hu adds, "Landlord had a room o' pur- 

 pose, boards as white yo niit a eaten on them, and glass ooMI 

 for berries. He would ha let yo have some wi a' pleasure in the 

 world, he said, but they mon bide there for volk to see, till 

 Tuesday or so," by whuh lime I ihiuk they would not be 

 worth much, judging from tlie specimens at the Uortioultoral 

 Society's Fruit Committee. — V. 



BEGONIA WELTONIENSIS. 



Those who examined the new and rare plants at the lait 

 Eenent's Park Show could not fail to notice this hybrid Be- 

 gonia in the collection exhibited by Messrs. A. Henderson and 

 Co., of the Pine Apple Nurseries, and which was awarded a 

 first-class certificate of merit. I had previously purchased the 

 plant nuder the name of B,'gonia Clarkei ; and I now wish 

 to call attention to it as being one of the most useful, if not 

 the most lovely, of the varieties that I am acquainted with. 

 Its foliage is a bright glossy green, while contrasting favour- 

 ably with this is the almost blood-red colour of the stem and 

 veins of the leaves. The bloom is in trusses of four or fiye 

 bright rose-coloured flowers, coming freely from every shoot. 

 The plant bears slopping well, and produces vigorous shoots 

 at every joint ; but without Ibis stopping it has a dwarf com- 

 pact habit of growth, its foliage is very attractive, and the 

 plant thrives as well in small as ia large pots, 



'I he decorative qualities of this plant, which can be brought 

 to perfection in a warm greenhouse temperature, make it a 

 most valuable addition to the stock of a large class of cultiva- 

 tors ; for many of these have been prevented, through tha 

 amount of heat required, from enjoying the beauty of Be- 

 gonias. I tried a few plants for winter flowering in the con- 

 servatory last season, and v,aB so much pleased with it as to be 

 induced to grow it largely for that purpose during the coming 

 winter. It would be difficult to find a more suitable one as a 

 dinner-table or drawing-room plant. It is easily kept through 

 the winter, and my plan is to throw away all hut half a dozen 

 plants, which may be taken out of the pots and stored away, 

 like Dahlia roots, in dry earth on a damp bottom until wanted 

 in spring. They should then have all the old soil shaken 

 from them, he potted, and placed in any structure affording an 

 intermediate temperature, when the stools soon put forth shoots. 



If a stock of plants he wanted, make cuttings of these, and 

 strike them in sandy peat soil, sifted fine, in a gentle heat. 

 After they are rooted pot them singly in 4 inch pots, using for 

 a compost two-thirds turfy loam, the remainder peat, silver 

 sand, and dried cow dung; this dung must be sifted through a 

 fine-meshed sieve. Of course if larger plants are wanted 

 potting and stopping must he attended to, but they will grow 

 into very fair-sized and useful specimens in 6-inch pots. When 

 growing, they like a good share of moisture both at the roots and 

 branches. 



I have not been without a number of this useful plant in 

 h'oom for more than twelve months, and its beautiful foliage 

 and flowers have performed no unimportant part in the decora- 

 tion of flower-stands, vases, and ^pergnes. From its useful- 

 ness and easy culture I expect it to become a general favourite. 

 It is very cheap, being catalogued at 5s. per plant. 



I have an idea that Begonia weltoniensis will be U'eful in 

 the subtropical department of the flower garden, and for out- 

 door vases or rustic baskets. Should anyone be trying it in 

 this way, I hope to hear more about it ot the end of the bedding 

 season.— Thomas Eecorc, IlaiDkhirst, Kent. 



SUPPLY FROM A KITCHEN GARDEN. 



I CAN fully sympathise wilh " A Perskverino GAanKNEB's" 

 complaint iu page 125 respecting the limited space of ground 

 from which he is expected to supply a family of eleven person*, 

 for I am placed under similar circumstances. 



Mv garden is 103 yards in length and 28 yards in width, 

 runiiing north and south, and its numerous disadvantages are 

 death to many crops. Ou the east side and two ends are walls, 

 on the west side a fence. Within the boundary there is a walk 

 5 feet wide which takes up a large extent of ground. The soil, 

 too, is a liiiht sandy loam, very sballiiv, and resting on chalk 

 and graveh On the east side. 35 feet from the wall, is a wood 

 of some hundreds of acres. On the west side, at 30 feet from 

 the fence which divides the kitchen garden from the pleaspa 

 grounds, stand on the lawn several huge Elm trees, thrusting 



