25 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ January 8, 1874. 



form an anxiliarj- ; to rely on them solely is an error that 

 cannot be too studiously avoided. 



Utility must ever be the pass-word in the fruit and vegetable 

 garden, and infuse ornamentation when it does not interfere 

 ■with ntUity. The torture to which fruit trees are subjected on 

 the Continent, and which some too enthusiastic admirers on 

 this side of the water would have us believe to be the per- 

 fection of training — has not this been proved to have even- 

 tually a very detrimental effect on the well-being of the tree ? 

 It has been proved over and over again — to wit, with the 

 Azalea and many other subjects — that there are certain bounds 

 beyond which nature cannot be forced with impunity. I ask, 

 Where is the great bulk of fruit that fills scores of fruit-rooms 

 grown, supposing that there are hundreds of these fancy- 

 trained trees, also an orchard of more natural character, but 

 not neglected ? My experience, and I believe that of most 

 others — especially with Apples — will answer in favour of the 

 orchard. Pigmy-trained trees are playthings for the owners of 

 many small gardens, who derive more pleasure in occupying 

 their time in training than from the quantity of fruit produced. 

 To many again — and I share their idea — nothing seems to be 

 a fruit tree unless they can hide themselves amongst its bloom- 

 ing branches in spring, and have a store of fruit at Christmas. 

 What is wanted now-a-days is a maximum of fruit for a mini- 

 mum of labour. We have now to contend with acre after acre 

 of dressed ground, and thousands upon thousands of bedding 

 plants, the ever-wanted cut flowers, to say nothing about an 

 abundance of tender vegetables, and all this with a minimum 

 amount of labour. It is consequently impossible to pay that 

 attention to the repeated pinching, Ufting, training, mulching, 

 and the like, that must be attained to in order to attain any 

 degree of success. 



I am well aware that many who have a thorough training 

 think it not beneath their attention to study out-door fiuit 

 culture, and will not commit themselves ; but too many by 

 half think if they can run-up a long list of long names they 

 are at once gardeners. Young men, depend upon it, it is a 

 grave mistake. A plentiful supply of fruit is an absolute 

 necessity, flowers notwithstanding. 



Now, where are those who never did a day's work with trees 

 to learn about out-door fruit-growing ? It is no mere fancy 

 that there are such. I have worked .under and with many 

 young men who confessed to never having done so. There 

 are many books on the subject, and from them their know- 

 ledge is obtained, but the books of modern writers seem to 

 me to be written wholly for one end ; they treat, from the 

 beginning to the end, on young trees — nursery trees — of vari- 

 ous shapes. The young man who studies such books will most 

 naturally, unless ho has had some practice in renovating neg- 

 lected trees, proceed to destroy all to make room for the 

 many fancy forms ho admires on paper. I believe that it is 

 seldom he gets an opportunity of reahsing with living trees the 

 pictures which he admires. I do not assert there is nothing to 

 be learnt from these books, but it is well to be able to judge of 

 what is right by having a knowledge of what can be done in 

 other ways. If I were to put into the hands of a young 

 gardener a modern treatise on fruit culture, I would at the 

 same time give him one of an earlier date, for instance 

 that of Forsyth. There is in it no doubt some absurdity, but 

 cannot the same be said of modern books in a more marked 

 degree ? Although it is upwards of seventy years since Forsyth 

 pubUshed his work, it contains much sound knowledge that has 

 not been improved on, and holds its own against newer ones, 

 which SJem to be written for the vUla garden rather than for 

 large estabhshments. Forsyth was a great man with me in my 

 boyish days. Those beautiful, large, clean-skinned fruit, pro- 

 duced on the young branches in his faithful illustrations, 

 compared to the small shabby tasteless fruit from the old 

 scrubby branches — the quaUty and quantity on the former 

 compared to the latter, were my delight to verify in growing 

 trees. Especially do I remember a large well-trained Glou 

 Morcjeau Pear tree, and the six or eight splendid fruit at the 

 extreme end of each long branch, compared with the few small 

 indifferent fruit located from their back to the stock. The 

 question that suggested itself to my mind was, Why not have 

 more of these vigorous two or throe-year-old branches like the 

 extremities bearing the fine fruit ? It was with intense gratifi- 

 cation when gathering fruit day after day that I noticed the 

 difference between fruit growing on old and young wood. I 

 always knew where to find fine, clean, high-coloured fruit. 

