272 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



t ApiU 2, 1874. 



to say, in addition, that I cannot endorse Mr. Eadclyffe's 

 account of Edward Morren. I have seen it in the gardens of 

 two friends this year, and whilst I admit it is nearly as big as 

 a cabbage, I do not think it so shapely as that useful vegetable 

 should be if properly grown. — E. L. W., Yeovil. 



WEATHEK— FRUIT PEOSPECTS— FORCING. 



The weather of March 10th was very severe here (King's 

 Lynn). The Apricot trees were well advanced in bloom, and 

 they present the appearance even now of having been scorched. 

 A few late blooms have opened, but they seem very weak. 

 Other wall trees are injured, but not, I think, materially at 

 present ; the prospects for most kinds of fruit are now very 

 good — better than they have been for some time past. Our 

 Nectarines and Peaches in-doors, now stoning, are a fine crop. 

 I have not had to thin so many out for some time. Grapes, 

 likewise stoning, are a very good crop ; others now blooming 

 promise to be equally good. 



The little discussion between Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Taylor 

 was very interesting. My practice, which, perhaps, may be 

 called no practice at all, has been just about midway, while I 

 think the results are equal to either. I think the conclusion 

 most persons will come to will be, that there is very little art 

 or skill required ; but, as Mr. Pearson once remarked, " None 

 but fools have secrets." 



Your remarks on the Mercury I can sustain. It is often 

 very useful as a stop-gap for Spinach. I have found it growing 

 in a wild state here in two places, though I have not seen it 

 in any garden. 



Is the Catherine Pear synonymous with the Windsor Pear, 

 as "Green Catharine" would show it to be? — [No. They 

 are both named in old lists. — Eds.] . — John Platt, Gardener, 

 Hilliiigtoii Hall. 



NOTES FROM MY GARDEN, 1873.— No. G. 



VEGETABLES. 



Are we any better off than our fathers were in the vegetable 

 portions of our gardens? or are all the highly- vaunted im- 

 provements blazoned forth in catalogues mere windbags ? These 

 are questions which receive, as most questions do, differing 

 answers. On one side we find the " laudator temporis acti" 

 who sees no improvement, who abuses all catalogues, and 

 hesitates not to pronounce them false and misleading ; while, 

 on the other side, we have those who think the gardeners of 

 other days mere old fogies, the produce they cultivated coarse, 

 and the range of their n'pertoire limited indeed. But is not 

 the golden mean here, as elsewhere, probably the true ground 

 to take ? for surely it can be indisputably proved that in nearly 

 every vegetable that comes to our tables, either by the process 

 of selection or by the obtaining of new varieties by seed, we 

 have very great and marked improvements. Let me take one 

 vegetable, of which all the gardening papers are full at certain 

 periods of the year. Now, I am not going to endorse all the 

 wonderful things that are said as to the earliness, the produc- 

 tiveness, or flavour of these new varieties. Many of us re- 

 member how good old William Barnes, in his blunt, honest 

 way, used to laugh at them, and say if we were to believe all 

 that is said as to earliness, that we ought to have Peas some- 

 where about Easter, for each variety was promised some days 

 earlier than the earliest known. But can anyone be blind to 

 the merits, as compared with the Peas of former days, of such 

 kinds as Eingleader, or some of Mr. Laxton's new ones — Har- 

 binger, for instance? Now, I last year grew, side by side, 

 Eingleader, Emerald Gem, Dickson's First and Best, and 

 Sangeter's No. 1. As I am growing the first three this year, 

 I could see no difference between the first two as to theu' 

 earliness, although there is a vast difference in their appear- 

 ance. Emerald Gem has a peculiarity in its foliage, in that 

 it is entirely devoid of that bloom which Peas generally have ; 

 it grows from 2^ to 3 feet in height, it is moderately produc- 

 tive, and of good flavour. Eingleader (which is the same as 

 Carter's First Crop) grows to about the height of 2 feet, and 

 in my soil is as productive as one, perhaps, has a right to ex- 

 pect in so very early a Pea, although in the changes that are 

 being made by hybridising we may expect to find a Pea which 

 will both be productive and early. Dickson's First and Best is 

 one of the numerous synonyms of Sangster's No. 1 ; perhaps 

 it is hardly fair to call them synonyms, for they are rather 

 selected strains of that variety — the same may be said of 

 Sutton's Early Champion— and valuable Peas they are, giving 



a fair crop, and as they ripen-off quickly, the ground is ready 

 soon for Celery, or any other crop the gardener may wish to 

 follow with. Another Pea, valuable for small gardens, although 

 it does not do very well with me, is Beck's Little Gem, prolific, 

 with good-sized peas of good flavour. In the same way is a 

 Pea that was submitted to me last year for trial, and which I 

 have again sown this year — Carter's Early Premium Gem; it 

 seems to be more robust and prolific, and much of the same 

 character. Advancer is another Pea I have always tried to 

 have ; it comes in after Early Champion, grows to the height 

 of 2 feet, and is a well-flavoured wrinkled blue Marrow. Follow- 

 ing it I have generally used Princess Royal, another of Dr. 

