579 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 23, 1893. 
superior straia?, and for cutting late in the year they are indis¬ 
pensable. 
Spinach did moderately well up to the sowing made about 
end of August, of which most of the plants died out of the ground, 
so that we are depending for a winter supply on two earlier sowings. 
I have for many years past raised three distinct crops of winter 
Spinach, as it is not uncommon for that sown at the time which is 
suitable in general to fail as it has done this year. Paresseuse de 
Catillon is a French variety, which did well during the severe 
drought. It is also good for winter sowing, and so is Lent, a 
slow seeding variety. Peas proved generally unsatisfactory. The 
late crop was past earlier than ever I recollect it to have been. 
Mr. Eckford sent me a selection of his seedlings to try. Of these 
I was greatly pleased with Fame, which appears to be an improved 
Ne Plus Ultra. Epicure and Censor I also liked, but none of the 
sorts impressed me so much as the first named, of which I hope to 
grow many in the coming season. Regarding Potatoes, all that 
need be said is that they were of excellent quality, but small of tuber. 
Brussels Sprouts are very good. Spring-sown Onions were maggot- 
eaten almost to the whole crop, and we have had to depend up till 
now on bulbs of January-raised Cranston’s Excelsior, an Onion 
which is a good keeper as well as being large in size. 
A noteworthy feature of the year is the manner in which lost 
time has been made up by autumn and winter crops. Seeds sown 
during the drought germinated rather badly, and in consequence 
many crops had to be sown again, making the plants much later in 
being set out than usual. Broccolis, the seeds of which germinated 
well, were long in making growth, and also seemed likely to be 
but of small size. But in every case plants have made an almost 
abnormal growth, the result being that there has been an abundance 
of succulent produce and a promise of plenty to follow. London 
Coleworts happened to be a “ miss at first,” but I never remember 
later ones of these to have been finer in quality, and still there are 
many of green heads to use. 
Despite an unpromising spring, the hardy fruit crops were 
above the average in bulk, and in quality they were generally 
superior. The two crops which were the least promising—viz.. 
Pears and Strawberries, finished good average crops, though they 
were both of short duration, the latter ripening all at once, and the 
later sorts of the former are ripening abnormally early. Small 
fruits were also over earlier than usual. We, as a rule, have 
Currants and Gooseberries well into October, but these were all 
past in the beginning of September. No doubt the fruit would 
have hung much longer, but they were literally cleared off the 
bushes in the course of a few days by wasps. I think of all crops 
Apricots were the most satisfactory. The trees blossomed abund¬ 
antly and set an enormous crop, which required to be freely thinned. 
The season was much longer than usual, the earlier fruits ripening 
in the commencement of August, and the crop continued until the 
middle of September. I do not remember Apricots ever to have 
ripened so well all the season through. In 1867 and 1868, in 1875, 
and again in 1887 Apricots ripened well, but not, as a rule, so 
perfectly as during the present year. The largest cropping sort 
was the Royal. The earliest fruits were gathered from trees of 
Breda and of Kaisha. One of the latest and best was D’Alsace, 
a Variety well worthy to be recommended. Shipley’s and Peach 
were also good. Hemskerk did not bear a crop. I have this 
auturnn added the following kinds—Angoumois Hatif, an early 
ripening variety ; Powell’s Late, and La Delicieuse, the latter a 
new variety from Syria. 
I was also greatly pleased with the Plum crop. The trees 
blossomed but sparsely, and on old trees the crop was not large, 
in no case requiring to be thinned ; but generally there were 
sufficient fruits for the trees to perfect, and all the varieties 
ripeiied better than usual. The season began with Rivers’ Early 
Prolific and The Czar in July, and ended with Coe’s Golden Drop 
in October. The Czar is a grand acquisition, when fully ripe being 
very rich in flavour. Kirke’s was also good. I had a grand crop 
on a young tree of Cox’s Emperor. Strings of fruit set all over 
the tree, and after severe thinning a very large crop remained. 
