April 30, 1892. 
551 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
attributes it to the perfume emitted by the flowers. 
I am disposed to think that if the furze be placed in 
the trees before the butterflies begin to lay their eggs, 
the insects, coming into contact with the prickles, do 
not like them, and turn away from the trees. I 
remember, when in Yorkshire some thirty years ago, 
going into a garden and seeing a plantation of 
Gooseberry trees, each with a bunch of furze in 
the middle. It was remarkable to note how little 
these trees were ravaged by the caterpillar, while in 
surrounding gardens they were almost bare of leaves. 
The gentleman in whose garden I saw this contrivance 
stated that he and his father had practised it for 
thirty years, and always with success. I know that 
the bare mention of the method is apt to excite 
ridicule, but, after all, there is something in these 
old customs, and until we can show they are useless 
to serve the purpose contemplated, ridicule is some¬ 
what out of place.— R. D. 
PROPAGATING CAMELLIAS. 
When desirous to increase the finer double varieties 
of the Camellia, and having some plants of inferior 
kinds for stocks at hand, we have always found the 
operation of grafting to act more effectually from the 
present time up to the end of July than at any other 
period of the year. We invariably adopt one of the 
two methods most in favour with horticulturists, 
namely, tongue and saddle; and experience proves 
them to be, at least in this particular case, the best, 
most convenient, and most applicable under all cir¬ 
cumstances and conditions. A comparatively long 
teim of experience also teaches us that low grafting 
on old stocks is a thing not to be commended. Such 
we find will prove more satisfactory when grafted 
with a view to make them standards. They will then 
arrive in a shorter period at the flowering stage, and 
in less time f >rm vigorous plants; and there is, we ob¬ 
serve, little danger of the stock breaking out shoots 
after the graft or grafts have taken, and there can be 
equally as little objection for having plants on 
edium standards. If, however, a tall pyramidal 
tree is desired to be grafted, to give the most imme¬ 
diate effect, we cut it well back.and put as many grafts 
on as will feather it, so to speak, and in six weeks we 
have the plant almost as well furnished with foliage 
as it originally had been. Though not by any means 
a difficult thing,this operation to be successfully done 
requires a certain amount of nicety and precision in 
its performance, that perhaps practice alone will en¬ 
sure satisfactory results. Scion and stock, to begin 
with, must be tolerably rcbust and healthy, or 
nothing but failure can be expected to ensue. 
Our plan is, when the plants to be operated on are 
done flowering, we put them into heat, where they 
soon start into growth, and about the beginning of 
May, or sooner as the case may be, wood will be 
formed of sufficient length to make grafts. We cut 
these from 2 in. to 3 in. long and forked if possible, 
with a part of last year’s wood attached, which part 
is prepared and inserted into the incision of the 
stock. Having fitted it nicely in its position, it is 
firmly bound with strips of Raffia, wetted previously 
to take out any contractions and as well as to make 
it more impervious to the penetration of air to the 
wound. Over this a layer of sphagnum or any moss 
is placed and moderately bound. This must be kept 
always moist. The plants are placed in heat, the 
stronger the better, and kept shaded from the direct 
rays of the sun, and in less than six weeks the union is 
complete. Now the whole covering should be care¬ 
fully removed in case that the Raffia may be too 
tight. It, however, sometimes rots, but this is not 
to be trusted, for it may very considerably injure 
the free development of the healing process. A little 
moss lightly tied round the wound is all that should 
now be needed, which, of course, must be rigidly 
kept moist. This tends powerfully to accelerate the 
formation of callus, the concretion which is so 
materially indispensable in bringing about a union. 
Tire young grafts will not make much growth the 
same year. They seem to be exerting their vitality, 
in co-operation with the stock, in the common work 
of building up the point of union. Nevertheless, 
they will often perfect their flower buds, and some, 
times will develop into fair blooms. This, however- 
should almost never be looked for, and disappoint¬ 
ment will therefore be avoided. In the following 
year they will make splendid growths, and flowers 
should certainly be looked for in quantity propor¬ 
tionate to the strength of the stock. To increase 
the general stock of Camellias we raise stocks from 
seed. Most of the single kinds will readily form seed 
pods, and the beans as soon as ripe in autumn may 
be sown. In two years they are in fine condition 
for grafting. 
