440 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ANL  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  14,  1901. 
Evergreen  Trees  and  Shrubs. 
Camellia  japonica  is  hardier  than  many  people  imagine  ; 
many  of  the  varieties  flower  well  out  of  doors.  They  should 
have  a  place  where  the  early  morning  sun  will  not  catch  the 
flowers,  for  in  the  event  of  a  frosty  night  a  gradual  thawing 
is  necessary.  Choisya  ternata  makes  a  handsome  plant,  its 
glossy  ternate  leaves  and  fragrant  white  flowers  being 
effective.  It  should  not  be  planted  in  cold  situations. 
Cistus  laurifolius,  in  addition  to  making  a  distinct  change 
among  evergreen  shrubs  during  winter,  produces  an  abun¬ 
dant  supply  of  flowers  in  early  summer. 
Cotoneaster  buxifolia,  microphylla,  rotundifolia,  thymi- 
folia,  and  Simonsii  are  all  useful  plants,  while  Crataegus 
pyracantha  and  its  varieties  are  invaluable  for  a  wall.  In 
the  southern  counties  the  Escallonias  are  all  excellent  sub¬ 
jects,  many  of  them  bearing  lovely  flowers.  Euonymus 
japonicus  and  E.  radicans  are  both  useful.  Daphne 
laureola  and  pontica,  where  they  do  well,  are  effective-,  while 
Daphniphyllum  macropodum  is  one  of  the  most  distinot  of 
the  rarer  subjects.  It  makes  a  large  bush,  something  after 
the  style  of  a  garden  Rhododendron.  Elseagnus  angusti- 
folia,  argentea,  macrophylla,  glabra,  pungens,  and  umbel- 
lata  are  all  good  subjects,  and  make  large  bushes  ;  the  varie¬ 
gated  varieties  of  E.  glabra  and  pungens  are  very  striking. 
Phillyrsea  decora  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  useful  of  ever¬ 
green  shrubs,  while  P.  angustifolia,  latifolia,  and  media  are 
useful. 
Where  peat-loving  plants  thrive  a  wider  selection  can  be 
made,  the  majority  of  which  are  good  flowering  subjects. 
The  numerous  species  of  Erica  are  welcome  everywhere,  one 
or  more  species  being  in  flower  the  whole  year  round.  The 
evergreen  section  of  Rhododendron,  particularly  the  dwarf 
ones,  represented  by  such  species  and  varieties  as  campylo- 
carpum,  cinnabarinum,  ferrugineum,  hirsutum,  indiciim, 
intermedium,  myrtifolium,  prsecox,  Smirnowii,  &c. 
Mention  need  only  be  made  of  the  various  species  of 
Arbutus.  Andromeda,  Kalmia,  Arctostaphylos,  Ledum, 
Pieris,  Menziesia,  Pernettva,  Bruckenthalia  spiculifolia, 
Daboecia  polifolia,  Calluna  vulgaris,  &c.,  to  show  what  a 
wealth  of  material  is  contained  in  the  order  Ericaceae.  With 
all  these  subjects  at  hand,  it  ought  not  to  be  a  difficult  matter 
to  introduce  into  our  gardens  a  greater  variety  of  evergreen 
shrubs  than  exists  at  the  present  time. — Wm.  Dallimore. 
Ornamental  Crab  Trees. 
Crab  trees  are,  as  a  rule,  more  ornamental  than  useful, 
hence  they  are  not  much  grown,  but  they  might  usefully  be 
employed  in  the  place  of  much  less  desirable  trees,  as  twice 
during  the  season  they  are  capable  of  presenting  a  picture 
— in  spring  with  their  flowers,  and  in  autumn  the  show  of 
fruit.  Another  excellent  characteristic  of  Crabs  is  that  they 
grow  into  good  shapely  trees,  with  a  minimum  of  attention,  if 
this  is  only  given  at  the  right  period— namely,  when  the 
trees  are  young.  In  a  fair-sized  orchard  a  few  Crabs 
planted  amongst  the  other  occupants  will  give  variety  and 
interest.  Flowering  as  they  do  freely  in  spring,  Crabs  also 
form  handsome  objects  dotted  at  intervals  in  a  belt  of  shrubs. 