Fruit was gathered off this tree during a period of seven weeks, 
and it was appreciated both for dessert and for cooking. Victoria 
was, as it always is, grand, and so was Jefferson. Green Gages 
were particularly good this year, so also was Magnum Bonum 
(white). ^ This is a Plum which is highly esteemed in our case both 
for cooking and for dessert, and during several weeks this year we 
were able to supply good fruit. A particularly good late Plum 
which fruited well this year for the first time is Monarch. The 
perfection of Plums is, doubtless, Coe’s Golden Drop when at its 
best, as during the past summer, and whoever is without a tree in 
hi^s garden ought to make good the deficiency at once. I have 
wded, among other sorts, Archduke, a late variety, and Purple 
Pears were like Plums, inasmuch as old trees did not bear 
well, while on the other hand young trees bore an abundance of 
fruit. The first good Pear to ripen was Clapp’s Favourite at the end 
of August. Since that time we have had an uninterrupted supply 
of better fruit than we have ever had previously, and nearly all 
from young trees. As mentioned all varieties have ripened 
earlier than usual, and as the season progresses this abnormal 
precocity in ripening becomes more pronounced. The best 
flavoured Pears we have had during November and December were 
Doyenne du Comice, a most delicious sort, the well-known Marie 
Louise, Winter Nelis quite six weeks earlier than usual, and now 
past, and Knight’s Monarch, which will keep till the beginning of 
1894. Beurre Ranee is now ripening, and I notice that Easter 
Beurre is also softening, though in most years it is towards the end 
of February before these begin to ripen. Nec Plus Meuris, 
however, is still hard. I have added a few cordon trees to our 
collection, including Alexandre Lambre, Baronne de Mello, the old 
Beurre Bose and Beurre Hardy, Nouvel'.e Fulvie, and Marguerite 
Manilard. 
Apples were a full crop, but they did not set so freely_ as to 
require thinning ; at least, very few trees did. The quality of 
the fruit in some sorts was, perhaps, as good in 1887, but as a 
whole the present was a better Apple year. In 1875 we had a 
larger crop, but not equal in quality. Warner’s King, Nelson 
Codlin, Tower of Glamis, Ringer, Keswick Codlin, Blenheim 
Pippin, Frogmore Prolific, and Dutch Mignonne were exceedingly 
fine. As regards the keeping qualities of the fruit I see there is 
now scarcely any turning bad. I have had Tower of Glamis, 
Nelson’s, and Stirling Castle in as good condition as I ever saw 
them. The wood on the trees is beautifully budded, and the 
prospect of a heavy crop next year is most promising. Selected 
Apples brought a high price, and that at a time when inferior fruit 
was all but unsaleable. Perhaps the most abnormal feature of 
the year was the behaviour of an old Fig tree, which, not satisfied 
with presenting us with some splendid fruit at the usual period, 
yielded a second crop in October. The fruit was very small, 
but of good flavour. A second crop of Figs is, so far as I am 
aware, a very uncommon occurrence in Scotland. 
I transplanted a large number of trees during the autumn, these 
mainly Plums and Apples. The roots, as a whole, were in prime 
condition, and taking these as a standard I conclude that the 
growth of roots in the soil has been as favourable as the growth of 
the wood.—B. 
(To be continued.) 
NOTES ABOUT PAESLEY. 
The brilliant emerald green of the Parsley, so pleasing at this 
season and so good to have in abundance, emboldens me to add a 
little to a subject which may appear to have been already thrashed 
out in the Journal of Horticulture; but I propose to go a little Way 
off the beaten track of good culture, where even breakdowns will 
occur, to say something about no culture at all, viz., to have it as a 
weed, and it is probably better to have it that way than to not 
at all. 
The way it will grow as a weed (for when out of its place it 
comes under that definition) is, I think, noticeable more or less in 
all gardens, until the conscientious “scuffer” cuts short the career of 
these stray plants, though one may escape to point a moral with its 
sturdy luxuriant foliage. On this I take my text, off the beaten 
tracks ; but nothing new, oh! no ; “ there is nothing new under the 
sun,” though a good deal we do not see, and some things we will 
not see. 
Now for my way; it is scarcely a plan or a method. Take, say, 
2 ozs. of seed of any good curled variety—there seems to me but 
little, if any, difference in the kinds—though they be somebody’s 
Pride or someone else’s Perfection, all are good ; time, from the 
middle to end of June ; position, here, there, and everywhere ; 
aspect, north, south, east, and west, close up under the walls in 
small nooks and corners where the autumn zephyrs carry the 
leaves, in the open, between lines of fruit trees, any place where 
there is not room for anything else, and particularly in those spots 
you think it will not grow. Take a pointed stick, scratch the face 
of mother earth, scratch it deep, she likes it; drop in a few seeds 
sparingly as if they were gold, close in with your feet; so go on till 
your seed packet is empty. Nothing more, only keep off the genius 
with the “scuffer,” or his zeal may result in wiping out your labours 
as effectively as a fresh hand in a certain garden who was sent to 
fork up all the Horsetail (Equisetum), which he did, and a good 
bed of Asparagus besides, remarking to his horrified chief, who 
arrived too late, “Master, I ha’ dug up all they durned puttock 
pipes.” 
Granted that such catastrophes are averted, and you feel on 
seeing the plants that Art must assist Nature, take equal parts of 
