October 27,1881.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 383 
years. It, however, never finishes off: to so handsome an appear¬ 
ance as those imported about Christmas time from America. As 
a culinary or dessert Apple to keep sound well till March or April 
it can be commended, and two or three trees in any collection of 
Apples cannot fail to give satisfaction. It forms natural fruit 
spurs freely. Has any correspondent fruited and ripened the 
Newtown Pippin satisfactorily in this country ? and if so, under 
what conditions? In quality, as imported, it is first-rate, but it 
lacks the high colour of the Baldwin.—A. Harding, Peterborough. 
Pears on Quince. —On page 358 Mr. Robert Warner gives an 
instance in which Pears on the Quince stock turned out a failure 
on a stiff soil with a clay subsoil. My experience of the Quince 
as a stock for the Pear is on soil of a very different character— 
viz., a light, dry, sandy loam, with a subsoil of sand or porous 
gravel, underlaid at 2 to 4 feet from the surface by broken chalk 
and chalk flints. It is this, that if such a soil be enriched to 
about 18 inches in depth with any or all of the following materials 
—viz., clay, roadsilt, leaf mould, bog peat, sods of turf, and rotten 
stable or farmyard manure (by no means omitting one of these 
latter) Pears on Quince will succeed well, and may be kept in 
healthy and fruitful condition for an indefinite period by an 
annual mulch of the surface with a material which will add to 
the fertility of the soil, and at the same time tend to keep the 
root-run cool and moist in hot weather and warm in cold. A 
capital mulching material may be made by mixing stable or farm¬ 
yard manure with any one or more of the following : —Spent tan, 
spent hops, cocoa-nut fibre refuse, leaves, hedge clippings, old 
weeds, and other rotable rubbish, grass cuttings from the lawn, 
and such like, letting them lie together in a heap for some time, 
and turning them over once or twice to mix and assist them to 
decay. A good way to apply the mulch is as follows :—Rake 
about 2 inches of the surface soil off from 2 to 5 feet all round the 
stem of the tree, according to the size and supposed extent of root- 
run, then throw about 2 inches thick of the mulching all over the 
uncovered space, after which the soil previously raked off may be 
thrown back again to cover up the mulching. February, March, 
or April is the time of year to perform this mulching operation.— 
J. E. Ewing, Eaton , Norwich. 
Beurre de l’Assomption Pear. —I can confirm the ex¬ 
perience of “ Leadeniiam ” with regard to this Pear. I had it 
when it first came over from France with a high reputation. It 
was recommended to me as a fine handsome Pear, ripening at the 
same time as Jargonelle. I have had it for seven years, and I 
have never gathered a fruit of it worth eating. I therefore sub¬ 
scribe myself— Disappointed. 
BELGIAN CAMELLIAS. 
The Camellia is cultivated very successfully and in large quan¬ 
tities in Belgium, principally in and around Ghent. Only those 
who have been behind the scenes have any idea of the great 
number of Camellias which are exported thence annually. As an 
instance 1 may mention that in the wholesale catalogues published 
by the growers the price per thousand is given. It would no 
doubt be interesting to know the number sent out annually by 
each nurseryman, but a more important question to us is, whether 
the plants sent out are of good quality, and such as will give 
satisfaction to the cultivator. 
After my own experience and the opinions I have gathered 
from others I certainly cannot give a verdict in favour of im¬ 
ported Camellias. Everyone knows that the great fault found 
with them is that they lose their buds. I named this fact to the 
representative of a great Belgian nurseryman. He attributed 
it to the treatment the plants received here, saying that plants 
which had been for the summer months in the open air were 
certain to suffer when brought into a greenhouse, allowed very 
little air, stinted for water, and “coddled.” I carefully noted 
the advice he gave me, and when I received fifty plants from 
Belgium last year I resolved to follow it carefully. As the plants 
arrived early in the season they were allowed for a while to stand 
outside, and every care was taken that they had a sufficient 
supply of water. When the cold weather came on they were re¬ 
moved to an airy conservatory, syringed frequently, and allowed 
abundance of air during mild weather. When the plants arrived 
they were set with an abundance of buds, and at the proper 
season the supeifluous buds were removed in the usual manner. 
