.280 General Notices. 



who will not admit, that they form objects of great beauty for the green- 

 house or conservatory, during the dark and dreary months of winter ; and 

 they are plants of such easy cultivation, that 1 am surprised we so seldom 

 see them in bloom in the winter time. I have seen them in bloom from 

 September till the return of Spring, by ihe plan of taking off cuttings 

 about this time, or selecting some of the best dwarf plants, from the store 

 pots, and potting or striking them in sixties, in good rich soil ; as soon as 

 ihey are rooted, they can be finally shifted into twenty-fours ; then plunged 

 over the rims of the pots in the open borders, or in beds of ashes. They 

 will require little or no attention till taken up, except to top the shoots occa- 

 sionally, and to pinch off the blooms till the plants attain a moderate size, 

 "which will be about the end of August or beginning of September. In 

 October, before the frost comes, they must be taken up, the pots washed 

 and cleaned, and then they must be at once removed to the greenhouse or 

 conservatory. They wi'.l be in full bloom, and a supply will come on in 

 rotation. The little trouble that is occasioned will be amply compensated 

 by a brilliant display of rich scarlet blooming throughout the winter. ( United 

 Gardeners'' Journal, 1847, p. 241.) 



Root Pruning Trees. — Some three or four years ago, when the sub- 

 ject of root-pruning was first discussed, we felt much interested in the 

 subject, and republished an article by our correspondent, Mr. Rivers, of the 

 Sawbridgevvorth Nurseries, England, showing the benefiis and advantages 

 of the system. We also practically satisfied ourselves that the plan was 

 an important one to every cultivator, enabling him to bring trees into bear- 

 ing, when all other means had failed. But some of our amateurs and pro- 

 fessional men have not been convinced of its utility, and even our friend, 

 Mr. Ernst, in a recent article, (p. 57,) views the system " as a sort of 

 horticultural heresy, calculated to do much mischief," which " will have 

 its day, and then be permitted to slumber among the errors of the times." 

 To all who entertain such impressions, we invite their attention to the fol- 

 lowing remarks ; and when they have proved them by experiment, as we 

 have, to be correct, we doubt not it .will be generally adojited where it is 

 desired to grow a variety of trees in a small space, and speedily bring them 

 into fruit. — Ed. 



As I was one of the first who called your attention to the root-pruning of 

 pear trees, for the purpose of making them bear early, I was glad to find, 

 on a visit to Sawbridgeworth Nursery the other day, that Mr. Rivers has 

 carried out, with the most complete success, his management of the pear, 

 so as to produce early fcuitfulness, and yet the most vigorous and healthy 

 growth. I should say that you will scarcely find one tree in a hundred of 

 his vast nursery of pears, (covering, I cannot recollect how many acres,) 

 which is not covered with bloom. The trees are three to four feet high, 

 trained conically, and, with few exceptions, all grafted on quince stocks. 

 In addition to the dwarfing effect of this slock, he finds many of the best 

 kinds of pears, which are worthless on pear stocks, produce excellently 

 flavored fruit on the quince. There are, however, some kinds which he 

 finds it impossible to cultivate on this stock, and therefore, in order to avail 



