January  4,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
0 
THE  LATE  DUKE  OF  WESTMINSTER,  K.G. 
AN  APPKEGIATION. 
To  the  general  public  bis  Grace  was  perhaps  best  known  as  a 
philanthropist  of  the  highest  order,  and  as  a  patron  of  the  turf  in  the 
noblest  and  purest  sense  of  the  term.  He  was  nevertheless  greatly 
interested  in  horticulture,  and  gave  freely  of  his  large  means  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  educational  and  exhibitive  side  of  the  art ;  a 
liberal  supporter  of  the  R.H.S.,  as  well  as  a  regular  contributor  to  the 
funds  of  the  various  gardening  charities,  these  institutions  shared  in 
his  generous  munificence.  On  the  Eaton  estate  the  Cottagers’  Horti¬ 
cultural  Show,  which  was  started  some  years  ago  at  the  suggestion  of 
his  Grace,  was  a  model  of  its  kind,  and  in  this  both  the  late  Duke 
and  the  Duchess  took  more  than  an  ordinary  interest. 
The  Chester  Paxton  Society  from  its  inception  benefited  largely  by 
his  patronage  and  practical  support,  and  on  several  occasions  he 
delivered  addresses  at  the  opening  ceremonies  of  its  annual  fruit  and 
Chrysanthemum  exhibitions,  and  his  utterances  on  those  occasions 
showed  how  keenly  he  was  alive  to  the  importance  of  extended  fruit 
culture  in  our  country.  To  the  writer  his  Grace  more  than  once 
deplored  the  apathy  which  this  important  industry  received  at  the 
hands  of  those  to  whom  it  might  easily  become  a  source  of  income. 
Of  a  highly  cultured  and  refined  nature,  no  one  was  a  better  judge 
of  all  that  was  beautiful  in  floriculture,  and  he  made  no  concealment 
of  his  distaste  for  any  productions  in  the  shape  of  monstrosities.  As 
an  evidence  of  this,  at  one  of  the  exhibitions  just  mentioned  he 
described  a  group  of  perfectly  grown  Japanese  and  incurved  Chrys¬ 
anthemums  to  the  writer  as  a  collection  of  “  mop  heads,”  at  the  same 
time  putting  in  a  plea  for  more  extended  culture  of  the  single  varieties. 
Flowers  which  combined  simplicity  with  delicacy  and  beauty  appealed 
to  him  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  anything  in  the  way  of  the  large 
Chrysanthemum. 
In  the  magnificent  and  well-appointed  gardens  of  Eaton  the  Duke 
took  a  special  pride,  and  appreciated  greatly  the  efforts  of  his  respected 
chief  in  this  department,  Mr.  N.  F.  Barnes.  No  one  lived  more 
for  others  than  did  the  noble  Duke,  and  nothing  gave  him  greater 
pleasure  than  to  see  his  fellow  men  p irticipating  in  and  sharing 
the  luxuries  with  which  he  was  surrounded.  It  was  always  his 
desire  that  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  the  gardens  at  Eaton 
should  at  all  times  be  accessible,  a  nominal  charge  being  made  only  to 
excursionists  during  the  summer  months,  and  the  sum  thus  realised 
was  included  with  others  for  the  benefit  of  the  local  hospital,  the 
finances  of  the  institution  in  this  way  being  each  year  augmented 
by  a  total  sum  of  not  less  than  £500. 
In  adition  to  this,  religion,  philanthrophy,  science,  literature  and 
art,  in  fact  everything  that  tended  for  the  benefit  of  the  people, 
received  of  his  goodness.  The  Grosvenor  Museum,  Chester,  which 
is  now  one  of  the  best  appointed  institutions  of  its  kind  in  the 
provinces,  will  ever  stand  out  as  a  lasting  monument  to  his  memory, 
and  it  was  here  that  one  of  his  last  public  appearances  in  the  old  city 
was  made,  the  occasion  being  the  presentation  of  prizes  of  the 
Kingsley  Memorial  Fund  of  the  Chester  Society  of  Natural  Science, 
Literature  and  Art.  His  loss  to  the  country  is  great,  and  the  citizens 
of  Chester  in  particular  mourn  for  one  who  was  the  city’s  greatest 
benefactor  in  every  respect. — George  Paxtox. 
