Novembor 25, 1875. ] JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



461 



Progeny. 

 Lfplia flftmmeft 

 Zygopetalum Sedeni 

 Ciiysis Chetsoni 

 Alooa^ia Hedeni 



Veitchii nuperba 



intermedia 



Che]Houi 

 Dracrpoa bvbrida 



Tijlori 

 Ithododendron Princesa Royal,' 



Princess Alice 



PriuceBs Alexandra 



Princess Helena 



Princess of Wales 



Princes'* Thyra 



Crown Princess of Prussia 



Duchess of Teck 



Duchess of Edinburgh 



Prince Leopold 

 Begonia Sedeni 



intermedia 



Chelsoni 



Chelsoni Stella 



Chelsoni vesUTius 



Excelsior 



Model 



Acme 



Emperor 



SOC 



90 A 



Dorainii 

 Amaryllis Chelsoni 



maculata 



Briiliftnt 

 Fuchsia Dominiana 

 Philegeria Veitchii 

 Oloxiuias 



Parents. 

 L. cinnabarina and Ti. Pilcheri 

 Z. maxillare and Z Mackayi 



C. braotesceus and C. Limminghi 

 A. Lowii and A. metallica 



A. Veitchii and A Lowii 

 A. longiloba and A. Veitchii 

 A. metallica and A. raacrorhiza 



D. maanifioa and D. alliicana 

 D. maynifica and D. Moorei 



R. javanicum and K. jaHminiflorum 



R. Edgworlhi and R. ciliatum 



R. Princess Royal and R Brnokii 



R. Lobbii and U. jasminiflorum 



R. Lobbii and K. Princss Royal 



R. Brookii gracilis and R. Princess Helena 



R. Lobbii and R. Princess Royal 



B. species and B. boliviensis 



B. Veitchii and B. boliviensis 



B. Sedeni and B. boliviensis 



B. Veitchii and B. Sedeni 



B Clarkei and B. Sedeni 



B. ciDnal)arina and B. Chelsoni 



B. Pearcei and B. Sedeni 



B. intermedia and B, .Sedeni 



B. Clarkei and B. Chelsoni 



B, Sedeni and B. intermedia 



B. Sedeni and B. Stella 



B, rex and B. art^entea 



A. Ackermanni pulcherrima and A. pordina 



F. spPctBbilis and F. serratifolia 

 Lapageria rosea and Philesia buxifoUa 

 Many hybrids with flowers of approved form 

 and colotir 



FBUIT CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT 

 IN KENT. 



At a meeting of the Institute of Surveyors held at 12, Great 

 George Street, Westminster, on the evening of Monday last, 

 G. Webb, Esq., of Tunetall near Sittingbourne, read the 

 following paper on fruit cultivation and management in Kent. 

 The chair wag occupied by Thomas Huskiuson, Esq., the 

 President of the Institute. 



So many able papers on matters of interest and importance 

 to surveyors have been read in this room, that in appearing 

 before you to treat of fruit-planting I feel that I have under- 

 taken a taek which I can hardly hope to accomplish as I should 

 desire. I should not have ventured indeed to approach it at all 

 ■were it not for the hope that other members, by their greater 

 k Qowledge and experience, may be able to make up for my defi- 

 ciencies. I am obliged aleo to confine my observationg to Kent, 

 as I have seen very little of the orchards in other counties. 



It is hardly more than twenty years since railways first 

 opened out our county, but during this short period the culti- 

 vation of fruit has received greatly increased attention both 

 at home aud abroad. Where soil and climate are favourable 

 new fruit plantations are to be seen springing up in all di- 

 rections ; fruit-growing begins to figure prominently among 

 the industrial resources of the kingdom, and a great question 

 must soon arise whether the consumption of our increasing 

 population will keep pace with the supply afforded from so 

 enlarged an area of planted land. This year has probably 

 been the beet for many years past to test the question, for the 

 crop of all kinds, more especially of Cherries, has been enor- 

 mous ; but I believe that if the rainy season had not prevented 

 the gathering, the greater part of this heavy crop would have 

 found a remunerative market in the manufacturing districts. 

 From the returns of 1871 the fruit crop in England is stated 

 as occupying, excluding gardens, 145,022 acres. The counties 

 which contribute the largest acreage are Devon, 24,312; 

 Hereford, 21,.534; Somerset, 19,8.57; Worcester, 13,.S90; 

 Gloucester, 11,152; Kent, 11,186; Cornwall, 4,180. No other 

 county has 4000. 



Now, we cannot be surprised that the study of fruit, whether 

 the object be pleasure or profit, should more and more attract 

 the attention of our countrymen ; for the interest attaching to 

 its culture never ceases, and there is no period of the year 

 nniepresented by some fresh source of delight or interest. 

