JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
508 
f December 2, 1880. 
and September ; rates about 20*. per ton. From October to 
January Bordeaux sends us a considerable quantity. They are 
shipped in cases of about 1 cwt. nett. Cost of carriage, 2s. Id. 
per case. During May, June, and July the supplies are from 
Portugal ; and in the same months, on a limited scale, from 
Malta and the Levant. Rates from Liverpool 7s. 6d. per ton. 
Cucumbers here not inappropriately follow Onions, and for the 
additional reason that, like that useful and popular bulb, they are 
grown chiefly in Bedfordshire. They are planted in fields of 
large extent, and no artificial heat being used they are not ready 
for the market until August, when they soon become very plenti¬ 
ful, and consequently exceedingly cheap. From 100 to 120 tons 
per week are in good seasons poured into the market, and on 
such occasions they are sometimes retailed at four a penny. 
The English early Cucumbers always fetch a good price up to 
about the end of May, when they have to compete with importa¬ 
tions from Holland. 
Without separately mentioning every kind of vegetable, suffice 
it to say that all and every kind of herb that has corns into ordi¬ 
nary use is plentifully and cheaply supplied to the vast community 
of these districts through the great central market at Manchester, 
and that not only does the supply diligently wait upon the 
demand, but by the enterprise of the British growers and the 
importers the supply occasionally creates the demand ! 
I am bound to say, however, that in speaking of “ the enter¬ 
prise of the British growers” I refer more particularly to those 
at a distance ; and I trust my rural friends, the market gardeners 
and farmers of this locality, will not think me presumptuous and 
that I am travelling out of my province if I express the opinion 
that they are somewhat slow in discovering and supplying many 
of those things which are most remunerative to the grower. For 
many years they permitted the more heavily rented growers in 
the vicinity of London, who were handicapped with the cost of 
bringing it two hundred miles to market, to supply us with 
Rhubarb. It is within my own recollection that not a single Cos 
Lettuce, the only sort fit.to be eaten, could be obtained in Lanca¬ 
shire but what came from beyond London, and for many years no 
one here attempted to grow these things ; now everybody grows 
both. Probably nothing is more easy to grow than Scarlet 
Runners, and nothing finds a readier sale in the Lancashire 
markets. I have seen them sold this year at 8s. a bushel, but 
they came from a distant part of the country, the local gardener 
or farmer at the same time bringing a cartload of Cabbage, which 
sold for very little more. Brussels Sprouts are also eagerly sought 
for here, and bring 2s. or 3.?. a peck ; but the local grower of vege¬ 
tables says, as he once said of Rhubarb and Cos Lettuce, “ I can¬ 
not grow them,” notwithstanding that few things are as hardy. 
A Stretford gardener’s excuse for not growing Brussels Sprouts, 
as given to me, was “ The land about my neighbourhood is too 
rich.” Well, when we see so many fields in Cheshire whose 
principal crop is Rushes we certainly cannot allow the farmer or 
gardener who occupies them to plead the same excuse. The cost 
of bringing these heavy commodities from a long distance is great, 
and should be, if not a “ prohibitive duty,” at least a “ protec¬ 
tion ” to the local grower, to say nothing of him being enabled to 
bring his goods to market in a fresh condition. Besides, the 
words “my own growing” have a magical effect, and seldom 
fail to secure the preference of the purchaser ; indeed, so much 
are these words valued by the seller—and abused—that I once 
heard them used by a fellow selling Cocoa-nuts !—( Royal Agri¬ 
cultural Society's Journal. 
TREE PLANTING. 
Often as I have written about tree and shrub planting, I am 
convinced it is necessary to say still more on the subject, and as 
the planting season is approaching I cannot perhaps say it at 
a better time than now. Patient repetition is undoubtedly a 
teacher’s forte, and it is only by doing so in as varied and attrac¬ 
tive a manner as possible that he can hope to enforce lessons hard 
to learn. In this instance the art of tasteful combination appears 
to be the hard lesson. We have not far to seek for the reason. 
Go into a nursery garden, large or small, during the planting 
season, and the eye is at once caught and fixed by Conifers and 
evergreens, to which a prominent position is always given. Do 
they not afford us symmetry, elegance, richness, warmth, and 
above all infinite variety of form and colour ? What more do we 
require ? And so the order is given to the exclusion of deciduous 
trees, and the garden to be planted lacks a charm for which 
nothing can atone. It is true that in winter we are grateful for 
the richness and warmth of our evergreens, but beautiful as they 
unquestionably are, and great as is their intrinsic worth, yet they 
gain much in effect when associated with deciduous trees, even in 
winter ; but in spring time, when “ bursting leaflets clothe each 
spray,” and all the brightness and freshness of vernal beauty 
comes back to us once more, deciduous trees develope attractions 
that grow upon us daily till they culminate in the full splendour 
of summer in “leafy June.” Nor must we forget the rich 
autumnal tints of the decaying foliage which, beautiful as it is and 
admired for itself, gains much by association with the feathery 
forms and soft shades of green of the Conifers. 
