136 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



on this subject, for the query reminds 

 us oflmany interesting experiences ; still 

 we cannot say whether your ranuncu- 

 luses were mixed by the vendor, or whe- 

 ther they have actually changed. Mode- 

 rate cutting from Hoya will not interfere 

 with the bloom next year. Thanks for 

 the note on traps for wireworms ; it 

 elevates a had potato to the rank of a 

 valuable auxiliary. We always thought 

 the bean theory bosh. Excuse the term, 

 it is not elegant, but to the purpose. 

 We have the same opinion of furze blos- 

 , soms, which are now in favour to scare 

 caterpillars from gooseberry trees; that 

 will also prove to be bosh. Lay a cloth 

 under your trees and give them a shak- 

 ing, and you will catch the marauders 

 wholesale. It is a sad thing, and we 

 have long been wanting to make experi- 

 ments on the best modes of dealing with 

 gooseberry caterpillar, but our trees will 

 not become infected. Oh that some ene- 

 my would fill our trees with the vermin 

 that we might profit thereby ! 

 "Wild Double Jonquil Narciss —In the 

 valley of the Teign the Narcissus pseudo- 

 narcissus is found growing wild in <>-ient 

 abundance, and in the same localities in 

 which that occurs the enclosed flower 

 is found growing sparingly ; its general 

 habit being much more slender and 

 delicate than the daffodil. Is it afsport 

 from the daffodil, and if not, what' is its 

 name?— iV. & [This is the Double 

 Jonquil Narciss (not the Double Narciss), 

 which is not a native, but being quite 

 hardy would no doubt prosper in almost 

 any locality, if once established bv means 

 of bulbs removed from ;■ garden.] 

 Sommfb Pinching of Peak akd other 

 Fruit Trefs.-I am beginning to culti- 

 vate fruit trees, but after read! no- a great 

 deal about them I am j n doubt about 

 summer pinching. Mr. Rivers, at pao- e 

 5 of the eleventh edition of "The Minia- 

 ture Fruit Garden," says, speaking of 

 young pyramidal pear trees, "The side- 

 shoots which were topped last Au-mst 

 will each put forth three, four, or more 

 shoots. In June, as soon as these have 

 made four haves, they must be pinched 

 off to three leaves, and if these spurs put 

 forth shoots, which they often do, every 

 shoot must be pinched down to one leaf, 

 all but the leading shoot of each side 

 branch." On arriving at page S of the 

 same work, I meet with the following, 

 which appears rather contradictory— 

 namely, "If these pinched shoots," 

 meaning those that have been previously 

 pinched to three leaves, "again push, 

 suffer them to make three leaves, and 



then pinch them to two leaves." Now 

 I want you to have the goodness to en- 

 lighten me upon this point — namely, If 

 (after I have pinched to three leaves) 

 either or all of the three buds belonging 

 to these three leaves put forth a shoot, 

 am I to pinch that shoot to one leaf or 

 to two leaves ? In the Floral World 

 and in your Profitable Gardening, 

 you recommend first pinching to three 

 leaves, and then pinching the secondary 

 shoots to three leaves again! Please in- 

 form me (through the Floral World) 

 does Mr. Rivers mean that the secondary 

 shoots are to be pinched to one leaf, or 

 does he mean that they are to be 

 pinched to two leaves ? Please tell 

 me also your reasons for directing that 

 the secondary shoots be pinched to three 

 leaves.— A. C. [This little difficulty 

 may be cleared up in a word. It really 

 does not matter whether the primary or 

 secondary shoots be pinched to two, 

 three, or four leaves each. The first 

 neces ity is pinching ; the question then 

 arises, to what extent is the pinching to 

 be carried ? With a writer like Mr. Rivers, 

 whose books are read by thousands who 

 have all the needful experience to ac- 

 quire, there must be a rule given, on 

 which thej' can rely with safety ; and all 

 things considered, Mr. Rivers says pinch 

 first to three leaves, and next to one or 

 two leaves. In "Profitable Gardening" 

 we have said pinch to three leaves ; we 

 might have said two or four with almost 

 the same propriety. But suppose we had 

 merely said "pinch close back,'' then 

 hundreds of people would have cut out 

 the short twigs altogether, and ruined 

 their trees ; others would have cut them 

 to within half, a quarter, or even an 

 eighth of an inch of their base, which 

 would be almost as bad as tearing them 

 away. In practice, very few expert 

 growers of bush fruits count the leaves 

 on every shoot they pinch, rather they 

 pinch in such an off-hand way that some 

 shoots have two, others three, and some 

 four or even five leaves, and yet the 

 result is much the same; the pinching 

 checks the flow of the sap, checks .he ex- 

 tension of the roots, and induces the tree 

 to make flower buds instead of timber.] 

 Condon-Trained Peach. — Have you read 

 a little book by Brehaut, on the cordon 

 training of fruit trees ? If you have, 

 please tell me if his method of training 

 and pruning the peach tiee. (as the dia- 

 gonal cordon on the triple system) will 

 succeed on walls in the open air in Eng- 

 land. Please also tell me if the first 

 leader (or any one of the three leaders) 



