418 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Octobeb 13, 1888. 



flowered at Kew this year. When the flowers were 

 over the spike was cut off and placed in water, and 

 it now bears a young plant in one of the flower- 

 axils. W. Watson, Kew. 



LAVINGTON CONQUEROR POTATO. — I have 

 sent you one root of a new Potato now under trial 

 at Chiswick, Lavington Conqueror. I have grown 

 the Potato four years, and with me it has resisted 

 the disease better than any other, and I may say 

 I have grown all the best varieties in cultivation. 

 It has a very stiff, upright haulm, which is much in 

 favour of it as a garden Potato. The tuber requires 

 more time to cook than some others. Last year our 

 tubers cooked well from November, 1887, until 

 August, 1888, and were almost as good in colour in 

 August as in November. I have seen many accounts 

 in the Gardeners' Chronicle and other papers about 

 ■disease resisting varieties. I thought I should like 

 you to see a root as they come out of the soil. J. 

 Lye, Clyffe Hall, Market Lavington. [The tubers 

 sent with this letter were clean, fine white-skinned, 

 oval in shape, and of first quality when cooked. It 

 seemed to be a fair cropper, and the haulm was 

 short. Ed.] 



MEDICATED TOBACCO PAPER.— This is the 

 name given to any article sold for the purpose of 

 killing greenfly without doing any injury even to the 

 tenderest foliage of Ferns. Being often obliged to 

 remove tender plants and Ferns from one house to 

 another before using the ordinary tobacco-paper, I 

 got some of the medicated tobacco-paper, and am 

 a > well pleased with it that I would like to recom- 

 mend it to my fellow gardeners. The price is 

 Is. 6<2., per pound, but it is cheap at that figure. 

 B.C.T. 



TRANSPLANTING FRUIT TREES.— The time of 

 year has now arrived for rooting-out barren or worn- 

 out Apricot, Peach, Plum, Cherry and Pear trees, and 

 planting-in young healthy trees. The old trees 

 having been rooted out, attend to drainage, if neces- 

 sary. If the natural soil in the garden is not of 

 sufficiently good in quality, a compost, consisting of 

 four parts sound fibry loam and one of old lime- 

 rubble and wood-ashes, well mixed, should be put in- 

 to the holes in a moderately dry state, so that it may 

 not stick to the feet in treading on it. The newtrees 

 should be taken up from the nursery-ground with as 

 much soil as possible adhering to the roots, so that 

 only a slight check to growth may be experienced. 

 In planting, make allowance for the soil subsiding 5 or 

 ■6 inches, within as many weeks from the time of 

 planting. Having placed the tree in position, spread 

 the roots out in every direction from the wall, with a 

 little inclination downwards, shortening back at 

 the same time any straggling roots, and 

 cutting away any portions that may have been injured 

 in the process of lifting. Make a series of incisions 

 along the principal roots with a view to encouraging 

 the emission of young feeders, covering them with a 

 depth of about 6 inches of the compost before named, 

 working it well among the roots before treading it 

 .gently over. This done lay on 3 or 4 inches of rotten 

 manure as a mulching, which will maintain the roots 

 in a more equable condition than could otherwise 

 be secured. Fasten the trees temporarily to the 

 wall with nails and long shreds, to allow of their 

 sinking with the soil. Then, in the absence of rain, 

 give the trees a good watering to settle the soil about 

 the roots. The sooner the trees are transplanted 

 after the crops have been taken in the autumn the 

 better will be their chances of becoming re-estab- 

 lished before shedding their leaves. It will be advis- 

 able, if the work be done in bright sunshiny weather, 

 to hang a piece of tiffany or mats over the freshly 

 planted trees during the heat of the day, and to 

 damp them overhead with the syringe in the after- 

 noon for a few days, so as to retain the leaves on the 

 trees as long as possible. H. W. Ward, Longford 

 Castle. 



TREES DYING OFF IN THE GARDEN.— You ask 



us to send particulars of trees dying this year. An 

 Apple tree in my orchard, about" ten years old, has 

 withered, as far as leaves and fruit are concerned. 

 It is covered with fruit as big as a hen's egg, and, 

 for no reason that I can make out, all have withered, 

 but there seems to be some vitality in the wood', 

 though I fear it will not recover. It is just possible 

 that it has got down to an unsatisfactory subsoil. 

 Here we are on the rock, and there is a nasty cold 

 shale on the rock. Now that we are on this subject, 

 I may tell you that I do not think Apples would ever 

 pay in Cornwall, the trees are so covered with lichen, 



and only a few sorts seem to do anything like well. 

