182 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 5, 1878. 
Wood, Marquise de Castellane, and Souvenir de Dr. Jamin 
showed many good blooms. 
Now I must try and say a few words about the fruit trees. 
I was perfectly astounded with what I saw. House after house 
full of Peaches and Nectarines and Apricots, and above your 
head Grapes of all kinds. It was a case of Peaches to the 
right of you, Peaches to the left of you, and Peaches above 
you. Wherever you looked you saw this delicious fruit. 
Peaches trained to wires and growing like Grapes ; Peaches in 
toy pots bearing twenty or thirty apiece ; standard Peaches 
planted out and weeping over your heads. I always heard 
that Mr. Rivers was the father of Roses in this country ; but, 
bearing in mind what he had done for fruit, I think he might 
adopt anew motto to his coat of arms—‘ Fons et origo Mali.” 
; I saw one house 375 feet long filled with upwards of twenty 
varieties of Grapes, the grandest and most prolific of which 
was Madresfield Court. I was shown a corner of the nursery 
where there were nearly seven hundred seedling Plums, every 
one different. I saw Apples, Pears, and Plums trained as 
cordons in the simplest and yet most cunning manner. One 
device was a most ingenious one. It was a double cordon: 
the Pears were trained obliquely on one side, and on the 
other side in the opposite direction, thus taking a double 
advantage of the sun and winds at the same time. 
Every now and then we came to a patch where the Pears 
had not done equally well. Mr. Rivers accounts for this in 
what to me is a most novel idea. He thinks that there are 
waves of frost as there are waves of the sea; that there are 
currents of cold air which go over the ground in waves, so 
that one place is frozen, another left cold. If it is not so, how 
do you account for Pears of the same variety, in the same soil, 
and treated in exactly the same manner, showing such different 
results? With regard to the old Rose Gloire de Dijon I omitted 
to say that Mr. Rivers told me he was the first to see this grand 
old Rose at Dijon before it was sent out. It was at the nursery 
of M. Jacotot that he found it. 
Iwas most kindly received and most hospitably entertained 
by Mr. Rivers; and I can best conclude these somewhat 
rambling notes and most inadequate description of his really 
splendid place by saying how much I enjoyed my visit and 
how grateful I am to him for the kindness which he showed 
to a—WYLD SAVAGE. 
THE POTATO CROP IN ESSEX. 
DuRING the present season I have grown about twenty 
varieties of Potatoes, and in recording my experience with 
them generally shall be well repaid if my remarks may help 
to induce others to give theirs. The Potato is undoubtedly 
the most popuiar vegetable grown, consequently any informa- 
tion, however slight, cannot fail to be interesting to the ma- 
jority of the readers of this journal. In taking charge of this 
garden I was informed that the Potatoes usually grown in it 
were unfit for use, being, in fact, when cooked little better than 
“lumps of soap:” the greater part of the supply had there- 
fore to be bought. I certainly found the soil in the garden 
the reverse of a good Potato soil. It was naturally a stiff 
clayey loam on a cold gravelly clay subsoil; it had not been 
double-dug for thirty years, and had been literally poisoned 
with manure, no corrective in the shape of hot lime haying 
been administered. Where such treatment is given (and this 
is not a solitary instance) it is no wonder that “soapy” Pota- 
toes are obtained. The remedy successfully applied was the 
often-described process of double-digging (not trenching ; that 
will not do here), which, however, to be explicit I will briefly 
describe. The top spit and shoyellings of the width of the 
trench are taken out and wheeled to the end of the length, the 
bottom spit is then broken up, a liberal quantity of manure 
added, and the next top spit and shovyellings are turned com- 
pletely on to this, &c. No manure was added to the top spit, 
the only thing needful being to well fork it over to incorporate 
the “shoyellings,” which are in fact almost virgin soil, with 
the rich soil underneath. Shallow planting was resorted to, 
placing the rows a good distance apart, according to the habit 
of varieties, and moulding-up pretty heavily. Last year but 
few complaints were made, this year none, instead of which 
the quality of the tubers has been highly commended. 
My object in growing so many varieties is for the twofold 
purpose of being able to select the most suitable varieties for 
growing here and on similar soils, and also for exhibition 
purposes. ; 
The best variety for forcing I found to be Veitch’s Improved 
Ashleaf, and in cold frames for succession Mona’s Pride. 
