AprU 13, litfg. 1 



JOUa^^AL OF HORTICOLTOBE AND OOTTAOE QABDBNEB. 



263 



be pickfd off as fast as the? appear, oommnnciiig with the 

 central stem liret, and then adopting tlie PAiiie proceeding with 

 tbe side branches, and this picking-off of the flower buds will 

 have to be persisted in until the plants are as large as required. 

 In picking oil the buds care should be taken to leave some on 

 all the shoots, but take ol! aU that are the size of peas, as 

 when of larger size they stop the growth of the plants. The 

 removal of the flower buds may be practised to within a fort- 

 night of the time at which the plants are required to bloom, 

 they taking about that time when the buds are of the size of 

 peas, so that the period of blooming may be determined to a 

 nicety. If large plants are not wanted, we have only to pick 

 off the buds from the central shoot until there are buds on the 

 side shoots, and we can then thin them out to a distance of 

 1 or 2 inches along the shoots, and allow the plants to bloom. 

 It is necessary to thin out the flower buds, for these form too 

 thickly on the shoots, and not having room for proper expan- 

 sion, the individual flowers will be small as compared with 

 those on plants properly attended to in this respect. 



The repotting must be performed as soon as the pots become 

 filled with roots, the plants being shifted into pots a size 

 larger, and this repeatedly until they are as large as wanted. 

 In shifting, the plants should be sunk deeper in the pots, but 

 it is well not to tiuk them more deeply than within an inch 

 of where the seed leaves were situated ; in no case ought they 

 to be sunk lower than this, and I think it is better when they 

 show some portion of the stem. The size of the pot will vary 

 with the size of plant, but I consider 8 or 9-inch pots quite 

 large enough. The last shift may be given about a month 

 before the plants are required to bloom, and the pots will be full 

 of roots in about a fortnight ; then, in place of increasing the 

 size of pot, we have only to feed the plants with liquid manure, 

 which will be required at every alternate watering, and it 

 should be given in all cases after the last shift when the pots 

 are full of roots, to maintain the swelling of the buds, and keep 

 np the vigour of the plants. 



No stakes should be used, but the csntral stem must be kept 

 straight by frequently turning the plant round,, and the side 

 shoots should be tied down bo as to feather the plant near the 

 pot, and in this way a symmetrical and pyramidal form should 

 be sought; but this tjing-down and regulation of the side 

 shoots will only be needed for a time, for when the plants are 

 coming into bloom every tie must be removed. 



In no case ought the soil to be kept constantly saturated, 

 but whenever it is likely to become too dry a good watering 

 should be given — enough to show itself at the drainage. The 

 foliage must not be permitted to flag from want of water. 

 Occasional syringingsare beneficial, and a light sprinkhng may 

 be given morning and evening until the floorer buds expand, 

 when it must be discontinued, and the paths and other sur- 

 faces sprinkled with water two or three times a-day to produce 

 a moist atmosphere, which the plants flourish in ; but it must 

 not be very close, otherwise they will become weak. They 

 sbonldhave moisture abundantly, but it ought to be accompanied 

 with air ; they will then have fine foliage, and thick sturdy 

 stems and shoots. 



The best soil I have used is turf taken from a pasture, Ij inch 

 thick, where the soil is a good rich sandy or light loam. After 

 it has been kept for six months in alternate laytrs with cow dung 

 or horse droppings, it should be chopped and broken np rather 

 finely, but not sifted. In case of there not being compost of 

 this kind, one-fourth of old cow dung may be added to light 

 turfy loam ; or well-rotted hotbed manure may be used if cow 

 dung is not to be had. These materials well mixed will grow 

 Balsams well. Good drainage should be given. 



In summer the plants succeed best in a cold pit or deep 

 frame, as they can then be more readily kept moist, and have 

 the treatment specially suited for them, than when grown in a 

 house shaded by climbers or Vines, Balsams not requiring any 

 shade except when pricked or potted-off, and only then until 

 they become again established. 



Fine large plants may be had in eight or nine weeks from 

 sowing. Plants from seed sown in April will flower by the 

 middle of June, those from the May sowing by the middle of 

 July, and those from the June sowing at the end of August. — 

 G. Abbey. 



PRE\T:NTrXG THE BLEEDING OF VINES. 