 An Apple called Polly, because raised in Polmassick, 

 a hamlet in this locality, seems to do better than any, 

 and it is a good Apple for either cooking or dessert. 

 Can you tell me anything about the Vicar? or what 

 would be the best sort to grow on a soil like mine ? 

 JV. Nevill. 



OUR MARKETS. — I beg to call attention to 

 a growing evil amongst some of the commission 

 agents in the Covent Garden market. Every week 

 advertisements are inserted in the several gardening 

 journals for cut flowers in any quantity,'and, upon the 

 flowers being sent, a reply comes in due course that 

 the market is glutted, that there has been no sale — 

 only realised enough to cover expenses, &c. ! Now 

 if this has been the case all through, why is the ad- 

 vertisement continued ? — as, of course, it misleads 

 people, and many people having small quantities 

 only, and wishing to realise, forward the same, only 

 to find that they have been altogether misled. I 

 have taken the trouble to try more than one sales- 

 man. In the last case I forwarded, carriage paid and 

 boxes my own, to a large firm : — 1 box containing 24 

 dozen Asters, twelve in bunch, good blooms, well 

 packed ; 1 box of 5 dozen white Cactus Dahlias ; 1 

 box, 4 dozen Dahlias, various. In return, I received 

 a note saying, " Sorry, trade bad ; market at present 

 overstocked ; season bad ! " and a host of other 

 troubles, upon which I reversed the paper and wrote 

 asking for the result of sale, as the Asters were 

 mentioned but no Dahlias. Upon which I get a reply, 

 a copy of which I enclose. Another case : — I sent 18 

 dozen Carnations, fair Sweet Peas, 1 dozen Roses, 5 

 dozen Dahlias, 3 dozen Harpalium, 2 dozen — all in 

 separate boxes. Reply, — " Not sold : no demand ; 

 market glutted." This firm still advertises 

 " Wanted any quantity," &c. F. W. B. [Our corre- 

 spondent should enquire of his salesman, before.'send- 

 ing, whether the goods are likely to be saleable. Ed.] 



THE LATE FROST. — On the 2nd inst. we 

 experienced the most destructive early frost that has 

 occurred for many years. The thermometer here 

 recorded 9° ; it was no mere sudden fall of the tem- 

 perature which sometimes happens, but was, in a 

 gardener's phrase, a thorough frost, lasting all through 

 the night. As might naturally be expected, and 

 particularly so, considering the soft state of vegeta- 

 tion this season, the effects were most disastrous. 

 Not only were all tender subjects cut off, but many 

 that are hardier suffered likewise. I do not recollect 

 any occasion when Peaches and Nectarines have 

 been injured at such an early date. Late Admirable 

 and Desse Tardive suffered considerably here, and 

 among late varieties of Nectarines, Albert Victor 

 fared the worst, some of the fruits near the summit 

 of the wall being frozen through, and are now quite 

 black. Coe's Golden Drop Plum was somewhat 

 damaged. Vegetables, which were very bountiful, 

 are now greatly diminished by the loss of Peas, 

 Beans, Globe Artichokes, and a part of the crop of 

 Veitch s Autumn Giant Cauliflowers, &c. We have 

 also to rue the loss of so many beautiful autumn 

 flowers, which are cut down entirely, as Asters, 

 Dahlias, Japanese Anemones, Zinnias, &c, which 

 are usually enjoyed for a much longer period. 

 Geo. T. Miles, Wycombe Abbey. 



PHLOX DRUMMONDI. — This has made one of the 

 most useful of bedding plants during the wet and 

 cool summer. Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, and the 

 ordinary flowering plants that are employed to fill 

 the flower-beds made but a poor display until the 

 fine sunny weather of August set in ; but the Phlox 

 Drummondi, despite the rain, seemed to be as 

 floriferous as ever, and in looking over collections, 

 one is pleased to see that a new variety occasionally 

 puts in appearance. The new varieties are much 

 superior to the old, and are well worth growing for 

 beds and in borders. B. B. 



