Jtme 29, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



503 



paper having a praooth glassy surface. Even silver tissue 

 paper rubs the drapes more than the stout smooth brown 

 paper, while the former affords no protcolion against " knocks 

 and shakes," Boxes thus packed are, howover, liable to be 

 turned top^y-turvy, bo I place them in round, fiat, shallow 

 plant-hampers, placing sticks in the sides, and bringing to a 

 point above, enveloping with a mat, precisely as if covering a 

 hamper of plants. In that way there can be no tarning over, 

 and the Grapes have generally travelled well. 



In sending smaller quantities I have found the best " vehicles " 

 to be well-made, shallow, cross-handled baskets — butter baskets, 

 with flat bottoms, and sides about 8 inches deep and flanging 

 outwards. These are simply lined with smooth paper, and the 

 Grapes are placed in them without any further packing mate- 

 rial. In arranging the fruit a basket is placed partly on its 

 end and a row of bunches is placed across the lower end, their 

 points resting on the bottom of the basket, following on with 

 other rows similarly placed until the basket is quite filled. 

 The sides of the basket flanging outwards permits of room for 

 the shoulders, and the Grapes naturally wedge each other 

 without being crushed. A few wedges of paper here and there 

 are placed amongst the stalks, and the batket is tied down 

 tightly yet without violent pressure. Such a basket cannot be 

 turned over, and the handle prevents anything from being 

 placed on the Grapes. Grapes thus packed invariably arrive 

 in good condition — better, indeed, than by any other mode, and 

 as I find a large basket holds a good number of bunches and 

 the packing is quickly done I intend to adhere to the system 

 until I prove some other plan to be better. I learnt it from a 

 large London fruiterer, who informed me that by no other 

 mode of packing did the Grapes arrive in such saleable 

 condition. 



Another matter I find to be of importance, and that is when 

 a bunch of Grapes is cut from the Vine never to lay it down, 

 but place it at once in the basket, and this must be done at 

 one movement. There must be no wriggling and turning and 

 fitting. The eye and the hand soon become accustomed to 

 their work, and a glance tells which bunch to cut to fill a given 

 space, and which side should be placed downwards in packing. 

 Injury is often done by needlessly moving and rubbing the 

 Grapes in cutting and packing them. When we find that 

 Grapes lose value to the tune of 2s. a-pound by having the 

 bloom rubbed oil we appreciate the importance of care in pack- 

 ing and sending them. 



These remarks apply to the regular practice of sending 

 Grapes for table purposes and not for exhibition, when not 

 a speck of bloom must be removed if they are to find favour 

 with the judges. 



Farther information by those having experience in the 

 packing of Grapes could not fail to be useful, for at this period 

 of the year the subject is one in which many are interested. 

 —A. N. G. 



OUR BOEDER FLOWEES-IPOMOPSIS. 



These are among our border flowers many beautiful families 

 of flowering plants, but, perhaps, none more striking than 

 Ipomopsis elegans. Introduced as far back as 1820, it might 

 then have had a little praise lavished upon it, but now it is 

 seldom seen, and not even known by many young gardeners. 

 Ipomopsis elegans and its varieties are dainty gems to be ad- 

 mired by all lovers of border flowers. I must confess that 

 they are delicate subjects to deal with ; nevertheless, they can 

 be brought into subjection by careful tending. 



They are biennials and hardy enough for our climate during 

 the summer and autumn. They are rather tall in habit, flower- 

 ing in long terminal spikes. A group of Ipomopsis in various 

 colours has a charming effect as a centre for a large bed, 

 or as patches in the border, and are all the better if they can 

 have a sheltered spot to grow in. They are handsome plants 

 for indoor decoration during the snmmer months, and ought 

 to be in all gardens. 



Seed can be procured from most of our large seedsmen, and 

 should be sown about midsummer in well-drained pots, using 

 very light sandy soil. The pots should be placed in a cold 

 frame thoroughly ventilated, and must be closely watched lest 

 the soil gets .too dry or too wet, for both are itijurious. When 

 the young plants have made a few leaves and can be handled 

 they may be thinned-out and placed three or four round a 

 4-inch pot, in a compost composed of sandy peat, loam, and 

 leaf soil, with a little coarse grit or charcoal, and with perfect 

 drainage. They should be carefully shaded after potting uutil 



they have recovered from the check. A cool dry greenhouse 

 suits them exactly. They cannot endure either frost or damp, 

 both being fatal to them. After being hardened-off in the 

 spring they may be put in their places at the end of May, and 

 I venture to say that they cannot fail to reward any amount of 

 care bestowed upon them. — Vekitab. 



