138 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 13, 1874. 



it they were dry when they were gathered they would be dry 

 DOW. I have not preserved fruit these twenty years without 

 kuowing something about it, and I am sure I never had any 

 6ent-iu in such a state till you came here. I don't know what 

 we are coming to ;" and the good old lady sighed in despair. 



The fact was the Cherries had been perfectly dry when 

 gathered, but it was a comparatively cool summer day, and 

 they were taken into a heated room for bottling, where the 

 moisture immediately condensed on the fruit, aud in a few 

 seconds it became as thoroughly wet aa if it had been in a 

 shower of rain. Had Mrs. B. remained a little longer upstairs 

 till the fruit became warm through, all would have been right 

 in the good lady's eyes ; but as it was, the fruit in her opinion 

 was entirely spoilt, and Mr. Green " was no gardener." 



This is no imaginary picture, although I am happy to say it 

 ■was not my personal experience. The genus to which Mrs. 

 Bouncer belongs would not flourish here, it requires special 

 culture. Half the fruit that is preserved (?) in some private 

 establishments is spoilt through inattention to, or want of 

 knowledge of, such apparent little matters as the one I am 

 attempting to point out. Sometimes it is the bottles or jors 

 that are brought in from a cold place and immediately filled, 

 and sometimes the fruit is allowed to remain uncovered in 

 Ihe bottles in a variable temperature for a considerable time 

 hefore being corked down. Mrs. Bouncer is a most careful 

 person, but somehow she generally manages to bottle up more 

 water with the fruit than is good for its keeping, and then 

 after a few weeks she cannot understand how it is that the 

 mould appears ; but the storeroom and the gardener will pro- 

 bably have to share the blame between them. Mr. Green's 

 vineries — when the Grapes were ripening, and the sun raised 

 the temperature suddenly before he could get at the venti- 

 lators — have given him more practical lessons on the subject 

 than the poor man was in need of ; but it is of no use for Mr. 

 Green to understand the subject unless he can manage to 

 convince Mrs. Bouncer, and that is no easy matter. 



For bottling fruit to keep well, it is necessary that it should 

 be corktd up perfectly dry, using the best corks procurable. 

 If it is placpd over the fire at all (most fruits that are usually 

 bottled will keep perfectly well without this), the water should 

 not quite boil, but merely begin to rise in small bubbles, when 

 the fire should be drawn, or the preserving pan taken carefully 

 ofi and allowed to become quite cold before the bottles are 

 removed. Now, all this care is imperatively necessary for pre- 

 serving fruits whole in bottles for tarts, ices, &a. ; but, on the 

 other hand, for making jams and jellies, if the fruit is boiled 

 directly it is gathered, and not allowed to stand about till it 

 begins to decay, it matters not how wet it is — in fact, in a dry 

 summer when the fruits are comparatively short of juice it is 

 a great improvement to add a little water before boiling. No 

 one need be timid about this, because a moment's reflection 

 will show that during the process of boiling iu an open vessel 

 all the water is quickly evaporated, and if there is no water to 

 evaporate, of course some of the juice of the fruit will be lost. 



I am Eurjirised that amongst the varieties of Strawberries 

 that have been lately recommended for preserving, I have not 

 seen any mention of the old Grove End Scarlet. I certainly 

 do not know any other kind half so good for the purpose. I 

 suppose it is on account of its small size that it is not more 

 grown ; but what it lacks in size it makes up in numbers — in 

 a good season it averages at least a pint of fruit to a plant. 

 The jam made from it is of a good colour, of good flavour, and of 

 even consistency ; all the fruit breaks up in boiling, there are 

 DO lumps. A fruit for making jam or jelly ought always to be 

 acid ; I think no one ever complains that jam is not sweet 

 enough. It should also be of a decided colour; most large- 

 growing Strawberries are light-coloured inside, and therefore 

 cannot produce rtd jam. Viscomtesse Hericart de Thnry is of a 

 good colour throughout, aud is a prodigious bearer, but when 

 made into jam its seeds are too numerous and prominent. 



Is there a recognised late variety of the Morello CheiTy ? 

 One tree I have amongst others was last year a fortnight 

 later in ripening its fruit than the rest ; there is a difference 

 this year, but I am afraid it is not so marked. — W. Tayloh. 



which a noted rosarian told me a few weeks ago, I am inclined 

 to think the seedling Briars are imported from France. If 

 they are, whence can amateurs get supplied ? — P. 



