December S, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



449 



Peach trees before referred to, they were spurred-in to one 

 line. The border might be from 4 to 5 feet wide, and there 

 was a line of trees along each side, while other cordons at 

 right angles and diagonally made the whole appear like lattice- 

 work, and if not pretty, it was certainly novel. There was fruit 

 on many of the trees, but I think the general deficiency of 

 Apples on other trees had also extended to these. The trees 

 that were in bearing seemed to be full grown, and good in their 

 way, and I understood from Mr. Moffat that any undue gross- 

 ness of growth was met by taking up and root-pruning. This 

 was also practised with the Peach trees in the first house, and 

 the Pears against the walls. It is owing to this root-pruning 

 or lifting that a moderate growth is maintained, and certainly 

 the whole of the trees had the appearance of fruitfulness 

 rather than undue vigour. It was evident, therefore, that 

 great discrimination had been used, for one tree was like all 

 the others. 

 We now come to, perhaps, the most important feature in 



the fruit cultivation — the Pears, of which there is an excellent 

 collection at this place. Mr. Moffat, some years ago when 

 there was a special show of this fruit and of Apples at South 

 Kensington, sent dishes of upwards of seventy distinct kinds, 

 and won prizes. The crop of 1872, as well as the apparent 

 quality, favoured a belief that he could far exceed that number 

 at the present time. These fruits, like the Peaches, I may say, 

 were mostly grown on single trees planted about 18 inches 

 apart against a back wall, and trained in the same diagonal 

 manner, each shoot being nailed perfectly straight at an angle 

 of about 60° or so, and as they were parallel to each other, 

 the effect was pretty. The crop was heavy, while cracked and 

 speckled fruit were conspicuous by their absence; it would, 

 indeed, be difficult to find better samples of most of the kinds. 

 Even Gansel's Bergamot was clean and good, as well as abun- 

 dant; while Marie Louise, Louise Bonne, Duchesse d'Angou- 

 leme, and the best French and English varieties were in 

 abundance. The wall being high, the appearance was good ; 



Hindlip Hall. — Lawn siile. 



there were no blank places, such as often in spite of all care 

 present themselves on walls where fan or horizontal-trained 

 trees unite at one place and not at another. The aspect, I 

 believe, was north-west, but a portion of the south-west wall 

 was also devoted to the same purpose where the nature of the 

 ground and other circumstances were unfavourable to the 

 growth of Apricots, which, however, was more successfully done 

 against another portion of the same wall. Plums and Cherries 

 were also grown in the same way as Pears, but the plan did 

 not seem so well adapted for the Cherry, especially the May 

 Dukes and similar kinds. Neither were Apricots subjected to 

 that close pruning ; but all other kinds of fruit were trained in 

 this fashion, and in most, if not all, with a successful result. 



The first question invariably asked by gardeners when told 

 of the well-doing of a plant or fruit is, What land of soil 

 was it grown in ? This is, however, a more difficult matter to 

 explain than appears at first sight ; but in the matter of the 

 Apple and Pear trees I was agreeably surprised at not seeing 

 a single tree — at least, I did not perceive one — affected with 

 the white moss or lichen which covers so many of our trees in 

 Kent. This peculiarity, I need hardly say, is not confined to 

 the trees at Hindlip, for the general stamp of old Pear and 

 Apple trees in the county, or at all events the district, is to be 

 without moss, the bark being in most places clean, smooth, and 



healthy. Even when the annual growth was limited to the 

 smallest fraction possible, the spur or bud was free from moss, 

 as likewise was the older stem. 



As regards the soil, lime or chalk was not so abundant as in 

 some places, but the ground was kept open by a dark-coloured 

 sand. Underneath the soil, which was of considerable depth, 

 was a kind of unctuous marl more or less interspersed with 

 gravel, rendering it accessible to such roots of trees as ven- 

 tured downwards. To its fertility of character must in a 

 great measure be attributed the great age and size of many of 

 the Pear trees one meets with at every turn, and most kinds 

 of fruit trees were also at home in it. I am not sure if the 

 latter do not grow quite as well in a soil of a different kind, 

 but most fruits and vegetables were doing well. The soil 

 seemed to be well adapted for Strawberries as well as the more 

 robust-growing fruit trees, but Raspberries were not so much 

 at home, and better Black Currants may be met with elsewhere. 

 I was pleased to see amongst other varieties of Strawberries 

 that the old Hautbois was still cultivated, and I was told it 

 bore well too, which is not always the case at other places. 



Amongst vegetables, Celery, Lettuce, and Asparagus were 

 evidently thriving, while the Cabbage family were not, perhaps, 

 so successful ; they require a soil somewhat different from that 

 at Hindlip. I was sorry to hear from Mr. Moffat, as well as 



