426 



jouknaij of hokticultuee and cottage gaedeneb. 



( May 29, 1873. 



of growing Eoses iu such a situation, and I do so because the 

 same treatment applies to fruit trees. "When I came here I 

 saw what had been a large bed of dwarf Eoses, in which I 

 think six dozen had been originally planted, but I found only 

 six plants with about two dozen line Manetti Eoses standing 

 from 4 to 5 feet high. I was asked why those that were 

 growing strongly (the ilanetti) did not bloom. I could not 

 help laughing, for the Eoses had died while the stocks had 

 thriven. (Atmospheric cause again, I doubt.) It was only a 

 matter of time for them to be grubbed-up and cast on the 

 rubbish heap ; but, thought I, this is a chance not to be thrown 

 away. I therefore made some dozens of cuttings out of those 

 fine heads, and within twelve months of that date the bed 

 was filled with a tine lot of young plants. " Bought-in from 

 the nursery, I suppose." " No, better than them, for they 

 may go in the same way as their predecessors ; they are from 

 the cuttings struck iu the spring in rich soil and a sheltered 

 situation, and budded in the summer with the few varieties 

 that were found growing in the bed and a few others about 

 the place." These now present a very fair bed. This seems 

 to me the way to manage fruit trees, though a great variety of 

 kinds, and some of them, perhaps, very choice, may be want- 

 ing. Eose trees are far less attacked by canker when pro- 

 tected by walls than when grown as bushes or otherwise. 



I have a Eibston Pippin sixty years old trained against a 

 wall ; it had been badly managed, and when I came here it 

 had formed a hedge from 3 to 4 feet high on the top of a 12-feet 

 wall; this, of course, was soon displaced, and j'oung wood en- 

 couraged to fill up the lower parts. The roots were not dis- 

 turbed, and have an unlimited range ; big bulky roots they 

 are, and I know not how deep they are. I can answer for 

 4 feet, and that, too, in as unfavourable a soil as can be found 

 — they call it' poison here. Yet this old tree is almost free 

 from canker, very vigorous, and produces a good crop yearly. 

 Five years ago I planted, with several dozen other trees, a 

 healthy young espaher of the same sort. Everything was done 

 to prevent its roots going deeper than 18 inches ; it was pro- 

 vided with fresh soil and properly taken care of; yet this tree, 

 though it grew well for thi-ee years, is eaten almost to death 

 with canker : still, the roots are perfect. 



I will give another instance — that of an old Hawthornden. 

 Everyone knows the liability of this sort to become badly af- 

 fected with canker. Singularly enough, it is almost free from 

 it : its roots are restrained within no bounds, it has not the 

 protection of a wall, and it bears profusely every year. The 

 roots are extremely deep, in soil of the vilest character. How 

 can one account for the tree's success ? Is it because it requires 

 little or no pruning ? for even pruning causes canker both of 

 the roots and shoots. Trees in weU-prepared borders are cer- 

 tainly so badly affected this year as to be quite worthless. I 

 enclose a branch for inspection, also roots, to show that these 

 are quite healthy. It will be seen by the specimens that they 

 are affected with a modification of the disease generally called 

 canker. There is no enlargement previous to its appearance, 

 as a rule. The first symptom is a small reddish-brown spot 

 generally at the base of a bud; often, too, at the end where 

 the shoot was cut, &c. Old wood does not appear to be at- 

 tacked in this way, but where the disease does appear on it 

 it is of the usual character. I wish particularly to note the 

 peculiarity of its only appearing in the last two years' growths, 

 leaving the older and better-ripened wood of the previous dry 

 season's growth quite free. Can there be a better proof that 

 the atmosphere plays a great part in inducing the disease ? 



The Apple is not the only tree so attacked, all others suffer 

 more or less. Let me cite a case that puzzles me, and respect- 

 ing which I should like to hear the opinion of some of your 

 readers. It is that of some Teach trees on a south wall. They 

 were replanted in a new border March twelvemonth, and they 

 have thriven remarkably well since, but the shoots have all, 

 or nearly all, died back to the previous year's wood at from 

 18 inches to 2 feet from the ground ; from there upwards the 

 trees are as perfect as can be. The first appearance of the 

 evil was a small brown spot about the size of a pin's head 

 throughout the last summer's growth ; it spreads with great 

 rapidity, and within a few days it surrounds the otherwise 

 vigorous shoots with a black band, and of course causes death. 

 One is led to think that in this case wo may look for the cause 

 in obnoxious gases emanating from the soil ; at least I am led 

 to beUeve so, or why should not the disease appear through- 

 out the tree ? The roots can have nothing to do with it, nor 

 is the growth less vigorous at the bottom. 



