202 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Nov. 29th, 1884. 
Gooseberries and Currants. — These are 
generally dotted about, here and there, all over the 
garden, -which is not a good plan, as -when in isolated 
positions it is an awkward matter to protect them and 
so save the fruit from birds, but when more together, 
this may be easily done, as a piece of fine meshed 
wire may be run round the plantation, and an old 
herring net strained over the top, by doing which all 
feathered marauders are kept at bay, and the tempting 
fruit they so crave rendered safe, as after looking 
round and finding they are not likely to effect an 
entry, they take themselves off to search for food 
elsewhere. One of the best arrangements I have seen 
for growing Gooseberries and Currants was a plantation 
alternately in lines so as to fill a square, which was 
boarded in, and the boards tarred, and against the 
fence so formed Morello Cherries were planted and 
trained, in which position they did remarkably well, 
and hung very late, as did also the Gooseberries, the 
the sort being the good old Warrington, which is by 
far the best of all the reds for keeping, as the fruit 
will remain on the bushes long after the others have 
fallen or are unfit for use. 
Black Currants may be planted almost anywhere, as 
birds do not care for them, but the situation the bushes 
do best in is a half-shady one, where the ground is 
inclined to be wet, as they are fond of moisture, and 
when the roots have it, the plants bear very fine fruit. 
Not only are most people much bothered in preserving 
their Currants and Gooseberries, but they have quite 
as much trouble with the buds, especially near towns, 
villages and farms where there are many sparrows, 
which are very destructive, as during the winter they 
frequently clear the whole of the bushes and do away 
with all chance of a crop. To prevent their depreda¬ 
tions, in the absence of netting, there is nothing so 
effectual as to syringe the trees with lime-wash, which 
if fresh slaked will keep on all winter, and not only 
will it stop the sparrows from interfering with the 
buds, but it will thoroughly cleanse the bushes from 
all moss and greatly add to their health. 
Before applying the lime, the bushes should be 
pruned by being spurred, and leaving only the main 
branches, except where they are thin, when it will be 
necessary to allow a young shoot to remain to fill up 
the space. Currants require the same kind of treat¬ 
ment, and the main leader shortened to three or four 
buds, or the bushes soon get too high and become bare 
below. All that Black Currants require is thinning, 
which may be done by the removal of any branches 
that cross or crowd others.— Alpha. 
Apple Culture in Oxfordshire. — Messrs. 
Jefferies & Co., in their remarks on the Apples 
exhibited by them at the Apple Congress, state that 
the varieties of Apples most extensively grown in the 
orchards of Oxfordshire are Blenheim Orange and 
Hanwell Souring; and that of the former variety 
there are many trees that have been obtained from 
kernels, and these produce fruit varying more or less 
from what is regarded as the typical sort. There are 
certain trees that have gained a local fame, on account 
of their producing uniformly juicy, rich, sugary- 
flavoured Apples, by which they are distinguished 
from fruit of the same kind from trees growing under 
precisely similar conditions, that do not partake of 
these qualities in a corresponding degree. The vigour 
manifested by many of the most aged trees serve to 
indicate, not only the situations eminently suitable 
for forming new orchards, but illustrate a successful 
method of planting, as understood generations back; 
and the trees cannot but be regarded as memorials of 
a spirit of enterprise that once existed among those 
who achieved something wherewith to benefit 
posterity. The acreage of the county is 470,095 acres 
and of this total, 1,570 acres only are devoted to 
orchards. With these figures in view, it cannot be 
doubted that a greatly extended cultivation of Apples 
would be attended with most satisfactory results. It 
cannot be too forcibly impressed on planters, that it is 
not sufficient to make a good selection of well-grown 
trees, to convey them carefully to their allotted places, 
then to plant them, and, after securing them to stakes, 
abandon them to the elements. In many instances 
the operation of planting Apple trees is performed by 
those insufficiently tutored to the task; due attention 
is not given to a proper disposition of the roots, or to 
the surface on which they are placed; and it too 
frequently happens that the process of planting would 
be more fitly described as that of unconscious burying; 
moreover, the attention afterwards bestowed on them 
is often occasioned by the necessity of remedying 
defects arising from neglect or mismanagement. 
