228 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. ( Sopiember la. 1M». 



was hoisted npon it for the fiiBt time on Wednesday, the 8tb 

 inst., the stars and stripes being appropriately bo faononred. 

 The mast was presented to the Company by the late Governor 

 of British Colombia, Frederick Seymour, Esq. 



POMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS. 



Hathen's Red Gage (Reine Claude Ronge de Hathen). — 

 This is a new Plam, sent us by Mr. Rivers. It is large ; in 

 size, form, and coloor, it is very like Victoria ; but the flavour 

 is like that of a Gage, the flesh separates freely from the stone, 

 and the juice is very rich. This is a great acquiBition ; the 

 young wood is bright and smooth, while that of Victoria is 

 downy. 



Yellow JIagnum Bokcm. — This is another Plum sent 



by Mr. Rivers. It is perfectly distinct from 'White Magnum 

 Bonum. It is a medinm-sized oval fruit, with a dull yellow 

 skin sprinkled with red dots ; it is also a clingstone and with 

 a rich flavour ; the young shoots are smooth. All these are 

 characters which bring it very near Jefferson and Coe's Golden 

 Drop. 



My Lawtok and Dohchester Blackeekhieb are ripe 



(August 20th). They are at least five or six weeks earlier than 

 our English sort, their berries more conical, and not quite so 

 large as we have on our Brambles in good soils. They have the 

 same flat, mawkish flavour. Thousands of bushels are sent 

 to the markets in the northern States of America, where they 

 are very popular. It is curious to note this boyish taste in 

 our transatlantic cousins ; they must be very simple and inno- 

 cent, for here Blackberries are only eaten by very young folks. 



The Early Favocbite Plc^si. — This nice early Plum 



was raised many years ago by Mr. Rivers with the Early Pro- 

 lific, and is often mistaken and sent for it. It is, however, ' 

 quite distinct, having downy shoots, and fruit smaller and more ' 

 round. Against a south wall it often ripens early in July. It 

 is so juicy and refreshing, as to remind one of a Black Ham- 

 burgh Grape. 



Messes. Bunyaed & Som, of Maidstone, have sent us 



again fruit of that delicious little seedling Apple we figured 

 and described last year, in Vol. XV., page 281. It is all 

 flavour, and the flesh is very tender. It is a pity it is so small, 

 bnt in this respect it will rank among Apples, as the Seckle 

 does among Fears. 



TiiE Atlas Nct. — We have had a Nut sent us by Mr. 



Rivers called the Atlas Nut, bnt why so named we do not know. 

 The nut is short and roundish, and of a good size, a good deal 

 like the true Cob (not the Kentish Cob) ; but has a long huek 

 projeciing beyond the nut. It produces fruit from seven to 

 eigbt in a cluster, and the kernel is very fall and firm. The 

 shell is pale brown. 



THE STORM OF SEPTEMBER lliii. 



Last night (11th inst.j, or rather this morning, this neigh- 

 bourhood was visited by a most terrific storm of wind and rain, 

 doing great damage to the Hop plantations and fruit crops in 

 the neighbourhood. Coming as it did from the south-west, 

 and there being a valley from that direction to Lillesden, it 

 bad a most damaging effect on these gardens. Bushels of fruit 

 of different kinds are blown down, and some trees ; while the 

 green crops, such as late Peas, Scarlet Runners, and Broccoli, 

 are blown in all directions, and the foliage much battered 

 about. In the more ornamental portion of the grounds Urge 

 limbs are blown off trees, and other damage done. Even some 

 standard Laurustinuses in slate tubs, weighing 2cwt. each, 

 were blown over; but it is surprising to see how well the 

 Wellingtonia, Pinus insignia, and Taxodium sempervirens 

 stand the wind in an exposed place like this, while the Deodar, 

 Douglas Fir, and Pinus excelsa, appear affected by it, though 

 not so much so as at some places. — T. Record, Lillesden Gar- 

 dens, Staplehunt, Kent. 



[We have received similar accounts from Mr. Perkins, 

 Thornham Hall Gardens, Suffolk, and other correspondents.] 



"•\XTLO IS TO BLAME'.'" 

 The remarks of " C. C. E.," in last week's Journal surprise 

 OS, and as we (in conjunction with Messre. Hurst & Son), 



introduced Laxton's Supreme Pea to the public, we hasten 

 to reply. 



