Oetober 18, 1883. ] 
337 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
example of this is included in a collection from Bedfont, the variety 
Manx Codlin being shown of a uniform yellow tint from a standard tree 
on a clay soil, but the same variety from a gravel soil has a deep red 
side, the colour also suffusing the other portion of the Apple. The 
Kentish Apples are supreme in colour, and though several other counties 
equal these exhibits in size none contains so many finely tinted samples. 
The following are the leading coloured varieties, a few being local:— 
Algarkirk, American Mother, Calville de Dantzig, Colonel Vaughan, 
Cornish Aromatic, Cox’s Pomona, Countess Howe, Court Pendu Plat, 
Cowarne Red, Devonshire Quarrenden, Emperor Alexander, Fearn’s 
Pippin, Forge, Fameuse, Herefordshire Beefing, Hollandbury, Honeymoon, 
Imperial, King of the Pippins, Kingston Black, Lord Lennox, Mabhot’s 
Pearmain, Maiden Apple, Margarette Reinette, Marriage Maker, Mig- 
sionne Rouge, Nanny Apple, Norfolk Beefing, Premier, Prince’s Pippin, 
Pym Square, Red Autumn Calville, Red Astrachan, Red Cadbury, Red 
Autumn Calville, Rasenhager (Sweden), Red Joanetting, Scarlet Admir¬ 
able, Scarlet Pearmain, Soldier, Swedish Reinette, Sweet Kingston, Tom 
Putt, Trumpington, Winter Queening, Wilson’s Prolific, Winter Reinette, 
Worcester Pearmain, and Herefordshire Beefing. 
STREAKED APPLES. 
Though several of these are included in the two preceding lists they 
may be enumerated together, as they form what might be termed a dis¬ 
tinct popular type, and are very attractive:—Beauty of Kent, Burford 
Red, Citron Apple, Cliffey Seedling, Cowen’s Victoria, Devonshire Nine 
Square, Devonshire Queen, Fameuse, Flower of Kent, Hall Door, Hoary 
Morning, Jefferson, Margil, Monmouthshire Beauty, Nanny Apple, 
Pomme de Niege, Pomroy, Red Rawdings, Redstreak, Ronald’s Royal 
Pearmain, Striped Beefing, Sam’s Crab, Sheep’s Nose, The Queen, and 
Webster’s Harvest Festival. 
VARIETIES CERTIFICATED. 
The Fruit Committee held a meeting at Chiswick on Thursday the 
11th inst. to examine the numerous seedlings and new varieties sub¬ 
mitted, but the result of their labours was not very satisfactory, for 
only two were considered sufficiently meritorious to deserve a certificate 
—namely, Grenadier, shown by Messrs. G. Bunyard & Co., Maidstone, 
which we figured last week, page 321, and Bramley’s Seedling, from 
Mr. H. Merry weather, Southwell, Notts, which is figured in the present 
issue, page 341. Of the others some were considered fairly good and 
promising, but further particulars were desired respecting them; one, 
however, with a grandiloquent title, was rather forcibly denominated “a 
beast.” 
I have been much gratified hv closely examining the Apples shown at 
Chiswick. The information elicited and recorded will be very useful, but 
to trust to this Show alone will be very unwise for intending planters of 
Apple trees. There should be a Show next Christmas, and also in March, 
June, and October of 1884. Growers will then have more time to give 
further details of stock, soil, subsoil, climate, &c. 
It has been long known that some sorts succeed well under certain con- 
•ditions, but are nearly worthless under others. It is quite clear to me 
that heavy soils with clay subsoils will never he able to compete with 
Kent in growing Apples for market. Nevertheless, it will be a boon for 
persons growing for own consumption to know what sorts do best under 
such adverse circumstances. It is easy enough to improve the top soil, 
but very difficult to alter the subsoil ; and therefore I consider information 
es to subsoil is most important. 
I have a Sturmer Pippin tree which for some years bore good and clean 
fruit, but lately the produce has been poor in size and specky. This 
result I attribute to the roots having got down into the subsoil, although 
us well drained as a water clay subsoil can be. 
This season of 1883 has doubtless been in many places (not in mine) 
a very good one, and thus some sorts have fruited finely which in other 
years have not done well. Therefore, I think a show in an adverse 
season would do as much good as the present one; but this will always 
remain to be the right thing done, as exhibiting the results of a generally 
good Apple year. 
Mr. Harrison Weir’s experiments are very interesting. Will he kindly 
state in your columns the nature of his subsoil, and the sort of stock the 
Early Strawberry was grafted on that was renovated by grafting Duchess 
of Oldenburg on it ? I have found by grafting Warner’s Seedling (a pro¬ 
visional name) on an old cankered Crab-stock Apple tree, that the old stem 
is less and less cankered every year—indeed, nearly now clean. We must 
have Plum and Pear shows, and in London, not at Chiswick.— Robert 
Warner, Broomfield , near Chelmsford. 
GARDEN CHEMISTRY. 
APPLICATION OF MANURES. 
