Jane 1, 1876. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



423 



is rarely reconped by their paymentB for admission. They 

 will then also be able to limit them to a single day, and will 

 thereby gratify the exhibitors and enable them to take part in 

 more shows than at present is possible. 



To some the suggestion which I have made may sayonr of 

 exolusiveness. I can assure them that if they had had, as I 

 have, nearly twenty years' experience of the public's ingrati- 

 tnde they would begin to wonder whether after all it is worth 

 while troubling about the public. And besides, there is prac- 

 tically no exclusion of anyone, for I regard it as an essential 

 part of the scheme that "an abundance of admission tickets 

 should be given to each subscriber in proportion to the sum 

 Buhscribed. I maintain that the great cost incurred in deco- 

 rating the exhibition room with ornamental plants, in music, 

 advertising, hill-posting, &a., which items invariably represent 

 more than the amount spent in prizes and the necessary ex- 

 penses of a Kose show pure and simple, are expenses incurred 

 to draw the general public ; that the general public do not 

 by their payments at the doors recoup the sums expended 

 on their account ; that rosarians care only for the Eoses, and 

 are hindered in their pursuit after knowledge by the presence 

 of those who simply block the way ; and that for the sake 

 of placing the continuance of Rose shown out of the pale of 

 improbability it would be better to ignore the general public 

 altogether, and save an expenditure which is 

 rarely remunerative. The company who would 

 attend would be as a whole rosarians ; the trade 

 would get their orders, and the amateurs would be 

 able unhindered to make their notes of novelties. 

 If necessary I could easily give figures to support 

 my position, but to managers of Rose shows this 

 I feel sure is not necessary. — Philanthes. 



Eye open, set in a deep and uneven basin. Stalk short, in- 

 serted in a deep cavity. Flesh yellowish white, crisp, jnicy, 

 sugary, and briskly flavoured. This is one of the largest and 

 best culinary Apples. It comes into use in the beginning of 

 November and continues till April. The tree is a strong and 

 vigorous grower, very hardy, and an abundant bearer. 



" This variety was raised by a person of the name of 

 Shepherd at Uckfleld in Sussex, and has for many years been 

 extensively cultivated in that county under the names o! 

 Shepherd's Seedling and Shepherd's Pippin. Some years ago 

 a Mr. Brooker of Alfriston near Hailsham sent specimens of 

 the fruit to the London Horticultural Society, and being un- 

 known it was called the Alfriston, a name by which it is now 

 generally known. By some it is erroneously called the Balti- 

 more and Newtown Pippin." 



The above remarks are both clearly descriptive and interest- 

 ing, and will enable anyone to judge for himself whether he 

 possesses the true kind. The description states that this 

 Apple continues in use " till April," but for many years I have 

 had it in use throughout May, and on that account I value it 

 highly. About twenty-five years ago I assisted to plant an 

 orchard of sixty Apple trees — two of a sort of thirty varieties. 

 The trees were had from two places, but only one tree of 

 Alfriston proved to have been correctly named, and this tree 



HYDRANGEA FLOWERS. 



I LIVE in the Weald of Sussex, but am sur- 

 rounded by a great variety of soils. The Hy- 

 drangea is always pink in the clay soil, but 

 always blue in the peat soil, which is about a foot 

 deep on the Sussex iron ragstones. I have ob- 

 served two Hydrangeas not more than 200 yards 

 apart, one of which was blue the other pink, the 

 former being in the peat soil. 



Nothing makes so good a fernery as this rag- 

 stone, for the Ferns seed and grow very fast 

 among the stones, as I have proved, having many 

 rare Canadian Ferns growing freely.^LADY C. 



ALFRISTON APPLE. 



Obsekvisg a note in your Journal that this 

 Apple won the first prize as the best baking Apple 

 at the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland's 

 Show, I am induced to give my experience of this 

 valuable variety. 



It is not an Apple usually to win a prize at an ordinary 

 autumn fruit show, because all Apples are fresh at that time, 

 and many are large enough to attract the notice of the judges ; 

 but to obtain honourable distinction in May implies that 

 qualities are present of a valuable order — qualities not only of 

 size, but of firmness, crispness, and that piquancy of flavour 

 which is coveted in an Apple for baking purposes. The Alfris- 

 ton I have long proved not only possesses all these but other 

 good qualities, and I have frequently been surprised at not 

 finding it mentioned in recommendatory lists of useful late- 

 keeping Apples. The author of " The Fruit Manual," however, 

 does not forget to note its value, for in the new edition of the 

 work the Alfriston is highly spoken of; the history of the 

 variety is also given, and also an outline illustration of the 

 fruit. Might I suggest that this outline be added to the accom- 

 panying remarks, which I copy from " The Fruit Manual?" I 

 ask this, not only because I fear that this valuable Apple is not 

 sufficiently known, but further because I have met with in- 

 stances where an Apple grown under the name of Alfriston is 

 not the true variety. In his work Dr. Hogg has spoken as 

 follows : — 



" Alfriston (Lord Gwydyr's Newtown Pippin, Oldaker's New, 

 Shepherd's Pippin, Shepherd's Seedling).— Fruit of the largest 

 size, generally about 3J inches wide, and from 2} to 3 inches 

 high ; roundish and angular on the sides. Skin greenish 

 yellow on the shaded side, and tinged with orange next the 

 Bun, covered all over witti veins or reticulations of russet. 



Fif?. 114. — Alfriston Apple. 



has proved itself to be perhaps the most valuable tree in the 

 orchard. I say " perhaps " because of the near run of Dume- 

 low's SeedUng for the point of honour. Dumelow'a Seedling 

 commenced bearing sooner than Alfriston, but latterly the 

 produce of the Alfriston has been the more valuable of the 

 two. 



The Alfriston is a vigorous-growing tree, proof, so far as I 

 know, against canker, and is a free and certain bearer. An- 

 other useful quality it has — namely, its short-stalked fruits are 

 firmly affixed to the spurs, and are not blown off during autumn 

 gales to the same extent as many other kinds. I consider this 

 to be one of the best of orchard Apples, as affording a supply 

 of noble fruit of superior quality for culinary purposes, the 

 fruit keeping firmly until the present time. A large conical- 

 shaped Apple is often seen under the name of Alfriston, but 

 it is not nearly so good as the real Shepherd's Seedhng. — 

 A Nobleman's Gakdener. 



THWARTING HARES AND RABBITS. 



It may be of use to your readers to know a simple and 

 efieeiive expedient for protecting the bark of young trees from 

 the attacks of hares and rabbits. 



The virgin cork used in constructing ferneries, <to., can be 

 procured in pieces of all shapes and sizes, and is very easily 

 attached to the stems of young trees at a trifling cost, and I 

 have found it a complete protection from the attacks of harea 



