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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAG3I G1BDSNER. 



[ November 15, 1877. 



replacing them again in the morniDg when the sun toucheB 

 the frame. Carnations are subject to the attacks of green fly, 

 and if this is not kept in check good results cannot be obtained. 

 We have destroyed the insects in two ways — by fumigating 

 with tobacco smoke, or dusting the foliage with dry snuff or 

 powdered tobacco. When the lights fit tightly two or three 

 nights' smoking will destroy the pests. If this is not the 

 case it is necessary to dust the foliage. Dipping the foliage in 

 soapy water to which has been added a little tobacco liquor, 

 has also proved destructive to the insects. 



In order to be successful yellow loam containing a good 

 per-centage of clay must be procured for potting the plants ; 

 to this must be added leaf soil and decayed manure in the 

 proportion of 1 to 5, and an 8 or 9-inch potful of sand to each 

 barrowload of the compoBt. 



Some varieties are much more delicate than others. They 

 make very Blender growth, and the leaves die off near the 

 base; but as many of the-e have the finest flosers and are 

 almost indispensable to the exhibitor, they must bo kept in 

 good health if poeBible. It requires some experience to be 

 able to give each variety the treatment best adapted to it, but 

 as a rule weakly growers require a lighter compost made 

 porous by a larger proportion of Band. Others, again, grow 

 with too much freedom ; these will be better with a smaller 

 proportion of manure, leaf soil, and Band. They may also be 

 turned out of doors earlier in the spring than the others. 



Most of the varieties of Carnations and Picotee3 are grown 

 in pots at Loxford. and if it is intended to plant any out in 

 beds the more rcbast growers are selected for this purpose. 

 Varieties wanting in colour do best in beds ; high-coloured 

 sorts, on the other hand, are not improved by being planted 

 out. A friend in the north of England has kindly promised 

 to send me a few notes on the method pursued there with 

 them. I hear that they grow none in pots, but plant all the 

 varieties in the open ground. They eeem to grow the plants 

 two years on the same ground ; the second year they term it 

 " growing them on the bush." The method we used to pursue 

 in Scotland was this : About this time of the year the ground 

 was trenched 2 feet dee.p, working-in at the same time plenty 

 of decayed manure. On the surface of the bed some fine maiden 

 loam was placed, and in this we put out the plants early in 

 March about 18 inches apart. The plants do not require so 

 much attention in beds aB they do in pots ; but we much 

 prefer pot culture when they are in flower, especially if they 

 are wanted on a given day for exhibition, as the pots can either 

 be shifted to a cool place to retard the flowers, or to a warmer 

 position to bring them earlier into bloom. Mr. Rudd of Brad- 

 ford, an ardent cultivator and exhibitor of this flower, has 

 noticed a singular circumstance in regard to plants obtained 

 from the north, where they grow only in the open ground : he 

 has found that such plants never do well when grown in pots the 

 first year, it generally requires a season to bring them into good 

 condition. Another circumstance which cannot readily be 

 accounted for is, that certain sorts die off without any apparent 

 cause, although they may be as healthy as the others at the 

 time of potting. I had three pairs of one of the new varieties 

 this year, which died off, and had to obtain another supply. 



Those intending to purchase plants should do bo at once, 

 as the demand for certain choice varieties may be greater 

 than the supply. I prefer the plants taken direct from the 

 stools and Bent carefully packed in moss and wrapped round 

 with paper. When they come home packed like this they 

 ought to be potted without delay and be placed at once in a 

 eold frame, shading from the Bun for a few daye. It is not 

 necessary to give names of the varieties, as this has been 

 done so recently, but the above notes may be useful to those 

 who are forming collections and whose experience ia limited. 

 — J. Douglas. 



NEW VARIETIES OP POTATOES. 

 Some of the new sorts I grew this season are very promising. 

 Schoolmaster is a very good variety ; it bears well and is very 

 little diseased. I planted 1 lb., and the crop weighed 30 lbs. 

 when I lifted them, and had it been a good season for swelling 

 the tubers I believe there would have been 50 lbs. There we;e 

 exactly 29 feet of a running yard for 30 lbs. Yorkshire Hero 

 is a free grower and bears profusely and good quality : there 

 were a fifth of them blighted. Alpha is a good early sort, but 

 more subject to blight than the Schoolmaster. Covent Garden 

 Perfection is also a good sort, and Porter's Excelsior is a good 

 early — the true sort of it. Climax, Dalmahoy, Bintoul's 



S .riped, White Dons, Myatt's Kidney, and White Regent were 

 very bad with disease. The Blue Regent stood very well, but 

 the Champion is a dreadnought sort and bids defiance to the 

 tainted atmosphere which some think ia the cause of blight, 

 and everyone has a right to think. This sort originated in 

 Forfarshire three or four years ago, and is deservedly getting 

 into favour. I grew some of it, and it bears well and is of very 

 good quality and resists the blight, and if it is treated in a 

 proper way it may be the sort grown for years. A farmer near 

 Dundee has fifty acres of it, and he sold thirty of them and 

 received £50 an acre, and half of the cash paid down when 

 bought. There will be a rush for it for next year. A good 

 many of the farmers here have grown a few and are much 

 pleased with them. They bear seed freely. 



