August 13, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HOKTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



131 



exoesBiTe crowding nor bare patches, and they afford proof abso- 

 late and incontrovertible that the spur mode of treating the 

 Morello Cherry ia not only practical but profitable. 



I think the eyetem ia worthy of extended adoption, as lead- 

 ing to trees not only more handsome in appearance than are 

 those generally met with, but as requiring less time in routine 

 management, and in producing fruit both abundant and fine. 



I know nothing of the Black Currant on the spur system, 

 never having proved it, but I do know trees of Morello Cherries 

 ■which have been closely pinched for over twenty years, and 

 judging them by their fruit I have never seen trees to equal 

 them in value ; and I think that if other cultivators will teat 

 the practice they will agree with me that the plan ia recom- 

 mendable. — A Northern Gardener. 



A CORNISH ROSABIAN'S NOTES. 



The taste for " whoppers " in Roses is, Mr. Radclyffe tells 

 US, " a coarse taste," but in hia list of select ones for button- 

 hole purposea he names amongst others " fully expanded " 

 Charles Lefebvre, Duke of Edinburgh, and Marguerite St. 

 Amaud. This looks uncommonly like "whopper" worship. 

 He must surely have had in view the decoration of some gor- 

 geous " Jeames," such as Leech's pencil has immortalised, or 

 the tribe of portly coachmen whose floral adornment some- 

 times takes the form of Hollyhocks and Sunflowers. Ordinary 

 mortals, however, may well ba content with Homere, Canary, 

 Devouiensis, Safrano, Jules Margottiu, Louisa Wood, and the 

 Mossea in bud, and with Celine Porestier, Boule de Neige, and 

 one or two others partly expanded. 



Fragrance in a Rose ia undeniably a very valuable quality, 

 but it seems to me Mr. Peach puts it fairly when he says, 

 ^' We think far more of beauty of colour, form, and freshness, 

 to say nothing of size, so long as it does not lead to coarseness, 

 than we do of mere scent;" and in the Journal T see he has 

 since laid down the distinction between size and coarseness 

 •clearly and soundly. The odour of the Teas as a class, delicate 

 aa it is, strikes me as being inferior to that of the Perpetuala 

 of the Marie Rady, Senateur Vaisse, and Li France class with 

 their rich fruit-like perfume, and to the honest scent of the 

 old Cabbage; but chai;un a son goiit here too. 



Mr. Camm in his article on " out-backs " plainly states what 

 I think will be found to be the experience of most growers. 

 I have never yet seen a batch of maiden plants, as a whole, 

 carry blooms comparable to those from the same number of 

 out-backs. Mr. Baker's plan I have pursued, and cnu recom- 

 mend where it ia practicable — viz., three quarters : one for 

 stocks, one for maidens, one for cut-backs ; and then, whether 

 you have exhibition stands or simply garden decoration in 

 view, the omtinuous supply this plan affords meets both. Mr. 

 Baker's victories show what an amateur may do, and if he 

 would let us know how many plants he has under cultivation 

 we should be the better able to estimate his success. 



Mr. Peach says, " Under proper cultivation Roses on their 

 own roots will also give quite as fine blooms as on the Dog 

 Rose." Is this so? We see little or nothing written about 

 Koses on their own roots. I rear some annually, but cannot 

 Bay much in their favour for high-class flowers. I shall be 

 glad to read the experience of others. 



Mr. Luckhurst, in some notes on Tea Roses, says of Triomphe 

 de Rennea, " Pretty little flower of a delicate yellow shade, but 

 ia unworthy of a prominent position." Just the opposite of 

 this would be my comment on this Rose; its blooms with me 

 are frequently 4 inches across, and on the Briar especially it 

 is vigorous, free-flowering, and well worthy of a " prominent 

 position" in any collection. 



As to Madame Lacharme, whatever doubts may hang about 

 her reputation one thing is certain — she continues to make a 

 number of people agree to differ. Hitherto wherever I have 

 seen this Rose in this moist part of England it has shown 

 itself unfit for outdoors, but I can understand that under 

 glass it may be valuable. I have tried it on the Manetti and 

 on the Briar, and on neither has it behaved as a Rose ought. 

 The flowers, which have persisted in not passing the half-open 

 state, showed tokens of a modest diEcernment which were 

 creditable to them as compared with the conduct of the soiled 

 shabby-looking flowera that did open. 



Mr. Mayo, in No. 735, saya that he included Pelix Genero 

 in his list of last year's election of best fifty, but the published 

 list does not bear him out. 



