October  31,  1S05. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
415 
-  Mr.  J.  Niemetz,  one  of  the  prominent  pomologiats  of 
Eussia,  has  been  sent  by  the  Government  of  his  country  to  make  a  tour 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada  in  the  interests  of  Russian  pomology. 
In  his  large  experimental  orchard  at  Roveno  Mr.  Niemetz  hag  under 
trial  1200  varieties  of  Apples  alone,  and  of  other  fruits  in  proportion. 
-  Shirley  Gardeners’  and  Amateurs’  Association.  — 
Two  lectures,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Hants  County  Council,  were 
given  by  Mr.  E.  Molyneux,  Swanmore  Park  Gardens — one  at  High- 
field,  Southampton,  on  the  25th  inst.,  the  subject  being  “  Hardy  Fruit 
Culture  for  Cottage  Gardens  and  Allotments,”  and  the  other  at 
Nursling  on  the  2Sth  inst.  on  the  “  Cultivation  of  Fruit  and 
Vegetables  for  Exhibition,  and  Hints  on  Packing  for  Transit,”  There 
was  a  capital  attendance  at  each  lecture,  that  at  Nursling  being 
exceptionally  good.  Both  subjects  were  treated  in  an  excellent 
manner  by  the  lecturer,  though  each  would  bear  a  course  of  lectures 
to  do  it  full  justice. 
- English  and  Australian  Drought. — Mr.  Robert  Owen 
of  Maidenhead,  in  writing  to  a  correspondent  in  Australia  on  the 
drought  of  the  past  summer  in  England,  has  received  the  following 
reply  : — “  You  mentioned  in  your  letter  that  you  had  been  having  a 
very  dry  season.  I  wonder  what  you  would  say  to  an  Australian 
drought  such  as  we  have  been  experiencing  for  the  past  six  months. 
Since  February  we  have  only  had  2i  inches  of  rain.  From  July  Ist  we 
have  had  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch,  and  not  a  drop  for  the  last 
month.  The  consequence  is  most  of  the  country  is  all  on  fire  ;  500  miles 
of  the  coast  line  is  one  continuation  of  burning  country,  and  vessels 
report  meeting  the  smoke  300  miles  out  to  sea.  The  winds  are,  there- 
fore^q^uite  hot  and  terribly  drying.  Many  homesteads,  orchards,  farms, 
and  fences  are  burnt  out,  and  numbers  are  without  water.  Fortunately, 
I  have  it  laid  on,  and  have  to  water  continually.  I  have  lost  some  trees 
that  are  several  years  old.” 
-  Planting  Wall  Trees. — Reading  over  the  article  that  was  j 
published  last  week  over  “H.  D.’s  *’  initials,  I  noticed' what  seemedi  toi 
be  to  me  either  a  grave  clerical  or  typographical  error  in  one  word. 
Referring  to  the  preparations  for  planting,  “H.  D.”  is  made  to  say, 
■“  The  holes  should  in  the  meantime  be  partly  filled  with  the  prepared; 
compost ;  this  ought  to  be  trodden  Jirmly  when  it  happens  to  be  rather 
heavy  or  wet.”  S  hould  not  that  italicised  word  have  been  lightly  ?.  For 
to  tread  wet  or  stiff  soil  in  such  holes  as  are  referred  to,  and  firmly, 
means  the  creation  beneath  the  trees  of  a  hard,  imperviops  floor,  or  body 
of  soil,  that  would  be  productive  of  great  harm.  In  all  cases  the  treading, 
should  be  moderate,  as  it  is  better  to  "allow  soil  to  settle  down  evenly. 
But  would  it  not  be  far  wiser  to  get  out  the  holes  and  fill  right  to  the 
top  with  new  soil  or  compost  fully  a  fortnight  before  ihe  trees  came  to 
hand,  so  that  the  soil  would  have  settled  down  naturally  ?  By  that 
time  very  little  would  need  removing  from  the  surface  to  enable  the 
planting  to  be  properly  performed.  But,  further,  is  it  not  a  mistake  to; 
advise  the  making  of  too  deep  holes,  and  filling  up  with  too  enriched 
soil?  Holes  20  inches  in  depth  and  with  the  bottom  deeply  broken  in 
•ordinary  soil  suffice  as  a  rale  because  the  aim  of  the  gardener  in  all 
cases  should  be  rather  to  encourage  the  keeping  of  the  roots  near  the 
surface  than  to  send  them  deep  down.  Ouce  the  trees  get  well  established 
a  firm  surface  is  better  than  soil  very  light,  loose,  or  porous. — A.  D. 
