Kovember 25, 1875. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



463 



latter. The Borts principally 



much grown in Kent as the 

 grown for profit are — 



TIME OF 

 RIPENING. 



Do7eDn6 d'Ete July. 



Cbalk July. 



GitroD des Carmes . . July. 



Lamzaas Auf^ust. 



"WindBor AuRUst. 



Caillot Rosat August. 



BellisBlme d'Automne A.u^. aud Sept. 



Cohnar d'£tb September. 



'WilliamB'B Bon Chre- 

 tien September. 



"Tat September. 



Beurre dAmanlia Sept. and Oct. 



Bergamot September. 



Hessle September. 



Marie Looise October. 



There are also many new sorts, but they require proving 

 before we can know whether they will bear on standards. 

 Many good Pears, it may be observed, do well on the bush 

 which will not do as standards. I will name a few of the best 

 sorts for the bnsh, and will also digress a little by recommend- 

 ing a few for a wall. 



Plnma are grown in onr orchards merely to fill np inter- 

 mediate spaces between other trees. They never make very 

 large heads, and consequently are more suited for confined 

 spaces ; neither do they last so long as Cherries, Pears, or 

 Apples, for the wind has great effect on them, and when they 

 attain to any age they lose large limbs. Their roots skim 

 just under the surface, and they consequently soon derive 

 benefit from any dressing of manure. Not long since I 

 measured the distance which some Plum roots had travelled 

 from the main stem, and found it to be 10 feet. There are 

 some orchards in Kent planted entirely with Plums, generally 

 6 by 7 yards apart, and they are very productive, notably one 

 of Green Gages at Gillingham. A few years ago this piece was 

 a perfect model of a fruit plantation. The trees were large for 

 Gages, and bore abundantly in one year, making, I believe, 

 more than £100 per acre. The trees are going off now, but 

 there is an intermediate plant of other kinds coming up. The 

 owner was offered £50 an acre for the fruit on the whole 

 28 acres, half of which was not nearly so valuable as the Green 

 Gage part.* Green Gages are so useful for domestic purposes 

 that it will be a long time before we have too many of them. 



The best sorts for bearing, and the kinds possessing the most 

 useful qualities, are — 



Early Bivera Sandall's 



Early Orleans Prince Engelbert 



Dauphine Washingtou 



Victoria Mitchelaon's i 



Belgian Purple Autumn Beauty 



Stone Wood Diamond 



Orleans Green Gage 



Oulins Golden Gage 



Jefferson 



Wliite Maf^am Bonum 



Gis home's 



GoUah 



Belle de Lonvain 



Pond's Seedling 



Prince of ^Vaie3 



Cluster Itamson 

 Prune Damson 



Lastly I come to the Apple, the most useful of all fruits 



* There iB also another orchard of 3 acres, all Plums, near here, the trees 

 planted about 18 feet apart. This has realised by auction £25 per acre on 

 an average of the last three years. 



TIME OF 

 KITCHEN. RIPENING. 



Keswick Codlin August. 



Manx Codlin August. 



Lord SuJlield August. 



Gooseberry Apple. ... August. 



Stirliug Castle Aug. to Sept. 



New Hawthomden . . Aug. to Nov. 



Lord Derby September, 



Celliiji October, 



Waltham Abbey Seed- 

 ling Sept. and Oct. 



Cos's Pomona October. 



Barcbard's Seedling. . October. 



Golden Noble October. 



Beauty of Kent October. 



Bess Pool November, 



Betty Geeson Nov. to May. 



Small's Admirable . . November. 



Dumelow's Seedling 



or Wellington . . November. 



Royal Somerset Nov. to Jan. 



Brabimt Bellolicur . . Nov. to March. 



Warner's King Nov. to Jan. 



Kentish Fill Basket . Nov. to Jan. 



Gascoigne's Seedling Nov. to Jan- 

 Tower of Glammia . . Nov. to Feb. 



Blenheim Orange . . Nov. to Jan. 



Mt^re de Menage December. 



Norfolk Beefing .... Jan. to June. 



both to the rich and to the poor. For eleven months in the 

 year this excellent fruit supplies our tables ; but although 

 cultivated largely in certain parts of Kent, we find, as a rule, 

 that Cherries pay better where the soil is suitable. Apples 

 will grow on almost any soil, even on stiff clays, if drained, but 

 they are not so suitable for orchards, as the grass grows more 

 rankly, and the sheep as a consequence do not feed so closely. 

