21 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 13, 1876. 



season it has produced one and two bunches on every shoot. 

 The crop of it now is one of the finest sights about the place, 

 and the young wood is not far behind that of the Barbarossa. 

 None of the hundreds of bunches will ba much under 2 lbs., 

 and the most of them will run between this and 3 J lbs., and 

 the bunches and berries are as finely developed as any person 

 need wish to see. 



Pine-growing is all but given up. One of the Pine stoves 

 200 feet long is planted as a vinery. Muscats and the Duke 

 of Buccleuch are the principal sorts. Another Pine stove 

 200 feet long is filled with young Vines in pots. Fruiting 

 canes of the Duke and many other sorts were in fine condi- 

 tion here, as they were without exception in four or five other 

 large houses, which are entirely devoted to growing young 

 Vines. Excepting for early fruiting all the strongest Vines 

 are grown into fruiting rods in one season, and judging from 

 their size now they will be first-rate canes by the end of the 

 season. Preparations are being made for erecting another 

 vinery. It is to be a lean-to 250 feet long and 16 feet wide. 

 Lady Downe's will form the principal stock here. 



Plants are not largely grown ; the only class of note being 

 Orchids, and a more healthy or better grown collection is im- 

 possible to conceive. One splendid plant of Ljelia purpurata 

 had one fine spike of seven blooms of immense size and very 

 rich in colour. All the Orchids here are grown in a much 

 lower temperature than is generally the case, 40° at night 

 throughout the winter being about the average, and right well 

 the plants thrive with this. The finest plant of Anthurium 

 Scherzerianum I have ever seen is here. It fills a 10-inch pot. 

 The leaves are about 4 incheB across, and the scarlet spathes 

 are very large and bright in colour. 



This is not intended as a full report of all that may be seen 

 here of interest ; but there is another thing which I must not 

 forget to mention, and that is a new Viola which was raised 

 here two years ago, and named Sir Walter Scott. It is very 

 dwarf and compact in the habit of its growth. The flowers 

 are of the most intense purple, and from 2J to 3 inches in 

 diameter. They are produced in dense masses, which are very 

 effective. I had an opportunity of comparing it with others 

 where all the bast Violas are grown by the thousand, and every 

 one of them were very much inferior to it. — A Midland 

 Counties Readek. 



UNIQUE PEA. 



The desirability of a first dish of Peas is shown by the 

 eagerness of the grower and the zest of the consumer. There 

 is, of course, some difference of opinion as to the fitness of a 

 first dish of Peas for gathering ; also in having a heavy or 

 light soil in equal climatic conditions to deal with in the pro- 

 duction of early Peas. I remember well having a hard struggle 

 to gather a first dish from a heavy clay by the time that Peas 

 were had from the open fields in sandy soil, I having walls for 

 shelter, and could if needed protect the crop. At that time 

 there was no really good early dwarf Pea. The mo6t that 

 could be done was to sow on turves or in pots and plant out 

 after the Peas had made so much headway as not to be longer 

 continued in frames. Tom Thumb, and subsequently Little 

 Gem, marked a new era in Peas, admirably adapted as they 

 were from their dwarf growth and productiveness for warm 

 situations, as the fronts of south walls, where the taller kinds 

 could not be accommodated without injury to the fruit trees 

 against the wall, and for frame culture and forcing. It is not 

 now a matter of difficulty to command a dish of Peas at an 

 early and late season. They force as readily as Kidney Beans, 

 but require a lower temperature and more air. Where Potatoes 

 and Strawberries succeed Peas may be forced successfully. 



For forcing or for growing in cold frames (I find a span- 

 roofed frame best for Peas and Kidney Beans to como in a 

 month before those in the open ground), and for sowing 

 a foot from the south wall, I consider Unique to be the 

 best of the dwarf Peas. It is slightly more prolific than 

 Little Gem, the pods are mostly produced in pairs, eight to 

 ten on a stem, the pods slightly curved and pointed Bimilar to 

 Blue Scimitar, the peas, six to eight, being of a fine green 

 colour. It is moderately robust in habit, attaining to a height 

 of 18 inches. I sowed Unique this year on January 29th i foot 

 from a wall with a south-west aspect, and had the first dish, 

 a full even-Bized crop, on the 28th of June. It is about 6 to 

 8 inches less in height than Blue Peter, and the crop ripens off 

 very nearly together — a great point in a forcing Pea or one 

 grown in a warm situation. 



For the purposes named and for small gardens it is very 

 desirable, alike for its earliness and good quality. I may say 

 that William I. and First and Best, sown February 21st 3 feet 

 from a south wall, are only just now (July 3rd) fit to gather. 

 —A. 



ASTEANTIA MAJOB. 

 This was introduced from southern Europe many years ago, 

 but is by no means a common plant. It belongs to a small 

 but interesting genus, requiring no particular treatment in 

 cultivation. Any ordinary garden soil will meet the require- 

 ments of these plants. They are the better if they are re- 

 plenished now and again with a little good sandy loam until 

 established, and then they will remain a long time without 

 removal. When they have attained to a large size they may 



Fig. 3. — Astrantia major. 



be taken up, divided, and replanted, or reduced according to 

 the operator's views. Being natives of mountainous districts 

 they must not be allowed to suffer from too much moisture. 

 They are quite at home in our borders and out-of-the-way 

 places in wilderness scenery and partially shaded walks, where, 

 if they oan have light and air, they continue in bloom for a 

 length of time. 



Astrantia caucasica is of dwarf habit, and is a handsome 

 plant on the shady part of the rockery. A. pauciflora is like- 

 wise of dwarf habit; it has pretty white flowers. It is, perhaps, 

 the least known of the family, and is an acquisition to all 

 collections. A. earniolica and maxima are taller and stronger- 

 growing kinds. All are pretty, and deserve more extensive | 

 cultivation than they are at present receiving. A. major 

 is an effective border plant, growing 2 feet or more in height ; 

 it commences flowering in June, continuing in beauty for a 

 considerable time. — N. 



FEATHERED HELPS IN GARDENS. 



I have great pleasure in noting attention being drawn to the 



utility of peewits in gardens. We have been in the habit of 



securing some of the young birds for a number of seasons in 



May or June, and were formerly in the habit of pinioning them, 