Porter’s Excelsior and the American variety Alpha are both 
well adapted for forcing, but the quality is inferior to the 
foregoing kidneys. On the early borders Mona’s Pride proved 
the best, being the hardiest, most productive, and of good 
habit and quality. Veitch’s Ashleaf is slightly superior to it 
in quality, but on the whole is scarcely its equal. The Harly 
Hammersmith is another excellent variety, and will become 
very popular. The habit is good, and the tubers yery shape- 
able and of good quality. Rivers’s Ashleaf does not do well 
here, although near here on a lighter soil it is remarkably pro- 
lific and good. 
For a second early Snowflake is a great favourite, and is un- 
doubtedly one of the handsomest and best varieties grown. A 
variety known as Badsaye’s Kidney will be largely grown 
another season, being good in every respect. In all probability 
it is grown under another name. I had my stock from Shrop- 
shire. Waterloo Kidney produced a good crop of clean shape- 
able tubers, but the quality is inferior. Harly Rose crops 
heavily, and the tubers are of good shape; the quality, how- 
ever, renders it unfit for the table. This and other American 
varieties should be grown in moderate quantities only, as 
should a wet season ensue they are comparatively useless ; on 
the other band, should it prove a dry season they are almost 
invaluable, cropping heavily, and the tubers of the best shape 
and quality. These remarks are particularly applicable to the 
American variety Breadfruit. It was equal to the Snowflake 
for appearance and quality, and more prolific last season, and 
is quite as good this season. Sutton’s King of the Potatoes is 
a good variety, the haulm is short, and the tubers are produced 
freely, of good quality andshape. A peculiarity of this variety 
is that it produces both kidneys and rounds on the same growth. 
Lady Paget and Lapstone are very similar, and are yet dis- 
similar. The former yariety proved the best last season under 
the same treatment, and the latter this season. Both are heavy 
croppers, and for either quality or shape are unsurpassed. 
Prince Arthur is a good variety, and ought to be in every col- 
lection however limited. It is one of the heaviest croppers 
tried hefe, and the tubers are very clean, shapeable, and of the 
best quality. Magnum Bonum is, as far as quality is con- 
cerned, the best late kidney, but unfortunately it is of much 
too robust a habit, the crop being scarcely proportionate. It 
crops well in poor and rather dry positions (under Apple 
trees, kc.), which is a good recommendation. The foregoing 
are all kidney-shaped, given in order of succession. The fol- 
lowing are rounds, similarly arranged :— 
Fox’s Seedling proved the best early, and is undoubtedly a 
good old variety, quite worthy of resuscitation. Alpha, an 
American variety, is decidedly the earliest round tried here, 
but, like Porter’s Excelsior, is scarcely at home on our soil ; 
neither variety, however, will be quite discarded. Rector of 
Woodstock is rather small, but is in every other respect an 
excellent variety. It makes but little haulm, at the same time 
the rows ought at least to be 2 feet apart and well moulded up, 
the roots being very much inclined to ramble. Model is a 
really good variety, and is rightly named. A good companion 
is a variety known as the Scilly Red or Carter’s Main Crop ; 
both are very productive, handsome, and the quality good. 
Schoolmaster is a decided acquisition to the late varieties ; it 
is good in every respect, and, what is a great desideratum, 
matures early, very late-zrowing varieties being comparatively 
worthless in this immediate neighbourhood. A good selected 
strain of the Victoria Regent does well, and the quality is un- 
surpassed. This season, unfortunately, it is very much diseased, 
The Red-skin Flourball is grown principally for baking, but it 
is rather too coarse for boiling. Large quantities of it are 
grown in the fields, and is by the growers considered an excel- 
lent variety—not exactly disease-proof, but less liable to it 
than many varieties. Most of the Potatoes now in the ground 
are badly diseased, but we took the precaution of lifting eaily 
and before the bad weather set in. The Victoria Regent 
matured late, and half the tubers have the disease ; the others 
are almost free of it. Lapstone, Model, Prince Arthur, Bread- 
fruit, and Magnum Bonum commenced growing afresh, or 
supertuberating. This is the case with most of the late crops 
in the fields, and will apparently be allowed to go on—a 
practice far from being commendable, as the growers will be 
benefited at the expense of the consumer. The crop will 
undoubtedly be heavier, but the quality will be sacrificed. 
As before stated late-maturing varieties are comparatively 
worthless here, simply because usually experiencing dry sum- 
mers, the crop from light soils being very poor, and on the © 
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