76 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Jul3'  23,  1203 
Gadding  and  Gathering.  . 
Reading  College  Garden. 
The  Portland  Road  Nurserie.s,  till  lately  tenanted  by  Messrs. 
Sutton  and  Sons  as  their  seed  trial  grounds,  have  been  brought 
under  the  directorate  ef  the  Reading  College  Senate,  who  thus 
provide  a  good  horticultural  experimental  area  of  seven  acres  for 
the  fourteen  students  who  are  under  training.  The  superinten¬ 
dent  of  this  garden  is  Mr.  W.  H.  Patterson,  an  old  Kewite 
of  note,  and  previously  head  gardener  and  instructor  at  Swanley 
Horticultural  College.  He,  with  his  wife,  work  together,  and 
have  already,  even  after  the  lapse  of  only  a  few  months,  trans¬ 
formed  the  old  grounds,  and  have  furnished  a  trim  and  instructive 
garden.  The  advance  so  far  made  is,  of  course,  merely  a 
beginning,  but  it  is  eminently  satisfactory  so  far  as  it  goes,  and 
was  only  attained  by  constant  application  carried  till  late  in  the 
evenings. 
Part  of  the  ground  to  eastward,  at  present  a  grass  paddock, 
will  be  eventually  cultivated  and  planted  as  an  orchard.  This 
section  previously’  belonged  to  Mr.  G.  W.  Palmer,  the  biscuit 
manufacturer  of  Reading,  and  what  is  called,  “  Mrs.  Palmer’s 
garden,”  separate  from  the  paddock,  is  under  stipulation  to  be 
maintained  even  as  she  designed  and  planted  it.  This  is  but  a 
tiny  feature  of  the  college  garden,  and  consists  of  a  rounded, 
raised  herbaceous  plant  and  Rose  bed,  with  sward,  paths  and 
shrubberies  around  it. 
Turning  to  the  already  planted  orchard,  the  young  trees  are 
seen  to  be  taking  hold,  and  the  variety  of  fruits  will  afford 
material  for  some  study  thus  early.  There  are  twenty-six  varieties 
of  Apples,  and  proportionate  quantities  of  the  other  fruits.  Logan¬ 
berries  and  bush  fruits  find  a  place.  Pointing  to  a  row  of  six  Pear 
trees  that  had  been  planted  in  March  last,  Mr.  Patterson  stated 
that  each  had  received  different  treatment,  by  way  of  experiment. 
The  first  had  been  left  normal  (unprunedl;  in  No.  2  the  fruit 
buds  were  taken  clean  away;  No.  3  had  been  kept  sprayed  and 
watered  well;  No.  4  was  treated  to  nitrogenous  liquid;  and  the 
last  was  very  severely  pruned.  Distinctly  the  best  evidence  was 
given  by  No.  2,  which  w’as  pushing  strong  stout  shoots,  and  was 
a  large  .shapely  tree.  The  hard  pruned  one  had  made  very  little 
grow  th,  but  would  fill  out  in  time  ;  and  No.  1,  if  I  recollect  right, 
was  poor  altogether. 
In  this  connection  the  exhibit  made  by  the  Agricultural 
Education  Department  at  the  recent  Royal  show  in  Park  Royal, 
comes  to  mind,  and  here  one  saw  two  young  trees  side  by  side. 
One  had  been  branch-pruned  at  planting;  the  other  had  not. 
What  was  the  difference?  It  was  very  marked.  The  unpruned 
tree  had  a  splendid  fibrous  root  system  (so  had  the  other),  and 
long,  strong,  good  shoots,  bearing  healthy  foliage  and  one  or  two 
fruits.  It  was  a  good  healthy  tree.  The  pruned  neighbour,  alas! 
had  scarcely  done  more  than  break  its  few  buds.  The  question 
seems  to  be,  which  of  the  two  would  make  the  best  tree  even¬ 
tually  ?  And  the'  reply  on  the  top  of  this  might  be  given  that 
“  it  all  depends.”  Placed  into  the  hands  of  a  sane  person,  I  see 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  unpruned  tree  would  not  spank  ahead, 
and  continue  to  lead.  Our  friend  “  W.  R.  Raillem  ”  has  a  Golden 
Spire  Apple  tree  in  his  garden  at  Sproughton,  and  to  use  the  knife 
on  this  is  the  exception.  I  asked  him  why,  and  he  turned  an 
irate  eye  upon  me  as  he  said,  “  I’m  getting  old;  what  do  I  w’ant 
to  cut  away  fruitful  wood  for?  Talk  about  building  up  a  tree,  I 
want  Apples.”  And  to  this  end  the  branches  were  weighted 
downwards,  thus  tending  to  fertility,  and  an  open,  airy  centre 
to  the  standard. 
