December 'M, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKHCULTUBB AND COXIACiE UAKD£NBB. 



479 



seedlings are maiden trees, bnt I expect to obtain a little frnit 

 off each next fcason. I have not cut thorn clown, wliich ia tUo 

 nsual plan, but headed the trees down to 1 feet, and tied-in the 

 Bide shoots with bast, which I use ia the place of slireds, which 

 are unsightly and harbour all kinds of vermin. You must 

 not tie the bast too tightly, or you will produce gum. — W. 1''. 

 EitiCLVfFi:. ^ 



POINSETTIA PULCHERRIMA POISONOUS. 



As a warninf; to hothonse gardeners, I think it my duty to 

 inform yon of an accident which occurred to Jlr. Buck, my 

 gardener. On the 8th of this month, as he was pruning a 

 plant of Poiusettia pulcherrima, he cut his thumb, hut took no 

 notice of it at the time, so slight was the incision. On the 

 Thursday following, however, ha felt an uuploasant prickling 

 sensation in the thumb, which .soon extended up the arm. On 

 Friday it was succeeded by great numbness in his right arm 

 and leg, and upon consulting a medical man he found that the 

 poisonous juice of the plant produced those painful sensations. 

 His leg was so much benumbed as to render it useless, but 

 npon further applications of the fomentations and other 

 remedies prescribed, the baneful effects have now subsided, 

 leaving only a few spots on the lower part of his thumb, 

 similar to those of the small-pox. I considered that the above 

 statement was suffioienfly important to be noticed in your 

 valuable publication. The Jouriiai, op HoeiiCdlthke. — Oswald 

 UosLTSY, Kxxt., liolteston Hall. '"• ' 



PLANTING JMINTAtURE FRUIT TREES. 



Will " C. C. E.," who kindly gave us a short account of 

 his unfortunate experience of bufh-tree culture, tell us if ho 

 attributes the unfruitfulness of his trees solely to biennial 

 removal, or is the soil in fault, or r.ro the trees tliemsElves too 

 young to produce much fruit ? 



Now, as I am about to purchase a few trees and plant a small 

 plot of ground, I must confess that I read the remarks made 

 by " C. 0. E." with not a little discomfii'.ire, and almost 

 abandoned the idea of going to the expense of planting any 

 myself. Will " C. C. E.," if he has any trees planted in 

 the first year of his practice, and only lifted them once, tell 

 me how they succeed ? or will any of my brother readers of the 

 Journal, who have already planted miniature frnit giudeus, 

 give me a little of their experience, and tell me what twelve 

 kinds of Plums, the same complement of Cherries, and half 

 that number of Pears, succeed best as miniature trees, and 

 possess the two following qualities ; — Ist, That of being the 

 most prolific and abundant bearers ; 2Qd, That of forming the 

 most ornamentsi and handsome pyramids. Also what six 

 Apples — viz., the three very largest either for dessert or 

 kitchen purposes ; one medium-sized red- skinned vp.riety ; one 

 small yellow-skinned variety ; and one small russet v.ariely — 

 have proved themselves to be the most prolific, grown either as 

 bushes or ijyramids ? 



I think the experience which " C. C. E." reported, and 

 the information I now ask, may be of some service and act as 

 a guide to those who have already planted, and to those who 

 are about to plant, a miniature fruit garden. — X. X. X. 



[In brief answer to the foregoing (juestions, I can in no way 

 blame my soil, which is all that I can desire. The trees are 

 quite large enough to bear — say from ten to twenty-iive Pears or 

 Apples, and from twenty to one himdied Plums ; their unfruit- 

 lulneas I attribute entirely to the " lifting," followed, as that 

 operation was, by an unusually dry and hot summer. They 

 are now full of fruit-spurs, have short-jointed wood, and look, 

 as a whole, as well and promising as possible, and next year I 

 hope to be able, if desired, to chronicle a re.iult more encourag- 

 ing to those who are interested ia the same dtlightful branch 

 of horticulture. 



I have no trees planted in the first year of my practice, and 

 only lifted once, which I can adduce as fair samples for the 

 guidance of Treble X ; for the first that I planted were esta- 

 blished trees, and of such Eivers's Early Prolific and Victoria 

 Plums have answered my utmost expectations, having produced 

 abundant crops, being a perfect mass of purple three autumns 

 out of the five. 



