198 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ Septemter 2, 1875. 



Some kinds, however, have gummed badly, and Bome, although 

 in excellent health and promising well for another year, are 

 not fruiting much now : this is the case with Salway and Ear- 

 rington. The latt-uamed has made splendid grontb, not a 

 eingle fault in the four plants I have, and I expect great things 

 from it next year. 



I believe Barrington to be the hardiest Peach in cultivation ; 

 it is not subject to mildew, and the fruit is of good quality. 

 Early Beatrice seems to be early in more ways than one, two 

 trees of it planted in 1*<72 and Iti/S produced at least four 

 dozen fine fruit of good flavour ; the tirst fruit was suili- 

 ciently ripe to pull off on the 26lh of July. Early Louise 

 was about a wef k later, and the first Early York was plucked 

 August 10th. I have other early kinds, but have not yet had 

 Buiiicient experience with them to say much as to their doings. 

 At present Early Beatrice seems to have the best constitution 

 among the earlies. 



Among the good old kinds Bellegarde is growing will and 

 fruiting abundantly ; and Nectarines Violette Hative, Hunt's 

 Tawny, Elruge, and Murray, are all in splendid health and 

 bearing full crops. 



The wall is 12 feet high, and is covered to an average of 

 8 feet ; some kinds, as Downtou and Violette Hative Necta- 

 rines, Slirlirg Castle and Bellegarde Peaches, have nearly 

 filled their allotted spaces. The bottom of the wall is covered 

 to within an average of 18 inches. I do not find any shoots 

 taking the lead, for the growth is very regular when trained 

 on this system. My present intention is to plant another 

 length of wall in the same way during the coming November, 

 and I hope to have it in full bearing in 1877, by which time 

 the one I have now will probably be past its best and ready 

 for renewal. The border will merely require trenching, and 

 a little ftehh rather poor soil placed round the roots of 

 the plants to start them ; road edgings are capital for this 

 purpose. 



It is quite a mistake to plant the Peach tree in rich soil, it 

 makes more solid growth and ripens earlier in soil that is 

 rather poor and sweet. A stimulant if necessary can always 

 be applied during winter or early spring, but never after the 

 fruit has commenced its second swelling, or the trees will be 

 induced to make late growth. 



Drainage is of the first necessity on cold soils, not merely 

 a pipe-drain or two, but a good layer of broken bricks or stones 

 8 inches or a foot deep, not so much for the purpose of carry- 

 ing off the water as for giving warmth to the border. 



Jf for advocating the foregoing system of training I am 

 acoufcd of deserting a former text — that a tree should be 

 trained in the way its natural habit suggests — I have only to 

 say that the habit of the Peach tree here is to make long 

 sappy growths which our summers cannot ripen, and thereby 

 suggest the desirability of limiting them to such growth as 

 can be matured. 



I have temporary wooden coping-boards about 13 inches 

 wide ; these are placed in position in spring and remain till 

 summer weather sets in ; but as nothing of the sort has evtr 

 reached this part of Wiltshire this season, the boards are there 

 still, and there they will remain till the growth of the trees is 

 fairly ripened. — Willum Taylos. 



CTLTUKE OF THE CTTISDS. 



The culture of the Cj tisus is not so generally known amongst 

 gardeners as it ought to be, for if it was known to be so easily 

 grown it would be one of their most popular plants. Many a 

 gardener as he walks through Covent Garden is stiuck with 

 amazement to see such large and well-bloomed plants in such 

 comparatively small pots. I offer a few cultural remarks on 

 this valuable plant. 



The present time is the best to put in the cuttings, which 

 should bo of the side shoots, about 2 inches long, of mode- 

 rately firm wood, not too hard or too soft, which the plants 

 abound with at this season of the year. They will strike just 

 as well without a heel as with, but it would be safer for be- 

 ginners to take them oil with a heel. They should be put in 

 well-drained pots in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand, with 

 about half an inch of Eand on the surface, and have a gentle 

 watering, and then placed in a close cold frame. By keeping 

 them carefully watered they will shortly callus, and then if 

 the pots can be placed in gentle bottom heat the cuttings 

 will be well rooted in a month. At this stage they should 

 have their points taken out, and when they have broken pot 

 them off into middle 60's in two parts turfy loam and one 



of peat. Keep them rather close till they begin to grow, when 

 they should have plenty of air and light. 



