J«»e,17',fl«fi9.Ji 



JODBiNAIi < OF : aOB'yiOUl'lCUKE ANift ' 0OTXAGE GARDENKR. 



406 



considerations of soil and climate in adopting it gonerally, in 

 pretereuce to the Pear, for slnndnrds or pyramids. 



We are experimenting on a limited scale with the Apple on 

 the French Paradise etouk, and mnj- Lave sometbing to say 

 abont it some other time ; but we have not tried the Quince 

 for the Pear, nor — although we do not pretend to decide con- 

 clusively in the matter — would we like to plant extensively on 

 it for general purposes under any oircumstMnces, except in 

 the orchard house. 1 have seen it tiied at different times and 

 places, but in no case has the result ever been such as would 

 encourage any one to use it in preference to the Pear, consider- 

 ing what can be aocompliehed with the latter under judicious 

 oaltivation. Some varieties will succeed on the Quince for a 

 while; but it is an aoknowledged fact, that others will refuse to 

 live on it, and that in a general way they are shortlived. The 

 trees are also email, and the fruit limited in quantity, dis- 

 advantages which the slight superiority which it possesses in 

 flavour does not compensate. It is true that Mr. Robert 

 Thompson speiks of trtes which have flourished on tho Quince 

 stock for forty years, but this seems to have been an excep- 

 tional case, for he is oaulioos in recommending it, unless for 

 special situations, while Dr. Lindley discusses tho subject only 

 in a purely theoretical way. When in the west of Scotland, 

 about two years ago, I called upon a gardener wlio had been 

 led to plant a number of Pears worked on the Quince some 

 years before, in the sanguine anticipation of being able to 

 counteract the difiadvantages of a dropping climate ; but the 

 experiment had resulted in disappointment. Although the 

 trees had the advantage of a wall and had every attention, they 

 were not in a flourishing condition. Some of them seemed as 

 if they were not long for this world; and even the healthiest 

 looked as if getting to the top of the wall was a feat never can- 

 templated in their ambition. There has, I think, been ample 

 time to test the merits of the Quince stock ; but I question if 

 any favourable examples of its adaptability for general purposes 

 oould be found. Mr. Powell, of Frogmore, whose practical ex- 

 perience in fruit tree culture entitles him to speak on the sub- 

 ject, says :— " As far as my experience goes in this matter, I 

 think the Pear worked on the Quince only fit fora very small 

 garden, or tor orchard houses ; and it is evident only particular 

 kinds will grow on the Quiuce for any length of time : others 

 wiU scarcely exist, are unfit to bear fruit either in quantity 

 or quality, and perish in the end. And if a uniform growth, 

 fine fruit, and long-lived trees be songht for, it is bettor to use 

 tlie Pear stock ; and by judicious root-pruning, miniature trees 

 in a productive state may be obtained equally as well as on the 

 Quince stock ; and for general purpo-es the Pear is to be pre- 

 ferred." Sec-iog, therefore, that the advantages of the Quiuce 

 are, to say the least, doubtful, and considering that equally 

 satisfactory and more lasting results can be obtained by using 

 the Pear, and the mortification of seeing your trees drop off 

 one by one, just when they are " come of age," avoided, would 

 it be advisable to recommend it ? 



Most assuredly the roots of the Pear stock will penetrate 

 deeply into the subsoil if allowed, as we have had experience, 

 and the results will be canker, cracking, and other evils; but this 

 is simply a question of attention and labour, without which, it 

 is admitted, wo cannot succeed with the Quiuce. It is surpris- 

 ing how, by pitching and reguUr root-pruning, trees on the 

 Pear stock can be dwarfed. In the end a kind of balance be- 

 tween the roots and branches is obtaioeci, and there is little 

 difficulty afterwards in keeping them in that condition, while 

 a skilful use of the pruning knife is all that is required to keep 

 the trees in form. 



Some years ago wo fonnd a lot of young pyramid Pear trees 

 here, about ten or a dozen years of age, that had run riot with 

 their roots in the deep loamy subsoil beneath, and were making 

 growths every year from 3 to 5 feet in length. One halt of 

 them we root pruned on one side only ; the others we did all 

 ronnd, chopping the long, bare, fibrous roots through about 

 4 feet from the stem, and cutting a tongue on them with the 

 knife about every 9 inches. Those which had been half done 

 showed very little appearance of having been meddled with the 

 following season, saving a slight decrease in the vigour of the 

 shoots on tho side which had been root-pruned. The others of 

 course sustained a severe check, and made nothing but leaves 

 the following summer. Since then they have been once or 

 twice root-pruned, or lifted altogether in making some re-arrange- 

 ments among the trees, and most of them have borne excellent 

 fruit every year. Some varieties do not finish as well as oould 

 be desired, but the situation is high and cold, and unfavoiuable 

 to Pears generally aa standards. 