RUNNER AND KIDNEY BEANS. — In your report 

 of the condition of the seed crops in Holland, men- 

 tion is made of the lateness of kidney and runner 

 Beans, and that the seed crop must be a moderate 

 one. Things are perhaps rather worse in this 

 country, and have been made so by the recent frosts, 

 which, following in rapid succession, completely 

 settled runner and dwarf Beans alike, so that their 

 usual season of productiveness has been shortened 

 at the back end fully three weeks, whilst the first 

 portion of the season was fully a fortnight later; 

 thus, the pod-production season, whether for seed or 

 for market, has been perhaps one of the shortest on 

 record. On both runners and late dwarfs, where the 



pods were left to ripen from the first, the proportion 

 fairly matured when seized by frost was about 

 one-third. In the case of first early dwarfs, such 

 as Ne Plus Ultra, for instance, the growth being less 

 robust, the pods are nearly all ripe. Runners, how- 

 ever, are likely to be the worst seed producers, as 

 being so much more fleshy or succulent ; the frost 

 may, in addition to having checked plant growth, 

 also have destroyed the germinative powers of the 

 least ripened seed. It has been no uncommon 

 practice to have to artificially ripen very late 

 ripened seed, but in the present case the very 

 early and severe frosts may have rendered that 

 labour useless. To market growers the loss on 

 the sudden destruction of a crop which was still 

 selling very well is indeed considerable, but may be 

 recouped by compelling an earlier and larger demand 

 for Cabbages, Coleworts, and Brussels Sprouts, all 

 of which are very abundant and early, whilst Autumn 

 Giant Cauliflowers, too, are exceptionally good and 

 plentiful. Spinach also is exceedingly abundant and 

 good, and, so far, not injured by the frosts. I need 

 hardly say that with the destruction of the Beans 

 the Vegetable Marrows also followed suit, their case 

 being perhaps the worst of all. A. B. 



NEW VEGETABLES. — I think "A. D." has jumped 

 very quickly to the conclusion that I was unable to 

 distinguish any differences between the dishes of 

 Long Red Surrey and New Intermediate Carrots 

 shown at Shrewsbury. If " A. D." had seen 

 the specimens referred to, I think even he would 

 hardly have classed them as intermediate. I did 

 not measure them, but the diameter at crown 

 would be about 2J- inches, and the length of root 

 15 to 18 inches, gradually tapering the whole 

 length. His statement that I could only have seen 

 the New Intermediate Carrot there for the first time 

 is on a par with some of his other statements. I 

 may tell him that I have grown that variety as sent 

 out by at least two of our leading seedsmen, and I 

 assert that, as an Intermediate Carrot — as I under- 

 stand the word— it is no improvement on James' 

 Scarlet, but the reverse. The latter variety, as 

 every gardener knows, is valuable on shallow or cold 

 soils, where it would be impossible to grow long Car- 

 rots satisfactorly. By persistently selecting the 

 longest and most tapering roots of James' Inter- 

 mediate, the seed growers and nurserymen have 

 made a great advance in the New Intermediate, as 

 "A. D." says, but at the same time they are fast 

 defeating the very object the raiser of the old In- 

 termediate must have had in view in introducing it, 

 namely, a short root for shallow soils. As to 

 " A. D.'s " assumption, that " most gardeners admit " 

 the great advance made during the last twenty years 

 in most kind of vegetables, some of which is really 

 illusive where he says: — " But there are several good 

 things, and every gardener will admit the great 

 advance in Cauliflowers made with the intro- 

 duction of Veitch's Autumn Giant." I was under 

 the impression, from] reports of the wholesale 

 houses, given from time to time in these 

 pages, that the bulk of their trade was done in 

 old standard varieties of vegetables, but from 

 ' A. D.'s ' point of view I am again totally wrong, 

 as he seems to think any check to the introduction 

 of new varieties would be stagnation and ruin. As 

 regards the Cabbages — our first point of difference — 

 I would like to know if Little Gem has been tried at 

 Chiswick, and if so, is it there reported as a distinct 

 variety ? John Wilkes. Creswell Hall Gardens, Stafford 



APPLE CULTURE. — Of late it seems to have be- 

 come fashionable in some quarters to comment on 

 the large sums of money we pay annually for foreign 

 produce, chiefly for that of American and Canadian 

 growth, and it is thought that that money might just 

 as well be retained in our own country, consequently 

 a greatly extended cultivation of Apples is being 

 strongly advocated. Amongst other things it is 

 stated that our orchards are a " positive disgrace," 

 that bad varieties should be replaced by better, that 

 the best fruits of home growth are equal to those 

 from America, &c. Well, my own opinion is that 

 those who preach and advocate the above doctrine, 

 have discovered a mare's nest which, if acted upon, 

 will prove to be a white elephant, that in years hence 

 it will be found to be a question of bad advice and so 

 much capital lost. I freely admit that in good sea- 

 sons the best fruits grown in Kent, Hampshire, and 

 one or two other counties will compare favourably 

 with those from America and Canada, but to general- 

 ise from that fact, and advocate the planting of 

 Apple trees in all directions with a view to curtailing 

 or obviating the necessity for this foreign supply, 



