November 23, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



441 



of severe frost follows, the Lettuces are killed. I still plant 

 Lettuces at the front of the south wall, and if they survive 

 they there come into use early ; but I also plant others in a 

 very exposed place in the garden, not in rich but in porous 

 soil, for if the water cannot paso from the surface freely the 

 Lettuces will decay. The snow has almoBt invariably pre- 

 served these Lettuces from the killing effects of frost, but I 

 generally lost many from the effects of excessive wet. To 

 obviate this I made rather deep drills, filling these with ashes, 

 and in these planting the Lettuces. Since adopting that 

 practice I have seldom lost any plants. If the plants on the 

 south border succeed, these in the open give a good succession 

 to them ; but if the sheltered plants fail by the early melting 

 of the snow a portion of the plants are removed from the ashes 

 on the first signs of spring and are planted in their place. 

 Thus I manage to have a full supply of plants, and have them 

 ready for cutting as soon as it is possible to do so with the 

 conveniences at my disposal. To risk all my plants near the 

 south wall is to risk failure, and to plant entirely in the open 

 and leave them there to heart is to be unpleasantly late with 

 summer salad ; but by availing myself of the advantages of 

 both sites I have not failed to preserve the plants and have a 

 full supply of Lettuces in late spring and early snmmcr — the 

 very time when they have been most appreciated. For fifteen 

 years consecutively that plan has been successful, and my 

 neighbour, the gardener at the Hal), sayB that it is worthy of 

 mention. 



It is surprising how well the Lettuces root in pure ashes- 

 much better than in the ordinary garden soil, and plants in 

 the ashes are rarely injured by slugs. I suspect that the Eoil 

 is too wet for the roots to work freely in the winter, hut super- 

 fluous water passing quickly through the ashes and admitting 

 the air, enables roots to form and which do not perish. 



I have derived many useful hints from the Journal and 

 venture to give this in return, which may possibly be useful to 

 Borne other — Geoom and Gaedenee. 



THE EOSE ELECTION— STB A WBEKBIES. 



I never before kuew who raised Souvenir de la Malmaieon. 

 All, except General Jacqueminot, are rightly named and accre- 

 dited. The General was raised by Rousselet, not by Roupelet. 

 It is evidently an error ; the long s being confounded with a p. 

 I received a most kind letter from a valued friend and corre- 

 spondent, Mr. Ferdinand Gloede, some time back from his place 

 in Germany, saying that Perle de Lyon was better than 

 Marechal Niel. What say the rosarians of England? Mr. 

 Gloede lives at Oppendorf or Eppendorf in Germany. 



If the readers of the Journal of Horticulture want an opinion 

 on Strawberries they may depend on Mr. Gloede. He is, more- 

 over, a most excellent packer of Strawberry plants. I have 

 received in times past Strawberry plants from Lea Sablons, 

 France, far fresher than plants packed a few miles off. You 

 are sure of the sort applied for being sent true. I owe him a 

 deep debt of gratitude for supplying me with Rivera's Eliza. 

 It is one of the best Strawberries known. It is a tufted plant, 

 perfect in shape, and a sure and abundant cropper at all times, 

 and especially in critical seasons. — W. F. Badclttfe, Okeford 

 Fitzpaine. 



DECIDUOUS TBEES AND SHBUBS.— No. 8. 

 It is not unusual to seek to disguise the boundary of a park 

 by a belt of trees. This is also one of the most common 

 methods of marking the boundary of estates ; but we must not 

 lose sight of the fact that in all pleasing landscapes there is a 

 total absence of formality, and that the aim of the planter 

 should be to produce Nature in her best guise, not imitating 

 her rugged, cold, and cheerless aspects. It is a mistake to 

 limit the prospect of an estate by belts of trees or close narrow 

 plantations, which are often obstructive of the best views of 

 natural scenery. In treating of rural scenery, however, we 

 often have the straight lines of hedges and roads to disguise. 

 Surely this can be effected without employing an unvaried 

 belt of trees. The road being straight, there is no reason 

 for making the outline of the trees straight and having them 

 of unvaried height and breadth. Shrub-like trees, as Holly 

 or Thorns, will serve for disguising a road quite as effec- 

 tively as taller trees. Sharp turns may be converted into 

 graceful sweeps, or made to appear so by judicious planting — 

 a straight margin being an eyesore. Rows of trees may often by 

 j udicious thinning be made conttibutary to the landscape. By 



leaving all the best trees the appearance of age is^imparted. 

