70 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ July 22, 1875. 



half the cure," bo with onr hortienltural diseases. Now, my 

 own observations respecting these Yankee Potatoes are, that 

 the nearer we can bring their cultivation to that of their native 

 country the less liable they are to disease, in proof of which I 

 have here eight rows of American Early Eofe and one of Snow- 

 flake planted in a warm and sheltered kitchen garden, soil 

 deeply trenched and heavUy manured ; they have made very 

 robust growth and formed good tubers, with no signs of disease. 

 In a field I have one acre of Early Rose ; this land also received 

 a fair coat of manure last autumn, but the soil is very shallow, 

 and here about one-twelfth is gone off. In a field not far from 

 mine a still more striking example may be found. About half 

 an acre is planted with Early Rose ; one part of this half acre 

 was manured, the other half received none. The part manured 

 have grown well, and are looking healthy and strong, with 

 very little signs of disease ; the part not manured came up 

 weak, grew slow, and I do not think one root will escape ; so 

 from these facts I consider they want to be grown quick, for 

 which they require a good soil and warm situation. 



In regard to Sutton's Flourball Potatoes, my experience 

 goes to prove that they are not subject to the disease. I have 

 grown them in quantity four years, and this year I have about 

 one acre of them, but I have failed to discover any trace of dis- 

 ease upon them, and they have also proved themselves with me 

 to be more proof against the old disease than any other variety 

 I cultivate, and I find it also the best-keeping variety, having 

 it now in fit condition for the table. — John Ubeen, Norwich. 



My crop of Potatoes is ruined and is quite worthless, so I 

 for one have good reason to believe that the disease, be it 

 new or old, is a serious visitation. As soon as the tubers 

 commenced to form the sterna commenced to wither, eventu- 

 ally blackening to complete decay. They are about the size 

 of rifle balls, and have not moved for the past month, and 

 will evidently not become any larger. In some cases the old 

 sets are sound, and in others they are rotten. The failure is 

 complete, and the total value of the crop will not equal the 

 value of the seed Potatoes which were planted. They are 

 American varieties. I send you a sample, and perhaps you 

 will be able to say whether it is the "new" disease or not. 

 It is idle to ask for a remedy, for the evil is done, and is 

 manifestly irremediable. — S. H., Essex. 



[The disease is identical with that which is so extensive at 

 Chiswick. — Eds.] 



INFORMATION ABOUT PEAES. 



I ENTiKELY agree with Mr. Taylor as to the importance of 

 this matter, for there is no hardy fruit equal to the Pear in 

 value or utility — value for the varied and delicious flavour of 

 so many kinds, and utility for the length of time which a good 

 selection will afford a succession of choice fruit for the table. 

 It is precisely the want of local information that proves such 

 a stumbling-block to one in planting Pear trees in a new place, 

 especially when space is an object or when it is a commercial 

 speculation. 



There is no fruit so diflicult to " hit oS " as the Pear, fruit 

 of the same sort being very different in two gardens a slight 

 distance apart, and even from a couple of trees in the same 

 garden ; and therefore for any information to be really useful 

 it must embrace the most minute details of soil, situation, and 

 culture. Tables similar to the example given by Mr. Taylor 

 would prove of the greatest value, and I should be happy to 

 assist in so useful an undertaking so far as a collection of 

 young trees would enable me to do so ; but the work should 

 not stop at such a point, which is in reality only the beginning. 

 All who can should deal with the subject more at length, and 

 by enriching the pages of the Journal with fruit lore strive to 

 render it the best guide in this as in all other branches of 

 horticulture. 



One of the best aids towards the accumulation of such facts 

 is a fruit book, in which every tree is entered, with a suitable 

 space left after each name for brief annual notes. The memory 

 is treacherous, and if trusted to entirely many little points of 

 considerable importance are apt to be forgotten. Of course 

 when the trees number only a few dozen a book would hardly 

 be required, but when the collection amounts to several hun- 

 dreds it is really indispensable. 



