Ootobtr 17, 1867. 1 



JOUBNAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



b99 



have bad them in vineries, where they did macb mischief, and 

 scarcely anywhere else. We have had tlicm carrying oil and 

 hoarding scores and hundreds of hard half-grown Peaches, and 

 just nipping a bit out of the cheeks of those that were nearly 

 ripe, and wo have had a score on a tree thus nibbled in a night. 

 This year, with doors and vjutilators of the orchard-houses open, 

 and fine fruit up to the present time, wu have no evidence that a 

 single rot entered, or did an atom of injury. Then how singular 

 is their sense of smell. Two men shall sot steel traps exactly 

 alike, so that even an experienced trapper shall not bo able to 

 perceive the difference, and into the traps of one man the rat 

 will scarcely ever enter, whilst into the traps of the other ho will 

 go headlong, as if impelled by a sort of spell, such as some 

 catchers exercise with their attractive oils and scents. We 

 can only come to the conclusion, that one man's touching 

 a steel trap will be enough to keep a rat from going near it ; 

 whilst another man's setting it how he may, and leaving his pe- 

 culiar scent of touch behind him, will act as an attraction 

 rather than as a repellent. It is the best plan for those not so 

 favoured to touch traps and baits as little as possible, and avoid 

 even breathing upon them. The only things rats have gnawed 

 over with us this season were Pelargoniums, chietly Madame 

 Vaucher, and some scarce kinds that we had in a pit to bring 

 them on. What the rats' object could bo we were unable to make 

 out, as they seemed to eat none of the plants, and as there was 

 air on the pit, and the rats could get out, it could not have been 

 for moisture. Wo chronicled that one year they cut over all our 

 young Cauliflowers under hand-lights, just a little above the 

 surface of the ground, and in this case, too, the tops were left, 

 and there was no sign that the rats reaped any beuelit in the way 

 of eating t..ir the mischief tliey occasioned. With such a variety 

 of freaks it is well to get rid of them, as we never know what 

 they may resolve upon next. Were they satisfied with a hard 

 Pear, or a few Beans, we might care less about them. Even as 

 respects Pears, it is rather singular they have been most destruc- 

 tive on some small young trees that had only a moderate crop, 

 whilst other trees where they might have thinned the fruit and 

 done good by the thinning, they never touched. Are the rats 

 in this respect like men in general, and cooks in particular, 

 who come to value anything just in proportion to its scarcity? 

 When a gardener is scarce of anything he will act wisely by 

 keeping the knowledge of such a fact as much as possible to 

 himself. 



FRUIT OAKDKN. 



Here the work was a repetition of that adverted to in pre- 

 vious weeks. We have still, and for a week or so more will 

 have, a good supply of Peaches, chiefly Walburton Admirable. 

 We have no Sahvay Peaches this year, and it is chiefly valu- 

 able for keeping late. Switched the loaves from the trees in the 

 I'each-housc, and will take the first opportunity to prune, 

 wash, and regulate, in order that wo may cram the house 

 with bedding and other plants. In the meanwhile, have put a 

 great many plants under glass protection in the orchard-houses. 

 Gathered in line days the most forward fruit of Apples and Pears, 

 going over most of our little dwarf trees several times, and 

 taking the ripest and best-coloured first. This is one of the 

 advantages of dwaif trees, the easy gathering; and then if a few 

 fruit do fall, they are much less injured than if they fell from a 

 tall orchard tree. No fruit that falls will keep equally well 

 with that which is gathered carefully by hand, and taken from 

 the basket again by the hand. 



The frost has not been severe enough to hurt the out-door 

 fruit as yet, and if mild weather continued we would leave the 

 greenest a little longer. On some borders below our bush trees 

 we have Strawberries, and as these have not been thoroughly 

 cleaned or thinned as yet. we find the Strawberry plants save a 

 fallen fruit as much as if it hod dropped on long grass — a very 

 different result from what happens when the fruit falls on 

 the ground, hard or soft. We will soon finish Williams's Hon 

 Chn-tien Pear. From one tree we have been using the fruit 

 for the last six weeks. Beurro de Capiaumunt is not much for 

 the dessert, but when hanl it stews beautifully. lu fact, it 

 may be worth knowing, that all our best Pears are first-rate 

 for stewing when used hard and before showing signs of ripe- 

 ness. In a bad season some kinds that would scarcely be good 

 enough for the dessert, may thus come in as a tempting and 

 luscious dish. 



