Jane 27, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



487 



in my own garden I have planted upwards of three handred 

 bulbs, and that I have not in a bed of 250 roots more than 

 three misses, and the roots are to a great extent my own 

 saving. Mr. Lombard's collection comprises the best of 

 English and French varieties, and some good seedlings of 

 his own. Of the new ones of this year he has four or five 

 roots of each; and as he is a friend of Mr. Standish's he has 

 also some of his finest and choicest varieties. He quite 

 agrees with the notion which I have maintained about the 

 Gladiolus — that no bulb takes stronger feeding than it does. 

 He not only thoroughly manures his beds, but also gives 

 them a good deal of liquid manure. Livintj as he does close 

 to the Dodder, he obtains some of the di-ift sand which the 

 floods wash down and leave just in front of his garden, and 

 mixes this with the soil ; but I am persuaded that if the 

 soil be light and rich this is not necessary. As in every 

 other flower, we can lay down no positive rules for every 

 garden, but every cultivator must decide upon his own re- 

 quirements. Let me advise every one, however, who is 

 growing them this year to give them a liberal supply of 

 ■water. I should bo myself chaiy of liquid manure this very 

 tot weather, but should give copious wateriags every day 

 when the plants are showieg for bloom. Mr. Lombard pro- 

 vides against their being blown about by placing states at 

 intervals iu the beds, and then twisting list (the edgings of 

 cloth and flannel), in and out amongst the plants, so as to 

 enclose each stem in a loop. This is done at three separate 

 heights, and so prevents them from being blown about, and 

 the stalk from being broken. Shading he never resorts to, 

 and indeed few flowers need it less than the Gladiolus, as it 

 stands the weather very well, and shading to a great extent 

 takes the colour away. As to varieties, he spoke favourably 

 of the following seedlings of Mr. Standish: — Samuel "Way- 

 month, Sir Walter Scott, Cai'minata, Eleanor Norman, The 

 Colonel, Mrs. E. Nott, Basil, Lucy Neal, and Ensign. And 

 of Souchet's, amongst older flowers Achille, Napoleon III., 

 Ophir, Princess Clothilde, Linne. Pline, Comte de Morny, 

 were pronounced good ; while John Waterer, Princess of 

 Wales, Flora, and Imperatrice Eugenie were considered 

 amongst the best of the newer varieties. With regard to 

 what are called '•' winged "' flowers, when the oppositiflorus 

 blood is more strongly present, he said a good deal may be 

 done to bring them more to a face by pressing the flowers 

 together when they are just showing bloom ; but at the 

 same time he agreed with me that the time must come when 

 winged flowers must be dispensed with. 



The fruit trees in Mr. Lombard's garden were in fine order. 

 Cos's Orange Pippin was largely planted, and considered 

 by him to be the best Apple grown. That fine Apple, the 

 Irish Peach, was also considered well deserving of cultiva- 

 tion. It is indeed a most delicious Apple, little known in 

 England, but when eaten from the tree nothing can be 

 finer. One Beurre Diel in a corner of the garden was a 

 match for Mr. E.idclyffe's Peach trees. It had borne last 

 year as many as -iOO ti-uit, and after keeping 150 for his own 

 use, the residue had been sold for ^3 10s., and this year the 

 crop is again full. Mr. Lombard has also some nice Conifers ; 

 and in an old greenhouse, which is now to give way to a 

 larger one, there were some fine pans of seedling Gladioli, 

 saved from the best flowers carefully impregnated, from 

 which he e.'cpeets great things. 



Altogether I enjoyed, as only a florist can enjoy, the sight 

 of many things that showed Mr. Lombard to be an e.xoellent 

 and enthusiastic grower ; and he is, moreover, a genial and 

 hospitable amateur. On some points we were wide as the 

 poles asunder ; but this did not prevent our having a plea- 

 sant and agreeable chat, and of, I believe and hope, mutually 

 «njoying one another's society. — D., Deal. 



Great Continental Eose Show. — On the 9th of July, 

 there will be held at Brie Comte Kobert (Seine et Mame), a 

 Eose Show on a scale far sui'passing anything we are ac- 

 customed to see in this country. Brie Comte Eobert is the 

 great centre of Hose rearing and Eose culture iu France, 

 and English nurserymen and amateurs may not be aware, 

 that fi'om this district the Paris nurserymen draw their sup- 

 plies. When we state that the growers have an extent of 

 somewhere about a million and a half of Eoses to cut from, 

 we may form some conception of the extent of the exhibition. 



