458 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 20, 1884. 
of Mr. J. Prouse on page 435 last week is exactly the same as that above 
quoted, and which I had previously advanced as sound. 
In my last series of “ thoughts ” I apologised for the number of my 
paragraphs on this subject; that apology I now withdraw, for it is clear 
that not one line too much has been written, and a “ Non-Believer” has 
done good service in affording an opportunity for the important matter of 
the use and abuse of liquid manure being more prominently discussed 
than would otherwise have been the case ; and although his “ contention 
is ended” on the point at issue, I hope he will not hesitate in guiding my 
thoughts aright on other matters in which he may conceive them to be 
wrong. I will endeavour to meet him fairly, and in the same good spirit 
that he has manifested towards me in this, I trust, not uninstructive 
controversy. 
On the subject of giving liquid manure in winter, I am inclined to 
think that Mr. Abbey, in his admirable article on pa?e 401, has not 
tested the out-of-the-way practice to any great extent. Your correspon¬ 
dent says, i‘ If liquid manure is to be of any use it must be when the 
plant has an active root-action. Applied when the root-action is dormant, 
liquid manure will not do much good beyond enriching poor soil ; but it 
may do great injury by gorging the soil with aliment which stagnates and 
destroys the roots.” _ 
I WILL not pretend to say that it is advisable to pour the liquid into 
soil that is naturally very heavy and wet; but I do assert that very 
marked benefit results from giving liquid manure in winter to fruit trees 
and bushes, Roses, Strawberries, Raspberries, and Vines that need more 
support than the soil affords them, when the ground is fairly drained— 
that is, when what is given passes in freely. I have used thousands of 
gallons during the resting period, which in many places is often the most 
convenient time for emptying tanks. The soil at that period is moist 
and retains the salts of the manure much better than it can do in the 
summer when the land is dry ; and I know from very carefully conducted 
experiments that the liquid may be given quite safely at twice the 
strength that it could be used with similar safety in summer. A corre¬ 
spondent, “ Lathyrus ” (page 410) has, I perceive, found the advantage of 
the practice in question and urges others to give it a trial; further, so 
far as I know, the heaviest crop of Grapes that is recorded in the Journal 
was produced by Vines to which liquid manure was given copiously in 
the resting periods. But let those who doubt the safety of the practice 
try the liquid on a few Strawberries, a Gooseberry bush or two, or an old 
Rose tree of no great value at first giving it now and giving it strong, 
then note the results. Mr. Abbey, I hope, will do so, and I think he will 
find it will not be injurious, but beneficial. 
After all, Mr. Iggulden has sent me, through the Editor, a jar of his 
green Tomato pickle chow chow, and a loig one too. I scarcely feel that 
1 deserve it, and certainly it came as a surprise. Your correspondent 
must be a generous man to heap coals of fire on the head of an opponent 
in this manner. I accept it with thanks. It is excellent, quite exceeding 
my expectations, and I can advise all who relish a sprightly condiment, 
such as chutney, to dispose of some of their green Tomatoes in the manner 
recommended by your correspondent a few weeks ago. 
I PROMISED if your Cork correspondent “ W, 0.” would state the 
size of his trees and borders that I would think over the subject of lifting 
Peach trees annually again. He has, on page 377, given the size of the 
borders, but not of the trees. I will now say that if it were my lot to 
grow Peaches under the adverse circumstances indicated, I should, if the 
trees were not more than 10 feet high, with about 15 feet spread of 
branches, only have the borders half the width named, or 4 feet. I have 
ministered to the wants of a Royal George Peach tree, which covered a 
trellis 12 feet wide and 35 feet long, in a border less than 8 feet wide, and 
it grew quite strongly enough in a much drier climate than that described, 
in which the trees retain their leaves in the winter. The moister the 
«,tmosphere is the freer the growth, and the smaller should be the borders. 
The soil should also be very firm indeed. Borders for Peach trees are 
usually needlessly large, and especially in dull and wet districts. I have 
no doubt your correspondent does quite right under the circumstances in 
lifting the trees, but I would respectfully suggest to him the desirability 
of thinking about restricting the roots still more ; for I am quite certain 
that if the trees do not exceed the size named that they can have all that 
they need in 4 feet wide borders. 
The imaginative dialogue between the squire and his gardener is 
interesting; it is, however, not very complimentary to the reasoning 
powers of the former. I know something of the difficulties that 
gardeners have to contend with, and should be grieved beyond expression 
if I should even in the slightest degree intensify them. I am no stranger 
to squires who have had the character cf being unreasonable, and have 
been twice warned against serving two of them. I disregarded the 
warning, and between the two spent twenty years more than contentedly ; 
and I have arrived at the conclusion that masters as a rule are pretty 
much what men make them. A few may be crabbed and unreasonable 
beyond cure, but then all men are not angels ; at least that is the opinion 
of— A Thinker. 
