424 
JOURNAL  CF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  6,  1902. 
Notes  from  Chiswick  Garden. 
When  recently  walking  round  the  Chiswick  Gardens  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  with  the  superintendent,  Mr.  S.  1. 
Wright,  I  questioned  him  as  to  his  idea  of  the  best  Pears  for 
suburban  gardens.  He  said  that  while  the  Apple  crop  in  the 
gardens  had  been  a  slight  one,  that  of  Pears  was  better,  and  he 
instanced  Louise  Bonne  of  Jersey  as  the  be~t  cropper  this  season, 
and  as  one  of  the  very  best  Pears  for  suburban  gardens,  as  it  is  a 
certain  cropper.  The  earliest  Pear  at  C  hiswick  was  Doyenne 
d’Ete,  which  is  ready  by  the  third  week  in  July,  and  is  earlier 
still  from  dwarf  trees.  '  Mr.  George  Bunyard  says  of  this  Pear 
that  it  bears  freely  on  any  form  of  tree,  and  is  best  gathered  a 
few  days  before  it  is  ripe. 
This  is  followed  by  Citron  des  Cannes,  which  comes  in  imme¬ 
diately  after;  and  following  thesd  in  the  order  of  ripening  come 
Williams’  Bon  Chretien,  Souvenir  du  Congres,  which  is  short 
lived  on  the  Quince  stock,  but  which  does  well  on  a  free  stock 
or  double  grafted — Beurre  d’Amanlis,  Fondante  d’Automne  (a 
great  bearer  and  of  fine  quality),  Louise  Bonne  of  Jersey  (which 
many  think  to  be  the  best  Pear  grown),  Beurre  Hardy,  Doyenne 
du  Comice  (which  Mr.  Wright  regards  as  “The  finest  Pear  on 
earth  ’),  Thompson’s,  Glou  Morceau,  Winter  Nelis,  Josephine  de 
Malines,  and  Bergamotte  Esperen  as  one  of  the  latest.  All  these 
had  proved  good  bearers  during  the  past  season. 
Mr.  Wright  recommends  the  foregoing  as  of  good  constitu¬ 
tion  and  good  growers.  For  suburban  gardens  he  speciallv  men¬ 
tioned  Louise  Bonne  of  Jersey,  Marie  Louise  d’Uccle,  Josephine 
de  Malines.  and  Winter  Nelis,  and  as  doing  well  on  any  form 
of  tree — bush,  pyramid,  wall,  or  espalier.  Marie  Louise  d  I  ccle. 
though  net  cf  the  highest  quality,  is  valuable  as  a  heavy  and 
regular  bearer;  it  is  an  excellent  variety  for  market  culture,  as 
it  crops  freely  when  other  Pears  fail.  These  suit  the  London 
district,  being  of  healthy  and  vigorous  growth,  and  they  carry 
on  the  succession  until  March. 
The  best  keeping  Pears,  in  Mr.  Wright’s  opinion,  are  Easter 
Beurre,  which  is  cf  fine  quality  on  a  warm  soil,  and  will  keep  till 
the  end  of  April.  Beurre  Ranee,  which,  like  the  foregoing, 
should  be  planted  in  a  warm  soil  ;  it  is  a  free  grower,  and  needs 
root-pruning  to  induce  fertility,  and  prevent  the  fruit  from 
cracking;  the  fruit  will  keep  until  May.  Nouvelle  Fulvie,  a 
good  January  variety;  Olivier  de  Serres,  February  and  March; 
and  Marie  Bcnoist.  January  and  February  ;  it  produces  large  fruit 
brown  on  the  '■kin,  and  is  of  fine  flavour. 
The  following  were  mentioned  as  good  keeping  Apples:  Newton 
Wonder,  which  Mr.  Wright  regards  as  one  of  the  best  Apples  in 
cultivation,  keeping  well  until  April,  and  strongly  recommended 
for  orchard  or  garden.  Foster’s  Seedling,  a  recent  new  variety  of 
dessert  quality  ;  said  by  some  to  have  come  from  a  cross  between 
Blenheim  and  King  of  Pippins,  though  considered  by  Mr. 
Bunyard  to  be  a  local  seedling  from  Cellini,  and  recommended 
by  him  for  small  gardens.  Chatley’s  Kernel,  a  dessert  variety 
which  keeps  until  the  end  of  May ;  in  shape  flattish-round, 
brownish-red  with  russet y  spots.  Pott’s  Seedling  was  named  as 
cn?  of  the  finest  Apples  to  plant  in  smoky  districts  ;  while  Golden 
Spire  and  Ecklinville  Seedling  were  named  as  two  excellent  varie¬ 
ties  for  market  work  in  the  North  of  England.  New  Haw- 
thornden.  Stirling  Castle,  and  Lane’s  Prince  Albert  were  named 
as  two  fine  varieties  for  suburban  gardens.  The  two  best  late 
keepers  are  Newton  Wonder  and  Lane’s  Prince  Albert. 
