November 10, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



363 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



Day 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



last 

 43 years. 



Sun 



Sun 



Moon 



Moon 



Moon's 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



ol 

 Month 



of 

 Week. 



NOVEMBER 10—16, 1870. 



ture near London. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 











Night. 





Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Davs. 



m. s. 







Th 





00.4 



S4.0 



4i.2 



24 



10af7 



19 af 4 



47 af 



laf 9 



17 



15 56 



314 



11 



P 





00.2 



342 



42.2 



10 



12 7 



17 4 



22 6 



3 10 



18 



15 50 



315 





s 





00.2 



S3.8 



42 



17 



14 7 



16 4 



7 7 



1 11 



19 



15 43 



316 



IS 



Son 





49.9 



30.2 



42-6 



22 



16 7 



14 4 



8 



52 11 



20 



15 34 



317 



14 



M 





48.0 



33.8 



41.2 



21 



18 7 



12 4 



3 9 



35 



21 



15 25 



318 



15 



Tn 



Stoke Newington Chrysanthemum Show 



49.0 



34.8 



41.9 



19 



19 7 



11 4 



12 10 



10 '1 



22 



15 15 



819 



16 



W 



Royal Jersey Horticultural Show, [opens. 



48.9 



33.2 



41.0 



14 



21 7 



10 4 



20 11 



41 1 



( 



15 5 



320 



From observations taken near London during the last fortv-tbree years, 



the average day temperature of the week 



is 49.6°, 



and its night 



temperature 84.1°. The greatest heat was 63°, on the 12th, 1841 ; and the lowest cold 18°, on the 10th, 1868. The greatest fall of rain was 



1.24 inch. 









IN THE ROYAL FRUIT ROOMS. 



IGHT royally for many years have fruits been 

 grown in Frogrnore Gardens, and it is meet 

 that it should be so. We look to Royalty her- 

 self as our ruler, our guide, and our example. 

 We look to the Royal gardens and gardeners 

 of Frogrnore in like manner to show us much 

 that is great and good, and all that is possible 

 to be done in gardening. The sphere of gar- 

 deners at Frogrnore is amongst fruits and 

 vegetables — to supply the Royal household, 

 and it is done well. To vegetables I will not here refer, 

 further than to observe that in no other garden in England 

 have I seen a more regal supply, and in such enormous 

 quantities.' There is vegetable-growing in earnest. But 

 to the fruits. 



I will here again pass by the long and noble ranges of 

 vineries and piaeries, with such Pines as Frogrnore alone 

 produces, which I will notice afterwards. I pass by the 

 Peaches under glass and on walls, the Plums, Cherries, &c, 

 and on to the Koyal fruit rooms — to the Apples and Pears. 

 Here, being joined by Mr. Powell, who has for many 

 years so worthily had the charge of this department, first 

 under Mr. Ingram, the founder of the gardens, now under 

 Mr. Rose, his worthy successor, I was soon absorbed in 

 a world of fruit. My visit was paid on the 26th of the past 

 month, rather late in the season for many of the fine 

 Pears; the glut of ripening Pears had just passed over, 

 and a more steady succession was coming in. All were 

 gathered, and here was the Royal supply for the months 

 of the coming winter. 



The fruit rooms at Frogrnore are two in number. One 

 is a large, lofty, square room at the back of the long range 

 of vineries near to Mr. Rose's house, well fitted- up with 

 shelves round the sides, and having a long centre table 

 with drawers. The shelves are plain deal, on this paper 

 is placed, and then the fruit. This is a very commodious, 

 light, and airy room, better fitted for showing off the fruit 

 than for keeping it : that being indeed the purpose for 

 which it is principally used. Specimens of the different 

 fruits are selected and placed here nicely ticketed and 

 named for their Royal mistress to behold. I was told the 

 Queen frequently has a peep at them, and it was pleasing 

 to hear of the great and general interest she takes in all 

 these little matters. 



