Jane 11, 1874. J 



JOURNAL OP HORTIGULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



473 



its oblong seed pods being composed of two convex or boat- 

 shaped valves without a partition between them, and by the 

 seeds, which are numerous and in two rows, being heart- 

 shaped at the bottom, but prolonged into a short beak at 

 the top, and having accumbent cotyledons. The plant has 

 a thick round root, often 3 or 4 feet long, and 2 laches in 

 diameter, which lies along tho ground aud bears at its ex- 

 tremity a large cabbage, closely resembling the common Cab- 

 bage of this country, having a dense white heart and loose 

 green outer leaves ; its flower stems grow out from below the 

 principal leaves, and are from 2 to 3 feet high, with their 

 lower part more or less leafy. The whole plant abounds with 

 essential oil, aiul when cooked the cabbage tastes like tough 

 Mustard aud Cress. Being a powerful antiscorbutic, it is in- 

 valuable to the crews of ships touching at Kerguolen's Land. 

 Dr. Hooker says, ' During the whole stay of the ' Erebus" and 

 "Terror" in Christmas Harbour, daily use was made of this 

 vegetable, either cooked by itself or boiled with the ship's beef, 

 pork, or pea-soup. The essential oil gives a peculiar flavour, 

 which the mnjority of the officers and the crew did not dis- 

 like, aud which rendered the herb even more wholesome than 

 the common Cabbage; for it never caused heartburn, nor 

 any of the unpleasant symptoms which that plant sometimes 

 produces.' " 



A Special General Meeting of the Royal Hortichl- 



TURAL Society is to be held in the Council-room, at South 

 Kensingtoa, tliis day, at three o'clock, p.m., for the purpose of 

 authorisiiig the closing of the Society's (inrdeus, except on pay- 

 ment, in the event of an evening fete being given. 



This is now the season of the Rhododendron Shows. 



Mr. A. Waterer has a large extent of ground charmiogly tilled 

 at the Royal Horticultural Society's Cxardens, South Kensing- 

 ton ; Messrs. John Waterer have this year taken up their 

 quarters at Russell Square ; and Messrs. Lane, of Berkhamp- 

 stead, have taken advantage of the artificial hills and dales of 

 the Regent's Pnrk, and they may be congratulated on their 

 choice with a view to effect. 



A FRENCH FLOWER SHOW. 



The Society of Horticulture of the Seine and Oise held at 

 Versailles a week or two since its annual Flower Show. The 

 large teut which is used for such shows was too small to con- 

 tain all the flowers exhibited, and which were arranged in very 

 good taste. The Show was a greater success than those of the 

 preceding years. This was due especially to the Council of the 

 Society having inaugurated a new plan. To encourage the ex- 

 hibitors it had been decided that, notwithstanding the medals 

 awarded at every show, a sum of i'40 should be given in prizes 

 of £1 each to the best forty exhibitors. This proved very suc- 

 cessful. The exhibitors were very numerous, and there is no 

 doubt that if iu future the Society can give higher prizes in 

 money its shows will improve. Visitors do not usually under- 

 stand what trouble is incurred in bringing together such fiue 

 plants. The trouble and outlay of money very often prevent 

 young nurserymen from exhibiting; many of them are not rich, 

 and it is a great boon if they can be rewarded in money. 



Messrs. Vilmorin & Co., of Paris, carried off the " Prix d'hon- 

 neur," consisting of agoldmedal worth £16, given by the "Dames 

 Patronesses." Mr. Moser, of Versailles, obtained the first prize 

 for splendid Rhododendrons in full bloom. Some fiae specitnena 

 were to be seen of the new Dracasnas Baptistii and Mooreana, aud 

 Aphelandra Fascinator, which I hope will soon be found in every 

 drawing-room. This collection, as well as one of Rhododen- 

 drons in splendid condition, and one of sundry hothouse plants, 

 was exhibited by Mr. A. Truiiaut ,of Versailles, who took the 

 gold medal given by the Mioister of Agriculture. I must not 

 omit to mention the splendid Azaleas and Palms of Mr. David. 

 Mr. Duval, who every year obtains such a well-earned success 

 with his Gloxinias, carried off the gold medal given every year 

 by Madame Heine, of Rocquencourt. Messrs. Poirier aud 

 Christen had each a fiue collection of Roses. The best we saw 

 were Jules Seurre, Couutess of Oxford, Marquise de Castellane, 

 Therese Levet, Madame Moreau, Victor Veidier, &c. Messrs. 

 Crumont, of Sarcelles, had some beautiful Pine Apples and large 

 Peaches. 



I must not conclude without mentioning the splendid Aspa- 

 ragus shown by Mr. L'Herault, of Argenteuil, and Mr. Ronot, of 

 Le Chesiiay, These Asparagus girthed as much as 6} inches. — 

 Ernest Bergman, F.R.H.S. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



HARDY FKUIT GARDEN. 



