August IS, 18C7. J 



JOUKNAL OF HOKTICULTDBE AND COTTAGE GAJiDENEK. 



123 



AVhen the stakes are thus insufCcient, it would bo better for 

 the crop to bo on tbo tjrouud unstakml. 



We bavo lately alluiled to some of the best-flavoured, most 

 prolific kinds. We regret to say, that tboufjli aclmirinj:; Vcitcb's 

 Perfection fortlie size of pod, and size of )iea, and rich flavour, 

 we bavo never. tbouKh tryiuR some little new mode every year, 

 succeeded in fiUin;; tlio basket from it as we would wish. Many 

 of tbo blooms seem aUo to become barren. Some people prefer 

 the flavour to such fine kinds as Ne Plus Ultra, the beigbt of 

 the latter being tbo chief objection to it, and the large pods of 

 Perfection look very handsome in the ;basket, but with us it 

 yields those fine pods too sparingly. Will some more suc- 

 cessful correspondent tell us how to pet our baskets better filled 

 from a row ;' We would be well satisfied, it in prolific bearing 

 it came considerably behind such kinds as Dickson's Favourite, 

 Knight's Dwarf Marrows, &c. 



Potnttiis.— We biive now taken up our earliest, and we are 

 sorry to find that within these few days among the later kinds 

 the dread Potato disease has made its appearance. If those 

 taken up keep sound, or those still sound in tlie ground remain 

 so, wo shall bavo no reason to complain much ; but as fine a 

 sampk' of stored Potatoes as wo ever saw, took the disease long 

 after this, and when stored in thin layers, too. last year. Owing 

 to the muist character of the season, and frequency of muggy 

 davB, we could do little good in planting anything between 

 Potatoes this year. In general, it will be found the best plan 

 to prick out Coleworts, Borecoles, Broccolis, &c., and hft and 

 plant when the ground is cleared. Of course, we are not 

 speaking of such happy cases, where a quarter can be left 

 pretty well in fallow in the first part of tlie year, to receive 

 these winter crops as soon as they are strong enough. We be- 

 lieve that on the whole that is the best, the most economical, 

 and even the best-paying plan ; hut if the gardener has less 

 than an aero of cropping ground, and must obtain the greatest 

 possible quantity of good vegetables from it, then, willing or 

 unwilling, ho will have to crop so as never to have a yard of 

 ground long empty. 



FRUIT GABDEN. 



We stated that in niimmer pruninr/ and pinchin;} we left a few 

 shoots to carry on the growth. Wo have had the most of these 

 now removed, to let the sun and air to the fruit, and to perfect 

 more fully the buds for next season. In this matter we treat 

 very differently young trees, and those that are as large as we 

 wish them to be. In the case of young trees which we wish to 

 bear fruit in proportion to their size, and that as soon after 

 planting as possible — in the case of Pears, Apples, Cherries, 

 Plums, ttc, as soon as the summer shoots are 9 or 10 inches long, 

 we thin where too abundant, and merely nip out the point of 

 the shoots left with the finger and thumb, and had we nothing 

 but fruit trees to attend to, we would use little else but tbo 

 finger and thumb to do our pruning. Most likely these shoots 

 will push again from near the fruit, and they may bo stopped 

 again, and of these we will make little mention, as most likely 

 we will cut further back than the tirst pinching at the autumn 

 or winter pruning. 



This thinning and this point-pinching throw tbo sap, as it 

 were, back on the tree, and thus we shall generally obtain two, 

 three, and on to half a dozen fruit-buds f.jrraed at tho lower 

 end of the summer shoot, whilst it we bad not stopped it. we 

 could scarcely expect a fruit-bud to be formed until tbo fjUow- 

 ing year. For this purpose, the stopping the shoot at that 

 length is a much better plan than stopping it further back — 

 ga.y from .S to G inches distance from the last ysar's wood. 

 This would be a good plan when we wished to change that one 

 shoot into two, three, or four more, and thus form a head, or 

 fill a gap sooner; but it would not be equally good if early 

 fruit-buds were our aim. 



The check given to the top growth would at first be severe, 

 the vital forces aoounnilated in branches, stem, and roots would 

 at once be arrested in their natural outlet, and the repetition 

 of such a process would gradually lessen the power of these 

 forces, and give us growth diminished in vigour and luxuriance. 

