September 16, 1869. ] ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



221 



health, and perfect in shape. One is 20 feet in height, 4(j feet 

 in the circumference of the branches, and 5 feet inches in 

 that of the trunk, and is a very handsome tree. I hope this 

 favourite tree will retain its position in our parks and pleasure 

 grounds. 



I also wish to ask the question, If a plant of Cupressus 

 Lambertiana measuring 39 feet high and 30 feet through the 

 branches, exceeds the usual size ? — W. Mayo, Gardener, Shal- 

 stoiie House, Buckingham. 



APPLICATION OF MANURES. 



I SEE one of your correspondents lays great stress on the 

 necessity of covering manure as soon after it is spread as 

 possible, to prevent its being injured by sun and wind. Many 

 years ago I wrote a paper attacking this mischievous notion, 

 and I think it was published in " our Journal." I call it mis- 

 chievous, not only because it is erroneous, but because it leads 

 to injurious practice. 



I have acres of land now covered with manure as dry as 

 wind and sun can make it, and, of course, according to many 

 persons' ideas such manure is worth but little. If in my place, 

 they would prefer seeing it in an open yard exposed to every 

 shower, or in a heap losing bulk every day, and when rain 

 comes and their land is wet they would cart it on to the ground, 

 spread it, and plough it in immediately. Now, I prefer carting 

 on land when it is dry ; when rain comes to soften the land I 

 am glad to be able to set the ploughs to work at once, and am 

 glad the land i-i already manured. But is not your manure 

 spoilt ? some will ask ; I would ask, How ? What has it lost ? 

 Spread evenly over the surface there has been no fermentation, 

 and, consequently, no ammonia has been formed. What has 

 it lost besides water? If the manure is intended to grow a 

 summer crop in dry weather, the moisture in the manure is 

 valuable, but not otherwise. It this very common notion of 

 manure being injured by sun and wind be correct, then guano, 

 the excrement of birds deposited drop by drop under a burn- 

 ing sun, is of no value, the top-dressing of grass land is a 

 most wasteful process, and the manure of sheep is in a great 

 part lost to the farm. — J. R. Peakson, ChilwcU. 



[We somewhat differ from our clever correspondent, but 

 shall be glad to hear the opinions of others who also combine 

 science with practice. — Eds.] 



UNSEASONABLE BLOSSOMING. 



When staying at Weymouth in the month of June I paid 

 great attention to the state of the fruit crops in that neighbour- 

 hood. One day I was much amused, and not a little surprised, 

 to see an orchard, just two miles out of the town, on the Ware- 

 ham road, in full flower, all the trees, twenty-four in number, 

 being literally a mass of bloom. I first saw it about the ICth 

 of June, and it was not then quite in its full glory ; as I passed 

 it nearly every day I took great interest in watching its deve- 

 lopment, which it reached about the 24th, and by the end of 

 th month had nearly all passed away. The trees appeared 

 to me to be of different kinds, but not of those two late- 

 blooming kinds so largely grown here for cider, the Horner 

 and Chisel Jersey. How they may have set their fruit, or in 

 what condition that now is, I am unable to say ; but I shall 

 ask a friend at Weymouth to visit the orchard, and let me 

 know how the crop is, more especially as most other trees in 

 the neighbourhood had their fruit of a considerable size at the 

 time. 



Although in many places south and west of us there is but a 

 very poor crop of fruit generally, here we have an abundance, 

 and of good quality. Pears, particularly upon large trees, are 

 a heavy crop. On my young trees I have a fair lot, somewhere 

 from 4.50 to 500 sorts having fruited. The Quince stocks are 

 especially rich in fruit of fine quality, and the Apples on my 

 Pommier de Paradis stock are a wonder to see. — J. Scott, 

 Merriott Nurstrics, Crewkemc. 



AN ABUNDANT-FLOWERING DEVONIENSIS 

 ROSE. 



We have a plant from which we out from 200 to 250 flowers 

 every year. It was raised from a cutting, and planted-out at 

 the end of a vinery facing due south, and partly sheltered from 

 the north winds by an Orange house. The soil is sandy loam, 

 mixed with old mortar and bricks. We sprinkle a little guano 



every year round the roots, and with the help of the engine 

 once or twice a-week we keep down green fiy, and preserve the 

 plant in a very healthy state. Very little pruning is given, for 

 as soon as the shoots push in spring we are sure there are 

 flowers on them,'but a little thinning is practised when they 

 become too crowded. — J. H. S. 



