481 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ December 2, 187S, 



in their growth. I am of opinion that the stock on which this 

 Pear is grafted has a great deal to do with its well-being. Will 

 anjone f^ive their experience on this point ? I am inclined to 

 Fay the Pear stock is the best, and allow the tree to develcpe 

 itself. General Todtleben succeeds well a^ a pyramid, but 

 the largest specimens were on espaUers. Hayehe's Prince of 

 Wales is this season magnificent on efpaliers, good specimens 

 of fruit, and completely covered with very dark russet. Ne 

 Plus Meuris, very prolific as an espalier, fruit rather small, but 

 should have been thinned more freely. Bergamotte Esperen, 

 Srst-claes as a pyramid, being a sure bearer of delicious late 

 fruit. Beurre Ranee, good as an espalier, but the fruit on 

 some of the trees has cracked badly. Is it general this 

 season ? Vicar of Winkfield, heavy cropper as a standard. 

 We have a large standard tree which was left in the old kitchen 

 garden here which is so loaded with fruit most seasons that we 

 are obliged to support the branches with props ; a good stew- 

 ing Pear, and passable for dessert when Pears are not very 

 plentiful. .Josephine de Malines, good here as a standard, but 

 so far it has been poor as an espalier, and the fruit small. 

 Jean de Witte, a good bearer of medium-sized fruit, but many 

 of them spotted this season. Louise Bonne de Printemps, 

 crops pood, fruit medium in size, and free from any spot. 

 Black Worcester succeeds well here on espaliers, producing 

 fine crops of large fruit ; it is a first-class stewing Pear, a sure 

 bearer, and keeps well. 



The above are a few out cf about sixty varieties that have 

 tbii season carried heavy crops; the others have carried more 

 or lees, but those named have done the best. As I wish to add 

 to my collection I should be obliged for a few notes from any 

 of your correspondents who have a similar soil to mine. Per- 

 haps Mr. Douglas would favour us with a few notes, for I 

 fancy his soil and ours pretty nearly correspond. Pears I 

 find are not keeping well this season; they are soon over 

 when they begin to ripen, and the long. continued rains, with 

 the absence of tun, has impaired the flavour of many of them. 

 — J. A., IliU Grove, Kidderminster. 



DIAMOND PEACH. 



Mr. LrcKHnRST does not appear to cultivate this Peach, else 

 he would probably have enumerated it in his list as one 

 worthy to be cultivated by even those who are restricted to 

 two or three varieties. 



It has three points to recommend it — First, it will set its 

 fruit without protection better than any other variety ; second, 

 it is a moderate grower, devoid of those sappy shoots so com- 

 mon in other varieties ; and lastly, it comes in between Early 

 York and Boval George, and is, therefore, a great desideratum 

 to all who have to keep-up a supply of this luscious fruit from 

 the open air. It is a variety that also comes very early into 

 bearing, my own trees fruiting the third year from the bud, 

 while other favourite varieties were barren. The fruit is of 

 large size, beautifully coloured on the exposed side, and equal 

 in flavour to other well-tried sorts. I believe it is an intro- 

 duction by the Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea, and is worthy of 

 more extended cultivation. 



After marking results here and elsewhere, I cm confidently 

 recommend the following select list for outdoor culture ; — 

 Early Beatrice, Early York, Diamond, Royal George, Grosee 

 Mignonne, and Noblesse. Can anyone recommend a variety 

 later than the above-mentioned which would stand a chance 

 of ripening in the midland counties ? Lord Palmerston will 

 not do so. 



The soil here is very sandy with sand as a subsoil, therefore 

 not at all suited to either Peach or Plum culture, but by rich 

 mulchings and plentiful supplies of water during the flowering 

 period I invariably secure moderate crops of fruit. — A. W., 

 Ueiijhington, Lincoln. 



BRIAE STOCKS FROM CUTTINGS. 



Seeint, recommended in the Journal of Horticulture last 

 autumn (October 1.5th, page 339), Briar stocks put in as cut- 

 tings with a heel, I procured some which were inserted during 

 November, and are now lilted with roots superior to anything 

 I have seen on the Briar previously. 



Having found the roots so superior to those made on the 

 lifted stock, I venture to note the result, although I have not 

 been so successful in the number struck as Mr. Turtle. Sixty- 

 eight were put in, cat to 3 feet in length. The budding was 

 done in May. Thirty are now planted in prominent places 



with nice heads, eight budded but have not made heads fit 



for planting this year, twelve nnworked, and eighteen deaths, 

 mostly owing, I have no doubt, to unripened wood, as the 

 Briars were cut from the middle of thick hedges, not being 

 able to procure them from positions more conducive to ripened 

 wood.— K. C, Castle Gardens, St. Pagans. 



DOUBLE CLAEKIAS. 

 Claekias are amongst the most effective and useful of oer 

 hardy annuals, and improvements in the colour and form of 

 the flowers are continually being made. Double varieties have 

 long ago been offered to the public, but these at the best have 

 been but semi-double, and the plants generally have proved 

 of loose habit. Examples, however, which were submitted by 

 Mr. Hardy of Bures to the Floral Committee of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society on July 7 th, were undoubtedly bona Me 



Fig. 104.— Doable ClarWss. 



double flowers, and as such they were awarded first-class cer- 

 tificates. The flowers were also closely arranged on the spikes, 

 giving them a massive appearance quite dissimilar to the ordi- 

 nary type of semi-double varieties, and suggesting their useful- 

 ness for affording cut blooms. The engraving gives a faithful 

 representation of the spikes as then exhibited ; and if the 

 varieties prove constant they must be regarded as great acqui- 

 sitions amongst easily-grown border flowers. Mr. Hardy exhi- 

 bited them in two varieties — Purple King and Salmon Queen, 

 and they have certainly just claim to be considered as reigning 

 monarchs in the Clarkia world. 



CONCRETING VINE BORDERS. 

 Mr. PEAcn inquires whether the Vine borders at Arkleton 

 and Potholm were concreted. They were not concreted, but 

 they rest on a subsoil of gravel which is better than any con- 

 crete. A foot of drainage was placed in the excavation, and 

 on this turves were placed with their grass sides downward to 

 keep the drainage clear from the soil. At Potholm the bottom 

 of the border before putting in the drainage was excavated in 

 a series of diagonal trenches 4 feet apart, bringing the ridge 

 between each to a sharp apex, and in each trench a row of 

 drain- pipes were laid, having a sharp fall and communicating 

 with a main drain at the extremity of the border. Siainaga 



