196 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 17, 1892. 
Surely by answering him in Mr. Iggulden’s own words he will be 
convinced that these accusations of “stretching” are unfounded. In 
the second column, page 168, Mr. Iggulden writes, “ If the trees are 
lifted every autumn or spring,” and farther to support his statement of 
annually lifting the roots, he advises me to pay a visit to Mr. Young. 
This is rather conflicting e vide ace, I think, to recommend me to visit a 
^lace where annual lifting is disputed. 
It may interest my opponents to know that I do not happen to be 
one of those “ old fogies ” Mr. Young mentions, who are afraid to touch 
a root or lift a tree. I have during the past few years lifted the whole 
of the Vines in three large vineries, half the trees in two Peach houses, 
and more than a hundred trees upon outside walls, without a single 
failure of crop or otherwise. Therefore it will require far more power¬ 
ful advocates than those engaged in this controversy to convince me 
that science has made such rapid strides during the past few years as to 
enable man to reject the laws and teaching of Nature, and utterly despise 
the resting and active periods of vegetation. If this is science and good 
gardening, then my past teachers and advisers are, like myself, ignorant 
of either.—Nous Veerons. 
Much practical information may be gained from a discussion on 
this subject, for as most fruit growers have some way of their own in 
treating trees under their charge, some good is sure to result from a 
thorough ventilation of this important branch of horticulture. Those 
who are experts in the management of this most luscious fruit would be 
doing a great service to their fellow workers by stating their mode 
of culture as concisely as possible. I have no great faith in looking 
upon what is seen on the exhibition table as being a criterion of a 
person’s ability, for I know as a fact that a great deal of what is 
exhibited is not grown by the exhibitors. 
To grow Peaches in the open is not such an easy task as some people 
imagine, especially in districts where the soil is cold and wet, and the 
situation exposed. In such places trees are apt to grow very late in the 
season, and on that account do not ripen their wood and make fruit 
buds so freely as is desirable. I have seen shoots 6 feet or more in 
length laid in by some who consider themselves, and are looked upon as, 
great fruit growers. These shoots had been cut back to a treble bud 
simply because that was the only one on the shoot, the others having 
made lateral growths. Now how can shoots of this kind produce fruit ? 
Yet hacking them off year after year goes on till they become so close 
to each other at the bottom of the tree that there is no room for fruit- 
bearing wood to exist. To my mind well grown Peach trees should 
not require any pruning unless it be to thin the wood where it is too 
thick. If disbudding be properly performed in the summer then no 
more shoots will be caused than are wanted for fruit-bearing wood the 
following season. I do not believe in cutting back Peach shoots unless 
it be one or two that happen to grow too strong. To prevent this 
occurring again a heavier crop of fruit is taken from them another 
season. The finest crop of Peaches it was ever my lot to see was grown 
in Lancashire some twenty-two years ago. The trees had not been sub¬ 
jected to that scientific pruning and training some people are fond of 
advocating, yet this unfavourable district produced Peaches that would 
have done credit to any show table in the kingdom. 
Can it be possible for a person who has never had a fruit tree under 
his care to instruct others who all their lives (and who have lived to 
be a good age) have had charge of their management ? Yet this seems 
to be the case, for we have them pointing out to us how these things 
should be done. Some very fine fruit used to be grown at Carton, the 
seat of the Duke of Leinster in Ireland, but I never saw a shoot on the 
trees thicker than a Wheat straw. These trees were never lifted or root- 
pruned, but having well-made borders received liberal supplies of liquid 
manure when the fruit was swelling, and wherever there were two 
flower buds together one was removed before the flowers opened. I 
have lifted Peach trees when in flower, and taken a fine crop of fruit 
from them the same season ; but this has been an exceptional case, and 
not one to be advocated, for it entails a great amount of labour during 
the summer, especially if the first part of the season should be dry. It 
seems strange to me that so few of the gardeners in large establishments 
give us any information as to their experience. 
There is a vast difference between writing an article on any given 
subject and giving proof of practical ability to show a profitable balance- 
sheet. When called upon some three or four years ago to inspect one of 
the largest fruit-growing establishments in the kingdom with a view 
to its making a profit, I was somewhat astonished to find how little the 
person in charge knew of Peach culture. The trees were a disgrace to 
any establishment, for they had neither been pruned nor trained as they 
should have been. If anyone will take the trouble to examine the 
Peaeh trees in pots exhibited by Mr. Rivers they will find that there is 
none of^ that robust growth so strongly recommended by some. The 
growth is of moderate strength, well ripened, and therefore in a condition 
to carry a crop of fruit; for without this Peach culture is sure to be a 
failure.— Pomologist. 
RENOVATINa GRASS VERGES. 
