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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  3,  lltOO. 
and  above  and  beyond  that  placed  on  the  market  in  all  their  pristine 
freshness.  In  re^ardin^  this  commercial  aspect  as  an  important 
question,  so  far  as  Ireland  is  concerned,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to 
briefly'  note  what  is,  what  has,  and  what  might  be  done  pro  hono 
Eihernim,  Market  gardening  on  a  small  .‘>cale  was  for  many  years  a 
feature  on  the  sunny  banks  of  the  Liffey  between  Dublin  and  Lucan. 
This  was  not  the  common  order  of  its  kind,  but  that  ficturespue 
medley  of  many  things  which  afforded  such  a  charming  coup  d'ceil 
for  over  two  miles  to  travellers  by  “the  Lower  Eoad,”  and  both 
pleasure  and  profit  to  the  small  proprietors  The  steep  slopes  facing 
due  souih  are  a  veritable  trap  for  sunbeams,  and  here  were  to  be  seen 
small  plots  of  early  Peas,  the  earliest  of  early  Potatoes,  Strawberries 
ripening  a  month  before  those  elgewhere,  patches  of  Pinks  and  other 
flowers  suitable  for  cutting,  herbs,  and  marketable  stuff  galore;  snug 
cabins  with  thatched  roofs,  on  which  trailing  Nasturtiums  tried  to  hide 
the  brilliantly  whitewashed  walls,  were  dotted  ubiquitously  about; 
and  doubtless  many  a  stouthearted  Irishman  now  serving  his  Queen 
and  country  in  less  genial  climes  oft  thinks  of  auld  lang  syne  and  the 
Strawberry  beds  amongst  which  he  wandered  a  sturdy,  bare-legged 
gossoon.  That  is  as  it  was;  now  in  many  a  idace  where  once  a  garden 
smiled  a  few  ragged  goats  browse  among  the  ragweed,  and  ever  and 
anon  a  roofless  cabin  lends  sadness  to  the  scene. — K.,  Dublin. 
Flowering  Trees  and  Slirnbs. 
The  advance  made  by  vegetation  from  about  the  17th  to  the  24th 
of  the  present  month  was  rejaiarkable  for  its  rapidity,  and  it  is  not 
often  that  trees  are  observed  to  positively  leap  into  life,  as  has  this 
year  been  the  case.  There  were  few  signs  of  activity  at  the  beginning 
of  the  period  named,  but  at  the  end  trees  were  almost  in  full  leaf,  and 
the  hedges  were  green  with  bursting  buds.  Chestnuts  are  recognised 
as  exceedingly  rapid  growers,  but  this  season  they  must  almost  have 
established  an  English  record,  as  they  grew  several  inches  in  six  days. 
Lombardy  Poplars,  too,  which  are  not  generally  so  hurried  in  their 
movements,  came  from  buds  to  leaves  of  the  size  of  a  shilling  in  the 
same  period. 
It  is,  however,  useless  to  attempt  to  individualise  all  the  examples 
of  rapid  growth,  as  such  a  task  would  involve  the  enumeration  of  all 
the  plants  and  trees  that  grow  in  our  gardens,  pleasure  grounds,  and 
woods.  The  varying  tints  of  green  are  before  the  dweller  in  the  town 
as  well  as  in  the  country,  but  they  are  not  so  appreciable  or  so 
delicate  in  the  former  as  in  the  latter.  The  time  of  the  development 
of  the  leaf  is  to  many  people  symbolical  of  hone,  and  is  to  some  the 
period  of  the  year  that  is  most  admired.  No  one  can  fail  to  be 
gladdened  by  the  bursting  buds  and  the  developing  leaf — promises  of 
the  riper  beauties  ol  the  summer  and  the  autumn.  Of  thes^  foliage 
trees  there  are  perhaps  more  than  enough  in  our  gardens,  as  they 
have  been  planted  without  due  consideration  of  others,  which  by  the 
beauty  of  their  flowers  as  well  as  of  their  leaves  are  worthy  of  the 
closest  attention  from  planters.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  their  partial 
exclusion  from  some  gardens  is  tantamount  to  lacking  one  of  the  most 
attractive  features  at  this  season  of  the  year  and  onwards  for  several 
months. 
So  magnificent  are  the  flowering  trees  that  it  is  no  light  matter  to 
decide  with  what  a  start  ought  to  be  made.  This  type  of  vegetation 
can  be  regarded  from  two  distinct  standpoints.  1,  Trees  that  produce 
flowers  and  fruits  ;  and  2,  Those  'hat  are  valuable  by  reason  of  their 
flowers  alone.  The  former  are  generally  relegated  to  the  more  utilitarian 
fruit  and  vegetable  quarters,  but  at  the  same  time  it  should  be 
remembered  that  they  have  an  exquisite  beauty,  of  which  no  exact 
counterpart  can  be  fo  jnd  amidst  trees  that  produce  flowers  only. 
