326 



JODENAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



( October 81, 1867. 



Paradise and Pears on the Qaince in the hottest days of 

 summer, and should never, perhaps, have known had not the 

 knowledge been forced upon me. The ground they occupied 

 ■was required for building-purposes ; moved the trees must be, 

 or be cut up, and I was loth to part from them, for the more 

 I see of Apples on the Paradise and Pears on the Qaince stock, 

 the more I like them. It has proved a point gained ; for, having 

 some unfruitful trees, the idea occurred to me to lift them at 

 once, and not wait until November. What ! move or lift Apple 

 and Pear trees in July? Yes; lift them in July Not a 

 leaf fell ; the check was salutary, they formed bloom buds 

 plentifully, have fruited, and are now bristling with spurs, 

 not sharp-pointed like a needle, but round and plump at the 

 end. 



Again : this year early in .\ugnst I had to remove some Pear 

 trees on the Quince stock, or cover them under stones weighing 

 from a ton to upwards of ten tons each, used in the construction 

 of a rockery arch. They were, of course, removed, and I defy 

 a stranger to distinguish them from others that were planted 

 last November. 



Because it is practicable (as I think the above facts prove), 

 to plant fruit trees in July, it does not follow that that is the 

 best time for performing the operation. I, for one, should not 

 think of planting fruit trees from a nursery in quantity until 

 the leaves had commenced to fall. That is the proper time to 

 plant. The trees will endure greater hardships, be least sus- 

 ceptible to the exposure of the roots to the air, and the amount 

 of evaporation from them will be at a minimum. Less care is 

 required, the labour and expense are not so great ; but in 

 the planting of choice fruit trees I think a little care bestowed 

 upon the protection of the fibres from the destructive influences 

 of dry air, and in sprinkling the foliage with water — ever better 

 than heavy soil waterings — to keep it fresh, with a slight shade 

 for a few days after planting, and careful watering, will be 

 amply repaid by the certainty of the trees making fresh root- 

 lets immediately. Such none but trees planted early, or 

 those not moved, can have ; for those moved after the leaves 

 fall remain just as they were planted until the return of 

 warm weather, in consequence of which the buds swell and 

 roots are protruded in quest of nutriment for their support. 

 A tree planted early, before or when the leaves are falling, 

 generally, and with me always, sends out fresh roots at once ; 

 it becomes well rooted before cold weather, and it is in a 

 condition to supply food to the blossom, the fruit, shoots, and 

 leaves when they are called into activity by warm genial 

 weather. Early planting, as "Escelsioe" justly remarks, is a 

 clear gain of a year over late planting, and a more vigorous 

 growth follows — a point of no small importance in the planting 

 of young trees. I want a tree with shoots that require training 

 the year after planting, and not stunted shoots that we may wish 

 to grow, but which will not do so until they are cut into the 

 quick, and something like a balance of root and head secured. 

 I have not the wish to cut in a fine tree at planting to little 

 more than a stump in order to obtain a growth, often no better 

 in one year than the tree had when it came from the nursery, 

 and unless it is cut in hard (late planting being practised), the 

 growth for the next year is miserably small. 



The present being the general time of planting fruit trees, I 

 will offer a few hints to intending planters. 



1st, Select trees that are not luxuriant, but moderately 

 vigorous in growth. In nine cases out of ten they will lift with 

 a quantity of fibres, it being difficult to shake the soil from them. 

 Trees of strong growth have strong, thick, tibreless roots ; they 

 require time after planting to form fibres. The moderately 

 vigorous have plenty of fibres ; they will make a good start in 

 spring, and the least possible time is lost. 



2ud, Plant the trees as soon as possible, keeping their roots 

 &a much as you can from the atmosphere, which dries them 

 and destroys their most important roots — the fibres — if long 

 exposed to its influence. 



3rd, Let the soil be in good order, not wet and sticking to the 

 feet of the planter, but so that there is no clogging of the 

 spade, no puddling of the feet in mud. 



4th, Make the hole large enough to hold the roots when 

 spread out straight and evenly, putting some good rich soU 

 under, over, and about the roots. 



5th, Plant on a cone, if the ground is heavy and wet natu- 

 rally, and in all cases it is well to keej) the trees high ; shallow 

 planting is better than deep. 