Towards  autumn,  when  the  fruit  is  putting  on  its  colour  and 
hangs  in  rich  profusion,  the  trees  are  most  picturesque  and 
interesting.  Amongst  the  best  varieties  are  the  scarlet 
Siberian  Crab,  or  Cherry  Apple.  This  is  a  very  prolific 
variety,  and  forms  a  handsome  sight  in  years  when  the  clus¬ 
ters  of  fruit  are  freely  produced.  The  colour  of  the  fruit  is 
a  rich,  dull  scarlet.  It  ripens  in  October,  and  is  excellent 
for  jelly.  When  thoroughly  ripe  it  is  very  nice  to  eat,  being 
of  a  sub-acid  taste.  John  Downie  is  also  a  fine  Crab,  very 
prolific  with  its  orange-scarlet  fruit,  cone  shaped,  and  borne 
in  clusters.  It  is  a  handsome  dessert  kind,  and  useful  for 
preserving. 
The  Dartmouth  Crab  is  another  excellent  variety,  with 
purple-crimson  fruits  of  a  large  size.  The  varieties  Mam¬ 
moth  and  Transparent  are  yellow  fruited.  The  whole  of 
these  are  worthy  of  cultivation.  The  best  form  of  cultiva¬ 
tion  is  to  grow  them  as  standard  trees.  Plant  them  in  good 
soil,  and  give  them  ample  head  room,  where  they  can  develop 
into  shapely  specimens.  If  they  show  a  tendency  to  rush 
away  in  growth  subdue  their  vigour  by  lifting  the  trees  and 
leplanting.  Severe  pruning  must  not  be  adopted,  but  a 
judicious  thinning  of  the  growths  will  be  a  distinct  advan¬ 
tage  whenever  it  is  seen  they  are  becoming  crowded. 
There  is  another  section  of  Crabs  which  are  chiefly  valu¬ 
able  for  spring  flowers  only.  These  comprise  floribunda, 
floribunda  atro-purpurea,  and  floribunda  Halleana,  This 
latter  variety  has  dark  bronzy  foliage.  A  variety  with  large 
double  flowers,  scented,  is  angustifolia  ;  and  spectabilis 
semi-double,  is  a  lovely  sort,  but  is,  I  think,  eclipsed  by 
spectabilis  Schideckeri,  double,  dark  crimson.  These,  of 
course,  are  more  adapted  for  the  pleasure  ground,  taking  a 
prominent  place  among  shrubs  and  spring-flowering  trees. — 
E.  D.  S. 
- - 
Gardening  Instruction. 
The  tenth  report  on  the  Gardening  Instruction  carried  out  by 
the  Worcestershire  County  Council  has  been  issued.  “  It  is  just 
ten  years  since,  as  the  result  of  a  grant  of  £100  from  the  Technical 
Instruction  Fund  of  the  County  Council,  the  Council  of  the  Union 
secured  the  services  of  Mr.  James  Udale  as  gardening  instructor. 
There  has  been  a  great  development  in  several  directions  since 
that  time ;  and  the  sum  entrusted  to  the  union  for  1901-2  is 
nearly  seven  times  as  much  as  the  grant  of  1891.  The  in¬ 
structors,  Mr.  Udale  and  Mr.  Lansdell,  continue  to  visit  all  parts 
of  the  county.  The  work  of  inspecting  the  allotment  gardens 
generally  has  increased  in  popularity,  and  the  confidence  of  all 
classes  of  cultivators  has  been  steadily  gained  Enquiries  upon  all 
sorts  of  difficulties  connected  with  horticulture  are  continually 
being  received,  causing  a  considerable  growth  in  correspondence.” 
A  special  report  upon  the  Experimental  Garden  is  issued  early  in 
each  year,  and  is  widely  circulated.  The  number  of  visitors  to 
the  garden  continues  to  increase ;  and  the  display  of  fruit  of  a 
large  number  of  kinds  has  been  of  especial  interest  this  summer. 