I will now make a few more remarks about canker to prove 



that the roots alone cannot produce it. I headed-down a few 

 rather large trees, on account of their not being prohfic, or of 

 the fruit being worthless ; nevertheless, they were perfectly 

 healthj' and free from canker. One of them was grafted with 

 several varieties three years ago, and now there is not a sound 

 graft on it ; indeed, the greater part of them died back last 

 autumn and winter to the union with the stock. I am at a loss 

 to account for so sudden and complete an attack. Occasion- 

 ally a tree or one of its branches affected with ordinary canker 

 will live for years if well attended to ; but the form of the 

 disease which proved so destructive here last year is rapid 

 iu its action. That sudden atmospheric changes are one 

 great cause I have no doubt. I have found that trees which 

 showed no signs of disease before, have, when replanted or root- 

 pruned, been attacked in a remarkable degree. Pruning seems 

 to produce it, particularly this season, the cut end being the 

 only part affected. Agahi, if the soil is the cause, why is the 

 disease developed in winter when the tree's vegetation is in- 

 active ? Why is it not carried all over the tree as the sap 

 flows ? Whether the beginnings of the disease are made in 

 summer or winter I do not know, but most probably at the fall 

 of the leaf. Certainly the most favourable time for its spread 

 is a mild wet winter. When sharp dry winds and frost prevail 

 it does not appear — at least, such is my experience. 



Notwithstanding all drawbacks, however, I have trees, and 

 not a few of them too, that are perfect, and which would be a 

 credit to the person who had charge of them in far more 

 favourable situations. I am proud to look at them. I say to 

 all who are similarly placed, that with due knowledge and 

 perseverance fruit can be grown in situations where success is 

 thought almost impossible. Make a good beginning, and con- 

 tinue improving until you attain your end. To give up after 

 one or two failures will not do ; to fight with difficulties and 

 overcome them, should be the gardener's ambition. To have 

 a lot of young healthy trees and plant them iu unprepai'ed 

 soil, cannot but disappoint ; indeed, it is money and time 

 thrown away. Employers, too, must give the gardener more 

 scope, and let him have what is necessary. Where the situa- 

 tion is unfavourable, after one lot of trees has been bought it 

 is a mistake to think that ever afterwards there will be an 

 abundance of fruit, and that no more trees will be needed ; for 

 it is possible that in a year or two half of them should bo 

 replaced with other sorts, or more of those which are doing 

 well will have to bo planted. I was told, when engaged for this 

 place, no fruit tree could be grown. Here are the measure- 

 ments of a few ordinary nursery four or five-branched trees, 

 planted four years last March — 



Width. 



Plums 14 feet B inches . 



Peaches .... 12 feet 6 inches . 



Cherries 13 feet 3 inches . 



Pears 8 feet 9 inches . 



Nectarines . . 17 feet 



Height. 



. . feet 3 inches .... Good crop. 



. . 7 feet 6 inches .... Good crop. 



. . 9 feet 6 inches Good prospect. 



. . 9 feet 100 fruit on it. 



9 feet G inches .... Few fruit. 



Pyramid Trees. — Pears, 8 feet high ; Apples, 7 feet high. 



The above are a fair sample, and all of them are well fur- 

 nished and pictures of health. They have been replanted or 

 root-pruned once during the four years. AU, except the pyra- 

 mids of course, are on walls. What, not able to grow fruit 

 trees! Try, good readers, try. — J. Tayloe, ilacsgu-ynne, 

 South Wales. 



PELARGONIUMS AS EXHIBITION AND 

 DECORATIVE PLANTS. 



" Evert dog has its day," and the same may be said of 

 every flower. At one time Hyacinths and Tulips are the rage, 

 and a single bulb brings a fabulous price. At another time 

 Orchids are the fashion, and fifty or a hundred guineas are 

 readily obtained for a small specimen of a rare species. Now 

 we wonder that our ancestors could be so foolish as to barter 

 away fields and horses for their favourites ; thirty years hence, 

 in all probability, our successors wUl have a similar opinion of 

 us in respect to the Orchid mania. Then our plant stoves are 

 overdone with " foliage ;" the old-fashioned flowering plants are 

 dethroned for plants with immense cabbaging leaves — Anthu- 

 riums, Alocasias, Begonias, &c., all very well in their way, but 

 ijuite out of place in small houses ; indeed, we may even be 

 overdone with the foliage of the graceful Pahns. 



In the rage for fashionable flowers the subjects of this paper 

 have been somewhat neglected, but this neglect is merely tem- 

 porary, and, like " the early cloud, or morning dew," will soon 

 pass away. The Pelargonium is one of the best decorative plants 

 for the cottager's window, and its rich and varied hues are 