6th, Cut well in any thick long roots, they being for the 

 most part destitute of fibres, and especially any such roots 

 iaving a downward tendency. Any roots rendered ragged at 



the ends by breaking or cutting with the spade should be made 

 smooth by cutting with a sharp knife. 



7th, Give a gentle watering at planting, so as to settle the 

 earth about the roots. 



8th, Mulch the ground from the stem outwards as far as the 

 roots extend, with short littery manure 2 or 3 inches thick. 



9th, Do not apply manure to the soil at the time of planting ; 

 it is best given at the surface, and when well reduced in the 

 form of compost. 



10th, At planting, tie or fasten the trees to stakes to prevent 

 their being blown and knocked about by wind. 



11th, If the trees are required to make a vigorous growth 

 cut them well back early in November, the leaves having fallen ; 

 and if the trees had little but thick long roots, the head must 

 be reduced in proportion to the amount of fibrous roots. 



12th, If fruit is wanted and not growth, the less a tree ia 

 pruned in winter the better it will be of being planted in 

 autumn. 



13th, Give occasional waterings after planting during dry 

 periods in spring and early in summer, but avoid heavy and 

 constant waterings ; they only tend to render the soil cold and 

 hinder the tree's growth at the root. Sprinkling overhead is 

 better. — G. Abbey. 



SELECTION OF BEDDING PELARGONIUMS. 



As you have frequent inquiries respecting the best bedding 

 Pelargoniums, and as I have paid greater attention to this 

 class of plants than to any other, I venture to send you the 

 results of my observations. I should premise that all the sorts 

 1 mention have been tried either in whole beds, or in clumps 

 of three in a mixed border, and have nearly all stood the test 

 of at least two seasons. Those that I have only had this year 

 I do not include in my list, though I may mention Merrimao 

 (Lemoine), very like Lucius ; Waltham Seedling, very like Black 

 Dwarf ; and Comte de Morny as very promising. I have added 

 the letter t or h, the former signifying tender and apt to 

 damp off in the winter, and the latter hardy and not so liable. 

 The letters r and p signify that the variety will bloom freely 

 in tolerably rich soil, or requires a poor soil, a point of no small 

 importance, though, perhaps, to the amateur with inferior ap- 

 pliances for keeping his plants through the winter, of less con- 

 sequence than the question of hardiness. 



Here let me remark, that such amateurs owe a deep debt of 

 gratitude to the late Mr. Beaton for introducing the Nosegay 

 varieties, which are immeasurably hardier than the old Zonal 

 kinds. It is no exaggeration to say, that for one autumn cut- 

 ting of Stella or Cybister that I lose, ten die of such kinds as 

 Commander-in-Chief, Tom Thumb, and Trentham Eose. I 

 may mention that I have restricted the Nosegay class in the 

 following list to those with the characteristic long loose petals. 

 The Hybrid Nosegays, like Black Dwarf, are included with the 

 Zonals. 



The varieties are placed in what I consider the order of 

 merit. Those to which an asterisk (•) is prefixed, are what I 

 should recommend to purchasers, the others are unnecessary. 



•Stella, dark, h. r. 

 ♦Cybister, light, h. p. ! tall 

 OrangeNosegay, do.,h.p. J | 



Crimson. 



NOSEGAYS. 



Scarh't. 

 1 I *Monitor, light, h. r., dwarf. 



Spread Eagle, light, h. r., do. 



•Lord Palmerston, rosy, h. r. 

 Merrimao (Carter), dark, t. r. 



Ceri 

 Miss Parfitt, h. r. 



Beaton's Pet, magenta, h. p. 



I Mrs. Vernon, h. p. 



Pinlc. 

 Lady CuUum, t. r. | Premier, h. p. 



It is difficult to decide on the comparative merits of Stella 

 and Cybister, but they are of such different tints of scarlet 

 that everybody should have both, and plant Cybister in the 

 poorest and driest situation in his garden, while Stella may be 

 planted anywhere. Monitor is an exceedingly good dwarf va- 

 riety, with large flowers and broad petals, of a very light orange 

 scarlet. It is of the same colour as Orange Nosegay, but superior 

 in every respect except hardiness. Spread Eagle is very small 

 in truss. Lord Palmerston is the most effective rosy-crimson 

 bedder, and, indeed, one of the finest bedders of any colour I 

 know, but the long loose petals get sadly mauled by wind and 



