478 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 23. 
scarcely say, as our histrionic gentlemen sometimes do— 
“The last time of performance in this character, &c.” 
If any one is to blame, it is my very clever and worthy 
coadjutor, Mr. Fish, who fairly challanged me to an ex¬ 
planation of the whereabouts in Pear culture. 
The balloon form , as some have termed it, is not well 
characterised by that term ; it is neither more nor less 
than two or three stories high of umbrellas, one above 
the other, and each, of course, having, as all good 
umbrellas should have, a proper length of handle. I 
do not commend these gim-craeks or horticultural 
vagaries, neither do I condemn them, for I have had a 
tolerable share of success with such whimsies; they are 
the mere offsprings of a sort of inventive mania enter¬ 
tained many years since. However, it becomes a 
duty, now that I have fairly broken the ice, to point to 
the merits and demerits of all that I am acquainted 
with. I may observe, that I have a Marie Louise tree 
in this character, and it has been a marvel to all who 
have seen it; three stories high, and laden with those 
fine Jargonelle - looking fellows, like the ornaments 
dangling around a Chinese Pagoda. This Marie Louise 
has three of these umbrellas, each gradually diminishing 
in size upwards, so that it might almost be termed a 
creeping pyramid ; it has, altogether, a very handsome 
appearance. 
The curved-parallel mode on the walls has only one 
advantage over ordinary fan training, as far as I am 
aware, and that is, light is admitted more equally to all 
portions of the tree. In this respect, ordinary fan train¬ 
ing has ever a slight defect. The main shoots, in this 
curved-parallel mode, start from a common centre, as in 
fan training, that centre about a foot or little more 
above the mere collar. They are forced into a curvature 
at about half a yard from the point of radiation, and 
then fall in with the courses of brick-work, observing 
horizontal lines at the distance of three courses apart. 
A mode of training adopted at the Royal Gardens, 
Frogmore, is worthy of notice here. Many of the Pears, 
when I was last there, were trained over metallic arches 
of about four or five feet high, and, perhaps, five feet 
diameter at the base; as, however, I speak from memory, 
I may be slightly in error as to measurements, but that 
will not interfere with the principle. These are, I think, 
of an elliptic rather than a circular form, and are com¬ 
posed of parallel wires stretched, I believe, horizontally. 
Now, these I should have no objection to if running 
north and south ; but as to their running east and west, 
I should, most decidedly, object to them, for they must, 
in that case, have a north or shady side, and it really 
will not do to advocate shade to forcing Pears; if so, 
there should be an end of all talk about tenderness. If 
I were establishing a new garden, I think I should use 
this form along the north and south lines, and the table 
trellis along the east and west lines; this would be a 
very interesting and useful arrangement. 
Arcades of Pears along garden walks have been re¬ 
commended, and, no doubt, look very agreeable when 
full of fruit, but they can scarcely be recommended, on 
the score of principle, for our tender kinds. But there 
are many kinds for which this mode would be suitable 
enough, and those intending to adopt it should be very 
careful how they make their selection. 
As for pyramidal trees, everybody knows that they are 
very handsome, and, in the main, succeed very well; but 
in my opinion the table trellis will be found much superior 
as to warmth ; the branches being all within a foot of the 
soil must be admitted to be in a warmer position than 
those higher up, especially if the ground beneath were 
covered with slates, and the shoots so trained as to 
permit the solar rays to heat the slates. 
Besides, I think it will be found, that by some such 
plan as I have suggested, the table trellis may be 
covered and uncovered with greater facility than most 
other forms; and this of itself is no mean recom¬ 
mendation. 
In due time, I will proceed to examine other portions ! 
of this interesting, though somewhat perplexing, subject. 
R. Errinoton. 
MEETING OF THE HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY.— March 7, 1854. 
The newest plant, and one of the prettiest green¬ 
house plants that has been introduced for a long time, 
was exhibited here to-day by two nurserymen, in two 
forms, diametrically opposed to each other; the one, 
the most miserable, scrubby, three-parts-starved-looking 
thing you ever saw ; and the other, the most healthy- 
looking plant that has been publicly shown in England 
these ten years past. When one has an entirely new 
plant, it is right and lawful to exhibit it, even if|it were , 
half-dead at the time, for practical men know, full well, 
that it is not always the healthiest and best-looking ! 
plant among a lot of new seedlings that is the likeliest ' 
of them to flower, so we make allowance for the looks [ 
at the first start; but no such allowance was needed on 
this occasion, as the two growers are, by common , 
consent, allowed to be the most successful growers, of I 
their line, in all England, namely, the Messrs. Veitch, 
of Exeter and Chelsea, and Messsrs. Henderson, of the 
Pine-Apple Nursery, where Mr. Appleby used to tend 
the Orchids. I once had the ugliest and worst-grown 
plant but one in England, but it was never shown 
before, and I beat Mrs. Lawrence with it out-and-out on 
the very same table, and got a Knightian Medal for it. 
The plant was Tueedia ccerulea, and the new plant to¬ 
day is called Acacia Drummondi, a New Holland plant, 
and the very best of the race, far superior to grandis, or 
any of the “ new Acacias” we have heard of for years, i 
Now, as this plant must soon get into all parts of ! 
England, Ireland, and Scotland, to the Continent, and 
to North America, as the best pot dwarf Acacia, on the 
authority of The Cottage Gardener, I must describe 
it, as I am convinced, in my own mind, that it is con¬ 
stitutionally a better seedling to grow than its fellow' 
shown as above. Indeed, I tried to convince the best 
botanist in England that the two are two distinct 
species, but he would not have them so. The leaves, 
shoots, and style of growth of this Acacia, are just as 
if it were a cross seedling between CoroniUa glauca and 
Cytisus ramosus, and that the Cytisus changed the hue 
and reduced the leaves of the Coronilla. The flowers 
are on cylinders, or cylindrical, and the footstalk of 
each cylinder is an inch or more in length, making it 
the more graceful. It w r as sent by Mr, Veitch, who had 
a good prize for it, and who also sent a new r , or newish, 
Boronia, called Drummondi, a delicate-looking plant, 
wdth large, bright pink flowers; also Sarracenia pur¬ 
purea, in good order. Mr. Hume, not the M.P., but 
the gardener to R. Hanbury, Esq., of the Poles, near 
Ware, sent a very beautiful, and very scarce, I believe, 
Cymbidium, called eburneum, with large, white, waxy 
flowers, and two on a scape. It seemed an excellent I 
plant to grow, so that an amateur might try it without i 
fear. The Messrs. Rollinsou, of Tooting, sent a new j 
Lycaste, a droll-looking flower, the sepals rolling back, i 
showing a greenish tinge, blotched, and shaded with 
brown, and the petals whitish, and blotched and shaded 
like the others, but with purple instead of brown. This 
Lycaste was just beginning to grow, so that it may, 
probably, be bad in flower from February to May, or, 
perhaps, in the autumn, for it is worth while bearing 
in mind that a great number of bulbs,— Hippeasters, 
for instance,—and a great many Orchids, flower shortly 
after a long rest, and, therefore, that many such can be 
had in flower any month of the twelve, by first arrang- 
