560 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ December 33, 1875. 



where Peaohes are sncoessfully grown in the same way as are 

 these remarkable Vines. 



There is another short range of vineries planted with Vines 

 of more modern date, which were carrying excellent crops of 

 highly finished fruit. The outside Vine borders (and I think 

 all are outside save that of the pit) are heavily dressed with 

 rich manure annually, and which is never removed. No fear 

 of the roots leaving a rich feeding ground like that and dart- 

 ing into the subsoil. The surface is simply netted with them, 

 and cannot be dug, and hence the short-jointed wood, leathery 

 foliage, and finely finished fruit. It is just the old lesson over 

 again, but how slow is the world at learning it ! 



I have yet to note the Pines. The notice needs only to be 

 brief. They are grown in brick pits, the lights pushing up 

 and down. There are four pits of twenty lights each. The 

 plants are grown on the labour-and-fuel-saving system. They 

 are not potted. The suckers are planted one year, and they 

 fruit the next, and such fruit ! For instance, in October the 

 fruit had been cut and the plants cleared out which had been 

 inserted as suckers in the preceding September. If an occa- 

 sional plant fails to fruit the first season, its fruit, Mr. Hen- 

 derson says, never "plumps" so well as the yearlings, because 

 the " steel has been taken out of the soil and the roots have 

 lost their vigour." "If," says he, "you want the best Pines 

 in the shortest time select big suckers ' as long as your arm ' 

 and plant them early in September, and within the twelve- 

 month you will have more ' eight-pounders ' than anything 

 else." The condition of the plants justified that assertion. 

 The Pines are grown as cool as possible, two 3-inch pipes afford- 

 ing, I think, all the artificial heat ; but then the pits are narrow 

 and shallow, so that no more air is heated or cooled than is 

 absolutely necessary. It is the most economical and effectual 

 example of Pine-growing which, after rather extensive travels, 

 has come under my notice. 



The garden walls are covered with well-trained and fruitful 

 trees, many of them old, especially the Peaches, which looked 

 like octogenarians which had been cut down and made new 

 again. They produce splendid crops of fruit, illustrating in a 

 convincing manner the force of Mr. Luckhurst's advice on this 

 mode of treatment on page 481. 



This instructive garden I now leave. Fortunate it is that it 

 is in the possession of an owner like Sir G. H. Beaumont, 

 whose taste in improving and care in sustaining it is every- 

 where evident, and who generously permits it to be enjoyed by 

 all who can appreciate the "beauties of nature and of art." 

 Fortunate also is it in having had for a period so lengthy and 

 so fruitful in good results the superintendence of Mr. Hender- 

 son, who, with his helpmeet, I thank for their three hours' 

 attention. To Mr. Henderson I must also apologise lest I 

 have seemed to praise (which I know would be distasteful) 

 when I have guardedly endeavoured only to state facts and 

 speak the truth soberly. 



Cole Orton is about two miles and a half from the railway 

 station of Aehby-de-la-Zouch, and there are few gardens which 

 will better repay a visit — in June when the Itoses are in 

 bloom, or in August when the fruit, flowers, and trees are in 

 perfection. — J. W. 



[A correspondent has sent ns the following notice of Cole 

 Orton churchyard : — " It was the early spring when I was 

 there, and the flowers in the churchyard were extremely pretty ; 

 tome on the graves, and others on the grass and by the sides 

 of the walks. At the entrance-gate there was a neat board 

 just inside the churchyard with the following words :— " It is 

 requested that no one will pluck the flowers in God's Acre." 

 This name is taken from Longfellow's poem, which begins — 



' I li]ie that ancient Saxon phrase which calls 

 The borial ground God's Acre.' 



And oonoludes— 



* This is the field and acre of oar God; 

 This is the place where human barresta grow.' 



Cole Orton is a churchyard worthy of imitation,"] 



VINE ROOTS IN SEWER. 

 In reply to "Muscat" regarding Vine roots finding their 

 way into a sewer, as mentioned in the Journal of the 9th inst., 

 page 505, I fail to see why it is so important he should know 

 where the circumstance occurred. I assure him the case was 

 as recorded, and from that circumstance alone I have drawn 

 certain deductions that I doubt not have contributed in no 

 small degree to the fair amount of suooesa I have attained in 



the cultivation, under varied circumstances, of the Vine. 

