138 



JOUBNAIi OF HORTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE G^DENEB. 



[ February 17, 1876. 



anything to act as a mulching as far as the roots extend. This 

 may remain till it is decayed, and then it may be lightly pointed 

 into the soil, bat not bo deep as to injure the roots. This cover- 

 ing is not intended to enrich the soil, but to act against the 

 drought affecting the roots. 



Pruning must not be done till after the trees have been 

 planted Eome time, and when they have partly recovered the 

 check caused by removal. One check at a time is sufficient, 

 and a rest is needed by the tree before any serious pruning is 

 given to the branches. — Thohas Kecobd. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



. HAKDT FRUIT OABDEN. 



Instkdctions were given last year as to the planting of fruit 

 trees. Those who were unable to do this work at the proper 

 time and still have trees to plant, should lose no time in having 

 the work completed, for if it is longer delayed the young root- 

 lets are not formed before the buds are in motion, and the 

 growth for the ensuing season will be unsatisfactory. We 

 always advise careful planting. All broken or bruised roots 

 should be removed. A hole should be made large enough to 

 allow all the roots to be spread out to their fullest extent. No 

 better material can be obtained in which to plant the trees than 

 decayed turfy loam. A few inches of this should be placed in 

 the hole first, then the roots of the tree, not deeper than they 

 were previously. Some loam should then be worked-in amongst 

 the roots vrilli the hand, taking care to i311-up all interstices. 

 Fill the hole nearly fuU with the same material, and tread it 

 down firmly wi-h the feet. When the ground is levelled some 

 manure should be p'ated on the surface to the fullest extent of 

 the roots. This is not so much to afford a stimulant, but to 

 retain the moisture in the soil about the roots. 



We have a few Strawberry plants to put out yet. They were 

 received in the winter, and, being a variety of which a good 

 stock is required this season, the plants were potted singly in 

 small pots and kept in a cold frame. When the weather is 

 favourable they will te planted in well-prepared soil. We have 

 seen plants sent home in the winter and laid-in in the open 

 ground, when half of them would be dead and the remainder 

 much injured if severe frost set in before the weather became 

 favourable enough to plant them out in the spring. A season 

 would also be lost before a sufficient number of strong runners 

 could be obtained. If the plants are turned out of the pots 

 into good soil about the middle of March they will grow-on at 

 once and produce strong runners by the usual time for layering. 



If the permanent fruit trees were infested with the larva of 

 the lackey moth last season they should be looked over now, if 

 it has not been already done, to destroy the eggs which will be 

 found glued in rings to the smaller branches of the trees. In 

 previous seasons we had much trouble with the -ipple maggot. 

 The garden contained a large number of old cankered trees 

 which were annually much infested by this peat, and when 

 these were removed the young Apple trees which were just 

 coming into bearing sustained the attack of the enemy. One 

 season there was a good crop of fruit, but nearly the whole of it 

 was destroyed by the maggot. We tried dusting the trees with 

 quicklime when the buds had started in the spring, but this 

 made but little difference. The best and perhaps the only 

 certain way to destroy the maggot is to pick and gather-up all 

 the fruit that has been attacked and have it destroyed. By 

 following this plan year after year the Apples are now almost 

 free from the maggot. 



The larv.T of the goat moth bores into the old wood. This 

 was also troublesome for a few seasons. It was very difficult to 

 master it on the old and gnarled trees ; indeed some of them 

 were killed outright by it. The grubs had tunneUed the bole 

 of large trees from the inner baik to the centre, but the young 

 trees were watched and the maggot was destroyed before it had 

 time to burrow deeper than the bark. 



VINERIES. 



The growths in early houses are now pushing vigorously, and 

 much time is taken up in tying them down carefully to the wires. 

 Most of the growths are stopped two leaves beyond the bunch. 

 Those who have not had much experience in training the young 

 growths will be apt to tie them down too much, which will 

 result in some of the strongest growths snapping at night. It is 

 very annoying to see the leaves begin to flag when the sun acts 

 upon the glass in the morning. All the laterals should be 

 trained in one direction, and to do this easily a strip of matting 

 should be attached to the spurs and fastened tightly at the 

 proper angle to the wires ; to this strip the laterals are carefully 

 tied as they increase in growth. The lateral growths will aleo 

 require to be thinned-out. They ougbt to be opposite each 

 other, at least as nearly as possible, and from 15 to 18 inches 

 apart ; indeed we have had the spurs 2 feet apart, and when the 

 loaves were fully developed the distance did not seem too much. 



