August 7, 1S90. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Ill 
it for forty years, and I find it catalogued for sale in 1846. The 
tree is a strong and vigorous grower, a good cropper, and as the 
fruit is in use from November to April it may justly claim to be 
one of our most useful Apples. It has the merit of being a 
very early bearer, young standards in the nursery being frequently 
covered with fruit, and for market has the advantage of weighing 
well. This variety, with Bramley’s Seedling and Newton Wonder, 
should be planted at the sides of an orchard, where they would 
from their habit of growth protect less robust kinds from the 
influence of rough winds. 
Bramley's Seedling , although only known to the public since the 
Apple Conference of 1883, is an Apple which has been known 
locally for thirty years. The tree is a very vigorous grower, of 
spreading habit, a constant but not an early bearer ; fruit large, 
heavy, and handsome. Distinctly a seedling from the old Cald¬ 
well or Rymer, the fruit of which it so much resembles that when 
medium-sized fruits are mixed with fine fruit of that variety the 
best judges have been unable to distinguish the one from the other ; 
it has, however, a better habit of growth, is a better bearer, and 
produces, as a rule, a finer fruit. 
Beauty of Kent is perhaps the handsomest cooking Apple in 
•cultivation ; tree a strong and vigorous grower and a good bearer, 
liable to canker in some soils, or I should have given it the 
preference over Warner’s King for the first three. 
King of Pippins is far and away the most profitable table Apple 
in cultivation ; in fact, so far, the only one which has proved 
profitable for orchard culture. 
Improved Keswick Codim. —This, like the New Northern 
Greening, seems to be unknown in the south, and does not appear 
in Dr. Hogg’s “ Fruit Manual” of 1875, although it has since been 
brought to his notice. This Apple possesses all the virtues of the 
old Keswick, with the addition that the tree is a better grower and 
the fruit a shade larger. Everyone knows that the Keswick may 
be used for cooking at almost any time from early in July to 
September, and no Apple will stick on the tree better when 
ripe than this variety. When a heavy Plum crop and Damson 
crop interferes with the Apple pulling we have frequently 
left them hanging until October. The tree attains a medium 
size, is an immense bearer, and will grow in almost any soil or 
situation. 
Ecklinville. —An Apple of Irish origin. The tree is a fair 
grower, attaining medium size ; fruit large, handsome, and of good 
culinary quality; an immense bearer. 
Newton Wonder. —An Apple of recent introduction, sent out 
from Chilwell, received first-class certificate R.H.S., 1887. The 
tree is a vigorous grower, makes a handsome standard, and equally 
suitable for pyramid culture ; fruit large, very regular in outline, 
handsome, highly coloured, and weighs very heavily. Modesty 
compels me to place this Apple last on the list, altbough I think it 
will prove to be worthy of a higher position. I am fully prepared 
for the quotation that everyone’s geese are swans, and I shall not 
be surprised if someone asks how it is that such comparatively new 
Apples should be selected. My answer will be that the selection 
has not been made without carefully testing and weighing the 
merits of each, and surely it will be conceded that our old orchards 
need improvement in the varieties grown and the method of culture 
employed. The days of “ Bess Pool,” bearing once in seven years ; 
Blenheim and Alexander once in five ; “ Bartons,” bearing every 
year, but too small for sale when grown, are numbered, as are 
many others I could name ; so I trust is the system of “sticking in 
-a tree ” and leaving it without further attention until death comes 
to its release. To those intelligent cultivators who are improving 
their orchards by regrafting with improved kinds I may say that 
any and all of those named (except Ecklinville, of which I have had 
no experience in this matter) will succeed well and bear heavy 
-crops. It is unnecessary to tell you that -weak growing kinds only 
kill the stocks upon which they are grafted. 
