June  14,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
507 
With  reference  to  “  W.  S.’s”  note,  on  page  463,  the  above  Carnation 
was  well  known  among  growers  a  few  years  ago.  It  was  raised 
at  Mr.  II.  B.  May’s  Dyson’s  Lane  Nursery,  Edmonton,  about  ten  years 
back,  when  it  was  a  great  advance  on  any  other  crimson  variety,  and 
although  further  improvement  has  since  been  made  the  above  is  still 
grown  to  some  extent.  On  June  2l8t,  1892,  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society’s  Floral  Committee  gave  it  an  award  of  merit.  Since  the 
advent  of  Uriah  Pike  several  other  good  crimson  varieties  have  been 
raised  from  Winter  Cheer  crossed  with  the  above  varieties.  Countess 
cf  Warwick  I  consider  the  best  crimson  with  which  I  am  at  present 
acquainted.  The  flowers  are  well  formed,  with  a  good  calyx,  and  of  a 
bright  claret  crimson  ;  it  grows  rather  taller,  but  otherwise  is  of  similar 
habit  to  Winter  Cheer. — A.  Hemscey. 
- - 
Mr.  Pearsoii’s  Election  of  Apples. 
In  his  remarks  on  this  subject  in  your  last  issue  Mr.  A.  H.  Pearson 
mentions  his  regret  that  twenty-four  out  of  sixty  persons  written  to 
did  not  return  him  replies.  I  was  one  of  the  guilty  parties,  and  rather 
glory  in  my  reticence,  seeing  that  Mr.  Pearson  so  far  forgot  what  w  as 
courteously  due  under  the  conditions  of  his  application,  to  enclose  a 
stamped  envelope  for  the  reply.  The  italics  are  mine,  please  note. 
Possibly  he  is  a  novice  in  Press  matters,  or  otherwise  he  would  have 
realised  that  the  surest  way  to  obtain  replies  is  to  enclose  stamped 
envelopes  with  queries,  even  though  he  may  not  be  asking  questions 
that  are  of  special  interest  to  himself  but  are  such  to  all  fruit  growers. 
The  Apple  election  provided  by  some  thirty-one  persons  is  not,  I 
fear,  of  much  value.  To  have  a  thoroughly  representative  election  it 
should  cover  the  whole  kingdom,  and  be  taken  part  in  by  at  least  200 
growers,  each  personally  solicited — not  by  an  individual,  but  by 
one  of  our  influential  gardening  papers.  My  notion  of  an  Apple 
election  would  be  to  first  ask  for  lists  of  the  best  dozen  of  kitchen 
Apples  and  of  dessert  App'es  for  garden  culture  in  bush  or  half- 
standard  form.  When  the  returns  were  in  and  tabulated,  then  the 
twenty  of  each  section  having  most  votes  should  be  re-issued  to  the 
whole  of  the  original  constituency,  and  invite  them  to  select  from 
these  scores  the  very  best  dozens.  Then,  when  the  results  of  this 
were  tabulated,  we  should  arrive  at  some  definite  conclusions  as  to 
which  were  the  best  Apples  for  the  whole  of  the  kingdom. — A.  D. 
Mr.  a.  H.  Pearson  has  undoubtedly  extracted  some  very  serviceable 
Apples  from  his  correspondents  and  published  them  on  page  474  last 
week.  That  a  condensation  of  varieties  was  needed  many  persons 
will  freely  admit,  and  also  be  obliged  to  Mr.  Pearson  for  the  start  he 
has  made.  They  will  be  also  amused  to  find  that  there  is  one 
descendant  extant  of  the  old  mystery  men  of  the  past  who  sold  recipes 
for  Auricula  composts,  killing  lice,  and  making  big  Gooseberries.  We 
mnst  now  look  out  for  advertisements  of  his  “  valuable  ”  selection  of 
fortune-making  Apples. 
