eptember 14, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



229 



the recently-closed jam pots ? were preserves to be used which 

 were prepared for winter's consumption ? Here was August, 

 aye, the end of July, and no fruit to use. Apple trees — the 

 usual varieties — were not ready. I looked up at my Hawthorn- 

 dens, they were not fit for use yet. I had the Worcester Pear- 

 main, but it was only planted last autumn. How I wished I 

 had been more provident years ago, and had planted some 

 very early culinary Apples, as well as some very late sorts, 

 towards which my prudential arrangements had tended. 



I had written thus far when the postman, blessed man, speci- 

 ally on rainy Fridays (Journal-arriving morning), brings my 

 copy of "our J.," and there I read that capital article on 

 useful Apples by " A Midland Fkuit- grower." 



Now, that said midland fruit-grower has by a proper re- 

 tribution — a Nemesis will always arrive sooner or later — put 

 me in the exact position I put a brother clergyman last winter. 

 It was at a meeting to get the public-houses closed on Sundays. 

 I spoke first and fully. My reverend brother came after, bnt 

 he said I had made his speech. He meant to talk about the 

 bottle in which the beer could be corked on Saturday night ; 

 he was going to mention " the comfort of the poor barmaids 

 to take them from the atmosphere of stale beer and tobacco 

 on a Sunday;" but I had done it, and so on, and so on, and 

 so on. Now, " A Midland Fruit-grower " has served me in 

 this cruel way. I had intended to speak of early culinary 

 Apples, growiDg them dwarf and getting crops to pay us or 

 please us, as the case may be, in a few years. Lord Suffield 

 was to be mentioned, the Keswick Codlin also. The beauty 

 of the Dachess of Oldenburgh was to have been glanced at, 

 hut 'tis all done by the " Midland Fruit-grower," who seems 

 to have the power of knowing my intentions so far off. Is he 

 a spiritualist ? If so, what medium divined the inside of my 

 mind? Well, I submit; I cannot help myself. My midland 

 friend has written a capital paper, for am I not bound to think 

 so as I was going to write juet the same? However, jesting 

 apart. Now that the subject of both early eating and cooking 

 Apples is opened, perhaps the orchardist, amateur and other- 

 wise, also any brother pyramid-growers, would give us their 

 experiences as to the varieties of both kindB which they find 

 to answer beBt. After theHawthorndens (cropping by the way 

 splendidly this year, though other torts have failed grievously) 

 it is easy to get a series until late winter and early spring; but 

 what varieties are found ready earliest and of good flavour 

 before the Hawthorndens are ready? What do growers of 

 Early Julien say of that Apple, which has been 6trongly re- 

 commended to me by a great pomologist? What alBO of 

 William's Favourite and of others ? The point seems to be 

 to get the very earliest and best. 



" A Midland Fruit- grower"- in alluding to " A Northern 

 Gardener's" article say?, "He has confined his remarks to 

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

 omitting, however, in my opinioD, other kinds at leaBt equally 

 good. It is not my intention to supplement the short list 

 which he has given by enumerating other varieties of dessert 

 Apples." Would he be so good as to alter his intention, and 

 name the kinds in his mind ? Then we should have a midland 

 as well as a northern view of this matter. 



Can anyone tell us the book name of the Apple called Domino ? 

 I see no Buch Apple is mentioned in Dr. Hogg's grand book on 

 the Bubject — the " Fruit Manual ?" — Wiltshire Sector. 



TEA EOSE MAEIE VAN EOUTTE. 



No words can be too strong in describing the beauty of this 

 Rose, particularly at this season of the year. Here (Dorset- 

 shire) it grows like a weed, puts forth great shoots erect in 

 growth, thick firm wood, and at the end of each shoot are four 

 fine flowers, while down the stem of each Btrong shoot are 

 many other blooms. I took a large shoot or spray of this 

 Rose (which contained ten fine blooms and as many buds) to 

 a dinner party, and presented it to the hostess. 