 It will usually be found that in a well-timbered country we 

 have little to do but clear, adding such tress as will impart 

 variety, though of an allied character to the trees] existing. 

 The complete removal of lines of trees from hedges would 

 result in barrenness, and render more apparent the outlines of 

 the roads and fences. It is the common subjects that give 

 rural scenery its character. An artificial scene is never equal 

 to the natural, or that in which least art and most nature is 

 apparent. However pleasiDg it may be to the imagination, it 

 is practically a mistake to imitate nature, or seek to produce 

 nature itEelf in rural scenery. To do that it would be neces- 

 sary to efface culture, and if by so doing no better reward 

 attend our efforts than is exhibited by a majority of parks, the 

 less said of tneh imitations the better. Provided the fences 

 are low and well kept, they do not materially prejudice the 

 view. What we wish to impart to highly cultivated ground is 

 as much natural beauty as circumstances admit, having in 

 view utility. 



I will now briefly refer to avenues. These are often ad- 

 mired, but upon what principle they were conceived it is diffi- 

 cult to imagine, for we not unfrequently see them stretching 

 across picturesque ground, cutting it in twain and marring 

 its beauty. They may be accounted for when the view from 

 the road is flat and uninteresting, or to confine the eye to the 

 road by stately living walls of verdure, and leading to an ob- 

 ject such as an obelisk, and this I tak? to be the main object 

 sought by an avenue. The expression of an avenue is eombre- 

 ness with dignity, affecting the spectator by its solemnity ; 

 hence we usually find avenues associated with monastic estab- 

 lishments, places of learning and burial, though, they are not 

 unfrequent with manorial residences, as if to inspiie visitors 

 with a due sense of tbe importance of the proprietors or places. 

 Except for promenades, walks, or drives for quiet recreation, 

 or shady paths along a river side, for cemeteries, approaches 

 ' to a mausoleum, and public institutions I do not think 

 avenues worthy of imitation, as we suffer already by too much 

 formality. Trees by the sides of roads form a very agreeable 

 shade to pedestrians ia summer, and are always agreeable to 

 the eye ; but the trees should be at such distances as to 

 admit of light and air having free access between the several 

 specimens, each having space to develope its head without 

 coming into contact with its neighbour. It is a pity an in- 

 junction is not made to compel the planting of trees along the 

 sides of public roads, at least those in the environs of towns. 



Ia the disposition of trees we find little regard had to 

 geological order by the planter. We not unfrequently find 

 the Birch of the bog associated with the Spruce of Norway and 

 Larch of the Alp?, the Pinaster of the coast and Scotch Fir of 

 the mountain with the Poplar and Willow of the river; and 

 with a surface so varied as that of this country the geological 

 order of planting is no doubt the best, for we have great 

 variation of soil, and with water so abundant we have material 

 wherewith to enable us to create landscapes of the greatest 

 beauty. Hilly parts will display to the greatest advantage the 

 towering Conifers. Rocky ground planted with them, in asso- 

 ciation with Gorse and other trees and shrubs, will enable the 

 planter to produce an effect quite different, nevertheless in 

 harmony, from that of the valley, where ho will introduce trees 

 of the plain — those that require rich deep soil ; and near the 

 margins of water trees requiring moist ground, such aB Alder, 

 Willow, etc., are the most appropriate. 



It is sought very often to face Pines and other dark-foliaged 

 evergreens with deciduous trees, remarkable for the rich tints 

 of their foliage in autumn. There can be no objection to this 

 mode of planting a hillside, where the Pines will occupy the 

 higher ground, and all will be in harmony; but such an 

 arrangement upon level ground is unsuitable, as the Pines in 

 the background will be hidden by deciduous trees. I submit 

 that evergreens intermingled with deciduous trees are undesir- 

 able. I am writing within a stone's throw of a plantation of 

 Beech, another of Oak, and a third of Sycamore, all more or 

 less interspersed with Conifers, the plantations being in open 

 grove style — rather thick, but not so much so as to destroy 

 the Bide branches of the deciduous trees. The Pines have 

 tufts at the top, just as the deciduous trees close upon them, 

 and these tufts of green have in spring and autumn a particu- 

 larly fine effect when viewed at a distance or from an eleva- 

 tion ; but I note that every year these dark tufts become less, 

 the trees die or are uprooted by winds. The Spruces go first, 

 having entirely disappeared from the Oak and Sycamore planta- 

 tions ; Silver Firs struggle hard for existence, and Scotoh 



