200 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUEE AND COTTAGE QAEDENEB. 



t March 11, 1875. 



Bergamotte d'Esperen baa not failed to yield him a heavy crop 

 of frnit for many years past, and he never fails to sell this 

 frnit in March and April at id. to 6d. per lb. A few years ago 

 I advised an amateur, who was planting bush trees as a means 

 of profit by sale of fruit, to plant half his ground with this 

 variety. His confidence was not sufficient to risk that number, 

 and he planted one-fourth. He now wishes he had planted 

 the whole piece with this useful late kind, which has given him 

 a better return for outlay than any sort in his garden. 



I am not aware that these instances are exceptional, and, 

 having no other end in view than to establish the merits of 

 any good fruit, I shall be glad to hear if it has failed with 

 other cultivators, and under what conditions. At the present 

 I am of opinion that it is insufficiently grown, as being hardy, 

 productive, excellent, and one of the best of late-keeping Pears. 

 This variety and Ne Plus Mouris are, I am satisfied, two very 

 recommendable Pears, and am glad Mr. Cunniugham has 

 directed attention to their merits. 



Occasionally late Pears will not ripen, but shrivel instead. 

 When this is the case the first supposition is that they have 

 been gathered too early. This is unquestionably a common 

 cause of shrivelling ; but what when the fruit is left until it 

 drops off the trees and still shrivels ? In that case the fruit 

 has been stored in a place at once too light, warm, and airy. 

 I was led to this conclusion by fruit which had been inad- 

 vertently left on the ground and covered with leaves. This 

 fruit remained quite firm, while that gathered from the trees 

 — not prematurely — and stored as above shrivelled. By keep- 

 ing in a dark, cool, and damp rather than a very dry place, I 

 have found the premature shrivelUng of late Pears considerably 

 obviated. — A Surket Gabdenek. 



ROSE TREES AND THE INTENSE COLD. 



One curious effect of the late severe winter on Kose trees is 

 worthy of notice, as it coincides with what I have before ob- 

 served, but which seems contrary to the recognised theories. 

 It is generally said well-ripened wood will stand frost better 

 than young and immature shoots. Now, on looking over my 

 Boses before pruning I find that the young wood made last 

 autumn has stood the frost, while old wood on the same trees 

 has been killed. If my Roses had been grown as standards I 

 believe nearly everyone would have been killed outright. It is 

 my practice every year to cut out down to the ground every 

 Bhoot that is more than two years old. For instance, at the 

 next pruning in March I shall only leave two shoots, or rather 

 shoots of two ages — that is, last year's growth and that of the 

 previous year. By these means plants are induced, when on 

 the Manetti stock with their buds sufficiently deeply buried, 

 to throw out young suckers from the base every year. 



Now, at this time of the year I have on my trees wood of 

 1874, 1873, and 1872, the latter of which in the natural course 

 of pruning I should cut away ; but, strange as it may seem to 

 most, in nearly every instance the 1872 wood is dead, while 

 the growth of last year on the end of the same shoots is still 

 alive, though, of course, fast dying. The wood of 1873 is much 

 injured, while the young wood of last autumn is in nine cases 

 out of ten not injured at all, especially those growths which 

 were most succulent. There is a remarkable instance of this 

 in the case of a fine plant of Marechal Niel trained against a 

 Bouth wall in my kitchen garden, with a glass coping 2 feet 

 wide over it. The young shoots under the coping were quite 

 green and fresh at first, but the older wood, some of which 

 was 1^ to 2 inches in diameter, is quite killed iu spite of the 

 protection ; but a very succulent young sucker which had 

 pushed from the base in September and had grown with great 

 rapidity to about 5 to 6 feet long is still alive, and to all ap- 

 pearance the only live part in the tree, and yet, owing to its 

 having pushed its growth more away from the wall, was more 

 exposed than any other part of the tree. 



If this were a soUtary instance we might consider it a freak, 

 but I cut down an overgrown bed of Boses iu August to make 

 them start afresh, and in this case also the youag wood has 

 not suffered. How can this be accounted for? My theory 

 is this — there is always a certain amount of sap left iu Eose 

 shoots ; the severe frost we had last winter turned this to ice. 

 In the older shoots, as the bark was hard and the wood also 

 hard, neither would give way under the expansive power of 

 frozen sap, so the cells containing the sap were injured. Iu 

 the other case the shoots are full of soft pith within, and the 

 bulk was not hardened, so there was freedom of expansion 

 and the cellular tissue was not damaged. I should like to 



hear the opinions of others, and also practical experience of 

 others, with regard to damage by frost. — P. 



