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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 1, 1876. 



There are fancies even in Violas. PrincesB Teok is pale 

 mauve ; Lilacina, bluish lilac, of fine form and substance ; 

 Admiration, deep blue violet, its eye rayed with purple, and 

 large flowers, must be classed one of the finest ; Alpha, bluish 

 purple and yellow eye, large finely formed flowers ; Lothair, 

 indigo blue, its well-formed flowers having a slight dark blotch 

 in the centre ; Purple Prince, mulberry ground shaded purple, 

 its yellow eye rayed with black and encircled with blue ; and 

 Waverley, violet shaded purple, yellow eye and white brow, 

 combining size with good substance. These are a few of the 

 best of the Violas, which as yet are more limited in colour 

 than the Pansies. — G. Abbey. 



FEATHEBED HELPS IN GABDENS. 



The above heading occurs in the Journal of Horticulture for 

 August 2ith to an interesting article, with the signature 

 attached of one from whose pen I am always glad to peruse the 

 statements from time to time made on different subjects of 

 natural history. I am sorry therefore to have to differ with 

 " Wiltshire Reotob" as regards bantams eating slugs, as I 

 have tried my fowls with them over and over again, and found 

 them an object of dislike ; sea-gulls also refuse them as food, 

 but both are fond of worms. 



The sparrows of England and Ireland must be of a different 

 race, as those birds in the green isle never look at caterpillars. 

 I have gathered them and thrown them into a yard where 

 sparrows frequented, and they left them untouched. Where I 

 am living at present sparrows abound, and the caterpillars are 

 a regular plague this year, the Cabbages in my own garden 

 and those of my neighbours being destroyed completely, and 

 no sparrow interfering. I have never seen the cuckoo in a 

 garden, or heard of one eating caterpillars. 



I should therefore be glad to have this subject ventilated, 

 and a bird discovered which would rid us of these plagues — 

 slugs and caterpillars. Ducks are most useful. I have hardly 

 a slug in my present garden, and I attribute it to the number 

 of ducks I have ; but you cannot grow Strawberries and ducks. — 

 Tyrone Incumbent. 



USEFUL APPLES. 



No arguments are needed to show the value of early Apples, 

 and I am glad to note that your correspondent, " A Northern 

 Gardener," has advocated the free planting of sorts of 

 established value. He has confined his remarks to dessert 

 kinds, and has mentioned a trio of undoubted value, omitting, 

 however, in my opinion, other kinds at least equally good. It 

 is not my intention to supplement the short list which he has 

 given by enumerating other varieties of dessert Apples, but I 

 would rather remark on the value and importance of another 

 type of Apples — I mean Apples for culinary purposes which 

 are early, profitable, and good. 



During the last few years an unusually large number of 

 Apple trees have been planted. This is the result partly of 

 noticing that even in fruitful years the supply of Apples has 

 not been too great for the demand, and partly the encourage- 

 ment that has been given to planters by the supply of trees 

 which the nurserymen have provided of a dwarf-growing early- 

 bearing character by their having been grafted on precocious 

 stocks. 



It is only natural that a general hesitancy should exist in 

 the minds of many who have land at their disposal, and espe- 

 cially in the case of those holding it under yearly tenancies, 

 as to planting fruit trees which require many years to bring 

 them into a profitable fruit-bearing state. It is not to be ex- 

 pected that people will occupy their land with crops from 

 which they cannot derive, not only profit, but early profit. If 

 they invest their money in fruit trees they require good and 

 speedy interest in the return of fruit. In the old-fashioned 

 orchard trees, and especially in some sorts of them, it is only 

 by long and dreary waiting that large crops can be gathered 

 and the money that has been invested be " turned over again." 

 It is probable that when such trees do arrive at a bearing state 

 that they are the most profitable of all trees ; but we live in 

 an express-train-and-telegraph age, when "time" is empha- 

 tically regarded as " money," and few, therefore, care to wait 

 a generation for fruit, and it is only here and there one who 

 studies posterity. But when treeB were produced laden with 

 Apples at three years from the graft undoubtedly a great im- 

 petus was given to fruit-tree planting, and many planted freely 

 with bright visions of fortune urging them on, and pleasant 



dreams of prosperity " whiling away the time " of waiting for 

 the crops. 