 What benefit one derives from learning to think in boyhood ! 

 It helps one to overcome difficulties ; it gives one more confi- 



dence as to what will be the results of any particular operation. 

 In a word, he gets the physical nature of the tree so well at 

 heart that, like the practical physician with a sickly person, 

 he sees at a glance if it is possible to regenerate the patient. 

 It is, therefore, a great point in gardening — one to which 

 young men should pay great attention — to learn when and 

 how art can step in at the right minute to help nature, and to 

 supersede her if it can. — J. Taylor, Maesgwijnne, S. Wales. 



NEW AND IMPROVED BOUQUET-HOLDER, 

 Messrs. Dick Eadclyffe & Co. have sent us the engravings 

 of a bouquet-holder. It is made in electro-gold, is not only 



a very handsome holder for a bouquet, but also answers the 

 purpose of a stand for flowers. 



STEAWBEEEIES IN WINTER. 



At this season of the year, what is there nicer to put upon 

 the dinner-table than a good dish of Strawberries? I grow 

 Keens' Seedling for early use. President, and Sir Harry. These 

 are too well known to need description. I am well aware that 

 they are old varieties, but as croppers and for flavour they 

 are all that the most fastidious could desire. I always select 

 as many of the first suckers as I shall require — they make 

 the strongest plants — and all the other suckers I have cut 

 off as they appear, which is a great consideration in the suc- 

 cessful culture of the Strawberry in pots. I never allow super- 

 fluous suckers to remain. I pot each sucker in a small GO-sized 

 pot, which I fill with rich compost — namely, good fibry loam 

 and decayed dung, and I place a small stone on the stem to 

 keep it in its place. Very soon the pot is full of roots. I con- 

 stantly use hquid manure, and give them every encourage- 

 ment ; the more hberal the treatment the greater will be the 

 results when fruiting. When the pots are f uU of robust roots 

 the plants are separated from the parents. 



I usually give the plants about three shifts. I never allow 

 them to become pot-bound, and as they are repotted I place 

 them in a warm position, where they are exposed to plenty of 

 sun and air ; each pot is placed on a flat brick, and plunged 

 in ashes up to the rim, every precaution being taken to keep 

 worms out. For the final shift for fruiting I use 2-i-sized pots, 

 and I also pot very firmly, using a compost of fibrous loam, 

 decayed dung, and crushed bones, with a good sprinkling of 

 charcoal. 



I have tried keeping the plants in pans when growing. I 

 have seen decayed manure put in the pan, also water, but I do 

 not like either. I always have the best success by pursuing 

 the following method : I have turf cut out of a pasture, and 

 placed bottom upwards — the grass on the shelf, the soil up- 

 wards. I place the pots on this ; and when starting, the plants 

 root into the turf and receive great support from it. When I 

 water I give plenty on the turf. Many failures arise from giving 

 them too strong heat when starting. I have seen them, after 

 they have made their growth, placed on their side to keep them 

 dry. I always place mine in an orchard house during the 

 period of rest. 



I have kept some plants during winter, and not fruited them 

 till the second winter ; they always repay me for the extra 

 trouble. I call them two-year-olds. It is a very easy method ; 

 I pick off every bloom bud as it appears. The result the second 

 winter is superior. In the autumn of 1872 I took up fifty 

 plants out of a Strawberry plantation several years of age aa 

 an experiment, and from them early this year I had a capital 

 crop, and at any future time if short of plants I should do so 

 again. The red spider is the great pest of Strawberries ; aU 



