440 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 9, 1895. 
DEATH OF MR. G. D. OWEN. 
Horticulture, and especially the Orchid-growing 
branch, has lost an enthusiastic patron by the death 
of Mr. George Dyson Owen, of Rotherham, who 
passed away on February 22nd after a brief illness. 
It is not many years ago since Mr. Owen began to 
grow Orchids in a very modest way, but finding he 
did them so well, his enthusiasm grew until he began 
to weed out the commoner things from his collection, 
and filled their places with only the choicest and 
best. I remember telling him one day that rare 
species and good varieties took up no more space, 
and required no more skill to grow, than the 
commoner ones, and, grasping the situation at once, 
he soon became the happy possessor of many choice 
plants, some of which, indeed, couldnot be duplicated. 
Many of them at various times found their way to 
the meetings of the Orchid Committee of the R.H.S., 
from which body he received numerous awards. He 
was particularly fond of Cattleyas, Laelias, Dendro- 
biums, Odontoglossums, and Oncidiums, and his 
name will be carried down to posterity by the 
beautiful Phaius hybridus Owenianus. As an 
Orchid-loving amateur I hardly knew one who was 
at all times so glad to meet and converse with any 
one up in the subject of his favourites, or one who 
was more appreciative of a practical hint. I con¬ 
sidered his collection one of the smartest in the 
United Kingdom, and certainly one of the most 
valuable, so many good things does it contain. He 
was laid to rest in the presence of many sorrowing 
friends, and deep sympathy is felt for his bereaved 
family.— A. Outram, F.R.H.S., 7, Moore Park Road, 
Fulham, 5 . IF. 
-—- 
A MINIATURE NECTARINE. 
Compared with Peaches generally, the fruits of the 
different varieties of the Nectarine are small. A 
variety has made its appearance in France under the 
name of Nectarine-Cerise, with globular fruits about 
the size of those of a large Cherry or a large 
marble. Various other names have been given to it 
in the country of its origin, and as long ago as 1826 
it was named Nectarine Cherry in Britain, though 
it does not appear to be widely known. The latter 
name would be more appropriate if reversed and 
made to read Cherry-Nectarine, for it is not a 
Cherry at all, but a miniature Nectarine, resembling 
a Cherry in some respects. A coloured illustration 
of it is given in the Bulletin d'Arboriculture for 
February, and which will give an idea of the size 
and colour of the fruits as well as the fertility of the 
tree. 
For a few years past it has been offered as a 
novelty on the Continent, but it has been ascertained 
to be more than two hundred years old. The 
numerous names which have been given to it by 
various important writers and authors on Pomology, 
sufficiently attest the antiquity of the variety. In 
1628, Le Lectier of Orleans offered grafts of it, that 
is, about 267 years ago. Since then it has been 
noticed in different works under different names 
duriog the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. When 
Andre Leroy was preparing the chapter on Peaches 
for his remarkable Dictionnaire de Pomologie, he made 
inquiries about this miniature variety, but Decaisne, 
Carriere, and Mas, all eminent authors on the sub¬ 
ject, could only say that they had lost all of their 
trees. As already stated above, it turned up again 
a few years ago, and at Orleans, of all places, 
where it first became recorded and possibly 
originated. 
Filassier, in his Dictionnaire du Bon Jardinier, de¬ 
scribes the tree as of sufficiently vigorous growth, 
and well furnished with buds. The flowers are of 
medium size, flesh-coloured, well expanded, and 
pleasing. The fruit is hardly more bulky than a 
large nut, beautifully round, furrowed with a shallow 
groove, and of the most lively red. The flesh when 
ripe is of a deliciously high flavour. The variety 
ripens about the end of July. The author wrote 
more than a hundred years ago (1791), and he says 
that the variety was very common in the south of 
France, but rare in the provinces of the north. 
His nursery was situated not very far from Paris. 
His opinion was that the fruit was too small ever to 
be admitted into gardens, except as an object of 
curiosity, but that it could gracefully decorate a 
sumptuous banquet. 
