I'M 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ March U, 1876. 



do not think it has ever been disturbed at the root since it 

 was planted. It ia pruned and dug about yearly, and to all 

 appearance it is likely to go on for many years to come. I 

 cannot say what stock it is worked on. 



The other soil is a strong tenacious loam resting on a clay 

 bubsoil, and in an orchard aro planted two Hawthornden 

 Apple trees of about fifteen years' growth from the graft on the 

 Crab stock. They are in the pyramid form, giving us abundant 

 crops of fine fruit, in the best of health and quite free from 

 canker. They are planted in grass and have not been dis- 

 turbed since they were planted, receiving a little manure oc- 

 casionally to help the grass as well as the trees. They are 

 regularly pruned, and to all appearance likely to do us good 

 service for some time to come. Many Apples may be £ub- 

 stituted for our old friend, but I find it a very useful kind. 



I said in our Journal some time ago that fruit trees ought 

 to be as numerous as Thorn bushes, and Apple trees should 

 have a first place, being of the most useful of hardy fruits. 

 There is no difficulty with careful selection and a little trouble 

 in having them for nse the year round. — M. H., CamphiU, 

 Bcdalc, Yorkshire. 



SWEET-SCENTED FLOWEES. 



Amongst the many advances of the present day there is one 

 which cannot have escaped notice, and that is here seems the 

 greatest possible freedom offered for people finding fault with 

 each other or with existing things. Old notions or castoms 

 are attacked on every side ; sometimes, however, the attack is 

 to their advantage, as their good qualities come out all the 

 brighter through the ordeal. It is the fashion now in a great 

 measure to ignore practice in favour of what ia termed philo- 

 sophical principles. Many things threaten to be turned upside 

 down ; but there is one subject, and that too in a branch which 

 critics have not turned their attention to yet, or but to a slight 

 extent, and yet it is one not to be disregarded inithe economy 

 of the world. The subject relates to one of the most refined 

 branches of horticulture, and one more especially under the 

 patronage of our lady friends, that it may appear bold in my 

 attacking a department so likely to be ably defended. The 

 matter that I wish to make further inquiry upon is this : Are 

 all scented flowers hurtful to health, nnd how many are there 

 that are sweet-scented ? 



Perhaps it will be well to take the last part of the question 

 first. Some, among whom I class myself, would limit really 

 sweet-scented flowers to a mere fraction of the number which 

 are generally classed in that category. At the time I write 

 the Hyacinth is fashionable. What is the general opinion 

 of this plant ;' Can its flowers be called agreeably scented or 

 the reverse ? A mere single sniff ia not sufficient to form an 

 opinion, as the sense of smell is likely to be governed by 

 the pleasure which the appearance of the flower imparts to 

 the eye. I would submit scented flowers to some blind person, 

 as one Ukely to give an honest verdict. We go on to other 

 plants and ask the question. Are such flowers as Stocks, Pinks, 

 the Hawthorn, Carnations, and sundry other of the Dianthun 

 family "sweet-scented," or are they merely "smelling?" I 

 confess being of opinion that the last-mentioned term is all 

 they deserve, but I may be fastidious. Then we have Ageratum 

 mexicanum, French Marigolds, Poppies, Humea elegans. Helio- 

 tropes, and some others that are highly offensive, at least I 

 think so. Neither can that most powerful-scented of ordinary 

 shrubs, the Daphne Laareola, be called sweet, still less so the 

 Privets aud Syringis; they are powerful in the scent given off, 

 but not sweet. I hardly know what opinion to give on the 

 Wallflower and Cowslip, perhaps a neutral one ; but the Prim- 

 rose has a higher claim to be regarded as sweet, and Violets, 

 Mignonette, Mint, and Aloysia citriodora cannot well be found 

 fault with. To these may be added a sprig of Lemon Thyme, 

 but I fear all other ordinary garden herbs must be rejected. 

 Of course it would be treason to say anything against the 

 Eose, and let it be fairly understood that as a scented flower I 

 am willing to place it first, with Violets and Mignonette close 

 to it ; and if any two of these were present I do not think 

 any more scented flowers are wanted. If, however, there be 

 no sweet-scented flowers to be had, a sprig of the sweet- 

 scented Aloysia is very telling, and mixed with Dahlias in a 

 stand perfume is added to beauty. 



