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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jane 30, 1870. 



much ; one or two rows of Peas have been attacked with mildew, 

 which might have been prevented if we could have well watered 

 them in time, or even syringed them with clear lime and 

 sulphur water. One of our greatest drawbacks this season has 

 been the inability to use the syringe and the engine much, 

 owing to the want of clean water. For some time we have had 

 to depend on one large barrel of pure water a-day, and that 

 brought from a distance of Ihree miles. We made a sort of 

 vow a fortnight ago, that we would say no more about water, 

 but here it is again. But for our lawn becoming rather brown, 

 some people would tell us we must have abundance of water. 

 " Such a dense mass of Cabbages, such parasol-leaved Cauli- 

 flowers, could never come from a dry, exhausted soil." Well, 

 the chief antidotes have been deep stirring at first, moderately 

 manuring, Burface-stirring, and mulching afterwards. Our 

 earliest Cauliflowers were not only mulched with rotten dung, 

 but banked up with dry litter, after we knew the ground was 

 warm enough to bring them to perfection. Above all, we had a 

 rather stiff adhesive soil to fall back upon. It is in such seasons 

 that a holding land tells. We have been told repeatedly, that 

 in the light lands of Cambridgeshire the crops will be ex- 

 cessively light. We lately glanced over some of the large fields 

 at Luton Hoo, and so beautiful were the crops, that one might 

 have fancied the fields had the benefit of frequent and heavy 

 rains. No doubt much was owing to the superior cultivation, 

 but something was also owing to the holding character of the 

 soil. Light sandy soils are valuable for early crops, and sure 

 to be productive when from the heavens or artificially you can 

 let them have plenty of water, but if water be not given they 

 will be far inferior to stiffer loamy soils where cracks and 

 fissures are prevented by surface-stirring. 



The 23rd was the first day on which we gathered Broad 

 Beans and Dwarf Kidney Beans out of doors ; both had been 

 planted out when 2 or 3 inches in height, but, as already stated, 

 we have had little cause to plant out this season, as the seeds 

 have not been molested. As to the general planting of vege- 

 tables, it seems to be out of the question during this weather. 

 We raised and transplanted with balls fine plants of Cauliflower 

 that had been pricked out previously, but even these would 

 have suffered much from the moving if we had not shaded 

 them. The season may well teach two valuable lessons. First, 

 before fixing on the site for large gardens, to make sure that 

 there shall be a fair supply of water ; and again, while if pos- 

 sible securing light dark-coloured soil for early crops, he as 

 anxious, if there is not abundance of water, to have more tena- 

 cious soil for general and late crops. 



FKUIT DEPARTMENT. 



The refreshing rain alluded to a week ago has given an im- 

 petus to wood growth, and during the week commencing on the 

 27th we shall be able to give some attention to thinning and 

 stopping summer growths of fruit trees. It is one of the evils of 

 the grouping system in large flower gardens, that for a month 

 or so almost everything else that will not directly suffer must 

 be kept in some measure in abeyance. They are fortunate 

 who can have this kind of work done without the family being 

 at home at the time, when many other matters must be daily 

 attended to. Getting the flower beds in order will often seem 

 a long and tedious operation, especially when, in exposed places, 

 it is of little use to plant without either pegging, or staking and 

 tying. For ourselves, we should never be able to keep anything 

 like symmetry of outline in beds without a free use of branch- 

 ing sticks ; but getting such supports and ultimately concealing 

 them involve extra labour, and all such matters often help to 

 keep the fingers from the fruit trees longer than they ought 

 to be. 



Apricot and Peach trees were gone over some time ago, but 

 the first will want looking to again. No treatment can be 

 worse than allowing long watery shoots to stand out and dangle 

 from the wall, robbing the smaller and moderate-sized shoots 

 not only of their due share of nourishment, but keeping from 

 them the sunlight. Such strong shoots will rarely become 

 fruitful under the most favourable circumstances. They are 

 chiefly useful when a space i3 to be filled up, and then when 

 nipped back to— say from 3 to 6 inches in length, several 

 shoots of moderate size can be obtained from each, which will 

 have the chance of being thoroughly matured before the end of 

 autumn. When other matters so press that the whole tree 

 cannot be gone over, and the wood laid close to the wall or 

 trellis, these extra strong shoots should either be early removed 

 or shortened back to obtain secondary shoots of less strength. 

