Notes and Glcaiiings. 37^ 



above ground before cutting, which we think is to be recommended, particularly 

 when the growth is rapid. A much greater quantity is thus obtained, and we 

 think the full flavor of the asparagus is better developed. 



''Asparagus may be preserved several days after cutting, if the ends of the 

 bunches are set in a shallow vessel of water, and placed in a dark, cool cellar 

 to prevent the buds expanding." 



Messrs. Veitch's Fruit-Tree Nursery. — Fruit-tree nurseries are almost 

 proverbial for their roughness and untidiness. Mud and weeds from them are 

 almost inseparable ; -yet here is one tidy almost to a fault, every thing is so neat 

 and orderly. The roadways and pathways are all gravelled, and neatly edged 

 with box and other edgings ; the trees all so beautifully and so regularly planted, 

 each in compartments by themselves, or nearly so ; the ground so neatly dug, 

 and scarcely a weed to be seen, — that, altogether, it is quite a pleasure to visit 

 this fine nursery. 



It is not, however, for its neatness alone that I have admired this nursery: 

 that, although much to be recommended, is only as the setting to the jewel ; but, 

 if it does not enhance its intrinsic value, it makes it appear perhaps more valua- 

 ble than it really is. Nothing, however, is required to set off the valuable and 

 excellent collections of fruit and other trees here ; they answer for themselves, 

 at least to those who may go to see them, or who may become purchasers. For 

 those who have not the same opportunities I write. 



The stock, mostly young, of peach, apricot, apple, pear, plum, and cherry 

 trees, is in very fine condition. Whole quarters are devoted to one particular 

 sort and one form of training. All of the trees are annually removed ; so that 

 the roots are ever short and fibrous, and the plants, when sent to their final des- 

 tination, are but little checked : they may be said to get used to removal. Under 

 this annual-removal system, the shoots, it may be, are not of so great a size as 

 those produced from plants that have not been removed ; but they are fifty per 

 cent better. There is a practice in some nurseries in training young trees, 

 severely to be condemned, although it may have the merit of forming handsome- 

 looking trees quickly ; that is, the cutting-down strong maiden plants, and train- 

 ing them without transplanting : such trees are little better than rubbish ; they 

 never succeed well when finally planted out. In peach and apricot trees, this is 

 especially the case. In selecting young trees of these it is not strength or vigor 

 that should be looked for, but cleanness, firmness of wood, uniformity, and the 

 proper situation of the buds for the future formation of the tree. A quarter of 

 one-year-trained peacii and nectarine trees of Messrs. Veitch's, probably two 

 thousand plants, is decidedly the finest I have seen for some time. All the trees 

 were transplanted in the autumn: they are so nice and sturdy, so strong, yet 

 not gross, and so beautifully budded, that, to use a common expression, one could 

 do any thing with them. 



The apple, pear, and plum quarters are equally excellent, and the trees on all 

 sorts of stocks, in all forms, shapes, and sizes. Around the edges of the walks, 

 as a bordering for the other trees, are great numbers of the at-present-fashionable 

 cordons, equally as good home-grown as any I have seen on the Continent. Those 



VOL. V. 48 



