816 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Aprir 28, 1802. 
midwinter—a naturalist friend called; I fetched specimens of cater¬ 
pillars with other pests from my fruit trees and placed them under 
my microscope for him to see, and they were, to use a familiar 
expression, “ dead as mutton.” The friend referred to is Mr. Thos. 
Hunt, naturalist, Alcester, Warwickshire, who can corroborate what 
I have stated on page 295.—J. HlAM. 
- Confusion in Nomenclature. — Your correspondent, 
“ E. M.,” in his remarks on the Chrysanthemum analysis for 1891 
says he is glad that John Lambert, Emily Dale, and others are omitted 
from the list, as he considers they only cause confusion. Having read 
some correspondence in past issues of your Journal in reference to the 
last-named sport, and also having seen it exhibited, I have certainly 
failed to arrive at “ E. M.’s ” somewhat arbitrary conclusion, more 
especially as the N.C.S. granted it a first-class certificate, and in various 
accounts of shows and otherwise it has received special mention in your 
paper. “ E. M.” was, I believe, the only person to whom the sport was 
entrusted to grow and exhibit. I do not know whether it was named 
at the time or not, and if, as I suppose was the case, he gained a 
certificate for it at Chiswick as an improved form, then why should 
he now wish to discard it or any improvement in the Queen family ? 
Surely a certificated variety is worthy of a name. I think it would be 
desirable for persons who are fortunate enough to have sports originate 
with them to keep them in their own possession till stocks are raised in 
order to avoid confusion, as in the case of J. Lambert and others.— 
Lancastrian. 
- Snowdrops. —Unfortunately the box which contained the 
dwarf late flowering Snowdrop mentioned by Mr. Thomson on page 293 
was completely crushed in transit, and its contents so much damaged 
that I have been unable to describe the flower. In these circumstances 
the following extract from Mr. Thomson’s letter, which accompanied 
the box, may, I think, be interesting : “ I send you one bloom of a 
quaint looking, late, and dwarf Snowdrop. The tube, as you will see, is 
wide, like a Campanula, and has four instead of three petals.” Mr. 
Thomson does not state, however, if he has proved this seedling over a 
year or two, as it is possible that the fourth petal of the tube may be 
peculiar to this year only. In any case the lateness and dwariness of 
this seedling would make it of interest. I have a small lot of Snow¬ 
drops which I received as an early flowering variety of Galanthus 
nivalis. Instead of this they have turned out to be later in flowering 
than any of my other bulbs of nivalis. I had the opportunity of seeing 
the other day in a garden I was visiting what appeared to be a Snow¬ 
drop between G. plicatus and G. nivalis, the foliage being like that of 
the former, but hardly so plicate, and the flower more like the latter. 
It was a chance seedling, so that there is an interesting prospect in store 
for those who are gathering together a collection of these beautiful early 
flowers.—S. Arnott. 
- Frost versus Fruit Blossom. — A fortnight ago I sent a 
short note to the Journal, saying what good prospects we had of a full 
crop of hardy fruits if we escaped late frosts. On the same date that 
the Journal was issued containing the above about 3 P.M. snow began 
to fall heavily, and continued till between eight and nine o’clock. 
After that hour the sky cleared and it began to freeze, the thermometer 
the next morning registering 17’’ of frost. The following day (Good 
Friday) was very bright, but at night “ Mr. Frost ” set himself the 
task of “ doing for ” the blossoms that might have escaped the previous 
night. On this occasion we registered 16°, and on the succeeding 
night 8°. Apricots, of which we had a splendid show, are all killed. 
The pistil is destroyed among Pears, both in blossom and bud. The 
earliest flowering among Plums are destroyed also. Apples were not 
advanced enough to suffer. Some Red Currants trained on a west 
wall, though in full flower, were not in the least affected. There is no 
business in life to which the old adage, “ Don’t count your chickens 
before they are hatched,” applies more closely than to gardening, for it 
often happens that our greatest hopes are dashed to the ground almost 
upon the brink of realisation. For all that I still hope we have done 
with severe frosts for the present season, and though the earlier 
blossoming among hardy fruits are destroyed we may have the pleasure 
this season of'storing up a greater weight of produce in our fruit rooms 
that was the case last year.—J. T., BijiUy Castle Gardens, York, 
- Proposed Testimonial to Mr. James Hudson.—T he 
following circular has been issued to the members of the United Horti¬ 
cultural Benefit and Provident Society :—“ Dear Sir,—Your Committee 
having considered that the time has arrived when the valuable services 
of Mr. James Hudson (the Treasurer) should be suitably acknowledged, 
you are earnestly invited to assist them in their proposal. From an 
early period of the Society Mr. Hudson has been a zealous and inde¬ 
fatigable worker, and for over ten years he has been Treasurer, without 
any compensation whatever. His best efforts have always been directed 
to the development and progress of the Society, and much credit is due 
to him for its present flourishing condition, both numerically and finan¬ 
cially. The Committee are always cheered by his presence and have 
profited greatly by his counsel, as he always acts with prudence and 
circumspection. Mr. Hudson does not intend to relinquish his duties as 
Treasurer, but hopes to continue for years to come ; and the Committee 
feel sure that the members will be pleased with this opportunity of 
showing their appreciation of his valuable services, which he assures us 
has always been a labour of love. It is desired that early contributions, 
however small, may be sent to me, in order tliat the form of the pro¬ 
posed testimonial may be decided upon in time for presentation by the 
Chairman on the occasion of the annual dinner in October next.— 
W. Collins, Hon, Treasurer." Mr. Hudson, has unquestionably done 
much for the Society, and enjoys the respect of all horticulturists. 