By tliese means, and mulching with manure as much as we 

 can afford, we keep the roots within a few iuchep of the surface ; 

 and when lifted, they are a mass of fibres, and more like the 

 roots of a Box tree than anything else. In this condition the 

 trees are easily moved. Fuur men can lilt a dozen of them in 

 a short day with very little injury to the roots; and we have 

 had excellent fruit off trees that had been transplanted the 

 preceding winter. The trees in question are now covered with 

 a perfect spray of flower buds, which look, in their half-ex- 

 panded condition, like a swarm of bees on the branches. We 

 coutrive, if possible, to lift about a third of the trees every 

 autumn, and in this way we are always euro of a crop on some 

 of theifi. — J. Simpson- (J'Ac Gardener). 



AUTUMNAL COLOURS OF LEAVES. 



I CAN attest that the statement in the annexed extract is not 

 " bunkum," for I have rejieated tho experiment more tham 

 once. " The green colour of leaves, one element of which must 

 be a vegetable blue, has led an American experimentalist to the 

 conclusion that leaves turn red at the end nf the season through 

 the action of un acid, and that i ho green colour could be restored 

 by the action of an alkali. Tho conclusion has been verified 

 by experiment : — autumnal leaves placed under a reotivtr with 

 vapour of ammonia in ueaily every instance lost the red colour 

 and renewed their green. In some, such as the Sassafras, Black- 

 berry, and Maple, the change was rapid and could be watched 

 by the eye, while others, particularly certain Oaks, turned 

 gradually brown, without showing any appearance of green." 

 — H. T. C. 



[The experiment needed no repetition, for it was proved many 

 years since that the autumnal tints ot leaves are caused by the 

 presence of an excess of acid. The following is an extract from 

 Johnson's " Science and Practice of Gardening" detailing and 

 explaining the fact : — 



" The yellow, red, and light brown tints which render the 

 foliage of our plants so beautiful in autumn, arise from the 

 absorption ot an excess ot oxygen gas. When the reduced 

 temperature ot the season deprives a leaf of the power to 

 elaborate the sap, and, indeed, stops the circulation to it of 

 that fluid, the absorbent powers ot the organ are reversed, 

 and, instead of carbonic aeid, it inhales oxyj>en. The effect is 

 speedily perceptible. Gallic acid forms, and this, modified by 

 the various saline constituents of different leaves, changes the 

 hue of their greon colouring matter, called chlorophyll orchro- 

 mule, into various tints of yellow, red, and brown. This is the 

 general effect of acids noting upon vegetable greens, and that it 

 is the cause of ths autumnal cliuogi of coiour in leaves is proved 

 by the fact, that if a green leaf bo dipped into an acid it assumes 

 the same hue ; and if some red or yellow leaves be dipped into 

 an alkaline solution they are rendered green— the alkali evidently 

 neutralising the acid that had wroughs the unnatural change of 

 colour."] ^ 



ASPARAGUS CUTTING. 



This subject has of late been very much in my thoughts, 

 and I had intended wriiiug a few v.ords on it before your reply 

 to "T.," in vour number of May 27ih appeared. I had myself 

 acted pretty'muoh as your reply to " T." recommended ; it is 

 only since I have come to my ipresent locality, and watched the 

 treatmant adopted by a friend, that I have been led to doubt 

 the propriety of the practice. My friend has five or six beds, 

 made forty years ago at least. Before they came into his 

 possession he used frequently to receive a dish with the owners 

 compliments; my friend says that the shoots were most 

 diminutive, smaller than a tobacco pipe. When, thirty or 

 more years ago, he came into possession, he began on another 

 tack — he never would cut a small shoot; accordingly for many 

 years his dishes were few, but he persistently adhered to his 

 plan, and by degrees the size very materially increased. This 

 season I have seen these beds daily, and daily dishes have been 

 cut not only for himself but for his fiiends, for I call his 

 garden the " parish garden." Eirely does he cut a shoot that 

 is not half an inch in diameter; indeed, he is so particular 

 that he will not allow any profane hands to meddle with the 

 beds, he alone wielding tho knife ! His friends say, " Why, 

 vou do not half cut your beds." This, however, the day-after- 

 diy cutting disproves, but the beds appear so, because every 

 snail head is sacred, and old as the beds are, each year the 

 size increases, so that by-and-by there will be no small heads 