Wall trees requira a large share.of attention this month, and 

 if they are neglected, either by allowing the young wood to grow 



wild or the trees to become a prey to insects, no satisfactory 

 results can follow. A few of our trees have been persistently 

 attacked by the aphis tribe, but the larger proportion of tha 

 trees are quite free from it. The black aphis is usually found at 

 the ends of the young shoots, and if allowed to increase the 

 young leaves curl up and ultimately wither. Syringing with 

 different sorts of mixtures has been recommended to destroy it, 

 aud a solution of soft soap aud tobacco liquor will do this ; but 

 the difficulty is to apply it so that it will touch the insects. A 

 much more effectual method is to dip the poiuts of the shoots 

 where the insects are clustering into a hand-bowl; a man can 

 easily hold the bowl in one hand, while he dips the shoot with 

 the other ; the liquid will thus penetrate into all the curls of 

 the leaves, and the enemy is instantly destroyed. The opera- 

 tion cannot be performed after the young wood is nailed-in ; it 

 will therefore be necessary to see that the leaves are clean before 

 this is done. Where trees are unhealthy they are the more 

 liable to attack. A wall of Morello Cherries has been cleansed' 

 twice, and we have again gone over the trees this week. Pear 

 trees on an east wall require attention, and would be done at 

 once if time could be spared. The trees are trained horizontally^ 

 and what is understood by a horizontally-trained tree is this : 

 One main stem is trained in an upright position, and side 

 branches are trained in a horizontal manner from this, opposite 

 to each other, not less than 9 inches apart, or more than a foot. 

 The larger the tree the greater should the distance be between 

 the branches. On brick walls the width of three bricks should' 

 be allowed between each branch. When these branches are once 

 securely fastened, no farther nailing is required until the shreds 

 or ties rot ; and the only treatment required at present is to cut 

 back all the young wood to two or three leaves. The Pear and 

 Apple are the only varieties of fruit trees adapted to this system 

 of training; and for them it answers better than any other. The 

 Cherry trees will have the young wood uailed-in where it is re- 

 quired as soon as it is cleansed from insects. All superfluous 

 wood must be at once removed. No Peach or Nectarine trees- 

 are planted on any of our walls, the supply of fruit being obtained; 

 from an orchard house at the season that the out-of-doors fruit 

 would come in. All wall trees of this description must be 

 clean ; and if the pressure of work is such that time cannot be 

 spared to give the necessary attention to the trees, it would be- 

 far better to root them out and plant choice Pears in their 

 place. These do not require a tithe of the attention that 

 Peaches and Nectarines do. All superfluous growths must be 

 thinned-out, aud no more young wood allowed to remain thaa 

 would be necessary to bear fruit next year. The fruit must 

 also be thinned-out with a liberal hand. Over-cropping is fatal 

 to the production of good fruit, and is a serious injury to the 

 future health of the trees. 



FOBCINO HOUSES. 



As there is nothing to do in the early vineries except to cut 

 the fruit as it is required, the " doing " in that department will 

 be almost nil for some time to come. The inside border had 

 become dry in two of the houses, and it was necessary to water 

 it. It is not conducive to the health of the Vines to allow thi& 

 to happen. The Grapes had shown soma signs of shrivelhng. 

 This they will do in very hot weather after having hung ripe 

 for six weeks, but in this instance they had not been ripe nearly 

 so long as that. In the late houses the growths had been allowed 

 to go on freely when the fruit was setting. They had been stopped, 

 a few days before the first flowers opened, and we have a fancy 

 that it is better not to do any stopping when the Vines are ia 

 flower, as doing so must have a tendency to check the growth, 

 and might cause some of the shy-setting varieties to " set " 

 badly. The growths were all stopped when the fruit was set. 

 Have been thinning the Grapes iu both late houses. All fruit 

 intended to hang until spring should be well thinned-out ; large 

 compact bunches look remarkably well on an exhibition-tray, 

 but will not remain in good condition long after Christmas. 



plant STOVE. 



The recent sultry weather has tolt" upon all flowering plants. 

 Orchids seemed to suffer more than others. Some of the Den- 

 drobes would not last more than a few days, the most fragile of 

 all is D. deusiflorum. D. Devonianum also lasts but a very few 

 days in beauty in hot weather. If the plants are removed to a 

 cool house with a dry atmosphere they last much longer in 

 beauty. In gardens such as ours, where the houses are small, 

 the more rampant-growing of stove plants are soon out of all 

 bounds; when such is the case it is much better to strike cut- 

 tings annually, and grow-on young plants. One of the most 

 useful of winter-flowering plants is Erauthemum pulchellum. 

 Its iutensely blue flowers are produced iu great abundance, but 

 it ia a rapid-growing plant, and cuttings struck in the early 

 spring months make fine flowering plants the following winter. 

 The rooted cuttings were potted-off about six weeks ago ; the 

 plants have been stopped, and about the end of June will be 

 shifted into the pots they are intended to flower iu. They grow 

 well in a mixture of turfy loam aud peat. Potted Poiusettia 

 pulcherrima, and placed the plants in a house where they are 

 not too much shaded from the sun. A cool greenhouse is the 