IN AND ABOUT THE TORQUAY LANES.— No. 2. 



A WELL-KNOWN Bupporter of the Darwinian theory of the 

 gradual transmutation of species sustains the theory by refer- 

 ence to plants. Whether his inductions are conclusive I will 

 not inquire in these columns, but I will notice several species 

 here which are believed, and in some instances have been 

 proved, to be the originals of some of our kitchen-garden 

 crops, for all these originals are natives of this neighbourhood. 



Walking by the sides of the meadow ditches near Tor Abbey 

 you find the Apium graveolens, or wild Celery. It is now in 

 flower, and its stems nearly 2 feet high. The flavour of the 

 leaves is harsher than that of the cultivated Celery. On the 

 borders of the Paignton sands grows Beta vulgaris, or common 

 Beet. It is also now in flower. The same locality is also the 

 birthplace of the Paignton, or, as gardeners have agreed to 

 call it, the Penton Cabbage, and I will here observe that in no 

 district of England are finer Cabbages grown. They are large 

 and vigorous in every cottager's garden ; but those brought to 

 market — and a cartload has passed whilst I am writing — are 

 models in form and size. 



No one who has tasted the Paignton Cabbage only in the 

 vicinity of London is able to appreciate its merits. Grown 

 here by the seaside its large compact white heart and the vory 

 large prominent midribs of its outer leaves are, in my opinion, 

 superior to Seakale, being sweeter, nearly as tender, and with 

 rather more flavour. Mentioning the Seakale, Crambe mari- 

 tima, reminds me that it is a native of the sands near here, 

 and was brought into cultivation from plants collected on 

 Slapton Sands in 1705 by Mr. Curtis, ancestor of him now at 

 the Devon Eosery. It is still found on those sands and at 

 Dawlish, about twelve miles from Torquay. 



The large yellow flowers of the parent of all the Cabbage- 

 worts, Brassica oleraoea, are now to be seen on cliSs surround- 

 ing Anstis Cove, and so are those of the Carrot, Caucus Carota, 

 close by at Marychurch. Of our cultivated fruits the parents 

 of our Red Currant, Ribes rubrum ; of our Gooseberry, Eibea 

 Grossularia ; of the Plum, Prunus communis ; and of the 

 Cherry, Prunus Cerasus, are in the Berry Pomeroy Woods and 

 elsewhere around. 



In one of my rambles, seeing a man peeling the turf oS 

 from a marshy piece of ground I thought he was " Devonshir- 

 ing " it as mentioned in my notes on page 482. On asking 

 the question I was told he was " velhug it," and that his son 

 was " tiching the turves." In other words, the father was 

 cutting them and the son pilicg them to dry, so that they 

 would burn more readily. I have been told that if asked what 

 soil they were taking the turves from they might have replied, 

 " From a jugglemear," that being a Dsvonshire name for a 

 morass. 



On the cliffs above where the turf-cutter was at work, and 

 overlooking Anstis Cove, grows our native Burnet-leaved Rose, 

 Rosa spinosisfima, an offspring from which I believe to be our 

 cultivated Scotch Rose. Be that as it may, an opinion correct 

 or incorrect, I wus talking yesterday with Mr. Curtis on the 

 merits of our garden Roses, and he said that after cultivating 

 one thousand vaiieties he was convinced that if twelve others 

 were added to the thirty-tight which I named in my last com- 

 munication, those fifty would be unsurpassable by the other 

 950. We then digressed to the consideration of the merits of 

 Devonian dessert Apples, but the only fact new to me was that 

 of thirty varieties he had tasted, by far the best in flesh and 

 flavour is "Padlty's Pippin." 



At Bishopstowe and tlsewhcre in this vicinity I have seen 

 many pots of Nertera depressa. Its foliage covering the soil's 

 surface, and its small red currant-like berries clustered over 

 the leaves, are very attractive. If someone would write about 

 its culture in your columns the plant, as it deserves to be, 

 would be oftener a tenant of ©ur greenhouses. 



Of our native plants the Spur- flowered Valerian, Centranthua 

 ruber, may be named as tlie flower of Torquay. In the crevices 

 of the cliffs, on old walls, and on stony banks it occurs every- 

 where, and sometimes in such masses as to be specially notice- 

 able. In the densely shaded lanes around the town Feins 

 abound, and the specimens are very superior. Of the twenty- 