The combination of colours in this Rose is the most delight- 

 ful that can be imagined — pale primrose or lemon-edged, and 

 shaded with peach. At a small exhibition at Lyme Regis I 

 showed a stand of six Roses (the regulation number), and a 

 more beautiful one I never stagfd. The six contained magni- 

 ficent specimens of three splendid varieties of Teas : Souvenir 

 d'Elise, Catherine Mermet, and Marie Van Houtte. These 

 created quite & furore. I was asked by many, and entreated by 

 some strangers, to sell them a plant, and to give them buds of 

 Marie Yan Houtte. My reply was, I cannot buy enough of her, I 

 cannot find nurserymen who can supply large numbers of Tea 



Roses. I do not know why it should be so, except that the 

 Tea Roses give so few buds, and you often have almost to 

 destroy a plant to obtain them. I think it would be a good 

 thing to present a testimonial to the raiser who sent out this 

 Rose. Can any of your readers say who is the raiser ? I 

 cannot find his name in any catalogue. It would be a way of 

 showing the French raisers that we can appreciate a good Rose, 

 and are willing to show our gratitude in a practical way. 



How is it, by the way, that our English nurserymen never 

 send out a new Tea? Mr. Keynes, it is true, has sent out a 

 sport from Madame Willermoz, but this is not a new Tea, as 

 Letty Coles stands in the same relation to Madame Willermoz 

 as Eve did to Adam. I should not be surprised, however, iS 

 j Mr. George Paul does soon send us one, as he is working hard 

 to do so. 



Catherine Mermet is very beautiful here in the autumn, more 

 so I think than in the summer. The Teas scarcely recover 

 from the spring frosts in time for the summer shows, but by 

 the autumn have made fresh bloom-bearing wood. They then 

 give me most charming blooms, and are most valuable for the 

 late Bhows. — Wyld Savage. 



OUR BOEDER FLOWERS— MARSH MARIGOLD, 



In early spring, whon flowers begin to put in an appearance, 



we hail with delight in maDy of our moist meadows, and by 



most brooks, the Marsh Marigold unfolding its beautiful golden 



cup-like flowers. There ia 

 no more brilliant sight 

 than acres almost covered 

 with those charming spring 

 flowers. Though mostly 

 found in wet spongy places 

 they do not object to pot 

 and border culture. They 

 are but a small family, but 

 we seldom meet with any 

 of them in cultivation ; in 

 some select collections we 

 find Caltha palustris flore- 

 pleno, which is a most use- 

 ful variety for all purposes 

 that flowers can be used for. 

 I find this a useful pot plant 

 f or in d oor d ecor ation as well 

 as the moist border ; it is 

 a plant that continues in 

 bloom for a long time, and 

 is invaluable for out flowers 

 and for bouquets, likewise 

 for the moist rockery. C. ra- 

 dicans and C. minor are 

 handsome plants, and are 

 worthy of more extensive 

 cultivation than they are 

 receiving ; they will bear a 

 good deal of rough usage. 



We have more kinds of 

 this charming race of plants 

 from Amerioa and other 

 parts of the world. They 

 are increased by seed sown as soon as ripe, also by division of 

 the roots in the spring after blooming. They require at ali 

 times a plentiful supply of water. Caltha palustris does us 

 good service as an aquatic in a large pot or pan. When the 

 bloom is past the plants can be put in Borne moist corner until 

 they are again required. — Veritas. 



Fig. 29. — Caltha palustris 



EARLY ROSE POTATO. 



Very common has it been of late to abuse this American' 

 introduction in respect of its bad quality, but for dry soils and 

 districts I know no more productive and excellent variety. I 

 observe, too, that at the late Show at Sandy the Early Ross 

 won first honours for its excellence when cooked, which is the- 

 proper way of judging Potatoes. I have Potatoes now of this 

 variety which are of unsurpassable quality, and quite equal to 

 others which were grown in the same field of Paterson's Victoria. 

 Early Rose is alEO a prodigious cropper, and has ripened its 

 tubers this year sufficiently early to be lifted before the rains, 

 which have caused such extensive supertuberation. I do not 

 advocate the planting of Early Rose in rich and wet garden 



