144 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 25, 1892. 
thicker in the row than the plants are intended to he when thinned 
out. This will allow for any mishaps that may occur between the 
sowing and thinning time. The time of year, as well as the 
character of the soil, should be considered in sowing, the seed 
being sown thicker early in the season and in heavy soils.— 
H. W. W. 
OPEN AIR PEACHES. 
I HAD hoped, should Mr. Iggulden reply to my note respecting his 
method of dealing with open air Peaches, that some clearly defined 
defence would be made. Alas ! my hopes are not realised ; he quietly 
takes shelter in the omission of the word “ order,” which to some extent 
modifies the sentence. Yet I cannot see that it has any material effect 
in strengthening his case; the direct question still remains unanswered, 
viz., the necessity for moving trees so late in the season. What are the 
advantages gained ? When a man advances any new method he should be 
prepared to clear up every point and state every advantage. The only 
advantage I can see—disadvantage would be a better term—is the 
necessity for more labour and attention, which is altogether uncalled-for 
at that period of the year when a thousand and one important duties are 
crowding upon a gardener daily. 
Mr. Iggulden now admits that he does not recommend the practice 
generally ; that admission alone shows clearly how uncertain the method 
may prove. It would have been far better had Mr. Iggulden cut out 
the sixth paragraph of his article and inserted it under the heading of 
“ Experiments with Open Air Peach trees.” 
It will be some consolation for him to know that he has at least one 
champion in the cause, Mr. John Chinnery. With the Editor’s per¬ 
mission I,should like to ask one or two questions. Admitting the fact 
that his Peach trees have succeeded so well under what I may term 
exceptional treatment, had Mr. John Chinnery taken charge in 
November instead of May would he have waited until the following 
May to root-prune and remove the Peach trees/ Again, when the trees 
require root-pruning or removing will he rest content by waiting until 
May to do the necessary w'ork ? If so I am afraid he would not receive 
so congratulatory a note from his employer that season. Of course, in 
exceptional cases exceptional treatment is required at times, but what 
I wish to elicit is whether the system is worth advocating. 
I may say respecting the re-reading of Mr. Iggulden’s article which 
Mr. John Chinnery refers me to, that I have re-read it carefully, and the 
more I read the more difficult it appears. In support of this statement 
allow me to refer Mr. John Chinnery to the fourth paragraph of the article, 
page 79, he will see that root-pruning is spoken of in the following words : 
“ Cropping young trees answering our purpose better than constantly 
root-pruning.” Now pass to the sixth paragraph, which reads : “ When 
the trees are in full bearing ‘ order ’ it is advisable to undermine and cut 
through deeply running roots.” Suppose, after undermining, no deeply 
running roots are found, which is quite possible, because I take it that 
when a tree is in full bearing order it is in a satisfactory condition. 
Then why root-prune? Would it not be preferable to follow the 
advice given in the fourth paragraph and take a crop and so regulate the 
roots and growth ? If it answers Mr. Iggulden’s purpose in such cases 
why recommend manipulating the roots yearly, when the trees are in 
full bearing “ order ? ” The question, in my opinion, is far from meet¬ 
ing with practical support. 
It is in the interest of science and good gardening that this subject is 
brought to the front. Good gardening does not result from working 
in direct opposition with Nature, and science misdirected is far worse 
than science unknown.—Nous Vereons, 
I THINK your correspondent “Nous Verrons” was a little too 
severe in his condemnation of Mr. Iggulden, and, indeed, perhaps a 
little too hasty. For although Mr. Iggulden omitted the word “ order,” 
I think any reasonable person could not think that he was really 
recommending your readers to lift their Peach trees while the leaves and 
fruit was still on them. Your correspondent is too practical for that. 
“Nous Verrons” also makes some remarks about the Peach trees at 
Marston. Now, I consider that such remarks are not only discourteous 
but they are unjust in the extreme, and furt’ner, if writers to periodicals 
are going to make such remarks I fear that it must prevent many of our 
most able gardeners from giving their experience through the best 
medium of imparting knowledge to young gardeners, viz., the weekly 
periodical. I would also like to ask, where is the gardener who can 
have everything in a state of excellence, more particularly he who has a 
large establishment to cater for ? and particularly where the gardener is 
handicapped for want of moderate labour it is absolutely impossible to 
do everything as one would desire. But whether or not open-air Peach 
culture is a success at Marston I am unable to say, not having seen the 
place, but one thing must be quite clear to every reader of the Journal, 
that gardeners should not try to expose each other’s defects through 
the Horticultural Press.—T. A. 