BROCCOLI  NOTES. 
A  VERY  dry  period  set  in  about  the  time  our  Broccoli  and  other 
greens  were  planted,  many  of  the  plants  being  destroyed  both  by  the 
Turnip  beetle  and  the  drought.  For  some  time  they  made  little 
growth.  Towards  the  end  of  August  and  the  early  part  of  September, 
however,  the  plants  appeared  to  take  a  new  lease  of  life,  and  grew 
rapidly,  although  the  long  looked  for  rain  had  not  come.  We 
experienced  some  heavy  dews  at  this  time,  and  these  were,  no  doubt, 
the  cause  of  the  improvement  taking  place. 
Although  making  such  a  bad  start  I  must  admit  that  my  crop  of 
Broccoli  had  never  looked  better,  and  as  far  as  the  early  kinds  are 
concerned,  produced  finer  heads.  It  is  rather  too  early  to  say  much 
about  the  winter  and  later  varieties,  as  we  have  already  had  a  taste  of 
severe  weather,  and  perhaps  may  have  more,  although  the  frost  has 
not  been  so  severe  in  our  garden  as  it  has  been  in  many  places.  The 
lowest  registered  has  been  14°,  15°,  and  16°,  and  I  do  not  think  any 
injury  has  been  done. 
A  breadth  of  Veitch’s  Self-protecting  Autumn  Broccoli,  one  of  the 
best  for  giving  an  autumn  and  early  winter  supply,  has  produced  some 
grand  heads,  they  being  firm,  compact,  and  white,  many  of  them 
growing  to  a  large  size.  This  is  a  well  known  variety,  and  a  good 
one  to  follow  Autumn  Giant  Cauliflower.  If  a  few  rows  are  planted  a 
little  later  than  the  general  planting,  heads  may  be  cut  well  into  the 
new  year  during  a  mild  winter.  We  have  cut  useful  produce  as  late 
as  the  middle  of  January.  Snow’s  Winter  White  is  a  good  old 
standard  variety,  being  one  of  the  whitest  and  best  Broccoli  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  It  is  a  useful  one  to  follow  the  last  named. 
In  some  catalogues  this  variety  is  stated  to  be  hardy,  but  this  does 
not  correspond  with  my  experience.  During  severe  winters  I  have 
found  a  much  larger  percentage  killed  than  has  been  the  case  with 
several  other  varieties.  Indeed  for  a  few  seasons  I  did  not  grow  it  for 
this  reason.  This  year,  however,  it  finds  a  place,  about  150  plants 
being  grown,  which  will  soon  be  ready  for  use  if  the  weather  remain 
open. 
Backhouse’s  Winter  White  and  Knight’s  Self- protecting  are  a  little 
later  than  Snow’s,  and  are  good  hardy  sorts  to  grow,  but  do  not  give 
such  “refined”  heads.  Leamington  is  another  fine  old  variety,  and 
for  general  purposes  one  of  the  best.  For  giving  a  later  supply  we 
have  two  very  good  varieties  in  Sutton’s  Late  Queen  and  Veitch's 
Model.  The  former  is  rather  dwarf,  having  curly,  dark  green  leaves, 
its  habit  making  it  fairly  hardy.  In  this  garden  it  never  produces 
very  large  heads.  Model  lasts  a  little  longer  than  Late  Queen.  It  is 
a  stronger  grower,  and  produces  heads  of  a  conical  shape.  When 
walking  round  the  gardens  at  Castle  Howard  last  spring  Mr.  A.  E. 
Sutton  drew  my  attention  to  a  large  plot  of  this  variety,  and  spoke 
very  highly  of  it.  He  also  asked  me  to  examine  two  very  fine  heads 
he  had  marked,  and  if  I  remember  rightly  he  intimated  that  they 
would  be  saved  for  seed. 
When  a  border  on  the  north  side  of  a  wall  can  be  spared  for  a 
few  plants  of  those  late  sorts,  heads  may  be  cut  to  a  much  later 
period.  In  the  open  garden  during  late  spring  the  days  are  often 
very  hot  and  bright,  and  the  heads  come  in  too  quickly. — J.  S.  U. 
