408 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 28, 1858. 
and tapering; colour pale green, handsomely striped on 
sunny side ; flesh very firm; core not over sized ; pos¬ 
sessing a sharp acid, and not improbably a good culinary 
fruit. The Meeting desired that it should be exhibited 
again, and more than one specimen sent, in order that 
its baking properties might be tested; and also that 
information should be obtained regarding the pro¬ 
ductive qualities of the tree, as shyness of bearing is a 
defect generally common to the large handsome 
j varieties of Apple. 
John Lyell, Esq., M.D., of Newburgh, Fifeshire, 
sent a Seedling called Jolly Beggar, reported to be 
of a strong growth, and a fair cropper, fruit weighing 
from five to seven ounces each, and baking “ exceed¬ 
ingly well.” Dr. Lyell offers to furnish grafts. The 
fruit was above the middle size, very handsome, clear, 
pale, yellowish green, oblate, slightly ribbed, and 
somewhat tapering ; flesh very firm, crisp, and juicy ; 
core small, acid good and promising. 
Mr. Davidson, of Weston Shifnal, Salop, sent, with 
a large collection, an old variety, called American 
Codlin. It is described as the best early kitchen 
Apple in the district in which it is grown ; and it was 
j recognised as a favourite kitchen fruit in Covent 
Garden. Mr. Davidson offered to supply grafts, 
believing it to be worthy of more extended cultivation. 
Note. —Grafts which are offered of valuable varieties will 
be obtained about the middle of January. Members desiring 
to partake in the distribution are requested to apply, by letter, 
to the Secretary, before the 1st of January, that a sufficient 
supply to meet their wants may be procured. 
Mr. Godwin again sent Closeburn Seedling, 
which proves to be quite distinct from New Haivthorn- 
' den (sent by Mr. Lane), the shape being more conical, 
less oblate ; colour more green, less yellow; and the 
flesh boiling to a perfectly white, and less acid pulp, 
instead of a light brown, as is the case with the New 
Nawthornden. 
Nuts. —Mr. Sclater sent a variety called Union 
Filbert, raised in Devonshire, according to the 
grower’s impression, between the Filbert and Cob : it 
is described as a great and certain bearer. The fruit 
had the appearance of having been produced by the 
cross described, the Nut being roundish, and approach¬ 
ing the Cob shape, and the beard long and frizzled; the 
shell was thick and hard ; the kernel comparatively 
small, not generally filling the cavity; flavour defi¬ 
cient, not equal to the Cosford. 
Mr. Wighton sent a collection of Filberts , which 
afforded a good opportunity of testing the above. 
A DAY AMONG CHRYSANTHEMUM 
GROWERS. 
It may be interesting to some of your amateur readers, to 
hear what is doing with this useful winter flower, as a town 
plant. For smoky localities, nothing surpasses it, and the ex¬ 
citement and interest it is creating in London is unlimited. 
I> being a very old grower of the plant, naturally feel some 
pleasure in ascertaining from the different growers what they 
are about with it 5 consequently, I took a general survey all 
round London, and the following is the result. 
At Wimbledon, Isleworth, and Spring Grove, Hounslow, 
the Pompones surpass all imagination. They started the 
young plants in November, and kept them in 60-sized pots 
till February, in cold frames ; then potted them into 48’s, took 
out the centre or crown, and got from five to seven side shoots 
or laterals ; when from six to seven inches long, pegged them 
down to the rim of the pot, giving a moderate supply of 
water; and when the plant was grown sufficiently to fill the 
pot with roots, gave another shift, and again stopped the shoots. 
When drawn to seven or eight inches high they were again 
pegged down, continuing so till the 1st of August. The plant 
then being in its blooming-pot, which is an 8 -inch, was three- 
parts plunged in a sheltered place in the borders; liquid 
manure given twice a day when the pot was full of roots, up 
to the time of showing colour, for blooming ; pegging down 
attended to, and each branch placed in its proper position, to 
form a round, flat, equal, proportionate plant; and the foliage 
sprinkled three or four times a day with plain water. A little 
soot was mixed with the liquid manure. 
By this treatment they have, at this present moment, plants 
averaging from three to four feet across, with about 300 healthy 
shoots, six inches high from the rim of the pot, all showing 
the flower-bud, and scarcely a discoloured, unhealthy leaf 
amongst them. They are perfect pictures of plants. Whatever 
size they will exhibit, I cannot imagine : they are monsters 
now, and have got nearly two months more time to grow. 
Camberwell, Bermondsey, Hackney, and Stoke Newington, 
are all up to the mark, practising the same treatment. The 
amateurs almost equal the gardeners in the size and symmetry 
of their plants, and bid fair to have such shows as never 
were witnessed before 
Mr. Morgan, of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, has grown twelve 
Pompones, on single stems, three feet high, with a head flat, 
eighteen inches to two feet across, full of shoots. This is 
quite a new feature, and the plants look very handsome; in 
fact, it appears they may be trained in any form or habit you 
please,—flat, pyramidal, or as standards,—and are so easy of 
management that anyone may cultivate them with success. 
They are sure to repay for the labour bestowed upon them. 
The compost they are grown in is good, strong loam, rotten 
dung, and a little sand. A few of the growers at Stoke 
Newington do not peg down the plants at all, but let them 
grow without stopping, and train them like basket-making, 
round and round. These look very handsome when tied well, 
but give endless labour, and do not show well for exhibition, 
as you only see one side; whereas, by the flat system, you see 
all the bloom at once; but it only does for this purpose, as they 
cannot be staged in greenhouses. It only proves what can be 
done with training for shows, as they bloom all at one time, 
and look a perfect blaze of flowers. 
As respects the large varieties, they are all looking very 
promising. Some are growing in 11-inch pots for exhibition, 
being opened out by thin long sticks, carefully arranged, to the 
diameter of five feet, with foliage to the bottom; they are copi¬ 
ously supplied with liquid manure, stopped twice early in the 
summer , and grown on one stem, from three to four inches 
clear of the pot, and plunged like the Pompones. The plants 
for cut blooms are sometimes grown three in a large 12 - 
inch pot, in the same compost as the Pompones, and all 
laterals taken off as soon as they throw them out, till the j 
flower-bud appears ; then all shoots are taken off, to throw the 
whole strength of the plant into the bud. Others do not j 
take this bud, but pinch it out, and trust to those on the 
shoot of the subdivision, which freely throws out three. Two 
are taken off, and one left for selecting the flower from, which j 
is generally accompanied by three or four others. This 1 
succeeds very well with early varieties, but with the late ones 
I have some doubts of its being successful, if a sharp frost 
should set in; otherwise, if an open, mild season, they do 
much better. 
The border plants are treated the same as above, if grown 
for cut blooms. Nearly all the large varieties are showing their 
past bulk, and are as large as a Pear. The last lateral does not 
show yet.— Samuel Broome, Temple Gardens. 
FERGUSON’S ELASTIC BANDS FOR 
PEACHES. 
Under ordinary circumstances, loosening the surface, 
watering, mulching ■with manure or leaf mould, &c., and 
keeping the ground in a medium state of moisture, will 
prevent the fruit falling before matured. But, in cases where 
the trees are trained on walls, upright trellises, &c., or the 
fruit, from necessity, is allowed to grow on the underside of a 
flat trellis, it becomes almost an impossibility, if the fruit is 
what it ought to be, large , to prevent its weight from causing 
it to fall. 
A case of the latter fell to my lot this season. In January 
last, I had the sashes taken off a house for repairing and 
