270 



JOTJBNAL OF HORTICXnjTUBB AND OOXTAOE GABDENEB. 



[ September -21, 1874. 



more first prizes for Strawberries during the last six years at 

 the great exhibitions in London than all other exhibitors put 

 together, and all the fruit has been gathered from plants that 

 were runners the previous year ; and I fancy if other suc- 

 cessful exhibitors were to write their experience they would 

 say the same. As far as I am concerned, I can truly say that 

 all the fruit sent-in to the house is of the same quality as that 

 which goes to the exhibitions. As to quantity, a remark I 

 once heard the late llr. Robert Fish make is not forgotten, 

 and in the case of Strawberries is invariably followed out. 

 "Cram them, cram them," was the veteran's remark; and 

 this we do for four months. 



Then as to the remarks made by " W. R." abont varieties. 

 It does seem that some varieties specially interesting to him 

 are not thought so much of by " gardeners who talk very large 

 in print," '• and who dictate the only sorts that should be 

 grown." I would Uke to tell " W. R." that we gardeners only 

 recommend the sorts we find to answer in our own gardens, 

 and this we do for the information of the readers of the 

 Journal, and that we have not the least interest in the varie- 

 ties whatever further than that. I grew and fruited two sorts 

 recommended by " W. R. " — viz.. Early Prolific and Duke of 

 Edinburgh, but both sorts were di-carded after one year's 

 trial. They were neither considered so good for forcing nor 

 for exhibition as the older sorts. If they had, would it not 

 have been foolishness on my part and great waste of my 

 employer's money to have thrown them away ? Does " W. E." 

 think that gardeners will believe him when he says that he 

 saw ripe fruit of Dnke of Edinburgh early in April " produced 

 with Uttle or no artificial heat ?'' They must have been forced 

 Strawberries in the usual sense of the word. What does he 

 mean by saying that it is "simply ridiculous" to compare 

 Bueh sorts as Black Prince and Eeens' Seedling with Early 

 Prolific ■? Is it that Early Prolific is so much superior to them ? 

 If so, I differ from him. I still consider Black Prince the best 

 Tariety for early forcing, and Keens' Seedling is the best to 

 succeed it, to be followed by President and British Queen. 



It is quite natural that " W. R." would rather accept the 

 opinion of such men as De Jonghe or anybody else who think 

 the same as he does, and who praise Early Prolific as a 

 " masterpiece of skill." For my part I always make an allow- 

 ance for the statements of foreigners (this with no disrespect 

 to JI. De Jonghe and M. Glocde). For instance, what can any 

 practical man make of a description of an Orchid by a gentle- 

 man with a foreign name in a contemporary last week ? He 

 said the lacinulae " spread as the fingers of a man swearing 

 before lawyers." Of course we must make the best of such 

 a description, and try to fancy what the flower must be hke, 

 the same as we do when an ordinary Strawberry is described 

 as a " masterpiece of skill." No one would make such a re- 

 mark unless specially interested. — J. Douglas. 



of the first blooms had to be cut away, as the spring frosts, 

 followed by a scorching sun, injured them. As regards Baron 

 Chaurand, it is rightly described by ilr. W. Paul as " one of 

 the best dark Roses," which is quite true. It is lovely, and 

 perfect in its colours and form, but it is not a large Bose. I 

 have thirty-two plants of it, and shall buy fifty more. I have 

 twenty in one bed, and a more beautiful sight I never saw 

 than these plants in fuU bloom at the same time. I will not 

 recommend bad growers, tender Roses, or reluctant bloomers. 

 In the same list Mr. G. Paul says of Mademoiselle Engfinie 

 Verdier, " Rather small grower, but too beautiful to be omitted." 

 I have three plants of it here ; it is a bad grower, and hence I 

 have not recommended it. Louis Van Houtte, fifteen plants, 

 has done well on the seedling Briar. 



The following are beautiful Roses for exhibitors, but they 



are too shy in growth for the public : — Marie Baumann, 



Louis XIV., Madame Furtado, Marquise de Mortemart, Horace 



Vemet, Monsieur Koman, Xavier Olibo, and Lord Macaulay, 



a first-rate Rose. 



I get on pretty well with Lord Macanlay by cutting the plants 



' down to the stump every spring. Instead of Macaulay yon 



I must have Lord Clyde, which is an excellent Rose and a strong 



! grower. It does Mr. G. Paul great credit as the raiser. We 



want decorative Roses as well as show Roses. Those I recom- 



I mend will mostly serve both purposes. 



I am glad that I agree with Mr. Camm about Paul Neron, 

 the ragged crater of Vesuvius, and also as to what he says of 

 Souvenir d'Elise. There seems to be a rage among nursery- 

 men and some amateurs for huge Roses. I think it was the 

 late Mr. Glenny who said, " Some men judge flowers as 

 farmers do hayricks, by the number of square yards in the 

 rick instead of by the quality." Some of our most perfect 

 Roses are either small or medium-sized — for instance, Dnchesse 

 de Caylus, W. Griffiths, Ceeile de Chabrillant, Mesdames Rivera 

 and Vidot, Empereur de Maroc, and Baron Chaurand. I have 

 yet to learn that small or medium-sized Roses are not fit for 

 exhibition. — W. F. Rai>cltffe, Okeford Fitzpaine, Dorset. 



