336 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ October 13, 1881. 
sising what we said of this preparation last year—that it is equally 
valuable for the boots of gardeners, farmers, and gamekeepers 
who wish to keep the leather soft and their feet dry. 
AUTUMN-BLOOMING HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 
The many excellent engravings of hardy herbaceous plants 
published from time to time in the Journal, particularly those 
blooming during the autumn months, are a great acquisition, 
thereby diffusing useful knowledge to gardeners and the public 
who have to supply, cr wish for a supply, of cut flowers when the 
beauty of summer may be said to have passed its zenith. I can 
speak much in praise of the two plants figured last week—Chr}’- 
socoma Linosyris and Senecio pulcher. Of the figure of the latter, 
the shape and size of the flower are excellent, but for the full value 
of the plants to be appreciated it is necessary to say that each stem 
carries from twelve to fifteen large and elegant flowers, several 
of them being ODen at the same time. Some of the Michaelmas 
Daisies are very beautiful just now, particularly Aster crenatus. 
Our borders are also gay with Pyrethrum uliginosum and Chrys¬ 
anthemum maximum, these have been in flower some time, while 
the Coreopsis linifolia has been in bloom all the summer and is 
not done yet, also the Rudbeckia Newmanii is still gay with 
flowers. Gaillardias are now just over, but have bloomed pro¬ 
fusely ; but Lobelia cardinalis and Anemones japonica, japouica 
alba, and hybrida are as full of flower as they were a month ago. 
Had we never seen any but the pink Anemone we could but ha ve 
said much in its praise, but the white is by far the most useful. 
Recently I had occasion to make several wreaths on the occasion 
of the loss of one of my respected employers, and the prettiest to 
my fancy of all the wreaths made was one composed solely of 
Anemone japonica alba and Adiantum cuneatum. These Anemones 
should be in every garden, as they bloom abundantly and are not 
particular as to soil.—J. W. Moorman. 
FRUIT NOTES—APPLES AND PEARS. 
No doubt brief remarks contributed from various parts of the 
country concerning the fruit crops are interesting; yet it is 
not enough to note which crops are above and which are below 
the average in certain gardens ; it would be far more to the point 
to learn what varieties are found most profitable in the manner 
adopted by Mr. Harding on page 170. If something of this sort 
were not annually forthcoming, many intending planters would have 
to rely on their own selection from the trade catalogues, which, 
excellent as they may be, are, to say the least, very bewildering, 
seeing how many varieties of the respective fruits are catalogued. 
Or, again, if the selection is left to the vendors the result may not 
in the end prove satisfactory, as the experience of the foremen in 
the department does not often extend beyond the management of 
trees of a saleable size. The present is a good time to publish any 
1 ints on the subject, and those who intend planting ought to make 
their selections without much further delay and order early, the 
trade motto beiDg “First come, first served,” and that too with 
the best trees. 
I am sorry to say our fruit crops, though in one or two instances 
better than usual, have still been somewhat disappointing. Apples 
of various kinds and in various positions all flowered profusely, 
but when fully expanded we experienced 10° of frost, which not 
only destroyed expanded blooms but also the majority of the later 
buds. What few blooms in many cases that did escape were very 
puny, and the fruits that followed are poor accordingly. The 
varieties the least affected by the frost, strangq to say, are in¬ 
variably good bearers, thus showing what a good constitution will 
do, even rendering them good frost-resisters. The crops of Keswick 
and Carlisle Codlins have been enormous. The next in point of 
productiveness are the trees of Hanwell Souring, and this is a 
valuable kitchen Apple, keeping till late in the spring. Reinette 
du Canada also cropped fairly, is a good keeper, and adapted for 
either culinary or dessert purposes. Blenheim Pippin, I am sorry 
to say, has cropped lightly, but the trees are in the lowest position 
in the garden, and consequently had not a fair chance. Warner’s 
King and Tower of Glammis have borne fair crops, but the fruits 
are smaller than usual. They are profitable culinary kinds, and 
the same may be said of Cellini. Of dessert kinds we have fair 
crops of Margil, Ribston Pippin, Court Pendu Plat, Cox’s Orange 
Tippin, and Scarlet Nonpareil, all of which may be considered 
profitable varieties and suitable for small gardens. To these may 
well be added the Devonshire Quarrenden. On higher ground 
near here the orchard trees are bearing very heavy crops of fruit, 
but I have not had an opportunity of learning the names of the 
varieties. 
