300 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



[ AprU 27, 1871. 



time, is in fall bloom now, but a bad habit common to this 

 variety is to go bUnd, by the tips of the shoots terminating in 

 a robust abnormal leaf. 



Of light varieties, the best of all, and the best and most useful 

 Pelargonium for stage effect and cut blooms that I have grown, is 

 Larkfield Eival. It is white, with a lovely tinge of pink in the 

 upper petals. Its trusses are very large, and it is as sturdy in 

 habit when in bloom in March as any other variety is in June ; 

 indeed it shows no evidence of being forced at aU. Nothing 

 can be finer in bouquets than this. It is a most attractive 

 subject in the greenhouse, and is generally admired. It is 

 hardly to be found in catalogues, being crowded out by later 

 introductions — better, perhaps, in form of flower, judged by the 

 florists' standard, but there are few better in point of useful- 

 ness to the gardener in the early days of spring. It is deserv- 

 ing of more extended cultivation. Snowdrop is early and 

 useful ; so is Madame Lafiay, especially for cutting from. 

 Patroness and Lilacina close my list ; they are better than the 

 others in point of form, but not quite so early, yet perhaps 

 sarly enough to be out of bloom by the time this is in print. 



A further enumeration of varieties specially early from prac- 

 tical cultivators would be of much assistance to gardeners and 

 others interested, who may be adding to their collections of 

 this pre-eminently useful but partially ignored class of plants. 

 Another advantage they possess is that the blooms travel well 

 if they are cut — and this must be attended to — when just open- 

 ing. If the flowers are expanded at the time of cutting, the 

 petals will fall before they reach their destination. I am told 

 by my employers that nothing is more admired in cut blooms, 

 by the family and their London friends, than these early 

 Pelargoniums sent up amongst other plants for drawing-room 

 decoration. 



If hybridists would turn their'attention to the subject, and 

 handle Larkfield Eival thoughtfully, I feel sure they would 

 produce something worthy of their skill and efforts. There is 

 a wide field open. Natural earliness, and close rigid habit, are 

 the points to be aimed at and to be attained. Points of culture 

 are very simple. Eipen the wood well, and cut the plants down 

 at the end of June ; shake them out and place them in pots 

 of about the same size, or a size smaller ; grow them out of 

 doors, sheltering them only from heavy rains ; never stop the 

 shoots, nor shift into larger pots until they knot for bloom at 

 the turn of the year ; then put them in their blooming pots, 

 and the work ia done, always keeping a watchfol eye for insect."?. 

 — J. W., Lincoln. 



THE CRITTENDEN DAMSON. 



About a year ago, when the fruit orchards were in their 

 gayest spring garb, I described the condition of a small fruit 

 farm in the parish of East Farleigh, belonging to and in the 

 occupation of Mr. John Crittenden, and subsequently in the 

 autumn adverted to it again in calling attention to a very pro- 

 lific Damson with which Mr. Crittenden's name is associated. 

 Prom some remarks then made by other fruit-growers and pro- 

 pagators of trees, there appeared to be a doubt whether the 

 variety might not be one that some one else might claim as 

 well. Another visit to the worthy Kentish yeoman has put me 

 in possession of more particulars as to the origin of this 

 variety, its productive character, and I may say the fertility of 

 the little plot of ground which Mr. Crittenden occupies. I 

 shall give the figures as famished to me by a nephew of Mr. 

 Crittenden, who assists him in his market transactions, and i 

 have waited until this could be ascertained with accuracy from 

 the salesman's returns. I believe that the total produce will 

 bear comparison with that of any similar-sized plot in other 

 localities, and I would certainly commend it to the con- 

 sideration of those about to embark in any of the new-fashioned 

 modes of fruit-growing on very small trees, as recommended 

 by some authorities in such matters. I would especiaUy ask 

 them for an example of similar productiveness in their mini- 

 atmre orchards, or, it may be, orchards of diminutive trees. 



First of all I will state that the site of Mr. Crittenden's or- 

 chard is in no respect very different from those of hundreds of 

 others surrounding it, the district being one vast orchard, wilh 

 large breadths of Hops, and a few small fields of corn and 

 grass, intermingled with irregular patches of coppice, which 

 give a picturesque appearance to the whole. The soO, to judge 

 from its appearance only, is far from being what a farmer in 

 the midland counties would call fertile, and for many agricul- 

 tural crops of only one year's growth it is certainly not favour- 

 able : but the healthy condition of the hedges and forest trees, 



as weU as the fruit trees and Hops, unmistakeably show that 

 the subsoil is all that can be desired. It is remarkably dry, 

 for I believe that water is only obtained by sinking upwards 

 of 100 feet. Decomposed limestone in its various forms con- 

 stitutes much of the under strata, while the top is far from 

 being free from stones, but all large ones have been removed 

 long ago where cultivation has been going on. The surface 

 soil, however, does not exhibit that mellow, fat condition which 

 is often thought the token of great productiveness. 