'Varieties for Pyramid Culture. —1, Potts’Seedling ; 2, Lord 
Suffield (or where that cankers Lord Grosver.or) ; 3, Ecklinville ; 
4, Frogmore Prolific ; 5, Lane’s Prince Albert ; 6, New Northern 
Greening. To these half-dozen cooking Apples may be added 
Duchess of Oldenburg, Domino, Cox’s Pomona, Cellini, Small’s 
Admirable, New Hawthornden, Stirling Castle ; and for dessert, 
1, King of Pippins ; 2, Margil; 3, Court Pendu Plat (already 
mentioned) ; 4, Fearn’s Pippin ; 5, Cox’s Orange Pippin ; 6, Scarlet 
Nonpareil ; 7, Worcester Pearmain. These are all kinds easily 
adapted by their natural habit to pyramid culture, also early and 
abundant bearers. They are all so meritorious that to single any 
out for especial praise seems almost invidious, yet I cannot help 
saying that those who have not grown Potts’ Seedling as a 
pyramid will be pleased with it. Its habit is most charming, foliage 
bold and distinct, and whether with fruit or without an object of 
beauty. When I say without fruit I mean when fruit is not in 
season, for it is rare that you fail to find it carrying fruit at the 
proper season. It would be gilding the Rose for me to make any 
remarks upon Cox’s Orange Pippin to-day, since it has just attained 
its sixtieth birthday, and is now pretty well known to the public ; I 
will only in passing remark that it should be grown in a dwarf 
form, either bush, pyramid or espalier, and not as a standard. In 
conclusion, one word in favour of a very old friend—“ Margil.” In 
some parts of the country it goes by the familiar name of “ Never- 
fail,” and if you w'ill plant it in a situation where it is not too 
much exposed to spring frost, you will find it well deserves the 
title. 
Perhaps to those of weak digestion it has not so strong an 
attraction as the more tender Cox’s Orange, yet to many its flavour 
is unequalled, and, unlike its supposed parent the Ribston, it does 
not canker. 
IIABDY BULBOUS PLANTS. 
Narcissi and Daffodils. 
A few words at this time, while being seasonable, may serve 
to act as a reminder to any who are anticipating lifting and re¬ 
planting their bulbs, while to delay longer will prove detri¬ 
mental to some of the varieties. Though a great number of 
the Trumpet Daffodils, if not all, lose the whole of their 
roots annually, I am not so sure that the rule applies with 
equal force to some forms of the Poet’s Narciss, for it matters 
little what day in. the year you may examine a bulb, provided, of 
course, it is healthy and sound, you will invariably find it more or 
less active at the root, i.e., the fibres, and this is decidedly more 
conspicuous in wet seasons like the present. The roots of the 
Poet’s Narciss retain their vitality for a longer period than some 
others, so that it will not do to wait for the perishing of these 
while still left in the ground. During the summer of 1888 the 
double white Poet’s Narciss not only retained all the old roots, 
but continued to push new ones also, and the same thing occurred 
again this year in the same variety, also with ornatus, and in a 
less degree with recurvus and poetarum. From a knowledge of 
these facts I invariably begin lifting the varieties of poeticus first, 
notwithstanding that they are amongst the last to flower, and of 
course proportionately later in attaining maturity. In all cases 
where possible these should be lifted with the laying down of the 
foliage, and particularly so in wet seasons. The month of July is 
an excellent one for the operation, and depending on the nature 
of the soil and surroundings, early or late, as the case may seem 
to require. As might naturally be expected, there is considerable 
variation in this respect in so extensive a group, having such a 
prolonged season of flowering, and naught but that experience 
which is the outcome of practice and close observance in various 
soils and seasons can prove of much value. 
In like manner, when planting time comes the forms of 
N. poeticus should be the first planted. Indeed in all private 
gardens where these are grown it is much best to lift, clean, and 
replant with as little delay as possible, keeping the bulbs in the 
meantime in any dry airy shed away from hot sun. On no account 
should they be kept in boxes with lids—this is most certain to end 
disastrously—but place them in thin layers in open trays, where a 
free circulation of air is continually going on around them. Always 
endeavour to have them planted before any signs of emitting new 
roots appear, the first appearance of which is the white ring at the 
base of the bulbs immediately above the position occupied by the 
roots of the previous season, and this white ring gradually increases 
in size as the season advances till roots are emitted. 
In the matter of planting I am not sure if many bulbs are not 
planted unnecessarily deep, for deep planting has not the slightest 
advantage, but the reverse. A not unusual depth to be recom¬ 
mended is 6, or even 9 inches ; but in my opinion a far more 
reasonable one is 3 to 4 inches, or as forming a guide throughout 
the entire genus they may be planted at twice the depth of the 
bulbs, measured from the base to the point where the bulbs 
commence tapering to the neck. Deep planting, and particularly 
where these bulbs are grown in quantity, has the following disad¬ 
vantages :—First, the greater depth you insert your bulbs the 
less the depth of good soil for the roots to descend into, an item 
of importance in shallow soils at least ; secondly, deep planting 
necessitates far greater labour both in lifting and planting, merely 
in the removal of the soil ; and thirdly, by shallow planting good¬ 
shaped bulbs —i e., round, plump, and short necked—are a certainty ; 
not so, however, with deep-planted bulbs, as the following will 
prove to illustrate :—Some years ago I had occasion to lift some 
bulbs of the Tenby Daffodil, planted by a predecessor at 9 or 
10 inches deep, but which when lifted were not recognisable by the 
