October 12, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



52? 



changed and the nomenclature of our fruits be corrected ; for 

 in regard to Apples we are sadly deficient in the question of 

 names. In some parts of Yorkshire there is an early variety 

 known as Bertie and Nioholson's Sweet Apple, probably only 

 a local name. The fruit is in use about the end of June, and 

 is much prized in the haytime. The tree is a free growsr, 

 attaining a good size, and is a great bearer. The fruit re- 

 sembles a moderate-sized Keswiok Codlin. Can any of the 

 readers of the Journal furnish any information respecting 

 it ? — North York. 



KOSES AT LEEK. 



Seeing an article in the Journal entitled " Roses for a Small 

 Collection," I felt tempted to send you some account of the 

 difficulties under which we have to cultivate Roses here, 

 and the sorts which do best. We are about 2400 feet above 

 sea level, and have no shelter from east winds. We live, if we 

 may infer from whence issues all the Rose lore, outside the 

 zone of a Rose climate, and I do not remember ever seeing an 

 article written on Roses north of us. Nothing but a deep 

 love of the Rose, coupled with dogged perseverance, and I may 

 modestly say a little knowledge, would enable us to succeed 

 as satisfactorily as we do, for notwithstanding these diffi- 

 culties we should no doubt surprise some of our more favoured 

 Rose-growing friends were they to pay a visit to our Bhow a 

 little after the middle of July. We dare not fix our dato 

 earlier. We did onoe or twice and had to alter it. Some of 

 our friends may recollect what Mr. Camm said in the Journal. 

 Comparing the Leek with the Hereford amateurs, he said the 

 latter " were nowhere," an opinion which was encouraging to 

 me for one. May to us is the most dreaded month in the 

 whole year. I do not know whether Tom Moore says anything 

 about " the lovely month of May," but I think he does not, as 

 he did not live far from us, and would know better; and so, 

 indeed, would tbo3e gentlemen who write so delightfully about 

 it if they were to spend the month of May in Leek. 



I will now proceed to give you a list, in the order of merit, 

 of those Roses which do best here, and which can be depended 

 upon, not disappointing let the ssason be aver so unfavour- 

 able : — Charles Lefebvre, Baronne de Rothschild, Louis Van 

 Houtte, Marie Baumann, Alfred Colomb, Pierre Notting, 

 Madame Victor Verdier, General Jacqueminot, Senateur Vaisse, 

 Duke of Edinburgh, Dr. Andry, Mons. Bonoenne, La Prance, 

 Dupuy Jamain, Madame C. Crapelet, Countess of Oxford, 

 Maurioe Bernardin, Marquise de Castellane, Etienne Levet, 

 Prince Camille de Rohan, Reynolds Hole, Annie Wood, Mar- 

 guerite Dombrain, and Felix Genero. 



We have a few other varieties whioh occasionally give ns 

 good blooms, but they are few. Madame Lacharme has been 

 beautiful the past summer, the only season I have been able to 

 bloom it out of doors ; Capitaine Christy has bloomed very 

 freely, but has been flat and ragged ; Monsieur Francois 

 Miohelon, which writers in the Journal extol so much, seems 

 too tender here, and I have not yet seen a good bloom. Many 

 others I could name of whose beauty we can only hear through 

 your page3. — S. Eyre, Leek. 



Tomato disease this season. I shall be glad to hear what 

 others of the readers of the Journal think of Tomatoes " taking 

 the true Potato disease from neighbouring Potatoes whenever 

 there is wet weather."— J. W. Moorman. 



TOMATOES AND THE POTATO DISEASE. 



Your correspondent, A. Boyle (page 305), appears to open 

 up quite a new question in connection with the remarks I made 

 on diseased Tomatoes in my communication on the culture of 

 this esculent. Although I cannot as yet fall in with your cor- 

 respondent's views in their entirety, I think it a question that 

 is open to discussion, which will ventilate an important subject. 



I cannot quite oall to memory the year I had numbers of 

 Tomatoes diseased, but think it must have been either 1873 or 

 1874, and to the best of my recollection no Potatoes were 

 growing near them at the time they were in fruit. The very 

 early Potatoes may have been grown on the same border, but 

 would have been dug long before the Tomatoes became 

 diseased. If this disease is analogous to the Potato disease, it 

 is probably more or less hereditary to the Solanum family. It 

 is somewhat singular that the disease does not put in an 

 appearance until the fruit is almost matured, so that I rather 

 think that the Tomato was rendered liable to the disease by 

 an excessive degree of cold and wet when they require an extra 

 effort and more of warmth to perfect the fruit. My Tomatoes 

 were very late the year they were diseased, whioh apparently is 

 the case with your correspondent's. 