Mr. Beachey, in one of those pleasant contributiona of his 

 in No. 729, speaks of " cutting Roses if you are so minded 



every day of the year." Will he and others who have paid 

 attention to the best form of house culture give us a few notes 

 under this head ? 



I had written a few notes about the Devon Bosery, where I 

 recently spent a few pleasant hours with Mr. Sandford, the 

 energetic and intelligent partner of Mr. Curtis, but they have 

 been mostly anticipated by " T>., Di'al's," narrative. I think 

 the nursery will be better worth seeing next year, for a finer 

 lot of stocks than the buddera were upon I never saw, and the 

 season has so far been favourable ; whilst in last year's work 

 there were many failures. A fortnight back no Rose in the 

 establishment would compare with Capt. Christy; the plants 

 were superb. If the bloom of this Rose were inferior instead 

 of being superior to most, it would be then worth growing 

 for its ample, deep-coloured, finely-shaped foliage. Fran<;oia 

 Michelon, Etienne Levet, and Capt. Christy were, I found, being 

 propagated to the utmost ; of the latter I noticed six hundred 

 stocks in one plot. Marquise de Mortemart I never saw before 

 as I saw it there. Its blooms, in spite of the delicacy of the 

 plant, were sufiicient to induce anyone to try it. It was grown 

 next to Madame Lacharme, and the Midame was nowhere. 

 Cheshunt Hybrid much struck me. If this be a true Tea its 

 colour, substance, and vigour ought to be turned to good 

 account. I fancy it has a tendency to coarseness ; some of the 

 flowers reminded me somewhat of Anna Alexieff. 



" D., Deal," speaks of the demand for cut blooms, and I 

 found that for about a third of the year they usually sell 

 aufficient to pay their weekly charge for wages of about £15. 

 Mr. Sandford also told me their trade had so increased that 

 they were in treaty for an additional three acres of ground 

 adjoining the present seven. 



"D., Deal," praises the scenery of Torquay and its neigh- 

 bourhood, and beautiful it is. After I left the rosery I strolled 

 down the Torre Avenue with its grand Limes in full bloom ; 

 and a3 the soft air swept up from Torb,iy, bringing with it 

 their sweet fragrance, and the soft murmur of the bees in their 

 delicate tassels, it recalled snatches from the choric song of the 

 " Lotos Eaters " and its associations of beauty and repose. But 

 although you may " hear the cuckoo and the blackbird close 

 to the very shore," and the coast be "clothed to the water's 

 edge with luxuriant foliage " here, yet to one on a summer's 

 holiday I would recommend by way of contrast the experiment 

 of going, as I did, by the nearest route from Torbay and its 

 semitropical pictures to " Intagel by the Cornish sea " and to 

 quaint Boycastle, the Eglosylian of " The Three Feathers," 

 and its wild coasts. It may be the partial judgment of one 

 who believes strongly in the beauties of hia county, but I wiU 

 venture to predict that the scenery of the latter will give the 

 truest enjoyment. The bluff headland and the towering cliffs, 

 the calm inlets, the cry of the sea bird, the breezy downs with 

 their Heather, Gorse, and wild Thyme ; and above all, before 

 you always the sea in its full sublimity, recalling not the Sy- 

 baritic ease of " Lotos Eaters " but the prowess of a race of 

 sea kings. These I regard as far away beyond anything Tor- 

 quay and its neighbourhood, lovely as it ia, have to offer. — 



COBNDBIA. 



SHIFTING GREENHOUSE PLANTS WITHOUT 

 INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE POTS. 



Shaving an inch off the root-bound ball of earth, moulded 

 by the pot in which the plant has been grown, is recommended 

 by Mr. Douglas on page 99, and by " S. W." on page 118. No 

 further testimony is needed as to the practicability of the 

 plan. I have adopted another mode principally with Azaleas, 

 and nothing could have answered the purpose better. 



The plants for want of support were in anything but robust 

 health ; they plainly required larger pots ; but these, for 

 special reasons, could not be given them. Not having then 

 heard of the shaving process, I adopted the following plan of 

 giving fresh soil. 



Instead of slicing the earth all round, I with a sharp knife 

 out out three equidistant wedges, commeneiug at the top of 

 the balls and cutting down to the bottom, alter the manner of 

 carving a piece out of a cheese. The balls were returned to the 

 pots, and fresh soil was rammed firmly into the spaces from 

 which the wedges had been taken. The plants improved con- 

 siderably, and the following year wedges were cut from other 

 portions of the balls and their places occupied with fresh soil, 

 and the plants were brought into perfect health without any 

 increase in the size of the pots. The plants were not in the 

 least injured by the operation of cutting. By continuing the 



