364 



JOTJENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 31, 1865. 



advanced any branch of natural science, including botany, 

 vegetable physiology, horticulture, itc. The first was presented 

 to Mr. McNab, of the Botanic Gardeu at Edinburgh, and we are 

 happy to announce that this year the prize has been most pro- 

 perly conferred on Mr. Wm. Thomson, gardener to his Grace 

 the Duke of Buccleuch at Dalkeith. 



PLANTS FOR TABLE DECORATION IN WINTER. 



Would you let me know the names of about two dozen hard- 

 wooded flowering plants, gi-eenhouse or stove, to come in 

 flower from September to Christmas ? I have no accommodation 

 for forcing, so they must bloom naturally. — G. C. 



[It is no easy matter to give a list of highly ornamental 

 plants flowering in November and December, in an ordinary 

 greenhouse, but by preparation during the summer much may 

 be done. Early plants of Cineraria may be brought into 

 flower then, as also may Primula sinensis ; and CoroniUa glauca 

 will assist in its particular colour ; while all the winter-flower- 

 ing Heaths, as Erica hyemahs, Wilmoreana, rubra-calyx, and 

 others may be brought into use. Chry.santhemums, we expect. 



you will already have. Salvia splendena makes, perhaps, the 

 finest autumn-flowering plant we have ; S. fulgens is also good, 

 while, perhaps, some late-flowered Calceolarias may be taken 

 up from the open ground. Pliumbago capensis often blooms 

 late ; and Tricyrtis hirta should not be forgotten, its beauti- 

 fully pencilled flowers give it a pleasing appearance. Cycla- 

 mens likewise come in at this season, and if a Utile heat could 

 be given, Epijihyllum truncatum and its varieties form useful 

 additions to the display at this season. Much also may be done 

 by introducing flne-fohaged plants or those ornamental by 

 their fruit. Skimmia japonica is a useful plant, and so is 

 Solanum eapsicastrum and other species. In plants with orna- 

 mental foliage, there are several Ferns and Lycopods, Isolepis 

 gracilis, Sedum californicum, Centaureas, and New Zealand 

 Veronicas alike useful as floweiing plants and for foliage. The 

 variegated forms of Japanese Euonymus are useful plants, as 

 well as Eurybia. Many of the above will do for dinner-table 

 decoration as well ; but we expect an article on this subject 

 shortly, which will comprise various stove plants, and others 

 not enimierated in your Ust, which, as will be seen, is confined, 

 to greenhouse plants.] 



THE MODERN PEACH-PRUNER.— No. 17 



cxosE rncNixG by alternate shoots. 



It is probable that the severity of the original form of close 

 pruning the Peach in the open air, has presented some obstacle 

 to its general adoption — at least, in this country ; and it must 

 be allowed that what is suitable for trees luxuriating in the 

 brilliant sunshine of France, and comparatively uninjured by 

 the adverse influences of damji and fog, cannot, without the 

 necessary modifications suggested by personal experience, be 

 expected at once to secure popularity here. To obtain pubhc 



confidence it is necessary that any new system practised abroad 

 under such (hfferent conditions, should also successfully pass 

 through the test of a fair trial at home. Its merits can then 

 be proved, and reported on, and the general public, having 

 neither time nor inclination to examine for itself, can securely 

 receive this report on the good faith of those who are able and 

 willing to attempt it. It is not always, it is true, that the 

 time, the labour, and the money spent in such trials are repaid. 



but in any case the pubhc is the gainer. In exammmg, then, 

 the merits of the original system of close pruning, it may not 

 be out of place again to repeat, that at least ten seasons were 

 devoted to giving it a fair trial, and to modifying it. During 

 this period it was taught by me to others, who largely adopted 

 it, and whose gardens and orchard-houses (in some cases of 

 no small importance) sufliciently attest to the completeness and 

 success of the method. 



In considering the original system, we notice, at the outset, 

 that the first growth of the year is stopped, in the ordinary 

 run of shoots, at two fuU-sized leaves. The result always is, 

 that the buds in the axils of these two leaves burst into a rapid 

 second gi-owth, which is as suddenly closely suppressed, and it 

 foUows that all the fruit buds, and also the few intermingled 

 wood-buds, are formed at the point of junction of these two 

 growths. 



Though valuable groups are thus produced, which, m the 



dry, sunny, and manageable climate of the orchard-house are 

 just what we require, still it may fairly be questioned whether 

 the general vigour and necessary progress of the entire tree 

 may not be prejudiced by this restraint placed on them. In a 

 semi-tropical sunshine, with a dry and ripening autumn, and 

 planted in a rich soil. Peach trees would certainly thrive under 

 this very close treatment ; but in our uncertain, damp, and 

 comparatively sunless atmosphere, the balance between the 

 roots and leaves might become unequal. It must not, also, be 

 forgotten, that one chief aim of M. Grin's system is to produce 

 those two-year-old clusters (class 5), which are known to bear 

 the finest fruit. When, therefore, several of these valuable 

 groups are formed at the base of the spur, the upper growths 

 become of secondary importance. This is essentially orchard- 

 house pruning, but "it does not admit of that scope and large- 

 ness of treatment which is required for open-air work, espe- 

 cially in England. 