Ip we had not been troubled with the severe weather we are now 
experiencing work in the pleasure grounds would have been in full 
operation ; as it is, we should be prepared for the change in the weather, 
and nearly one of the first things to claim our attention is the improving 
or renovating of the grass verges, which always need a certain amount 
of attention. It is well known that by continual cutting with the 
edging knife year after year that the verge soon loses its neat appear¬ 
ance, and makes the walk look untidy. There are numerous ways in 
which the effect may be improved, and the following is perhaps one of 
the easiest :—Line out the walk to the required width, then with the 
edging knife cut through the sod forming the old verge to a width of 
9 inches, and of a suitable length consistent with free handling ; cut 
them underneath with the turfing iron, and place it at one side ; loosen 
the ground underneath and add fresh soil, bringing it to the edge where 
the new verge is to be laid. When neatly levelled reverse the edges of 
the sods, bringing the newly cut side to the front ; beat down firmly, 
and ram the loose soil underneath the sods on the outside edge. If care¬ 
fully laid cutting on the ou side efige will be reduced to a minimum. 
Any small pieces of sods may be used for filling in the spaces left by 
bringing the verges forward, and these very soon look neat again. By 
running the knife along the edges any Icose soil will easily be removed, 
which may either be swept up or taken up with the hoe. Loosen the 
gravel, rake and roll the walks, and the whole will present a clean 
appearance. The same system may be adopted in putting flower beds 
into a proper symmetrical form.—R. P. R. 
NEW GRAPE LADY DOWNSHIRE. 
Me. Thomas Bradshaw, head gardener to the Marchioness of 
Downshire, Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough, County Down, kindly 
sent me some berries of his seedling Grape Lady Downshire last 
October, and again early last month. The berries received were of 
good size, being of a dull amber colour, flavour very pleasant, juicy, and 
rich, partaking of that of both parents. The berries measured 3| inches 
round longitudinally and 3^ inches transversely. The examples received 
last month consisted of berries taken from bunches grown on the 
Hamburgh stock, and an equal number from bunches grown on its own 
roots. The former were quite plump, and the latter were shrivelled 
somewhat; the bunches from which the berries were taken having been 
cut five months previously, thereby proving that it is a good late white 
Grape ; and, moreover, that it keeps better when grown on the Black 
Hamburgh stock than it does on its own roots. The Lady Downshire 
Grape is the result of a cross between the white Gros Colman and 
Madresfield Court. In 1886, Mr. Bradshaw, being then foreman in 
Charleville Forest Gardens, Tullamore, under that celebrated Grape 
grower, the late Mr. John Roberts, fertilised a few berries of the white 
Gros Colman with pollen taken from the Madresfield Court. He took 
the seeds with him to Hillsborough in the autumn of 1886, and sowed 
them the following February. The seedlings resulting were inarched 
on the Black Hamburgh Vines the same season. The Lady Downshire 
making a good strong cane, produced and ripened fruit in 1888—eighteen 
months from the time the seed was sown. Mr. Bradshaw states that 
“ it is a very strong grower, and bears as freely as the Lady Downe’s 
(black), and that it ripened bunches from 85 to 4 lbs. each in 1891, the 
bunches resembling the Madresfield Court in shape.” This being so, I 
should say that the Lady Downshire is destined to become a popular 
late white Grape in the near future.—H. W. Ward, Longford Castle, 
Salishury, 
ORCHARD PLANTING. 
Mr. Chinnery rightly says on page 160 that only by experience 
can it be ascertained which sorts of Apples are the most suitable for 
different districts as orchard trees. So variable is the nature of the soil 
in some localities, that at no greater distance than from two to four 
miles those that will succeed in one would fail in the other. This is my 
experience at least in the southern part of Hampshire. Mr. Chinnery 
gives a very extensive list of varieties, which includes a large prc portion 
of the best, but I fear this list will be of small use to Journal readers 
outside Monmouthshire in the absence of information as to the nature 
of soil Mr. Chinnery has to deal with. If he had stated whether it was 
heavy or light, also described the subsoil, the information would have 
been useful to many beyond his own county. By describing the soil 
in which certain varieties flourish, and naming some of those which do 
not succeed, valuable information is afforded to others. To beginners in 
Apple culture long lists of names are bewildering. Far better is it to 
gr^-atly limit the selections and place the varieties somewhat in their 
order of ripening—that is, if the information is intended for the benefit 
of the inexperienced. 
I feel inclined also to take exception to the method of planting, and 
especially if the soil is, as I assume it is, heavy—at least, I judge so 
from the fact that Mr. Chinnery mentions that the land was drained, 
and it was necessary to place 9 inches of old tiles under each tree to ensure 
a quick drainage. The points which I take exception to are those of 
placing the prepared compost at such a depth from the surface, and 
that of planting the trees 6 inches below the level of the grass. Where 
holes are dug 2 feet deep, and the trees planted 6 inches below the 
surface, I should have thought that they stood a chance of sinking in 
time another 6 inches, or nearly so. I always thought that deep planting 
was the primary cause of canker in Apple trees. I should have thought 
also it would have been a better plan to utilise the turf near the surface 
to plant the trees in instead of burying it 15 inches deep. My experience 
is that decayed turf forms a capital medium for fruit tree roots to 
ramify in, and I consider it is much better near the surface than buried 
at a depth where it will do positive harm by encouraging what I am 
trying all I know to avoid—deep rooting.—E. Molyneux. 
