August 13, 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
189 
Beurre Bose, Beurre Clairgeau, Williams’ Ban Chretien, Yicar of 
M inkfield, and Gansel’s Bergamot. 
Plums. 
The trees in the open quarters here are treated much in the 
same way as the pyramidal Apple and Pear trees, and those on the 
walls are pruned and trained the same as the Pear trees in that 
position. The Plum, like most of the stone fruits, is subject to 
the attacks of aphides, red spider, honeydew, mildew, gum, and 
canker. The aphides generally show themselves first on the points 
of the young vigorous shoots, which they cause to curl. As soon 
as they are observed the points of the shoots should be nipped off, 
to keep them from spreading over the tree, except in the case of 
the main shoots of wall trees, when the affected leaves should be 
picked off to preserve them entire. Syringing the trees with soap¬ 
suds and tobacco water keeps them in check, but once the trees are 
badly affected—the way they are in some places this season—it is 
not easy to get rid of them by any means. Honeydew is the effect 
of aphides’ attacks. Red spider is difficult to master in dry seasons, 
and some districts are worse for it than others. All kinds of 
deciduous trees are subject to it in warm close confined situations 
like the Castle Gardens here. If once they get a strong footing it 
is almost impossible to eradicate them by any means. Mildew may 
be destroyed by sulphur in some form or other. Gum and canker 
cause the leaves of the affected trees to silver, and the branches to 
die back. When such is the case I know of no remedy except 
taking the trees out and planting young ones in their place. 
There are many varieties of Plums to choose from, culinary and 
dessert. The following are what are chiefly grown in the Castle 
gardens :—Victoria, Denniston’s Superb, Nectarine, Prince Engel- 
hart, Bryanston Gage, Transparent Gage, Kirke’s Purple, and 
Coe’s Golden Drop. I have thus endeavoured, in as plain and 
practical a way as I could, to deal with the subject I was invited 
to speak upon ; and I trust the remarks I have offered may have 
the effect of causing more attention to be paid to the culture of 
our hardy fruits. 
[We have pleasure in publishing a portrait of Mr. Pettigrew 
in recognition of his long and able services in horticulture. He 
has made the gardens at Cardiff Castle what they are to-day, and 
the fruit trees in them are amongst the finest and most productive 
in the kingdom. He has also established vineyards in the district, 
and the Castle Coch wine has won the approval of connoisseurs. 
Mr. Pettigrew is a man of mark in gardening.] 
AURICULAS AT NORWOOD GREEN. 
A GOOD many years ago, when I was “ free and unappropriated,” I set 
off one very doubtful morning to visit a nursery some miles distant from 
the house of the brother parson with whom I was staying at the time, 
and when I came back in a very “ druket ” condition nothing would 
persuade him but that there had been a lady in the case. I don’t sup¬ 
pose that he, or anyone else, would have laid to my charge anything of 
the kind if they had seen me stumping up from the Hipperholme 
station, near Halifax, one threatening day in the latter part of July 
that there was a lady in the case now. My brow is wrinkled now, “ my 
locks are like the snaw ”— i.e,, the very few I have left, and yet in both 
cases there was a lady in the case. It was Lady Flora to whose charms 
I fell a victim in my early days, and who has cast her spell over me 
ever since. * 
It is now eleven years—so does time fly—since I gave in the Journal 
an account of my visit to Shobden Head, where the late Mr. Woodhead 
cultivated with so much success his favourite flower, the Auricula. 
Those eleven years had made some considerable difference to me. I 
should have been very sorry to have attempted that climb now, but my 
love for the Auricula had in no way changed, and probably had I been 
put on my mettle I should have made the attempt. I think my love for 
it would not have been questioned had anyone seen me in the midst of a 
thunderstorm, rushing for shelter in a friendly “ pub.” 
Miss Woodhead carries on with, as we all know, her brother’s culture 
of the Auricula, and under the management of her able gardener, 
Mr. McDonald, the collection maintains the character which I gave it 
years ago, as being one of the healthiest and best grown that I had ever 
seen. It is not often that one sees a collection kept up. Generally at 
the owner’s death it is dispersed in one way or other, but here it has 
been fully maintained, and the houses in which they were grown at 
Shobden are still their home here. 
Norwood Green is about a mile , and a half from Hipperholme 
Station ; the country was all new to me, and I had to inquire my way. 
I was amused by one answer, “ Oh, yes, I kens now ; it’s next house to 
‘Little Dick’s’”—I being, of course, in utter ignorance of who that 
illustrious party was. However, I found my way without any mishap, 
and foimd a pretty little cottage with a small garden, the greater portion 
of which was occupied by the old Shobden houses and others added to 
them, for Miss Woodhead’s love for gardening extends beyond the 
Auricula. Her greenhouses were full of excellently bloomed plants of 
various kinds; the small garden which faces south on the slope of one of 
those many hills in which this part of Yorkshire abounds, was equally 
full. Laced Pinks and Roses were in good condition and spreading a 
delightful fragrance around ; but to me, of course, the Auriculas were 
the chief attraction. We can talk over them when there are only leaves 
to be seen ; and although it is, of course, far more interesting to see 
them in flower, yet he who loves them delights to see them at any time 
when they are enjoying life and flourishing vigorously, and so as we 
there stood over the stages on which the Auriculas were reposing we had 
a pleasant chat about the plants. “ What a pity,” says Mr. McDonald, 
“ that Mrs. Potts has such a slender stem, and that the truss is so- 
loose owing to the footstalk of the flowers being of the same character.”' 
