September S, 1874. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



205 



been wanting, the efforts of the cnltiTatiDg mind and hand. 

 We may po on covering the best of ground with acre upon acre 

 of bnfh and pyramid fiuit trees; never shall we be able to feed 

 the million with fruit in such a way as to meet the demand 

 at a suitable price until we start out on a new track, leaving 

 those who possess gaidens, which the many do not, to indulge 

 in their hobby to the full. 



But some will say I am wandering from the subject. Not 

 at all, for I want it to be understood that the Crab and Pear 

 usually grow well, and when man has put upon the one the 

 Apple, or on the other the improved Pear, each bears annually, 

 or at fiuthest every alternate year, bushels of fruit, which are 

 sweetened with sugar, an easier thing now more duty is off, 

 infinitely better for the stomach than millions of gallons of 

 liquor containing the poison alcohol. Cider, even, is far better 

 than malt liquor or spirit. 



Now for the dwarf stock. It is undoubtedly the stock of 

 the age — the age of luxury. It is not suited for planting in 

 orchards, or on ground kept clear and left to cater for itself, 

 having no more feeding than that of the soil, and that brought 

 down by dew and rain. In equal conditions to those in which 

 we usually find trees on the free stock, those on the dwarf are 

 not nearly so productive, nor in any way so satisfactory ; 

 whilst trees on the free stock succeed with almost any treat- 

 ment and anywhere, those on the dwarf stock require, if not 

 good soil, at least very liberal culture, and such being the case, 

 they are wisely recommended for gardens, the soil of which, if 

 not good, is made so by fertilising agents. It is only just to 

 the dwarf stock, and to those possessing trees thereon, to state 

 this; many have trees all aglow in spring with blossom, and 

 are disappointed at the meagre quantity and inferior quality 

 of the fruit. Quantity and quality of fruit are results from 

 the means employed to secure them. The planter may be- 

 grudge every shovelful of manure for his fruit trees, and ex- 

 pect them to bear full and tine crops. It is a parallel ease 

 with that of a proprietor who was particularly partial to fine, 

 solid, crisp, nutty Celery, and denied his gardener access to 

 the manure heap. To expect is one thing ; to adopt and aiiford 

 means calculated to realise, another. Those who cannot be 

 liberal to their fruit trees in the way of manure will be acting 

 wisely to plant none but those on the free stock. 



Trees on the dwarf stock are only for a liberal cultivating 

 hand, for they are great rooters ; they commence to put out 

 from the stem fresh roots in autumn, and continue to produce 

 them in mild weather through the winter. This I know from 

 having moved them almost every day of the months from 

 September to April. I have even lifted them in the middle of 

 summer, in July and August, in full foliage under a broiling 

 sun, and always found fresh white roots issuing from the root- 

 stem. These roots are rather thick, and at first white; they 

 extend considerably, and become a mass of fibres, ramifying 

 in all directions. Owing to the existence of these roots, which 

 I believe to be of annual, or certainly not great longevity, the 

 lifting or transplanting of trees on the dwarf stock is at no 

 time attended with nearly the same risk as in the case of trees 

 upon the free stock. This I have had ample opportunity of 

 observing, for it has fallen to my share to plant and make 

 alterations in gardens to an extent which, for a gardener, was 

 far from enviable. Not a single failure from transplantation 

 have I known with fruit trees on the dwarf stock. Deaths I 

 have known, but they have arisen from want of transplantation 

 rather than in consequence of it. I remember once, three 

 years ago, moving a trained Plum tree from a south to a west 

 wall in the middle of June, its branches covering a space of 

 20 feet by 10 feet, and at the same time some Peach trees of 

 not much less size were removed, and they, the Plums, are 

 now in full crop, and the Peaches have borne a heavy crop, they 

 having been forced the last three seasons. I mention this to 

 show that the Plum, it not a dwarfing stock, is equally safe 

 for moving as those known as such — i.f., the Paradise for the 

 Apple, the Quince for the Pear, and the Mahaleb for the Cherry. 

 From the fact also of the Plum being employed as a stock for 

 the Peach, Nectarine, and Apricot, the above observations are 

 made on its free transplanting nature, and it must be admitted 

 to be the best rooted subject of the whole. — G. Abbey. 



Vermont, I must state that my crop far exceeds his. I planted 

 half a pound, which were three seed-sized Potatoes, and when 

 dug-up the tubers weighed 30 lbs., and are all good and equal- 

 sized Potatoes; twelve of them weigh 5 lbs. — T. M. A. C, 

 Kcmsdale, Faversham. 