 This first stopping, however, of which we are speaking, though 

 dammingup for a time the natural outlet, does not do much 

 to arrest the natural vigour of tho plant ; it merely, as it were, 

 puts it on its metal, and ere long the jdant shows it will not 

 be easily beaten, by finding an outlet for these accumulated 

 resources, in giving you several shoots instead of one, but 

 shoots that for that season will be furnished with wood-buds 

 alone. Hence, in such trees the different result that may be 

 expected from merely topping a summer shoot, say in July, 

 and cutting it back to :2 or S inches in length. In the one case 



you may expect and will often obtain fruit-buds formed at the 

 base of the shoot — at any rate there is almost the certainty 

 of having them so formed in the following year ; in the other 

 case, tho closer cutting is almost sure to be followed by the tree 

 in self-defence tlirowiug out more shoots from the buds on the 

 shoot so shortened. 



Now, in the case of fine, dwarf bush, or pyramidal treeaOiAt 

 have grown as large as we wish them to be, if there was a 

 deficiency of fruit-spurs wo would, even as res)>bct8 them, fol- 

 low the same point-pinching plan, and cut back merely when 

 all danger of pushing fresh shoots was over ; but if the tree 

 was bristling with fruit-spurs, we would thin out these shoots 

 more liberally, taking those away first from Ibc top of the tree, 

 so as to throw the strength of the tree more downwards, as the 

 branches near the ground are apt to become weak soonest, 

 and wo would top the jioints of shoots chiefly when we wanted 

 fruit-buds to accumulate at their base, or where u new shoot 

 was wanted to be laid in. We should only be careful in July 

 and the beginning of .\ugust to leave as many sljoots growing 

 on such trees as to avoid all danger of the fruit-buds being 

 started into growth, instead of maturing for next season's fruit- 

 bearing. 



The whole matter will be simplified if it is borne in mind 

 that the sooner and more thoroughly .you remove summer-made 

 shoots, tho more likely are you to have an abundant second 

 weaker growth, the more likely are you to prevent fruit-buds 

 forming in such shoots, and the greater Ibe probability of 

 starting into wood-growth what otherwise would have been 

 consolidated and ripened into fruit-buds. It is always best to 

 stop an extra-vigorous shoot early, because such a shoot is not 

 only liable to rob the rest of the tree, and thus deprive it of its 

 equal balance, but the shoot takes a long time to become fruit- 

 ful, whilst this fruitfulness is more quickly obtained by securing 

 two, three, or more well-ripened moderately-sized shoot sin- 

 stead of one. 



In tho case of trees that are not so fruitful as is desirable, 

 owing to over-luxuriance, it is well to mark them now, that they 

 may receive less or more of root-prunimj after the fruit is 

 gathered. The earlier this is done the more will it increase 

 the fruitfulness of the tree for the succeeding year ; but if done 

 before the fruit is gathered the fruit will be almost sure to 

 suffer in size or quality. This cutting of the roots is going 

 at once to the root of the matter ; it secures more moderate 

 growth, on which the sun and air can thoroughly bring into ope- 

 ration their maturing powers. lioot-pruning, however, is 

 chiefly useful when the roots are going ti'O deep, and thus ab- 

 sorb moisture of a more crude nature than that which is ob- 

 tained nearer the surface. In all cases where the roots are 

 under control and near the surface, and are kept there by 

 waterings and mulchings, the strength of the tree, though not 

 so quickly, will be as efficiently regulated by summer pinchiogs 

 and prunings as by the lifting or cutting of the roots. Be- 

 tween roots and branches there will ever be a reciprocal, cor- 

 relative, sympathetic action. Eeduce the growing, evaporating 

 surface, and you will gradually lessen tho demands on the 

 roots, aud they will send up a smaller supjily of sap, which will 

 thus stand all the better chance of being well elaborated. 



To have this eft'ect, however, the pinching and the pruning 

 must take place in summer in the period of growth. We have 

 seen many cases where it was attempted to neutralise over- 

 vigorons growth by a free use of the saw and the knife in 

 winter. Such a plan almost universally fails. The plant in 

 self-defence will find a vent in strong, young shoots next sum- 

 mer from the stored-up resources, the result of unchecked 

 growth in the season preceding. Of course the plan of severe 

 winter-pruning is all well enough when we wish to have new 

 wood for our tree, and to train, nip, and prune as we will. 

 Much, however, would be gained were the belief more general 

 that it is on summer-management and not on winter-pruning 

 that we must depend for securing moderate growth and extra 

 fertility in our fruit trees. 



This simple principle understood will enable ne at times to 

 modify our operations, to make the most of circumstances. 

 Thus, noticing that a vigorous tree or shrub severely pruned in 

 winter would in self-defence attempt to restore the balance 

 between roots aud tops by a vigorous growth in the following 

 summer, has led us several times in moving rather larger fruit 

 and forest trees in the end of autumn, or the beginning of 

 winter, to deviate a little from the ordinary course, and always 

 with a seeming advantage. Unless such trees have been pre- 

 viously prepared, and a mass of young roots is formed round a 

 manageable ball, it is impossible to take up the trees witfaont 



