472 



JOUBNAIj of HOETIOUIiTXJBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ June 17, 1875. 



dwarf habit, suitable for the rockery. U. lanoeolata is a charm- 

 ing plant for the border, and one of the tallest of the family. 

 There are several other kinds of this interesting family of 

 border flowers that will well repay any little labour bestowed 

 upon them. — Veritas. 



CUCUMBER, TENDER AND TRUE. 

 In the garden at Faming Woods, the seat of Lord Lyveden, 

 we recently saw that excellent Cucumber Tender and True 

 growing for the first time. It is now some time since it was 

 certificated by the Royal Horticultural Society, but the diflioulty 

 of procuring seed from it has hitherto prevented it being grown 

 to any extent. At Faming Woods Mr. Freeman, the skilful 

 gardener at that place, succeeds with it to perfection. In a 

 low span-roofed Cucumber house it is produciug fruit of the 

 handsomest kind in great abundance, and Mr. Freeman con- 

 siders it the finest Cucumber he has ever cultivated. Our 

 own observations confirm all Mr. Freeman has said in its 

 favour, for nothing could be more handsome ; and its great 

 merit is the rapidity with which it comes to maturity. In 

 fifteen days from the time of setting, the fruit is as many 

 inches long, and the fine prolific plant in the house had been 

 produced in ten weeks from the sowing of the seed. 



INTERNATIONAL HORTICULTURAL 

 EXHIBITION AT COLOGNE. 

 We have received from Mr. Robert Warner the following 

 extract from a communication he has received from the Presi- 

 dent of the Exhibition : — " The Minister of Agriculture has 

 put at our disposal six large medals of state, which the Jury 

 will have to award for the best horticultural, &o. , contribution 

 to the Exhibition. Moreover, Her Majesty the Empress-Queen 

 has graciously promised a special prize of honour, and un- 

 doubtedly His Highness the Crown Prince will do the same." 



The Cabteb Cor value fifty guineas 

 panying is an engrav- 

 ing, and other valuable 

 money prizes for vege- 

 tables offered by James 

 Carter & Co., are to be 

 awarded at the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, 

 South Kensington, July 

 7lh, 1875. For the best 

 collection of vegetables, 

 twenty-four dishes : First 

 prize the " Carter Cup," 

 value fifty guineas, to 

 become the absolute pro- 

 perty of the employer to 

 whom the prize may be 

 awarded, also 10 guineas 

 for the gardener ; second 

 prize, 7 guineas ; third 

 prize, 5 guineas ; fourth 

 prize, 3 guineas. All 

 vegetables to be grown 

 by bona fide gentlemen's 

 gardeners or gentlemen 

 amateurs, and, excepting 

 Cucumbers and Melons, 

 in the open ground. 



of which the accom- 



Largesi Peach Or- 

 chaud in the World. — 

 Mr. ShellcroBS, who re- 

 sides near Middletown, 

 Delaware, owns the 

 largest Peach orchard in 

 the world. Last year he 

 shipped to New York 

 125,000 baskets of fruit, 

 and it is estimated that 

 he lost, by being unable 

 toprocure labour to pick, 

 about 25,000 baskets more. On several days he loaded from 

 his orchard ten carloads. Mr. Sliellcross's orchard reaches 

 along the public road for more than eight miles — generally 

 on either side — and covers an extent of upwards of a thousand 



acres, on which is growing more than a hundred thousand 

 trees. The land on which Mr. Shellcross's trees are planted ia 

 worth 150,000 dollars. 



THE GOOSEBERRY CATERPILLAR. 



The green caterpillars, larvoG of the Saw-fly (Tenthredo 

 grossularia), are earlier and more numerous this season than 

 I ever remember. I can vouch with some of your correspon- 

 dents that the cuckoo is a great enemy to them, and so are 

 sparrows and chaffinches. The easiest way which I know of 

 eradicating them is to keep a sharp look-out as soon as the 

 insect comes into real life, and look over the bushes three 

 times a-week and pick off the leaves that the insects have been 

 hatched on. There will be twenty-five to forty on a leaf. A 

 small boy will look over two or three hundred in a day, and 

 if this is continued for two weeks or so there will be no danger 

 from these pests. I have about six hundred bushes, and this 

 is the way I almost defy the caterpillar. — J. Addison, Ormi'sfon. 



CUT-BACK ROSES. 



In answer to " E. A. W.," I have to say that I am writing 

 principally in the interest of Rose exhibitors, but my remarks 

 apply with far greater force to those who merely want garden 

 Roses, as there can be no question that the blooms on cut- 

 back Roses are much more profuse than on maidens. By the 

 term " cut-back Roses," I mean Roses other than maiden 

 plants ; Roses which come from nurseries, or old plants in the 

 garden which have been pruned. I did not think at the time 

 I used the term that anyone would not know its meaning, or 

 I would have written more at length. A desire to save your 

 space, as well as a wish to make my articles lively and plea- 

 sant to your readers, makes me use terms which are well knowa 

 to all large growers, but may prove enigmas to the uninitiated. 

 Concerning pruning, I will write to you at length before next 

 season. — J. B. M. Camm. 



LOXFORD HALL. 



Not a place of imposing appearance is Loxford Hall. It is 

 no castellated structure with terrace and moat surrounding it, 

 or the ancestral home of a long line of landed magnates, but 

 it exemplifies the position of those of whom a nation may be 

 proud to boast. Loxford Hall is a plain brick buUding, cosy 

 and comfortable ; but it is noted mainly for its gardens, ita 

 worthy occupier having invested freely and liberally in erecting 

 structures ou a large scale, and in a substantial manner, for 

 the culture of flowers and fruit, of which the metropolitan and. 

 provincial exhibitions have seen such superior examples. In 

 the management of these gardens it is pleasing to record the 

 confidence which exists between master and servant; hence it. 

 is that Mr. Whitboum and his able gardener Mr. Douglas have 

 done and will do so much for high-class and useful horticulture. 



To the readers of our Journal a sketch of this garden cannot 

 fail to be interesting, seeing that in our columns the " Doings " 

 of its manager are literally household words — teachings given 

 by actual example, profitable and valuable because thoroughly 

 practical, and a faithful reflex of current work. A celebrated 

 man when atked as to the character of a contemporary cele- 

 brity replied, " I do not know, as I have not lived with him " 

 — a cautious and a pregnant answer. Oars, too, is a practical 

 age, and while we are pleased to hear what a man has to say, 

 we are only quite satisfied when we see what he does. We 

 see Mr. Douglas's doings in the Journal, let us now glance at 

 them at Loxford. Does some one inquire if he really does 

 all that he says? the reply is. Yes. and more, for like most 

 able men Mr. Douglas possesses a modesty which forbids any 

 parade of his own works. He does not hesitate to tell us if- 

 mealy bug finds its way on a Stephanotis, or red spider on a 

 Vine, or if an Orchid is injured by fumigation. Many would 

 hesitate to acknowledge such incidents as being evidence of 

 unfkilfulness, but a cultivator conscious in his own strength 

 and desirous to be the instructor of others, can afford the 

 risk, and does not hesitate to tell of a mistake or an untoward 

 occurrence when with it goes a proved remedy or timely pre- 

 caution. Mr. Douglas will tell us all that, but he will not 

 pourtray his noble Grapes, splendid Pines, excellent Straw- 

 berries, and fine stove plants. Orchids, and Auriculas. 



It may be seasonable to adopt his familiar headings, and look 

 first into the 



STOVE AND ORCHID HOUSE. 



This is a span-roofed structure of moderate size, having a 



