114 THE GARDENER. [March 



with half-rotted manure. Some put on manure of a littery character, 

 and allow it to wash clean preparatory for the fruit. We think a little 

 clean straw preferable when placed just as the fruit is set. 



In the orchard-house active measures to get the trees ready for fruit- 

 ing should be taken, so that when buds are advanced they may not be 

 in danger of being knocked off. Clear all inert soil from the surface of 

 the roots. Put drainage right. Wash the pots, and surface with healthy 

 loam, three parts, one part of cow-manure, and a portion of bone-meal 

 mixed with the compost ; a little coarse sand allows the water to perco- 

 late freely when mixed in the surface-soil. Arrange the trees according 

 to their kinds and heights ; avoid crowding, and let the trees start grad- 

 ually. If they have been plunged in ashes during the winter outside, 

 it would be forcing to place them now in more than a greenhouse tem- 

 perature with plenty of air. As the blooms open, give air carefully 

 when winds are frosty. On front ventilators a screen of tiffany or some 

 other wired breaker may be nailed. Trees under glass cannot stand in 

 cold what they would on walls or other exposure. Have the house and 

 trees always dry at night till nights are warm and sun has power. 

 Water with care at first ; and when foliage and wood are expanding 

 freely, let the roots have larger supplies of moisture. When fruit is 

 swelling, and roots have filled the pots, give guano -water at each 

 time of watering — just sufficient quantity to colour the water. We 

 prefer this to heavier doses at longer intervals. Do not allow the 

 surfaces to become battered. The same advice applies to trees planted 

 out-— a system we much prefer to pots ; and by lifting a portion of 

 the trees every year, and turning them round to the light, they are 

 easily kept to a dwarf size — healthy and vigorous. M. T. 



ISTOTES FROM THE PAPERS. 



The French, we all know, are adepts at rearing and managing trees ; but if we 

 are to believe an able writer on " French Forestry at the Paris Exhibition," in 

 the 'Journal of Forestry,' the Frenchman does not entertain that respect and 

 veneration for fine trees which we do in England : and the consequences are, it 

 appears, very noticeable in their parks and gardens, which are comparatively 

 destitute of old and noble trees. 



The wealthy Englishman lives out of town, if he can ; but the wealthy French- 

 man lives in the city by preference, and in Paris if possible, and eschews 

 cricket and other manly games, field-sports, and the like, and turns his 

 attention to dice, dominoes, and frivolity; and hence, observes the writer just 

 mentioned, there is a general neglect of the country, and, consequently, of the 

 objects of the country — " hence their unfortunate specimens of gardens in the 

 ' natural ' style, and of parks. Trees share in this neglect, and speaking as a 

 general rule, they are looked upon even by the more refined part of the com- 

 munity as any other crop is looked upon — i.e., for use, and in no way for orna- 

 ment. Hear the complaints of a French gentleman — Baron Marochetti — as 