“  ’Lections  is  curus  things,  you  never  know  what  they  won’t  do,” 
observed  a  good  and  worthy  worker  in  the  fruit  quarters  after  looking 
down  Mr.  Pearson’s  list.  “  What  can  you  make  of  ’em,”  he  went  on  to 
say,  “  when  you  find  in  the  six  standard  Apples  for  cooking  only  two 
for  summer  sale,  the  rest  late  when  the  Americans  are  in  ?  ”  On  being 
told  that  there  were  three,  he  had  the  boldness  to  turn  up  his  nose  at 
Ecklinville  because  “it  spotted  so.”  He  said,  “  The  salesmen  knew 
about  it  and  put  it  out  of  their  list,  and  besides  they  had  four  in,  all 
earlies,  that  the  growers  left  out  of  their  six  standards.” 
The  critic  was  pointed  to  the  list  of  “  twelve  bushes  for  cooking.” 
“  Well,”  he  replied,  he  “  didn’t  know  they  cooked  bushes,  but  some  of 
the  sorts  were  good  enough ;  it  was  a  muddle  all  the  same,  as  some 
grew  three  times  the  size  of  the  rest,  and  a  pretty  show  it  would  be  if 
all  were  planted  at  the  same  distances ;  besides,  there  are  too  few 
earlies  and  too  many  lates  in  both  cooking  lists  for  money  making.” 
Those  are  the  views  of  a  plain  man  who  has  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
in  his  time  both  with  raising  and  selling  Apples.  He  admitted  the  late 
Apples  near  the  top  of  the  lists  were  as  good  as  any,  but  was  convinced 
they  would  not  pay  so  soon  or  so  well  as  the  best  of  the  earlies,  as  these 
had  the  markets  to  themselves  “  before  the  Yanks  came  in.” 
He  did  not  think  the  table  Apples  far  wrong,  as  all  the  lists  nearly 
agreed,  but  would  put  Quarrenden  before  Blenheim  as  a  standard  for 
paying  the  sooner.  On  asking  the  man  if  he  would  make  out  better 
lists,  he  shook  his  head  with  the  remark,  “  It  all  depends  how  you 
would  plant,  and  how  tar  apart  for  the  trees  for  making  the  most 
money  off  the  land,”  and  he  muttered  something  as  he  went  away  about 
liking  to  know  how  Mr.  Pearson  would  plant  an  acre  if  he  had  to  buy 
other  folks’  trees. — A  Gleaner. 
Peaches  for  Market. 
As  I  have  been  growing  Peaches  and  Nectarines  for  market  for 
some  time  the  article  by  “  H.  D.,”  on  page  476,  was  of  particular  interest 
to  me.  That  your  correspondent  is  correct  in  his  remarks  anent  the 
market  I  feel  sure,  as  I  have  found  no  difficulty  in  disposing  of  mv 
produce  at  remunerative  prices.  I  am,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  so  satisfied 
that  the  erection  of  a  new  range  is  in  contemplation  for  the  cultivation 
of  Peaches  and  Nectarines,  and  I  should  be  glad  of  the  advice  of 
“  H.  D.”  and  other  practical  contributors  on  the  following  point I 
have  a  low  wall  about  100  feet  long,  against  which  I  purpose  placing 
a  three-quarters  span-roof  structure  divided  into  three  compartments, 
or,  perhaps,  four ;  I  thought  of  having  a  wooden  front  from  the  ground 
to  the  eaves,  say  5  feet.  Hitherto  I  have  had  to  deal  only  with  the 
regulation  fan-shaped  tree  trained  beneath  the  roof,  but  I  am  told 
that  I  shall  find  it  more  advantageous  to  adopt  transverse  trellises 
having  the  trees  back  to  back.  I  learn  that  the  system  is  practised 
and  strongly  advocated  by  Mr.  Challis,  of  Wilton,  and  Mr.  Summers, 
of  Sandbeck.  Now  “  H.  D.”  does  not  refer  to  the  method,  but,  perhaps, 
he  will  favour  with  his  views  on  it,  especially  if  he  has  had  personal 
experience  with  it.  I  am  much  inclined  to  try  the  pot  trees,  and  should 
be  glad  to  know  if  they  require  annual  repotting,  and  whether  of 
Nectarines  there  is  a  variety  superior  to  Early  Rivers.  If  Messrs. 