I am not sure that a great number of scented flowers are 

 advisable anywhere excepting in the open air. wlmre many of 

 them give off the most agn cable perfume. Wallflowers are 

 moat agreeable after a slight shower, and the sane may be 



said of Stocks, and the scent of a Gorse-coverad common when 

 in bloom is not offensive ; but a large breadih of the common 

 Privet or Syringa emits an oppressive perfume. Nothing adds 

 more to an agreeable country walk in spring than the scent 

 given off by Violets on a sunny day ; and a neat little nosegay 

 of Violets and Primroses, with a few leaves of both as an edging, 

 is a bouquet fit for a queen. I fear that I have made a bold 

 onslaught on what is often regarded as choice and precious, 

 in refusing to acknowledge certain plants sweet-scented that 

 catalogues tell us are so. 



Might I now ask some one to give us a chapter on the other 

 department — namely. Are all scented flowers hurtful to health, 

 and to what extent are they so '.' I should not expect that 

 while flowers are in the open air any harm whatever can be 

 done ; but highly-scented flowers when confined to a room 

 must vitiate the atmosphere of that room. In thus calling 

 attention to scanted flowers I wish to suggest that many which 

 now claim to occupy that position have no claim to sweetness at 

 all, and that the term " scent " is very often misapplied. I fear 

 the public are too apt to accept what has been told them in 

 this matter, and thus a flower that has once obtained the 

 reputation of being a sweet-smelling one retains that cha- 

 racter, although perhaps not one in ten likes it. I should hke 

 to hear what others have to say upon the subject of sweet- 

 scented flowers. — J. RoLsoN. 



"WITLOOF. 



We take the earliest opportunity of warning our readers 

 ncaiiidt a false impression which has spruug-up with regard to 

 Witloof. We are informed that some seedsmen are already 

 seUing seed of the common Chiory, which they represent 

 to be identical with Witloof. Like all other cases of sub- 

 stitution, the purchaser will find out when it is too late that 

 he has been deceived. The two plants are perfectly distinct 

 varieties of the same species, as much so as the common Rape 

 and the Swedish Turnip ; aud the gardener who trusts him- 

 self in such hands will look as foolish next winter as the 

 farmer would who listened to the man who told him that the 

 seed of common Rape would produce " Swedes." The Witloof 

 is, in fact, a hearting Chicory, and is one of the varieties of 

 that plant which is grown for its large roots as a substitute 

 for coffee. Mr. Van Houtte well describes the distinction in 

 the last issue of the " Flore de Serres." " Everyone knows 

 Barbe de Capucin, the common salad of the Paris markets, and 

 which is produced by common Chicory. In the latter the 

 roots are slender and not thicker than a blacklead pencil, ter- 

 minated by long, narrow, white leaves, 8 inches or more in 

 length. Barbe de Capucin which does not possess these charac- 

 ters is not to be recognised. In the Witloof, on the contrary, 

 the root is short and thick, and bears a mass of erect, broad, 

 thick, imbricated leaves, and forming a small elongated solid 

 heart, which reminds one of the heart of a Cos Lettuce. 

 Except in the mere fact of being blanched, the Barbe de 

 Capucin and Witloof are in all points the opposite of each 

 other; length and slenderness on the one hand, and shortness 

 and bulk on the other, they present to us the two extremes of 

 the series of blanched products which can be produced by the 

 Wild Chicory." 



SURFACE MANUBING. 



There is no reason why BIr. Graves and " Pe.khical Gab- 

 deneb" should fear that on this or on any other question 

 their observations of facts should be at variance with science. 

 Science is built upon facts, and I only atk that the observations 

 should be accurate, so that the facts may be certain. In the 

 instance under discussion there is no scientific reason for 

 looking on the facts recorded by these gentlemen with distrust. 



Animal manure gains something and loses something by 

 lapse of time. Its crude constituents are first resolved into 

 forms capable of assimilation by plants, and are next gradually 

 dissipated in the air or washed away in the soil. A great part 

 of Mr. Lawe's invaluable experiments at Rothamstead have 

 been directed to ascertain the extent and rapidity of this last 

 process, and their result may be said to be that animal manures 

 are less easily washed out of the soil than mineral manures. 

 But this leaves untouched the question, important alike to 

 farmers and gardeners. How far it is better that decomposition 

 should proceed on the surface rather than in the soil. 



It would be very interesting if Mr. (i raves and others would 

 record fully their experience on this head. Do they apply 