It may be said against this practice that gardeners 
can buy young plants cheaper than the time and 
attention required for rearing them himself. That 
may be very true, but there is certainly one great 
evil incurred by the modern horticulturist in the 
system of, so to speak, giving out his work to others. 
This must indirectly in the long run, professionally 
and commercially, have a powerful tendency to horti¬ 
cultural paralysis. Are we not now beginning to 
feel, indeed, that such is the case ?— D. Chisholm. 
-- 
HISTORY OF THE 
PLUM. 
The cultivated plum, Prunus domestica, was 
generally believed by our earliest authorities to have 
originated in Asia Minor, and from whence it appears 
to have found its way into Europe in very early times, 
since it was mentioned by Pliny as having been 
cultivated in his day in Greece and Italy. From 
south-east Europe it gradually spread into France 
and Germany, and ultimately travelled from thence 
into Britain, but at what period the latter event took 
place there is no authentic evidence forthcoming, 
although it is believed the Plum had reached this 
country early in the Christian Era, if not before it. 
Be that as it may, the Plum has been cultivated 
amongst us since a very early period, and Prunus 
domestica has long been looked at as a thoroughly 
naturalised tree in Britain. The fruit has been 
freely used by us as an article of diet for many cen¬ 
turies, and as intelligence began to spread the 
gardeners and fruit growers of the day turned their 
attention to improving the size and quality of the 
Plum by raising new varieties. 
The varieties enumerated by Rea, in the middle of 
the seventeenth century, amount to about thirty as 
being worthy of cultivation. 
Parkinson, in the days of King Charles, describes 
sixty varieties, “ all of which,” he says, “ are to be had 
of my very good friend, Master John Tradescante, 
who hath wonderfully laboured to obtain all the 
rarest fruits he can hear of in any place in 
Christendom.” 
Batty Langley, of Twickenham, in his “ Pomona,” 
published in 1729, says, ■' There are a very great 
variety of Plumbs, some of which are very good, and 
others very bad,” and describes twenty-eight of 
which he terms " valuable” varieties. Towards the 
end of the last century, Martyn enumerated about 
sixty. In the fourth decade of the present century, 
Loudon mentioned that about 100 varieties were 
named in nurserymen's catalogues, and gave a 
description of thirty-two of the best selected by the 
famed pomologist, Mr. Robt. Thompson, of Chiswick, 
in his “ Encyclopaedia of Gardening.” 
In the third edition of the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s Catalogue of Fruits, compiled by Mr. Robt. 
Thompson, 127 varieties of Plums were described as 
distinct. 
From the middle of this century onwards, they 
found the varieties beginning to multiply rapidly— 
many Plums of the highest merit having appeared 
during the last forty years. 
For this we have to thank the efforts of enter¬ 
prising pomologists, prominent among whom, in 
raising superior varieties of Plums, must be mentioned 
Mr. Thomas Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, and the late 
Mr. Webster, of Gordon Castle, whose collection of 
thirty-six varieties of Seedling Plums raised by 
himself, and exhibited at the Plum Congress held 
in the Waverly Market, Edinburgh, in September, 
1889, was a feature unparalleled, so far as I know, 
in any previous exhibition in this country. 
In the " Book of the Garden,” 1855, Mr. McIntosh 
describes upwards of seventy varieties, and named 
twenty-seven as then growing in the gardens at 
Dalkeith, most of which are still in existence, and 
samples of their fruit were exhibited at the 
Edinburgh Congress. In the “ Pomologists’ Manual,” 
published in 1866, by Peter Lawson & Son, 160 
varieties were described, and in the second edition 
of the ” Orchardist,” published about twenty years 
ago by Mr. John Scott, of the Merriott Nurseries, 
Somerset, no fewer than 232 varieties were described 
as distinct, and all cultivated by him ; while, in a 
supplemental list, the varieties were increased to a 
grand total of 440. I need scarcely say that many 
of the kinds mentioned in that long list are worthless 
for cultivation in Britain, although they might be of 
some value in the country of their origin. 