M. Fred. Burvenich, Sen., in describing it for the 
Bulletin d' Arboriculture, says that the tree is small, of 
delicate aspect, and reduced in all its proportions. 
The branches are very numerous, slender, and very 
red on the sunny side, with short internodes. The 
leaves are of a clear green. The fruit is small, of a 
lively colour, with a warm tint covering all the 
exposed part of the surface, and recalling the beauti¬ 
ful colour of the Apple Api. In bulk it scarcely 
attains the size of the Plum Reine Claude. The 
fruit is of good quality, with a white flesh, of a 
faint lemon tint with some scattered traces of red 
towards the stone; it is sugary, with a slightly acidu¬ 
lated, agreeable flavour, and separates freely from 
the stone. The latter is small, round, almost smooth, 
and not larger than the stone of a Bigarreau. The 
Nectarine-Cerise, he continues, can be cultivated in 
a small form on an espalier, but its true destination 
is for cultivation as a bush in a sheltered place, but 
above for culture in pots. He has obtained ravish¬ 
ing small trees, literally covered with fruits, by cul¬ 
tivation in pots, of that essentially ornamental and 
coquettish tree which redeems its small dimensions 
by the extreme profusion of its fertility. 
A tree of such ornamental value should have no 
difficulty in finding many admirers in this country. 
It is well known that small fruiting trees of various 
kinds in pots are highly appreciated for setting upon 
dinner tables, and the Cherry-Nectarine would cer¬ 
tainly be both novel and interesting when loaded 
with its miniature and highly coloured fruits. 
-■*-- 
TREE PLANTING, ALLOTMENTS, AND 
FRUIT CULTURE IN WALES. 
Allotments 
Coming to the subject of allotments, Mr. Muir said 
that he was greatly in favour of these, although he 
did not advocate the three-acres-and-a-cow system. 
Allotments had never been taken full advantage of in 
Wales, and had been much neglected by the county 
councils. The county councils and technical in¬ 
structors were not qualified to give the necessary 
advice to people who did not understand the subject, 
and in this respect they were behind English coun¬ 
ties. He was of opinion that the landowners were 
most anxious to grant land for allotments. There 
was plenty of land conveniently available, and from 
six to eight allotments to an acre was the suitable 
extent. They would be much more productive than 
under the present system of farm crops. He would 
advise the appointment for several years, till the 
matter was understood, of practical instructors to 
give lectures in the populous centres in winter and 
visit the allotments in summer. This should be 
done under the direction of the county council. In 
places where leading persons had taken the allotment 
question up, the returns for labour and other expen¬ 
diture had been most satisfactory. He did not 
approve of each individual being responsible to the 
landowner for his own allotment, but preferred that 
associations should be formed to take a quantity and 
sub-let it. Land for allotments should be secured 
on leases of thirty or more years. Annual takings 
discouraged the planting of fruit trees and other 
permanent crops, and long leases would have the 
opposite effect. 
Horticulture. 
Coming to this branch, Mr. Muir said he would like 
to discuss this apart from the more remunerative 
sections of fruit culture and vegetable growing. He 
considered that fancy flower and plant production 
was a luxury. In one or two of the leading Welsh 
towns only was there a demand for such. Produce 
of this kind was mainly imported from Covent 
Garden and English growers. There had been 
attempts to grow such in Wales, but they had proved 
a failure, as the demand was not constant enough to 
pay for all the year round requirements. Some 
years ago Captain Mansfield, now dead, erected 
extensive glasshouses to grow such produce near St. 
Clears, Carmarthenshire. He had found no great 
demand in Wales, and had sent the produce to the 
English centres. He, however, found that the 
transit charges had swallowed the profits. Mr. Muir 
did not advocate this system of culture. 
Vegetable Culture. 