Is the force of contrast among trees fully recognised ? If not, 
the planter can hardly hope to turn his work to the best account. 
It is a matter demanding careful study combined with refined 
taste, for startling contrast is as objectionable as tameness and 
insipidity. To reduce theory to practice, let us proceed to a selec¬ 
tion of a few of our best trees for planting in combination. 
Of Conifers we may take Pinus insignis, always attractive from 
its bright-toned green foliage and its dense yet free growth. Pinus 
excelsa, the Himalaya Pine ; of free growth, but not so dense as 
insignis, to the rich green of which its long, drooping light- 
coloured foliage offers a fine contrast. Taxodium distichum, the 
charming deciduous Cypress ; an elegant cone-shaped tree, with the 
branches and stem quite hidden in summer with foliage of a 
singularly soft feathery aspect, and peculiar shade of green. 
Picea cephalonica, bearing a general resemblance to the Spanish 
Picea pinsapo, but altogether of a bolder type ; very ornamental, 
and quite distinct from any of our present selection, to which two 
more Piceas must be added—P. pectinata, the well-known Silver 
Fir, often now classed with forest trees, but none the less valuable 
for a pjace among our choicest ornamental trees, and P. Nord- 
manniana, the most elegant of all the Piceas, growing quite as fast 
as P. pectinata, and like it, too, in gaining beauty with increasing 
size. Abies Morinda, the beautiful Himalaya weeping Spruce, is 
the only one of its section suitable for our purpose ; it forms a 
stately tree in this country, and its pendent branches impart a 
singularly graceful air to it. Abies Douglasii must also have a 
leading place as a prime ornamental tree, already upwards of 
100 feet high in this country, the tallest of all the Hemlock Firs, 
forming a charming cone of soft feathery green, quite devoid of 
stiffness or formality. Abies canadensis, though not so tall, tells 
well in the front ranks of a clump, and is remarkable for its 
elegant, slender, pendulous branches. Araucaria imbricata growing 
freely in both light and heavy loams, but best of all in soil con¬ 
taining a plentiful admixture of fine charcoal; Cedrus atlantica, 
a lofty and fast-growing tree ; the common Larch ; and the Scotch 
Fir (Pinus sylvestris). 
There are many other fine Conifers worthy of a place, but I 
have taken only those of proved excellence and of distinct 
appearance in order to render the selection really useful; all of 
them are evergreen except the Larch and Taxodium. Of other 
deciduous trees of a sufficiently bold type to blend well with them 
take the common Beech (Fagus sylvatica), the Purple Beech 
(F. purpurea), Fraxinus excelsior (the common Ash), to which 
not half enough importance is given as an ornamental tree, and yet 
its tall growth and beautiful foliage render it both conspicuous and 
attractive ; the Turkey Oak, Fulham Oak, Lucombe Oak, Scarlet 
Oak, and Common Oak, all grand ornamental trees in deep loams, 
but often the reverse in shallow soils ; Platanus orientalis, the 
Plane so much used in London, and which makes a fine lofty tree 
in a thin soil overlying a mass of sandstone ; Liriodendron tulipi- 
fera, the Tulip Tree, with bold, handsome foliage and of lofty 
growth ; the common Robinia Pseud-acacia; the common Lime, 
valued throughout the season of growth for its dense clothing of 
foliage, and in early summer for the sweet perfume of its flowers ; 
Spanish Chestnut, Horse Chestnut, Birch, wild and double-blos¬ 
somed Cherry, scarlet Maple, Sycamore, and Weeping Beech. The 
Weeping Beech is a grotesque object, only admissible into our 
clump as a foil, which by force of contrast imparts a charm to the 
most beautiful trees. To be quite accurate I should add that 
Lucombe and Fulham Oaks are not strictly speaking deciduous 
trees. 
With the exception of the Weeping Beech every one of these 
trees is worthy of a place as a specimen. Nor need they be so 
much crowded in a clump as to lose their individuality. Have 
plenty of nursing Larches at first if you will, but plant the per¬ 
manent trees from 50 to 80 feet apart, give due and prompt atten¬ 
tion to thinning, and so will they slowly but surely develope all 
their charms.— Edward Luckhurst. 
MELON CULTURE—THE BLENHEIM ORANGE. 
The many inferior and insipid Melons so plentifully met with 
induce me to offer a few remarks on the culture of this fruit. I 
do not believe the cold frame treatment suitable for producing 
good-flavoured Melons, not having yet met with an example 