Its pips are exquisite in form, but this is a defect which detracts con¬ 
siderably from its claim to be the best self in cultivacion. The 
old florists were very particular as to these characteristics, as well 
as to the flowers. It may be all very well to put sticks to them, 
although that was not permissible in former days ; but for a plant not 
to be able to hold itself up without the aid of one is certainly a weak 
point. In this respect Mr. Woodhead’s Black Bess contrasts favourably 
with it, although the quality of the flower is not equal to it. It, more¬ 
over requires not to be grown in too rich soil. Indeed upon this subject 
Mr. McDonald holds what I believe to be very orthodox views, con¬ 
tending that if we have a good strong loam the chief point is gained. 
Asking him about the complaints 1 had heard from other growers as to 
the failure of constitution in George Lightbody and Lancashire Hero—his 
plants of these were small—and he said that of late years he had found 
them much less vigorous than they used to be, while they are much more 
shy in producing offsets. It would be indeed a misfortune for lovers of the 
flower if this were to continue, for with all our seed raising in these later 
days, there are, in my opinion, no grey edges that can approach them, 
most of our modern greys running so much into white, and neither one 
thing nor the other. These two do, it is true, sometimes merge almost, if 
not quite, into green ; but one can forgive this, for a green Lancashire. 
Conservative is of thi3 character, sometimes a good white sometimes an 
indifferent grey, and very difficult to obtain in a large plant, as it is so- 
given to throwing up offsets, and so takes off the strength of the parent 
plant. Acme has the same tendency, and it very often destroys the 
hope of the grower. This led us to the subject of white edges, and 
especially the fine seedling of which I had seen a pip this year, a decided 
white edge with a bright yellow eye ; unhappily it is delicate in habit, 
and I fear that, like John Simonite, ic will be a rarity, and that a 
good plant of it will not often be seen. Heap’s Smiling Beauty is still 
in favour here, and is at times a very fine flower. Mr. McDonald agrees 
with me as to my estimate of Magpie, which I think is the best edged 
flower that Mr. Horner has raised. Of green edges the deficiency of good 
varieties was deplored, but few of the new ones exhibited being up to 
the mark. The Rev. F. D. Horner, bearing a name which is deservedly 
honoured by all Auricula growers, is regarded as the best green edge 
both for its beauty and vigour. There are points in which some of the 
older flowers may beat it, but taken as a whole there is not one of them 
equal to it. Colonel Taylor, as shown by Mr. Wilson of Halifax, who 
grows it better than anyone I know, sometimes shows it in fine con¬ 
dition, and then its green edge is unapproachable, but the tube is 
always more or les3 defective, and the same must be said of Prince of 
Greens, whose watery eye deadens the beauty of the plant. Of Heroine 
as a self Mr. McDonald has a high opinion, which is shared in by most 
people. Like most of the seifs too it is a good doer. I found here also some 
of the older flowers. Lord of Lome is much appreciated for its brilliant 
colour, and as we know often holds a good place on the exhibition table. 
Mr. Woodhead, like several more of us, was no great admirer of the 
Alpine section, and however beautiful they may be I cannot for one 
moment give them a place alongside their more refined and very 
charming sisters. We may regard them as the masculine development 
of the flowers, and the Show Auriculas as the ladies of the family. As 
I walked back to the station with Mr. McDonald we chatted of many 
subjects connected with oirr favourite, and I rejoiced to think that the 
fine collection was under such good care, and so lovingly watched over 
and enjoyed by the worthy sister of a worthy man.—D., Deal. 
PRUNES IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. 
(Continued from page 90.) 
The tree of the variety previously referred to is a very slow 
grower, requiring ten years to bring it into full bearing, though I saw 
some trees of six years old, very favourably situated, with a fair 
crop of fruit on them. The fruit also matures very slowly and is 
not ripe till all other fruits in the district, Apricots, Green Gages, 
Peaches, have ripened. The Plums are picked when just ripe, before 
the flesh has begun to soften, they are placed on claies or trays, 
one layer of Plums on each dale. The dales are made either of strips 
of wood or of wicker work, and are either triangular or round. They 
are a little deeper than the thickness of a Plum, so that when not in 
the ovens they can be safely placed upon each other. The dales when 
filled are arranged upon the bottom of the “fours” or inside the 
etuves, and the operation commences. Each homestead has a building in 
which are placed the “ fours,” and also the etuve , if the Metayer 
possesses one. The “ fours ” are simply like very large ordinary bread 
ovens ; they are usually built in pairs, each one about 10 feet long, and 
4 feet wide ; they are heated by burning wood inside them ; the ashes 
are cleared out and the dales placed inside. 
The etuves are closets of variable dimensions with different appli¬ 
ances for holding the claies, they have a small furnace with pipes 
underneath the floor for heating. There seems to be a preference 