Before being able to apply manures to the greatest advantage we 
must understand how they stand in relation to the soil ; but as this 
will be discussed more fully under another heading it is only necessary 
to say here, that while the soil fixes and secures part of the manure 
against loss, other portions, and those the most valuable, are not held 
by the soil, but are liable to be washed away by the rain. Nitrogen 
in the organic form, or even as ammonia, is not liable to be thus lost 
to any serious extent, but these, especially in summer and autumn, 
are readily converted into nitrates, which the soil does not hold, and 
which can always be detected in drainage water from fertile fields, 
but more especially gardens. This is one reason why manure should 
always be thoroughly prepared. Fresh manure in spring is not in a 
condition to yield much food to plants, because it is not prepared. 
During summer and autumn this preparation goes on in the soil, and 
often manure is lost because it becomes plant food after the plants 
it was intended to feed are removed. The general idea is that what 
is over will be available next season. This is only partly true. So 
far as regards the best of it the winter rains carry it away in the 
drainage. When very thoroughly prepared, on the other hand, the 
plants get the benefit of its virtues at once, grow in the best manner 
possible, and by autumn there is comparatively little to lose. It has 
been utilised. 
Then much manure is dug in too deeply. Manure should be 
placed where the roots of plants can find it the moment they push. 
Too often time is lost by the plants being obliged to stand still till 
the roots find the manure. Not only does this cause a stunted growth 
at first when luxuriance is wanted most, but it is also the cause (f 
late luxuriance when luxuriance is an evil. When manure is dug ia 
deeply, or even trenched down as it often enough is, before the roots 
of many things reach it, the season is half lost and the nitrogen down 
the drains. 
In applying manure for nine purposes out of ten there is no better 
way of doing so than spreading it over the surface and forking it up 
with the surface soil ; but in order to be able to do so it must be very 
shoit and the soil dry, otherwise it should be dug in as near the sur¬ 
face as practicable. 
For most crops it is best to apply the manure in spring, and this 
even in the case of those put in late in autumn. Onions, Spinach, 
winter Cabbage, spring bedding stuff stand the winter best, and 
ultimately give superior results when put out in soil moderately rich 
only, and helped by top-dressings of manure so prepared as to be 
ready to yield up their goodness at once, or by heavy drenchings of 
liquid manure. 
In the case of fruit trees, unless newly planted, the application 
of manure is apt to do, not good but evil, should the spring frosts 
cause the trees to miss fruiting ; but when trees, including Rasps, 
Gooseberries, Strawberries, are seen to have set a crop, and are not 
in the best luxuriance, then is the time to give help, not only to 
secure the finest crops possible, but to prevent the exhaustion that 
censes future failure. If ordinary manure is used for this purpose as 
top-dressings it must be thoroughly prepared or it will be of no use. 
In the case of artificial manures they cannot possibly be too thoroughly 
diffused, and should, therefore, be carefully sprinkled over the surface 
and thoroughly mixed in with it. 
There are times to give manure and times to withhold it. The 
time for applying it to nearly all vegetable crops is just exactly when 
they come into being, for a thoroughly good start in the seedling and 
at the transplanting stages is more than half the battle. This con¬ 
stitutes one more reason why manure should be very thoroughly pre¬ 
pared and forked into the surface only. To apply it rank and raw, 
and deeply dug in, is to court failure in every but the best soils in the 
best condition. For the flower garden surface-manuring in spring 
secures a vigorous start that lasts, and is supported during summer 
when dense flowering and hot suns tend to exhaust ; and by the time 
cool nights and autumn rains encourage leafy growth at the expense of 
floriferousnes?, instead of this evil being intensified by the discovery 
on the part of the roots of deeply dug-in manure, the manure is spent 
and floriferousness secured. 
To feed young Vines which are growing with great luxuriance is 
to run the risk of making—nay, to secure the certainty of causing, 
growths that may be large, but will surely be full of pith, sap, and 
not fruitful. To let them starve when a heavy crop is swelling is to 
attempt to run uphill without steam. The conviction grows on us 
that all such subjects are best managed with abundance of mineral 
food. This of itself will not secure ihe best results, but when it is 
always present we may be considered to have the steam well up and 
only requiring to be turned on. Applying nitrogen does this. Nitro¬ 
gen itself will not secure a response, mineral matter alone will not; 
but if a plant has at its disposal enough mineral matter - , and nitrogen 
be supplied, the response is immediate. Growffh may be, and often 
is, too luxuriant for fruiting or flowering. Less nitrogen will secure a 
flowering fruiting habit, but fruit and flowers may be scanty because 
of stinted growth : then is the time to give more nitrogen. A friend 
of mine in East Lothian had a fine batch of winter-flowering Pelar¬ 
goniums. They were fed wuth mineral matters. To increase their 
vigour and production of flower sulphate of ammonia was given them. 
They at once went off into leafy luxuriant flowerlessness. Had the 
plants been suffering and stinted the effect of a careful application 
would have been what was desired. 
We cannot in the present instance enlarge on this point, but it is 
without doubt an important one to which not enough attention has 
been given. One more instance we will give. Some years ago w r e 
had a long line of French Marigolds put out in poor soil purposely in 
order to keep them dwarf. As they usually do under such circum- 
