December 8, 188S\] 



THE GA It DENE It & C Hit ON I CLE. 



675 



is bridged over, and we have either the one or the 

 other to cut. However, I like to save some plants 

 through the winter, and not having a large stock 

 of handlights to spare in which to plant, I gene- 

 rally have a few hundred potted, as one can never 

 make sure of them standing when pricked out under 

 walls, or in frames, and if they do, they do not trans- 

 plant half so well when turned out in the spring 

 — and the potting takes up but a very short 

 time. 



The way we manage is to use 60-sized pots, in 

 which we drop a good pinch of half-rotten leaves 

 over the hole, and then finish the potting with light 

 rich soil, after which they are plunged or stood in a 

 cold frame near the glass, and there get plenty 

 of air, by tilting the lights at the back, both day 

 and night, unless the weather is very severe. By 

 treating them thus, the plants are kept sturdy and 

 strong, and from having no coddling, or check in 

 turning them out, there is not that tendency to " bolt " 

 which is so usual with others pricked out. As to 

 Celery, I never like earthing it up till it has com- 

 pleted its growth, for the double reason that it 

 cannot well be watered afterwards, and the soiling, 

 therefore, checks growth ; but what we do — and 

 it is of great advantage and benefit to the plants 

 when the earthing comes on — is to tie them round 

 with a piece of Raffia, or strong matting, which keeps 

 the leaf-stalks upright and close together, and the 

 soiling can after that, go on at a rapid rate, as all 

 that the man, carrying out the work, has to do, is to 

 chop down and push forward the earth with the 

 spade. This season has quite shown the advantage 

 of this system, as during October we had little or no 

 rainfall, and Celery stood in need of water as much, 

 or perhaps more, than at any period since it was 

 planted out, and the growth of late has been rapid. 

 The earthing-up with us is now nearly completed, 

 and as we grow nearly all the Incomparable or Sand- 

 ringham Dwarf White, there is not much top for the 

 frost to act on, and what there is will by-aml-by be 

 covered with Bracken, or long straw. Endive soon 

 suffers from frost, and is much more tender than 

 Lettuce ; but any one having dry sheds, either light 

 or dark, may safely winter a good deal of this salad, 

 or a lot may be laid in, and stored in spare pits or 

 frames. Parsnips are best either left in the ground 

 where they are, or dug and laid closely in rows. J. S. 



Veitch's Little Gem Lettice. 

 The seed of this Lettuce was obtained last Janu- 

 ary, and were sown soon afterwards, and by June 21 

 we had White Heart Lettuce very compact and firm. 

 The same variety was grown all through the sum- 

 mer, and we have plenty of splendid stuff now. 

 As there are so many different varieties of Lettuces, 

 care should be taken to get this one true to name. 

 R. C. T. 



Home Correspondence 



jgT™ Correspondents will greatly oblige by sending early 

 intelligence of local events likely to be of interest to 

 our readers, or of any matters which it is desirable to 

 bring under the notice of horticulturists. 



Photographs or drawings of gardens, or of remarkablt 

 plants, trees, cf"c, are also solicited. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



iESCULUS TURBINATA. 

 As I do not take in the Revue Horticole (see Gar- 

 deners Chronicle, Nov. 24, 1888, p. 608), nor know 

 where to look for it, may I ask you : — 



1. Is it the Sapindaceoe given in Phanzo Zoii Fon 

 t Kew Library), fasc. 62, fig. 17, or something 

 akin to .Esculus indica, Rot. Mag., 85, fig. 5117, 

 which is very much like the Horse Chestnut I saw 

 in blossom in Japan (probably the JE, sinensis, which 

 has not yet flowered with me! ? 



2. Does the Revue Horticole say where it can be 

 got at for love or money ? J. Van Voire, n, 



[Mr. N. E. Brown, Kew, to whom we forwarded the 

 above note, in his reply, says : — " It was some time 

 before I could find out which of the Japanese books 

 was meant, as we do not understand Japanese, and 

 our books are not labelled in English ; but having 

 now compared the figures indicated, I see no reason 

 why they may not represent the same species. The 

 Revue Horticole only states that the plant figured 

 came from the Segrez Arboretum." Ed.] 