For a while the plants succeeded admirably, the foliage being a 
good colour, and the buds everything that could be desired ; but 
when the trying weather of last December and January came 
about 75 per cent, of the buds fell. I had sent several plants to 
a friend, a most successful gardener, but his success was no better 
than my own. In the same house in each case other Camellias 
were grown which developed their buds and produced an average 
quantity of blooms. I am afraid, therefore, that I must conclude 
that amateurs purchasing Belgian Camellias must be prepared 
for disappointment the first year. 
The question now arises as to whether these effects are merely 
the results of change of climate, &c., or whether the method of 
culture adopted in Belgium is unsound. Most certainly at the 
outset appearances are against the grower. We find the plant 
crammed into a misshapen flower pot much too small and very 
badly drained, while the compost used is simply leaf soil and 
sand. An intelligent gardener whose opinion 1 asked on this 
matter tells me that such a compost is exhausted too soon. A com¬ 
post for Camellias should have lasting qualities, as the plant has 
to grow in it for a considerable period. The general opinion 
among small growers here is, that the Camellia which is so healthy 
and full of vigour when it leaves the nursery at Ghent, loses 
much of its vigour for the first season here. It would be almost 
too severe to say that the plants are grown to succeed up to a 
certain point, in other words “grown to sell.” It is said that 
there is a scarcity of really good loam and peat at Ghent, and 
for that reason mainly the plants are grown in leaf soil. Con¬ 
sidering the great numbers grown for the English market, it 
would certainly not be unreasonable for us to expect the growers 
to go to a little extra trouble and expense to procure suitable 
potting material. 
When the plants had finished blooming last season and were 
beginning to grow they were potted. The pots we found in all 
cases badly drained, and in some we found no drainage at all, 
some of the pots, in fact, being waterlogged. Considering that 
the plants came from one of the best and largest growers in Ghent 
this was very reprehensible ; it is only, however, one of the faults 
into which wholesale manufacturers of plants fall. A consider¬ 
able quantity of the old material was shaken away, and the plants 
were placed in pots a size larger, the compost used having for 
its basis good fibrous loam, a little peat and sand being added. 
To induce growth the syringe was used freely, and the plants are 
now healthy and vigorous and fairly well set with buds. 
My advice to amateurs is to purchase English-grown Camellias, 
for though they may cost a little more they are grown on sound 
principles, and are more certain to give satisfaction. Many 
thousands of Camellias (small plants which are not budded) are 
purchased by English nurserymen to be grown a season or two 
here. Such plants, having formed buds in our own climate, are 
quite as safe to buy as those grafted in our nurseries. 
The foreman in a large English establishment tells me that he 
never puts his plants outside, the house is shaded a little, plenty 
of air is admitted day and night, the syringe is freely used, and 
the whole arrangement produces most satisfactory results.— 
Vindex. 
THEORIES IN GRAPE CULTURE. 
Probably no subject connected with horticulture proves more 
generally interesting than Grape culture, and a properly con¬ 
ducted discussion of the merits of any particular theories or 
practices is certain to be instructive to many readers of the 
Journal. It is my intention to comment on some of these 
theories, and for my own benefit as well as others, trust I shall 
be successful in eliciting opinions upon the subject. That the list 
of contributors to this Journal includes many experienced Grape- 
growers we are constantly receiving ample proof, and if my ideas 
are in opposition to theirs I am open to and invite correction. 
It must be understood I have not referred to any back numbers, 
and do not allude to any particular person’s theories, but merely 
comment upon what I have generally noted. 
At present I will confine myself to the practice of encouraging 
young Vines to make as much top-growth as possible under the 
circumstances for the first few years, say till they are in full 
bearing—the aim being to fill the borders with active roots— 
supposing this to be of inestimable value to the Vines. This has 
long been believed in aud practised by several successful Grape- 
growers with whom I am personally acquainted, the results appa¬ 
rently justifying its adoption. I should be sorry to be thought 
bigoted; at the same time I say “apparently,” being under the 
impression that the practice is not so sound as it appears, and 
much may be said against it. Take as an example, and what may 
be commonly met with, especially in some districts, a house of 
Vines planted during the early part of the year. An expensive 
border is made, as much pains being taken with the composts as 
a cook takes with the ingredients of plum puddiDg, the Vines are 
planted, and encouraged to grow as freely as possible. This may 
be all well and good, but why induce the formation of a thicket 
