790 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 12, 1899. 
increasing his heat supply and the supply also of 
nourishment and stimulus. Of course, if the crop 
is advancing with the summer, the natural condi¬ 
tions will be enough to suit requirements so far as 
iccreased heat and light are concerned, but moisture, 
feedicg, and probably shade, will require more 
ardent watchfulness. 
On no occasion must the trees bearing crops 
suffer, else we must reckon some discount off the 
lmal result. We are watching the crop, to see that 
no fruit is confined or hemmed in, or unexposed, or 
in any way subject to derogatory causes. Liberal 
supplies of water will be given whenever the borders 
are becoming moisture stinted. Then the foliage 
requires feeding, too. So do the fruits themselves. 
Thus we require to have a judiciously moistened 
atmosphere and a proper condition of the leaves, 
stems, and fruits as regards the cooling and refresh¬ 
ing by dewings or syringtngs. By-and-bye, the 
fruits, having swelled to their limits, begin to change 
colour. We now need more light, a free, warm air 
and a drier atmosphere. Gradually, like the drying 
up of moisture from a pavement, must we endeavour 
to dry the air and to lessen for a time the roots’ 
supply. 
The ripening proceeds. The process is simply that 
of intricate and varied transportations and physio¬ 
logical changes of the juices and matter in the fruit. 
Up to the time of ripening the fruits have been per¬ 
forming much the same functions as the leaves. 
The acids have been accumulating, and tannin has 
been stored in skin and seed. But now the acids are 
being converted to sugar, and the pectose likewise 
changes to an agreeable substance of a jelly-like 
nature. Various other details of the ripening pro¬ 
cess might be given, but these generalisations may 
serve as incidental explanation. 
When these changes have been under operation, 
our cultural care is, as it were, at a standstill. We 
gradually limit the sustenance. This gradually 
slowed down the growth and aided the firming, and 
the changes then taking place. It allowed the acids 
to part with one thing and allowed the increase of 
another element, and aided the different unions. So 
it comes that the knowing of when to feed and when 
not to; what to give and how much, together with 
the knowledge of atmospheric and constitutional 
requirements, all are matters for thought if the best 
attainments are wished for— G. W. 
PEOPLE WE HAVE MET. 
Mr. John Burn. 
There are few, we imagine, who have not heard of 
Mr. John Burn, of the Abbey Park, Leicester, 
though many at a distance from that place may not 
have seen him. For that reason we present our 
readers with his portrait, which is the next best 
method of making his acquaintance. 
Mr John Burn was born in his father's little 
nursery near Whitehaven, Cumberland, and practi¬ 
cally he has never been out of one sinc j . He com¬ 
menced work in earnest when he was only twelve 
years of age As his father grew forest trees, and 
took contracts on the mountain sides, the son came 
in for a good share of the work carried out there. 
At the age of seventeen he wen* to Keswick, where 
he had obtained an appointment under Mr. Kemp, 
the celebrated landscape gardener of Birkenhead. 
His duty was to assist in laying out some lovely 
spots, and there he first acquired the taste for land¬ 
scape work which has never since left him. 
He next moved into Northumberland, where he 
s j mrned for six years or so in some of the best 
private gardens in the county. Private gardening 
for some reason or other was not altogether to his 
liking, so he went to Harrison, of Darlington, the 
then famous Rose grower, where he had a good 
spell of work, and learnt a good deal. From thence 
he went to the nursery of Mr. Henry May, of 
Bedale, at that time the best Dahlia and Hollyhcck 
grower. His next move took him across the 
country from the north east to the south-west, 
namely, to Exeier, where at that time the renowned 
establishment of Lucombe, Pmce & Co. was 
making itself known all over the British Islands in 
no mistakeable manner. He made a stay of three 
years in Devonshire, and then came to London, 
where he found in Mr B. S. Williams, of Upper 
Holloway, a staunch friend. Even now he thinks 
and speaks of Mr. Williams with great reverence, 
and says that he " shall never forget the great 
kindness he received from the late dear Mr. 
Williams.” 
The next move he made enabled him to get more 
into his proper groove, as he was made superinten¬ 
dent of the Saltburn Pleasure Grounds, Yorkshire, 
where he remodelled the Italian garden, and did 
Mr. John Burn. 
much other work. He put in a period of nine years 
at this place. In 1882 the Corporation of Leicester 
wanted a superintendent to take charge of Abbey 
Park, and the applications were pretty numerous, 
and from widely different localities. Mr. Burn was 
the successful candidate, and to Leicester he went in 
January, 1882. It will thus be seen that he has 
been there for close on eighteen years, during 
which time he has seen much, learnt much, and 
accomplished a vast amount of work. Thousands 
of pounds have been spent by the corporation in 
laying out parks for the benefit of the pnblic, as well 
as recreation grounds, and making alterations to the 
Asylum Grounds. Probably not so much ground 
work has been done in any town in the kingdom 
in the short spice of time as has been done at 
Leicester. 
The finest display is always maintained at the 
Abbey Park, which was the first concern of Mr. 
