Septembei' 0, 1875. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



231 



to think they are ripe when they really are not. One way to 

 test these is to take a gentle hold of the fruit between the thumb 

 and second finger, let the finger bt> the testing agent by press- 

 ing the tlesby part of the fruit close or near the stalk ; if tbis is 

 soft the fruit may be safely gathered. But even then I consider 

 that by laying the fruit on a clean paper in a sunny spot under 

 cover sometimes for twelve or twenty-four hours it is better fit 

 for tiible than when fresh gathered; though here the fruit must 

 be watched and used at the proper time, or its richness soon 

 deteriorates. Late sorts of Peaches are seldom so good in 

 flavour as the early and midseason kinds, and require to be 

 gathered a longer time before use. 



Apricots are perhaps the most peculiar fruit of any to secure 

 properly ripe at all parts. It often happens that the part of tbe 

 fruit most exposed to the sun has a rich-looking colour about it, 

 and is ripe first there, but at other parts is quite hard ; therefore 

 the test applied to Peaches will hardly answer for Apricots, and 

 if they were allowed to hang upon the trees, to which they ad- 

 here very firmly, till the under part was ripe the other part 

 would be worthless. I generally expose my fruit to the sun as 

 much as possible by pulling off all overhanging leaves, and then 

 gather when the under part of the fruit is nearly of the same 

 colour as the top, and lay it out for a day or two it is fit for 

 table. As to Plums there is not much difficulty, for they readily 

 part from the twigs when ripe. Cherries, the dark sorts tell 

 by their richness of colour, and the light-fleshed sorts by their 

 transparency. Of Figs my old tutor used to say they are ripe 

 when the small end was of the same colour as the largest end; 

 however, I found that by waiting for tbis I was often disap- 

 pointed, for not only did the fruit not all colour alike, especially 

 the Brunswick and Brown Turkey, but the fruit often split at 

 the top, and then it soon spoils. I gather as soon as the eye at 

 the top begins to open and the seeds exposed turn to a brown 

 colour, and if the fruit is soft there is not much wrong. 



Of Pears there is an amount of judgment needed, for some 

 sorts, such as the Jargonelle and Williams's Bon Chretien, 

 should really be gathered before they are quite ripe. I mean that 

 if allowed to remain on the tree till they colour, within twelve 

 or twenty-four hours after that they are not fit for the dessert. 

 Like some sorts of Melons they are ripe before they show it, 

 and especially so if grown on a wall. One test is by catting a 

 likely-looking fruit asunder, and if it has good flesh, with juice 

 exuding from the cut, and the kernels are black, it will be pretty 

 safe to gather. With regard to late Pears, such as keep over 

 Christmas till spring — that is, Easter Beurru, Winter Crasanne, 

 and Winter Nelis, as well as others, they must be gathered 

 when the kernels have changed from a white to a brown colour, 

 for they do not ripen on the tree, but require to be laid up a 

 considerable time, or till their season comes round. 



Of Apples the early dessert kinds, such as Juneating, Irish 

 Peach, and Red Astrachan are tested by the same means, and 

 80 are the Codlins and other early kitchen kinds. There are 

 other means of testing : One is to observe when they begin to 

 fall from the tree ; and another is to raise the fruit up j ust above 

 the level of tbe string, and if it is ripe it will part quickly from 

 the tree, and Pears may be safely tested in the same way. 



All fruit should be gathered when dry, and be put into a 

 basket upon some soft material to prevent bruising. — Thojiis 

 Becobd. 



DOINGS OF THE LA.ST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



H^LEDY FBUIT O.IBDEN. 



We continue to store the earlier sorts of Apples and Pears as 

 they are ready for gathering. Pears are gathered at different 

 times from the same tree, at intervals of say a week or ten days, 

 in order to prolong the season. The earliest gathered will ripen 

 first. We are now using Williams' Bon Chretien from standard 

 trees. Other fruit from the same trees has just been gathered, 

 and will not be ready for two weeks longer; by that time the 

 earliest Louise Bonne of Jersey will be ready for use, and also 

 Fondante d'Automne, Beurre d'Amanlis, and Beurre Hardy. 



Plum trees are actually being broken down with the weight 

 of fruit, especially tbe large kitchen Plums, such as Pond's 

 Seedling, Diamond, Victoria, &c. The Bullace trees, although 

 the fruit is not large, are so overloaded with it that many 

 branches have broken with the weight — some of the trees we 

 propped-up with sticks. It is a mistake to allow the trees to 

 bear such enormous crops, and if time could be spared it would 

 be much better to go over the trees and thin out the fruit early 

 in the season, that which was left would be of much superior 

 quality, and the trees would not suffer; besides, such enormous 

 crops are not required, as much of the fruit is wasted. Those 

 who have recently planted trees should now take notes of them, 

 as it will be necessary to do away with some of the sorts how- 

 ever well selected tbe collection may have been. Many varieties 

 of fruit trees that do well in some gardens, in others are quite 

 worthless ; but it is best to give the trees two or three years' 

 trial before discarding them. Plums generally do well vith m 



planted out as pyramids, but Braby's Green Gage and Reino 

 Claude de Bavay, both very large late Gige Plums, have after 

 seven or eight years' trial failed to give satisfaction, and as the 

 trees are such rampant growers they must be removed. The 

 fruit cracks and decays before it ripens. 