Mr. Taylor is doubtless fully aware that the weeding process 

 of "eccentricities of taste" which he contemplates would 

 prove a difficult affair. By what standard does he propose to 



try them? Surely the decisions, or rather excisions, must be 

 ruled by weight of numbers and not by mere individual opinion, 

 than which nothing differs so widely. For example, I cannot 

 agree with him in his estimate of Duchesse d'Angoubime and 

 BeurrL- Clairgeau. The Duchesse is certainly sometimes in- 

 sipid, but I would not condemn a really excellent kind for a 

 failing which is only developed under circumstances preventing 

 a better state of things. Beurre Clairgeau has proved so good 

 with me from trees upon free stocks that I planted a dozen 

 more of it last season, and I have it now trained to walls of 

 east and west aspects, horizontally and as oblique cordons, as 

 well as in the pyramidal form in an orchard. It is an un- 

 doubted fact that the fruit of this Pear is frequently deficient 

 in richness, and is therefore comparatively worthless in many 

 gardens, notably in cold heavy soils, but in light soil it answers 

 better, and is often as excellent in flavour as it is ornamental 

 in appearance. Both kinds would probably be classed as 

 doubtful and uncertain, and I much fear that the sorts which 

 must be so classed will always prove greatly in the majority. 

 However this may be, there can be no doubt that an immense 

 amount of good would result from such an inquiry, and a mass 

 of reliable information be accumulated, which would not only 

 prove of the greatest assistance to the regular practitioner, but 

 would also impart confidence to the amateur upon a matter 

 concerning which he has so long been beset with hesitation 

 and doubt. In a word, it would tend to render Pear culture 

 far more popular than it is at present, and we should find 

 that space would gladly be aiJorded to many highly meri- 

 torious varieties hitherto comparatively unknown as well as 

 the Jargonelles, Bon Chutiens, and half a dozen other 

 kinds which have so long reigned pre-eminent in many small 

 gardens. 



Information is also much wanted about the effect of the 

 difierent stocks, especially upon the fruit, in its quality, quan- 

 tity, and how soon after planting it is freely produced, so as 

 to ascertain which sorts may be depended upon for coming 

 quickly into bearing while the trees are young — a matter of 

 considerable importance, especially in a new garden, where it 

 is desirable to secure some return as quickly as possible for 

 the heavy outlay that is usually incurred in the planting. — 

 Edwakd Luckhuesi. 



LATE PEAS. 



I HAVE nothing to add except that my district is a dry one, 

 the average rainfall being 20 inches. 



In latJS I gathered ripened Peas of Carter's First Crop, and 

 sowed them the same day in trenches, and gathered green 

 Peas from them in October, but they were not so good as were 

 those from old seed sown on the same day. The old seed 

 came up the first and the most regular. Neither of these 

 were half so good as was Ne Plus Ultra, gathered throughout 

 November of that year. 



Ne Plus Ultra and Auvergne are the best dry- weather mildew- 

 resisting Peas we have. Sown in trenches and deluged once 

 a week, using salt in the water at the rate of half an ounce 

 per gallon, I have not failed to have frequent dishes of Peas 

 throughout November for the past seven years. It is not a 

 question of Peas versus Scarlet Runner Beans. Supply a dish 

 of Peas two or three times a week in the autumn, and the Beans 

 will be the more relished for the change. 



As Mr. Robson is interested, I will, on a future occasion, 

 give my experience of growing other vegetables in trenches, 

 beginning with Potatoes. I may add that if in this northern 

 latitude our summers are dry, our autumns are generally 

 wet, and perhaps the rains may set in earlier than they do 

 in the south, and herein we may have an advantage. — A 



NOETUERN GaEDENER. 



THE EESTING-SPORES OF THE POTATO 

 DISEASE. 

 Mb. a. F. Barron of Chiswick, to whom I am indebted for 

 many specimens of diseased Potatoes, in recently writing to 

 me as to the present aspect of the murrain described the attack 

 as the most virulent of all he had seen. In some plants at 

 the present time the leafstalks suddenly lose their hold, the 

 leaves tumble off, and the plant rapidly disappears. The 

 disease put in its unwelcome appearance a month or six weeks 

 earlier than usual, and the first diseased foliage which came 

 under my notice for examination was received from one of the 

 correspondents of the Journal of Horticulture at the beginning 



