3G4 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTERE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



t November 7, 1872. 



specimens of Beurre Clairgeau from Mr. 0. Goldsmith, gardener 

 to Sir "W. Farquhar, Polesden, Dorking. 



In the Miscellaneous class there were some fine collections of 

 Pine Apples. Mr. G. "Ward sent sis excellent Smooth-leaved 

 Cayennes and Charlotte Bothschild; Mr. Bochford, Page Green, 

 Tottenham, a magnificent Charlotte Bothschild. Four fine 

 Black Jamaicas came from Mr. Deville, Wooton Hall, Ash- 

 bourne. Mr. Jones, of the Boyal Gardens, Frogmore, Mr. Ben- 

 ham, and others, were contributors of Pines. 



THE EARLIEST OF ALL PEAS. 



LAXTON'S HAKBINGEB. 



Among the hybridising feats which Mr. Laxton has been suc- 

 cessful in effecting, one of the most useful, and in a com- 

 mercial point of view one of the most valuable, is the pro" 

 duction of the earliest variety of garden Pea. The value o' 

 eariiness commercially is not always taken into account in 

 estimating early varieties of Peas ; but it must be borne in 



the 6th of June, being three days earlier than Dillistone's, 

 and six days earlier than Sangster's No. 1. 



The Fruit Committee of the Boyal Horticultural Society de- 

 servedly awarded it a first-class certificate. 



Harbinger. 



mind how great the gain is to the gardener who can in the 

 season be first in market with his early Peas, if it be but 

 three days before his rivals ; even these three days may be of 

 incalculable advantage to him. It was long thought that it was 

 hardly possible to raise a Pea which would surpass Dillistone's 

 Early in the rapidity with which it attained maturity. With 

 the exception of the inferior Early Kent, no other has ever 

 rivalled that variety in this respect ; but that which has now 

 stolen the laurels it has long and honourably worn, is one 

 which not only possesses eariiness as its merit, but quality and 

 colour also. 



Harbinger is a blue Pea raised between Dillistone's Early 

 and Laxton's Alpha. Its habit of growth is similar to that 

 of Dillistone's, and its height is from 2 J to 3 feet. The stem 

 is simple, producing from seven to eight pods, which are single, 

 2§ inches long, full, plump, and rounded, with a slight curve, 

 and of a light green colour. They are very tightly filled with 

 about six ordinary-sized Peas of a fine colour and good flavour. 

 The ripe seed is small, round, and light blue. 



The seed was sown on the 23rd of February, the first flowers 

 appeared on the 9th of May, and it was in full flower on the 

 15th. The slat appeared on the 21st, and it was fit for use on 



THE LARGEST OF ALL PEAS. 



LAXTON'S SUPERLATIVE. 



Mb. Laxton has been equally fortunate in raising the largest 

 as he has the earliest of all Peas. It is not unlikely that he 

 may live to reap the honour of having produced the best of all. 

 There is nothing of this kind impossible in the hands of people 



Superlative. 



who, like Mr. Laxton, make brains the groundwork of their 

 operations. The success that has attended him in this branch 

 of gardening is greater than that which has accompanied any 

 other who has laboured in the same field, not even excepting 

 that ardent Pea lover, the late Dr. Maclean, of Colchester. 

 This success is due to good reasoning carried out to a success- 

 ful issue ; for all Mr. Laxton's Peas are cross-breds — cross- 

 bred with a design which has almost always been attained. 

 These Peas are not results of selection taken here and there 

 from an ordinary crop when a disposition to vary has been 

 observed, and the truant secured, but are the produce of 

 crosses made and carried out with great perseverance and 

 patient labour. 



This Supeelative, the largest of all Peas, is a cross between 

 Ne Plus Ultra and a hybrid of Supreme. The plant is an ex- 