The Potato Crop. — I agree with " H. G. M." (page 148), 

 that the early frost has done much towards injuring the early 

 crops he named. In respect to the Early Rose, I have grown 

 it three seasons, and it has not produced more than one-third 

 that it did the other two seasons. In regard to the Early 



NOTES ON KOSES- SEEDLING BRIARS. 



With regard to the letter signed " Amateur, Liverpool," I 

 beg to say that I did not include Baron Chaurand in the number 

 of those Koses that had gone out of cultivation. If "Amateur" 

 will refer to my letter he will see that those I spoke of are in 

 quite a different paragraph. I know that most of our best 

 rosarians sell this Rose, but I do not think one of them would 

 recommend it as an exhibition variety. There is a great 

 difference between a mere garden Rose and an exhibition 

 Rose. 



With regard to the seedling Briar, I am most happy to in- 

 form " Midland Counties " that he can procure any number 

 from Mr. Prince, of Oxford, at the extraordinarily low price of 

 Is. Gd. per hundred. At least so Mr. Prince writes me word, 

 though when I read his letter I could hardly believe my eyes. 

 He adds also the gratifyiug news, " I have nearly half a 

 million that I can spare." As the best news that I have re- 

 ceived for a very long time, I am anxious to let other people 

 besides myself benefit by the most liberal offer I have ever met 

 with. As Briars even in this neighbourhood cost 8s. a hun- 

 dred, seedling Briars at Is. M. are indeed wonderfully cheap. 

 If Prince has made a mistake it is his, not my fault, if your 

 readers are misled. 



With regard to Madame Lacharme, since my article appeared 

 I have received a letter from Mr. Cant, of Colchester, in which 

 he states that he entirely agrees with all I said as to the worth- 

 lessness of this variety, and no less rosarians than Mr. Baker 

 of Heavitree, and Mr. Beachey of Torquay, and Mr. Robert 

 Veitch of Exeter, have all commended my condemnation of 

 this Rose. As a pot Rose I am told it may do, and certainly 

 the only decent blooms I have seen this year were on a pot 

 Rose : and as exhibitors in June and July cut their blooms, 

 not from conservatories but from the open ground, I do not 

 see that this is much of a recommendation. 



And now allow me to say a few words about the comparatively 

 new Tea Marie Van Hontte. This is a most beautiful Rose, a 

 constant bloomer, and possessing a good constitution. Since 

 Catherine Mermet we have had no Tea Rose which can take 

 the first rank except this beautiful variety. I showed a treble 

 of her at Crewkerne, and the young debutante created some- 

 thing like a furore. Numbers of people asked me for buds, 

 and I feel sure that no nurserymen will have a ditfieulty in 

 meeting the demand for her this autumn. I do not think it is 

 possible to over-rate or over-praise these two varieties and 

 Souvenir d'Ehse. I wish I had a thousand of each of them, 

 and I will soon. I put in every bud I can find ; I wait till the 

 bloom is expanded, and then put the buds which are under the 

 bloom into shoots which are low down on the Briar. — John 

 B. M. Camm. 



WINTERING GLADIOLUS GORMS. 



I HAVE a tolerably good collection of Gladioli, which, thanks 

 to the instructions contained in the Rev. H. Dombrain's book 

 on that flower, have done extra well this year. The great 

 difficulty to contend with here, however, is the harvesting of 

 the corms. It is all very well for Mr. Dombrain to leave his 

 bulbs in the ground until the end of November, but here 

 (Renfrew) the most severe frosts we have are sometimes at 

 that period of the year. Do you think that it would facilitate 

 the ripening without being detrimental to the bulbs if the 

 stalks, immediately after blooming, were bent down about an 

 inch above the ground, as ia done with thick-necked Onions ? 

 — Renfrew. 



[If "Renfrew" will again refer to my book he will find 

 that I name towards the end of October, not November, as the 

 best period for taking up the corms (page 27). We rarely have 

 any frosts at that period, and even were there any it would 

 not injure them. The plan proposed of bending the stems for 

 the purpose of advancing the ripening, would not be desirable. 

 I should much prefer doing what I have sometimes done with 

 Ranunculus — take a hand-fork and gently lift the bulb, not 

 taking it out altogether, but loosening the root-hold. I should 

 think, however, if " Renfrew " watch the weather he wUl find 

 in the third or fourth week of October opportunities for har- 



