164 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Angust 20, 1874. 



■waa ehown ty Mr. Bull, of Chelsea, as also a cut bloom of a large 

 and very double Petunia. Mr. May, gardener to J. S. Brockett, 

 Esq., MusweU Hill, sent specimens of Cattleya Dowiana in 

 great beauty ; and Mr. J. Chambers, Westlake Nursery, Spring- 

 grove, of the double-flowered Lobelia pnmila grandiflora, form- 

 ing dense little masses covered with bloom, together with Pilea 

 muscosa alba, a neat little creeper with small light green leaves, 

 and Diplacus califomious with ornamental bnff and orange 

 flowers. Messrs. Paul & Son contributed several stands of cut 

 Boses. 



LITTLE HEATH MELON. 

 I THINK the Little Heath Melon a very good variety for 

 amateurs like myself. I do not know if there is any diffi- 

 culty in growing Melons generally ; but from the time I sowed 

 the seed (April 24th) in a frame which I made up with dung 

 for Cucumbers until July 31st, when I cut three, I had not 

 a single drawback with them — no fly nor disease of any kind. 

 I put in two plants in a two-light frame heated with dung, 

 and they produced eleven fruit, eight or nine being of a good 

 size, and very good. I should judge that this year was very 

 favourable for flavour. Last year I also grew them without 

 any trouble ; but I always give regular attention, and certainly 

 feel well rewarded by the results. Everyone who saw them 

 admired the growth and fruit. — G. C. 



DAHLIAS. 



As an amateur Dahlia-grower for many years, it has often 

 occurred to me why the flower should be thought so little of 

 by the committees of provincial exhibitions. In many of the 

 schedules the amount of piize is the same for a stand of Asters 

 as a stand of Dahlias. The absurdity is great to those who 

 know anything about the culture of the two flowers. The 

 framers of these schedules cannot be aware of the great differ- 

 ence in the cost of purchase, the quantity of land required, 

 the time and trouble in getting twenty-four good blooms of 

 Dahlias as compared with a stand of Asters. To grow twenty- 

 four Dahlias fit for competition with any chance of success, 

 you must have at least 150 plants of the best new and old 

 varieties : this wiU require ten or twelve perches of land heavily 

 manured, four or five stakes to each plant, and each to be 

 thoroughly mulched with cow dung ; in dry seasons a man 

 employed continually watering, shading, and tying; and con- 

 tinual watchfulness after the buds show colour to keep down 

 grubs and earwigs, else the labour is lost. Also, if there are 

 one or two good new seedling flowers every year, you must 

 purchase them at half a guinea a plant to keep pace with your 

 neighbours, besides keeping up the old stock, losses of which 

 will occur every winter with most amateurs. Now contrast 

 the expense in the cultivation of the Aster: 3s. &d. will 

 purchase a packet of good seed, two or three perches of land 

 wiU be sufficient room, then give plenty of old manure and 

 attention, and you are one in the competition at the ex- 

 hibition. 



Referring to the prizes offered, here are two examples this 

 season : A schedule sent me from Pontypool specifies, " Ger- 

 man Asters, twelve blooms, first prize, 10s." "Dahlias, 

 twelve blooms, first prize, 10s." Another is from one of the late 

 homes of the Dahlia (the more surprising), where the rearing 

 and growth of many a first-class Dahlia can he traced — I refer 

 to Birmingham and the late Mr. Charles Perry. The sche- 

 dule from Edgbaston, near Birmingham, specifies, "twelve 

 Dahhas, 10s.; twelve Asters, 7s. 6<Z. ; twelve Phlox, 10s., first 

 prizes." This bad encouragement of the Dahlia now that it 

 has arrived at its greatest perfection rather inclines one to 

 give up its cultivation — a hobby I have enjoyed for twenty 

 years. — Thomas Hobbs, Bristol. 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN.— No. 11. 



A WELL-3IADE Walk kept in good condition is an ornament to 

 any garden, and for appearance only I would give the preference 

 to those made of well-coloured and good binding gravel. True, 

 the labour of keeping gravel walks in order is considerable, 

 but there is a satisfaction afterwards which compensates for it. 

 However, in some parts of the country gravel is out of the 

 question, and gome other material must be used. 



The next best kind of walks, probably, are those made of 

 asphalte or tar, gravel or small stones, coal ashes, and sand. 