KOSE-GKOWEES' CONFLICTING VIEWS. 

 As American paper teUs a story of a man who, having jnst 

 bought a horse, consulted various authorities as to the manner 

 in which it should be lodged. He read that a side window in 

 a stable makes the horse's eyes weak on that side ; a window 

 in front hurts his eyes with the glare ; a window behind makes 

 him squint ; a stable with a skylight is too hot in summer and 

 too cold in winter ; a window in a diagonal line makes him 

 shy when he travels ; and the absence of a window makes him 

 blind. So the animal was taken to the auction mart ! It 

 appears that there are also " conflicting views " as regards 

 Roses. I have been reproved by two authorities for not re- 

 commending Marie Baumann, and for recommending Edward 

 Morren and Vicomtcsse de Vezins, two noble Roses, full-sized, 

 good growers, very hardy, abundant bloomers, and excellent 

 exhibition Boses, the former being globular and the latter com- 

 pact and expanded. Both these Boses are included in a select 

 Ust by Mr. George Paul. In the same list is Marie Baumann, 

 with this observation, " A little weak in growth." If it is a 

 weak grower in such fine Rose land as Mr. G. Paul's, what can 

 be its growth in inferior lands ? It is a beautiful Rose, but 

 twenty-one plants of it here have dwindled away and died. 

 For this reason I do not recommend it to the general public. 

 La France is in the list referred to ; it is a capital grower, 

 hardy, and finely foliaged, but it does not bloom freely here. 

 My account of it is the same as Mr. Cant's and that of " G. S.," 

 one of our best amateurs. I lost out of 2400 Roses six last 

 winter, and abont as many this trying summer. I never saw 

 a finer sight, abont .June lith, than the first series here. Many 



PLUMS IN WOKCESTEESHIRE. 



At this time of the year you generally pubUsh a class Ust o£ 

 the best Roses elected by the votes of some of the most dis- 

 tinguished growers, and when so many of your readers are 

 interested in the beautiful I feel almost ashamed to intrude 

 upon them with a question of profit ; but it maybe interesting 

 to some to know the comparative merits of different varieties 

 of Plums. I therefore send yon an account of the market 

 value of the crop of certain specimen trees which were planted 

 in the year 1861, and are now in their tenth year. 



The market price of the different varieties in this district 

 has been as follows : — Pershore Eggs, 8s. ; Rivers's Early Pro- 

 lific, 12s. ; and the other varieties named, lis. per pot of 

 90 lbs. weight, the pot (abont 7 lbs.) included. The money 

 value, according to the above scale of prices, of the produce of 

 one specimen tree of each of the following varieties, which are 

 planted side by side in rows, as nearly as I can estimate it 

 has been as follows. I have classed them in order of merit. 

 Pond's Seedling, alias Fonthill, £1 Is. ; Victoria, alias Alder- 

 ton, ISs. ; Black Diamond, 16«. ; Pershore Egg, 12s. ; Cox's 

 Emperor, alias Denbigh, alias Jemmy Moore, 9s. Gd. ; Prince 

 Englebert, 8s. ; Auttimn Compote, 7s. 6d. ; Rivers's Early 

 Prolific, 6s. ; New Orleans (a local Plum), 5s. ; Kirke's Plum, 

 Belgian Purple, Done Bank, Reine Claude de Bavay, each -is. ; 

 OulUn's Golden Gage, Jefferson, Washington, each 3s. ; Green 

 Gage, 2s. 6d. ; Purple Gage, Is. Gd. ; Mitchelson's, id. Some 

 varieties are still upon the trees — e.<j., the BeUe de Septembre, 

 the Winescnr, and the Prune Damson, but I do not anticipate 

 that they will average more than 2s. each per tree according 

 to the prices named above. Of course this estimate of prices 

 with regard to some varieties is to some extent guesswork, but 

 I tlink that I am within Gd. of the value of the different trees. 



At the beginning of the season we were very much pestered 

 by blackbirds ; but it is a curious fact that when the wasps 

 and hornets came, as they have done this year in greater 

 numbers than I ever remember, the blackbirds disappeared. 

 I should be curious to bear if the same result has been noticed 

 elsewhere. The Plums which are least attractive to these 

 depredators are Pond's Seedling, Black Diamond, and Prince 

 Englebert, but they rejoice in anything belonging to the family 

 of Gages. Wasps seem to prefer Pears, such as the Colmar 

 d'EtK and Williams's Bon Chiitien even to these. 



It will be seen by the above list that Pond's Seedling has 



