October 6, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
309 
Pears of such varieties as Jargonelle, Williams’ Bon Chretien, Souvenir 
du Congr^s, Pitmaston Duchess, Doyenn^ du Comice, Marie Louise, 
Beurr6 Diel, Thompson’s, Prince Consort, Glou Mor 9 eau, Easter 
Beurr6, and other good sorts. Against the few gardens where Peaches 
do well outdoors, how many have walls with trees trained to them just 
merely languishing out an existence, and which no amount of skill and 
intelligence on the part of the gardener can ever make them bring forth 
satisfactory results ? Instead of devoting a whole wall with Peaches it 
would be better to build either a case or a lean-to house on a part of the 
wall, and fill the remainder with cordon Pears. I mention cordons 
because they are admirably adapted for walls, and much variety may 
be grown in a limited space. Many more and finer fruits of Peaches 
could be obtained from an unheated house, although probably not 
taking more than a quarter of the wall space, in a few years than would 
be gathered from an outdoor Peach wall in a lifetime. 
An instance might be cited. A south wall 120 yards long at one 
time used to be occupied with Peach trees, a fair crop being the result 
about every three or four years, and this with every care being taken in 
their cultivation. My late employer not being satisfied with the results 
the wall was made 3 feet higher, and a three-quarcer span-roofed house 
130 feet long erected. The best of the old trees from the wall were 
selected, and planted alternately with young ones. From the old trees 
we had a fine crop the first season, and when the young ones wanted 
more room the former were moved. My employer remarked that in the 
first four years he had had more Peaches and Nectarines than from trees 
grown out of doors in twenty years. The remainder of the wall is now 
planted with espalier trained Pear trees—it being too low for cordons— 
and these add very materially to our supply of fruit. I have no desire 
to say that good Peaches cannot be grown outdoors, but in this district 
(Liverpool) they may be nearly counted on the fingers of one’s hand. 
Good Pears would appear to find a ready sale, for the finer samples of 
Williams’ and Pitmaston Duchess have been selling in the leading 
Liverpool fruiterers’ shops at 3d. and 6d. each.—K. P. R. 
The subject discussed by “ C.” (page 259) as to whether south walls 
may be the more profitably utilised for the production of Pears or of 
Peaches admits of some divergence of opinion. A few days previous to 
the appearance of the article alluded to I happened to call on a gardener 
who has under his management south walls planted respectively with 
Pears and with Peaches. The former were so much in evidence that I 
remarked in passing they would surely net a larger sum than the latter. 
But, no 1 good Peaches at this season bring fair prices, and fine as many 
Pears are, there are still Peach trees in existence which produce year by 
year good crops of fruit. 
With the general tone of the article in question one is only too 
pleased to agree. I am hampered with old trees which have changed 
proprietors so often that they are veritable heirlooms. They are too old 
to be depended on, are only intermittently fruitful, and never produce 
fruit of the best quality. For my own part, I should be only too pleased 
to burn, not all, but nearly every old tree in the garden, root and branch, 
to be in three to five years in a position to produce with certainty more 
and better fruit than it is possible to get from our present stock. That 
is, I believe the one reason why Peach growing in the open has declined 
so much—viz., old trees which proprietors will not allow to be destroyed 
and replaced by young ones. I know trees that are now doing duty 
which thirty years ago were aged. Is it reasonable to expect the best 
or even average results from these 1 I think not. 
It is, however, a point worth considering, whether too much space is 
set apart to Peaches to the exclusion altogether of Pears from south walls. 
In an ordinary family the requirements of fruit at one time are, as a 
rule, not difficult to meet. In my own case I have kept an uninter¬ 
rupted supply of Pears for over two months almost entirely from a few 
small trees, and some of these single cordons. The larger of the trees 
have yielded so much fruit that some had to be sold. In the same 
way for some time back I have been getting occasional dishes of 
Nectarines and Peaches from a few trees growing on the low front 
wall of a plant house. So convinced am I of the utility of a number of 
small trees that for a few years back I have been planting cordons and 
other trees on vacant places on walls. Even with Peaches I do not 
consider it necessary to go to the trouble and waste of time 
necessary to lay the foundation of a huge fan-shape tree. If the 
situation, climate it may be called if that seems a better term, does 
not suit, it is easy to keep a supply of young trees to take the places of 
those stricken down. If they never get very large one has less com¬ 
punction at being under the necessity of removing them. 
With Pears it is somewhat different, for on a south wall a tree can 
be grown to a large size and continue fruitful for many years. But 
here again the question crops up whether it is desirable that a large 
tree of one sort ought to be grown, or, in its place, several small ones ? 
Many varieties of Pears should be cultivated provided the sorts grown 
are of good quality. It is, however, not uncommon to find choice 
varieties limited. A few large trees cover the wall space and there the 
matter ends. I am referring to the northern parts of the island. But 
we have now so many Pears really worthy of cultivation that instead 
of extending the size of large trees we ought rather to increase as much 
as possible the number of varieties and limit the size of the trees. At 
present one has a choice of such good sorts as Williams’ Bon ChrStien, 
Souvenir du Congres, Beurrh d’Amanlis, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Dr. 
Hogg, Fondante d’Automne, Flemish Beauty, and Belle Julie. Each 
of these is in flavour distinct from the other, and one might go on 
enumerating a long list of sorts to which the same remark would apply. 