THE CULTIVATION OF PEAKS AT EDGBASTON. 
[The following paper was read by MR. Fred. M. Mole, at a recent meeting of the 
Birmingham and Midland Counties Gardeners’ ImproTement Association. The 
Bdgbaston district is the best and most fashionable part of Birmingham, but being 
a portion of the city, and in close proximity to a district where large factories, 
manufactories, and iron and mineral works exist, a smoky atmosphere too often 
hangs over the district, and outdoor fruit culture is difficult. This paper, the 
result of praccical experience, was prepared with a view to show that with perse¬ 
verance and thought Pears could be grown, and it must be borne in mind that it 
was written for those who have gardens in the near vicinity of smoky towns.] 
In complying with the requcbt made to me that I should write a 
short paper on my experience in growing Pears, I must begin by explain¬ 
ing how I came to take an interest in the subject. It is now just thirty 
years since my first independent home was started at a house in York 
Road, Edgbaston, where there was a very small garden. I knew 
nothing whatever about gardening, but having a garden I could call my 
own I all at once felt a great interest in it. A friend suggested my 
having some pyramid Pear trees, which were not so commonly grown 
then as now, and advised me also to get the book “ Rivers’ Miniature 
Fruit Garden,” which I did, and read very carefully. In this garden, 
however, against the back part of the house, and facing the south, was a 
large Pear tree, which I afterwards found to be a Marie Louise, and the 
second year after I went there it bore a number of large fine-flavoured 
Pears. 
It was not long before I began to wish for a larger garden with a 
south wall, and a few years afterwards I took the piece of land and 
built the house where I am now living in the Westfield Road, Edgbaston, 
which, I may add, is less than two and a half miles from the centre of 
the city, and is now surrounded by villa residences. I have a south 
wall about 90 yards long, half of which I have devoted to fruit trees, 
mostly Pears. I have also two short lengths of wall, one with an east, 
the other with a west aspect, and my paper is written upon the course 
I have taken in growing Pears on these walls. I must mention that 
there is a peculiarity in the south wall, every other course being of 
special bricks, and which have a bead pierced with holes along the 
face of them to which the trees can be tied. The defect in this is the 
distance apart from bead to bead, and I am gradually covering the wall 
with strong galvanised wire netting, as I think that nailing fruit trees 
should be avoided if possible. The joints in garden walls are too apt to 
suffer by the adion of frost, without being further injured by this 
process. I have seen a wall in an old country garden where the greater 
portion of the mortar, to nearly the depth of a garden nail, was gone 
from the joints owing to the nailing and unnailing of the fruit trees for 
many years. 
But any wall can be covered by nailing on upright strips of deal 
about 2J inches wide, and a little more than 2 feet apart, and then 
getting some galvanised wire netting 2 feet wide, IJ-inch mesh, not 
less than No. 16 wire gauge, and fastening it to the strips by means of 
screws or galva lised staples. A better plan still, but more expensive, is 
to have some galvanised diamond mesh lattice frames, 4 feet wide, with 
a 3-inch by 2J-inch mesh, and the height of the walls, fastening them to 
the walls as mentioned for the netting, in either case giving two coats 
of paint. I think a great deal of having trees neatly trained, and 
consider that well trained fruit trees are as pleasing objects to look at 
as are the shrubs in the ornamental garden, especially when in bloom 
and in fruit. With a wall treated as I have explained, trees can be 
trained to any shape ; there is nothing but bast required. Not half the 
time is needed, and the work is not nearly so likely to be neglected as 
under other systems, in which the shreds and nails are often not at hand 
when branches are seen in the summer time that require tying in. 
Another point in connection with this is, that I consider it desirable 
to keep the trees as close as possible to the wall. The bloom, I think, 
is more likely to escape the effects of frost and cold winds than when on 
branches standing some distance from the wall. The fruit can be kept 
more exposed to the sun, and it will, of course, get more benefit from 
the radiation of the heat from the wall the closer it is to it. As to the 
expense of covering the wall in the cheapest way with galvanised wire 
netting, 100 yards, 2 feet wide by inch mesh, and No. 16 W.G., will 
