860 



JOUBN^ OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 21, 1875. 



have named and other eoutributors to " oar Journal," and who 

 has not neglected an opportunity of inepeoticg in all parta of 

 the country the practice of others, I can truly eay that I never 

 heard or read of the British Queen or any of her race doiug 

 well on very light soil before, but, on the contrary, have both 

 read and heard of the sort being changed for others more suit- 

 able to the soil, and I hope to have my opinion confirmed or 

 otherwise by such cultivators as I have named. — An Old 



SuBSCBIEEIi. 



KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOWS 

 FOR 187G. 



The Council have decided to hold five great shows besides 

 the usual fortnightly meetings in 1876. The first or Spring 

 Show will be held on the loth of March, the May Sbow on 

 May 3rd, the June Show on the 7th and 8th of June, the July 

 on the lyth and 20th of July, and the Great Fruit Show on 

 the 8th of November. A liberal schedule is in preparation, 

 and will thortly be ready for circulation. 



GLADIOLI— DEGENERACY OR DISEASE. 



I ACCEPT the challenge Mr. Douglas has thrown down, and 

 maintain that the cause of failure in the Gladiolus does not 

 ariee from degeneracy, but from a disease which we cannot 

 master, but which seems to me to bear a remarkable analogy 

 in its effects to that which infests the Potato. Let me first 

 define what we mean, lest it be simply a war of words. I under- 

 stand by degeneracy a weakening of the constitution, by which 

 the plant becomes incapable of flowering with its former vigour, 

 and so becomes worthless to its possessor. By disease I under- 

 stand some affection of the tissues of the plant, by which the 

 corm becomes so seriously influenced that it is unable to main- 

 tain life at all, and bo perishes. In some cases the disease 

 may not absolutely kill the plant, but it very rarely is able to 

 grew again. 



Mr. Douglas holds that his Gladiolus bulbs are affected by 

 the former complaint, and adds that if I did not import each 

 year from France I could not maintain my collection. He 

 may be surprised to hear that, with the exception of the new 

 varieties, I import very few bulbs, and that some of my finest 

 spikes this year were from English-grown corms. But inde- 

 pendently of my own experience I can give that of another 

 grower who is, I believe, by far the largest amateur cultivator 

 of the Gladiolus in England. He has, to my certain know- 

 ledge, not imported one single bulb from France for the last 

 ten years except the novelties of each year, and yet he has 

 every year from eight hundred to a thousand surplus bulbs. 

 Nor are these poor bulbs : they pass, many of them, into the 

 hands of one of our most respected seedsmen, and not only are 

 they satisfied with the bulbs, but their customers invariably 

 speak of them as satisfactory. 



I may add that one or two of the spikes of Meyerbeer which 

 I showed this year were from his bulbs. — D., Deal. 



POTATOES. 



As the time (November 10th) is drawing nigh for the Potato 

 competition, a few remarks from one who is not a competitor, but 

 who feels himself interested in the forthcoming struggle, may 

 perhaps find acceptance. The competition will bring out many 

 points of culture that will be useful to the raisers of new sorts 

 in the way of propagation ; but according to the arrangements 

 some unpleasantness may arise. The crops I think ought to 

 be taken up in the presence of Messrs. Hooper & Co.'s agent 

 and weighed on the spot, and that weight to be the standing 

 point, no matter what is lost afterwards by disease ; whereas 

 this season the disease is so prevalent that some of the com- 

 petitors will lose two-thirds of their crop before the time 

 to send them in for competition, and this will happen in the 

 case of those that have the most weight and have been pro- 

 duced with high cultivation. Of course when the crops are 

 lifted and weighed they will be placed in the best position at 

 command to keep them until the time to send them in. Now 

 what is to prevent those competitors who have a surplus 

 stock in hand from picking out the diseased tubers and re- 

 placing them with sound tubers ? Not that I think any honour- 

 able person would do it, but it is an old saying and a true 

 one that there is " more got by scheming than by hard 

 working." 



Theie will be some great weights fiom 1 lb. of seed, in faot 



one has already appeared in the Journal ; but at the same 

 time I cannot see that any practical purpose will be gained 

 by it, as the system by which they are produced will never do 

 for ordinary cropping. The weights will also lead many people 

 astray unless they are well acquainted with each variety and 

 the mode of growth which has been adopted. The American 

 varieties will stand cutting into the smallest sets possible, and 

 they will grow, soil and season being favourable, into heavy 

 crops ; but I think that is no proof of real value. 



