422 



JOUBNAIi OP HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEIb. 



[ Jane M, ItU. 



in the north, thongh this preserve is not seen in onr shops. 

 The plant grows well near London in a pot, treated as an Alpine. 

 — G. S. ^ 



SUMMER PINCHING FRUIT-TREE SHOOTS. 

 I MUST again in defence repeat the general reoommendations 

 given by rne at page Sm in reference to this important opera- 

 tion. '' Pinch the strongest shoots first," which are in general 

 those situated at the top of the tree, and then in the conrse of 

 four or six days repeat the operation on those the next lower 

 down or the next stronger, and so on. I might have added, 

 Keep the top part of the tree, which is always inclined to grow 

 the strongest on account of the sap flowing more freely upwards, 

 in subjection to the lower, so that a perfectly equal distribution 

 of the sap and uniform action of its forces may be secured ; for 

 in this way and no other can a tree which is formally trained, 

 or confined in its energies, be made equally fruitful throughout. 

 Thus, practically with a horizontal-trained Pear tree on a 

 wall with nine tiers of branches, I recommend the follow- 

 ing method :— First operation : Stop the shoots on the three 

 top branches to from two to four eyes, and merely arrest the 

 progress of those on the next three branches, or any similarly 

 stronggrowing part, each as the shoots down or near the centre, 

 by taking out their poiuts, or, where very strong, reducing them 

 to one-half. Second operation : Stop the shoots on the second 

 three branches to from four to six eyes, and take the points off 

 the others. Third operation : Knb the secondary shoots, if any 

 have appeared, quite clean off the top branches, and stop 

 the shoots on the last three to from six to eight eyes. The 

 ttee has thus to be gone over three times, and afterwards to 

 keep down the secondary growths. With smaller trees so 

 many operations may not be necessary, yet some require even 

 more particularity in their manipulation. The theory and 

 praetioe of the work are, however, still the same. 

 . Your correspondent, Mr. K. Inglis (see page 40.3), says " it is 

 »• mistake" to follow the practice I have recommended, for 

 " if the strongest " shoots " are to be pinched, then the weak 

 ones should not be touched at all," and quotes a passage from 

 "Johnson's Science and Practice of Gardening" in support of 

 Lts ideas. " When it is necessary to stop all the shoots of a 

 plant, the weakest ought to be first stopped, in order to get 

 them stronger," &o. Now, this taken from such an authority, 

 standing by itself, seems a very formidable argument to get 

 over. It is, however, badly selected by Mr Inglia, and entirely 

 nni.''applied. Mr. Inglis should have quoted at the same time 

 the lines immediately preceding. " We stop the strongest 

 shoots to arrest the current of the sap, and so force it into'lhe 

 iteaker branches." Truly it requires nearly as much knowledge 

 to read scientific books as to write them. Mr. Inglis should 

 practice first and quote afterwards; then he would understand 

 th»t pinching the growing shoots of a Laurel, when subsequent 

 growth is desired, has no afBaity to pincliing the growing 

 shoots of a fruit tree, where the desire is entirely to arrest the 

 growth of shoots, and induce the formation of fruit buds at 

 their base. "It is not" (quoting from the same paragraph), 

 "to make a fruit tree more bushy that we stop the robbers." 

 No ; but to cause uniformity of action, and thereby fertility 

 throughout. 



Mr. Inglis gives a very good illustration of how dependant 

 the roots of a tree are upon its leaves, in the ca=e of his Cu- 

 cumber plants. Leaves elaborate the sap which they receive 

 from the roots, and return the same greatly altered, and other- 

 wise ijjflaenced, into the stem to form woody fibre. The mere 

 stopping of a shoot, the taking off or the destruction of any 

 portion of its leaf surface, arrests the even flow of the sap in 

 that direction, which is then directed towards the other parts 

 not so disturbed. Strip the leaves entirely off a shoot, and 

 there will be no further increase of wood on that particular 

 shoot until new leaves have been formed. The stronger a 

 shoot grows the more woody fibre does it form, and the more 

 vessels for the ascent of sap, and its strength will just be in 

 proportion to its leaves ; therefore by reducing its leaf-power 

 we arrest the flow of sap, and diminish its luxuriance. 