I have not seen or heard of many cases of either Potato or 



WINDOW BOXES IN WINTER. 

 Window boxes which have been gay during the summer 

 with Geraniums and other tender plants are now losing much 

 of their beauty, and it will soon be necessary to clear the plants 

 out altogether. A good many people are in the habit of grow- 

 ing plants in window boxes throughout the summer, and 

 allowing the boxes to remain empty during the winter-half of 

 the year. But this is not a very enjoyable system of window 

 gardening, as during the winter, when everything outside is 

 desolate, is the very time when fresh cheerful-looking plants 

 about the window are most appreciated. Of course, bright 

 flowers cannot be had in any great quantity from now onwards 

 for many months, but there are many hardy, fine-f oliaged , and 

 herbaceous plants which can be used with as much effect as 

 any flowers. 



As soon as the summer plants have decayed the box should 

 be taken down and the whole of the contents emptied out, and 

 after placing a few bits of any rough material in the bottom 

 the box should be refilled with fresh material. Window plants 

 do not generally grow much in winter, and it does not matter 

 if the soil is not very rich. In towns where it is difficult to 

 obtain good soil, or soil of any sort, road scrapings do very 

 well to fill the boxes with. The common Ivy, or the finer- 

 coloured variegated sorts, are amongst the best plants for 

 placing around the edges of the boxes, as they are always fresh 

 to look at, and their habit is good for drooping over the sides. 

 As the outside is often the only part which it is desired to 

 drape, it is a good arrangement to do it with Ivy and plant the 

 edge facing into the room with some of the rosette-formed 

 Sempervivums, such as S. tectorum, S. californicum, and such- 

 like common yet nevertheless pretty varieties. The centre of 

 the box should be planted with dwarf shrubs, such aB little 

 variegated Aucubas, Thujas, Retinosporas, or any other kind 

 of bush that is dwarf, compact, and ornamental in growth. 



In sheltered positions where frost seldom reaches, some of 

 the more tender plants may be placed in boxes, and amongst 

 these there are none better than the berry-bearing Solanums 

 of the capsicastrum type. These are all plants which may be 

 bought oheap from any market grower or nurseryman. Boxes 

 can also be filled with flowering plants, but it is best to mix 

 these with the evergreens. The Hellebores are exceedingly 

 useful in this way ; a few strong roots of them planted here 

 and there in a box flower during November, December, and 

 January, when there are little else in bloom. As a sweet- 

 soented flower in spring, a few bits of Daphne cneorum are 

 always much prized, as smelling so sweetly. Wallflowers may 

 also be included amongst the same olass, as they come in very 

 well before the summer-flowering subjeots are placed outside. 



Bulbs should always be extensively used in filling winter 

 window-boxes. Crocuses and Snowdrops should be planted 

 near the edge, and Hyacinths and Tulips may be mixed in 

 the centre. These should not be used alone, but mixed-in 

 with the other plants. Crowding must be avoided, but a good 

 quantity of bulbs may always be put in without doing this. 

 The bulbs should be put in at the same time as the other 

 plants. All they require is to be pushed in about 1 inch below 

 the soil. Naroissi are fragrant, but they generally become 

 too straggly to look well in boxes. — Amateur. 



BESTWOOD, 



THE SEAT OP THE DUKE OF ST. ALBAN'S. 

 Bestwood is one of the few places of horticultural note within 

 easy walking distanoeof the town of Nottingham. Everything 

 about the place is comparatively new. The building of the 

 mansion was commenced in 1862 and finished in 1865, so it 

 has few historic associations, excepting that it stands on the 

 spot where a favourite hunting lodge of Edward III. stood. 

 The house is a substantial brick erection, and commands 

 extensive views of the surrounding country. The pleasure 

 grounds, which lie principally on the south-east and weBt sides 

 of the house, are very tastefully laid out, and many choice 

 Ooniferffi are planted in groups and dotted here and there on 

 the lawns. Wellingtonias do well here in sheltered positions, 

 but in exposed situations they become stunted in growth and 

 one-sided with the wind. There are also some handsome 