 Where the soil suits, the Apple makes a large head and re- 

 quires as much room as any tree. I have heard of 500 bushels 

 being grown on one acre. As for sorts their name is legion, 

 but some of the best are — 



TIME OF 

 DESSERT. RIPENING. 



Joanneting (red and 



white) July. 



Early Harvest August. 



Early Julien August. 



Devonshire Quarren- 



den August. 



Red Astrachan August. 



Early Strawberry August. 



Early Nonpareil .... Sept. and Oct. 



Ingestre Yellow Sept. and Oct. 



Mother Apple October. 



Summer Golden Pip- 

 pin Sept. and Oct. 



Sykehouse Russtt . . Oct. to Feb. 



Kingof the Pippins. . November. 



Ribston Pippin November. 



Golden Pippin November. 



Coe's Golden Drop . . Dec. to May. 



Court-Peudu-Plat Dec. to May. 



Cox's Orange Pippin. . Dec. to Feb. 



Braddick's Nonpareil. Dec. to April. 



Byson Wood Pippin. . Dec. to April. 



Wheeler's Russet. . . . Dec. to Feb. 



Northern Spy Dec. to April. 



Sturmer Pippin .... Feb. to June. 



Winter Nonpareil Feb. to March. 



Lodgemore Nonpareil Feb. to June. 



Adams' Pearmain February. 



Golden Knob Feb. to April. 



I next come to fruit plantations which have standards or 

 half-standards, and underfruit. The plan generally adopted 

 is to plant the trees, which are more frequently half -standards, 

 22 feet by Kit feet, with Gooseberries or Currants between 

 them 5J feet apart. The cost of the trees, bushes, and labour 

 comes to about £20 per acre. In about three years the berries 

 will begin to bear and to make some return. Trees grow faster 

 and boar sooner in arable plantation than on grass. The culti- 

 vation assists very much, and of course the more the land is 

 manured the greater will be the crop. Apples, Pears, and 

 Plums suit this class of planting best. Large returns are made 

 by the underfruit, especially if the plantations are near towns 

 or railways, an acre of berries frequently realising from £20 to 

 £30 ; indeed, a large grower near Maidstone informed me that 

 he had made £100 per acre from one piece of Gooseberries; 

 this was, of course, an exceptional price. The sorts most used 

 are the Golden Drop, Whitesmith, Rifleman, Crown Bob, Lanca- 

 shire Lads, Velvets, and Warrington. Black Currants also are 

 now attracting much attention. They require a strong stiff 

 soU. The sale of this fruit has increased much of late years ; 

 some say to make port wine, others for use as a dye ; however, 

 the fruit is one of the most wholesome we have, and makes an 

 excellent preserve. The Baldwin's Black is a great improve- 

 ment on the old sort, but I am not certain whether this and the 

 Naples are the same. I have seen trees lately which have 

 borne as much as half a sieve each, and one planter in Bainham 

 told me that he had grown 250 bushels on 2 acres at three 

 years old, and realising £118 less the expenses of picking and 

 sale. In West Kent, especially on the ragstone, Filberts and 

 Cob Nuts are more grown than berries. The soil exactly suits 

 them, and they bear most abundantly. The Cob Nut is, how- 

 ever, fast taking the place of the old Filbert, being found much 

 more productive and profitable. The Nut is larger, but not so 

 well-flavoured as the Filbert ; but it grows much quicker to bear- 

 ing. I have seen some trees at I^oose, near Maidstone, which 

 grew 40 lbs. on a tree, and over £100 per acre was made of one 

 particular acre. The trees are generally planted about 16 feet 

 apart each way, and the pruning of them requires considerable 

 skill and care. For this work the usual price ranges from 

 2d. to 3d. per tree. 



Plantations used for Berries only. — These plants are gene- 

 rally intended to remain for a few years only, with a view to 

 temporary profit. This plan is the best, as the upper fruit is 

 raised while the under fruit is bearing. Gooseberries and 

 Currants are generally placed feet apart each way, making 

 1210 plants to the acre. The cost ranges from 8s. to 15s. per 

 100. Many growers (especially with Black Currants) now 



