March 2, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
185 
renovation proceeded slowly. Mr. Dowdino; is entitled to all praise for 
his perseverance under such difficulties. Water is now laid on, being 
supplied from a distant elevation near Ctesar’s camp. No wonder that 
apart from the garden, which must be very delightful in the summer, 
the look out should be a great attraction, for the views are very 
extensive, and embrace the w’bole of the surrounding country.—A. D, 
WATER. 
Doubtless it has often been a matter of surprise to many 
persons besides myself that proprietors of large establishments will 
go to a great expense in building and keeping up fruit houses, and 
that not one in a hundred will make provision for an adequate supply 
and the economical distribution of that greatest of all necessaries 
in a horticultural establishment—water. 
In some places, no doubt, it is a difficult matter, but in the 
majority of them it is an extremely simple one, and I may, perhaps, 
simplify it a little more by saying at the outset that you must 
not despise spring or hard water if that is the easiest to obtain. It 
will do no harm to the roots of fruit trees and may possibly do 
them a great deal of good. I prefer it to rain water. When I 
first took charge of a large garden for a nobleman I found several 
acres of water close at hand, but comparatively none in the garden. 
A horse and cart and several men were employed a good part of 
the summer carrying this necessity. Of course the supply was 
very insufficient, and it always is under such conditions. As the 
water was on a lower level than the garden a hydraulic ram was 
suggested. “ Shall I be £5 a year the better off in the way of 
produce or expenditure ? ” asked my employer. I could only say 
I hoped so, and that failure in some respects was inevitable with¬ 
out a proper supply of water. Well, the hydraulic ram was 
fixed for the sum of £120, and it gave us an ample supply of water 
for all purposes. It is a recognised fact that some of the products 
were better than they had ever been before in that garden, and 
I am positive that the improvement could not have been made 
without the water. Now, here was a garden costing over a thousand 
pounds a year, and yet the few pounds that would give an ample 
supply of water, lessen the drudgery and worry and prevent 
some of the failures, had been withheld for ages. 
Having got the water is a great point gained, but this is not all. 
It has to be distributed, and must be done in a proper condition 
and in an efficient manner. I maintain that the watering of 
inside fruit borders is such an important operation that it should 
never be done by any but the most trustworthy hands. You may 
teach a labourer to thin Grapes, disbud Peach trees, ventilate 
houses, crock pots, and even to do that equally important work, the 
stoking, because you can see at a glance whether any of these 
operations are properly done ; but in watering, especially with the 
hose, he is apt to make mistakes, and the errors so made are not 
readily detected. Somehow the corners and ends of borders are 
apt to be partially neglected, and these parts, especially where 
there is masonry, have a habit of getting dry the quickest. 
Personally I seldom trust the watering of such borders to anyone 
but myself. Having seen that the application of water is such an 
important matter, it shows the necessity of making provisions for 
supplying it as fast as the borders can take it. If a man’s time is 
worth a shilling an hour, he should not be allowed to waste it by 
holding a hose which discharges water only at the rate of 3 or 4 
gallons a minute. 
My present arrangements for watering, although not perfect, 
are better than many. The source of supply is a spring which 
never fails or diminishes, and is situated at a suitable altitude. A 
large tub holding 3G00 gallons, obtained cheaply at a sale of brewery 
stock, is suuk in the side of the hill for storage. This is connected 
with all the houses by means of pipes and taps to which a hose can 
be fixed. In the summer time, or as soon in the spring as the water 
in the tub reaches a temperature of 55°, it is used direct from there. 
In the early spring we have arrangements for w'arming it, which I 
will attempt to describe. A little below the tub is a cistern capable 
of holding 400 gallons. By means of a branch pipe and tap this 
can be filled from the tub, and when warm the supply from the 
tub can bo shut off and the warm water drawn in any of the 
houses from the cistern by the same arrangement of pipes as when 
it is drawn from the large tub. 
For warming the \vater we have a small boiler fixed slightly 
lower than the cistern and at one end of it. The connection is 
made by two short lengths of li-inch pipe, one of these rising from 
the top of the boiler to act as a flow, and the return pipe enters 
near the bottom. The two pipes merely enter the cistern one above 
the other, and are open to it, so that the boiler is self-filling and can 
never be empty, although the cistern might run dry. We had at 
first one of the small upright drum-shaped boilers. This answered 
very well for a time, and heated the water rapidly ; but the 
water space being very small the sediment from the constantly 
changing spring water blocked it, and it burned through in two 
years. What we have now is a common bell-shaped laundry boiler 
with a lid fixed to it. It does not heat so rapidly as the former 
boiler, but it does the work well enough, and it has been in use 
five or six years.—W m. Taylor. 