-  Reading  Literary  and  Scientific  Society. — A  paper  of 
considerable  literary  value  and  instruction  on  “  Roses  ”  was  contributed 
to  this  Society  at  the  usual  meeting  on  Tuesday  evening,  October  22 nd^ 
at  the  Abbey  Hall,  by  the  Rev.  Alan  Cheales,  the  attendance,  unfor¬ 
tunately,  being  particularly  scanty.  The  President,  Mr.  T.  H.  White, 
occupied  the  chair.  Mr.  Cheales  quoted  poetical  references  to  the  Rose 
•from  Herrick,  Fenton,  Gay,  Sheridan,  Cambridge,  Congreve,  and  Sir 
Walter  Scott.  The  Rose  claimed  the  poet  as  much  as  the  poet  the  Rose. 
He  further  quoted  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  poets,  and  referred  to 
passages  by  Camoens,  Ariosto,  Browning,  Dr.  Watts,  Hood,  Dodsley, 
Schiller,  Tennyson,  Jean  Ineelow,  Dryden,  Edmund  Moore,  Montgomery, 
Shenstone,  Shakespeare,  Rutherford,  Gray,  Whitehead,  and  others. 
Many  countries  claimed  and  cherished  the  Rose.  In  no  land  had  it 
made  itself  so  much  at  home  as  in  England.  The  Rose  had  long  been 
the  national  badge  ;  and  many  had  thought  that  the  Rose  itself  gave  the 
name  to  our  island.  Mr.  Cbealef  passed  on  to  the  progress  of  the  Rose, 
dealing  more  particularly  with  the  historical  side  of  its  development, 
and  gave  the  names  of  some  of  the  best  specimens,  and  stated  the  dates 
of  their  introduction.  He  also  imparted  valuable  information  with 
reference  to  raising  from  seed,  briariug,  buddine,  and  exhibiting.  A 
discussion  followed,  and  Mr.  Cheales  replied. — (“  Reading  Mercury.”) 
-  Flowering  of  Jerusalem  Artichokes. — It  is  not  at  all 
an  unusual  thing  for  this  vegetable  to  flower  in  the  gardens  here,  as  they 
do  so  nearly  every  year.  The  flowers,  however,  are  more  abundant 
this  year  than  I  have  ever  known  them.  We  have  a  bed  about  30  yards 
long  by  12  wide,  and  the  stems  rise  from  12  to  15  feet  high.  They 
have  been  on  the  same  ground  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  and  no  manure 
is  given  except  the  ashes  of  burnt  refuse.  For  about  a  month  the 
flowers  made  quite  a  display,  but  the  frosts  during  the  past  week 
have  now  spoilt  them.  Ten  degrees  have  been  recorded  here  on  three 
mornings. — A.  Harding,  Orton  Gardens,  Peterborough . 
-  Aconitum  Fisheri. — This  late-flowering  Monkshood  makes 
a  very  dwarf  and  compact  plant,  hardly  a  foot  high,  with  large  panicles 
of  pale  purplish-blue  flowers.  It  remains  in  bloom  for  a  considerable 
time,  from  September  until  late  in  the  autumn,  and  will  grow  in  very 
dry  and  sunny  positions.  During  a  dry  season  it  is  one  of  the  few 
hardy  herbaceous  plants  that  stand  perfectly  fresh  and  healthy, 
uninjured  by  sun  and  drought.  The  flowers,  says  the  “  Garden  and 
Forest,”  are  larger  and  of  a  paler  colour  than  those  of  the  common 
Monkshood  (A.  Napellus),  and  the  inflorescence  is  immense,  considering 
the  size  of  the  plant.  The  ternate  leaves  are  very  thick  and  leathery 
and  of  a  deep  green  colour.  The  compact,  floriferous  habit  of  this 
plant  makes  it  valuable  for  rockeries  and  select  borders.  All  Monks¬ 
hoods  are,  however,  very  poisonous,  and  the  nearly  related  Delphiniums 
are  far  more  desirable  for  small  lawns  and  gardens. 
