May 4 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
359 
the care of Mr. William Picksley. It shares a span-roofed house about 
50 feet long and 20 feet wide, with such a heterogeneous mixture as 
Madresfield Court, Mrs. Pince, Alicante, Gros Colman, Black Hamburgh, 
Muscat Hamburgh, Black Prince, and Buckland Sweetwater. It was 
planted about twelve years ago, and the roots inside the house having 
access to an outside border. Up to three years ago the Vine was cut 
down annually, but Mr. Picksley did not continue the system when he 
took charge, and the change in the Vines under his management is very 
remarkable. Two rods have been taken up, reaching the ridge in three 
stages. The Vine is fruited on laterals managed on the usual spur system. 
Last year 29 lbs. of Grapes were cut from a length of 15 feet of rod, and 
notwithstanding that this was somewhat heavy work the Vines have 
again a wonderfully fine show, and promise to bear a magnificent crop. 
The strength of the laterals is very striking. They are long and exceed¬ 
ingly stout, many being half an inch in diameter at the base. The 
foliage, too, is finely developed. It is quite evident that the holding 
soil suits the Vine, but nevertheless Mr. Picksley deserves the heartiest 
Chaffey Brothers has organised “ down under.” I wonder if Mr. A. H. 
Pearson is going to have anything to say about his Russians at Chilwell 
this year. Hitherto they have not fruited. 
Accounts have reached me of Mr. Gumbleton’s Tulips which have 
caused the one little feeling of discontent with the season that I can 
bring myself to entertain. Had they not been hurried on so quickly 
by the wonderful weather, but had bloomed at the average season, a 
long deferred trip to the Emerald Isle might have become an accom¬ 
plished fact, and had it been possible of arrangement be sure that a 
visit to Belgrove would have formed an important feature of it. Those 
who are acquainted with the Irish amateur, and he is not an infrequent 
visitor to English shows and nurseries, are aware that he has his pecu¬ 
liarities, one of them being an outspokenness not always relished ; but 
he is a true florist, and no pains seem to be too great when the achieve¬ 
ment of some special object is in view. Lately he has set his heart on 
having an altogether exceptional display of Tulips, and he has shirked 
Fig. 66.—STROBILAFITHES DYERIANUS. 
commendation for the way in which he has managed it. He has 
succeeded where many other good fruit growers have partially or com¬ 
pletely failed. It will be of interest to note the future career of Mr. 
Miller’s Vine. It is more than likely that if a time for severe restriction 
came it would begin to lose its vigour, but it is wisely being allowed 
to “ have its head,” and is now making its way down the other side 
of the roof. When it gets to the bottom it would not be a bad idea to 
let it work back again. _ 
There seems to be an exceptional set of Apricots this year. Wanderings 
into various districts reveal the pleasant fact that fruit is thickly 
clustered on most of the trees, and the crop of 1893 should be a fine one. 
In some instances the set is quite remarkable, and will necessitate severe 
thinning. When to do this is the point. If done at once the fruit 
removed is worthless, but if some are left to swell until on the point of 
stoning they can be utilised for tarts and other culinary purposes. The 
mere addition of a little pulp will not hurt the trees, and so long as the 
strain of stoning is saved, the fruit may be left on as long as possible. 
I do not know if any readers of the Journal have tasted imported 
Apricots, but some fruit received from the Irrigation Colonies in 
Australia was really excellent. It had not a Moorpark flavour, but it 
was very good for all that ; and Apricots on the table in winter and 
early spring make a most acceptable addition to the bill of fare. We 
shall hear more yet of the enterprise which the engineering skill of the 
neither trouble nor expense in order to produce it. That I happen to 
know, for Mr. G. is one of those men who like others with corresponding 
tastes to share his pleasures. One large border in his garden, containing 
nearly 1600 bulbs in eighty-eight varieties has, I understand, been a 
dream of beauty, and Tulip lovers will be prepared to accept the 
description without cavil. If the early Tulips have not the special 
interest and qualities of the late varieties, about some of which we shall 
doubtless be shortly hearing something in these pages, they are still 
both beautiful and varied, capable of giving very rich effects in spring 
flower gardens. _ 
At a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society Mr. Bunyard 
pointed out to me a tiny plant in a collection of hardy flowers on which 
he said one firm had spent a round hundred pounds in vain attempts to 
establish it, and which another could only manage by annual importa¬ 
tions. I venture to think that such plants should be done without. 
What is there in Eritrichium nanum that money should be poured out 
upon it like water? It is not unattractive, but compared with Myosotis 
dissitiflora it is a weed. Surely it is fostering a false taste to encourage 
attempts to cultivate plants which are conspicuous only by their fastidi¬ 
ousness. To say that a firm can only maintain a supply by annual 
importations practically means disappointment to every buyer, for if 
skilled growers cannot succeed with it what chance have others ? 
Attempts to cultivate such plants as this by those who know its 
