July 2, 1868. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOULTURB AND COTTAGE QARDENEB. 



^11 



Bident, Britisli Queen, &o., woulJ not show any baJ effects 

 under similar circumstances. When wo gathered from ft heavy 

 crop for preserving, the berries were actually flagging and 

 withering, when other kinds close to them were showing no 

 distress, though treated exactly aUke. This Strawberry, there- 

 fore, is peculiarly fitted for u damp position. Of course, in our 

 case, the myriads of succession fruit would not come to much, 

 but in a damp season, or where plentifully supplied with 

 water, this kind continues a very long time in bearing. Late 

 kinds, as Elton, Eleanor, &c., will be most useful this season, 

 especially where they could be kept moist. They are not to be 

 compared with others in tiavour, but then they aro Btraw- 

 berries, and their comparative acidity may bo neutralised by 

 Bome pounded sugar. A great epicure in Strawberries, even 

 as respects these late ones, was very particular that each 

 berry should be gathered by touching the stalk merely, and 

 be sent in the basket in which it was placed, or merely re- 

 versed on a plate, without any attempt being made to give a 

 neat appearance iu dishing. So particular was ho iu this 

 respect, that he often gathered his Strawberries himself ; and 

 then, seated with a small vessel of cream, and another of 

 pounded sugar, beside the Strawberries, as ho dipped the 

 Strawberry by the stalk in the cream, and then in the sugar, 

 before disposing of it, he used to say that the ancients never 

 tasted such a luxury, or they would not have talked such wild 

 romance about ambrosia and nectar as food and drink fit only 

 to be partaken of by their divinities. 



Fruit Crops. — Of Gooseberries there is an extraordinary 

 crop, far too thick after thinning for tarts and preserving, and 

 they should be thinned before ripening, to give the wood a 

 chance of growing sufEcieutly ; and Currants would have been 

 equally thick but for the birds that cleared them rather un- 

 mercifully when quite green, and in their case we will thin 

 and shorten the shoots as soon as possible. Baspberries only 

 want a thorough watering to make them nice, and without it 

 the fruit will be small. Cherries are ripening sooner than we 

 want them, and all our netting will not prevent our bird 

 Tisitors from having a few. What makes the stupid things 

 sing out when, inside a net, they see any one approaching '! Is 

 it because they have a strong consciousness of wrong-doing, 

 and are crying for mercy? Our Cherries, especially the 

 earliest, as we could not water theru, are smaller than usual — 

 much smaller than similar kinds in the orchard house iu pots, 

 where they had what watering they needed. Plums and these 

 iruit mentioned have mostly received their summer dressing, 

 and if we cannot attend to all, we will at least shorten the 

 shoots at the top of the trees, and let the lower ones have a 

 little more growth. Apples are dropping their fruit a little, 

 partly owing to the dryness, and thus thinning the super- 

 abundance are doing for themselves what should have been 

 done for them. 



Most of our dwarf Apple, Pear, and Cherry trees would 

 have been benefited by a good watering, and this is just one of 

 the cases where the amateur with only a few trees may be able 

 to do better for them than a gardener who has much to look 

 after, and affords an evidence why most improvements in all 

 trades and professions are more due to the amateur enthusiast 

 than to the men who engage in the profession as mere work- 

 men in a trade by which they must live. 



Went over the most of our Apricots and Peaches out of 

 doors, removing strong shoots, or what would be too strong for 

 fruiting next season, as it is now quite late enough to stop- 

 back such shoots in order to secure two or three of less 

 robust strength, which would ripen their wood for next season. 

 This early stopping of very strong shoots is one of the best 

 means of filling up gaps in trees, and of regulating the strength 

 of growth all over the tree, as every one of these strong shoots, 

 if allowed to grow, not only robs the rest of the tree of its due 

 strength, but proves useless of itself, as such extra growth can 

 rarely be so matured in our climate as to be fruitful in the 

 succeeding year, whilst if stopped early and from one to two or 

 more shoots taken from it, the stopping would divert the 

 strength of growth into other channels, and the one or more 

 shoots that came from the stopping would have the chance of 

 being perfected and ripened, so as to jjroduce in the following 

 year. We have not watered such trees as yet out of doors, 

 but we see we must do so ere long if there be not a change of 

 weather, or there will be a risk of the fruit falling. This is 

 neutralised so far iu our case, as the borders, some 5 feet from 

 the wall, have been cropped, and the crops needed a little 

 water. 