Presuming that your correspondent purchased the true va- 

 riety in a sealed packet, his experience is astonishing, and as 

 far as onr reports go, exceptional. It is a well-known fact, 

 that to publish an actual standard of the height of Peas is 

 impossible, inasmuch as on some soils and under certain in- 

 fluences Peas run quite away from their real character. With 

 this fact in view, we endeavour, when deciding the description 

 of any new Pea we may introduce, to fix the standard as that 

 most likely to be generally acknowledged, and in this instance 

 we were guided by the reports of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, and our own observations during trial. 



We feel sure, therefore, many readers of the Journal will be as 

 much surprised as ourselves at ■• C. C. E.'e " remarks on this 

 point. Now, as to our statement of the qualities of Laxton's 

 Supreme Pea, it is sustained by several published authorities. 

 In addition, a correspondent in Yorkshire forwards a provincial 

 newspaper announcing a show of Peas, from which we extract 

 the following : — " All the Peas shown were Laxton's Supreme, 

 a new and superior kind. There were twenty dishes shown. 

 The smallest number of Peas in each pod was eigbt, the 

 largest containing thirteen, the average being ten." 



Another correspondent. Mr. Henry May, seedsman, Bedale, 

 says — '• I think Laxton's Supreme an improvement on Prolific. 

 It took the first prize at Carthorpe Show, beating Veitch'e Per- 

 fection and other well-known kinds." 



We may also mention, that at the Manchester Meeting of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society, in the collection of vegeta- 

 bles that secured the Cellini cup prize, the Peas shown were 

 Laxton's Supreme and Laxton's Prolific. We are constantly 

 receiving similar evidence, whilst the gratifying reports ap- 

 pearing almost incessantly in the gardening journals are 

 worthy of note. As regards the price of an article, it is worth 

 just what it will fetch, and in practice we may mention, that 

 if we had possessed three times the quantity of the Pea in 

 question, we could have sold it at the same price. From 

 this it appears to us that there is a large section of the garden- 

 ing world who do not look upon Ss. lid. per half pint as a high 

 price for a first-class novelty. In his condemnation of Lax- 

 ton's Supreme, " C. C. E." pits his judgment against the 

 decisions of the Royal Horticultural Society's trials at Chis- 

 wick during two years, and also against the judgment of our- 

 selves and Messrs. Hurst & Son, who were induced to give 

 something like £100 per bushel for stock seed, because we 

 fancied, and are still of opinion, that it is a grand Pea. 



If seedsmen are enterprising enough to give these large 

 amounts for really good novelties, " C. C. E." must expect to 

 pay 3^-. 6d. for a sample, or look at the Peas in his neighbour's 

 garden instead of his own. We may add, that we have several 

 other first-class Peas of Mr. Laxton's which we intend offering 

 to the public, and before we introduce them we do not expect 

 them to please everybody, but we are equally certain the 

 majority of the gardening community will thank us for bring- 

 ing them under the pubUc notice. — James Cabteb & Co. 



A FE"W OF THE FERNY COMBES OF NORTH 

 DEVON. 

 The angle formed by the meeting of the bases of two ad- 

 joining bills has various names, and I have seen examples of 

 all such angles — the Valleys of Switzerland, the Glens of Scot- 

 land, the Dales of Derbyshire, the Vales of Somersetshire and 

 Wales, the Ghauts of India, and the Passes in many lands, yet 

 none resemble the Combes of Devon. These Combes are many- 

 branched ; have breadths of grass so green, have such steep 

 sides, often wooded, always densely clothed with entangled 

 underwood and briars, are threaded by a stream, and are rich 

 in Ferns. Their soil, their climate, their shade, render them 

 specially the home of Ferns — they abound and thrive rarely. 

 And so do legends. There are near the shore of North Devon 

 more than twenty places with names ending in Combe, and I 

 verily believe each Combe has its legendary tale, always a com- 

 bination of love, murder, catastrophes, skeletons, and ghosts. 

 I have heard a dozen such. There is Crosscombe near Lynton 

 has two legends, for there flits the ghost of the daughter of 

 one with the unpronounceable name of De Wchchalse, who 

 threw herself in despair from Duty Point when the noble lover 

 who had wooed and won her proved false ; and there the spirit 

 of Sir Arthur Chichester wanders on the coast as penance for 

 his sins. Then there is Woolacombe, where the ghost of the 



