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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  20,  l»»r2. 
Connty  Conncil  Gardening  in  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
We  have  received  from  Mr.  C.  Martin,  Horticultural 
Instructor  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  County  Council,  a  report  (already 
printed  in  the  “  Isle  of  Wight  County  Press  ”)  of  the  crops 
grown  in  the  County  Council  Garden  during  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1901.  It  is  as  follows  ; — “To  the  Technical  Instruction 
Committee  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  County  Council.  Gentlemen, — 
I  beg  to  present  the  following  report  upon  some  of  the  crops 
grown  in  the  County  Council  Garden  during  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1901. 
Strawberries— Raspberries— Currants— Gooseberries— Grapes. 
“  Out  of  twenty-four  varieties  of  Strawberries  grown.  Royal 
Sovereign  may  be  safely  considered  the  best  for  those  who  have 
only  a  limited  space,  or  require  but  one  variety ;  it  is  a  sure 
cropper,  solid  fruit  of  good  flavour,  and  stands  the  c'imate  well. 
Beds  require  renewing  after  three  years  ;  if  left  longer  the  fruit 
produced  will  be  very  small. 
“  Raspberries  have  done  well  this  season,  and  under  proper 
cultivation  are  a  most  profitable  fruit  to  grow ;  unlike  many 
other  crops  the  supply  scarcely  ever  exceeds  the  demand.  Island 
fruit  growers  will  do  well  to  observe  this.  Grown  side  by  side 
with  twelve  other  varieties.  Superlative  has  proved  to  be 
■superior  in  every  respect — intending  cultivators  should  not  fail 
to  include  this  variety  in  their  selection.  The  total  yield  of 
fruit  from  the  bed  83ft  long  by  17ft  wide  was  l^cwt.  Those 
who  grow  for  market  will  find  there  is  very  little  demand  for 
yellow  fruit.  Currants  which  have  done  best  are  Baldwin’s 
Black,  Black  Champion,  and  Lee’s  Prolific.  Of  red  varieties 
the  most  profitable  were  Raby  Castle  and  Fay’s  Prolific.  White 
varieties  are  most  useful  for  dessert,  but  are  not  in  great  request 
on  the  market. 
“  Out  of  some  thirty  varieties  of  Gooseberries  tested  under 
the  same  conditions,  Whinham’s  Industry  (red)  and  Whitesmith 
{white)  may  be  safely  relied  upon  for  market  or  other  purposes. 
All  should  be  grown  on  trees  with  from  9in  to  1ft  leg  to  produce 
clean  fruit,  and  also  to  assist  cleaning  the  land. 
“  Out  of  six  varieties  of  Grapes  grown  in  an  intermediate 
structure,  Frankenthal  Hamburgh  and  Black  Hamburgh  were 
the  most  prolific.  It  being  the  first  year  of  fruiting,  each  of 
those  varieties  produced  131b  of  fruit  on  3ft  Gin  of  rod. 
Tomatoes— Onions— Celery. 
“  Tomatoes  have  been  grown  largely  in  the  garden,  both 
inside  and  out.  For  early  work  inside  they  were  grown  in 
very  narrow  boxes  similar  to  a  trough,  each  plant  being  allowed 
about  one  square  foot  of  soil ;  results  very  satisfactory.  At 
the  commencement  of  ripening  we  gathered  over  401b  of  fruit 
in  fourteen  days  from  twenty-four  plants ;  varieky.  Free  Setter. 
For  successional  crops  inside,  Sutton’s  Best  of  All,  Perfection, 
and  Earliest  of  All  were  grown ;  all  did  well,  but  Best  of  All 
proved  the  most  useful,  producing  smooth,  sizeable,  heavy  fruit. 
Perfection  is  a  good  exhibition  Tomato,  producing  well-developed 
fruits  just  under  lib  each,  but  far  too  large  for  market  purposes. 
Earliest  of  All  does  great  service  in  any  collection,  as  it  matures 
quickly,  though  the  first  fruits  are  slightly  corrugated,  but  at 
the  second  and  third  truss  smooth  and  even  fruits  are  produced. 