I WAS pleased to notice Mr. Iggulden’s reply to “ Nous Verrons ” in 
last week’s issue (page 130). Judging from the prize lists of the various 
shows, I think Mr. Iggulden’s success as a Peach grower is quite 
sufficient to justify us in attaching importance to any statements he 
may make respecting his practice. It is to the pages of the Journal 
that many of us are accustomed to look week by week for new sug¬ 
gestions and ideas; and those who furnish them, stating the conditions 
under which their ideas have been put into practice, and giving the 
results, deserve the thanks of all who are interested in the art of assisting 
Nature in the development of her many wonders—both useful and 
beautiful. During the past few years horticulture has made considerable 
progress. Surely there are many things done in everyday practice now 
which a few years ago would have been looked upon as unreasonable 
absurdities.—W. H. W. 
Me. Eivees has sent us some specimens of cooking Apples,, 
among which were a few of Bismarck, with the request that we 
should test their qualities. What is remarkable in this fine Apple is its 
wonderful fragrance when baked. When put upon the table there was- 
emitted a scent as if of Violets, but not so powerful as to be objection¬ 
able. This IS a characteristic which we have never before observed, 
and we shall be glad to know if any of our readers have noticed it. 
-Fruit and Flowers from the Channel Isles.—D uring 
the past twelve months enormous quantities of produce have been 
received from Jersey and Guernsey. It is reported that 84,000 baskets, 
largely consisting of Grapes and Tomatoes, were consigned to one leading 
salesman in Covent Garden Market in that period. Large quantities of 
Melons, Figs, and flowers were also received. 
- Shropshire Horticultural Society.— Messrs. Adnitt and 
Naunton, Shrewsbury, desire us to correct an error in the paragraph 
respecting the last year’s work of the above Society. The prize money 
paid in 1891 was £597 5s., not £428 7s. 6d., as stated at page 127. 
- Recent Severe Weather. —As, no doubt, you will be receiving 
reports from different quarters as to the amount of frost, I thought it 
might be interesting to note what has been observed in Staffordshire. 
February commenced with us in beautiful weather, and up to the 14th 
inst. it was quite spring like. Our thermometer in the open facing the 
south for the thirteen days registered 24°, as the lowest on Thursday the 
4th, and 65° as the highest on Monday the 1st. With the sunny days 
and mild nights various fruit trees and shrubs seemed to be quite active 
and grass quite green and growing. The morning of the 15th was a 
decided change, a demonstration of the fickleness of our climate, the 
glass showing 7° of frost. During the day a strong nor’-easter brought 
us 4 or 5 inches of snow, and as an inducement for it to stay for a 
while the thermometer fell to 19°. We registered 24° on the 16th, 
and although during the day following the glass rose in the sun to 
64°, it fell again to 11°. Thursday, the 18th, was bitterly cold ; our read¬ 
ing was 27° as the highest, and at midnight we were experiencing 26° of 
frost. After such exceptionally mild weather the fall of snow would 
be welcomed by many as good protective material, taking into consider¬ 
ation that such a sudden return to winter finds many plants in a rather 
critieal state.—A. V. M. 
- Me. C. Portsmouth, Elimore Hall, Haswell, Sunderland^ 
writes :—“ It may perhaps interest you to know that we had 35° 
of frost (3° below zero) here on the morning of Feb. 19th. Fortunately 
there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground, and it continued snow¬ 
ing on Feb. 20th.” 
- Mr. John Forbes, Hawick, Scotland, informs us that his 
thermometer reached zero there on the morning of Feb. 19th. 
. — A CORRESPONDENT of a daily paper writes :—On Thursday 
night and Friday morning the thermometer at Blencove, near Penrith, 
registered — 7-8°, or 7‘8° below zero. It is 4 feet from the ground and in 
the shade. No such temperature has been noticed here since observa¬ 
tions began in 1871. On several occasions it has approached zero, for 
example in January, 1881, it was 2'5°; February, 1873, it was 2 5 ; 
March, 1881, it was 4°; December, 1874, it was 4° ; December, 1878 
it was 2° ; and December, 1879, it was 2°. These, however, were all 
about zero. The snow in the fields was 6 inches deep, but as it fell with¬ 
out wind there were no drifts. Sun spots have been and still are numer¬ 
ous. The barometer, which was at 30° (not corrected) on Saturday 
week fell an inch on the following Sunday and Monday. 
- Seasonable Weather. — A severe frost, cold winds and 
snow, with a touch of a blizzard experienced last week came none too 