As a rule the disease is associated with rain, thunder, &a., 

 but I saw it one year in Ireland in a very dry season. I was 

 then gardener to the late Earl of Shannon, Castlemartyr, and 

 in Jane the Earl sent me to London to see some of the sights 

 there ; and when I returned the grass was burned up, and 

 there was no rain for long after that, and the early Potatoes 

 were much blighted, and I really wondered at it, bat it is a 

 fact. This and the Champion resisting this awful blighty 

 season will be a hard nut for one of your correspondents to 

 crack, and who believes it is entirely an atmospheric affair. 

 The new and hardy varieties must b9 grown, and if properly 

 treated there will be less dread of a wet season destroying 

 them. — J. Addison, Ormiston, Edinburgh. 



GLOUCESTERSHIRE ROOT, FRUIT, AND 

 GRAIN SHOW. 



One of those exhibitions of farm produce which usually take 

 place in the rural districts at this season of the year was held 

 in the Corn Exchange at Gloucester on Friday last under the 

 auspices of the Gloucestershire Root, Fruit, and Grain Society. 

 The Society has been in existence for fifteen years, and they 

 have held a show annually on the 9th of November, their object 

 being to encourage tbe production of superior samples of roots, 

 grain, fruits, cider and perry, which are the staple productions 

 of the district. We shall confine our observations to the fruit, 

 the other objects being outside of our department. 



In an unfavourable season like the preeent we did not expect 

 to see such a large quantity of fruit as was exhibited. One wide 

 centre table running the whole length of the Corn Exchange 

 was occupied with Apples, and a cross table was furnished with 

 good collections of dessert Pears. The Apples were divided into 

 classes, as Dessert, Calinary, and Cider fruits, and there were 

 also classes for Bpecial subjects of each of these. Upon the 

 whole, considering the unfavourable season, the quality of the 

 fruit was good. In the competition for a collection of dessert 

 Apples the first prize was awarded to Messrs. J. C. Wheeler and 

 Son, the eminent seedsmen of Gloucester, and the second to 

 Earl Ducie of Tortworth Park. Both collections contained 

 superior specimens, and they were all correctly named, which 

 is an unusual occurrence at exhibitions of a similar nature. 



We never saw such an exhibition of Ashmead's Kernel as was 

 shown on this occasion. It being a Gloucester Apple, raised 

 within the city precincts, it had a Bpecial class to itself. The 

 response was good, for there were no less than seventeen entries, 

 all of which were very meritorious with one or two exceptions 

 only. The successful competitors were Mr. Daniel Phelps of 

 Tibberton first, and Mr. Thomas Cadle of Longcroft second. 

 The soil of Gloucestershire seems to be specially adapted for 

 this excellent Apple, for nowhere do we find it produced in 

 better condition than it is here. The class for Bib9tons was 

 also good, but there were only nine entries; the first prize falling 

 to Mr. Barnes of Hucclecote Gardens, the second to Mr. Organ 

 of Breadstone, while those of Earl Ducie were highly com- 

 mended. These three were all very exceUent dishes. Of the 

 class for Nonpareils we could not speak very highly, but of the 

 Brandy Apple or Golden Harvey we never saw them surpassed 

 if even equalled. Mr. C. E. Wells of Minsterworth Bhowed a dish 

 which were larger than any we have ever seen and most beauti- 

 ful in colour: they deservedly received tbe first prize; while 

 those of Mr. T. Cadle of Longcroft, which were second, though 

 not bo large as Mr. Wells's they were equally fine in colour. 

 In the class for twelve dessert Apples of any other variety Mr. 

 Chadborn of Barton House and Mr. Deane of Boyce Court were 

 respectively first and second with Adams' Pearmain and King 

 of the Pippins. The prizes for collections of dessert Pears were 

 taken by Mr. B. Littlewood, The Greenway, first, and Earl 

 Ducie, Tortworth Court, second ; both collections being very 

 meritorious. The prizes for twelve dessert Pears any other 

 variety were both taken by Maris Louise; Mr. Phelps of Ber- 

 lingham, Pershore, being first, and Mr. Littlewood, The Green- 

 way, being second. 



The Grapes were not superior; but the culinary Apples were 