I dare not presume to tell what twelve kinds of PUmjs, &c., 

 to plant in a locality and soil of which I know nothing, bnt 

 I should try almost anywhere Victoria, Rivera's Early Prolific, 

 Prince Englebert, Diamond, Mrs. Gistiorne, Pond's, Seedling, 



and Mitehelson's or Dancer's No. 1, though the last-named has 

 proved here a weakly grower, and much subject to aphis. I 

 ought, perhaps, to add to the above list Rsine Claude de Bavay 

 and Chapman's Piince of Wnles. Bigarreau Cleveland has 

 done better than any other Cherry with me ; then Elton and 

 Florence, fceurii' DIu), BeurrG de Capiauaiont, Beuno Clair- 

 geau, and Beurix- d'Anianlis PanachL; Pears assume a pyramidal 

 form readily and bear well. Liuise Bonne of Jersey, Comte 

 de Lamy, Winter Nclie, and Williama'H Bon Chretien are of far 

 better quality, but not quite so easily trained, yet should not 

 be omitted, and from all I hear Doyenao du Comioe should 

 find a place in every garden. 



Warner's King has produced the largest Apples that I have 

 grown. Beauty of Kent is al.so very line. Nelson's Glory (not 

 Lard Nelson), said to be a very large Apple, being on the Grab 

 stock has not yet fruited. But these hnge Apples, I fancy, are a 

 mistake ; and Lord Suilield (the best of all), Domino (early). 

 Small's Admirable, Court-Pendu-Plat, and Frograoro Pippin I 

 find as good a^ any for dwaif culture. For a "red-skinned" 

 Apple take Devonshire Quavrendeu ; for a yellow, perhaps 

 Keddlcston Pippin is as good as any. But surely Treble X 

 will not omit Cvx's Orange, a grand Apple, which forms a 

 a beautiful compact bush full of fruit-spurs, and I'uough I 

 have not reaped much as yet from some forty trees I am con- 

 fident that the harvest is to come. 



Though Treble X may know far more about the habits of 

 fruit trees than I do, yet I am sure he will pardon me for 

 warning him not to suffer a single fruit to ripen-duriug the 

 first year after planting. I have tried the experiment, not 

 because I disbelieved, but for 'the sake of proving the advice 

 given to myself, and in every instance the tree has been ruined. 

 Even in the second year unless the tree be very vigorous, puU 

 off all the fruit and let the sap go to make the foundation of a 

 tree that will repay you manyfold, for your self-denial, in future: 

 years. — C. C. E.] 



RINGING, TO PROMOTE ROOT-EMISSION. 



Will Mr. Charles Pioberts oblige m& with particulars of the 

 operation of " ringing the bottom to facilitate the emission of 

 roots" ingrowing " shrubs as standards," and also state how 

 wide are the rings to be, how deep, and how near to the roots ? 

 — C. C. E. 



[In reply to the above inquiries respecting the operation of 

 ringing the suckers of Lilacs and other shrnbs to facilitate the 

 emission of roots, I cannot state the exact measurement of 

 the rings I made, as none was taken, but as nearly as I can 

 judge the strongest of the suckers would havo measured 

 IJ inch ia circumference, and the width of the ring depended 

 on the sl;rength of the suckers; for the strongest 1 inch wide, 

 and for weaker suckers Ihree-quartei'S of an inch wide, cut out 

 to the depth of tho bark. If this is not thoroughly cut out to its 

 whole depth the woimd heals, and the emission of roots is but 

 little promoted. If the suckers to be operated upon are root 

 suckers, the bottom cut of the ring is to be "2 inches from the 

 top part of the roots, covering the out to the depth of 8 inches 

 with sandy soil. If the suckers are from the stool of an old 

 plant cut down, and there are no routs to the bottom of the 

 sucker, the bottom of the ring may then be 1 inch from the 

 stool fi'om which the sucker has issued. — ^C. Eobekts, Dorjold 

 IIall.2 -••-.. ■■ ■-' 

 -TtrTf-Sjiu-. 



POMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS. 



Sevekil cases of the fruiting of that exceedingly pj«tijr an3 

 interesting plant, the Pomece.'.n.vte, have cottie under our 

 notice during the seaSoa. The fruiting has prinoipaliy, however, 

 been the result of chance ; and these haadsc'me fruits are not 

 nearly so much cultivated or so common as they deserve to bo,. 

 The cnlSivation is exceedingly simple. It will be remembered 

 that a few years ago Mr. Dowuing, gardener to T. Urissell, 

 Esq., Nurbury Park, Dorking, exhibited at South Kensington 

 some magnificent examples of Pomegranatss which were tha. 

 admiration of everybody. They were, indeed, equal to any of,. 

 the imported specimens. These had been grown in a cool: 

 orchard house. Every season since, this plant has produced 

 quantities of fruit which have been frequently exhibited. Those 

 exhibited by Mr. Downing at a late meeting of tho Frnit Com-: 

 mittee were not quite so fine as nsual, although still hand-', 

 some. They were accompanied by the following letter from^ 

 the exhibitor explaining his method of culture: — " The plant, 

 had been in my orchard house for some years in a wide border,7 



