May 4, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICtJLTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



313 



Roses are budded low down, and when transplanted are put 

 into the ground either at the level of the union of scion and 

 stock, or buried deeper, and they can then get established on 

 their own roots as well, and a better system, too, of pruning 

 can be pursued, but I fear this ev^n will not do awey with the 

 danger of Dog Rose suckers. Here is the great advantage 

 the Manetti has over the Dog Rose, that it never has any root- 

 Buckers. There may be eyes left in cuttings of Munetti, and 

 careless Rose-growers may plant the Manetti Roses so shallow 

 as to allow the Manetti to be above ground ; bat if good Roses 

 are planted on Manetti and planted sufficiently deep, there 

 need be no difficulty about so-called suckers, otherwise Manetti 

 shoots. I don't grow Roses largely — only about seven or eight 

 hundred — but I can safely say I don't have to eradicate a 

 Manetti shoot on more than eight or ten plants in the year. 



Then, ae;ain, by deep planting the Roses are protected by 

 the soil at the union between scion and stock, and, however 

 severe the winter is, are never killed by frost below the ground. 

 Only as recently as December 31^t, 1874, I had a great propor- 

 tion of Roses on Manetti killed to the ground line, but they 

 all made fine shoots and vigorous growth last year. This 

 system, too, enables one to encourage young growth from the 

 base and to cut away old wood. I cut away every particle of 

 wood from the base more than two years old, and trust only 

 to the younger growth, which under this treatment invariably 

 springs up from the base every year. I do not shorten the 

 BtroDger young shoots too severely, as I often am inclined to 

 think that by too close pruning of strong well-matured shoots 

 you may cut off some of the finest buds. I do not think 

 under tPhis system of pruning, with proper winter mulching, 

 never allowing a spade or a fork to touch your beds — nothing 

 but a hoe and a rake, that Roses will deteriorate on Manetti 

 even after ten or twelve years ; and though I am not an ex- 

 hibitor, yet having had a fair experience as judge at most of 

 the leading Rose shows, I am sure I can cut as fine Roses off 

 established cut-back Roses on Manetti as the generality of 

 R^ses shown even by oar leading nurserymen and amateurs, 

 though no doubt where whole boxes can be cut off selected 

 quarters of from fifty thousand to a hundred thousand maidens 

 on Manetti, no cat-back Roses or old-established plants would 

 stand a chance. 



C isualties sometimes teach one a lesson. I left some La 

 France last year a long time without pruning, and they pushed 

 such fine shoots I determined only to thin-out and not shorten, 

 and never saw such fine La France anywhere last year as those. 

 This year (April 21st) I have not yet fiuished pruning Roses. 

 What will Mr. Camm say to this? And I am glad I have not, 

 as the spring frosts and March winds have injured every fully- 

 developed bud, and I shall have to trust to May growth and 

 late blooms. A quarter of Rose trees I pruned yesterday 

 I cut so severely they look as bare as if it were February. I 

 never saw spring flowers suffer in the same way. I have 

 had all my Golden Thyme killed quite to the ground where 

 exposed to the cutting cold winds and frosts late in March, 

 and my Myosotis dissiiiflora when almost in full flower nearly 

 entirely destroyed a week ago. It is likely, however, to be a 

 good fruit year ; tremendous blossom on Apples, Pears, and 

 Plums, and if only a favourable May sets in the blossom will 

 escape. — G. P. Peach. 



INFLUENCE OP THE STOCK. 



I WANT to know from those who have had personal experience 

 in the matter, are not prejudiced in any way, and who gain 

 their knowledge from Nature's book as much as from those com- 

 posed and manufactured by man. To what extent are thefiuit- 

 tree stocks in use at the present day the cause of the diseases 

 and shortcomings of the fruit trees? With me the subject is 

 like the Scotch verdict, "not proven," therefore anytUicg I 

 may say on it mmt not be taken for granted. Neither must 

 it be taken for granted that because our Ajtples and Pears are 

 on the Paradise and Quince stocks that there is no fuither 

 room for experiment in this direction. It is not long since it 

 was almost universally believed that Daphne indica would not 

 do on its own roots, and even now it is firmly believed the 

 royal blood of the queen of flowers will not suffice to keep her 

 in life and vigour without an admixture from a plebeian source. 

 I have long ago proved to my own satisfaction that both these 

 are errors. Convincing other people is difficult, but I believe 

 the faith in foreign stocks and an exclusively artificial culti- 

 vation are gradually losing ground. 



