AprU 29, 1869. ] 



JOOBNAL OF HOBTIOUIiTUaB AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



386 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Dny 



o> 



Moutb 



Day 



of 

 Week. 



APRIL 20 -MAT 0, 1689. 



Th 



P 



S 



Sru 



M 



To 



W 



Meetiog oi R^val Society, and Anniversary 



[Meeting of Zoologiciil Society. 



5 Sunday after Easter. 

 Meetinc of Entnmolotjicnl Society, 7 r.M, 

 Uiiyal Horticultural Society, Friiit. Floral, 

 Land General Meeting. 



Moon j Moon 

 ItiacB. I Setu. 



m h. 

 12afll 



morn. 



7 



58aI0 

 45 7 



37 8 

 84 9 

 f,:, 10 



38 11 

 aftc . 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 

 < 

 22 

 33 



Clock 

 after 

 Son. 



8 U 



8 18 



8 24 



S 80 



Day 



of 



Year 



119 

 120 

 131 

 122 

 128 

 121 

 12S 



From observationa taken near London during the last forty-two years, the average day tomperatoro of the week is 61.8' ; and its night 

 temperature 88.9'. The greatest heat was 79", on the 29th, 1840; and the lowest cold 18°, on the 29th, 1861. The greatest faU of rain 

 waa 1.26 inch. 



HEADING DOWN 



NEWLY-PLANTED FKUIT 

 TREES. 



HEN isUic i-inht time for the proper per- 

 formance of this operation ? Does a nowly- 

 planted tree require dillerent treatment in 

 respect to t)ie pruning or sliortening of the 

 shoots from ono that has not been trans- 

 planted '.' or may they each be treated alike, 

 having no regard to the check experienced 

 by the one, or the unabated vigour of the 

 other ? To the experienced this may ap- 

 pear a simple question. It is one, however, on which a 

 great diversity of opinion exists ; it is one, also, which is 

 deserving of much consideration, as upon its proper under- 

 standing often, in my opinion, depends greatly the future 

 of the tree. 



However carefully we may transplant a tree, there is a 

 certain check given ; a certain disorganisation of the sys- 

 tem takes place. Pruning has also the same tendency ; 

 although in plants whose root action is good its effects 

 are generally a concentration of energy and increased 

 vigour. I am of opinion that when the roots and tops are 

 shortened at the same time, the check administered is 

 twofold. With established plants we can prune to an eye 

 with the certainty that it will push furtli at the proper 

 season. With newly-planted trees, however, we can do 

 no such thing ; there is in every case more or less risk. I 

 therefore in practice like to plant as early as possible, and 

 to wait until the buds begin to push in spring before head- 

 ing down tlie trees ; then the operation can be performed 

 with satisfaction. With young trees so many buds are 

 reckoned as so many branches. However late the trees 

 may be planted, the same practice is adopted — that is, the 

 ti'ees are allowed to get into action before pruning is 

 attempted. 



In plants the sap flows in regular channels throughout 

 the entire system. When action commences in spring the 

 first greatest flush is in the channels of the previous year, 

 towards particular buds, generally the terminal ones, wliich 

 are the first to expand. By pruning, this regular flow is in- 

 tercepted ; in an established tree with regular root action 

 new channels are soon provided, which are then of course 

 ruore fully supplied than formerly, and increased vigour is 

 the result. In the case of a newly-planted tree witli im- 

 paired root action the flow is naturally the same towards 

 the exicting outlets — the terminal buds, and if they are 

 wanting, having been pruned, the circulation is stayed, and 

 strength is wanting to form new channels. 



This may lie arguing the point rather closely, and taking 

 extreme views of the question. Ordinarily young trees 

 are not much injured by transplanting, so that they re- 

 quire no very exceptional treatment ; yet it is well to try 

 to check them as little as possible. In the case of imported 

 trees, or plants which have been some time out of the 

 ground, it is often necessary to take the greatest care to make 

 them survive. In this way I recommend general precau- 

 tion, and the safest plan to follow is to wait until it is seen 

 what action the trees are in before heading them down. 



No. 422.— Vol. XVI., New Sbribb. 



I have been induced to make these observations in con- 

 sequence of reading a very interesting article by your able 

 correspondent, Mr. LucUhurst, at page am, on the " Cul- 

 ture of Hardy Fruit Trees," in wliich he recommends the 

 shortening of the shoots at the time of planting. Some 

 others, Mr. Luckhurst states, maintain that it is better 

 not to do so until one year after planting. Now, as I 

 could agree witli neither of these practices altogether, 

 although there are instances where eitlier may be executed 

 with advantage, or seemingly so. I have stated my views 

 and my practice, which, although not patriarchal, has 

 been somewhat varied in this line. I object to laying 

 down for general adoption a rule wliich ought only to be 

 adopted in exceptional cases. Mr. Jjuckhurst's experience. 

 I have no doubt, may justify the practice he recommends. 

 I can scarcely, however, understand him in his reasonings 

 on the subject , they seem to me very vague. Possibly, 

 however, that is my "fault. — Archamb.^cd. 



HELLEBORUS r(F:TIDUS FOR VASES IN 

 WINTER. 



DuiiiN'o the winter and spring it looks so dreary to see 

 the vases empty, which in summer are tilled with Pelar 

 gouiums, that we have tried several evergreen plants to 

 till the place of tlie gayer summer ones, and I can recom- 

 mend as the best I have seen the wild Hellebore (Helle- 

 borus fcetidus). It is strictly evergreen, the leaves hang 

 most architecturally over the stone edges, and the flowers, 

 which last during March and April, rise well above the 

 foliage, the stems ■^»eing so substantial that the plant is 

 alike uninjured by wind or ram. Planted in October or 

 November, the plants remain in perfection till taken out 

 in May. They can citlier be kept alnays in pots of the 

 proper size for the vases, and plunged during the heat of 

 summer, or lifted, when moved, with a ball of earth round 

 the roots, the latter plan being better if it is wished to 

 multiply them. — E. B 



FRUIT PROSPECTS. 



I I'EAR that the severe weatiier we experienced during 

 March and the early part of April has had the efi"ect ot 

 reducing what was once a bright prospect of a good crop oi 

 wall fruit to that of a poor one, for on looking round to- 

 day (April 22nd), T perceive unmistakeable traces of the 

 efl'ect of the weather on both the bloom and foliage of 

 such tender fruits as Apricots, Peaches, and Nectannes. 

 If they receive no further injury, the foUowing is liKely to 

 be tlie result : — 



Of Apricots, the best are the Breda, a small preservmg 

 fruit, and the Orange, but these have only an average 

 crop ; the Brussels, Moorpark. and Hemskerk, a very short 

 crop ; and the Royal Apricot, no fruit. This sort always 

 exhibits tenderness with me, for this year the foliage has 

 already been killed, and is breaking again. 



Of Peaches, the greatest snfl'erers are the Vanguard. 

 Chancellor, and Royal George. Their foliage is much 



No. 1074.-VOL. XLI., OlD Sebeb 