The composition used by painters, called " knotting," is the 

 most simple, cheap, and effectual remedy that I have yet met 

 with for preventing tbe bleeding of Vines, &e. I have used it 



two years, and it has in every case answered satisfactorily. I 

 would advise everyone who has not done so to give it a trial, 

 and make knov,Ti the results. It may be had from any painter, 

 and I find from an advertisement in Tde Jocrxaj, of Hon- 

 TiciiLTDKB that knotting is to be had at 10s. per gallon. — 

 L. Temple. 



THE GOOSEBEREY THEE PYHAATTDAT.LY 

 TKAIXED. 



While so much attention has been paid to the various 

 methods of training frait trees generally, and Apple and Pear 

 trees in particular, it is not a little surprising to find that the 

 Gooseberry and Currant have in most cases escaped all innova- 

 tions in training, and have been allowed to maintain the bush 

 or cup-like form. True, there is to be found in almoEt every 

 garden in the kingdom a portion of the shady side of a north 

 wall covered with the Eed and the White Currant, while the 

 Gooseberry may occasionally be found occupying a similar posi- 

 tion, all subjected to the roughest usage, with no pruning or 

 training, and generally noticeable more as objects of neglect 

 than of successful culture. " Ayeshike Gaudener " some time 

 ago suggested in this Journal a method which be had himself 

 tried — viz., training the Gooseberry to strained wires near the 

 ground, cordon fashion ; and no doubt a number of such regu- 

 larly intersecting a garden, by way of dividing the different 

 quarters, would have a neat appearance. With these and other 

 slight exceptions the Gooseberry and Currant are invariably 

 met with trained in bush form. It is to another mode of train- 

 ing the Gooseberry and Currant that I would now direct at- 

 tention ; if the Apple and Pear can by pruning and training 

 be madeto assume almost any form we may desire, why should 

 not the Gooseberry and Currant be made to do the same '! It 

 may be here argued that the latter two in their natural state 

 always partake of the bush form, while the former, under the 

 same conditions, attain more majestic proportions, and there- 

 fore we ought always to study the natural form ; neither the 

 Gooseberry nor Currant naturally partakes of a pyramidal form, 

 and it is to this form that I wish to call attention, for I believe 

 the Red and White Currant, and especially the Gooseberry, to 

 bemuch more amenable to pyramidal training that the Apple or 

 Pear. Previous to entering my present situation I had not seen 

 the Gooseberry so trained, nor had the thought ever occurred 

 to me of the tree's adaptability to that form ; and it was with a 

 feeling, if not of actual astonishment, certainly of something 

 akin to it, when I beheld for the first time pyramid-trained 

 Gooseberry trees. The large size and the apparent age of 

 these trees impressed me some time afterwards with the idea 

 that this had been a form of training long since given up, 

 and hence the reason that I had never met with any so trained 

 before. 



Between thirty and forty Gooseberry trees are trained in the 

 pyramidal form here. I can give no information as to the age 

 of the oldest and best of these trees, fifteen in number. In height 

 they average from 7 to S feet, and the diameter at the base of 

 the pyramid is about the same. They are quite as regular in 

 outline as a Fachsia grown for exhibition purposes, and this 

 with little, if any, tjing-in of branches. A strong stake in 

 the centre is all the support necessary, and to this one and 

 occasionally two leading shoots are tied ; side shoots emanate 

 from these, and by the careful selection of such for retaining, 

 and an eye to pruning at the requisite length, the pyramidal 

 form can be easily maintained. Had it betn thought necessary 

 or desirable these trees might have attained, and could yet be 

 made to attain, much larger dimensions, as the centre shoots had 

 reached the extreme limit of their supports long ago, and the 

 side branches have been encroaching on a walk and on each 

 other many a day. The varieties so trained are old and com- 

 mon ; they include Pi=d Warrington, Ironmonger, Sulphur, 

 Golden Lion, Hedgehog, &c. Anyone can picture to himself 

 the splendid appearance presented by such trees when bounti- 

 fully laden with ripe fruit. 



It ia not necessary to plant further apart than the usual 

 distance — from a to 6 feet, should the object be to train 

 pyramidally ; because, although the plant is made to attain a 

 greater height, it does not extend further sideways than when 

 trained in bush form. 



To me it appears that this method of training the Gooseberry 

 and Currant possesses advantage over the old and common 

 form, apart from the more handsome appearance presented. 

 A greater quantity of fruit is produced, as a consequence of 

 the greater size of the plant, and the fruit is not covered with 