Reverting  again  to  Reading  College  Garden,  a  collection  of 
Sweet  Peas  is  grown  to  demonstrate  as  far  as  pos.sible  Gregor 
Mendle’s  Law.  Not  far  off  is  a  patch  of  Rhubarb,  the  crowns 
having  been  forced  this  year,  and  then  planted  out  in  March. 
They  have  been  liberally  fed  with  fertilising  liquid,  and  now  the 
stalk  and  blades  are  fleshy,  and  stout,  and  quite  den.se.  At  the 
price  Rhubarb  has  been  bringing  this  year,  this  express  system 
of  culture  would  grandly  pay.  Then  there  were  cultures  of  the 
various  Brassicas,  and  Celery,  Peas,  Beans.  A  new'  seedling  bed 
of  Asparagus  showed  an  even  germination,  not  too  thick  ;  in  fact, 
each  plant  just  nicely  apart  from  its  neighbour,  so  that  the  ques¬ 
tion  was  asked,  “  Would  you  thin  these  this  year?  ”  to  which  the 
answer  was,  “  By  no  means,”  for  one  can  just  as  easily  do  that  if 
it  is  necessary  next  year,  the  plants  being  still. small,  and  as  the 
bed  will  doubtless  be  lifted  for  the  transplanting  of  some  of  the 
stock,  there  was  nothing  to  gain  and  everything  to  lose  by  such 
premature  thinning.  These  were  my  cicerone’s  own  tenets,  and 
he,  moreover,  mentioned  the  fact  that  growers  can  usually  get 
9s.  per  1,000  for  young,  tender  Asparagus. 
The  newTy  laid-out  beds  leading  from  the  sheds  through  the 
paddock  to  a  west  fruit  wall,  are  now  filled  with  annuals,  and 
all  growing  well.  In  this  portion  of  the  ground  there  are  a  few 
old  orchard  trees  full  of  “snags,”  a  grand  object  lesson  (and  that 
is  what  the  garden  exists  for — teaching)  on  how  not  to  prune.  The 
American  blight  lay  thick  in  by  the  crevices.  “  Can  Poppies  be 
transplanted  ?  ”  Can  Ci.stus  ladaniferus  and  Phyllostachys  and 
other  subjects  of  this  sort  be  transplanted  in  May?  Few  care 
to  try  it,  but  here  again,  in  proper  hands,  the  operation  can  be 
safely  and  succe.ssfully  performed,  as  can  be  seen  at  Reading 
College  Garden.  Bees,  I  may  add,  are  another  of  the  features  of 
prime  interest,  and  the  latest  forms  of  hives  and  apparatus  are 
used.  But  now  I  leave  my  friendly  guide  and  his  charge,  and 
trust  that  not  a  long  time  may  pass  ere  I  visit  him,  his  wife,  and 
their  labours,  again. 
Shrubs  and  Undershrubs  at  Kew. 
The  Honeysuckles  are  in  full  flow'er,  including  the  quaint 
primrose  yellow’  Lonicera  iberica,  but  none  beats  our  native 
L.  Periclymenum.  It  is  fitting  to  draw  attention  here  to  the 
golden-netted  Japanese  Honeysuckle,  and  its  suitability  for 
rockeries  and  rooteries.  L.  japonica,  wdth  buff  and  golden 
flowers,  is  very  free,  and  most  deliciously  scented.  Two  rare 
species,  but  both  too  tender  for  out  of  doors,  are  L.  Hilde- 
brandtiana  and  L.  etrusca,  the  latter  from  southern  Europe  and 
the  former  from  China.  They  are  each  rampant  climbers,  bear¬ 
ing  orange  clusters,  and  Hildebrandti  has  flowers  Sin  long.  Phila- 
delphus  Billardi  carries  from  fifteen  to  over  twenty  pure  white 
flow’ers  in  elongated  trusses,  the  stamens  in  the  centre  of  each 
giving  them  particular  beauty.  The  flowers  are  each  over  lin 
across.  P.  coronarius  Gerbc  de  Neige  is  dwarf,  free,  and  grace¬ 
ful  ;  Boule  d’ Argent  is  double,  and  therefore  distinctive ;  P.  c. 
variegatus  has  cream  and  green  foliage;  P.  microphyllus  is  an 
early  flowering,  very  dense  grow’ing  sort,  with  small  flowers,  and 
slender,  twiggy  shoots.  P.  grandiflorus  laxis  is  good ;  P.  Lewi.si 
has  snow’-white  flowers  and  white  stamens :  it  is,  therefore,  a 
gem.  P.  grandiflorus  floribundus  is  the  best  of  all,  with  pure 
white  blossoms  nearly  3in  across,  beautifully  borne  'in  showery 
masses  on  all  the  young  wood  from  the  topmost  to  the  low’ermost 
branches.  The  leaves  are  dark  green  and  large,  this  being  a 
vigorous  grower. 