My remarks apply entirely to fruit trees, although I may say 

 I should be inclined to follow the same practice in regard to 

 almost every class of plants, with few exceptions. Wbere a 

 mere bush is wanted the theory "of stopping the weakest 

 shoots first in order to get them stronger " may in some in- 

 stances apply. It is a pretty theory to have the buds on the 

 weaker shoots ready to push on the stronger being stopped, yet 

 it will not hold good always. Some shoots are oooasionally so 



weak in comparison to the others that they will never push At 

 all ; the strong shoots being unchecked push all the stronger, 

 and when stopped they are in possession of so much pent-np 

 force that nothing can restrain them. It the difference between 

 the shoots be not very great, and all nearly similarly situated, 

 subsequent growth being desired, then it will answer to pinch 

 the weaker shoots first, and the stronger afterwards. But in 

 fruit culture another end is aimed at, and to achieve success 

 we must take the other card, and " pinch the strongest shoots 

 first." — AECHAMBAnn! 



MANCHESTER EXHIBITION OP THE ROYAL 

 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 We have to remind fruit growers of the two prizes amount- 

 ing to Twenty (iuiveas, offered by the Proprietors of this Jour- 

 nal, at the meeting of the Koyal Horticultural Society at 

 Manchester on the 19th of July. Two prizes of the value of 

 ten guineas each are offered for "the best two desserts con- 

 sisting of not less than seven kinds of fruits of 1869, arranged 

 as for the table, and combining quality of fruit with taste in 

 arrangement." No award will be made if the judges consider 

 the exhibitions unworthy of the prizes. ^ 



We have had several letters requesting information on some' 

 of the details. One asks if Black and White Grapes would be 

 admitted as separate dishes. We answer, yes ; but of all other 

 kinds of fruits, only one dish of each will be admitted. As 

 regards the number or quantity of fruit in each dish, that must 

 be left entirely to the taste and judgment of the exhibitor. A 

 large number of indifferent fruit would not certainly be success- 

 ful against a smaller quantity of that which is greatly superior ; 

 and neither would a greatly insufficient quantity of superior 

 fruit take the precedence of a sufficiency of that which may be 

 of meritorious growth. The taste of the exhibitor must ba 

 shown in this as well as in the setting-up and arrangement of 

 his collection. 



Although seven dishes are mentioned as the minimum, any 

 greater number may be shown, so long as they consist of 

 different kinds (not different varietie>) of fruits, with the ex- 

 ception of Grapes, of which White and Black may be shown. 



Every exhibitor will be required to find his own dishes or 

 fruit-stands ; and he is at liberty to make use of any design 

 or arrangement he may think proper. 



The prizes are open to competition between amateurs and 

 gentlemen's gardeners only. 



NEW HOTHOUSE BOILER. 



Aftbb reading Mr. Pearson's previous article upon hothouse 

 boilers, I have been waiting somewhat anxiously, and with as 

 much patience as I could command, to hear something further 

 respecting the one concerning which he had formed such a higli 

 opinion. Mr. Pearson has at last fulfilled his promise and 

 gratified my curiosity (see page 391). 



As was to be expected, this new boiler is set down as being 

 the very best that was ever invented or brought before the 

 public. Like all other new things, it possesses every point 

 that is desirable, is haply free from aU that is objectionable^ 

 and is the very acm,6 of perfection. Indeed, the advance upon 

 all other kinds is so great, that as nearly as possible it heats 

 the water without any fuel at all — " A mere handful of fire 

 made the water in GOO feet of 4-inch pipe quite hot while I waa 

 at dinner; and so rapid was the circulation, that on turning a 

 valve connecting 200 feet more of piping in a frame, the return 

 pipe was quite hot in ten minutes." It has "comparatively 

 nothing to do ;" and " I intend to add 600 feet of pipingto 

 it, and then I think it will be far more than sufficient for it8 

 work " — viz., 1400 feet of 4inch pipe. Well, I am sure W» 

 shall all feel grateful to Mr. Foster for his invention, and also,' 

 to Mr. Pearson for so generously making it known to the^ubUC ;■ 

 but the inevitable impression made upon the mind when readi 

 ing the above quotations is that Mr. Pearson in his enthusiasw 

 has gone too far. I do not know what sized hand Mr. Pearson's 

 may be, but if it is anything like the hand of an ordinary 

 mortal, then I venture to assert that it will not hold sufficient 

 fuel to heat the water in 800 feet of 4-inch piping. Would a 

 mere "handful of fire" bail an ordinary teakettle when full? 

 But perhaps Mr. Pearson by mistake wrote the word " hand '' 

 instead of "shovel," and meant to say that a " mere shovel- 

 ful," Sea. If so, I still dispute the fact. One shovelful of fue 

 under a boiler 3 feet 9 inches long woald not make the water 