My  experience  proves  that  root  restriction  is  far  preferable  to 
planting  out  in  borders  for  early  w'ork.  The  number  of  plants 
grown  in  the  open  air  were  about  200,  planted  2ft  from  plant 
to  plant  and  3ft  from  row  to  row  ;  part  were  planted  as  early 
as  April  27,  the  second  batch  on  May  11,  and  the  remainder 
on  June  6.  The  earliest  planted  grew  to  the  height  of  6ft, 
fruiting  well  to  the  top,  proving  that  plants  grown  from  the 
first,  sturdy  and  well  hardened,  may  be  planted  out  much  earlier 
than  many  imagine.  The  total  weight  of  fruit  from  all  Tomato 
plants  grown  in  the  garden  amounted  to  about  lOcwt.  Both 
the  varieties.  Free  Setter  and  The  Cropper,  did  remarkably 
well  in  the  open;  also  Sutton’s  Earliest  of  All.  Very  little 
artificial  watering  was  resorted  to,  but  mulching  played  a  pro¬ 
minent  part,  bringing  the  roots  to  the  surface,  producing  steady 
growth,  and  in  a  higher  temperature. 
“  About  twelve  or  fourteen  varieties  of  autumn  sown  Onions 
were  tested,  but  taking  into  consideration  the  fact  of  a  large 
percentage  running  away  to  seed,  and  the  bad  keeping  qualities 
of  others,  my  advice  to  those  who  have  the  convenience,  is  to 
»ow  vei^i^  early  in  the  spring  instead  of  in  boxes,  and  transplant 
in  April. 
“  Celery  of  the  two  well-known  varieties,  Sandringham 
White  and  Major  Clarke’s  Red,  were  grown  in  double  rows, 
sown  early,  and  brought  on  in  boxes;  excellent  sticks  were 
produced,  which  soon  found  a  ready  sale.  No  liquid  watering 
was  done,  but  basic  slag  and  superphosphate  applied  to  the 
land  at  planting  time. 
Chrysanthemums  and  Begonias. 
“  Early  flowering  varieties  planted  in  the  shrub  border  were 
a  great  success,  filling  a  gap  just  as  all  other  outside  varieties 
of  flowers  were  on  the  decline.  Queen  of  the  Earlies  (white)> 
and  Golden  Queen  of  the  Earlies  (yellow)  were  excellent.  Notore 
Groiz  (a  fashionable  pink).  Ivy  Spark  (yellow),  and  Ambrc^ 
Thomas  (bronze),  all  grown  on  the  natural  system  without  dis¬ 
budding,  make  useful  decorative  material  for  amateurs,  as  the 
bulk  of  the  flowers  open  long  before  the  early  frosts  appear . 
Over  100  autumn  flowering  varieties  were  grown  in  pots  in  about 
fifty  distinct  sorts,  part  on  the  exhibition  style,  part  on  the 
dwarfing  or  grouping  system,  and  the  remainder  ori  the_  decora¬ 
tive  principle  without  disbudding.  The  selection  included 
Japanese,  Japanese  incurved,  incurved,  and  a  few  of  the  spider¬ 
web  section.  Propagated  in  January,  and  potted  on  into  Gin 
pots  the  first  week  in  March  and  stood  in  the  open  air,  they 
withstood  13deg  of  frost  several  nights  in  succession,  proving 
that  good  flowers  may  be  obtained  from  plants  grown  much 
hardier  than  is  often  the  case.  The  much-dreaded  rust  appeared 
in  the  collection  the  first  week  in  September,  first  attacking  the 
variety  Hairy  Wonder;  as  the  plants  continued  to  ripen  and 
mature  it  began  to  spread  rapidly  throughout  the  collection. 
Various  remedies  were  tried  to  eradicate  the  pest,  but  none 
proved  absolutely  effectual,  nor  could  be  considered  a  success. 
