Angnst 27, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



170 



co:mpabative hardiness of fruits. 



> LLOW me to call the attention of amateurs 

 anil others to the fact that there are among 

 fruits some varieties that are comparatively 

 hardy and productive of their kind. They can 

 scarcely be made to fail in the worst of sea- 

 sons and with the worst of treatment. Some 

 of them, too, are fruits of good quality ; I 

 will mention two or three that are on my 

 memory, and ask others who are experienced 

 to add to their numbers. First and most 

 familiar is Louise Bonne of Jersey Pear. Whoever saw 

 a fair-sized tree of Louise Bonne that did not bear fruit ? 

 Last year it was especially conspicuous here. No other 

 Pear of good quality in the garden, excepting those trained 

 on walls, bore half a crop, the bloom being killed by frost ; 

 but Louise Bonne stood it bravely in spite of spring and 

 midsummer frosts, and brought its h.andsome fruit to the 

 greatest perfection amid the drenching autumn rains. 

 Another fruit that was noticeable too amongst the gene- 

 ral scarcity was Coe's Golden Drop Plum. It is always 

 the same. Let all other Plums fail, there are always at 

 least a few fruit on Golden Drop, and generally a large 

 quantity. It is the best of all late Plums, and one of the 

 hardiest. It succeeds tolerably well on a north wall, where 

 the sun scarcely ever reaches it. Of colirse it has not so 

 good a flavour there as when grown on an east or west 

 wall, but it generally bears a quantity of moderately-good 

 fruit that will at least do for kitchen use, and which, 

 after a fine autumn, is not to be despised in November 

 and December for the dessert. 



I will name one other fi-uit, which, perhaps, is not so 

 well known as those already mentioned, but I say the 

 sooner it is the better for those who wish to provide for 

 bad seasons, and they are all bad now-a-days. We get a 

 glimpse of something very hke summer weather in March 

 or Apiil, and we begin to count our chickens, but before 

 the hatching season is fairly come we find tlie mercury 

 in our thermometers nearly congealed, and our eggs are 

 addled. We want fruits that will blossom and set and 

 swell in spite of a few degrees of frost. Sncb a one, 

 according to my experience, is Crawford's Early Peach. 

 For three successive seasons, when all other kinds have 

 been comparative failures, this has borne a heavy crop. 

 I shall be very glad if others can speak as well of it, for 

 I am inclined to plant it largely. It is a light yellowiBh- 

 fleshed Peach of good quality, and ripens in the beginning 

 and middle of August. It is, I believe, of American 

 origin. Royal George Peach, on the other hand, I do not 

 consider a desirable kind to plant outside, except in the 

 most favoured localities. Of course it cannot be denied 

 that it is a good Peach where it does well ; but it is sub- 

 ject more than any other kind to all the maladies that a 

 Peach is heir to, including mildew, gumming, and loss of 

 limbs from some imknown cause ; and besides, I do not 

 think its flowers are so hardy as those of some other kinds. 

 Where one goes to the expense of covering walls with 

 textile material I am inclined to think frigi domo is the 

 No. 700.- Vol. XXVn., New Series. 



cheapest in the long run ; the cost at first is great com- 

 pared with netting, but with care it will last three times 

 as long, and is certainly much more effectual. A broad 

 temporary coping is a first necessity ; mine is 13 inches 

 wide, I wish it had been 3 feet. — Willi.im Taylor. 



ROSES. 



I, xUroNGST thousands, enjoy a weekly treat in reading 

 " our Jom-nal," yet never have a word to offer in return 

 for the many pleasant jottings of others. 



The remarks of our friends and real guides, such as 

 Mr. Camm and Mr. Peach in last week's Journal, con- 

 strain me to offer a word to prevent misapprehension by 

 many amateurs. 



Confusion is often caused by confounding the mere 

 flowers of a Rose tree and the tree it.self. Whilst Mr. 

 Radclyffe may be alluding to the tree, om- exhibiting 

 friends may dwell solely on the flower, and so mere ama- 

 teurs get confused. And in like manner our best nursery- 

 men unconsciously lead us astray. 



Mr. Camm may buy Baron Chaurand Rose from Mr. 

 W. Paul, or Mr. Cant, or Mr. Charles Turner ; so he has 

 not thought of all possible good nurserymen where this 

 may be had ; but I am bound to say I have patiently tried 

 this Rose, and found it imable to bloom under the strong 

 winds, wet weather, and cloudy skies of this neighbourhood. 



I advise amateurs to well consider the meaning of 

 strong recommendations of exhibiting Rose-growers. For 

 instance, all of these speak highly of .such Roses as Etienne 

 Levet, Countess of Oxford, and other seedlings of Victor 

 Verdier Rose, and one of our best Rose-growing nursery- 

 men speaks of the former as taking rank with Alfred 

 Colomb and Charles Lofeb^Te. Now this is a great mis- 

 take in the general sense as applied to amateurs who do 

 not exhibit. Such seedlings, as well as Marquise de Cas- 

 tellane, never will rank with such Roses, for they are scent- 

 less, and this is a point of more value in a general sense 

 than exhibitors count on. Of Madame Lacharme I had 

 plants (standards) of Laeharme's own raising, and I am 

 quite satisfied it will never take the rank of many Roses 

 that we have had for years. This will not do as a first-^ 

 rate Rose in any sense I feel satisfied, and Mr. Camm's first 

 year's verdict will also be bis last, I am of opinion. No 

 doubt, in the absence of large whites, or even a large light 

 good blush, it may be used until surpassed ; but I am 

 clear that Mdlle. Bonnaire or Souvenir de Malmaison are 

 better on the whole as blushes, and Bonle de Neige, 

 though smaller, much better as a pure white. 



My situation and climate are mild in winter, so that 

 Teas need then little or no protection, and I have lost none 

 out of many in winter for the last five years ; yet the late 

 spring and summer were most severely trying by strong 

 continuous cold wet winds, and low general temperature 

 arising therefrom. This will give amateurs a general idea 

 of the situation and circumstances hero, and prepare them 

 to properly estimate my experience of the best twelve 

 Roses, after patiently trying nearly all in cultivation. They 

 are Madame Victor Verdier, Alfred Colomb, La France, 

 MarieBaumann, Charles Lefebvre, Baronne Rothschild (no 



No. I».';2 — Vol. LTI., Old Sse sri. 