Cactus Dahlia Juarezii. —Not having seen an answer t) Mr. 
Murphy’s question, page 376, October 23rd, I venture to give the experi¬ 
ence of a young gardener. If Mr. Murphy wishes to have the said Dahlia 
in bloom earlier than October, he may have them in August by starting 
them the first week in February and taking cuttings in the usual way. 
Keep them growing in a brisk heat until they can with safety be trans¬ 
ferred to a cold frame to harden previous to planting out. Another mode 
is to strike cuttings of the same in October, and grow them on through 
winter in the greenhouse; but in either case they need more heat, more 
attention, and a longer time to grow in than any of the other Dahlias 
that I know.—A Young Gardener. 
GARDENERS’ ROYAL BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 
Having seen an appeal made on behalf of the Gardeners’ Roya 
Benevolent Institution, I take the liberty of asking the readers of our 
Journal to assist all they can in the effort to raise the sum required, 
£420. I confess to having had very slight knowledge of the Society until 
I wrote to the Secretary, when he kindly sent me a report. I saw at once 
that the Committee contained some well-known names, and that our 
worthy Editor is one of the trvstees. I decided at once to do what I 
could to further the object named, the raising of the sum required. I at 
once wrote for a collecting card, which I received on Saturday, and I am 
pleased to say that on Monday I had made a start by getting one contri¬ 
bution of 18«. I have, by permission of the Committee of our Chrysan¬ 
themum Show, had some papers printed calling attention to the same, 
and I am going to have a box placed in the room. My apology for 
writing is to suggest to my brother gardeners to try and get the same 
done at the shows which are being held all over the country. I have no 
doubt that the money will be raised.— A. J. Brown, Lindfield, 
[This letter arrived too late for insertion last week.] 
CORDON PEARS. 
A YEAR ago I planted against a south wall upwarJs of 200 cordon 
Pear, Apple, Plum, and Cherry trees, and I am glad to be able to report 
that I am thoroughly satisfied with them. I had a 3-feet glass coping 
erected along nearly the whole length of the wall, and very serviceable 
indeed I found it to be ; for although the outdoor fruit crops were utterly 
ruined by the late severe frosts of last spring I secured fine crops of 
Peaches, Apricots, Plums, and Figs grown under the protection of this 
coping. 
Nearly every tree of the cordons above mentioned bore a greater or 
less quantity of fruit, some of them being very fine. Thompson’s was 
laden with fine fruits, which turned out to be excellent in flavour. Red 
Doyennd bore well, as also did Doyenn6 d’Et6, Beurrd Sterckmans very 
large and well-flavoured fruit, Olivier de Serres, Madame Millet, Easter 
Beurr6, Directeur Alphand, and Josephine de Malines. Some very fine 
fruit of Worcester Peaimain and Irish Peach Apples were produced. 
Biittner’s Black Heart and Bigarreau (Frogmore) were good among 
Cherries, and Braby’s Green Gage and Coe’s Golden Drop among Plums. 
Considering that these trees were only planted a year ago they have done 
remarkably well, and as they are full of promise we hope next year to have 
a fine crop. 
The cordon system is undeniably the finest mode of growing fruit, in 
small gardens especially, as they soon come into bearing and also afford a 
speedy means of obtaining a good selection of fruit in a minimum space.— 
T. W. S. 
AKEANGING PLANTS. 
In the majority of gardening operations we propose to take 
Nature in its best forms as our guide ; and though it is not always 
possible, nor indeed desirable, to imitate natural conditions in every 
detail, because we are surrounded by such widely different circum¬ 
stances, yet the more closely we study the great principles that are 
taught us in Nature’s book, and apply its teachings to our own prac¬ 
tice, the more likely shall we be to attain the object we have in view. 
And it seems to me that we have yet much to learn from the wide 
field of Nature concerning our manner of arranging plants for decora¬ 
tive purposes. 
Certainly the prizes offered at numerous shows throughout the 
country for groups of plants arranged for effect have done much to 
produce a more refined taste in this respect ; but there is still too 
much sameness in most of the exhibits. It is surprising how slow we 
are to make any decided change in our style of arrangements—nine- 
tenths of the groups that I have yet seen differed but little in their 
general arrangement. The even rounded outline so commonly seen 
in groups of plants is just the reverse of what would call forth the 
greatest'admiration in natural scenes. Of course in the very limited 
area at disposal for this kind of work it would be absurd to attempt 
to copy the beauties of an extensive landscape, but there is many a 
quiet nook or graceful undulating surface that might, if imitated, 
produce a most pleasing effect. 
In arranging a group of plants I would first determine whether its 
outline should be convex or concave in form, as it is comparatively 
easy to work out the details when one has a clear conception of the 
design. Supposing, then, we wish the arrangement to partake of the 
latter form, and start with a background of Palms ; Kentias, Sea- 
forthias, Cocoses, and Arecas answer the purpose admirably when 
