218 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
September  6,  1900. 
“  Goose! ei  rice  were  the  heaviest  crop  I  have  ever  seen,  and  Red  and 
White  Currants  the  finest.  Apples,  Pears,  and  Plums  are  heavy  crops, 
but  insect  pests  are  terrible  with  the  three  last  named  fruits.” 
Apropos  of  Mr.  Bedford’s  last  remark,  personal  experience  can 
endorse  it,  inasmuch  the  passing  summer  has  been  what  our  kitchen 
garden  foreman  calls  “a  holy  terror”  lor  insects  in  the  vegetable 
quarters,  and  it  has  been  a  fight  to  a  finish  among  the  legions  of 
“  beasties.”  First  in  the  field  was  the  Onion  fly,  such  an  attack  as 
we  have  never  had  before,  and  hope  to  never  see  again.  On  a  hot 
morning  in  May  (the  17tb)  the  Onion  plot  appeared  black  in  the 
distance,  and  closer  investigation  found  the  fly  in  possession,  whilst 
here  and  there  handfuls  were  emerging  from  the  ground  in  the  larvte 
stage.  It  looked  a  hopeless  case,  but  we  fought  ’em  with  a  heavy 
application  of  nitrate  of  soda,  watered  in  immediately,  and  finished 
’em  the  following  day  with  a  solution  of  softsoap  and  dusting  of  dry 
soot.  Not  an  Onion  was  lost,  and  an  excellent  crop  is  now  in 
evidence.  With  Carrots,  unfortunately,  victory  went  to  the  grub  ; 
they  were  too  “  slim  ”  for  us,  although  similar  remedial  measures  were 
employed,  and  the  finish  was  entirely  in  their  favour.  On  our  porous 
subsoil  top  crops  appeared  to  enjoy  the  soaking  of  ra  n  except  French 
Beans,  whicn  bote  their  ablutions  badly ;  Canadian  Wonder  in 
particular,  relied  upon  for  a  midseason  crop,  turning  at  the  flowering 
stage  to  a  sickly  yellow  hue,  and  making  a  break  in  the  supplies, 
which,  happily.  Scarlet  Runners  have  filled.  In  the  flower  garden 
tuberous  Begonias  seem  to  have  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  repeated 
drencbings,  and  never  have  they  better  emphasised  their  value  as 
brilliant  bloomers  The  tuberous  Begonia  has  indeed  been  the  one 
redeeming  feature  in  most  gardens  where  floral  formality  is  still 
looked  for  to  break  up  and  brighten  breadths  of  greensward. 
With  Potatoes  comes  the  most  serious  aspect  of  the  season  in 
Ireland.  In  early  summer  the  noble  tuber  never  looked  better  under 
garden  or  field  culture  ;  now,  some  who  saw  the  dire  visitation  of 
1847  say  that  the  ravages  of  the  disease  will  equal  it.  From  the 
Straffan  rain  record  kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  Bedford,  I  find  that  on 
the  seven  days  ending  August  3rd  over  5  inches  of  rain  fell ;  July 
27th  and  August  2nd  being  jointly  responsible  for  4^  inches.  From 
this  period  Potatoes  of  all  kinds  (with  one  exception),  and  under  all 
phases  of  culture  have  provided  a  sickening  spectacle,  the  more  so, 
perhaps,  as  the  midseason  crops  were  unusually  abundant.  The  one 
exception  is  Robertson’s  Champion  the  Second,  a  comparatively  new 
kind,  a  breadth  of  which  was  lately  seen  in  the  middle  of  a  field 
bearing  green  and  robust  foliage  in  marked  contrast  to  the  variet  es 
on  either  side,  which  had  completely  succumbed  to  the  disease.  The 
benefits  of  spraying  have  this  year  been  sadly  discounted  by  the’ 
heavy  and  almost  continuous  rainfall,  of  which,  returning  to  the 
Straffan  tables,  we  find  that  June,  with  twenty-four  days  on  which 
rain  fell,  gave  a  total  of  5'92  inches;  July,  with  fifteen  days, 
4'15  inches;  and  the  first  ten  days  of  August,  on  each  of  which  more 
or  less  fell,  4-83  inches. 
With  this  abnormal  rainfall,  in  turning  from  Potatoes  to  a  brief 
review  of  crops  generally,  it  seems,  if  possible,  going  from  bad  to  worse. 