I should hketo see prizes given for some of our best English 

 varieties, which are not so liable to the disease as the American 

 varieties, but they will not stand cutting nearly so small as 

 the Yankees ; and 1 lb. of English seed would not produce 

 more than half the weight that the same quantity of American 

 seed would, and yet the English variety may be more really 

 useful under ordinary cultivation. — H. 



A VISIT TO POTHOLM, 



THE BESIDENCE OF JOSEPH TAYLOR, ESQ. 



When in the picturesque district of Etkdale, besides my 

 visit to the small garden of Arkleton and its great Grapes, I 

 was induced by the owner of Burnfoot to inspect the garden 

 of Mr. Taylor, whose residence is ensconced amongst the heath- 

 clad hUls, and is two or three miles distant from the flourish- 

 ing town of Langholm. I was rewarded by witnessing some 

 good gardening, the Grape-growing especially being of a 

 superior order. This garden was then imder the charge of 

 Mr. Bole, who is now gardener to Lady Crossley at Somerley- 

 ton, Suffolk. Potholm is not a large garden; it was newly 

 made by the owner, and under the able management of his 

 gardener it was more than ordinarily productive. As the 

 Grapes were the chief feature of the place, almost rivalling 

 those of Arkleton, and as I am, by the courtesy of Mr. Bole, 

 able to supply instructive matter concerning them, I will give 

 them prominence in this brief notice. I have said they almost 

 rivalled those of Arkleton, but I believe that on more than one 

 occasion the Potholm Grapes have had the post of honour 

 when in competition with the produce of the above renowned 

 vineries at the local exhibitions. Grapes, then, that have 

 done BO much as have these must have a history worth 

 knowing. 



The vineries were finished in May, 1869, and on the 28th of 

 the same month the last of the Vines were planted. The site 

 of the garden was styled The Orchard, in reality a waste which 

 had been occupied for at least a hundred years by Apple, Pear, 

 and Plum trees, which had grown to giant proportions, with 

 an undergrowth of Nettles fully 6 feet high, and what was not 

 covered with Nettles was with Docks, Ranunculus, &c. But 

 what has this to do with Vines ? I will show that it has, or 

 had, much to do with them, and played an important part in 

 the success which has attended their culture. All this con- 

 fusion had to be cleared away, the trees were uprooted, and 

 their branches carried into a heap ; the whole surface was 

 pared off with the spade — grass, weeds, top soil, Ac, and when 

 all was ready the heap was fired. Some idea of the extent of 

 the fire may be gathered from the fact that it burned for eight 

 weeks. Here, then, is the secret of these fine Grapes — charred 

 soil, athes, and charcoal. The whole cf this was incorporated 

 into the soil forming the Vine and Peach borders. The old 

 mansion house had also been pulled down ; the old plaster, 

 lime rubbish, Ac, were also used. The soil was taken from a 

 place where sheep had been folded, shorn, &c., from time im- 

 memorial, the turf being out just as deep as the roots of the 

 grass would lift. This was made up into a heap mixed with 

 inch bones, the Ume rubbish, and the residue of the great fire ; 

 and the whole lay in that state for about six weeks before 

 using. The bottom of the borders were efficiently drained 

 with about 1 foot of stones, brickbats, and the roughest of the 

 refuse from old buildings, then turves green side down were 

 laid over the whole. The soil was put in about 3 feet deep. 



The Vines were planted and watered with tepid water on the 

 day mentioned, and by October in the same year they had 

 canes over 30 feet long, twice stopped, and the wood well 

 ripened. They were pruned in November and started in 

 March. One bunch was taken off each, the Syrian bunch 

 weighing 7 lbs. In 1871 a bunch off the Syrian weighed 14 lbs. , 

 and in 1872 a bunch was cut weighing over 16 lbs., and in 1873 

 three bunches from one Vine weighed over 40 lbs. At that 

 time the Vine, four years old, measured at 1 foot from the soil 

 6 inches in circumference, the young wood being 2J inches in 

 circumference. The other Vines consist of the old standard 