MY PLANTS, 



AND HOW AND WHERE I FOU.ND THEM.— No. 5. 



I ASSURE you I felt " everlastin' sorry" I ever quitted 

 our pretty home in the old country village, with its kindly 

 faces always ready to give us a greeting, for the uncertain 

 welcome we might receive amongst strangers. However, 

 " it's a long lane which has no turning," and ditto a voyage 

 which has no end. Morning dawned at last, certainly cold 

 and grey the dull light stole over us, but still sad, indeed, 

 must be the heart to which hope comes not with returning 

 light. There was less straining and creaking of the good 

 ship's planks, less booming of the angry waves, and a feel- 

 ing of security began to circulate amongst us. Totally re- 

 gardless of my companions or children, and thoroughly 

 exhausted in mind and body, I fell into a busy and un- 

 refreshing slumber, from which I was soon awakened by the 

 joyful news that we were within sight of the town of St. 

 Helier's. In consequence of the severity of the weather, the 

 steamer was unable to enter the harbour, and we were 

 landed at the pier in boats, amidst the congratulations and 

 cheers of the crowd which had collected to welcome the 

 overdue mail. 



Solacing ourselves, after the English fashion, with a good 

 dinner at the hotel, my husband left me to rest awhile, 

 whilst he perambulated the town and neighbouring fort. I 

 must not, I suppose, iu a publication devoted to botany, give 

 any further details with regard to the religion, manners, or 

 customs of the islanders, or of their civil and military history, 

 all very interesting topics to lovers of history, and of the 

 past. I may, however, be allowed to speak cursorily of the 

 soil, fertility, and natural productions of the country. The 

 former is g-enerally composed of a light, sandy, yet highly 

 productive earth. Scarcely a specimen of limestone or chalk 

 has been found in the island. This makes good the rule, 

 that " nothing of a calcareous nature has ever been dis- 

 covered there." In fact, the whole island is a mass of stone, 

 the higher parts of which are but thinly covered with sand, 

 and the debris of rock, which are driven over the tops of the 

 highest cliffs by the strong gales from the sea. The valleys 

 have many feet of vegetative earth, and are extremely 

 fertile, and we were much strtick in the early part of the 

 summer by the pretty streamlets which trickled down from 

 between the fissm-es in the rocks, and gladdened the flowers 

 and Perns beneath them ; during the hotter months these 

 fertile sources failed. The chief anxiety of the farmer in the 

 spring seemed to be the cultivation and securing in its per- 

 fection the early Potatoes, for the supply of the London 

 markets. The sides, or coteaux, as they are called, of the 

 hills present quite a gay and holiday appearance during 

 the Potato harvest, if I may so term it, for something after 

 the fashion of the American " bees," do these island families 

 help each other in a press of work — unlike our American 

 neighbours, however, in one point, which is, that whilst 

 "brother Jonathan" works first and plays afterwards, the 

 Jerseyman will have his bottle of spirit at hand, and often 

 so frequent are the visits to this all-powerful medium, that 

 his own spirits are raised to the most hilarious pitch, and 

 frequently the finale is a fight between these well-meaning 

 friends, and as a natural sequence, a finale also to the day's 

 work, perhaps quite early in the afternoon. These coteaia; 

 also yield " timber. Broom, Gorse, Fern, and where neither 

 too steep nor too rocky, tolerable pasture." 



Very little corn is grown in Jersey, as it can be brought 

 from the foreign markets cheaper than the inhabitants could 

 grow it themselves. The soil wUl, however, produce all the 

 farinaceous kinds of grain. Many hogsheads of cider are 

 annually manufactured in the island, and at the end of the 

 spring, when the orchards are a mass of blossom, a drive 

 through the numerous roads and lanes which intersect each 

 other in all directions, is a treat which all lovers of the pic- 

 turesque might envy. I remember during our residence 

 with a French family in the parish of Trinity, we often had 

 a delicacy placed upon our tea-table by Madame our hostess, 

 called " black butter," it was a kind of black preserve, of 

 pecuUar flavour. I was informed by the loquacious donor 

 that it was a concoction made of Normandy Pippins, butter, 

 and I suppose sugar. I propose at some not far distant 

 time to obtain the receipt for this same dubious-looking, 

 yet pleasant mess. AThilst speaking of the tea-table and 