DISCUSSION ON APPLES. 
Apple SyxOxVyms. 
There is a mistake in my note on page 161 last week. I did not 
intend to suggest anything more than sending fruit, leaves, and wood of 
Dr. Harvey, Wormsley Pippin, and Waltham Abbey Seedling for show¬ 
ing they are one and the same variety. The name of Golden Noble was 
inserted accidentally. I think the Fruit Committee in “ British Apples ’ 
(page 376), 1888, wrong in stating that Golden Noble and Waltham 
Abbey Seedling are identical.— JOHN Chinnery, The Gavdens, Doion- 
ton Castle. 
Apple Wormsley Pippin, 
In a garden I was recently looking through 1 found Waltham Abbey 
Seedling grown as Wormsley Pippin, and the variety having the first 
appellation w'as something quite dissimilar and of no special merit. No 
doubt we may admit that Waltham Abbey Seedling is grown also under 
the names of Wormsley Pippin and Dr. Harvey, and the only remaining 
point to clear up is which name has prior claim. In any case one recog¬ 
nised title is enough. With respect to Mr. Chinnery’s statement as to 
Golden Noble and Waltham Abbey Seedling at the Apple Conference of 
1888 being pronounced identical, I would point out what was really done. 
Golden Noble was shown under both appellations, and they were pro¬ 
nounced identical. No body of persons ever yet described genuine 
fruits of the two sorts as being identical.—A. D. 
Cooking Test for Quality. 
This is a very interesting subject, and I hope there will be some 
comments on “ W. B.’c ” class list (page 130), or that others will relate 
their experiments. De gustihus non est disgmtandnm, but surely it is 
odd that such very differently flavoured Apples as Blenheim Orange and 
Normanton Wondon (Wellington) should be in the same class, and that 
Lord Derby and Sturmer Pippin occupy the lowest place of all for 
flavour,—W. E. Kaillem. 
FRUIT BLOSSOM. 
The last year’s growths, twigs, and spurs of Apricot trees are studded 
with blossom buds ready for expanding, and the time for affording 
protection is at hand. Pears have the most blossom buds, bold and 
promising on the first-formed spurs on the two-year-old wood. Young 
trees, or those extending, have by far the grandest display of buds. 
Eestricted trees show many blossom buds so close together, and so 
variable in size, as to suggest a liberal thinning. This is easily done by 
dividing them into three sizes—the small, medium, and large, removing 
all the first, most of the second, and retaining the large bold buds. If 
there be sufficient of the latter for leaving evenly over the tree at a 
handbreadth apart, all the other buds may be rubbed off, for there are 
five times too many for insuring a good set and fine fruit. Where 
the trees on the Pear stock are closely pruned there is only a sprinkling 
of blossom buds on spurs from wood over four years old. Such trees 
grow fine shoots to be cut away in summer, these often producing the 
sole crop. Some trees have last year’s growth terminated by bold 
blossom buds, and such branches must be cut back to wood buds if an 
extension of growth is needed. 
Cherry trees are clustered all over with buds, and half may be 
removed with advantage. Some trees produce nothing but blossoms 
and leaves year after year. Thinning the blossom prevents the trees 
expending all their energies on beautiful abortions. 
Plum blossom promises to be abundant, especially on young trees 
with the branches thinly disposed. Peach trees have plenty of blossom 
buds just moving, but they will not take any harm until the pink or 
crimson petals have burst the integuments that hitherto have protected 
them. All the trees are not alike promising. Some strong-growing sorts 
do not mature the wood sufficiently for setting good crops. None has 
done better than Dr. Hogg Peach in the past, and it is more favourable 
for fruit production this year than any other variety on a hundred yards 
run of south wall. 
Our national fruit, the Apple, especially the early varieties, give 
great promise of blossom on garden trees, all on the English Paradise 
stocks, while many trees in orchards teem with fertility. What we wish 
to see are clean, healthy, open trees in fertile soil, for these produce 
the boldest blossoms and the finest fruit. Overcrowding is fatal to 
productiveness. This Shakespeare knew, or ho would not have written 
. . . . “All superfluous branches 
We lop away, that bearing boughs may live.” 
Let his words be remembered. On another occasion I will describe 
methods of protecting the blossoms of fruit trees.—G. Abbey. 
Perhaps it is too early in the season to say much about the fruit 
prospects of 18!)3, but to judge from the appearance of the trees in this 
district there is every indication of there being good crops if.the weather 
