534 



Garden and Forest. 



[November 6, 1889. 



was shown in s|)lendid condition bv Messrs. Hawkins & Ben- 

 nett. 



Orchids were represented by Lcelia mituiiinalis alba, the 

 flowers pure white with a yellow blotch in the throat ; L. 

 prcpstans alba, a beautiful novelty, the flowers being;' pure 

 ivory white, save a crimson tip on the labellum ; Cattleya 

 Hardyana, the king of all Cattleyasand one of the most attrac- 

 tive of all Orchids ; a hybrid Cypripedium and a curiously 

 colored variety of Lycaste plana. 



Hybrid Anthuriunis are favorites with the President (Sir 

 Trevor Lawrence, Bart.), who has a very fine collection of 

 them, mostly in large specimens. They are chieHy the prog- 

 eny of A. Andreanuiii, A. Ra'zlii a.nd A. Veitchil. Flowers of 

 several hybrids were shown at the meeting. For large stoves 

 these plants are most useful, as they flower freely and continu- 

 ously, their flowers being large and brilliant in color. They 

 are also suitable for mixing with large tropical Orchids, such 

 as Vandas. 



E.xceptional activity is being displayed just now by those 

 who believe that the position of the English farmer will be im- 

 mensely improved if he can only be persuaded to grow fruit 

 for the supply of the English market. I refer to this subject 

 because it must be of special interest to your fruit growers and 

 exporters, seeing that from the United States alone close upon 

 six million bushels of apples are annually sent to the English 

 market. It is supposed that we can do without this and grow 

 better fruit at home sufficient to supply every demand. Mr. 

 Gladstone thinks so. He has lately made an important speech 

 on the subject, being himself convinced that we are altogether 

 wrong in not devoting considerably more land to fruit culture 

 than has been done hitherto. The present Lord Mayor of 

 London also takes a keen interest in this (question. He has 

 had the Fruiterers' Company to a Mansion House feast, and 

 now he makes an appeal to the public generally for pecuniary 

 aid to the cause of this company. I quote from his letter : 

 "The Fruiterers' Company are making a very laudable effort 

 to bring about the restoration of fruit gardens and orchards in 

 connection with our homesteads and cottages throughout the 

 country." He then points to the " very large simi annually 

 paid to foreigners for apples, pears and plums which might 

 be grown equally well in our own land." Five thousand 

 pounds are needed, he says, to rouse the country to the im- 

 portance of this question. Prizes are to be offered for the best 

 farm and cottage orchards. 



Men who have had long experience in the culture of fruit in 

 England do not believe that the foreign competitors can be 

 easily ousted from the English i'ruit market. The very same 

 circumstances which enable the foreign corn growers to flood 

 the English market assist the foreign growers and exporters 

 of fruit. Last February I purchased, at a shilling a dozen, 

 Tasmanian apples, which I was assured by a fruit farmer 

 were almost equal to English apples which a few years ago 

 were worth about sixpence each at that time of year. English 

 growers cannot compete against such odds. All we can hope 

 to do is to enable small cultivators to grow a good supply of 

 fruit for their own consinnption. It is in this direction that the 

 efforts of the Royal Horticultural Society are likely to do much 

 good. By its splendid exhibitions of fruit, such as were made at 

 the Apple and Pear Conferences held a year or two ago, by the 

 valuable information bearing on the whole question of fruit 

 culture which was the outcome of the conference, and by the 

 publication of this and similar information in its journal, this 

 society has already re-established itself in the favor of horti- 

 culturists generally. We are proud of what has been done in 

 the short time since the revival of the society. Three years 

 have scarcely elapsed since the present effort began, and yet 

 the record of work accomplished is probably as good as any- 

 thing done by the best of your societies. As an instance one 

 might take the last number of the journal, which is devoted 

 entirely to Apples and Pears. It contains 376 pages. The first 

 part is full of valuabfe information from the masters of fruit 

 culture in England. Mr. Bunyard and Mr. William Paul write 

 on Apples for profit, discussing soil, aspect, methods of cul- 

 ture and the best sorts to grow ; Mr. Shirley Hibberd follows 

 on Pruning, and then come three thoughtful papers on the 

 subject of canker in fruit trees. Few men have perfect knowl- 

 edge of this terrible disease, except that it comes mysteriously 

 and appears to be incin-able. Other diseases are discussed in a 

 paper by Mr. John Eraser. Mr. Dunn, Mr. Cheal, Mr. Cole- 

 man and Mr. Saunders treat respectively on the best kinds of 

 fruit for Scotland, Sussex, the Midlands and Jersey. Compen- 

 sation for fruit planting — a subject of vast importance here, 

 but of which you probably know nothing — the cost of railway 

 carriage for fruit, are subjects which receive practical attention. 

