THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Apkil 6, 1858. 
evergreens, so as to conceal as much, as possible, from 
the ground and windows, the long sunk wall that runs 
southward; the removing altogether, or turfing over 
the present walk close to that boundary, and, if retained 
at all, placing it near to the wilderness wood, and 
occupying the ground between it, and this at present 
objectionable boundary, with groups of Rhododen¬ 
drons and other evergreens. I would not have said so 
much on this, but that I cannot see the propriety of 
the prevalent fashion of making a concealed fence, and 
then sticking a walk on the top of it, that you may 
have the pleasure of looking into a ditch that you 
profess a desire to conceal. R. Fish. 
(To be continued.) 
CALLS AT NURSERIES. 
MR. R. S. YATES, SALE, NEAR MANCHESTER. 
(Continued from page 364, Vol. XIX.) 
Thebe is here a large house with a three-spanned 
roof, which Mr. Abates calls his hospital. In it he 
keeps his Camellias, that have few or no flowers, 
and all Rhododendrons, and other shrubs that have 
been forced to ripen their wood, and form buds for 
the next season. Such a house is an useful adjunct to 
the establishment, and he finds that shrubs that have 
been forced and gradually hardened off, and put to 
rest, are more easily forced a second year. This is 
a principle that is well known to gardeners in the habit 
of forcing Vines, Peaches, Cherries, and other early 
fruits. They acquire, by such treatment, a habit of 
earliness, and start more freely and boldly at the 
desired season than such as have not been forced at all. 
Descending from houses with brick w T alls, glass 
roofs, and hot-water pipes, I must next notice some 
cheap pits used for protection and shelter. They are 
formed with turf walls, covered with a frame of boards, 
upon which the glazed lights rest. They last, I was 
told, several years. The first I saw had a span roof; in 
the centre of this is a pit filled with leaves, and in it a 
large number of Roses, in pots, just starting their buds. 
The north side was banked up outside with earth, and 
on all the length of this back wall. Moss Roses had 
been laid through it, their branches projecting inwards. 
They had been so planted two years, and the wall was 
quite covered with them. I was assured the quantity 
of flowers they produced, about the end of April, or 
beginning of March, was prodigious. 
In the other lean-to pits, there were Rhododendrons, 
Lilacs, Roses, Deutzias, &c., intended to succeed those 
in flower in the forcing houses. Also, Cauliflower 
plants, Lettuces, Parsley, Radishes, early Potatoes, 
and other useful things for the table. After these are 
gathered, or cleared ou(, the pits are emptied, a hot¬ 
bed of dung made inside, soil laid on the surface, and 
Melons and Cucumbers planted. I was assured these 
yielded a good, useful, and profitable crop, with very 
little trouble. In places, where turf can be easily 
obtained, many a small farmer, or cottager, might form 
such pits with advantage. When the turf is thoroughly 
decayed, it forms most excellent soil for various plants 
—so that nothing is lost by this practice. 
Mr. Heaton, in a late number, described the excellent 
way in which Mr. Cutbush, of Barnet, cultivates the 
Holly, one of our handsomest, and certainly the hardiest, 
of our evergreens. Mr. Yates is equally assiduous in 
cultivating it. I noticed a very large plot of the com¬ 
mon Holly, about two feet high, which had been 
planted last autumn, in rows two feet and a half wide, 
and about the same distance from plant to plant. 
Iliese arc intended to form large specimens, before 
they are sold. To encourage full growth, and a large 
bundle of fibres to each plant, a couple of spadesful of 
good rotten dung had been given to each plant. No 
doubt the result will answer the most sanguine ex¬ 
pectation. When they have been two or three years 
in their situation, and have made growth accordingly, 
they will be all lifted and re-planted immediately, and 
all strong rambling roots pruned in. This desirable 
method is followed throughout the whole stock of 
shrubs and trees here—so that there is no fear about 
their growing, on removal to a distance. There is a large 
collection of variegated Hollies, of various sizes, which 
are all treated in this admirable manner. I saw two 
or three taken up, with bulbs of roots as compact as if 
they had been turned out of a pot or tub. Near to 
the plantations of Hollies, there are a large number of 
all the best Coniferae. The Deodars were particularly 
healthy, with branches close to the ground, all planted 
thin, so that each plant had its branches entire, and 
separate ; the moment they touch each other, they are 
thinned. In a specimen plantation, I noticed some 
fine trees, from eight to ten feet high. Cryptomeria 
Japonica bears the weather well here ; I saw several 
forming cones, so that there will be an opportunity of 
raising plants from seeds in this part of the country— 
a step, in my opinion, in the right direction towards 
acclimatizing them so as to bear the frosts better. The 
soil here, however, is a sandy gravel, which, no doubt, 
causes the wood to ripen early. 
I saw a few plants of the true Juniperus rubrum, a 
curious variety, with dark purplish foliage, rendering 
it, by contrast with the silvery-leaved Deodars, a 
striking object. 
In this soil Rhododendrons thrive remarkably well, 
and flower abundantly. I noticed a long row, by a 
brook side, that formed quite a lofty edge, and must, 
when in flower, be truly splendid. 
Turning from ornamental trees and shrubs, my 
attention was next directed to fruits. A large quarter 
of Apples and Pears are grown as the Hollies are, on 
the thin system. They are regularly pruned in autumn 
with the knife, and in summer with the finger and 
thumb, so that they are w T ell furnished with wood and 
blossom-buds. This may be called a “nursery orchard;” 
and as the trees are root-pruned also, each tree is at 
once, on removal, a bearing tree, without resorting to 
dwarfing stocks. 
writing about the method of pruning Currants at 
Horsley Hall, I remarked that the Red Currant bears 
w r ell, though cut in severely. Mr. Abates practises that 
way more severely than I ever saw anywhere. Each 
tree presents a strange appearance—not'a twig of young 
wood to be seen, excepting the leading shoot of each 
branch, and that is shortened in considerably. A 
practised eye could detect, at once, the bearing-buds 
thickly placed all the way up every branch. Summer 
pruning is resorted to, just before the fruit begins to 
change colour. I wish every gardener in Great Britain 
could see these Currant trees just now, I am sure he 
w ould adopt this excellent mode of pruning. 
Raspberries are grow r n here in large quantities, and 
the shoots are very strong. To assist and induce such 
gi ow th, a good covering of half-rotten dung is given 
every autumn. It is covered by taking up the central 
Portion of soil between the rows, and spreading it 
right and left over the dung. No other digging is 
allowed : lienee, as Mr. Errington recommends, surface 
roots are induced. The canes are tied upright to 
stakes m the old fashion ; but Mr. A ates has promised 
?L e ,^ ie arc Hing mode, as practised by my friend 
Mr. Ilintham, at Rotherham, so successfully, and de¬ 
scribed by me twelve months ago. 
Kinds of Apples and Pears — Every cultivator ought 
to study what sorts of fruit will be the best to plant 
in his garden, or he will make a mistake, which it 