Therefore it can be no loss to limit the space devoted to Peaches, to 
growing fewer of these, or rather, I should say, to producing smaller 
trees ; and where it is not already done substituting for them medium¬ 
sized Pear trees in as many good varieties as it is possible to find room 
for.—B. 
Having returned after a quarter of a century to the same neighbour¬ 
hood in Somersetshire that I formerly occupied, I looked forward to 
repeating my pleasant successes of the past in growing Peaches. Accord¬ 
ingly last autumn I filled some empty places in the wall with 
Noblesse and Sea Eagle, my landlord, “distance lending enchantment 
to the view,’’ dilating on the size of the Peaches that used to flourish on 
that wall when he was a lad, where now other tenants had filled 
vacant places with Pear trees and Plums. Having then planted the 
Peach trees and taken them under my own special protection, and into 
the bargain being considerably proud of their appearance, picture my 
feelings on reading a fortnight ago that my work was all “ Love’s labour 
lost,’’ and that I had much better have put in some Pears 1 Such a 
dictum did not at all agree with my own feelings. Certainly the memories 
of the past painted the Peach trees as more prolific, fruit for fruit, than 
the Pears. Then I had Noblesse, Grosse Mignonne, and Barrington, 
and the two former were certainly more fruitful than the Pears 
Forelle, Beurr^ Ranee, Napoleon, although Williams’ Bon ChrStien, 
Jargonelle, and Beurrh Diel generally equalled in number the stone 
fruit, the latter a very handsome Pear to look at; but “handsome is 
that handsome does ” applies to it in my opinion, for I consider it in the 
raw state a worthless fruit, and one that I should never burden my walls 
with unless I possessed some hundred yards of the same. I cannot 
understand its being styled “ melting.” Of the many fruits that I have 
tasted I have never met with one that deserved the title of Beurr^. All 
were disappointing. 
I have every regard for a really good Pear, it is a splendid fruit; but 
in my estimation it never could equal a good Peach, although 1 grant I 
have heard not a few persons maintain the contrary. Well, as our 
neighbours say, “ Cliagun a son gout ; ’’ but even this does not entitle us 
to advise setting Pear trees in the place of the Peach, or to writing 
almost as if the latter was of little value. I have little doubt, then, 
that friends of the Peach will, like myself, feel relieved at the timely 
words of such an authority as Mr. E. Molyneux (page 287), and so I 
gaze at my young trees and urge them to go on and prosper. 
My small experience as to “ blister ” agrees with that of Mr. 
Molyneux ; it does not prevent a fair crop of fruit, but doubtless this 
would be altogether better without the infliction. I used to set to work 
and pick off these bloated specimens of foliage and get rid of them. I 
know that it is often attributed to east winds, but I have always felt 
that this was somewhat mythical. Is east wind really the cause? I 
wonder what Mr. G. Abbey may say to this. I have always fancied that 
there is something of the mildew character about it, and that there are 
spores. If this be so there would be more reason for destroying it as 
soon as detected. Under a fairly strong pocket magnifier ic looks like 
some sort of efflorescense over the swollen and distorted leaf.—Y. B. A. Z, 
I AM quite sure Mr. Molyneux (page 287) will find many readers 
who will agree with him in his opinion as to the relative value of Pears 
and Peaches. Those who have gained experience in the marketing of 
such fruits are best able to judge which may pay the better price, and 
as Pears may be grown quite as well on other aspects it seems a pity to 
utilise south walls for these at the expense of Peaches or Nectarines. 
Either for market or private use Peaches are a summer and autumn 
crop, and for a just comparison Pears that ripen at the same time should 
be reckoned with as occupying the position in question—namely, south 
walls. Early summer Pears certainly cannot claim a very great value 
because of the short period under which they may be kept sound ; and in 
the autumn there are plenty to be had from garden and orchard bush 
and standard trees which will reduce the value of wall-grown fruit how¬ 
ever good it may be. In the autumn, too, there are, as Mr. Molyneux 
points oat, the French and Jersey Pears to be reckoned with, and it 
must be indeed good English fruits that can compare with these both 
for colour and size. 
The unpopular opinion that has obtained in so many gardens as 
regards outdoor Peaches is due more largely to want of proper attention 
in the matter of spring protection, pruning, and thin training of the 
branches than any other cause, although it must be admitted that every 
garden is not absolutely suited to their requirements. Late sorts are 
not always remunerative, and should be replaced by those which ripen 
their crop in time to do some pruning before the sunny days are entirely 
gone. If early and midseason sorts of good repute were chosen more 
freely for growing outdoors I am inclined to think there would be less 
cause for complaining about Peaches. Very late sorts, such as Salwey, 
Golden Eagle, and Lord Palmerston, may help to form variety ; but my 
experience of them is that they are treated more as an ornament to the 
table than as a dessert fruit by those who know them. It is useless for 
me to send them to table in a raw condition here ; they must be cooked 
before they are considered acceptable at the table. I am referring, of 
course, to these Peaches in their proper season—October. 
Although I have seen several excellent walls of Peaches outdoors, I 
think the best was under Mr. Robinson’s charge at Heywood. There 
were plenty of fruits there of Walburton Admirable, Princess of Wales, 
and Dymond, weighing 10 ozs. each, the colour and quality being superb. 
I am quite sure there would be no comparison in the value of a Pear 
crop occupying the same amount of space as these Peach trees, even if 