SEEDLING BRIAE STOCKS. 



Mr.. Camm, at page 118, speaks highly of the seedling Briar 

 as a stock for late blooms of Roses. Will you allow me to 

 inquire whether these seedling Briars are raised from English- 

 grown seed or from imported seed, or are the stocks them- 

 selves imported horn France ? I ask because, from something 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN.— No. 10. 



In laying out the area of a garden there is more economy in 

 plainness and simplicity of arrangement, both in the present 

 and in the after management, than there is ever likely to 

 be in strUiing-ont those peculiar figures, such as oval and 

 circular shapes, for the sake of combining ornamentation. It 

 would require a large scope of ground for a gardener to make 

 the latter plan appreciated, because a vast deal more space 

 would be taken-up by a multiplicity of walks, &e., to say 

 nothing of the extra amount of labour involved in cropping, 

 aud the design must be large and bold to be seen to advantage 

 when every quarter is cropped. A fruit garden so arranged 

 might be more in character; but for a fruit and vegetable gar- 

 den combined, such as our amateurs are likely to require, the 

 plainer the arrangement the better, especially when on a small 

 scale, and where it is so necessary that every foot of space 

 should be made the most of. 



The first thing to be thought about is the borders and the 

 width they are to be struck out. The rule is, and I think it will 

 generally bear criticism, to make them the width of the height of 

 the wall, but in some instances I think it would be an advantage 

 to depart from it ; for instance, if the garden should be a pa- 

 rallelogram in shape, and the walls all 8 feet high, I think the 

 south borders ought to be 10 or 12 feet wide, or even more than 

 that if the situation and soil are good, and the remainder of the 

 borders may be of a width equal to the height of the walls; but 

 if the length of the parallelogram should run directly north aud 

 south, I would set off two borders, the first one to be not less 

 than 12 feet in width, and the other about 20 feet wide, both 

 running parallel with the wall, the second border being divided 

 from the other by a properly-made walk. This would be found 

 an excellent additional piece of ground to prepare for the growth 

 of early vegetables, and is rendered necessary, I consider, from 

 the position of the garden, it having but a small southern 

 aspect compared with the others. 



The work of setting out the borders is very simple. Running 

 as they do parallel with the walls, it is only to measure-off the 

 desired width from these and strike them out with line, stakes, 

 and spade ; and then the walks ought to intervene between 

 the borders and the centre of the garden, which is the remain- 

 ing portion to be divided off. Here let me observe, that 

 although it is absolutely necessary to have a walk running 

 round the interior of the garden as above indicated, and to 

 which those from each entrance should communicate, it is a 

 great fault to have too many in other directions, as is seen in 

 some gardens. It is a waste of ground for very little purpose ; 

 and in small gardens of an acre it is a question whether one 

 other walk running through the centre would not suffice for 

 all purposes, or at most there ought only to be two walks 

 intersecting each other in the centre of the garden, dividing it 

 into four compartments instead of two. This is a matter, 

 however, upon which the proprietor would be the best judge, 

 and the situation and means of access to the garden would 

 afford him a guide. In some cases where there is an object 

 in the centre to which it would be desirable to have easy com- 

 munication I would say, By all means make the most of it.' 

 Or it may be that the principal supply of water is to be ob- 

 tained from the centre of the garden : if so, the more facilities 

 for access to it the more advantageous it will be, provided these 

 be not overdone. 



Enough has been said to show that the garden should be 

 divided into compartments in the most careful manner, having 

 regard always to that plan which is likely to prove the most 

 convenient and useful according to the situation, means of 

 access, and other circumstances which it is sometimes not 

 possible for a person to foresee and provide for unless on the 

 spot. 



To take things in their regular order, the next thing to be 

 considered is the width of the walks and their formation. I 

 have so far been advocating as few walks as possible, and I 

 think it proper to make those few as wide as can be done, paying 

 due regard to three things that will always be appreciated — 

 viz., the facilities for conveying materials to aud from the 

 ground, and the comfort of "those who visit it, as well as the 

 size of the garden. For the first two purposes the walks 

 ought not to be less than 5 feet wide, which will allow two 

 barrows to pass each other easily, or it a small pony cart is 



