General Notices. 457 



neighbors, the result is very pleasing. Whole beds may be filled with the 

 dwarf kinds, and Mignonetto growing among them will add the grace of 

 an exquisite perfume to their own beauty. If a stock is kept in pots, they 

 do admirably to fill up gaps, or to insert in places where earlier flowers have 

 gone o.T. In fact, they are invaluable ; and in addition to the remarks of 

 last week, respecting propagation for next year, I would give a little advice 

 as to the treatment of scarlet pelargoniums. 



Having procured as many cuttings as possible, pot them thickly in pans 

 or pt)ts, and place them in a frame as directed before, care being taken to 

 guard against damp, which is very fatal to their succulent stems. If the 

 cuttings are allowed to dry over before the wounded part is inserted in the 

 soil, the effect will be more sure. It has been found that these pelargoni- 

 ums do well when potted as above, and kept in a room of a dwelling-house 

 near the light. Indeed, as gardeners say, " they will grow like grass," 

 and, in the winter, dryness is almost all they need to preserve them. In 

 addition to the young plants made from cuttings, all the old roots may be 

 taken up when the frosts come, and may be preserved by being cut down 

 and potted ; or they may be dried and hung up by the roots in an out-build- 

 ing, excluding frost and damp. Then again in the spring, the young shoots 

 of those preserved in pots may be cut oflT and struck. There are numerous 

 varieties of scarlet pelargoniums, some with variegated foliage, and as many 

 as possible should be procured. — {Gard. Chron. 1847, p. 556.) 



Pruning Fruit Trees. — I suspect that even the pruning of Paris will not 

 do for this climate, and that, as regards pears and apples, at least bloom buds 

 will not be obtained with certainty by the same means. I was in Paris two 

 years ago, and took a lesson in pruning from M. Jamin. Nothing could be 

 more perfectly trained than his pears and apples, and they were loaded with 

 fruit. But I have either mistaken the precepts of my master, or his prac- 

 tice is not suitable for this damp climate. I find my memorandum of what 

 he told me during a clinical lecture in his nursery. He is careful to thin 

 out the branches (pears), and keeps thinning as the tree goes on, leaves the 

 leader, and, in May or early in June, pinches off all wood shoots, and these 

 so pinched he cuts back to one eighth of an inch in winter. These make 

 bloom buds the next year, but those pinched off which are not strong make 

 bloom buds the same year; some, of course, shoot after being pinched; 

 these are again pinched, and, if no bloom buds are made, are cut off close, 

 as before stated. The leader is shortened in winter. If this branch is well 

 stored with bloom buds, he shortens to about six inches; if growing vigor- 

 ously and no buds, he leaves it longer. He is against bending down the 

 branches, and leaves no spurs ; the branches about nine inches apart. A fter 

 the leader attains about eight feet, he lets it grow on. In the main, he fol- 

 lows D'Albret's theory and practice of pruning fruit trees, 6th edit. I 

 think you would do some service if you were to give us an abridgment of 

 D'Albret's book as regards pruning. I attempted this, but find some diffi- 

 culty in giving the proper equivalents for technical words, and so must leave 

 it to some one more experienced in the art. — {Id. 1847, p. 637.) 

 VOL. XHI. — NO. X. 41 