 Even in winter, after the trees are stripped, we eagerly watch 

 to see what fresh wood has been made, what are the prospects 

 of fruit buds, aud what further pruning is required ; but apart 

 from purely pleasureable associations I shall be able to show 

 yon that good retorns have been realised by those who have 



spared neither pains nor expense in the cultivation of their 

 fruit land. 



Now, before speaking of fruit plantations, I ought to say a Jew 

 words as to the preparation required in making fresh orchards ; 

 for everything depends on a good start. The first thing to 

 be done is to select the ground. If it be possible to do so, 

 avoid all low-lying lands or valleys, for valleys catch the frost 

 most; and take the higher land, having a south-east, south, or 

 south-west aspect. The more trees are exposed to the east 

 the better, for the morning sun in such situations comes out 

 gradually on the bloom; whereas, if the sun (after having 

 been up some time) falls suddenly on the trees in valleys, the 

 bloom is certain to be cut off. We had a marked instance of 

 this in the severe frost of May, 1871. One orchard lay in a 

 valley with rising ground to the west, and the bloom was not 

 only completely cut off, but the trees themselves were so 

 injured that thev took three years to recover ; but where the 

 land was only 12 feet higher the frost took very much less 

 effect. Shelter on the south-west is very desirable, either by 

 means of a good high Quick hedge or a belt of Larch, as 

 westerly gales do much injury to both fruit and trees. 



Before planting, the land should have a dressing of well- 

 rotted compost. It should then be deeply ploughed and sub- 

 soiled or dug, and trenching, although expensive, always pays. 

 The field should then be properly squared and set out ; the 

 holes for standard trees well thrown out, not less than i feet 

 over bv 2 feet deep (for which we pay about 4,5. per 100), and, 

 if possible, every tree should be planted by the lOlh of December. 

 The depth best suited is, say, from 6 to 9 inches. Young trees 

 should alwavs be carefully watched during the summer after 

 planting The moment the leaves droop the water-cart should 

 be employed; or, where this cannot be done easily, some 

 rough farmyard dung should be put round the trees to keep 

 in the moisture. In exposed situations, or where there is 

 stock, the trees will require some support for protection. 

 Five or six old dipped hop poles or stakes bound with a piece 

 of iron hooping at the top make a good guard ; or, against 

 sheep or rabbits, tree guards cut from common wire netting 

 answer well. After the tree is once started the pruning knife 

 must be freely used for the first three or four years to form 

 a good head, and the shoots will require to be both shortened 

 and thinned. It is better to clear the inside of a tree whUe 

 young than after it is old. , i „ n ■ < 



Next comes the great question. What to plant ? It is, of 

 course, most important to select the sort of fruit and the kind 

 of cultivation which specially suits each locahty, for herein 

 rests future success or disappointment. The quesuons of 

 soil, climate, aspect, and the description of fruit best adapted 

 to them must be deeply weighed and considered; and after 

 all this is done there still remains another diihcnlt considera- 

 tion-namely, Covent Garden Market. We must please our 

 customers and must keep pace with the times, or all our care 

 aud skill in cultivating will go for nothing. The popular sort 

 of to-day may in three years' time be entirely discarded; and 

 then will come all the mortification of having to replant or to 

 rcraft, and a great loss of both time and money. In showing 

 the necessitv of studvinp climate, I cannot give you a better 

 illustration than the Chaumontel Pear. In Jersey these Pears 

 grow on the bush, and are so fine that they frequently sell for 

 l,v each. In Kent, about 100 feet above the sea level, this 

 sort bears well, and two years out of three is well flavoured; 

 but at an increased altitude of 300 feet the fruit is no better 

 than a Turnip. „, , i. 4 „tt„„ 



Again, as to the studv of the market. The sorts that often 

 engage the attention of the grower are by the fruit-salesman 

 or costermonger the most neglected. The latter wants an 

 Apple or Pear that will last beyond a day, and which will 

 preserve its colour and quality. Pears such as Williams Bon 

 Chretien, Beurre Bobc, and Beurre de Capiaumont are the 

 kinds which answer their purpose best ; but fine showy sorts 

 like the Beurre d'Amanlis, Colmar d'Eti, and Gratioh they 

 care little for. That useful and early Apple tue Keswick 

 Codlin formerly sold well, but now, from being so plentiful, 

 hardly pays expenses of sale. 



I now proceed to treat of fruit plantations under three dif- 

 ferent classes :-lst. Orchards planted entirely with standard 

 trees, the bottom being grass, fed-off by sheep. 2ndly, iruit 

 plantations containing standards or half-standards, with which 

 is raised a plantation of Gooseberries, Currants, nuts &a. 

 3rdlv Fruit plantations which grow bush fruit, and of the 

 berry'tribe only. I may here state, that by the terins I mean 

 to inclade Gooseberries and Currants, both Red and White. 



