August 25, 1881. ) JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 177 
fruit of each weighing 1 lb. 15 ozs.; and Beurrd Diel, five fruits 
making a total of 4 lbs. 12 ozs. The trees from which these were 
gathered are very small, but, like all the others, they are in excel¬ 
lent health. Beurre Hardy was also fine in pots, the fruits being 
remarkably clean. 
Against the back wall of the lean-to orchard house three Peach 
trees are trained. Barrington is very fine, also Prince of Wales and 
the Oldenburgh (Elruge) Nectarine ; and the trees in pots are on a 
par with those in the other house—clean, healthy, and fruitful. We 
may look in vain for such fruit out of doors in our walled gardens; 
and yet these trees are not expensive to grow, as they have little 
fire heat and they do not need much training, supplying water 
at this time being the heaviest part of the labour. After the 
fruit has been gathered the trees are moved out to the open air, 
and any which require potting are shifted a little time before the 
leaves fall. Gritty soil from the roadside is employed, and one 
barrowload of horse droppings is added to every four of soil. 
Old bones from the house are broken up and used as drainage. 
The trees in pots are not forced, but start into growth naturally 
under glass. 
In this system of growing trees Mr. Hawkins has the very 
highest confidence, and well he may, as everyone must envy those 
in his position with such large crops from small trees in a fruitless 
season out of doors. The same trees have been fruiting for four¬ 
teen years, and they have no appearance of being exhausted. A 
short time since Mr. Rivers of Sawbridgeworth informed us that 
the trees with which the late Mr. Rivers originated this excellent 
system of fruit-growing twenty-eight years ago are still fruiting 
in the same pots, and this year they are as vigorous as ever. The 
orchard house at Sawbridgeworth is 100 feet long by 24 feet in 
width, and from this over four thousand fine fruits are gathered 
annually, and these are widely different and superior to what can 
be had from the open walls at the same place. 
Besides the interesting orchard houses at Ewenny there are 
some good lean-to vineries and span-roofed plant houses in the 
6ame garden. The crops of Grapes are very heavy, and the 
Muscats finer in colour than any we have seen for a considerable 
time. Stove plants are also well grown, and, like the fruit, are 
great attractions at the local shows. The vegetable quarters are 
clean and well stocked. The flower garden, which mostly sur¬ 
rounds the house, is very tastefully arranged ; the beds are chiefly 
cut out on the grass. 
To the east of the mansion there is another kitchen garden, and 
here there are some very old glass houses which may well be 
associated with the old abbey.—M. M. 
A HINT FOR ROSE-GROWERS. 
It is generally known that nearly all standard Roses were 
killed by the frost of last winter, and in many places nearly all 
the dwarf Roses were either killed or much injured. By a very 
simple expedient we have for years saved ours ; and last spring, 
when Mr. Fisher of the Worcester Nurseries saw our Roses being 
uncovered and pruned, he said, “ Had we fallen on that simple 
plan it would have been worth £1000 to my employer.” We have 
no standard Roses ; ours are grown for cut blooms, and are mostly 
on the Manetti stock. In October, when the wood is ripe, we take 
a handful of common Bracken (Pteris aquilina) by the stalks and 
tie them round each bush, the Fern stalks upwards, and draw a 
very little earth round to keep them in their place during windy 
weather. When the buds begin to swell we remove the Bracken 
and prune the Roses. We had 42° of frost here last winter, and 
of some eight hundred bushes did not lose one that was properly 
covered as I have attempted to describe, while a few that were in 
detached parts of the ground and were not covered were killed 
in every case. 
I have seen instances where earth was drawn up around the 
bushes to save them, but it failed, while for the last three ex¬ 
cessively severe seasons we have lost none that were properly 
sheltered by the Bracken.— Wm. Thomson, Tweed Vineyard. 
MITRARIA INODORA FLORE-PLENO. 
Pore white flowers are always welcome for various decorative 
purposes, and they are certainly not over-plentiful amongst hardy 
plants during the months of July and August. Two of the most 
useful of border plants for affording white flowers during the period 
named are the very old Achillea Ptarmica flore-pleno, and the 
comparatively new Mitraria represented in the annexed engrav¬ 
ing (fig. 31). Flowers of the latter produced by young plants in 
not over-rich soil are somewhat disappointing, being semi-double 
and having a ragged appearance, but under more favourable con¬ 
ditions the blooms are as large and symmetrical as Pompon 
Chrysanthemums. Of this character we recently saw them in a 
large bed in the princely establishment of the Duke of West¬ 
minster at Eaton Hall. Mr. Selwood spoke in terms of great 
approval of the usefulness of this plant for affording cut flowers 
that prove acceptable for various purposes of decoration, and he 
consequently had a large number for maintaining the supply. 
For producing fine flowers the plants need good soil, and this 
being afforded they may be left pretty much to themselves, so 
freely do they grow and flower. All who desire a large supply of 
Fig. 31.—Mitraria inodora floro-pleno. 
white flowers during the summer can scarcely err by growing 
largely the two hardy plants alluded to. We give prominence to 
the Mitraria, as being less known than the Achillea. 
CHOICE PEAS. 
From what follows it will be seen that the varieties of dwarf or 
medium height are not much valued here, and this I may observe 
is due to their not being so satisfactory as the taller varieties, 
which for one reason have the pods at a considerably greater 
height from the ground, and are consequently safer from pheasants. 
Another reason is that the tall varieties afford a better and more 
certain return than the others, withstanding drought quite as well 
and excessive wet very much better. For first early the dwarf 
and medium-height Peas cannot well be dispensed with, as to 
have Peas early they must be grown in quarters that preclude the 
tall varieties. 
To insure a daily supply of Peas from as early to as late a sea¬ 
son as possible, which I have to do, it is not essential to grow many 
varieties, a few good sorts will do this much better than a number ; 
yet it is not advisable to rely entirely upon one kind, but to grow 
two at least of each of the sections into which Peas are generally 
divided—viz., earliest, second early, general, and late crops. In 
each of these I shall name two varieties, and shall be glad to know 
if other gardeners have found any superior for free cropping and 
good quality. 