The night temperature is now 6.5° both in the Muscat and 



Hamburgh houses. The bright sunshine the last few days has 

 run the temperature up in the daytime to 80° and 85°. It has 

 been necessary to admit air cautiously, as the winds have been 

 very keen. The fruit sets very freely in such weather, but it is 

 best to aid it a little by shaking the bunches gently once or 

 twice a-day. There is nothing required now in the late houses. 

 The border was not sufficiently moist in the late Muscat house, 

 and it had some water applied to it. It is a mistake to allow the 

 inside borders to become too dry, and we would water them at 

 midwinter rather than it should be so. 



PEACH BOUSE. 



We do not mind driving the Vines a little when they begin to 

 grow freely. With plenty of root-action and the borders well 

 supplied with moisture they like plenty of heat, but the Peach 

 trees will not stand it, at any rate not so early in the season. 

 Attend to disbudding and thinning-out the fruit. If the 

 weather should be dull and cold it is best to syringe the trees in 

 the morning only, damping the paths, borders, and walls of the 

 house at closing time. In bright weather, and if the house is 

 closed between 2 and 3 p.m., the trees may be syringed at that 

 time. The weather we have experienced lately has been very 

 suitable to trees in blossom. The atmosphere of the house must 

 be kept moderately dry, and air should be admitted night and 

 day; a very narrow chink left on at the back or top sashes at 

 night will be sufficient. The trees must be shaken every fore- 

 noon to distribute the pollen. If there were any brown scale 

 on the trees these would be washed-oft before the bouse was 

 started ; at the same time it is quite as well to watch for its ap- 

 pearance and have it destroyed by careful handwashing. No 

 amount of syringing will either destroy this pest or the aphis 

 that infests Peach trees. 



MELON HOUSES. 



ar plan in previous years was to sow Melons about the first 

 week in January. If we had done so this year the plants would 

 have been ready to plant out now. Last season we were not 

 very successful with them, owing to the nature of the soil used ; 

 it was too light for Melons. To grow this fruit successfully the 

 soil ought to be of a clayey nature, and not too rich. There are 

 some who still prefer to train the plants over the surface of the 

 ground, but the best way, by far, is to train the leader up to a 

 trellis fixed near the glass. When the leading growth has 

 reached within 18 inches of the top of the trellis it ought to be 

 stopped. Plenty of fruit will show on the lateral growths. If 

 the varieties are shy bearers the fruit may not show at first, but 

 if the laterals are stopped it will shoivon the next growth. The 

 Cucumbers have been planted-out. They are grown the same 

 as Melons, except that the soil used to grow the plants in is 

 much richer. 



Figs in pots have just been placed in a house where the heat 

 is about 50° at night. They will start strongly if carefully at- 

 tended as to watering at the roots and being gently syringed 

 overhead in fine days. Those who are fond of Figs would do 

 well to have a house especially devoted to their culture. There 

 is no fruit easier to cultivate in pots than the Fig, and none do 

 better under this system of culture. The plants also do best if 

 the pots can be plunged to three parts of their depth in a bed of 

 leaves or tan. The heat of the bed at the bottom of the pots 

 ought not to exceed 85°. The Fig is also different from most 

 other fruits in this respect— if potting has been neglected it will 

 do no harm to the trees to repot immediately before starting 

 them, or even after the buds have started. The fruit that we 

 usually depend upon is that formed on the young wood as soon 

 as the growth is made. Rich soil ought to be used for potting, 

 and a still richer material for surfacing the pots when the young 

 growths have made some progress. At that time the roots are 

 very active. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORV. 



These structures are kept gay at this season with forced 

 shrubs and flowers, and it is a matter of some importance not 

 only to know how to force them but also the best way to keep 

 them in good condition after they are forced. Flowers last long 

 in beauty at this season if they are well managed. The forcing 

 house ought not to have a higher night temperature than 55°; 

 and if the plants can be removed out of this house into one with 

 a temperature of 45° to .50° at night just before the first flowers 

 open, and when| these are fully expanded the plants removed to 

 the show house, the later flowers will open here, and they will 

 experience no check. The culture of the plants or shrubs the 

 previous season is also of considerable importance. No amount 

 of careful after-management wUl make up for neglect in this 

 particular. 



The most lovely of all hardy shrubs used for forcing purposes 

 ia the Deutzia gracilis. We grow a number of large plants. 

 Some of them have been forced every season for the last ten 

 years. The largest are in 11-inch pots. The plants are taken 

 care of after the flowering period is over. They are kept under 

 glass until the young growths are completed, and when the 

 weather is favourable a sheltered position out of doors is found 

 for them. 



Prunus sinensis flore-pleno is aho worthy of culture for itg 



