JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
310 
[ October 6, 1881. 
d’Etd, Jargonelle, Williams’ Bon ChrtStien, Beurie d’Amanlis, 
Fondante d’Automne, Beurrd Hardy, Comte de Lamy, Louise 
Bonne of Jersey, Marie Louise, and Josephine de Malines. The 
following varieties will require a wall in most parts of the 
country and are worth it—Beurrd Superfio, Doyenne du Comice, 
Thompson’s, Van Mons Leon Leclerc, Glou Moreau, Bergamotte 
Esperen, Easter Beund, and Ne Plus Meuris. Marie Louise is 
also generally improved by being grown against a wall. 
Plums for Walls and Standards.—For Walls —Early Rivers, 
Jefferson, Washington, Green Gage, Kirke’s, White Magnum 
Bonum, Golden Drop, and Ickworth Imperatrice. For Standards 
—Early Rivers, Washington, Victoria, and Winesonr for every use 
to which the Damson is applied. 
Peaches .—Early Louise, Hale’s Early, Grosse Mignonne, Belle- 
garde, Barrington, and Walburton Admirable. 
Nectarines .—Lord Napier, Violette Hative, and Rivers’ OraDge. 
Order early, and plant if possible not later than the last week 
in November.—W m. Taylor. 
TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. 
Probably in no class of plants grown indoors or out has the 
same improvement been made within the last few years as has 
been effected with Tuberous Begonias. When they first reached 
this locality they were then generally grown in heat, and in a few 
instances in the stove. They were next found to do well in the 
greenhouse, and ultimately to make most accommodating bedding 
plants, growing fairly well on hillside or valley, partially shaded, 
in rich loam, loam and peat, light soil, and even in poor soil. 
I have seen them under all those circumstances and grown them 
under some of them, and am therefore justified in not only de¬ 
scribing them as accommodating, but the leading flowers of the 
future. These reflections were partially suggested by seeing some 
very superior specimens, distinct advances on anything that had 
hitherto come under my notice, in the collection at W. A. Riall’s, 
Esq., Amer Ville House, near Clonmel. Much depends on having 
a good strain, and then judgment in hybridising and raising seed¬ 
lings and growing them freely. Where there are thousands of 
seedlings raised it is not necessary to name them for bedding 
purposes : naming them here has been given up. Messrs. Sutton 
and Sons announced this long since ; and I believe Messrs. Laing, 
Forest Hill, and H. Cannell, Swanley, only name very distinct 
seedlings. Begonias are the only speciality at Mr. Riall’s, and 
though the houses are crowded there are numbers of seedlings 
planted out in beds. Many are now blooming without any special 
care, and are undoubtedly of superior merit. Hundreds have not 
yet bloomed, but those I noticed were chiefly single. They varied 
principally from pure white to yellow, rose, crimson, and bright 
orange, with all the delicate shaded tints between these. 
Although the beauty of many was on the wane, at the time of 
my visit enough remained to show the superiority of the strain 
and the culture adopted. The size of the flowers exceeded my 
expectations, and the shape even more so. Except the older 
drooping kinds the vast majority were round, and many fully 
5 inches in diameter. Other peculiar features were serrated 
or fringed edges to the petals, principally on those fine robust 
specimens grown upright. And here I may remark that to my 
mind those with drooping and pendulous flowers were inferior 
and not so showy a« those stout, firm, upright flowers. Another 
point, too, is that many of the flowers had five petals, making 
the circular disc more perfect; and this, too, should be per¬ 
petuated. Gardeners are as a rule unselfish, and Mr. Maher 
made no secret of how he grew such fine specimens. The chief 
facts are a compost of loam, leaf soil, and well-decayed manure ; 
storing the plants in a temperature not much under 50° in winter, 
allowing them to start naturally, repotting and slight forcing to 
give them a start in early spring, shifting them into larger-sized 
pots for large specimens, and after a vigorous start into growth 
cool treatment throughout afterwards. One of the elements of 
success I must notice was the constant use of weak guano water 
during the season of growth.—W. J. M., Clonmel. 
SCRAPS ABOUT FRUIT. 