Pears generally have borne very good crops, especially those on 
the walls, owing to their having set their fruit before the severe 
frosts were experienced. This was not the case, however, with a 
large standard tree of Chaumontel situated in the centre of the 
garden, and yet, in spite of the frost, there are several bushels of 
clean fair-sized fruit now hanging. We had abundance of Doy¬ 
enne d’Ete, but they were very small and much too dry to be of 
service. Beurre Gitfard is somewhat later, but is a more valuable 
variety. Jargonelles were rather scarce ; but of the delicious 
Williams’ Bon Chretien we had capital crops from trees trained 
to south, west, and east walls. 
Louise Bonne of Jersey is a great favourite with me, being of 
good habit, productive, and the fruit handsome and good in 
quality. It succeeded here in south and east aspects on walls, 
and also as a pyramid. We ripened a few to follow the Bon 
Chretien. Beurre d’Amanlis on a south wall cropped heavily, 
and the fruits are now remarkably good. On an east wall the 
fruit of this variety are very inferior in quality, whereas Beurre 
Superfin, which ripens about the same time, is most delicious, and 
this variety should receive the preference. Both succeed as 
standards or pyramids, but in this case the fruits are generally 
smaller. Beurre Colman on a south wall had heavy crops, and 
the fruits are now ripening. It is not generally a good bearer, 
and this season the fruits are below medium size. Marie Louise 
has done well this season, notably on an east wall, and, as is well 
known, is one of the best. Gansel’s Bergamot does not succeed 
here, and the same may be said of General Todtleben. 1 have 
never yet tasted a good fruit of the latter. Beurre de Capiau- 
mont as usual has borne very heavy crops, but I have a poor 
opinion of its quality. Duchesse d’Angouleme is fairly cropped, but 
this, again, is generally too coarse in texture. Glou Morgeau, I 
am sorry to say, is cracking badly on the south wall, but we have 
a fair crop of clean fruit on an east wall. Huyshe’s Victoria is 
moderately prolific on south, west, and east walls, and is a very 
good late Pear. Ne Plus Meuris on an east wall is bearing a 
heavy crop of small fruit, which when ripe will consist of little 
beside core. Autumn Crassane and Althorp Crassane are bearing 
heavily on walls and standards. The latter is a profitable variety, 
but the former is generally very inferior in quality. Beurre Diel 
as usual is bearing good crops of fine fruit. Beuirh Clairgeau on 
a west wall has cropped most heavily, and the fruit are large and 
clean, but those on south and east walls are very inferior. It is 
not a first-class variety at any time. Beurre Ranee on an east 
wall is carrying a splendid crop of fine fruiq and these will be 
invaluable in the spring. The fruit of Easter Beurre have cracked 
badly and are worthless ; and those of Winter Nelis, with the ex¬ 
ception of those on an east wall, are much too small to be of 
service. When of good size it is most delicious. A pyramid of 
Knight’s Monarch is bearing a good clean crop of fruit, which 
will be very acceptable in midwinter. 
The soil of a garden is a deep strong loam on a clay subsoil, is 
well drained, and seems to suit Pears especially. Those Pears on 
the Quince stock were the first to be fruitful, but those on the 
Pear are now much more profitable.—W. Iggulden. 
LINSEED OIL v. PEAR SCALE 
Upwards c f thirty years ago I had a Pear tree under my charge 
which was very much infested with scale. As only this tree was 
attacked, and to prevent the scale reaching the others, I gave 
orders for it to be taken out and burned. One of the men said, 
“ Paint it all over with linseed oil except the buds, and that will 
clean it.” I said it would kill the tree. He replied, “ No, I have 
seen it done, and it was a complete cure.” All the other men were 
of the same opinion as myself; and as the young man was rather of 
an inquiring turn of mind, and I had no reason to doubt the truth 
of what he said, and not caring much whether the tree was killed 
or not, I gave him permission to perform the operation as he had 
seen it done, and that if he killed the tree the consequences to 
him would be serious. The oil was applied in February ; and at 
the usual time when the buds swelled they did so on the oiled 
tree, and he of course was sanguine and made the most of it, 
but it was only for a time. The leaves made no progress, a shoot 
was never produced, and when the hot weather came the leaves 
withered. In the autumn they made another attempt, but soon 
faded ; and in the winter the tree was taken out, and when cut up 
it appeared as if the oil had penetrated into the heart of the 
wood. It was of a dark brown colour. The tree remained a 
curiosity the whole year, being very conspicuous standing on a 
wall among others wfith only a few small green leaves. It was 
the object of many inquiries, and was called Adams’ Tree, the 
name of the experimenter. The poor fellow was tortured about 
it during the whole summer by the neighbours, and for certain he 
was glad when he had orders to take it out and cut it up. 