PRUNING  EVERGREEN  SHRUBS. 
This,  I  venture  to  think,  is  a  matter  that  cannot  be  too  often 
brought  into  notice,  inasmuch  as  the  proper  pruning  of  evergreen 
shrubs,  even  by  otherwise  intelligent  cultivators,  is  more  honoured  in 
the  breach  than  in  the  observance.  The  apparent  neglect  by  many 
owners  of  shrubs  in  the  timely  pruning  or  regulating  of  especially 
choice  specimens  is  owing  to  a  fear  of  or  reluctance  in  manipulating 
them  according  to  their  needs,  and  the  operation  is  postponed  until 
eventually  drastic  methods  are  obliged  to  be  adopted.  Tnis  often 
results  in  the  disfigurement  of  the  tree,  whereas  an  annual  or  other 
periodical  application  of  the  pruning  knife  would  have  obviated  such 
severe  measures  as  indicated.  To  none  more  than,  for  instance. 
Rhododendrons  and  the  common  Laurel  do  these  remarks  apply. 
Both,  however,  are  readily  amenable  to  the  pruning  knife  or  the  saw 
and  the  “  hedge-hook  but  where  the  work  must  be  neatly  done  in 
regard  to  the  cutting-back  of  old-established  bushes  with  large  limbs 
the  latter  tool  may  be  dispensed  with. 
For  hiding  unsightly  objects  quickly  a  hedge  or  wide  belting  of 
the  ommon  Laurel  is  frequently  employed  ;  but  if  neglected  in  the 
matter  of  pruning  the  plants  soon  become  naked  beneath  an  1  top- 
heavy,  thus  defeating  the  object  in  view,  and  the  only  remedy  is  to 
adopt  the  drastic  and  undesirable  operation  of  cutting  them  down 
nearly  to  the  ground  or  replacing,  if  immediate  effect  is  desired,  by 
new  bushes.  I  am  cognisant  of  several  instances  at  the  present  time 
which  could  be  adduced  in  support  of  the  argument  indicated. 
Regarding  the  period  of  the  year  for  operating  on  neglected  old 
Laurels,  or,  in  fact,  almost  any  other  evergreen  shrub,  undoubtedly 
springtime  is  the  best,  when  the  sap  is  rising  and  the  naked  cutback 
branches  and  stumps  are  not  unsightly  so  long  as  when  the  operation 
is  performed  in  the  autumn  or  winter  time.  There  is  also  danger  of 
severe  frost  killing  them  outright  when  cut  back  so  early.  The 
pruning  may  be  done  even  later,  but  without  so  satisfactory  results, 
as  the  force  of  the  sap  has  become  expended  and  the  buds  do  not 
break  so  well.  It  is  usual  with  cultivators  to  leave  the  pruning  of 
Rhododendrons  till  after  the  flowering  period,  but  when  the  bloom  is 
scanty  and  the  bushes  require  severe  cutting,  the  operation  is  best 
performed  in  early  spring,  so  as  to  afford  a  longer  period  for  the 
ripening  of  the  young  shoots  before  the  following  winter.  The  only 
advantage  that  can  be  advocated  in  favour  of  the  autumn  or  winter 
pruning  of  shrubs  and  trees  is  where  labour  is  limited,  and  there  is 
such  a  multiplicity  of  operations  cropping  up  in  spring  that  were  the 
pruning  deferred  till  then  the  chances  would  be  that  the  work  would 
have  to  be  left  until  the  autumn  or  winter  following. 
Connected  with  the  manifold  duties  of  the  gardener  there  are  few 
more  interesting  and  requiring  more  juUcious  care  than  pruning  orna¬ 
mental  shrubs  and  trees,  so  varied  are  they  in  their  individual 
characteristics.  In  conclusion,  I  may  add  that  it  is  excellent  practice, 
time  allowing,  of  course,  to  make  it  a  rule,  when  passing  any  shrub 
requiring  the  removal  of  an  obtrusive  or  half-worn  out  straggling 
branch,  to  cut  it  away  instantly,  and  not  defer  the  operation  until  a 
more  favourable  and  indefinite  opportunity. — W.  G. 