What  is  more  beautiful  than  an  Apple,  Pear,  Plum,  or  Cherry  tree 
when  the  branches  are  wreathed  in  delicately  tinted  or  pure  white 
flowers  ?  Surely  those  plants  which  combine  to  perfection  the 
ornamental  as  well  as  the  useful  are  deserving  of  as  prominent  a 
position  as  those  that  have  the  former  alone  to  recommend  them  ! 
Look  at  the  Siberian,  the  Dartmouth,  and  John  Downie  Crabs.  Are 
they  not  absolute  perfection  ? 
That  there  are  gardens  where  fruit  trees  are  utilised  for  the  embel¬ 
lishment  of  various  positions  is  readily  acknowledged,  but  that  these 
are  too  few  is  an  incontrovertible  fact.  Every  belt  of  trees  that 
forms  a  background  for  lawns  or  shrubberies  ought  to  number  amongst 
its  occupants  a  certain  proportion  of  fruit  I'learers,  not  necessarily  for 
their  harvest  burden,  but  for  the  flowers  they  give  in  the  r  slightly 
varying  seasons.  Anyone  who  has  visited  many  gardens  can  readily 
call  to  mind  positions  in  which  an  Apfile  or  a  Pear,  a  Cherry  or  a 
Plum  would  have  added  very  considerably  to  the  existing  beauties, 
and  would,  mayhap,  have  put  that  finishing  touch  on  the  whole  that 
proclaims  the  artistic  mind.  The  several  Crabs  are  more  commonly 
seen,  but  they  have  yet  to  be  planted  by  thousands  before  they  have 
received  the  notice  to  which  their  merits  justly  entitle  them. 
Closely  related  to  the  trees  that  have  been  briefly  alluded  to  in 
the  foregoing  paragraphs,  but  differing  from  them  in  the  fact  they  are 
essentially  flower  producers,  we  have  the  Prunus,  Pyrus,  and  Cerasus. 
At  the  moment  of  writing  these  in  some  districts  at  any  rate,  are 
most  strikingly  handsome  and  adorn  our  gardens  as  nothing  else 
possibly  could  do  at  this  season  of  the  year.  That  simple  green  for  which 
we  admire  the  many  foliferous  trees  acts  as  a  foil  for  the  others  round, 
and  throws  up  their  simple  beauty  in  such  a  manner  a-  to  enforce 
not  only  the  attention  but  the  enthusiastic  admiration  of  everyone. 
In  every  country  garden,  in  every  town  park  they  may  be  found,  but 
theirs  is  a  charm  that  never  palls,  an  attraction  of  which  the  eye  can 
under  no  circumstances  of  time,  or  place,  or  quantity  be  ome  fatigued. 
Srparate  the  green  leaves  from  the  various  coloured  flowers,  and  the 
soul,  as  it  were,  of  the  picture  would  be  gone.  To  venture  to  give 
names  would  be  an  error  of  judgment,  as  it  is  not  now  proposed  to  copy 
the  catalogue,  but  to  enter  a  plea  for  genera  which,  if  they  have  not 
been  really  neglected,  have  had  that  scant  attention  that  is  almost 
condemnatory  in  its  faint  praise. 
Of  a  nobler  type  are  the  Magnolias,  and  of  a  constitution  that 
renders  them  more  aristocratic  and  le^s  amenable  to  plebeian  tastes. 
It  is  not  everyone  who  can  have  a  grand  tree  of  Magnoli  i  conspicua 
in  their  gardens,  or  even  the  m  ire  modest  growing,  though  not  less 
beautiful,  M.  stellata.  Of  the  first  named,  or  to  give  it  a  popular  name, 
the  Yulan,  there  are  a  few  superb  specimens  here  and  there  in  garden^,, 
but  there  might  with  advantage  be  many  more.  Unfortunately 
neither  the  type  nor  its  varieties  thrives  in  every  garden.  Then  there 
are  M.  Lenne,  M.  Soulangeana,  and  M.  purpurea,  of  which  any  or 
all  will  add  to  the  charm  of  a  garden,  no  matter  how  diversified,  that 
does  not  already  contain  them. 