RASPBERRY CULTURE. 



" D., Deal's," paper on fruit, page 137, contains a note on 

 Raspberries which even "my lord's" gardener might read with 

 equal pleasure and profit, for it undoubtedly contains the pith 

 of the matter. 



There are various methods of management and arrangement, 

 such as planting the canes o feet apart, tying five or six canes 

 closely to a stake or singly around a hoop, spreading them out 

 fan-shape, bending them to a given angle, or pruning the erect 

 canes to various lengths. Each plan has had a fair trial, but 

 none has proved eu thoroughly efficient and profitable as that 

 of planting single canes in rows, pruning them to a uniform 

 helKht, and tying them to a couple of strained wires. 



Having had occasion to pay more than ordinary attention to 

 the culture of this fruit, a few words concerning a failure and 

 its remedy may prove useful to others. In planting a few 

 rows about four years ago no particular care or preparation of 

 stations was thought necessary, although the soil was obviously 

 the reverse of rich. Unbroken success had very likely given 

 me an impression that the Raspberry would thrive anywhere 

 and iu almost any kind of soil, and this feeling was strengthened 

 by the sight of a bed of " wild " Easps growing luxuriantly in 

 an Alder swamp within 100 yards of the garden. The soil was 

 therefore simply trenched, manured heavily as for vegetables, 

 and the Raspberries planted. A tolerably vigorous growth 

 yielding fruit in due course was the result ; but I was not 

 satisfied ; the fruit was neither so large nor plentiful as was 

 required, and I resolved to start afresh, reserving the old plants 

 for present exigencies. 



In making the new bed particular attention was given to 

 ensure a robust growth, which in the Raspberry implies an 

 abundance of fruit, and to arrange the whole so as to make it 

 an easy matter to protect the fruit from the ravages of birds. 

 This was managed successfully by making the rows side by 

 side 5 feet apart, and with the plants 1 foot apart in the rows. 

 Trenches a yard wide, 2 feet deep, and filled with the soil — 

 leaves and dung of some old hotbeds well chopped and mixed, 

 being prepared for each row. Large fruit and plenty of it was 

 the object in view, and Prince of Wales was chosen as the best 

 kind for culinary purposes, its fruit being very fine ; but as it 

 is not so sweet as some, it would probably not be generally 

 liked for a dessert fruit. 



It was reasonable to suppose that this careful preparation of 

 the bed would induce proportionate results, but I must confess 

 I certainly did not expect to see anything Uke the extraordinary 

 vigour of the first year's growth. Not only did the roots 

 spread over the trenches, but they quickly met and became 

 interlaced in the alleys, the entire surface soon bristling with 

 suckers, which could only be kept under by repeated hoeings. 

 The canes left to grow in the rows were wonderfully robust ; 

 and the old canes, which had been shortened to about a foot at 

 the time of planting, put forth some shoots bearing such good 

 fruits as to cause one to regret having shortened them so 

 much. I do not, however, think it good practice to leave the 

 canes of a new bed nnpruned as is sometimes done, but would 

 always reduce them to 1 or 2 feet. In autumn when the leaf 

 had fallen two wires were strained along each row, one 2 feet 

 from the ground, and the other about 3 feet 6 inches ; the canes 

 were then pruned a uniform height of 4 feet, tied upright to 

 the wires, and the work was complete. 



The bed has now been in fuU bearing for two seasons, the 

 fruit being both abundant and flue. A heavy annual top- 

 dressing of manure is given to the alleys. The soil is never 

 disturbed, but remains intact just as it was left after the 

 planting. As the fruit ripens the bed receives one or two 

 thorough soakings of water or some liquid manure, which 

 proves very beneficial to the crop, making the latest pickings 

 of fruit quite equal to the first in size and colour. 



The fondness of many birds for this fruit renders protection 

 as necessary as for Strawberries ; without it no watchfulness 

 will avail. Only let the bed be left unguarded for a few hours, 

 especially in a dry season, when down swoop blackbirds, 

 thrushes, sparrows, and robins, making clean work of every 

 ripe berry. This may not happen in market gardens in a 

 situation unsheltered by trees, but it is invariably the case in 

 private gardens having the usual adjuncts of shrubbery or 

 woodlands ; and the plan which dire necessity compels me to 

 adopt is to envelope the entire bed with stout fish netting 