Keep them plunged in ashes in a cold frame till the latter 

 end of March, when they should be repotted into 18's in two 

 parts turfy loam, one of peat, and one of cow dung well 

 rotted. Keep them in the cold frame till the middle of May, 

 when they should be plunged in ashes in the open air in an 

 exposed situation where they can receive abundance of tun. 

 Being grown in such small pots it is impoitant that the plung- 

 ing, also regular watering, be attended to. Keep the shoots 

 closely stopped till the beginning of August, when the pinch- 

 ing should be discontinued. Let the plants remain in the 

 open air till there is danger of frost. When the pots are filled 

 with roots the plants will be greatly benefited by some weak 

 liquid manure twice a-week till they are placed in their winter 

 quarters, which should be in cold frames or a greenhouse,, 

 where they will soon set their flower buds, and by placing a 

 few of the forwardest in an intermediate temperature a suc- 

 eession of bloom can be provided from the beginning of March 

 till the latter end of May. 



The most useful species are C. raeemosus and C. attleanns. 

 C. attleanus by its compact habit does not require so much 

 stopping as C. raeemosus. 



Eew plants in the spring months are so bright and effective 

 as are these ; they are dense masses of gold when grown as 

 above described. Generally they are seen of loose straggling 

 habit by too tender nursing and insufficient stopping of the 

 shoots in summer. By proper culture (and it is exceedingly 

 simple) the plants when in bloom at eighteen months from 

 inseiting the cuttings are 18 inches high and through, the 

 yellow tresses hanging over and almost hiding the pots. It is 

 only in Covent Garden and in a few places round London that 

 such perfect plants are seen, but they may be as easily pro- 

 duced in country gardens if the above details are carried out. 

 I have omitted to say that the pots must be frequently twisted 

 round in the summer to prevent the roots penetrating the 

 ashes ; to further prevent this each pot should be placed on a. 

 piece of broken slate. — A. Y. 



IN. THE "WEST CODNTRIE.— No. 3. 



No three places could be more distinct than those which on 

 the day before the Exeter Rose Show I was enabled to visit 

 through the kindness of my friend Mr. Baker, who lent me his 

 ponies for the purpose. In Wenslade one has a good specimen 

 of what is called in gardening parlance a dressed place. Pol- 

 timore is a good specimen of the old-fashioned style of garden- 

 ing — not that I mean by that anything backward or out of 

 place ; while KUlertou derives its main interest from the beauty 

 of its position and the fine trees with which the park abounds : 

 and as each in its way is characteristic of the horticultural 

 taste that so widely prevails in our land of gardening, a few 

 notes on what I saw may not be unacceptable to the readers 

 of our Journal. 



Wensiabe, the seat of Joshua Dixon, Esq., is only a few 

 miles from Exeter, and the house itself is a plain substantial 

 building surrounded by admirably kept grounds. There is a 

 conservatory attached to the house, very handsomely built 

 with a dome-shaped roof, and the domes of each end were 

 furnished with fine plants of Tacsonia Van-Yolxemi and Tac- 

 sonia exoniensis, a garden hybrid, both of which were in fine 

 flower, and their exquisitely beautiful pendant flowers were 

 very attractive. Some fine specimens of Dicksonia and Cyathea 

 filled, with other plants, the centre of the house ; while to the 

 side walls, which are in such buildings generally bare, were 

 affixed baskets filled with moss in which Ferns of various 

 kinds were planted, such as Adiantum, Davallia, and Pteris. 

 The effect was very good, and I thought worthy of imitation. 

 There is in front of the mansion a very handsome terrace 

 garden, the upper terrace depending mainly for its beauty on 

 foliage plants, such as Alternantheras, Pyrethrnms, and Coleus. 

 The lower terrace is lined by a row of Golden Y'ew, and the 

 beds were well filled with the usual bedding plants. Verbena 

 venosa was largely used and was very attractive. There was 

 near this garden a very tine specimen of Pinus insignis 50 feet 

 high, and a large Cedar which had been transplanted by Mr. 

 Barron of (Jhiswick, and was a living witness to his skill and 

 experience. There was a bed of herbaceous Paonies which 

 must have been very fine when in bloom, and in the shrub- 

 beries were some specimens of Viburnum with noble trusses 

 of white bloom. What, however, was to my mind the most 

 characteristic feature of the place was a broad walk, into which 