 They are made in two ways. The first I shall describe is the 

 preferable one. It involves no great excavation for drainage, 



but if the soil is good some of it may be taken out and anything 

 else substituted, covering it over with fine material; beat this 

 down firm and put the walk into shape, making it high enough, 

 but allowing for the thickness of mixture that is to go on. 

 Now collect a quantity of coal ashes and sift them fine, also 

 coarse road or drift sand and hme rubbish. All these should 

 be sifted, and kept under cover and dry. Mix the three to- 

 gether in equaJ proportions ; take a small quantity at a time, 

 say about three barrowfnls, lay it in a heap and make a hole 

 in the middle, into which pour a quantity of boiling tar ; add 

 enough, and mix well together till it is as stiff as mortar. 

 Take this to the walk and put it on carefully, not less than 

 3 inches thick ; many put it on 4, and some as much as 6 inches 

 thick. The walk is shaped out properly while it is soft and 

 pliable. Before it hardens a good sprinkling of fine ground 

 stone or sifted gravel of a lightish colour, and some sand with 

 it, should be strewed evenly over the walk, and a light roller 

 passed over it to press it well into the tar. After the surface 

 is a little more hardened, but before it is too much so, a heavier 

 roller should be passed over it several times, which will sohdify 

 the whole. This addition of light stone and sand is to im- 

 prove the appearance of the walk, of which the surface would 

 otherwise be very dark, which I consider an objection. All 

 this work should be done in dry weather, and the ground 

 rendered very firm before commencing. In a few hours the 

 whole mass will be pretty well set and quite waterproof. 



The next method is a more expeditious one, though I think 

 less substantial, and will not bear comparison with the former, 

 yet walks done in this way last a considerable time, and the 

 method is therefore convenient to some persons. It is this : 

 First shape out the walk, and put all the materia! on as de- 

 scribed in the former mode, pour the tar on cold over the 

 whole surface, regulate it with a stiff broom, or, what is better, 

 a small board on the end of a pole in the form of a rake. 

 Put on a sufficient quantity of tar to penetrate the whole, and 

 let it soak in, taking care that it is evenly distributed. Add 

 sand and fine gravel as for the first method, and in other 

 respects treat similarly. Whichever mode is adopted no large 

 stones must be permitted on the surface, as they would work 

 out again and leave holes in the walks ; and even the fine 

 stones must only be thick enough to allow them to be em- 

 bedded properly in the tar. Walks made after the last method 

 are liable to break-up in flakes, especially if pressed by heavy 

 loads frequently at one and the same place. 



In walks of this description there will be the surface-water 

 to be disposed of more than in those made of gravel, though 

 it is necessary to provide for carrying it off any walk. In a 

 previous article I mentioned about marking the place where 

 the drains run, so that their connections may be made good tt> 

 take off the surface water ; this should be done previous to 

 making the walks ; as there is likely to be some washings 

 of soil and other rubbish to dispose of, and which ought not 

 to be allowed to go into the drains, to avoid this it will be 

 necessary to dig-out a small hole, say 15 or 18 inches square 

 at the top, and 2 feet or more in depth, at every junction with 

 the under drain. Let the drain for the water go out at the 

 top of this hole, and as the latter becomes full the water can 

 run off, leaving the sediment behind. Now it is hai-dly neces- 

 sary for me to say that after heavy showers, and at other times 

 also, these holes should be cleaned out, and all that would 

 otherwise enter the drains and soon stop them up should be 

 taken away. Gratings of iron should be provided and placed 

 over each hole, set-in firmly in a frame, which may be em- 

 bedded in the asphalte as the work of making the walk goes on. 

 I prefer the convex form of grating ; it is not so liable to get 

 stopped-up by the accumulation of rubbish as the opposite 

 shape. — Thomas Becoed. 



EARLY BEATRICE PEACH. 

 The first ripe fruit of this excellent Peach was gathered 

 from a tree on an open wall in the second week of July. The 

 tree is young, and did not yield more than one good dish of 

 fruit, ail of which were ready a few days later ; then came an 

 interval of nearly three weeks before the first fruit of Elvers' 

 Early York were fit for table. The prevalence of dull showery 

 weather will in some measure account for the tardy ripening of 

 Early York. I hope to form a connecting link between it and 

 Early Beatrice by means of Early Elvers, which will come into 

 bearing next season. Thanks to the coping boards, I hope 

 eventually to have a full supply of Peaches with a tolerable 

 degree of certainty from trees on the open walls, from the 



