June  2.  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
465 
of  matter  into  it,  and  it  will  ripen,  and  tell  a  pleasant  tale  on  the 
palate.  Cut  directly  the  fruit  is  fairly  ripe,  and  is  giving  out  a  good 
smell.  I  think  cutting  too  soon  an  error,  and  letting  the  sun  shine 
fiercely  on  the  fruit  for  a  day  or  two  still  worse,  as  it  ripens  too  fast 
on  that  side  and  too  little  on  the  other.  It  is  better  to  shade  a  little 
than  to  bake  them,  and  use  when  evenly  ripened  all  over.  Then  is  the 
time  to  eat  a  Melon,  and  always  before  dead  ripe,  yet  with  the  flesh 
melting  to  the  rini,  and  that  not  much  thicker  than  a  sixpence. 
— Experimentalist, 
FRUIT  NOTES— HATFIELD. 
Royal  George  Peach. — This  fine  old  Peach  seems  to  be  a  favourite 
at  Hatfield,  for  there  are  two  trees  of  it  there,  each  covering  the  entire 
side  of  the  roof  of  a  50-feet  span  house,  but  one  is  rather  deeper  than  the 
other.  One  carries  400  fruits,  these  spread  over  so  great  an  area,  being 
comparatively  thin,  to  secure  a  very  fine  sample  ;  and  the  other  has  350 
fruits.  Mr.  Norman  does  not  believe  in  overcropping,  as  it  is  in  the  end 
too  exhausting.  Each  tree  is  on  a  tall  clean  stem  that  is  a  capital  stock, 
as,  in  both  cases,  these  stems  have  so  admirabl}’  swollen  with  the  trees. 
Fig.  87.— RUBUS  DELICIOSUS. 
RUBUS  DELICIOSUS. 
In  several  places  about  the  gardens  at  Kew  large  masses  of  this  may 
be  seen  in  flower.  It  is,  from  a  flowering  point  of  view,  by  far  the  most 
ornamental  of  the  hardy  species,  producing  in  great  profusion  its  pure 
white  blossoms.  The  flowers  (fig.  87)  are  about  the  size  of  those  of  the 
“  Dog  Rose,”  though  one  form  has  flowers  which  are  considerably  larger. 
In  habit  it  makes  a  strong  upright  bush,  from  4  to  6  feet  or  more  in 
height,  with  leaves  resembling  those  of  Neillia  opulifolia  to  a  certain 
degree.  The  wood  resembles  that  plant  even  more  than  the  leaves,  it 
being  difficult  to  distinguish  the  two  when  not  in  leaf.  The  fruit  is  red 
when  ripe,  but  not  palatable.  This  Rubus  grows  well  in  sandy  loam,  to 
which  a  liberal  quantity  of  manure  has  been  added.  It  will  be  found 
advisable  after  flowering  to  cut  out  some  of  the  old  wood,  to  allow  of 
strong  young  shoots  being  made.  It  can  be  rooted  from  cuttings,  but  not 
readily.  The  best  methods  of  propagating  are  seeds  or  layers.  It  is  a 
native  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.— D. 
On  the  obverse  side  of  each  house  there  are  smaller  and  dwarfer  trees; 
but  these  two  Royal  Georges,  with  their  50  feet  length  each,  are  remark¬ 
able  ones. 
Pears. — There  are  lengths  of  Pear  wall  at  Hatfield  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  excelled  anywhere.  The  walls  are  all  stuccoed  and  wired, 
hence  there  is  no  nailing,  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  so  far  as 
labour  is  concerned.  It  is  there  possible  to  look  along  great  lengths  of 
high  wall  and  see  from  end  to  end  every  foot  of  wire  fully  furnished  and 
the  trees  as  clean  and  in  luxuriant  health  as  well  can  be.  In  the  stable 
yard  and  on  some  ancient  buildings  adjoining  are  fine  trained  trees 
worked  on  the  Whitethorn  stock  that  are  doing  well,  and  showing  that 
this  stock  has  not,  in  these  cases  at  least,  that  straggling  character  so 
often  attributed  to  it.  Out  in  the  open,  bush  trees  in  great  numbers  and 
of  considerable  size  are  set  most  freely  with  fruits,  there  being  promise  of 
a  heavy  crop.  Certainly  trees  should  now  find  great  benefit  from  the 
month’s  heavy  rains,  and  it  may  in  consequence  be  well  to  allow  free 
wood  growth  for  a  little  while  that  the  strong,  inevitable  sap  flow,  may 
be  utilised  to  thoroughly  swell  the  fruits. 
Apple  Bush  Cordons. — This  as  a  descriptive  term  seems  to  be  a 
contradiction,  but  at  Hatfield,  where  there  are  hundreds  of  great  bush 