On touching upon this subject, Mr. Muir said that 
the demand for vegetables was as great in Wales as 
in any other part of the country. Large quantities 
of ordinary vegetables, which ought to be grown in 
Wales, were constantly imported, and in consequence 
there was a great need for extended production. In 
his opinion, extensive allotment culture, previously 
alluded to, would remedy this to a considerable 
extent, as the soil and climate were well adapted for 
vegetable culture. Many parts were so genial in the 
early summer that they would compete with the most 
favourable of the English counties in the production 
of early and high-priced crops. There was also a 
good market in the populous districts generally 
available by carts, &c. Owing to the heavy railway 
charges, a paying export trade might not be done, 
but enough ought to be grown to meet all home de¬ 
mands. Apart from garden culture, small farmers, 
of whom there were many, who had a hard struggle 
for existence under their limited grazing and corn- 
growiDg conditions, might greatly improve these by 
cultivating some of their fields on the garden system. 
He knew several small farmers who sold field Turnips 
to greengrocers, and who asserted that this paid them 
many times better than stock-feeding. A go-ahead 
practical lecturer for each county or union, who 
demonstrated to all classes of cultivators the 
advantage of such culture, would be highly 
beneficial. 
Fruit Growing. 
As a fruit-growing country, Mr. Muir thought South 
Wales was most deficient. The soils on coal 
measures and the atmosphere near the works were 
unfavourable ; but those were execeptions, and the 
soil and climate generally were admirably suited for 
fruit culture. He felt sure that if trees were exten¬ 
sively introduced and cultivated, fruit culture would 
prove highly remunerative. There was a great de¬ 
mand for fruit in Wales, and a large quantity, 
both for dessert and preserving, was imported. In 
his opinion, Apples, Pears, Plums, and Cherries 
were the tree fruits to grow. They should not be 
wholly cultivated in gardens, but should be planted 
as orchards in fields. This method would not inter¬ 
fere with the usual returns from grazing. Farmers, 
he thought, might benefit greatly by attention of this 
kind to fruit culture. Great care should be taken to 
select suitable varieties to suit climate and markets. 
Small fruits, too, such as Gooseberries, Currants, 
Raspberries, and Strawberries were of easy culture, 
and sure and quick of return, and always in demand. 
--•+•- 
DO PLANTS EAT SOIL? 
At a recent meeting of the Ealing Gardeners' 
Society (see p. 443), the subject of “ Decorative Plants 
in Small Pots," was ably dealt with by Mr. J. 
Hudson, and, in the course of discussion, I raised 
the question as to what becomes of the soil in the 
pots which are crowded with roots? This was 
immediately seized on as an interesting point by Mr. 
Simpson, who contended that the absence of soil in 
the pots of such things as Palms, Dracaenas, etc., 
which were root-bound, must be accounted for by 
other means than compression and loss through con¬ 
stant watering. He, therefore, suggested the above 
query, which instantly brought Mr. Bridges to his 
feet with the declaration that, if that were so, all our 
text books on Physiology would have to be re-written. 
But is that so? I am quite aware that Sir J. D. 
Flooker, in his primer on Botany, states—but that 
was twenty years ago— that “ the food of plants is 
liquid and gaseous, never solid ” ; but does that 
detract from the above query ? May not plants 
which dissolve mineral substances, and absorb them 
by the process of osmosis, still be said to eat soil ? 
On the other hand, there are some who affirm that 
the function of root-hairs is not properly understood, 
and are bold enough to suggest that through the 
apertures of these root-hairs it is quite possible that 
solid particles of mineral matter are thus assimilated. 
It is well known that, after the dissipation of plants 
by fire, there still remains a finely-divided, insoluble 
substance, in the form of ash, which cannot be 
destroyed. Does this substance enter the plant in a 
solid or liquid state? Without going into the 
chemical constituents of plants, it has occurred to me 
that these mineral matters may be legitimately 
taken to represent their material nature; while their 
organic, or volatile parts, may well be thought to 
signify their spiritual state. Thus they may be said 
to resemble animals, for the smallest urn will suffice 
to preserve the residue of a body after it has been 
decomposed into its original elements. 
This, perhaps, may be thought to be beyond the 
point at issue, although I think it is approximate to 
it; for plants, like animals, grow by what they feed 