The Bijou Lemon is not (according to Sir J. D. 
Hooker, to whom I sent some fruit) a true Lemon, 
but a Lime. If not a Lemon it possesses a singularly 
Lemon-like and piquant aroma, far surpassing the 
Lemons in ordinary use. For its diminutive size it 
cannot, of course, be more than a luxury, as the 
cultivators of Lemons in Italy and Spain would 
scarcely care to accept its produce in exchange for 
the profuse harvests yielded from their Lemon-trees. 
It is, however, well worth the attention of English 
horticulturists on account of its ornamental qualities. 
The plant is hardy enough for an ordinary con¬ 
servatory, very fertile in producing fruit, and very 
ornamental, as the bright golden-yellow fruit will 
remain on the tree for six months without changing ; 
the tree is also a pretty evergreen. Side by side with 
the Bijou Lemon or Lime I have a variety under the 
name of Small Lime, identical in flower, size of fruit, 
leaves, and habit of growth, but bitter and very acid. 
I need not say that these two varieties have been 
kept very distinct from each other; indeed, I have 
not thought it necessary to cultivate the latter, but 
I have retained the sort from the interest which 
attaches to this singular variation of fruit, notwith¬ 
standing similarity in growth.— T. Francis Fivers , in 
The Florist and Pomologist. 
-- 
Cordon Trained Apples. — I am greatly in favour 
of the cordon training principle. Here we have a 
small walled-in garden, 70 yards square, laid out 
in four squares, with three rows of trees round each, 
the first being 1 ft. from the walk and 1 ft. high; the 
second 2 ft. behind the front one and 18 ins. high ; 
the third 2 ft. behind the middle one and 2 ft. from 
the ground, which gives the garden a very neat appear¬ 
ance, as may be imagined, when they are in full bloom 
as also when in fruit. They withstood the storm of 
Saturday, April 29th, 1882, remarkably well, and gave 
us a splendid crop ; in fact, we gathered more fruit 
from them than there was in all the gardens for miles 
round Sherborne.— TV. G. Pragnell, Gardener, Sher¬ 
borne Castle, Dorset, in “ British Apples .” 
What are “ Gribbles Had we been asked 
this question before reading Mr. Garland’s remarks on 
the Devonshire Apples sent by him to the Apple 
Congress, we should have had to confess that we did 
not know. It seems, however, that “ Gribbles ” is the 
local name applied to the young stocks raised from 
the pips, chiefly by small market gardeners. “ The 
strongest are first selected and planted back for a year 
or two, when they are usually bought by the tenant 
farmers, who plant them out about 3 ft. apart, wdiere 
they remain for one or two years according to the 
strength and progress they may have made, when they 
are headed back and grafted. The same season they 
will make shoots 4 ft. or 5 ft. long. These are 
shortened in winter to the required height for standard 
trees, and have sufficient room allowed them to make 
fine healthy heads. Finally, they are transplanted 
into the orchard, or sold to other farmers or those who 
do not raise their own.” 
Dumelow's Seedling Apple. —This excellent 
Apple was raised by a person of the name of Dumeller 
(pronounced Dumelow), a farmer at Shakerstone, a 
village in Leicestershire, six miles from Ashby-de-la- 
Zouch, and is extensively cultivated in that and the 
adjoining counties under the name of Dumelow's 
Crab. It was first introduced to the neighbourhood 
of London by Mr. Richard Williams, of the Turnham 
Green Nursery, who received it from Gopsall Hall, 
the seat of Earl Howe, and presented specimens of 
the fruit to the Horticultural Society in 1820. It was 
with him that the name of the Wellington Apple 
originated, and by which it is now generally known 
in the London markets.— Fruit Manual. 
