i6i 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 25, 187B. 



plant an intermediate bnsb, which is taken ont again after 

 five or six yearB. By this plan they obtain a better return at 

 Btartinp. It is now found much better to form the young 

 Black Currant as a stock instead of a bush. This is done by 

 not taking off any of the buds when the cuttings are struck. 

 The plant in this way forms a better head and lasts many 

 more years. In all kinds of plantation it is most essential to 

 have a man who thoroughly understands pruning, as the 

 amount of produce is more or less dependent upon the intel- 

 ligence of the cutter. As a rule, the young gardeners of the 

 present day do not attend sufficiently to the art of pruning. 

 They ought to have proper training at the nurseries before 

 they undertake such responsible work. My experience is that 

 not one in ten (even among professed gardeners) thoroughly 

 knows bis business. For educational purposes I can recom- 

 mend M. Dn BreuU'a book on pruning as a good practical 

 work. 



The drawback to fruit plantations which are under cultiva- 

 tion is the great cost of labour in keeping them clean ; for if 

 loots and weeds are once allowed to gain the upper hand the 

 expense of subduing them becomes enormous. As the fruit- 

 picking season comes on labour gets scarce, and there is great 

 difficulty in getting work done. 



Our fruit plantations have all been dug well once over, 

 many twice, and have had at the least four hoeings, yet I 

 should have been very much ashamed if any of you had seen 

 them last August. 



In West Kent on the light soils and shingle both Rasp- 

 berries and Strawberries are cultivated to an immense extent, 

 and very profitably ; but this is a class of fruit we have not 

 time to discuss. I can only remark, as showing the progress 

 of fruit cultivation, that in the space of about twenty years 

 probably not less than one thousand acres of poor woodland 

 about Farningham, the Grays, and Sittingbourne have been 

 grubbed, and are now growing fruit of this description, or of 

 the other kinds I have enumerated. 



There is another kind of cultivation of dwarf fruit which, 

 BO far as profit is concerned, may be considered at present to 

 be in a state of infancy, but which I believe will command 

 great attention presently. I allude to the growing of the 

 Apple on the Paradise or Doucin stock on bushes — the effect 

 being the same as growing the Pear on the Quince, or the 

 Cherry on the Mahaleb stock. The object is to avoid profuse- 

 nesB in growth, so that quicker results and greater bearing 

 propensities may be obtained. Many of our amateur fruit- 

 growers have already done much to assist and encourage this 

 most interesting class of fruit-growing, and I believe, when 

 well understood, we shall find the system to be very profit- 

 able. The great benefit is, that by this mode of culture any- 

 one possessing even the smallest plot of ground can have a 

 succession of fruit. These dwarf trees can be planted 3, 4, or 

 6 feet apart at first, and thinned as they grow too large ; there- 

 fore any person having only G perches of land might have one 

 hundred trees. Mr. Rivers in his useful work " On the Cul- 

 ture of Pyramid and Bush Fruit Trees " has so well described 

 the treatment required for dwarf fruit, that I cannot do better 

 than advise you to study his work. Our countrymen owe that 

 gentleman, Dr. Hogg, Mr. Scott of Merriott, and many other 

 propagators, their thanks for the great services they have 

 rendered. 



I must conclude my paper with a few remarks on old orchards 

 and fruit plantations, because we must all have observed that 

 many such are much neglected. It is no uncommon thing to 

 gee trees running into one another owing to the planting being 

 too thick, or from profuse growth. Now a little thinning or 

 shortening of the lateral branches will do great good. There 

 should not be less space than 3 feet between the boughs cf 

 every tree, so that a ladder may be worked easily, and the sun 

 and air let in ; but large boughs (unless dead) should never 

 be cut off if it can be avoided. It is often the custom to cot 

 and thin out the inside of old Apple trees, but great injury ii) 

 done by the practice after the trees have arrived at any age. 

 A very good fruit-grower once remarked to me that he liked 

 the interior of his Apple trees to be bo thick that he could not 

 see to shoot a partridge through them, and I quite agree with 

 him, for we once had the greatest injury done to an old plan- 

 tation of Apples by the clearing-out of the inside of the trees. 