In not a few cases these profitable anticipations have been 

 realised, but in many more, and perhaps the majority, the 

 hoped-for reward has ended in disappointment. This has 

 followed not so much through selecting bad sorts as by includ- 

 ing in a given list too many varieties. It is generally the case 

 when a person becomes an enthusiast in fruit-growing that he 

 cannot rest until he has all the kinds which the authorities 

 have invested with a reputation. When the grower grows 

 fruit for pleasure primarily, cash profits being a secondary 

 matter, nothing can be urged against that plan of procedure ; 

 but when profit becomes of paramount moment, and the tastes 

 of others as purchasers of his fruit have to be considered, 

 then no greater error can be made than in growing all the 

 sorts of Apples to which are attached "good characters." In 

 the cases of failures occurring blame is almost invariably 

 thrown by the planter on the dealer who' supplied the trees, or 

 at least to some " person or persons unknown" who provided 

 the estimates of their merits. In reality, however, the planter 

 has only himself to blame. All the sorts that are recommended 

 are good for some purpose, but the great question for each 

 individual to ask himself and determine is, " Which varieties 

 are best suited for my purpose ?" That is a question of the 

 utmost importance, and cannot be decided without much con- 

 sideration, probably some advice, and especially extensive and 

 attentive personal observation. 



In contemplating the extensive planting of fruit trees two 

 distinct questions are presented at the outset. Firstly, Am I 

 planting for myself and my f amily— in fact for home use ? and 

 secondly, Am I planting for others — i.e., with the object of sell- 

 ing the fruit ? To the first question I do not at present think 

 it necessary to give any consideration, but propose to discuss 

 the matter of Apple cultivation in its useful and profitable 

 phases. 



After some experience in fruit-growing, embracing both suc- 

 cesses and failures, I have become convinced that it is not only 

 advisable to have trees of a nature that commence bearing 

 early, but the sorts must also be early ripeners. I am consider- 

 ing now the best way of " turning money quickly " by the 

 cultivation of Apples. It so happens that the culinary Apples 

 which are the first ready for use are kinds which are early and 

 constant bearers. Late Apples are, weight for weight, more 

 valuable than early Apples, but the trees of the latter do not 

 arrive at a bearing state so soon as the former, and in the case of 

 late sorts a margin must always be allowed for waste, and there 

 is also some expense involved in preparations for keeping 

 them. As to the relative period at which early and late Apples 

 become profitable I will for comparison take the best early 

 and best late culinary Apples, and note their characteristics. 

 I will consider Lord Suffield the best early Apple, and Dume- 

 low's Seedling the best late Apple. Both are excellent in their 

 season, and are free bearers. I do not say that at the end of 

 half a century that a hundred trees of the former would be as 

 profitable as the same number of trees of the latter, but I do 

 assert that trees of Lord Suffield will pay for themselves, and 

 the ground which they are growing upon, before trees of Dume- 

 low's Seedling produce a lucrative crop. 



On the ground of securing an early return upon outlay I 

 am bound to advocate the adoption of early sorts. TheBe are 

 ready at a time when the public are "hungering" for them; 

 and if at times they must be sold cheaply, the crops are gene- 

 rally eo large as to render them profitable. If we glance at a 

 large orchard of Apples, or if we look down the long lines of 

 trees in a large nursery, we generally find trees of the early 

 sorts the most heavily laden with fruit. In the matter of 

 young trees that may be said to be invariably the case. In 

 seeking for early return, therefore, we must look to early sorts, 

 sorts which are* in a marketable state at the earliest possible 

 moment, and which are sufficiently productive as to — even 

 when Apples are cheap — render their cultivation profitable. 



Probably the Apple which for a number of years has been 

 the most useful and profitable in cottagers' gardens — and there' 

 profit is estimated at its real worth — is the Keswick Codlin. 

 This favourite old Apple has done good service, and must not 

 be lightly set aside — indeed, for orohard trees it is probably 

 the best of all early culinary Apples ; but for early fruiting 

 dwarf-growing bush or pyramid trees it is superseded by Lord 

 Suffield. This last-named Apple for early use is exceedingly 

 valuable, and fruit of a saleable size is ready sooner than 

 that of any other kind that I am acquainted with. It is also a 

 prodigious bearer ; it is, in fact, a large edition of Keswick 