- The  Surrey  County  Trial  Potatoes.— Permit  me  to  state, 
in  relation  to  the  varied  results  from  cooking  found  in  the  tubers  of 
similar  varieties  of  these  Potatoes  at  Carshalton,  that  whilst  in  some 
cases  the  leafage  at  lifting  time  had  disappeared,  in  other,  cases  it  was 
still  strong  and  vigorous.  It  was  a  matter  of  necessity  that  all  should 
be  lifted  by  the  end  of  September.  If  some  of  the  breadths  could 
have  been  left  a  fortnight  longer  no  doubt  the  tubers  would  have 
materially  improved  in  texture.  Very  great  allowance  must  be  made ; 
first,  for  the  fact  that  the  long  spell  of  drought  rendered,  with  all  late 
varieties,  the  formation  of  tubers  unduly  la'e„  hence  yery  many  sorts 
had  the  tubers  when  lifted  with  skins  of  the  tenderest.  Also,  second, 
that  so  many  of  the  varieties  were  those  which  improve  by  keeping  ; 
therefore  cooking  early  in  October  was  hardly  a  fair  test  of  quality 
under  such  conditions.  But  all  the  same,  the  cooking  gave  very  excel¬ 
lent  results  generally,  especially  from  the  sandy  and  chalky  soils.  In 
all  cases  the  tubers  were  cooked  in  their  skins,  and  for  that  reason  fully 
five  minutes  longer  boiling  was  needed.  From  a  cropping  point  of  view, 
it  was  most  evident  that  the  richest  soil  was  not  so  tuber-productive  as 
poorer  soil  that  had  been  trenched  previous  to  planting,  the  former  soil 
having  only  been  ploughed  or  shallow  dug.  The  trial  has,  however, 
proved  that  sand  and  chalk  give  not  only  least  disease,  but  the  best 
quality  in  the  tubers,  though  not  always  such  size  as  may  have  come 
from  stiffer  soils.  The  total  number  of  varieties  was  seventy. — 
A.  Dean. 
-  Wakefield  Paxton  Society. — The  subject  for  discussion  at 
the  meeting  on  the  19th  inst.  of  the  members  of  the  Paxton  Society  was 
“  Apples.”  Mr.  Brown  of  Out  wood  was  in  the  chair,  and  Mr.  B.  Whiteley 
occupied  the  vice-chair.  There  was  a  large  attendance.  There  was  a 
magnificent  exhibition  of  kitchen  or  cooking  and  dessert  Apples,  no  less 
than  100  dishes,  sent  by  various  local  growers,  being  placed  on  the 
tables  by  Mr.  Blackburn,  the  energetic  and  popular  Curator.  The 
essayist  was  Mr.  Thomas  Wilson,  foreman  at  Silcoates  Nursery,  and, his 
maiden  lecture  was  of  a  thoroughly  practical,  useful,  and  interesting 
character,  and  secured  for  him  some  well  deserved  eulogiums.  His 
lecture  had  been  carefully  prepared,  was  up  to  date,  and  it  was  well  read. 
Mr.  Wilson,  who  has  had  much  experience  in  the  growing  of  fruit  trees, 
gave  the  Paxtonians  the  full  benefit  of  it,  and  no  doubt  his  lecture  will 
have  the  effect  of  inducing  some  persons  who  are  not  already  owners 
of  Apple  trees  to  secure  a  few.  He  commenced  by  pointing  out  the 
best  site  for  an  Apple  orchard,  saying  that  it  should  be  on  a  gentle 
slope,  and  sheltered  as  much  as  possible  from  the  west  winds.  The  soil 
should  be  a  rich,  open  loam,  and  the  best  stimulant  was  partly  decayed 
stable  manure.  He  warned  his  audience  against  planting  Apple  trees 
too  deeply,  and  he  recommended  the  pyramid  and  bush  forms  of  tree  a-s 
the  best.  Yearly  pruning  was  necessary  to  success  ;  the  trees  should 
not  be  allowed  to  become  entangled  masses  like  some  of  the  old  Apple 
orchards.  He  denounced  the  practice  of  ringing  Apple  trees,  named  the 
dessert  and  kitchen  Apples  which  thrive  best  in  the  district,  and  said 
that  Apple  trees  would  become  both  pleasing  and  profitable  if  grown  in 
shrubberies  and  borders,  and  a  long  and  interesting  discussion  followed 
the  lecture, — ("Wakefield  Express.”) 
