228 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



pelled to direct their energies to better 

 results by some disturbance of their roots. 

 We have had, before now, to heel over a 

 whole plantation of plums when a warm 

 autumn and moist weather set them grow- 

 ing again late in the season. Of course, 

 large trees must not be so dealt with ; hut 

 they are more obedient to the wish of the 

 cultivator, and rarely grow too much when 

 in a good bearing state. Make stations 

 ready at once for all trees to be planted. 

 A deep hole opened at the time of planting 

 is mere mockery; the ground should be 

 deeply stirred now, and left in a very rough 

 condition ; but the holes should not be 

 made till wanted, as by that time they 

 might happen to be full of water. It is a 

 good plan, when about to purchase trees, 

 to go to the nursery while they are in leaf, 

 and mark all the trees selected with the 

 purchaser's name. We ought not to have 

 to say anything more at present about 

 drainage ; but the fact is, so many fruit 

 plantations are everywhere to be found in 

 a miserable condition through the wet 

 state of the soil all winter, that wo must 

 repeat the advice to growers of fruit of all 

 kinds. If the heaviest rain does not soon 

 soak away from your fruit borders, and 

 leave the soil so that you can soon after 

 walk on it without sticking to it, then your 

 first business should be to drain, drain, 

 drain ! Let no fruit hang after this date ; 

 those not ripe must ripen iu-doors ; it is 

 too much risk to leave them out any 

 longer. 



Orchard Trees may be better pruned 

 now than later in the season, as the dead 

 and dying branches can be better dis- 

 cerned while the trees are still in leaf than 

 •when they are quite bare. There is no 

 mystery as to the pruning of standard 

 trees, ^ever lop off large branches, if it 

 can be avoided ; their removal is a posi- 

 tive injury to the tree; never cut care- 

 lessly, or allow a hough to snap off when 

 half sawn through. Remove a branch 

 where two cross each othe ; remove those 

 that screen the boughs below them from 

 the sun; keep the heads of the trees open, 

 so that every part is equally exposed to air 

 and light; and remember all through that 

 bearing tiees very seldom grow too vigor- 

 ously, or make wood where it is not wanted, 

 and the less use of the knife and saw the 

 better. 



Unfruitful Trees may be improved by 

 commencing at once to root-prune, ma- 

 nure, or drain the soil. The nature of the 

 cure must depend upon the cau?-e of bar- 

 renness. If the trees haye attained a bear- 

 ing age, and are over-luxuriant, rcot- 

 prune by this simple method : — Open the 



soil three parts round each tree, at a dis- 

 tance from the stem of from two to four 

 feet, according to the size of the tree. The 

 roots must be cut back to a general 

 average of two, or three, or four feet, 

 except the part where the soil was not 

 opened, where the roots will remain, of 

 course, their original length. The roots 

 cut back to be carefully laid out near the 

 surface, and a little fresh so 1 used in fill- 

 ing in. Next season open the soil on the 

 side left undisturbed the year before, and 

 there cut the roots to the same distance as 

 before, and so on annually or biennially, 

 according to the growth they make. Old 

 trees that have borne for many years, 

 and are getting weak, to have the surface 

 soil thinly pared off, and a layer of new 

 soil hud down over the roots, and above 

 that a layer of dung only slightly rotted. 



Figs carrying a second crop are often 

 a cause of some anxiety. The larger the 

 fruit, the less likely is it to survive the 

 winter, and the best way to save some is 

 to remove all that were larger than peas, 

 and then mat up the trees loosely, so that 

 there will be a circulation of air amongst 

 the wood to keep it hard, yet so that in the 

 event of cutting winds they will have a 

 fair amount of shelter. 



Vinery. — Where fruit is to hang some 

 time, all decaying berries must be cut out 

 from time to time, and the atmosphere 

 kept dry. Cut away all the sappy and 

 softer ends of the rods, without respect to 

 the system of pruning adopted : this will 

 cause the remaining buds on the lods to 

 swell nicely, and promote their ripening. 

 Vines that are indisposed to go to rest 

 may be assisted by a removal of their 

 leaves, and getting the border as dry as 

 possible. 



Flower Garden. — American Plants 

 may be moved now better than at any 

 other period of the year. Whoever plants 

 these must be sure, in the first instance, 

 that the soil is suitable. Many of the 

 natural loams about London suit them 

 admirably; and, on the other hand, there 

 are many otherwise good loams in v\hich 

 they will not grow at all. It is only to be 

 determined by experience on the spot; and 

 where there is any doubt, the orly safe 

 course is to cart in peat from the nearest 

 source of supply in the district. We use a 

 mixture of yellow loam and peat from 

 Wanstead — equal parts — and prefer it to all 

 other soils for fine-rooted plants. Pontic 

 rhododendrons and their varieties are the 

 least paiticular about soil of any of the 

 race. Some of the best hybrids will grow 

 in any leafy mixture with plenty of sand. 

 Mr. Standish has one — and a beauty it is 



