236 



JODBNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 30, 1871. 



being labelled second or third prize, because this conveys to 

 the public the impressioQ that the object is second-rate, or 

 third-rate. This I apprehend injures rather than promotes 

 the interest of the exhibitor. Why not in these cases label the 

 objects " extra prize," or " special prize," as the case may be ? 

 Bat are Orchids intrinsically better than other plants ? I 

 have no wish to depreciate those plants. I admit their variety 

 and beauty, and admire them greatly, and the plant in question 

 was in my judgment worthy of a medal. Bat are they in- 

 trinsically better than other plants, or is it their costliness or 



[ a mere matter of fashion that make some people consider them 

 : so ? A, who is a luxurious man, fond of warm climates and 

 I delicate perfumes, says " Awkida " are the aristocracy of the 

 vegetable kingdom, and all other plants are " cads ;" but my 

 neighbour Z, who is a bluff stalwart Englishman, who could 

 [ hardly be ttmpted to put his head into a hothouse, says the 

 ' Rose is the first of flowers. As these aro both educated men- 

 ; and men of sense, to whom shall we appeal ? What I depre- 

 I cate is the efforts made to build-up one flower at the expeneg 

 ' of others. — William Paul, Paul's Nurseries, Waltham Cross, N. 



CROFT-EN-REICH APPLE, OR GALLOWAY PIPPIN. 



A FEW weeks ago Messrs. Backhouse & Son, of York, sent to 

 the Fruit Committee of the Boyal Horticultural Society, an 

 Apple which they called the Galloway Pippin. It was so named 

 from having been brought from that province in Sootland. 

 The Apple was so highly 

 approved of by the Com- 

 mittee, that it received 

 a first-class certificate 

 as a cooking Apple. 



The fruit is large, 

 roundish, obscurely an- 

 gular round the basin of 

 the eye. Skin smooth, 

 of a greenish yellow 

 colour on the shaded 

 side, and of a pale thin 

 red, grtdually blend- 

 ing into the yellow, 

 on that exposed to the 

 sun, strewed with russet 

 dots, and here and there 

 traces of russet. Eye 

 large and open, like that 

 of Damelow's Seedling, 

 with short depauperated 

 segments set in a pretty 

 deep basin, which is un- 

 even. Stalk very short, 

 imbedded in the deep 

 cavity, which is smooth. 

 Flesh yellowish with a 

 greenishtinge and some- 

 what perfumed, tender, 

 briskly flivoured. It 

 cooks admirably and Ies a fiue flavour, 

 Apple, in use till the end of January. 



Since the fruit was exhibited we have received the following 

 from our friend. Rev. William Kingsley, of South Kilvington, 

 to whom it was communicated: — 



" The Croft-en-Eeioh Pippin grew from time immemorial in 

 an orchard now called Croft Angry, adjoining the town of Wig- 



Croft-en-Reicli Apple, or Galloway Pippin. 

 A first-rate kitchen 



town, since laid out as a grass field, and all the trees cut down. 

 I recollect the two old trees on which these Apples grew nearly 

 seventy years ago, and then they had the appearance of being 

 at least a century old. The fruit is of the shape, and when 



ripe much the colour of 

 an Orange ; a well-fla- 

 voured dessert Apple, 

 but its principal quality 

 is its keeping, as I have 

 seen the fruit, or rather 

 had them, in perfect 

 preservation up to the 

 middle of June. When 

 I first knew them they 

 were used here in pre- 

 ference to every other 

 kind of Apple, and about 

 forty years ago they 

 became so generally 

 known and appreciated, 

 that grafts were sent to 

 all parts of Galloway, 

 and even to a greater 

 distance, and there is 

 an increasing demand, 

 although the old trees 

 are long since gone. 



" In the present year 

 this Apple gained a lirst- 

 class certificate at Ken- 

 sington, under the name 

 of the Galloway Pippin, 

 so that it may now be 

 considered famous. 



" The grafts now sent are from trees in my own garden, where 

 they have been for more than forty years, and have hardly ever 

 failed to bear a crop. The trees put out very strong branches, 

 and with mo do best as standards. Their greatest fault is 

 liability to canker at the joints. I think the Apple may be 

 traced to monkish days, the orchard being close to the ruins 

 of the old church and monastery. — J. S., Wigtown." 



NOTES MADE DURING A TOUR IN IRELAND.— No. 7. 



POWERSCOUET, CO. WICKLOW. 



PowEKScouKT — One of the noblest residences of one of Ire- 

 land's most noble families, the Earls of Powerscourt, and situ- 

 ated in one of the most charming of Irish counties, Wicklow. 

 The county of Wicklow is very mountainous, and, consequently, 

 presents much diversity of character ; in many places it is 

 truly noble in its wild grandeur, reminding one very much 

 of good Scottish scenery, only that of Ireland is far more 

 richly clad in verdant green. Round Powerscourt there are 

 many lovely spots, much frequented by the good folks of D ablin. 

 Powerscourt is about four miles distant from Bray, a highly- 

 fashionable, cleanly little town, the Brighton of Dublin, and 

 the great resort of the Dublinites, who reach it in about an 

 hour's ride by rail. 



Setting out from Bray, then, per Irish oar, the universal 

 mode of travelling in Ireland, we are soon at the gates of 

 Powerscourt. Here we pass between two lines of the loveliest 

 of all the Fir tribe, Pinus ineignis, so beautifully green, and 

 graceful Deodars, ranging between 2.5 feet and 30 feet in height. 

 How very effective these trees are now, and in time to come 

 how much more so will they be ! The gate, surmounted by 

 the arras of the lords of Powerscourt, is very tasteful, and 

 itnirediately gives one the idea of something grand within. 



Driving along the avenue on the ridge cf the hills for about 

 a mile we pass some grand clumps of fine old Beeches, catch- 

 ing glimpses there of the lovely valley of the Dargle, lying far 

 below embosomed in richly verdured woods and meadows 

 rising up the slopes of the hills on either side, the view being 

 closed in by the bleak sterile summits of the North Wicklow 

 mountains, the most conspicuous of which are named respec- 

 tively the Great and Little Sugarloaf. Approaching the Castle 

 we pass remarkably fine Beech trees, and a little on ono side a 

 giant old Ash — a real monarch of the forest, although now 

 somewhat decayed, but still possessed of a good deal of vigour. 

 It is here cared for, surfaced, and top-dressed like one of Mr. 

 Dunn's prize Azaleas, and with such care it may last a few 

 generations yet. There is something very noble in a grand 

 old patriarch like this, with a trunk about 28 feet in girth and 

 90 feet in height. How aged it must be ! Quite suddenly we 

 have to pull up in front of the Castle — a noblo structure of 

 hewn granite, having in front a fine, broad, sweeping lawn, 

 with the view expanding over many rich meadoivs and green 

 woods, with the mountain peaks in the distance. A little way 

 further on the left one arrives at the gardens ; and here being 

 met by Mr, Dunn, Lord Powerscourt's able gardener, one 