 The second part of the journal contains statistical and other 



information relating to the cultivation of Apples in this country. 

 Aniongst other matters of interest, we find here proof that the 

 following are the best and most generally cultivated Apples in 

 England. 



Six best dessert kinds: King of the Pippins, Cox's Orange 

 Pippin, Ribston Pippin, Kerry Pippin, Blenheim Orange, Irish 

 Pearmain. Six best culinary Apples : Lord Suffield, Dume- 

 low's Seedling, Keswick Codlin, Warner's King, Blenheim 

 Orange, New Hawthornden. 



The discussion of grafting still continues in The Garden. It 

 is condemned by some because it has not succeeded in a few 

 cases, and it is defended by others, generally on the ground 

 of its facilitating the work of the nurseryman. The real heart 

 of the question is missed. Theoretically, grafting as a means 

 of propagation ought to be just as successfid as slips or cut- 

 tings, and practically we know that it is so. Certain simple 

 rules must be observed by the operator, the first of which is 

 what we may terin consanguinity'of stock and cion. The con- 

 dition of both at the time of grafting, the manner of its per- 

 formance, and the treatment of the grafted plants until the 

 union is perfect, are necessarily important to the success of the 

 operation. If clumsy workmen are employed, or if haphazard 

 grafting is practiced, then failure will come sooner or later. 

 But we cannot abandon grafting on this account. There is 

 scarcely one in a thousand of our fruit trees that was not 

 originally grafted ; and many ConifercB and other ornamental 

 trees are invariably propagated in that way, because it answers 

 better than cuttings. One might point to numljers of excep- 

 tional specimens of rare trees and shrubs which have been 

 grafted, and which, at the least, have not suffered on that 

 account, No one condemns cuttings as "a delusion, a snare 

 and a swindle," because some plants are a failure when propa- 

 gated by their means. Many of the Pine tribe are useless when 

 obtained from cuttings, as every experienced propagator 

 knows ; but there are those who, through ignorance or some- 

 thing worse, sell these plants obtained from cuttings. If we 

 want timber trees we do not get them from cuttings, b;ut from 

 seeds. I am trying to show that if the failure of grafted plants 

 here and there is to be urged as a reason for discarding graft- 

 ing altogether, then the same argument luis equal force in the 

 case of cuttings. I am told tliat physiologically the union, 

 between stock and cion can be made perfect, and that the 

 success or failure of a grafted plant depends solely on what we 

 have called consanguinity. If stock and cion work together 

 and the supply of nutrition is kept up, there is no reason what- 

 ever why a grafted plant should fail. On the other hand, a 

 great many plants for which grafting is not suited are increased 

 by its means. Rhododendrons, many Roses, Azaleas, and 

 plants which sucker freely, ought not to be grafted. I helped, 

 some years ago, to graft many thousands of Tea Roses on the 

 Briar and Manetti, but I know now that they are better on their 

 own roots and that they are just as easily propagated from cut- 

 tings. I touch upon this subject in the hope that some of your 

 readers will thirdc it worth commenting upon. You do things 

 on such a gigantic scale in America that grafting is sure to be 

 well testecl with vou. W. Watson. 



Kew. " 



Cultural Department. 



Notes in a Northern Garden. 



T^HE BEET, after the potato, is the favorite garden vegetable, 

 -^ and has a very wide sale in all markets. The long rooted 

 kinds have mostly passed out of favor, though the old long 

 blood beet has never been surpassed in quality. Well shaped 

 beets of the turnip rooted class, round, smooth and with srjiall 

 tops, enjoy the greatest favor. All of these are early, but some 

 are earlier than others, and, of late, the Egyptian has taken the 

 lead, though good only when young. An " improved Egyp- 

 tian " has lately appeared in the Boston market, which is a 

 decided advance. The Eclipse has not seemed to me to be 

 sufBciently fixed ; at least it appears to me to vary too much 

 in color and habit of growth. But the various forms of the 

 dark red Blood Turnip Beet constitute the bulk of this crop as 

 sent to market. In quality, the Bassano has never been sur- 

 passed among the early Beets. 



Lately, Beets have, in many gardens, been affected with a 

 disease which appears to be identical with the "scab " of the 

 Potato, and, as with the Potato, the use of stable manure seems 

 favorable to its appearance. Where badly affected, the crop 

 is ruined for market. 



Most amateur growers fail to thin out their Beets sufficiently, 

 and the result is a small crop of small and inferior roots. In 

 order to get a large crop of really good beets, the ground should 

 be well enriched, and the crop carefully thinned to four inches 



J 