Seasonable Work in the Plant-houses.— 
Bulbs for forcing will now require attention, and some 
of the earliest sorts of Hyacinths, Tulips, and Nar¬ 
cissus may be introduced into heat. In starting 
Hyacinths, care should be taken to select only those 
that are well-rcoted; and it is best to keep them 
covered with small pots, until they have made from 
2 ins. to 3 ins. of growth, after which they should be 
placed where they will get as much light as possible, 
and manure-water may then be used liberally. Tulips 
and Narcissus do best if covered with cocoa-nut 
refuse, until they have made a good start. Tulips 
will not always start regularly, and where this is the 
ease, the pots may be made up, by putting the forward 
ones together. If this is done carefully so as not to 
damage the roots, they will not suffer. For the early 
kinds, it is a good plan to grow them in boxes or large 
seed-pans, and to pot them off after they have started 
into growth. If done in this way, Ferns can be 
introduced with them, and if nicely put together, they 
make very pretty objects for table decoration. The 
Lily of the Valley is also a useful plant for this 
purpose, and the single crowns are the best; these 
should be plunged where there is a good bottom heat, 
and covered with cocoa-nut refuse or moss, about 
3 ins. thick, and this may remain until the crowns 
push through the top, but care must be taken that 
they do not become dry at the root. Spiraea japonica 
will also start more evenly if covered until the flower- 
spikes have made 3 ins. or 4 ins. of growth. 
Iberis sempervirens fiore-pleno. —This is a 
double-flowered form of the useful old perennial Candy¬ 
tuft, and it bears the same relation to it as the double 
Bouvardias do to the single. How it originated is not 
set forth, whether as a seedling or a sport; but it 
appears to be of German origin, being announced by 
Mr. J. C. Schmidt, Erfurt. Everyone knows how 
valuable the common white evergreen Candytuft is 
for edgings, beds, borders, rock-work, &c., and it is 
of particular value for clothing banks and walls in 
exposed places. If we may judge of the plant as 
illustrated by a woodcut, the trusses are singularly 
compact and handsome, and the flowers fully double. 
The double forms appear to flower as freely as the 
single variety, and as it does not produce seeds, it can 
be propagated by means of cuttings. No plants can 
be distributed until April 1st, 1885. No doubt we 
shall see something of this novelty in the course of 
next spring.— Quo. 
Single-flowered Striped French Marigolds. 
—It is worthy of note that these seem destined to 
come into fashion, thus reversing, as in the case of 
the Dahlia, the work done with so much patience 
and perseverance by the florists for years past. V e 
seem to be living at a time when a passion for single 
flowers is taking that for double flowers which was 
manifest a few years ago. We have Single Dahlias, 
Single Chrysanthemums, and now Single Marigolds. 
When I was visiting Mr. John Downie at Edinburgh, 
last September, I saw in his nursery some very fine 
forms of Single Striped French Marigolds that 
astonished me by the superb beauty of their 
marking. Mr. Downie said he had found the 
strain in the North of Scotland. The flowers were 
as perfect as one would well desire them to be. In 
reply to a question Mr. Downie stated that seed from 
these single forms produced double flowers of great 
beauty—that is, in the sense in which the florist 
terms them beautiful—large, full, symmetrical, with 
broad florets, the rich golden stripe in the middle 
being margined on either side with shining maroon. 
Those who grow French Marigolds know well that 
seed taken from the finest double flowers will produce 
single types, and from seed of purely single flowers 
there springs the finest double forms. Messrs. Hurst 
& Son, of 152, Houndsditch, announce a fine strain of 
Single Marigolds. If the cultivation of these become 
general, how will it affect the double strains ? V ill 
it reduce the number of double flowers one might 
expect to get from seed ? At the Dundee Horti¬ 
cultural Show in September last, Double French 