PEARS. — I should like to add my word of com- 

 mendation to those of Mr. Bust, of Eridge, on 

 p. 608, as to the good properties of Pitmaston 

 Duchess. I crown-grafted it on to a rather wild- 

 growing twenty or thirty year old Marechal de la 

 Cour bush three years ago, and this season I gathered 

 at least a peck — nearer a peck and a-half— of good 

 medium-sized fruit from it. To my surprise and 

 gratification, they ripened so slowly that I was able 

 to use every fruit. I expected that it would go 

 sleepy, but was agreeably convinced to the con- 

 trary. The fruit, for the season, was good, as no 

 fruit, inside or outside, has been up to even its 

 average quality in the year 1888. I am now 

 putting it by degrees on to a fifty to sixty year 

 old Crassane Pear tree, which, try as I will, I cannot 

 get to fruit. It is the largest Pear tree, surely, in exist- 

 ence. I shall be glad to get the Duchess all over it. 

 I am glad to hear the true history of this Pear, as 

 many growers believe it to be a sort of sport of 

 Duchesse d'Angouletne. Mr. Kust's note on its 

 origin sets the matter right. Whilst on the 

 subject of Pears, and the limitation of varie- 

 ties to grow, it appears to me, that the requirements 

 of the family for whom the gardener has to pro- 

 vide, as to quantity required, and the fertility of 

 Pears in the neighbourhood must settle very largely 

 the question of varieties a gardener grows. For 

 instance, our consumption here goes somewhat on 

 these lines. , We begin our season in August with 

 Doyenne d'Kt<5, and Green Chisels — both orchard 

 grown. By the time these are done, and they do not 

 keep very long as everybody knows, Jargonelles are 

 in ; then Clapp's Favourite, and Windsors, followed 

 by Williams' Bon Chretien, and Beurre d Amanlis. 

 After these come Louise Bonne de Jersey, Fondante 

 de Charneuses, a great favourite here, "then Marie 

 Louise, Pitmaston Duchess, Beurre Diel, Brown 

 Beurre, Autumn Nelis, Welbeck Bergamot. I say 

 nothing for Beurre de Capiaumont and Hessels : I 

 always market these kinds. Beurre d'Aremberg, 

 Doyenne Gris, Marechal de la Cour, Beurr^d'Anjou, 

 (eating now in prime condition). Winter Nelis, Easter 

 Beurre, Josephine de Malines, Bergamotted'Esperen, 

 with Ne Plus Meuris, and Beurre Sterckmanns ; these 

 fill up the Pear season well . In addition to these twenty- 

 five varieties we have added lately Beurre superfin, 

 Fondante d'Automne, Beurre Hardy, Emile de 

 Heyste, Doyenne du Cornice, D. Bouss'och, Souvenir 

 de Congres, Marie Louise d'L'ccle (thirty-three 

 varieties), in order that the house supply may not 

 in anywise be interrupted ; and to these we must put 

 the stewing Pears, Catillac, Verulam, Triomphe de 

 Jodoigne, Vicar of Winkfield (some seasons this is 

 fit for table — last year, for instance), and Beurre 

 Brettineau, thirty-eight varieties, which we count 

 upon year by year to keep our establishment supplied. 

 It may be urged that it would be wiser to grow 

 more of certain safe cropping varieties, but I do not 

 see that, for the very simple reason of the short 

 keeping qualities of Pears. To be " ripe at 12 o'clock 

 and rotten at 1 " is unfortunately too true of too 

 many varieties, and this season this habit has been 

 annoying in the last degree. Mr. Wildsmith, in his 

 paper at the recent Conference at Chiswick, gave a 

 best twelve varieties of Pears, but said, and very 

 wisely said, he should not like to be expected to 

 keep a table supplied with less than twenty-five 

 varieties. He gives his twenty-five, and a most 

 useful twenty-five they are. To sum up ; the question 

 of number o( varieties must depend on household 

 consumption and the fertility of Pears in each par- 

 ticular neighbourhood. Lists of varieties are useful 

 as showing which do well in the majority of 

 instances. I have mentioned none but what do well 

 with us here in Notts. N. H. P. 



I should not have ventured to express my 



views upon this very important subject were I not 

 well acquainted with the difficulty of keeping up a 

 regular supply of Pears throughout the Pear season ; 

 and as I have repeatedly proved that we cannot 

 place sufficient dependence in any one variety 

 cropping annually, I consider that twelve or fif- 

 teen sorts are not enough, and that twenty-four are 



none too many, and further, I think it would be very 

 unwise of any gardener who attempts to follow that 

 course. I am in possession of all the varieties enu- 

 merated by your correspondent, Mr. Sheppard, at p. 