Burn when he went to Leicester. The site 
occupied by it was once a morass, the draining, 
planting and general ornamentation of which has 
totally transformed the aspect of the original. The 
flower garden occupies about two acres of ground, 
and regularly, for many years past, Mr. Bum has 
made such a display here as to be the cynosure of 
all eyes who happened to travel that way. In one 
or other part of the Abbey Park all the best designs 
of modern and recent times have been carried out 
with great success by Mr. Burn. Carpet bedding, 
equal to what might have been seen at London in 
the days of its popularity, was planted, while flower 
garden, sub-tropical garden, rockeries and other 
things were all excellent and first-class of their kind. 
The growth of all kinds of ornamental trees and 
shrubs, since the laying out and planting of the park, 
has been phenomenal. 
trom that time till the present has cost Mr. Burn 
a great deal of thought and labour to keep in touch 
with the times in laying out various other pieces of 
ground, or parks, the most recent of which was 
opened for the public use on July 13th last. This 
new park extends to 184 acres, is beautifully situated 
and well timbered. The opening ceremony was 
attended by thousands of people, who thus show the 
appreciation in which the parks and their superin¬ 
tendent are held by the Leicester public. The new 
park will be carried out in detail as near as possible 
according to Mr. Burn's idea. He has made close on 
1,000 yards of carriage drives, 22 ft. wide. Occasion¬ 
ally Mr. Burn comes up to London, as on the 
occasion of the Temple Show, when he meets many 
friends. 
tub OicIuu Grower’s calendar. 
Cool House Odontoglossums. —There is no ques¬ 
tion but that these beautiful cool house Orchids hold 
the record for general usefulness and high prices; 
and when we consider the quantity that can be got 
into a comparatively small space this is not to be 
wondered at. Again, grown under anj thing like 
favourable conditions they never fail to do well, and 
annually send forth magnificent racemes of flowers 
that please everyone who sees them. 
I say, under favourable conditions. Well, what 
conditions are favourable ? may be asked by 
readers of The Gardening World. Well, our ex¬ 
perience is that it is no use attempting to grow 
Odontoglossums in great lofty houses with the 
plants standing a loDg way from the glass. Our 
houses are simple in the extreme as regards structure 
—none more so. They are about 9 ft. wide, outside 
measurement, and about the same height to the 
centre of the ridge, and span-roofed. This admits of 
a 3-ft. stage on each side and a 2-ft. path. There 
are ventilators the whole length of the ridge, 
which is a simple contrivance not easily explained 
here. It is made like a box and air can be given, no 
matter what the weather may be, without fear of 
injuring the plants. 
The stages are covered with ordinary roofing tiles 
(tothing else), and as each tile will absorb 4 ozs of 
water when new, it is easy to see that a good deal of 
moisture is always being evaporated, and yet there 
is an absence of stagnation. Of course, there are the 
usual ventilators in the wall immediately opposite 
the hot-water pipes, which are nearly always left 
open night and day, summer and winter. The usual 
cotton shading is used for blinds, which are raised 
above the roof glass in the orthodox manner, so as 
to admit of air playing between the same and the 
glass. 
Now about the plants. The time is at hand when 
the re potting must be carried out. We like to go 
through most of ours at this season, whether they 
want it or not; for it does no harm to handle them, 
and if the compost is not sour there are sure to be 
somewoodlice lurking about, which can be destroyed 
and a little fresh material worked in. It is really 
surprising what a little fillip like this will do. The 
plants seem to jump into growth after, and go away 
and make up strong flowereing pseudo-bulbs. The 
compost best suited to their requirements is good 
peat and sphagnum moss in about equal parts. 
Some mix it altogether before potting, but I prefer 
to mix as I go along, taking the plant in the left 
hand and working in the compost with the right—a 
lump of peat and then some moss. 
I always pot firmly, and water sparingly until the 
roots have begun to take hold of the new material — 
S. C. 
General Survey.— At this time when the beds and 
borders, filled with what we know and term, summer 
bedding plants, are in the height of their loveliness, 
now is the time to make a practical note — not a mere 
mental tabulation, unless you have a powerful 
memory — of what is most tasty in combination. 
The features to take into consideration are the most 
pleasant foliage and colour unions; the phrases of 
grace or dignity, of racy sprightliness, or the be¬ 
coming gentleness of drooping forms. It is not the 
portion of us all to have a discriminative taste in the 
blending, and arranging of multiplex form and 
colour variation. For these reasons the hints made 
will not be out of place. 
Then another point upon which more might be 
done is the testing of which of the finer plants can 
be used for a period out of doors. Far too often do 
we take things for granted, and to follow precedent. 
The saying goes, " that if one is not going forward 
then we must be going backward,' 1 there is no stand¬ 
ing still. I will not say. But from what comes 
under observation there are many advances which 
one would like, and which we do not find. Of 
course, the other extreme is attempted. In one of 
the London public parks the visitor finds such 
plants as Monstera deliciosa, fancy and fine 
Coleuses, Tradescantia tricolor, Strobilanthes 
dyerianus, and all sorts of fine Palms, Ferns, and 
foliage plants. They, by much care, succeed well 