Coming to the latest and best authority, we find 
that Dr. Hogg described about 190 varieties in the 
fifth edition of the " Fruit Manual,” published in 
1884, which no doubt comprised every good variety 
known and proved in this country at that date 
However, the raisers of new varieties are as busy as 
ever, and the number of good kinds are yearly in¬ 
creasing. Some excellent Plums have been raised 
in Scotland, among the best of which might be 
named Lawson's Golden, raised in 1842 by Mr. 
Archibald Gorrie, at Annat Gardens in the Carse of 
Gowrie, Guthrie’s Apricot, Aunt Ann, Late Green, 
Taybank and Topaz, all raised by Mr. Chas. Guthrie, 
of Taybank, Dundee; and last, but by no means the 
least meritorious, the numerous seedlings raised by 
Mr. John Webster, at Gordon Castle Gardens, on the 
shores of the Moray Firth, some of which, in due 
time, are likely to take rank among the leading 
varieties. The names of two other hardy and very 
useful Plums, the early history of which is lost in 
obscurity, smacked strongly of Scottish origin— 
Caledonian and Fotheringham, the first better 
known as Goliath. To English raisers we are 
indebted for many of the most valuable Plums The 
most popular of all the varieties, Victoria, originated 
in Sussex ; Diamond and Farleigh Prolific Damson 
in Kent; Kirke's Prince of Wales, Poupart s and 
Sandall's in Middlesex; Mitchelson’s in Surrey; 
Pond's seedling in Wilts ; Nonsuch in Devonshire, 
Pershore, Prune Damson, Ickworth and Downton 
Imperatrice and several other useful kinds in the 
Midlands; Coe's Golden Drop in Suffolk ; Winesour 
and Wyedale in Yorkshire; while the Red and 
White Magnum Bonum and some other useful Plums 
had been so long in cultivation in England that all 
trace of their origin had been lost, although there was 
good reason to believe them to be natives. Hertford¬ 
shire, however, might be said to be the modern 
birthplace of the Plum in England, as it was from 
the nurseries of Messrs. Thomas Rivers & Son, at 
Sawbridgeworth, that most of the best and most 
profitable varieties have emanated in recent times. 
Among the many fine Plums for which we are 
indebted to Messrs. Rivers, the following first-rate 
varieties might be mentioned ;—Early Transparent, 
Late Transparent, Early Prolific, Late Prolific, 
Autumn Compote, Archduke, Grand Duke, Czar, 
Sultan and Monarch,—ten most excellent Plums, to 
which probably some or all of the newest lot—Golden 
Transparent, Bittern, Curlew, Heron, Mallard and 
Stint—may have to be added after they have been 
fully proved. From France and Germany we have 
received some excellent varieties, chiefly of the Gage 
and Orleans types (including that old favourite 
Dessert Plum the Green Gage), and many others in 
less repute amongst us of the Damask and Mirabelle 
types, most of which have proved to be not worthy 
of cultivation in this country. Of all foreign 
countries, however, it is to America, particularly 
the United States, that we are most indebted for 
some of the best Plums, such as the general favourite 
Jefferson, a first-rate dessert Plum, and a sure 
bearer, Washington, Denniston’s Superb, Cooper's 
Large Columbia, McLaughlin, Lawrence's Favourite, 
Prince’s Imperial, Huling’s Superb, and some 
others, which have all proved hardy and good 
bearers here, and really worth growing in our gardens 
and orchards.— From a Paper read by Mr. Dunn , 
Dalkeith, at the Edinburgh Plum Conference. 
-- 
OLD GARDENS. 
Gardens, says a writer in the Liverpool Mercury, are 
among the early institutions devised by man for his 
delight. It is recorded that Mahabad, the first 
Persian king, had a garden, and Xenophon tells us 
that Cyrus took care that " the paradises should be 
filled with all that is beautiful and useful which the 
soil can produce.” The favourire plants were 
Violets and Roses, odoriferous trees, such as the 
Cypress and Pine, and such shady ones as the Elm. 
The taste shown in this list, so far as it goes, could 
hardly be called in question. The Greeks clipped 
their Box trees into artificial forms, a custom which 
they borrowed from Asia Minor, and one which our 
ancestors in turn borrowed from them. Among 
plants of which they were especially fond were the 