Where  is  the  garden  that  can  afford  to  dispense  with  the 
Laburnum  ?  A  common  tree  this,  but  one  that  is  without  a  rival  in 
the  production  of  superb  racemes  of  yellow  flowers.  Varieties  are 
fairly  numerous,  but  general  opinion  it  is  safe  to  assert  will  favour  the 
Scotch  form — C.  alpinus — whose  flowers  are  superior  in  colour  and 
form  to  the  others.  A  specimen  of  the  Snowy  Mespilus,  Amelanchier 
Botryapium,  in  a  neighbouring  garden,  charmed  the  writer  a  day 
or  two  ago  as  being  one  of  the  finest  seen  in  a  not  limited 
acquaintance  of  gardening  and  gardens.  It  was  such  a  picture  that 
words  are  quite  inadequate  to  do  justice  to  it.  Would  that  it  grew 
equally  as  well  in  every  garden.  Thorns,  too,  must  not  be  forgotten, 
as  they  are  very  handsome,  particularly,  perhaps,  when  planted  in 
clumps.  The  older  varieties  seem  to  be,  in  many  districts,  part  and 
pa'cel  of  the  land  cape,  and  it  is  difficult  to  picture  what  si  me  park 
land  would  be  like  without  them,  d'hough  the  older  varieties  in 
their  very  age  have  the  advantage  of  the  more  modern  introductions, 
they  cannot  compare  with  them  in  the  excellence  and  the  colour  of 
the  flower,  and  time  alone  will  remedy  the  defect  of  size. 
The  Ivose  Acacia,  which  it  will  be  remembered  was  illustrated  in 
the  Journal  for  March  8th  last,  is  a  tree  that  will  always  be  regarded 
with  admiration  by  many  people  who  rightly  look  upon  it  as  being 
practically  indispensable  in  the  pleasure  grounds.  Robinia  hispiiia, 
to  accord  it  its  botanic  apfellation,  with  its  racemes  of  rose  pink 
flowers,  is  decidedly  ornamental  and  useful,  and  practically  the  sime 
can  be  affirmed  of  R.  hispida.  Refen  nee  was  made  in  the  opening 
paragraph  of  these  notes  to  the  astonishingly  rapid  growth  made 
by  the  Chestnuts  a  few  days  ago,  and  they  are  again  adverted  to  as 
being  amongst  the  noblest  of  our  specimen  flowering  trees.  Then, 
too,  they  make  magnificent  avenues,  but  in  either  case  they  require  an 
abundance  of  room  if  they  are  to  show  themselves  to  the  best 
advantage.  Limes,  if  a  bee-keeper  were  wielding  the  pen,  would 
probably  have  been  placed  first,  on  account  of  their  value  as  honey 
and  pollen  producers,  are  trees  that  require  plenty  of  space  when 
they  are  singularly  attractive.  The  Judas  Tree,  Cercis  siliquastrum, 
must  be  regarded  as  a  neglected  tiee  that  ought  to  be  brought 
prominently  forward.  It  is  strikingly  handsome  when  in  flower,  and 
is  not  rivalled  by  any  other  tree  in  the  colour  of  its  flowers,  which  is 
purple.  These,  by  the  way,  are  produced  direct  from  the  br  .nches 
in  a  decidedly  |  ecul  ar,  but  still  pleasing  manner. 
If  a  writer  ventured  to  omit  from  such  an  article  as  this  the 
Catalpas,  he  would  probably  bring  down  upon  himself  the  wrath  of 
the  London  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture,  who  are  esi-rvedly 
proud  of  the  specimens  in  the  gardens  of  the  House  of  Parli  meut. 
These  are  magnificent  trees,  whether  they  are  regarded  for  their  foli  ige 
or  their  flowers  or  both,  and  it  is  a  little  surprisinii  that  they  are  not 
more  commonly  seen.  Possibly  every  passer-by  does  not  know  that 
the  trees  he  so  admires  bmeath  the  shadow  of  Big  Ben  are  Catalpas. 
The  Tulip  Tree,  Liriodendron  tulipifera,  too,  finds  many  admire  s, 
but  its  beauty  lies  rather  in  its  lesves  than  in  its  flowers.  If  the 
correspondent’s  suggestion  (page  102)  is  adopte  I  the  Tulip  Tree  will 
perhaps  be  growing  in  all  our  streets  du  ing  the  next  generation.  It 
is  time,  however,  to  cease  writing  for  the  pre  ent,  and  if  trees  of 
undoubted  beauty  have  been  omitted  it  remains  with  other  writers  to 
make  good  the  deficiency  for  jthe  benefit  of  their  fellow  readers. — 
F.  Rowe. 