 The plantation had borne 3500 bushels in one year, and the 

 next year my father was advised by the bailifif to have the 

 trees trimmed out. The remarks of the man appeared reason- 

 able enough. He urged that we could get no fruit inside but 

 a few scrubby Apples, and that what went to support these 



boughs would help the other parts of the tree. The work was 

 allowed to be done, but the result was most disastrous, aa 

 nothing like the same quantity was ever grown again. I believe 

 manuring never pays better than when bestowed on old plan- 

 tations. The treatment appears to give fresh vigour and bear- 

 ing power to old trees if they have any good wood left. It is 

 not, however, always necessary to manure with dung, for feed- 

 ing Bheep with corn or oilcake answers much the same purpose. 

 I end by advising everyone to have each tree looked to and 

 examined early in the autumn, and never to allow an unpro- 

 ductive one to remain or be regrafted. 



THINGS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN. 



ACACIi. 



I DO not think it is generally known that there is no wood 

 lasts so long for posts as Acacia. There is little or no sap, 

 and it lasts underground far longer than Oak. If sown and 

 transplanted and cat down from time to time like Ash, it 

 grows very quickly from the root or stool, and makes very 

 durable Scotch fencing. More persons ought to turn their 

 attention to planting it in covers. It is not a tree that 

 attains to a great age or size, as it quickly matures. — C. P. P. 



LouoBEOBooGH Chbvsanthemum AND Feuit Show. — A Com- 

 mittee of the leading horticulturists, with the Rev. J. Bird aa 

 President, has lately established a Chrysanthemum Society, 

 and have just held their tiret Show, which was a very successful 

 one. Notwithstanding the uufavourable season, this new Society 

 has produced an excellent show of this favourite autumn flower; 

 and, judging from the spirit displayed, Loughborough will soon 

 become as eminent for the growth of the Chrysanthemum as it 

 is for the growth of roots and vegetables. Very fine-trained 

 specimens of both large and small varieties were staged, and the 

 cut blooms were such as to call forth remarks of astonishment. 

 The show of winter fruit was particularly good, and every prize 

 was sharply contested. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 A General Meeting of the Fellows of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society will be held at South Kensington on Thursday, 

 December Uth, at three o'clock p.m., to receive from the 

 CouncU an explanation of the Scheme of Privileges for 1870, 

 and to give an opportunity to the Fellows of stating their 

 opinions on its details. The attendance of the FeUows on this 

 important occasion is most desirable. 



Messrs. Carter & Co. of Holborn have offered a 



series of prizes for vegetables at the Shows of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society in 1870, amounting in all to £78. 



■ The next dinner of the Horticcltural Club will be 



held at the Club House, 3, Adelphi Terrace, on Wednesday, 

 December let, at 0.15. Members have the privilege of in- 

 troducing a friend. It is particularly requested that in- 

 struction be given to the Secretary by the 29th inst., as much 

 inconvenience was occasioned on the lastoeoaBion. Double the 

 number of members expected were present, and although the 

 resources of the Club are considerable, it is not easy to alter 

 tables on so short a notice. A card to the Secretary would be 

 sufficient. 



We are informed that the Rockwork at Sandringham, 



Dunorlan, Eattersea Park, and Osmaston, w'iich have been 

 praised in our columns, were all erected by Mr. Pnlham of 

 the Stoneworks at Broxbourne. 



Odf foreign imports of Chestnuts have been deolic- 



ing; they have ranged from 65,000 bushels to 25,000 bushels. 

 Chestnut flour, so unknown to us in England (although there 

 Is no reason why this should be), is the staple food of many 

 Italian peanants, with which they make their polenta, prefer- 

 ring it to Maize, as being more nutritious. The cost per head 

 for this kind of food is from 3d. to id. per day. — {Food and 

 Fuel Reformer.) 



GRUBS DESTROYING VEGETABLES. 

 Some years ago I could not, and had not, grown any tap- 

 rooted vegetables fit to cook, when one day to a gardener who 

 came from a distance to see my Carnations I told the diffi- 

 culty I was in. lie said, " At the back end of the year put on 