Fruit room No. 2 is a long, narrow, lean-to shed, I should 

 say nearly 200 feet by 9 feet, with shelves on each side, 

 and a pathway down the centre. There is nothing orna- 

 mental about this room, yet it is wonderfully well adapted, 

 as has been proved, for keeping fruit. There is a door at 

 one end and a small window at the other, whence all the 

 light is derived. It is thus almost pitch dark in the centre 

 at midday ; to examine the fruits lamps are always wanted. 

 Darkness is a very material point in regard to the preser- 

 vation of fruit. The roof is thickly thatched with straw, 

 the walls are thick, and the floor is thickly concreted, so 

 that the room is at once dry and equable in temperature. 

 Enormous quantities of Apples and Pears are stored in this 



No. 502.— Vol. XIX., New Series. 



room, being placed on the shelves — the larger and finer in 

 single layers, the others in heaps from 6 to 12 inches deep. 

 I was struck by the general fine appearance of most of the 

 sorts, which were pretty numerous, especially the Apples, 

 but I was told they were smaller than usual, but highly 

 coloured. Many of the Pears, the old standard sorts, were 

 very fine. I missed, however, from amongst them many 

 sterling sorts of more recent introduction, which I would 

 suggest Mr. Rose should add to the Royal collection. I 

 allude to such as Doyenne du Cornice, Josephine de 

 Malines, &c These should be there in quantity. 



Of the Pears which seemed to find most favour here, 

 and which were to be seen in fine order, I may note Marie 

 Louise, the last of which I was just in time to see, they 

 having ripened much earlier than usual this season. We all 

 know the good qualities of this Pear. Chaumontels were 

 here, and are always wonderfully fine, much more round in 

 shape, more handsome, and better-looking than when grown 

 near London. There was here an immense quantity of 

 Vicar of Winkfield with its peculiar twisted squinting look. 

 It is very handsome withal. This is of poor quality as an 

 eating fruit, but is here found to be the best for stewing, 

 so it is well worthy of cultivation for that purpose. Easter 

 Beurre was here in grand style, and is usually tolerably 

 good for late work. It is, however, considered inferior to 

 Doyenne d'Alencon, a variety which in almost every fruit 

 list is given as a synonym of Easter Beurre. As it is to 

 be seen at Frogrnore it is quite distinct. Single specimens 

 of either could not be distinguished the one from the other, 

 perhaps, but in the mass the characteristics are very 

 striking. The flesh of Doyenne d'Alencon is yellow, 

 whereas that of the Easter Beurre is white. Mr. Powell 

 much prefers the former. Beurre Diel was also very fine. 

 What a variable Pear this is 1 Here also were great 

 shelves of Benrre de Ranee, a first-class late Pear, but this 

 season getting ripe now. Knight's Monarch did not look 

 so well here as usual. This is one which has proved to 

 be of the highest quality at Frogrnore, yet is very seldom 

 so elsewhere. It has an ugly habit of falling off the trees 

 before being ripe, and shrivelling up afterwards. Mr. 

 Powell, however, seems to understand its vagaries. Glou 

 Morgeau looked particularly well — great, clear yellow 

 fellows — the type of a Beurre I should say. There were 

 quantities of the large Duchesse d'Angouleme, the favourite 

 Pear of the Paris markets, yet no particular favourite of 

 mine. Winter Nelis was in great store, of the usual smallish 

 character, invariably of fine quality. Of the old Swan's 

 Egg, and its offspring the Frogrnore Swan's Egg, there 

 were fine specimens, the latter being of a more rounded 

 form, and fully sweeter than the former. Here also I 

 ran across the old Moccas, a very good sort, and the 

 Sabine, one of Mr. Knight's seedlings, but of no particular 

 merit. Jean de Witte is likewise much approved of. It is 

 like a small rich Glou Morceau. Here is another Pear 

 very much condemned of late — viz., Prince Albert. At 

 Frogrnore this is by no means a bad variety. In appear- 

 ance and quality it resembles the old Colmar. The most 

 showy of all Pears, the Forelle, or Trout, was here in 

 abundance. It is a pity it is not of a little better quality, 



No. 1151.— Vol. XLIV., Old Series. 