Of  Apples  which  have  done  well  up  to  this  year  Mr.  Wright 
mentioned  Allington  Pippin,  which  he  regards  as  extra  fine,  and 
will  keep  until  March  if  the  fruit  be  not  gathered  too  soon;  it 
does  well  on  a  light  soil,  but  the  best  flavour  is  found  in  fruit 
from  trees  planted  in  heavy  ground.  Duke  of  Devonshire  was 
also  named  as  good  enough  for  dessert  purposes;  it  is  a  some¬ 
what  old  Apple  which  has  come  into  notice  of  late  years.  Adam’s 
Pearmain  and  Allen’s  Everlasting  are  both  late-keeping  dessert 
varieties.  The  quality  of  Apples,  said  Mr.  Wright,  has  been 
poor  this  season.  The  better  varieties  of  Pears  have  not  cropped 
>-0  well  as  usual  this  season,  but  the  commoner  sorts — Beurre 
Capiaumont,  Beurre  Die],  and  Beurre  C'lairgeau — have  produced 
heavy  crops. 
Plums,  generally,  have  yielded  only  moderate  crops;  the 
best  bearers  have  been  Monarch,  Victoria,  Belle  de  Louvain, 
culinary  varieties,  and  Gisborne’s,  which  Mr.  Wright  named  as 
a  dessert  variety  ;  the  Frogmore  Prolific  Damson  had  also  given 
a  good  yield.  But  the  best  dessert  Plums  had  borne  but  scanty 
crops. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines  cn  walls  had  been  an  average  crop; 
the  best  three  outdoor  Peaches  for  suburban  gardens  were  Early 
York.  Acton  Scott,  and  Barrington..  Outdoor  Nectarines: 
Oldenburg.  Rivers’  Orange,  and  Dryden.  Mr.  George  Bunyard 
recommends  three  of  the  American  Peaches  as  bush  trees,  viz. : 
Hale’s  Early,  Waterloo,  and  Early  Alexander.  He  remarks: — 
“The  situation  must  be  sheltered,  and  the  soil  should  be 
calcareous,  rather  shallow,  and  abounding  in  porous  stones  (which 
can  be  added  if  needed,  or  broken  bricks  would  answer),  and  the 
trees  should  be  treated  like  Plums,  and  only  be  evatered  with 
liquid  manure  when  they  carry  a  crop;  the  aim  of  the  cultivator 
being  to  get  the  wood  well-ripened.  Fruit  so  grown  carries  a 
fine  colour,  and  is  very  rich  in  flavour.” 
Plums  for  walls  in  suburban  gardens  are  Early  Transparent 
Gage,  Transparent  Gage,  and  Late  Transparent  Gage ;  Mr. 
'Wright  considers  the  foregoing  to  be  amongst  the  very  best  dessert 
Plums.  He  also  recommends  for  growing  in  the  open  as  bush  or 
Puschkiria  libanotica  compacta. 
standard,  or  against  a  wall,  Reine  Claude  Comte  d’Atthems 
Gage,  a  delicious  late  dessert  kind,  which,  for  the  space  of  seven 
years  has  never  failed  at  Chiswick;  and  this  grown  in  the  open 
as  a  bush  ;  it  had  a  great  crop  when  the  other  Gage  Plums  were  a 
failure.  Truly  a  Plum  to  be  planted  in  all  gardens. — R.  Dean. 
- <•©•> - 
Puschkinia  libanotica  compacta. 
This,  small  genus  of  Liliacese,  according  to  Baker’s  mono¬ 
graph,  includes  only  two  species — i.e.,  P.  scilloides  and  P.  hyaesn- 
thoides.  They  are  closely  allied  to  Scillas  on  the  one  hand  and 
Ornitliogalums  on  the  other,  the  habit  and  general  appearance 
of  the  plants  coming  much  nearer  the  former.  P.  scilloides, 
under  which  is  included  libanotica,  typical,  the  variety  illus¬ 
trated  in  the  accompanying  drawing,  and  also  sicula  figured  in 
the  “  Flore  des  Serres,”  is  amongst  the  most  welcome  cf  our  early 
spring-flowering  bulbs,  coming  in  early  in  March  and  lasting 
until  the  end  of  April,  a  time  when  flowers  are  most  wanted. 
P.  libanotica  is  not  unlike  Scilla  in  habit,  about  Gin  high,  throw¬ 
ing  up  two  or  three  radical  narrow  lanceolate  leaves,  and  sheathing 
the  flower  stem  a  third  of  their  length.  The  flowers  are  collected 
in  a  loose  cluster  or  corymbose  head,  a  little  larger  and  deeper 
in  colour  than  the  ordinary  P.  scilloides.  In  the  variety  com¬ 
pacta  the  head  is  dense,  flowers  more  numerous,  and  having  a 
mere  distinct  blue-coloured  midrib  running  up  each  segment. 
Dotted  here  and  there  on  the  rockery  or  mixed  border,  they  lock 
very  gay  during  their  season,  and  we  hope  to  see  them  treated 
in  the  same  way  as  the  Croci  and  Daffodils  in  the  woodlands. 
Like  several  other  bulbs  of  similar  habit  the  Puschkinias  can  also 
be  grown  in  pots  with  advantage,  and  if  introduced  into  the 
conservatory  or  greenhouse  they  are  useful  for  arranging  in 
the  front  of  the  shelves  or  stages.  When  treated  in  this  way  they 
are  preferably  grown  several  in  a  pot,  like  the  Scillas,  for  other¬ 
wise  they  do  not  produce  so  good  an  effect. — M. 