 5o5 ; and although I fully agree that his list contains 

 the cream of varieties of Pears, I can assure him 

 that with us, and growing under precisely the same 

 circumstances, they all do not crop alike, and that 

 while one Pear bears satisfactorily one season, it not 

 unfrequently misses another. Taking, for instance, 

 this season, Marie Louise, Beurre d'Arembero-, 

 Louise Bonne of Jersey, and Pitmaston Duchess have 

 borne splendid crops of fruit ; while on the same wall 

 Glou Morceau, Doyenne du Cornice, Winter Nelis, 

 and several other good varieties have nearly failed to 

 crop ; consequently I have been obliged to use Pears 

 which, I may say, for the past two or three years I 

 could very well have managed without. Emile 

 d'Heyst was fit for use just after Marie Louise was 

 over, and has done us capital service, as also have 

 Huysh's Victoria. Beurre d'Aremberg we shall find 

 very useful in place of Glou Morceau. and they will 

 keep good till Passe Colmar and Josephine de Malines 

 are fit for use, which completes our list for this year. 

 Beurre Ranee with us is never fit for the table, bping 

 coarse, green and watery. The following is a list 

 of those which find the most favour here, and although 

 in some of them we find a deficiency in honey 

 sweetness, they do not disgrace the * dessert : — 

 Doyenne d'Et<5, very early, sweet and refreshing 

 when gathered from trees ; Clapp's Favourite"^ 

 Jargonelle, William Bon Chretien— I believe 

 we have two sorts of this, one being of much better 

 colour and flavour, and keeps longer; Madame 

 Treyve, a very heavy cropper on espaliers, and becomes 

 fit for use just after Williams' ; Triomphe de Vienne, 

 good on standards ; Jersey Grattioli, a remarkably 

 certain cropper on espaliers; Fondante d'Automne, 

 Louise Bonne of Jersey, Pitmaston Duchess, Duron- 

 deau, Marie Louise, Thompson's, Emile d'Heyst, 

 Beurre Superfin, Doyenne du Cornice, Huysh's Vic- 

 toria, Conseiller de la Cour, Winter Nelis, Glou 

 Morceau, Beurre de Jonghe, Beurre d'Arem- 

 berg, Passe Colmar, and Josephine de Malines. 

 H. Markham, Mereworth Castle. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.— In con- 

 nection with your leader of December 1, p. 636 it 

 miglit help those who are considering the system' of 

 floral certicates to state how they are now awarded 

 and why members are not asked to vote on plants 

 with which they are not familiar. When a beautiful 

 Orchid is exhibited, the award of a certificate often 

 depends on its being sufficiently distinct from others 

 already in cultivation, the judgment in this case 

 mainly rests with the Orchid experts on the com- 

 mittee, as the majority of the other members have 

 not sufficient knowledge of the subject, and, therefore, 

 in many cases do not vote, and, I think, wisely. Many 

 of the Orchid experts act similarly in the case of 

 rare alpines and other hardy plants. Some flowers 

 bring out many voters, Chrysanthemums, for in- 

 stance, but even here the opinion of the experts as to 

 novelty carries great weight. Alpines, perhaps, have 

 fewest voters, though with them I have never known 

 " a verdict of two or three out of twenty or thirty 

 then present.'' Friends have asked me if it was right 

 that a single Dahlia should get a Eirst-class Certifi- 

 cate, and that a grand new Orchid, such as Cattleya 

 exoniensis, should only get the same award ? I have 

 for years suggested that some special distinction 

 should be devised for plants of very exceptional 

 merit ; but this has to be done by the Council, not by 

 the committee. At present a First-class Certificate 

 means only that the plant is considered a novelty of 

 great merit, or a very great advance on plants of its 

 class. There is no comparison with plants of other 

 classes, any more than when the same words of 

 praise — What a remarkably fine flower— are given to 

 a Cattleya and a Primrose. Again, I have been told 

 that too many Certificates have been given at one 

 meeting to Dahlias, and, offhand, this may appear to 

 be correct : but, those on the spot see differently. 

 Once or twice in the season the principal growers 

 make a great effort, and send up the cream of their 

 seedlings, selected from a vast number. As Dahlias 

 are of many colours, red, white, crimson, purple, 

 variegated, &c, each colour stands on its own merits.' 

 It sometimes happens that great improvements in 

 colour or form have been made inmost of the colours: 

 in this case many certificates are necessarily 

 awarded. As I cannot fall in with many of the 

 suggestions which have been adopted in connection 

 with the Floral Committee, I have given up niv 

 seat after this year, but, though lieed from respon- 

 sibility, I need hardly say that I wish to see it as 