 Maclean's varieties, and this year have Sutton's selected strain 

 of it ; it grows to about 3 feet high, is a strong and vigorous 

 grower, and, like nearly all Dr. Maclean's Peas, is of good 

 flavour. For general-crop Peas I grew last year Emperor of 

 the Marrows, Maclean's Best of All, and Ne Plus Ultra. The 

 first of these is synonymous with British Queen, to which 

 there are a large number of Peas bearing the same relation. 

 Best of All I found a most excellent Pea for a general crop, 

 robust in growth, 3 feet in height, flavour rich, and, to my 

 mind, better than Veitch's Perfection or others of the samo 

 class. As to Ne Plus Ultra, there is no need to say anything 

 in praise of this the very best of all late Peas. For this 

 year I have on trial some new and unnamed Peas, and also 

 James's Prolific, Sutton's Duke of Edinburgh, and Berkshire 

 Challenge, and on these, if spared, I hope to report upon by- 

 and-by. 



Of Broccolis I can say nothing, for the seed supplied to mo 

 was of the most mixed character, and an invasion of rats from 

 a broken drain at the bottom of my garden deprived me of 

 more than half of them. In Celery I used Leicester Eed, a 

 very excellent variety, and Sandringham White : both of these 

 are excellent dwarf varieties. By-the-by, I do not think that 

 it is of the least importance to get enormous sticks of Celery ; 

 what is wanted are good, sizeable, crisp heads. I have other 

 varieties to try this year. Lettuce is a vegetable much in us9 

 with us, and from very early to very late I always like to have 

 it. My first crop comes in under those admirable contrivances 

 Looker's Acme Frame, and for this I find nothing better than 

 Tom Thumb, or, still better, Sutton's Commodore Nutt, and 

 to second it Hammersmith. I do not find that Cos Lettuces as 

 a rule do in these frames, although for summer use I would 

 never use a Cabbage Lettuce when I could get a Cos. I have 

 found the Paris White Cos best ; the difficulty, especially in 

 dry summers, being to prevent their running to seed. Many 

 varieties are advertised as not having this tendency, but all 

 more or less do so. In Eadishes I find for early work in frames 

 Wood's Early Frame best ; and for after-work none can, I 

 think, compare with the French Breakfast Eadish. Of Onions 

 I grew the Improved Reading (Sutton's), James's Long Keep^ 

 ing, and Nuneham Park — all of them excellent, and I question 

 if any better are grown. 



I am never sure whether a Melon ought to be classed amongst 

 fruits or vegetables, and it is one of those cases which show 

 the difliculty of definitions. However, I may mention here that 

 I tried Munro's Little Heath last year ; and although I do not 

 pretend to say that it is equal to Scarlet Gem or such high- 

 flavoured varieties, yet I found it hardy, succeeding in a frame 

 with very little bottom heat, and it was of very fair flavour. 

 It was grown under conditions where Scarlet Gem would have 

 never set a fruit. 



I have thus run through most of the vegetables I grew last 

 season ; and although I do not pretend to add much to the 

 stock of information on such matters, yet it may interest some 

 one who has a small garden like my own to know what I have 

 found to succeed with me. — D., Deal. 



Mr. J. Delanv. — With sincere regret we have to announce the 

 demise of an excellent gardener and a truly upright man, Mr. 

 J. Delany, of Brennanstown House Gardens, Co. Dublin. For 

 more than twenty years he discharged, with credit to himself 

 and advantage to his respected employer, George Pim, Esq., 

 the duties of steward and gardener. In both capacities Mr. 

 Delany was very successful. Perhaps the very finest and most 

 successful examples of Pine-growing which ever came under 

 our notice were grown by him at Brennanstown, his appUances 

 for and mode of cultivation being as simple as they were suc- 

 cessful. He, too, first showed in Dublin what could be done 

 with the Azalea, and for several years the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society's cups for the finest examples of this lovely plant found 



