110 



OOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t Febtaaiy 10, 1876. 



black would be the beet, as this colour vfould absorb and 

 radiate more heat than any other. When Mr. Crockett was 

 gardener at The Kaith in Fifeshire, N.B., he had his Peach 

 and Apricot walls coloured black. There did not seem 

 to be much gained in earliness, but as the whole wall was 

 coloured and not a portion for experiment, one could not tell 

 whether there was any difference practically. As far as I can 

 remember the trees were not in the best condition ; for my 

 own part I have never thought of colouring walls similar to 

 those at The Euith, as they had not a very lively appearance. 



— J. DOCGLAS. 



'We think Mr. Douglas is right, for dark-coloured walls 

 become colder than light-coloured at night unless screens are 

 then put before them. We extract the following from " The 

 Science and Practice of Gardening : " — 



" Colour has a very considerable influence over a body's 

 power of absorbing heat. If a thermometer on a hot summer's 

 day be exposed to the sun, it will indicate a temperature of 

 about 100' ; but if the bulb be blackened with Indian ink or 

 the smoke of a candle, it will rise from 10° to 20° higher. The 

 reason for this is that the polished surface of the glass reflects 

 some of the sun's rays, but the blackened surface absorbs them 

 nil. Blue absorbs all but the blue rays ; red all but the red ; 

 green and yellow all but those of their own name ; and white 

 reflects all the rays. The lightest-coloured rays are the most 

 heating ; therefore light-coloured walls, but especially white, 

 are the worst for fruit trees. The thermometer against a wall 

 rendered black by coal tar rises 6° higher in the sunshine than 

 the same instrument suspended against a red-brick structure 

 of the same thickness ; nor will it cool lower at night though 

 its radiating power is increased by the increased darkness of 

 its colour if a proper screen be then employed."] 



NOTES FEOM MY GARDEN IN 1875. 



FRUIT. 



I AM not a fruitist, and yet I like to think that I have fruit 

 in my garden, and am curious in noting some of the climatic 

 effects on the little I have from year to year, to mark the 

 failures and chronicle the succeeees ; and as my garden may 

 resemble many others it may not be uninteresting to some of 

 our readers if I make these notes public. I aspire to no supe- 

 riority in culture, no great extent of knowledge, and to nothing 

 exceptional in what I cultivate, yet 1 may interest some. 



I have mentioned that I had a small miniature fruit garden 

 which I owed to the kindness of Mr. Eivers. In the autumn 

 of 1874 I moved a row of bush Plums to give the Pears and 

 Apples more room, and placed them at the bottom of my 

 garden where the soil is stiffer than in that part where they 

 were. They had never borne anything worth mentioning in 

 their former position, but last season I had a capital crop, 

 especially on some trees. Of Plums Pershore was very full, and 

 pronounced by all as one of the very best kinds for preseiving, 

 quite equalling Green Gage and better in colour. Oallin's 

 Gage was also very good. I had a few Jefferson's of good 

 qviality also. The success which has attended this removal has 

 induced me to do the same with the small Apples and Pears, 

 which 1 have this autumn transferred to other quarters. But 

 Cherries I must away with. They have borne a few, but the 

 blackbirds always get them, and I do not see the use of filliug 

 up my garden for their benefit, while to cover them up would 

 cost more than they are worth in this county of Cherries. I 

 have already mentioned what a disappointment this crop was 

 last season. There is but one large Bigarreau tree in this 

 garden, and it is not by any means in a good position, but 

 bears tolerably well. Last year it was fully laden, but the 

 dreadful wet, day after day, to completely spoiled the fruit 

 and washed out all their flavour that they were really not 

 worth gathering. 



There is one matter on the subject of Pears I cannot under- 

 stand. I have aheady mentioned that I was obhged to cut 

 down a tree of Knight's Monarch because the fruit never would 

 ripen. I have against the only pitce of wall there was hue 

 until lately a tree of Benrr6 Diel. It bears well, and the fruit 

 is large and handsome, but I have them now (January 29th) 

 still unripened. They have turned quite yellow, and anyone 

 looking at them would say that they are ripe ; but they are 

 hard and neither " beurrfi " or " demi-beurr6," and they have 

 at last been handed over to the cook for stewing. I asked 

 " our doctor" about them, and he advised their being put into 

 a warm place. This was done, but still they would not ripen. 

 My neightour has a tree cf the same eurt, and it ripens its 



fruit well. Am I to attribute this to some defect of the soil .' 