On  visiting  a  pretty  place  early  in  August,  situated  on  a  terraced 
bank  of  the  Liffey,  the  newly  formed  kitchen  garden  at  its  base  was 
found  to  be  engulfed  in  the  overflow,  from  which  the  tallest  tops  of 
rows  of  Peas  emerged  as  landmarks.  To  cut  short,  however,  a  tale  of 
woe,  which  would  include  the  misdoings  of  the  lordly  Shannon  in 
bearing  on  its  bosom  hay  crops  to  the  sea,  with  the  disastrous  effects 
of  the  weather  on  the  corn  crops  of  Dublin  and  Kildare,  it  is  in  a 
a  measure  pleasing  to  note  from  the  press  reports  that  the  western 
seaboard  of  Ireland  has  escaped  the  worst  as  here  depicted ;  but  the 
year  of  promise  is  undoubtedly  passing  away  sadly  short  in  its 
performance,  and  it  was  to  have  been,  to  quote  an  oft-repeated 
expression,  “  a  great  year  for  Ireland.”  In  one  way  it  has,  the 
Queen’s  visit  standing  out  in  high  relief  against  the  darker  traits 
which  now  pervade  it.  Whether  the  tourist  crop  which  was  to  follow 
m  sequence,  with  all  its  benefits  to  boot,  has  been  as  heavy  as  was 
expected  is  very  doubtful,  for  in  spite  of  natural  beauty  to  attract  it, 
the  blight  of  baksheesh  still  hangs,  like  the  Potato  rot,  over  the 
beauty  spots  of  Ireland.  Gardeners  on  pleasure  bent  in  the  Green 
Isle,  and  our  English  gardeners  would  find  much  in  it  to  please  them, 
have,  of  all  men,  the  frugal  mind,  and  are  apt  in  returning  to  ma''e 
pertinent  if  awkward  inquiries.  “  Why  should  I,”  said  one,  recently 
returning  from  Killarney,  “  pay  six  times  as  much  for  a  glass  of 
milk  in  the  land  of  the  Kerry  cow  as  I  do  in  London  ?  ”  And  echo 
answered.  Why  ? — K.,  DulUn. 
- - 
Sandringham  Horticultural  Society. —  Mr.  G.  J.  Ingram,  the 
secretary  of  the  institution,  informs  us  that  Mr.  A.  MacKellar  has 
forwarded  a  donation  of  £5  from  the  Sandringham  Horticultural 
Society  in  aid  of  the  funds  of  the  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent 
Institution. 
Fruit  in  Hjonmontlisliire  and  Soutli  Wales. 
(Concluded  from  page  195.) 
The  next  place  I  vieited  was  Llantillio,  where  to  my  mind  the 
pruning  of  the  trees  lad  been  done  far  too  hardly,  with  the  result  of  a 
fine  crop  of  leaves,  but  a  small  one  of  fruit.  Many  people,  I  think, 
prune  their  fruit  trees  too  closely,  for  the  sake  of  securing  an  effective¬ 
looking  tree,  whereas  the  true  object  to  be  aimed  at  should  be  an 
effective-bearing  one,  and  it  requires  far  more  than  an  ordinpry 
amount  of  patience,  sldll,  and  perseverance  to  combine  the  two  effects- 
in  one  and  the  same  tree. 
I  next  visited  Brynderi,  which  is  in  a  somewhat  exposed  position, 
especially  in  the  winter  months.  In  the  kitchen  garden  my  attention» 
was  drawn  to  several  Apple  and  Pear  trees  uprn  which  experiments 
had  been  made  in  root-pruning,  with  the  result  that  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  trees  were  dead.  Tney  had  apparently  been  lifted  and  the  soil 
entirely  shaken  out  of  the  roots,  which  had  then  been  shortened  with 
a  chopper.  There  are  different  methods  of  root-pruning,  and  this  had 
evidently  not  been  one  of  the  best.  On  the  southern  side  of  the  hill 
the  orchard  or  standard  trees  appear  to  have  fand  better,  and  many  of 
them  were  carrying  heavy  crops  of  fruit.  After  this  I  went  to 
Grossash,  and  thence  to  the  top  of  Skenfrith  Valley  :  this  is  very  close 
to  the  borders  of  Herefordshire,  And  here  I  must  pause,  for  words 
fail  me  when  I  attempt  to  describe  what  I  saw  in  this  beautiful  valley. 
On  one  side  of  the  road,  and  often  on  both  sides,  the  orchards  extended 
for  a  distance  of  about  two  miles,  laden  with  crimson  and  golden  fruit. 