I'lantiw]. — Had we mnch of this to do we wonid like to have 

 all preparations made now, such as trenching, digging, and for 

 fruit trees, at lea.'<t, stations ready, where the roots will be 

 discouraged going down, and fresh soil will be provided to 

 encourage fibrous surface-rooting. We should never forget 



that we plant an Oak for timber, and a fruit tree for fmit, and 

 that luxuriant growth and unusual fruitfniness will ever be in 

 opposition to each other. We have seen others try, and we our- 

 selves have tried, two different plans to arrive at a desired defi- 

 nite result. In the first case, when planting fruit trees either 

 against walls or in borders or quarters, when it was desirable 

 to have the trees of a good size as soon as possible, then, by 

 rich soil, mulchings, and waterings, growth was made the chief 

 object for two or three years, and fruit less looked for than 

 growth ; and then when the tree was nearly as large as we 

 wanted it to be, it was either taken up and replanted, or the 

 roots cut in autumn, and the limiting of growth brought it 

 into a state of fertility. The other plan is to keep the tree 

 only in a moderate but healthy state of luxuriance, to stunt by 

 stopping shoots, &o., to have the roots near the surface, and 

 thus to obtain fruit as soon as possible with a moderate in- 

 crease of growth every year. This plan, on the whole, we 

 consider the best for the amateur who takes an interest in his 

 fruit trees, and who would rather manaee his trees with a little 

 constant attention than have much work to do in root-pruning, 

 or raising the roots and transplanting again. In almost all 

 common soils this is best secured by planting the trees on 

 mounds a foot or l^l inches above the surrounding level, with 

 or without material of a hard nature beneath them, to prevent 

 the roots going down. In this station-planting the soil should 

 be well aired before planting, and it may also be improved by 

 adding some fresh to it, that may correct what is amiss in 

 the natural soil. By planting thus high, the roots, if mulch- 

 ing is given, will be encouraged to keep nearer the surface, 

 and if extraordinary luxuriance sets in it is easier to cut the 

 points of the roots, and thus arrest excessive vigour. In 

 ordinary cases we find it useful to cut the roots of such mode- 

 rate-sized trees merely on one side for one season. If, by 

 concrete, or slabs '20 to '24 inches from the surface, the roots 

 should be prevented going straight down for a space of 3j to 

 4i feet in diameter, the root-pruning when necessary would be 

 attended with no difficulty, as there would be no tap-roots near 

 the bole of tlie tree to look after. With such a mode of plant- 

 ing, and surface-mulching with a little rotten dung, the roots 

 will be encouraged to keep near the surface, and trees in the 

 open air will be almost as much under command as if they 

 were grown in a tub or a pot. Our sires talked of planting Pear 

 trees for their grandchildren, but on such a plan as that in- 

 dicated a man may have a stout dwarf maiden plant planted this 

 autumn, prune it little or nothing, let it have all the air and 

 light possible next season, with sufficient moisture to keep on 

 growth, and the autumn following he may gather some Pears, 

 and not prevent the plant growing and increasing in size 

 gradually — that is, if too much fruit be not taken from it when 

 in a young state, as a heavy crop at first would greatly injure 

 the tree tor future bearing and moderate growth. 



The sooner the ground is ready, the sooner the stations are 

 prepared, and the sooner the trees are planted after the leaves 

 begin to change in the least, tbe better will the trees succeed, 

 and the less trouble will they require afterwards in the way of 

 watering, &c. In fact, if the roots are kept damp before plant- 

 ing, if the ground is as damp as it generally is in autumn, and 

 if the earth is packed firmly amongst the fibres, no watering 

 will be required. It is quite a mistake to deluge roots with 

 water in autumn planting. It places them as it were in a 

 morass, rots them wholesale, and makes the soil so much colder 

 than it otherwise would be, that the roots only begin to work 

 in spring, after the sun acts on the buds, and the soil has 

 become warmer by parting with the surplus moisture. In soil 

 merely moderately moist, and when the planting has been done 

 in autumn, the rooting will rather precede the breaking of the 

 buds, and thus the reciprocal action will be obtained without 

 the necessity of drenching the soil with the water-poil. Even 

 in autumn planting, though tbe moistening the roots and pre- 

 venting them being dried is essential, we have seen much 

 labour in deluging with the water-cart, that was worse than 

 labour and horse-power wasted. Several times we have had 

 bundles of trees sent us so dried in roots and stems by long 

 journeys and careless packing, that they seemed fit for nothing 

 but faggots for heating ovens. Even these, however, have often 

 done well when they were soaked for a dozen of hours in a 

 pool or pond so as to absorb enough of moisture, and this 

 soaking in such circumstances was of far more importance 

 than auy watering that could be given at the roots in the au- 

 tumn. The flooding-in of roots at any time will be less pro- 

 ductive of injury, in proportion to the porousness of the soil, 

 freely parting with snch an amonnt of moiatore. Antamn 