Five  new  County  Instruction  Gardens  were  established  in  the 
spring  of  1901,  at  Halesowen,  Hasbury,  Old  Swinford,  Selly  Oak, 
and  St.  Stephen’s,  Worcester,  making  a  total  of  fourteen  centres 
in  all,  with  198  pupils.  All  the  new  ones,  except  Old  Swinford, 
were  late  in  starting  operations ;  but  they  made  rapid  progress, 
St.  Stephen’s  and  Halesowen  making  a  good  fight  with  some  of 
the  longer  established  gardens  for  first  place.  If  the  quality 
alone  of  the  crops  was  taken  as  the  basis  of  classification,  St. 
Stephen’s,  Worcester,  would  be  first  in  the  county ;  but  as  each 
crop  must  be  valued  and  receive  its  number  of  marks,  the  place 
goes  to  the  instructor  who  has  the  greatest  variety  of  crops  on 
the  ground.  Stoke  Works  occupies  first  position,  having  eighteen 
different  kinds  of  vegetables,  and  full  marks  for  cleanliness  on 
each  of  the  sixteen  plots.  St.  Stephen’s,  Worcester,  is  second 
with  twelve  varieties  of  vegetables,  and  also  with  full  marks  for 
cleanliness.  Aston  Fields  is  third,  having  fourteen  different  kinds 
of  vegetables,  but  only  five  plots  obtained  full  marks  for 
cleanliness.  Great  credit  is  due  to  Mr.  Williams  at  Stoke  Works 
for  jn’oducing  from  a  difficult  soil  such  excellent  results ;  also  to 
Mr.  Evans  for  the  splendid  and  well  arranged  crops  produced  in  a 
short  time  at  St.  Stephen’s ;  a  word  of  praise  is  also  due  to  Mr. 
Barber  for  his  very  good  work  at  Halesowen.  The  best  crops, 
irrespective  of  number  of  kinds,  were  found  at  St.  Stephen’s, 
Worcester,  Halesowen,  Hagley,  and  Aston  Fields,  in  the  order 
named.” 
The  following  table  shows  the  place,  in  order  of  merit,  of  each 
centre  fixed  by  the  average  marks  of  the  pupil* : — 
No.  o 
f 
Average 
Boys. 
Centre. 
Marks. 
Teacher. 
16 
Stoke  Works  . 
...  73 
T.  C.  Williams,  schoolmaster. 
15 
St  Stephen’s,  Worcester  70 
A.  Evans,  gardener. 
16 
Aston  Fields  . 
...  70 
J.  Drew,  gardener. 
5 
Alvechurch  . 
...  63 
T.  Wilkinson,  gardener. 
14 
Hagley  . 
...  62 
J.  Heywood,  schoolmaster. 
16 
Halesowen  . 
...  61 
W.  T.  Barber,  gardener. 
16 
Droitwich . 
...  59 
G.  Joyner,  gardener. 
13 
Old  Swinford . 
...  58 
,T.  Sutton,  schoolmaster. 
16 
Client . 
...  56 
W.  F.  Smith,  market  gardener. 
14 
Bournville  (senr.)  ... 
...  48 
Miss  G.  Cope,  head  gardener. 
10 
Lickey  End  . 
...  48 
H.  J.  Drewitt,  schoolmaster. 
16 
Hasbury  . 
...  45 
J.  Clarke,  gardener. 
15 
Bournville  (junr.)... 
...  39 
J.  Bodycote,  gardener. 
16 
Selly  Oak . 
...  29 
'E.  Sadler,  gardener. 
The  boy  obtaining  highest  place  in  the  county  is  J.  Went¬ 
worth,  Aston  Fields,  94  marks;  and  he  will  be  the  recipient  of  a 
watch.  The  next  few  in  order  of  merit  are  S.  Pitt,  Aston  Fields, 
86;  W.  Day,  Hagley,  84;  B.  Harper,  84,  and  J.  Hodges,  82,  of 
Stoke  Works;  G.  Day,  82,  H.  Newman,  81,  and  G.  Tolley,  80, 
Droitwich ;  C.  Hobday,  Aston  Fields,  80. 
A  fuller  report  on  these  gardens  will  be  issued  with  the 
Experimental  Garden  Report. 