 Have any of our readers found that the soil aSeots this variety 

 in this manner, and that, like Knight's Monarch, it requires 

 something stiffer ? I have (being highly convinced of its excel- 

 lence) added DoyennS de Comioe to the few already here, one 

 on the wall and two aa pyramids. The growth seems to be 

 robubt, and no one who has tasted it when well grown can fail 

 to be satisfied by its flavour. There was a wonderful crop of 

 Bon Chretien and Beurrfi de Capiaumont on my two large 

 trees. Comte de Lamy was not as full as last year, but for an 

 October Pear I know nothing to beat it. It has for the eight 

 years that I have been here usually borne well, Bometimea 

 enormously, and its flavour is of the very best. 



In Apples I have at last succeeded in procuring a couple of 

 trees of a very old favourite sort of mine — the Irish Peach, 

 not as well known as it ought to be. For an August fruit there 

 is not one that I know of to equal it when gathered from the 

 tree. There is another Apple of Irish origin better known 

 which follows it — the Kerry Pippin, a brisk and delicious fruit. 

 Amongst the largo trees here is one of a variety which I believe 

 to be the Forge or Gough Apple ; for although I have fre- 

 quently taken samples of it to be named I can attain no cer- 

 tainty about it. It is a very abundant bearer and an excellent 

 cooking Apple, and has the peculiarity of fruiting every second 

 year ; and thus, although this was all around ns a very good 

 Apple year, I had not a single fruit on it. Last year was not 

 a good year, but still it produced a few bushels. Cox's Orange 

 Pippin is, take it all in all, about the best Apple for early 

 winter that we have, and I have grafted it on a couple of trees 

 that did not produce well. Some fruit that Mr. Dancer of 

 Chiswick was good enough to send me were splendid in appear- 

 ance and flavour. 



Strawberries were not a great success. I had (for the last 

 time, I am sorry to say) a nice crop in the house, but out of 

 doors they were neither so fine or plentiful as usual. The 

 only variety of any novelty that I have tried was La Grosse 

 Sucree ; it seems to be a useful early kind, free-bearing, and 

 of good flavour. It does not seem, however, that we are im- 

 provingmuch in this delicious fruit; and it would, perhaps, te 

 hardly posbible to conceive any great improvement on tome 

 of the old-established kinds, unless we could obtain sorts 

 that would prolong the season. The earlier sorts are quite as 

 early as we hope to find suitable for our uncertain climate, 

 but it would be a great boon if we could have some that would 

 come in even later than FrogmoreLate Pine, Elton, or Eleanor. 



But if Strawberries were not a success Easpberries were.' 

 From my few short rows I gathered more than 150 lbs. of fruit 

 of fine quality. And here let me say that I thoroughly believe 

 in the plan I have adopted. They are planted in a cool place 

 in rows ; a stout galvanised wire is stretched along and the 

 canes tied to it. The soil is never dug, only forked over and 

 manured well, and the canes are something remarkable. 



My Fig trees did not produce anything like the quantity of 

 fruit which they did in 1874, nor was the fruit of such good 

 quality ; but this I attribute, not to any failure in the trees, 

 but to the unpropitious character of the season, more especially 

 the want of sunlight in which the Fig rejoices. For the same 

 reason all about here the outdoor Grapes which are grown on 

 many cottage walls were also a failure. Indeed they have been 

 so grievously attacked with mildew that I question very much 

 whether they will recover it. 



I have said nothing about wall fruit, for in truth my wall 

 trees are in their infancy. Last year was an unfavourable one 

 for planting and maturing young wood. I know nothing about 

 them, and fully expect mine are all wrong. Unfortunately I 

 have no one about here whom I can ask to look at them for 

 me, and so they must take their chance. Mr. Baines was kind 

 enough to give me a lesson the other night at the Horticultural 

 Club and I have gone on that ; but I rather fancy the trees 

 were not very shapeable when I received them, and bo if they 

 are very bad I shall have some excuse to fall back upon. 



I do not think I should have ventured to write thus of my 

 little belongings, but that many have expressed to me their 

 satisfaction with my notes of former years, and that I myself 

 have benefited by some such similar notea from ethers. — 

 D., Deal. 



THUNBERGIA HAERISSII. 

 This is seldom met with, but when well grown it ranks 

 amongst our best flowering evergreen stove climbers. It is of 

 easy growth , nud when in blootu, at this time of yeei, besides 