 There are reasons (known to the Editors) why I do not wish 

 to name the place, and trust " Muscat" will be satisfied with 

 my assurance of the veracity of the statement. — J. B. S. 



[" J. B. S." is right ; the garden no longer exists where the 

 Vine roots penetrated the sewer. The " fair amount of suc- 

 cess" alluded to by " J. B. S." means, we can testify, that he 

 grows some of the finest Grapes which have ever been produced 

 in Britain. — Ens.] 



OUR BORDER FLOWERS— THRIFT. 



The Armerias are plants of dwarf compact growth, suc- 

 ceeding in most places if they have full exposure to the 

 sun. Armeria vulgaris used to do us good service as an edging 

 plant for walks, but now Box, edging tiles, &c., have in a great 

 measure supplanted it, yet the pink and white varieties alter- 

 nately planted as an edging produce a charming effect. There 

 is little difference of appearance in the habits of the species ; 

 some are rather stronger growers than others, but the greatest 

 distinction is in the height of the plants and colour of the 

 flowers. 



Armeria maritima, the Sea Gillyflower, is found in salt 

 marshes by the sea ; either this or a variety closely allied to it 

 is sometimes met with in some of the inland and upland dis- 

 tricts. A. cephalotes is one of the brightest of the race and 

 very attractive, the colour approaching bright crimson ; it con- 

 tinues long in bloom, and is a capital plant to grow where cut 

 flowers are in request. It should be in all gardens. A. mon- 

 tana is a very desirable kind, well adapted for the rockery, but 

 seldom seen. A. alpina is very similar to A. vulgaris ; it is of 

 very dwarf compact habit, suitable alike for rock or border. 

 A. nana is one of the least of the family, but being a native 

 entitles it to a place on our rockery or borders. 



The Armerias grow well in a good tenacious loam mixed with 

 decayed vegetable matter and sand. The plants may be in- 

 creased by division in spring or autumn, and they are the 

 better for being removed occasionally. Sometimes in wet 

 situations the plants damp-off ; this ought to be guarded against 

 by good drainage. — Vehitas. 



HIVE BEES AS PREDATORY INSECTS. 



Noticeable amongst the incidents of the past autumn is 

 the fact that both in the weekly and the daily press there have 

 appeared denunciations of our esteemed friend the honey bee, 

 who has been pourtrayed by the imaginative pens of some 

 correspondents in such gloomy colours that it is quite needful 

 to consider what may be said or done to alter the aspect of the 

 affair. The bee-keepers will have their own way in the busi- 

 ness, and I do not intend to speak of it from their standpoint ; 

 but as a general observer of insects, especially those which are 

 beneficial or injarious to the garden or orchard, I must assert 

 my belief that the mischief bees have done in the latter 

 during 1875 has been exaggerated, or at least misapprehended. 

 Peaches, Apricots, Plums, and Pears seem to have been much 

 visited by bees, it is true, more in some districts than in 

 others, as we should expect ; and a pretty common conclusion 

 by gardeners and others has been that these incursions have to 

 do with the scarcity of wild flowers, driving the bees to what- 

 ever resources might be at hand. Many a paterfamilias, 

 perhaps, taking his morning walk in his own domain, has seen 

 the bees in full play about the fruit, and his gardener has had 

 his tale to tell of the destruction of the fruit by these insects ; 

 and by-and-by at the breakfast-table a chorus of uncompli- 

 mentary epithets rises which are only partly deserved by these 

 diUgent honey-collectors. I do not deny that bees will attack 

 frait that is perfectly sound, yet I also maintain that it is 

 much more frequently the case that the fruit they pull to 

 pieces has previously been preyed upon by some smaller and 

 unobserved insect, or has suffered from a fungoid or other 

 vegetable malady. These causes of decay are missed, and the 

 bee, the " last on the scene," receives all the blame. 



At the commencement of last summer we had unfavourable 

 weather, and honey may have been scarce in many districts ; 

 but it was not then that the proceedings of the bees were com- 

 plained of, since the fruit could not have been forward enough 

 to invite their attacks. Sunny weather afterwards produced 

 an abundance of flowers, and I hardly think this explanation 

 will account for any peculiar eagerness bees have shown in 

 resorting to fruit trees. Another view suggested by some, and 

 in which the acute editor of the "Entomologist" sees some- 