BOUQUETS AT THE MANCHESTER SHOW. 



As an exhibitor of bouquets, I quite agree with Mr. W. H. 

 Turner respecting the awards of the Judges being final, unless 

 some fraud has been practised ; but there was something radi- 

 cally wrong in the exhibition of the bouquets, for all the 

 staging cards were turned topsy-turvy. I came into the tent 

 after the Judges had altered their award from Turner to Yates. 

 I remarked to the Rev. S. R. Hole I could not see what standard 

 they had adopted in judging, as I had two bouquets which 

 must have been overlooked. When he saw them he said, 

 "These two bouquets have been smuggled in since we gave 

 our award, or we should have given them the first prize," and 

 he called the other Judges' attention to them to confirm his 

 opinion, and they coincided with him. 



From what I have gleaned since, I believe the Judges were 

 right respecting the smuggling business. If they were not on 

 the table, they were out of sight during the awards being made, 

 and replaced after the decision. It is a pity that any feeling 

 should exist, except an honourable rivalry, at our floral exhi- 

 bitions. — J. Delamere, Orton, Cheshire. 



MARECHAL NIEL ROSE— BUDDING ON GLOIRE 

 DE DI.JON. 



In page 180, 1 see Mr. Harrison Weir has almost given up 

 trying to grow Marechal Niel. I hope his last attempt may 

 prove more successful, for it is, without doubt, a gem with 

 those who succeed in flowering it. Although I had not seen it 

 growing, and only knew it from cut blooms at exhibitions and 

 notes that appeared from time to time in this Journal, I de- 

 termined last spring to give it a trial. I ordered two strong 

 plants from a respectable nurseryman, but instead of being 

 strong, they were very poor. From the weakness of the plants 

 I knew they would not bear forcing, accordingly I plunged them 

 in one corner of a Potato frame with a gentle bottom heat, the 

 lights being taken oS during fine days. They soon began to 

 grow, made good plants by the end of May, but showed no signs 

 of flowering ; so I potted the strongest plant, and let it grow 

 at full length. It has now shoots 8 feet long. The other I cut 

 down, making six cuttings, which have all struck, and are now 

 established plants in 6-inch pots, with strong shoots 4 feet long. 

 One of the cuttings struck produced a flower, and it was a little 

 gem. 



After cutting down the weakest of my two plants, it was re- 

 potted in an 8-inch pot, and returned to a cold pit, where it 

 remained about three weeks till the young shoots began to 

 appear, when it was turned out of doors, and set among other 

 plants in one corner of the frameyard. There it remained 

 for some weeks, and was soon smothered with green fly, which 

 was syringed off with soot water. Up to this point no flower- 

 buds had appeared, and I began to think it would not flower 

 this season ; however, 1 was mistaken, for shortly afterwards I 

 perceived three very small flower-buds. I removed it at once to 

 a cold pit, where it was regularly syringed, and supplied with 

 liquid manure at every alternate watering. It soon began to 

 swell more buds, and has at present seven fuUy-expnnded 

 flowers, besides several promising buds. It is admired by all 

 who have seen it. — E. Rookeb, The Gardens, Colon llaV, 



Mr. HAF.rasoN Weir tells us of his success and non-success. 

 This is as it ought to be. Like him, many have had failures 

 with that gem of Roses Maiuchal Niel, and myself among the 

 number. I know of some good plants budded on the Briar, 

 and they produce some fine Roses. I have tried it on its own 

 roots, grafted and budded on the Manetti stock, in pots, and in 

 other ways, but all to no purpose ; die the Maruchal would, and 

 did. I had almost given up the hope of ever succeeding ; but 

 as I did not hke to be deprived of the Marechal's company I 

 thought I would try him again budded on Gloire de l^ijon. It; 

 proved a first-rate union, and during the past summer I have 

 been rewarded with yellow Roses as large as Jules Margottin 

 and of great substance, the colour being exquisite, and the 