Amongst Pears many varieties that produced fine, large, 

 clean fruit on the excellent claj'ey loam in the nurseries of the 

 Messrs. Rivers of Sawbridt,-ewortb, are quite worthless in our 

 soil; two of the best are Doyenne du Comice and Beurre 

 Superfin. The fruit with us is always diseased and cracks badly. 

 Beurre Eance was obtained double-grafted, but the fruit which 

 is produced iu abundance never grows to its full size, and also 

 cracks badly. In good seasons we have had tolerably good fruit, 

 but it is too uncertain to be allowed space any longer. When 

 trees that have grown six or seven years in one place are re- 

 moved it is necessary to trench the ground deeply, and to add 

 some rotted manure and fresh loam; placing some rotted turfy 

 loam round the roots of the trees when planting them is also 

 very necessary. 



Peach and Nectarine trees on the walls should be Ijoked to 

 as directed two weeks ago, and the shoots that are loose to be 

 nailed-in, not only to improve the appearance of the trees but 

 also to allow the fruit to ripen aud colour well. Any fruit that 

 is shaded with leaves should be exposed by having the leaves 

 laid aside by the hand, or picked off, and this is the more necsL- 

 sary with late Peaches. 



The same may be said about Vines on walls. Wasps and flies 

 attack the berries before they are ripe, and the best way to pro- 

 tect them is by covering each bunch with gauze bags. Where 

 the lateral growths are crowded it is beat to thin them out and 

 to nail the loose shoots to the wall. Many amateurs and cot- 

 tagers in the south grow very good Grapes upon walls. In 

 favourable seasons Black Hamburgh ripens well, and the Royal 

 Muscadine seldom fails to produce good crops. Dust with sul- 

 phur on the first appearance of mildew. Many persons say that 

 Grapes cannot be grown out of doors as they used to be grown. 

 Probably the reason is that the same amount of attention is not 

 bestowed upon them as heretofore. We have heard people com- 

 plain that their Grapes did not ripen well. How could they 

 when leaves and fruit were smothered with mildew, and scarcely 

 any attention had been bestowed upon them from the time of 

 pruning and nailing in early spring until the fruit was gathered? 

 With the same attention that is bestowed upon Vines under 

 glass good crops of well-ripened Royal Muscadines can be ob- 

 tained nearly every season. 



We look over the Strawberry beds about once in ten days 

 to cut off the runners that are abundantly produced on the 

 young plants ; we have also run the Dutch hoe through the rows 

 once since the plants were put out early in August ; they will 

 be hoed again in a week or bo. The plants are now free from 

 red spider; if it were not so, watering them with soot water two 

 or three times would destroy the pest. Hoe the ground every- 

 where if there are any weeds. 



VINEEIES, 



If the fruit is not quite ripe in the late houses a little artificial 

 heat should be applied to ripen it ; indeed, the temperature at 

 night should not fall below (jj^, with the ventilators a little open 

 both at the front and back of the house. Plenty of ventilation 

 is requisite by day, but the temperature should be kept up to 

 70' if the days are cloudy, and .5^ or 10° higher during sunshrne. 

 Any shanked or mouldy berries should also be removed at once 

 with the thinning scissors. It is not desirable to have plants 

 in the house at this season, but if it cannot be avoided care 

 should be taken in watering them that no water be spilled 

 about unnecessarily. 



Pot Vines intended to bear fruit early next year, and that will 

 be started about the end of October or the first week in Novem- 

 ber, should now be cut back to the required length. The pots 

 should be placed in a house where but little artificial heat is 

 used, and no more water be given to the roots than is sufficient 

 to keep them moist and in a healthy condition. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEBV.ITOHY. 



We shall as soon as convenient remove the hardwooded plants 

 that have been out of doors for the summer mouths into their 

 winter quarters. Before doing so the pots will be cleaned, and 

 the plants be tied and have all withered and decaying leaves 

 removed. The drainage should also be free from any obstructive 

 material ; the health of the plants very much depends upon the 

 free outlet for superfluous water-. The plants ought not to be 

 placed in a position where worms can work up into the pots. 

 To prevent this we place the pots on a couple of bricks. A 

 stout stick is also driven into the ground close to the pot, or if 

 the pot is large two or three sticks. The pot is fastened to the 

 sticks, and there is then no danger of the wind turning the 

 plants over. If worms should get into the pots it will be neces- 

 sary either to turn the plants out and to examine the roots, or 

 water with lime water. When the plants are all arranged in the 

 greenhouse the ventilators should be fully open night and day 

 until the plants become accrrstomed to their new quarters; and 

 if the wea'.h r is very dry it msy be dtsirable to dev/ the plants 