I thank you for publishing my letter last week and receiving 
my suggestion so favourably. I am certain if cultivators would 
contribute notes on different varieties of fruits much valuable 
information would be gathered. Especially would I ask them to 
notice the failings of any sorts that have not answered their ex¬ 
pectations. There are numbers of readers who may not have 
much to say, but if each would tell the little he knows the aggre¬ 
gate of fragments would amount to a great store of knowledge 
that ought not to be lost to the host of learners, new with every 
year, who are thirsting for information. By a record of facts 
bearing on fruit-culture as much may be learned in a month as 
a cultivator could learn from his own experience in five years. 
In asking for the aid that others can give I make, I trust, no 
great nor unreasonable request, as I only ask for the atoms.— 
A Country Surgeon. 
Although I cannot resist “A Country Surgeon’s ” request 
to send a few “ simple items,” 1 fear that what I send will be too 
“simple ” for publication ; they are mere jottings of passing ex¬ 
perience. The best culinary Apple I find for this season of the 
year is Ecklinville Seedling. It is of large size, excellent quality, 
and is a very free bearer even on the Crab stock, which I find is 
the best stock for it, and on which it seldom fails to have a heavy 
crop. _ 
Albert Victor Nectarine. —This is one of the finest Nec¬ 
tarines grown. The fruit is very large and the quality excellent, 
but I find the flavour is better after the fruit has been gathered a 
few days. I think it may be called the best moderately late 
Nectarine. 
Three Good Pears. —Amateurs with not much wall room at 
disposal will find the following three Pears all that can be de¬ 
sired for giving a supply, early and late, of superior quality :— 
Beurrd Superfin, Marie Louise, and Josephine de Malines. The 
first and last do best on the Quince stock, Marie Louise on the 
Pear. They are best trained to a south wall, and are worthy of it. 
Some people say, “ Plant fruit trees in this generation to benefit 
the nextbut if you plant good trees of Apples on the Paradise, 
and Pears on the Quince, you may gather fruit two years after 
planting. _ 
Wormsley Pippin Apple. —Although this Apple is not very 
largely grown it should be included in all collections on account 
of its good quality, very free bearing, and good keeping pro¬ 
perties. It would be a capital market sort. 
Blenheim and Ribston Pippins. —Are these planted as 
largely as formerly ? I think not; but are there two better 
Apples grown considering all their good qualities ? It is only in 
old orchards that good established trees are found, and young 
ones are not extensively planted—in some orchards not at all. 
What shall we do when the old trees are worn out ? But I suspect 
we shall then feel the force of the old saying, “We never miss 
our friends till they are gone.” — The Doctor’s Friend, 
Worcestershire. 
The Domino Apple. —I see that scraps on fruit are invited ; I 
therefore send one, and may perhaps send others. Although this 
Apple is grown in the midland counties and much valued there, 
in Nottinghamshire especially, it does not appear to be generally 
known, or at least it is absent from many collections in the south. 
It is considered by those who grow it well to be an improvement 
on the Keswick Codlin, to which it bears some resemblance, yet it 
is quite distinct from that old favourite by its darker green fruit, 
and the tree also appears to be of less pendulous habit. Domino is 
a heavy bearer, the branches being often wreathed with fruit like 
ropes of Onions. It is fully as early as the Keswick, and the 
fruit is not blown off the trees so readily as that of Lord Suffield. 
Can anyone give the origin of the Domino Apple ? and will those 
who have grown it state their opinions on its merits ? I have 
not grown it, but have seen it frequently and heard it praised.— 
A Traveller. 
The Dymond Peach.— “A Country Surgeon” wishes for 
information on fruits. So do I. A gentleman visiting me in 
September said, on noticing a barren Peach tree, “ You should 
grow the Dymond, it is so hardy.” I asked no particulars re¬ 
specting it, presuming I should find it in the catalogues ; but it is 
not included in any of those before me, neither is it described in 
my edition of the “ Fruit Manual.” I wrote to my friend asking 
if he was correct about the name, or whether his Peach had any 
other names, also where he obtained the tree. His reply is as 
follows—“All I know about the Peach is that it grows well, bears 
regularly, and is good. I cannot say where the tree came from, 
as the gardener who planted it left me two years ago, and I do 
not know where he is now or I would write to him ; but as you 
take in a gardening paper, which is more than I do, you ought, I 
should think, easily get the information you want.” I now ask 
if there is such a Peach as this ? if so, what is it like, and where a 
tree can be obtained ? I shall be thankful for any particulars 