I  hope  to  report  further  upon  this  later  on._  One  peculiar 
characteristic  of  this  fungus  is  that  the  individual  flowers  do 
not  appear  to  he  in  the  least  injured  by  it,  only  the  foliage. 
For  instance,  the  variety  upon  which  it  first  appeared  and  played 
such  havoc  produced  well-developed  flowers  of  that  particular 
variety.  Late  spring  propagation  I  be'ieve  to  be  most  advan¬ 
tageous  to  the  amateur  and  cottager,  for  small  greenhouse  or 
window  work,  and  confined  to  a  Gin  pot;  excellent  flowers  were 
grown  in  this  way. 
“  We  have  at  present  a  small  batch  of  the  fast  becoming 
popular  Gloire  de  Lorraine  Begonias  just  coming  into  flower; 
invaluable  for  winter  work  where  an  intermediate  temperature 
cm  be  maintained.  Should  be  propagated  from  cuttings  in 
the  spring. 
Fruit  Trees. 
“  Fruit  trees  at  this  season  of  the  year  should  be  treated  in 
some  way  to  prevent  the  ravages  by  various  insect  pests,  which 
otherwise  do  considerable  mischief.  It  is  recommended  by  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  to  use  for  this  purpose  a  waah  known  as 
caustic  alkali  wash,  which  is  prepared  in  the  following  manner : 
Dissolve  lib  of  commercial  caustic  soda  in  water,  then  lib  of 
crude  potash  in  water ;  when  both  have  dissolved  mix  the  two 
well  together,  then  add  fib  of  agricultural  treacle,  stir  well, 
and  add  sufficient  water  to  make  ten  gallons.  Care  should  be  taken 
in  spraying  the  trees,  as  the  wash  has  a  burning  effect  on  the 
skin. — C.  Martin,  Horticultural  Instructor.” 
Some  Typical  Gardens. 
II.— The  Rectory. 
There  is  a  mystic  bond  that  unites  the  clergy  of  the 
Established  Church  with  horticulture.  Perhaps  the  fact 
that  every  country  parsonage  is  surrounded  by  a  garden  is 
largely  accountable  for  t,  because  gardening  provides  a 
pleasant  means  of  entertainment  for  the  cultured  mind.  At 
any  rate,  the  fact  remains  that  parsons  as  a  whole  are  a 
family  of  gardeners.  Many  of  them  are  specialists,  and  their 
names  are  well  known  as  champions  of  the  Rose,  the 
Daffodil,  the  Dahlia,  and  many  another  flower.  Lest  I  should 
be  misunderstood,  let  me  state  here  that  my  typical  rector 
is  not  a  specialist  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  but  he 
is  a  gardener  all  the  same,  possessing  a  true  love  for  horti¬ 
culture  in  its  highest  sense,  and  treating  his  garden  as 
something  belonging  to  his  church  and  his  parish,  almosi 
as  much  as  to  himself. 
There  is  an  air  of  natural  seclusion  about  the  rectory. 
From  the  road  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  a  belt  of 
evergreens,  and  a  modest  pair  of  gates  set  in  the  wall.  You 
might  pass  by  a  score  of  times  without  knowing  that  there 
was  a  habitation  inside  ;  but  by  entering  through  the  gate 
and  following  a  narrow,  winding  walk  you  find  yourself  at 
the  front,  which,  to  use  an  Irish  expression,  is  situated  at 
the  back.  A  well-trodden  path  leads  from  the  front  door, 
through  the  shrubbery,  by  the  end  of  the  kitchen  garden,  to 
a  little  wicket  gate  which  opens  into  the  churchyard,  and 
then  it  meanders  on  again  between  the  moss-covered  tomb¬ 
stones  to  the  little  door  opening  into  the  vestry.  That  is 
the  rector’s  walk.  Few  people  but  he  and  the  members  of 
his  household  use  it,  and  so  long  has  the  good  man  trodden 
it,  that  the  marks  of  his  footsteps  may  be  faintly  discerned 
all  the  way. 