Having on a former occasion given an outline of the district 

 of which Mr. Crittenden's little freehold forms a part, I may 

 merely say that, taken as a whole, it forms an irregular oblong. 

 A parish road is the boundary on two of its sides, on the west 

 it is bounded by an orchard, while on the north side there 

 is no shelter whatever, and that is the coldest side, where 

 shelter would be of service, but it is not there. The farmhouse, 

 a convenient building of its class, occupies one corner, and 

 attached to it there are some necessary farm buildings and a 

 garden ; there are, besides, two cottages with small gardens 

 attached. I mention these buildings, as the ground they 

 occupy is included in the measurement of the land given below, 

 although not helping to produce the fruit. A portion of the 

 ground is in grass, with some old Apples and other trees upon 

 it, the rest is in tillage, a part being in Hops alone, a part in 

 Hops mixed with famson trees, and a part in Damson trees of 

 from twelve to sixteen years' growth. These are standard trees 

 on stems from 5 to 6 feet high, with Eed Currants beneath. 

 The whole of the trees are pruned and managed in the way 

 common in the neighbourhood. The pruning of the Currants, 

 which, I may remark, are mostly Eed, is very severe, while that 

 of the Damson now consists in merely shortening some of the 

 tips of the shoots growing to an unwieldy length ; but when 

 the trees were younger the knife was more freely used. There 

 being but little manure made on the farm, most of it had to be 

 purchased, and it has been of vaiious kinds, stable manure 

 being the least used of any, as it seems to be all bespoke before 

 it reaches so far from town ; nevertheless, a liberal and judi- 

 cious application cf manure is necessary to insure a proper 

 return, and Mr. Crittenden has not been behind his neighbours 

 in employing it. 



I now give the produce as derived from the figures furnished 

 by the London salesman, and which are, therefore, not a mere 

 conjecture or calculation. It is as follows :— 601 bushels of 

 Damsons, 100 bushels of Apples, 60 bushels of Currants, 

 3 bushels of Cherries, 3 bushels of Gooseberries, 17i cwt. of 

 Hops. The above is all from 3 acres 1 rood 80 perches, or 

 ratlier from less than 3 acres, for the site of the farmhouse, its 

 garden and yards, as well as the two cottages and their gardens, 

 are aU included in the measurement, which, I may observe, is 

 that of the Ordnance Sarvey, a former survey making the 

 property 3 acres 2 roods, which I believe is the area stated 

 last year. Might I ask for an authentic example of a like kind 

 from any other source ? I may further observe that the Dam- 

 sons, Currants, and Hops appear to have al! been grown on 

 about 2 acres ; the plot could not be much more, from the space 

 occupied by the other crops. 



And now for the origin of this Damson, which has been 

 planted by thousands in this neighbourhood of late years to 

 the exclusion of aU others, and occasionally we hear of litiga- 

 tion following where a spurious kind is substituted for it. 

 Some time ago a writer in this Journal asked who is Mr. Crit- 

 tenden ■? hinting that theDamson referred to must be that which 

 he (the writer) had some twenty years ago ; but if he goes no 

 further back than twenty years, he has a poor chance of claim- 

 ing the parentage of this fruit. Mr. Crittenden at his next 

 birthday wOl be fourscore ; and although he cannot precisely 

 say to a year or two when it came into his hands, it was, 

 nevertheless, when he was a very young man, between fifty and 

 sixty years ago, and he and a relative of his, a Mr. Green, also 

 a fruit-grower in the same neighbourhood, had it between them 

 for several years, until it came surreptitiously into the hands 

 of others, before a quantity of it could be obtained. It was 

 some years before its reputation was fairly recognised, and then 

 trees could hardly be supplied fast enough. It has of late 

 years been extensively planted by most, if not all, of those who 

 have planted Damsons, and, jadfiicg from appearances, this 

 fruit is Hkely to be more plentiful hereafter than it has been of 

 late, for many trees are planted in hedgerows and other nc- 

 promising places, the anxiety to make the most of every inch 

 of land inducing planters to economise all they can. As a fruit 

 it is not so large as the Prune or Sbropshire D,imson, neither 

 is it so sweet as one locally termed the old kind, but it far ex- 