Have Peach or Apricot trees from seed or budded on their 



own natural stocks been grown to any extent in this country 

 lately? If not in this country, can any of your readers give 

 personal experience of those grown in America or other conn- 

 tries ? I know Peaches are said to suffer from the " yellows " 

 when on their own roots, but I imagine other trees would have 

 the yellows, or perhaps the blues, it the medium for their 

 lower extremities was not suitable. Are Peaches and Apricots 

 on their own roots as liable to gum as those on the Plum 

 stock ? Do they flower as early ? Is not the gumming partly 

 caused by the Plum stock starting into growth too early and 

 exciting the sap into motion before there are leaves to take it ? 

 Plum roots may be said to grow all winter ; tbey are growing, 

 I know, at Christmas. If they do rest, which I very much 

 doubt, it is before that time. With Peach roots I have no 

 experience, and seek for information. 



Do not Apples on the Paradise, and Pears on the Quince, 

 start into growth and bloom earlier in the season than those 

 on the free stock ? I have many trees on both dwarfing and 

 free stocks, but not a sufficient number of any one variety on 

 different stocks to enable me to answer this question satis- 

 factorily. 



We are not so dependant on dwarfing stocks as we used to 

 be when the fruit trees were hacked about so much more with 

 the knife, and thereby made to grow stronger and keep longer 

 in an unfraitful state. We guide our trees more in a semi- 

 natural manner instead of attempting to drive them in a 

 directly opposite way to the natural one, and the consequence 

 is that they produce fruit earlier and of better quality. To 

 keep the roots from rambling we lift, and if necessary shorten 

 a few times while the trees are young, thus bringing them into 

 the habit of forming fibry roots near home ; while to prevent 

 them entering cold unsuitable soil we find there is nothing 

 so effectual as keeping the surface soil in a suitable state as 

 regards moisture and richness, and, of course, not digging and 

 cropping it. — William Ta-Stlor. 



EUONTMUSES AS GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



Amongst hardy evergreen shrubs there are few so pretty for 

 pot cultivation and greenhouse decoration as Euonymus 

 japonicus aureo-variegata and E. radicans albo-marginata. 

 The first-named variety has deep green and beautiful bright 

 golden marked leaves, and is the most effective variety. When 

 well grown in pots it is quite as grand in the greenhouse as 

 the jellow-marked Crotons are in the stove. It is easily in- 

 creased from cuttings. Eight or ten may be placed in a .5-inch 

 pot amongst some peat and silver sand. They will root in a 

 close frame at nearly any time of the year. As soon as they 

 are well rooted each plant should be potted singly into a 3-inch 

 pot. This time the rooting material should consist of equal 

 parts of loam and peat, with an addition of sand. As soon as 

 they begin to root into this there is no danger of them suffer- 

 ing through exposure; but they need not be kept long in any 

 other place excepting the greenhouse, as when quite small 

 they are extremely useful and ornamental for mixing with 

 other little plants on the front row of shelves. A 3-ineh pot 

 will contain a plant 15 inches high and 6 inches through. 

 When this size is reached they should be transferred to a 

 5 or 6-inch pot. The same kind of soil should be used at this 

 potting and all subsequent pottings. They may be potted at 

 anytime and returned at once to their old place. They do not 

 require to be kept close and shaded like many plants for a 

 week or two after potting. They root about as freely as Box 

 does, and on this account great quantities of water are required 

 in the growing season when the pots are full of roots. More 

 root room should be given whenever it seems much wanted. 

 Exceedingly handsome specimens can be grown in 10 and 

 12-inch pots. A larger plant than these will hold should be 

 placed in a tub. The variety under notice has a good habit of 

 its own without any training. Sometimes the leading shoot 

 may require the support of a stake. Side shoots which show 

 an inclination to straggle from the line of the others may be 

 tied into a vacancy or cut back. The bottom growths seldom 

 fail to extend in proportion to the main shoot going upwards. 

 The leader may be stopped at whatever height the plant is 

 wanted. They look best in a pyramidal form. 



When the plants become too large for the shelves they are well 

 adapted for placing amongst Camellias and other greenhouse 

 shrubs, few of which are like in colour the glossy, strikingly- 

 marked foliage of this Euonymus. The foliage of E. radicans 

 albo-marginata is green in the centre and edged with pure 

 white. It has a trailing or climbing habit. In pots it hangs 