 When fruited on the young wood, Apricots and Peaches gene- 

 rally do best when the wood is little thicker than a goose quill, 



and the sooner that is placed near the wall the more thoroughly 

 will the wood and buds be ripened. It is not uncommon to 

 see long shoots dangling from these trees in August, and 

 people complain that they obtain little fruit, as even the 

 blossoms that appear drop and refuse to set. As a rule we all 

 keep too much wood on these trees. Could we make np our 

 minds to thin-out the young Bhoots gradually, but so as eventu- 

 ally, without diminishing root action, to leave the wood tfiinner, 

 we should have it better matured, and consequently more fruit- 

 ful. Apricots do not only well on moderate-sized young wood, 

 but also on well-ripened spurs, and 30 do Peaches, and were we 

 planting afresh, we should be much disposed to lay in the 

 leaders 6 to 8 inches apart, and Bpur them. In such a case, as 

 in spurred Apricots now, the main shcots remain the same, 

 and the pruning is chiefly confined to nipping back the young 

 shoots in summer, just allowing enough of growth not to start 

 the small buds near the base, which we wish to mature into 

 fruit buds. Root-pruning is all very well, but much will not 

 be required where the growth of the head is duly regulated, and 

 the wood left, be it shoot or spur, has the opportunity to be- 

 come well ripened. 



Plum and Cherry trees bear chiefly on spurs on the two-year- 

 old wood, but the young shoots, if stopped early — that is, have 

 their points pinched out when about G inches long, and pretty 

 well exposed to the sun, will make fruit buds all along the 

 lower end of the shoot. After such stopping, a bud or two 

 will break into a wood shoot at the point ; these shoots should 

 be stopped again, but not all at once, as growing points keep 

 up healthy root-action, and these few allowed to progress a 

 little prevent the buds lower down breaking into growth. In 

 all such cases too strong watery shoots should either be early 

 removed or shortened back, according to what is required of 

 them. By such early stopping, even Apples and Pears may be 

 made to set fruit buds on the lower part of the summer shoots, 

 and frequently do so in abundance, when without such stop- 

 ping the fruit buds would seldom appear until the shoots had 

 passed through two summers. After the strong watery shoots 

 are removed it is often well to go over the top of the tree first, 

 and come down by degrees. This checks luxuriance where 

 the tree is apt to be too vigorous, and encourages growth 

 where it is apt to be most languid, and no sudden check to 

 growth is thus given. We have some low bush Plums that 

 now form a thick row. Do what we would in the spring, the 

 birds pretty well beat us by clearing them of thickets of fruit 

 buds. Having little fruit to carry in comparison with trees 

 well loaded, they have thrown out strong shoots at the top 

 since the rain, and these we trust to be able to remove and 

 shorten back on the 27th ; but to three-fourths of the lower 

 part of the trees we shall do little for a week or so, as the growth 

 there is comparatively moderate. 



Bush and Pyramidal Apple and Pear Trees we treat much 

 m the same manner, arresting and regulating mere growth at 

 the top of the tree first. This tends to secure a healthy 

 regular growth that will be well matured from top to bottom. 



Insects and Sojt-soap Water. — We have had reason to rejoice 

 in something like a principle of compensation this season. 

 Owing to a scarcity of clean water we could have done little as 

 respects washing fruit trees, and so far as insects are concerned 

 little has been required. We cannot well give up tobacco in 

 some of its forms, as the smoke when needed will reach nooks 

 and crannies, where washings with water would not, or even 

 could not, be applied. Unfortunately none of the cheap mix- 

 tures of tobacco are safe to burn among plants. For sprinkling 

 and dusting purposes, all the mixtures advertised are useful, 

 but the process of applying them in any way is tedious and 

 troublesome. All mere dipping and washing mixtures, of 

 which tobacco forms the main part, are not only nasty to use, 

 but if weak are of little service, and if strong they are apt to 

 be as damaging to the shoots as the fly. It would often be 

 much better for the plant to nip off the points chiefly affected, 

 instead of daubing and killing them with tobacco liquor. We 

 have often seen men with tobacco liquor dipping and brush- 

 ing shoots, when an active fellow with the free use of his 

 fingers as nippers and squeezers, and a forcible syringing after- 

 wards, would have gone over double the number of shoots, 

 and left nothing but cleanliness and health behind him. 

 Smoking we can hardly avoid in confined places. Dusting 

 with all the mixtures spoken of so highly in our pages is all 

 proper, and pepper in any of its shapes is thus valuable ; but 

 wherever such a mode is practicable commend us to washing. 

 We believe every wash recommended in these pages is good 

 when properly used, but the older we become the more we like 