Hundreds  of  trees  had  to  be  propped  to  prevent  their  breaking  with 
the  enormous  weight  of  fruit.  Much  of  the  fruit  was  used  for  making 
cider,  especially  at  the  upper  end  of  the  valley,  whilst  lower  down, 
nearer  the  river  Monnow,  large  quantities  of  the  better  varieties  were 
grown. 
The  last  place  I  visited  in  this  district  was  Hilston  Court,  which  is 
in  a  somewhat  exposed  situation.  The  gardens  are  surrounded  by  a 
high  wall.  Here  I  found  a  large  number  of  aged  specimens  of  dwarf 
Apple  and  Pear  tries,  many  of  which,  the  gardener  assured  me,  were 
over  a  hundred  years  old.  Some  of  them,  especially  the  Pears,  were 
bearing  heavy  crops.  In  the  grass  orchard  I  found  some  of  the  finest 
fruit  ol  Yorkshire  Beauty  Apple  I  have  seen  this  year. 
I  next  visited  the  gardens  belonging  to  the  Right  Hon.  Lord 
Tredegar  at  Tredegar  Park,  near  Newport,  where  the  soil  is  not  so 
favourable  for  fruit  culture  as  in  other  parts  of  the  county.  Some 
years  ago  nearly  tiie  whole  of  the  trees  in  these  gardens  were  standards 
wotked  on  the  free  stock,  and  these,  rooting  down  into  the  gravelly 
subsoil,  became  cankered.  Many  of  them  have  been  removed,  and 
young  trees  worked  on  the  dwarfing  stock  have  taken  their  place. 
The  present  gardener,  Mr.  Bone,  has  at  considerable  trouble  carted  a 
large  quantity  of  red  loam  on  to  the  fruit  borders,  and  lifted  the 
dwarf  trees  to  a  much  higher  level,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the 
roots  from  the  gravelly  subsoil,  and  this  year  some  excellent  fruit  has 
been  grown,  some  of  which  is  exhibited  to-day,  I  do  not  wish  to 
speak  of  my  own  orchards,  except  just  to  say  that  most  ol  my 
permanent  trees  are  on  the  dwarfing  stock.  The  whole  of  the  ground 
is  cultivated  and  kept  free  from  weeds.  The  soil  is  of  a  good  loam,  in 
one  part  approaching  to  red  clay.  The  trees  are  vigorous  in  growth 
and  bear  good  crops  of  fruit.  Bismarck  and  Lane’s  Piince  Albert  do 
remarkably  well,  the  success  being  much  greater  on  the  Paradhe 
stock  than  on  the  Crab. 
One  of  the  things  which  struck  me  very  forcibly  in  the  remote 
and  out-of-the-wa.\8  parts  of  the  country  was  the  difficulty  of  finding 
a  ready  sale  for  the  fruit,  and  also  the  want  of  a  better  method  cf 
gathering  and  packing  for  market.  I  have  thought  that  possibly 
something  might  he  done  to  remedy  this  state  of  things  by  establishing 
a  good  fruit  market  in  one  or  more  of  the  largest  towns,  and  also 
by  encouraging  the  farmers  to  grade  and  pack  ti  eir  fruit  in  such  a 
way  that  it  would  find  a  more  ready  sale.  At  the  present  time  the 
greater  part  is  sold  to  dealers,  who  go  round  ti  e  farms  at  gatherings 
time  and  generally  purchase  the  whole  of  the  crop  for  a  lump  sum. 
This  does  not  apply  to  the  districts  near  to  good  markets;  in  these 
places  growers  take  a  few  hampers  regularly  as  long  as  the  fruit  lasts,, 
and  retail  them  in  small  quantities  to  iheir  customers. 
A  great  deal  of  the  success  of  fruit  growing  in  Monmouthshire  is 
due  to  the  kindly  feeling  existing  between  landlord  and  tenant.  Of 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  owners  of  large  estates  it  can  br  sain  that  they 
dwell  amongst  their  own  people,  and  no  effort  is  spared  to  make  the 
tenants  comfortable  in  their  homesteads.  On  nearly  every  estate 
trees  are  supplied  to  the  tenants,  the  only  condition  being  that  they 
should  take  care  of  them.  One  of  the  best  ol  landlords  that  it  is 
possible  to  find  we  have  in  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Tredegar,  a  name 
that  is  honoured  wherever  it  is  known  ;  in  the  Monmouth  district, 
too,  we  have  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Llangattock,  another  splendid 