We woidd have no objection to deep borders for fruit trees, 



nay would rather prefer them, provided we could so treat them 

 that wo could by mulching and watering entice the i> uts within 

 a reasonable distance from the surface. In such seasons as 

 this, where the above means cannot bo resorted to, the roots 

 will go down iu search of moisture, just as we sink a well 

 deeper when the shallow one becomes dry ; and the conse- 

 quence of the roots going deep, where they obtain moisture 

 without much of the oxygen of the atmosphere, and especially 

 iu dull seasons, is the production of gross watery wood, which 

 our seasons are not bright and hot enough to mature, and the 

 result is either fruitless wood, or wood so soft, juicy, and im- 

 mature as to be killed by the frosts of winter. Iliuce where 

 such care as above cannot be given, the most fruitful borders 

 for trees will be those where the roots cannot go too deep, and 

 where the means for securing due strength can be communi- 

 cated from the surface. If we plant an Oak or a Pear tree for 

 timber we may treat them nearly alike ; but if we plant a 

 Pear tree and wish to eat fruit from it as soon as possible, we 

 must treat it dilferently from the Oak. 



Again, as respects Pftieli trees. Aprieots, ifc, on waUs out of 

 doors, let it not be forgotten that next year's frultfulnee& 

 depends on having the bearing wood of next season as much 

 exposed to the sun of the present as possible, and, therefore, 

 that all extra and useless wood should be removed as soon as 

 this can be done. We sometimes offend in this respect, just 

 because among conflicting claims some things cannot be at- 

 tended to as soon as they ought to be. We have heard of 

 cases where the gardener used to be nonplussed what to senc! 

 his men to do, everything was in such good order that he 

 actually was troubled to find a job. But we must say that in 

 our own observation and experience we never met with such 

 an instance. The great trouble is to do work in sufficient 

 time so that nothing may suffer from being passed over. Never- 

 theless, when one sees the shoots of Peaches, &c., against walls 

 hanging in a natural state in July and August, and being fixed 

 up to the wall when the sun is declining in power, we need not 

 wonder that year after year the trees produce less and less, and 

 only want a sharper winter than usual to destroy them al- 

 together. 



Such winters as 1860-01 killed or much injured many trees 

 well treated. We saw the other day a wall that was a picture 

 iu 185'J, and which has never recovered, and never will recover, 

 the injury sustained at the Christmas of another year of the 

 period named, even though treated in summer iu the very best 

 manner ; but if such was the effect of the frost on trees well 

 treated, what can we expect from the watery wood hanging 

 like a thicket from the wall in July and August ? The great 

 secrets for securing wall fruit are — stop strong robber shoots 

 early, get the bearing wood exposed to all the sun poFsible, anfl 

 keep the trees clean by clearing off all insects before they 

 establish themselves, and for a rough and ready and effectual 

 means for doing this latter cleaning, though valuing tobacco 

 dusts, grains, and liquids, commend us to a good lathing with 

 soft-soap water from a syringe or engine. 



Tohacco Powder, &c. — Here, in passing, let ns state, that we 

 had some of the kinds advertised as made up free from duty, 

 and there may be differences in the mixtures sent out by dif- 

 ferent makers, but for certain things we wiil use them with 

 great care especially under glass. Not wishing to fumigate, 

 nor yet under the circumstances to syringe overhead, we dusted 

 some fine shows of British (Jueen Strawberry on which the 

 green fly had presented itself, but for such a purpose we will 

 not use it again. In most oases the dusting killed the fly, but 

 the young fruit on which it chanced to light never grew after- 

 wards but became hard and shrivelled. 



Orchard House. — In last week's number we should have 

 stated, that we used the soap water at a temperature ranging 

 from 120' to 130°, and with no bad effects. Yesterday we 

 selected ten leaves near the top of the house most affected 

 with the red spider, and though closely examining these leaves 

 with a magnifying glass, we found only one red spider alive. 

 Though depending something on the daubing the wall with 

 sulphur and soft-suap, we will ere long give the trees another 

 good lashing. It will not do to use soap water after the fruit 

 is swelling to ripening, especially Peaches. The fruit has 

 mostly been gathered from the front of the Peach house, and 

 there, too, the red spider has been making its appearance 

 lately, but we cannot resort to very severe measures there until 

 the ripening fiuit is all gatherec". 



Vineries. — In re-arranging plant houses, itc, we have been 

 able to clear out all plants from the vinery from which we are 

 now cutting. The most tender sorts will not, therefore, be 



