April 1. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
3 
i land, but of the world, lias offered its co-operation, and 
that in a manner the most liberal. 
The annual meeting of the Yorkshire Agricultural 
I Societg , takes place this year at Sheffield, in the month 
of August; and prizes are, as usual, offered for poultry, 
but, we believe, on a considerably extended scale as 
compared with former years. 
The Council of the Bath and West of England 
Societg, winch will hold its show at Taunton, in June 
next, also offer prizes for domestic poultry; and at a 
recent meeting of an influential character, held at New¬ 
castle-upon-Tyne , John Grey, Esq., of Dilston, presiding, 
it was determined to establish a Society, to be called 
“ The Northern Cattle Show Society," for holding an 
exhibition of fat cattle, sheep, swine, and Poultry, at 
Newcastle, at Christmas, in each year. In fact, poultry 
will henceforth form a feature, and a most interesting 
aud attractive one, at all our agricultural meetings of 
importance.—W. 
GOSSIP. 
Mr. Isaac Oldaker, who died at the commencement 
of the last month, was one of the oldest of the gardeners 
who, by their enlightened practice, have rendered the 
present century so distinguishable for its improved lior- 
! ticulture. lie was, successively, gardener to Sir Joseph 
Banks and the Emperor of Russia, from the govern- 
I ment of which country he received a pension. His early 
advocacy of the German mode of growing mushrooms 
in houses, his culture of violets in winter, and his fruit 
culture at Spring Grove, are all facts of celebrity, and 
worthy of remembrance to his honour, 
Every one who has a proper patriotism rejoices when 
his native land gives birth to anything excellent—it is 
| one of the ramifications of pride that one need not be 
ashamed of; therefore, we acknowledge that we feel not 
a little glad, and we hope our readers will he equally 
' glad, that it is at length proved that John Tradescant 
the younger was an Englishman. The curious tracing 
out of this fact is thus told in a recent number of Notes 
and Queries :— 
“ A correspondent, C. C. Pi., after quoting the following 
mutilated MS. note, written in pencil in a copy of Dr. 
Ducarel’s Tract on the subject, preserved among the books 
in the Ashmolean Museum— 
“ ‘ Consult (with certainty of finding information concerning the Tra- 
descants) the Registers of —apham, Kent,’— 
suggested that Meopham was the parish referred to, and 
j that search should be made there by some correspondent 
resident in that neighbourhood. The hint was not, how- 
i ever, taken, and the matter dropped for a time. 
“ At the close of last year we received a communication 
from a learned and much valued friend, now, alas ! no more 
(Rev. Lancelot Sharpe), telling its that Meopham was the 
place referred to, and suggesting that we should get extracts 
from the register for the information of our readers. Upon 
! this hint we acted; but our endeavours, for reasons to which 
we need not more particularly refer, failed, and it was not 
| until our attention was recalled to the subject by the endea¬ 
vour that is making, and we trust successfully making, to 
j procure subscriptions for restoring the Tradescant Monu¬ 
ment at Lambeth, that we applied to another friend resident 
in the neighbourhood of Meopham for his assistance in the 
business. That assistance was (as it has ever been) ren¬ 
dered most cheerfully and most effectually; and we are now 
enabled to lay before our readers and the Committee of the 
Tradescant Monument Restoration Fund, the following evi¬ 
dence that John Tradescant the younger was a Man of Kent. 
I t is extracted from the baptismal register of Meopham :— 
“ ‘ In 1608, August, the iiij daye, John, the sonne of John Tradescant, 
was baptized eodem die —’ 
“ Although we are not without hopes of receiving further 
information from the same source, we could not refrain 
from bringing this new fact in the history of the Trades 
cants at once before our readers.” 
A gentleman writing from Omagh, says :— 
“ I have kept a plant of “ Statice Americana ” in the 
open ground (in the north of Ireland) all the winter, with 
very slight protection, (only a hand-glass for a few days and 
nights during the snow and frost, and one side of the glass 
broken), and it is now alive and well. You advised the 
trial, and have now the result.” 
THE ORCHARD HOUSE. 
Those who have just commenced this mode of fruit 
culture will doubtless have a lot of newly potted trees, 
and the due care of these, in order to lose no time, will 
become of importance. Our last paper on this subject 
treated on potting, soil, &c., and there is no occasion 
now for repetition. The pruning we may advert to, 
although in many cases it has been performed, as indeed 
it ought to have been. There are several fanciful modes j 
equally productive of fruitful habits, but not equally 
eligible to one of the chief ends in view, viz., economy 
of space. The habits of growth of the trees may, in 
some degree, be permitted to determine the future form 
of the kind, for habits differ considerably. All warfare 
waged with the latter principle generally involves a 
sacrifice of time ; indeed, one or two years are generally 
lost in battling with the wayward propensities of trees 
in a course of training, intended to render them sub¬ 
servient to a specific purpose. 
We therefore advise the beginner to prune very mo¬ 
derately, in the old wood we mean. To this end he 
might have two sets of trees; the one intended to fruit 
with the least possible loss of time, the other trained 
according to the most approved principles, aud which, 
as before stated, will be a year or two longer in coming 
into full bearing. When we take into consideration 
the severe limitation of space which a moderate-sized 
orchard-house may contain, it is evident that if there is j 
much elbowing, the rich lists of fruits which are to be 
had in this country will only be in very small part 
available. Much in a small space, must be the motto 
with the orchard-house cultivator; and this being ad¬ 
mitted, it becomes a question whether any general form 
of training, liable to as few exceptions as possible, can 
be adopted, and if so, what form ? 
The pyramidal form, so much and deservedly recom¬ 
mended by Mr. Rivers and others of fruit-growing noto¬ 
riety, immediately comes to mind, as embodying almost 
every essential in the orchard-house. We do not say 
that an attempt should be made in all cases to force this 
habit on the trees, but that by it more trees can be 
grown in the same extent of orchard-house than by any 
other mode. Plants thus trained will both receive more 
light, in an equalised way, to all portions of their 
branches, and will less shade their neighbours. Those 
who train their own pyramids must, of course, com¬ 
mence with a straight central shoot, and continue to 
build the fabric of the tree progressively, taking care 
that the lower branches are somewhat established 
before any amount of rambling growth be permitted in 
the top. Indeed, the whole bush must be kept con¬ 
stantly under artistic control; and to this end linger- 
and-thumb work will become indispensable during the 
growing season. Those who can afford it will do well, 
in our opinion, to purchase pyramids ready trained in 