Challis  and  Summers  are  readers  of  the  Journal,  perhaps  they  will  say 
how  many  feet  the  transverse  trellises  are  apart,  and  how  far  they 
extend  into  the  house  from  the  side  ? — Learner. 
Potato  Sets. 
On  page  487  “Observer”  makes  an  interesting  reference  to  ray 
notes  on  Potatoes,  and  the  adoption  of  a  course  of  planting  small  tubers 
for  seed  purposes.  Deterioration  from  such  a  practice  I  had  never 
anticipated,  nor  in  the  course  of  five  or  six  years  is  there  any  signs  of 
debility ;  indeed,  my  early  Potatoes  are  this  year  as  good  as  anyone 
could  wish,  and  as  vigorous  as  is  desired.  There  is,  too,  a  surprisingly 
good  haulm  growth  from  the  small  tubers  planted  this  year,  which 
promises  to  give  as  good  returns,  if  not  better,  than  in  o'^her  seasons. 
Seeds  obtained  by  this  course  is  often  a  superior  sample  than  would  be 
had  from  a  selection  made  from  the  everyday  digging,  and  they  have 
the  advantage  of  remaining  undisturbed  until  the  whole  is  ripe.  I  should 
not  have  the  least  doubt  about  the  result  of  a  three  or  four  years’  test, 
suggested  by  “  Observer,”  and  I  can  unhesitatingly  say  that  my  stock 
of  early  Potatoes  is  better  now  than  when  they  were  first  purchased, 
and  in  some  varieties  this  extends  to  eight  years.  I  know  it  is  a 
favourite  doctrine  to  decry  small  seed  for  ordinary  planting,  and  for 
obtaining  a  normal  yield  this  may  be  true,  but  for  seed  purposes  such 
as  I  have  adopted,  I  have  not  observed  criticism,  and  I  cannot  recall 
an  instance  where  the  small  tubers  have  been  set  apart  specially  for 
seed  purposes,  year  after  year.  It  is  a  mistake  to  allow  such  small 
tubers  to  remain  unplanted  until  they  are  badly  shrivelled.  The 
earlier  they  are  put  in  the  better. — W.  Strugnell. 
- - 
Tl}e  Oak  and  the  Asl^. 
One  of  your  correspondents  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  (page  483) 
says  on  the  subject  of  the  leafing  of  the  Oak  and  the  Ash,  that  “  old 
traditions  die  hard.”  This  is  so,  and  I  believe  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  they  mostly  contain  a  considerable  amount  of  truth.  Our  ancestors 
were  not  such  foolish  persons  as  many  people  nowadays  would  seem  to 
make  them  out  to  be.  The  rush  of  life  being  less,  they  observed 
Nature  far  more  than  their  descendants  do. 
I  have  myself,  in  a  general  way,  observed  the  relative  times  or  dates 
of  leafage  of  tbe  Oak  and  the  Ash  for  very  many  years,  and  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  they  differ  very  considerably  in  certain  seasons, 
and  that,  again  speaking  very  broadly,  the  subsequent  character  of  the 
weather  bears  a  distinct  relation  to  these  differences.  I  cannot  go  so 
far  back  as  C.  W.  Brown,  in  the  “Daily  Mail”— viz.,  to  1816,  neither 
can  I  concur  in  his  statement  that  the  seasons  after  1869  have  been 
average  ones.  The  year  1879  was  probably  the  most  disastrous  wet 
season  on  record,  and  the  “  seventies  ”  generally  were  wet.  The  year 
1893  was  a  record  dry  year,  and  the  last  few  years  have,  on  the  whole, 
been  the  same. 
Now,  in  the  “seventies,”  according  to  my  observation,  the  Ash 
was  regularly  ahead  of  the  Oak  in  leafing,  and  often  by  a  very  long  way, 
but  of  late  years  the  Oak  has  been  as  regularly  ahead  of  the  Ash.  Of 
course,  what  is  true  of  one  part  of  tbe  country  need  not  be^  true  of 
another,  but  I  am  speaking  mainly  of  the  southern  half  of  the  kingdom. 
I  know  that  last  year  in  the  south  the  Oak  was  much  before  the  Ash 