Zenobia  speciosa  pulverulenta  is  another  of  these,  bearing 
from  the  axils  of  all  the  leaves  triplets  of  grey-white,  waxy  bell 
flowers  like  those  of  Valley  Lilies,  but  larger,  and  they  all  hang 
downward.  The  shrub  flowers  on  last  season’s  wood,  but  not  on 
the  young  growths,  these  being  quite  glaucous  with  a  “  bloom  ” 
like  that  on  rvell-finished  Grapes.  Growing  as  a  true  bush,  2fft 
to  3ft  high,  and  doing  well  with  other  Ericaceae,  this  distin¬ 
guished  variety  should  be  found  in  every  collection.  The  type 
plant  is  a  bright  leaved,  close  growing,  admirable  shrub. 
Then  there  is  Kalmia  angustifolia,  or  “Sheep  Laurel,”  with 
bright  purplish-red  flowers  now  nearly  over,  and  with  it  is  the 
variety  rosea,  a  sweet  thing.  These  shrubs,  of  course,  like  a 
cool  bottom,  whence  they  flourish,  and  along  with  the  better 
known  K.  latifolia  they  are  charming  little  subjects.  Nor  can 
one  pass  over  Daboecia  polifolia,  which  seems  happy  anywhere, 
and  generally  can  throw  up  a  lively  show  of  slender  racemes, 
bearing  from  four  to  eight  flowers  of  a  rosy,  white,  or  purple 
colour,  according  to  the  variety,  and  shaped  like  those  of  Erica 
propendens.  Good  plants  form  rounded,  close-set  masses,  rising 
a  foot  high  in  .the  centre,  and  not  unlike  the  Sun  Roses  in  foliage 
and  growth.  The  best  known  varieties  are  bicolor,  stricta,  and 
alba.  If  they  are  stunted  or  starved  the  little  shining  leaves 
become  quite  blood-red. 
Looking  at  the  compact,  spreading  masses  of  Bruckenthalia 
spiculifolia,  which  never  grows  more  than  half-a-dozen  inches 
high,  the  comparison  of  the  form  of  growth  with  that  of  some  of 
the  coral  polyps  seems  not  amiss.  It  is  of  erect  and  formal 
growth,  and  the  tips  of  the  shoots  are  brightly  luteous,  while  oyer 
the  cushion-like  bed  the  rosy  spikes  are  sprinkled,  these  being 
comparable  to  the  flowers  of  Polygonum  affinis.  Beds  of  Erica 
cinerea,  E.  c.  purpurea,  rosea,  alba,  and  alba  major  and  minor 
are  masses  of  colour;  w’hile  the  deep  pink  clusters  of  the  cross¬ 
leaved  Heath  (E.  Tetralix)  may  be  found  on  mountain,  moor,  and 
garden.  E.  T.  alba  mollis,  a  dense,  erect,  brittle,  grey-coloured 
form  with  white  flowers,  is  not  so  well  known  as  the  commoner 
E.  T.  alba,  which  seems  to  be  the  freer  flowering. 
Rhododendron  ferrugineum,  one  of  the  loveliest  of  alpine 
shrubs  and  doing  well  in  England,  is  now  just  out  of  flower  and 
is  pushing  young  growths,  which  can  be  encouraged  by  removing 
the  ovarian  clusters.  The  last  flowers  of  R.  cinnabariniiin,  which 
is  deep  crimson  without  and  bronzy-cinnamon  within  the  narrow 
tubular  flowers,  have  also  fallen,  and  the  shrub,  which  is  a 
Sikkim  native,  soon  flags  if  left  without  abunda,nce  of  root  mois¬ 
ture.  This  profuse  flowering  and  veij  distinctive  species  is  one 
of  my  great  favourites.  La.stly,  R.  hirsutum  will  be  found 
flowenng  in  certain  coolsome  places.  It  is  dwarf  and  spreading, 
a  true  Alpine  rock  shrub,  and  bears  terminal  clusters  of  bright, 
lilac-crimson,  tiny  flowers. 
There  is  hardly  any  need  to  mention  Roses,  unless  to  point 
out  once  again  the  decorative  and  utilitarian  merits  of  the 
Briar  and  other  garden  Roses  for  hedges.  Not  only  are  they 
beautiful  in  shape,  with  glossy  foliage,  but  their  lovely,  simple 
flowers  give  pleasure  at  all  times,  and  not  a  few  are  sweetly 
fragrant.  By  the  way,  is  the  double  w’hite  Sweet  Briar 
known?  The  flowers  are  as  large  as  a  China  and  perfectly  double, 
while  the  foliage  is  thick,  robust,  and  large. — M  axderixg  n  illie. 
