1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



171 



be cut claan off, they may be slopped aft«r mid-summer 

 wL( r« Lhey appear insubordinate to the leader ; and instead 

 ©f being cut close to the stem at the winter pruning, if one 

 or two buds are left, these buds will furnish leaves on small 

 shoots in tha following summer, which will contribute much 

 towards strengthening the stem ; these shoots ought, how- 

 Over, to be slopped in summer. 



V/hen the soil is good and the variety of vigorous growth, 

 standard Pear trees may be reared without cutting hack the 

 leader till it attain the required height of stem. But under 

 lees favorable circumstances a somewhat different mode of 

 proceeding is advisable, especially where stakes cannot be 

 afforded. If the leading shocst is found weak, head it back 

 to near its base ; a stronger shoot will result, which must 

 bo kept as strictly upright as possible for a leader. Take 

 care to check almost entirely the growth of the two shoots 

 likely to proceed from the buds situated next to thit which 

 fxirnishes the leader. The latter may he a little shortened 

 in the following season, and in every season, till it attain 

 tho proper height. By the time it does this the base of the 

 stem will have acquired considerable thickness, and al- 

 though gr-iat cure is necessary to keep the shoots erect while 

 young, no stakes are afterwards required. This mode of 

 rearing stems should be exclusively adopted in all exposed 

 eituations, and in many other cases it will be foHud obvi- 

 ously advantageous. 



The Chinese Wistaria. 



OcR pages were adorned last month with a por- 

 trait of the Yidan, or Chinese White Magnolia, 

 ihe pride of lawn and pleasure grounds in April.* 



Another hardy twining or climbing shrub, 

 from the same " flowery land," is the gem of 

 the garden and shrubbery, in the month of May. 



It is, indeed, one of the loveliest of all vines 

 of a shrubby character. Its clusters of delicate 

 pale purple (or French gray) blossoms, are so 

 numerous and so large, each raceme being 11 or 

 12 inches long, that they are highly attractive. 

 Their perfume is delicious. The plant is perfect- 

 ly hardy in this latitude, and will bear a temper- 

 . ature of 10 or 15 degrees below zero. It grows 

 freely in almost every soil, and, in a deep, rich 

 ioam, frequently makes shoots 20 or 30 feet long 

 in a single season. Its foliage is abundant, and 

 its color is a lively, pleasant hue of green. In a 

 few words, we cannot but agree with Loudon, in 

 thinkine it " the most magnificent of all hardy de- 

 ciduous climbers."-}- 



When this plant was first introduced into Great 

 Britain from China, about 30 years ago, it was 

 sold for six guineas a plant, and it was considered 

 too tender to bear the open air. It may now be 

 had in all the large nurseries in this country, at 

 from 30 to 60 cents each, and is found to be per- 

 fectly hardy. As it is easily proppgated by lay- 

 ers and cuttings, and requires no further than a 

 slight training care, when once planted, we hope 



* The portrait of the Wistaria, intended to accompany 

 this article, is necessarily omitted, the engraver having 

 failed to get it ready in season. — Pub. 



t The Chinese Wistaria, though it will grow over arbors, 

 pilars, or in almost any shape that it may be desirable to 

 train it, appears to thrive best when growing in a warm sit- 

 uation, such as the south side of a building, wall, &c. — 

 Tljere is a plant trained on the south side of the gardener's 

 house, here, which has been planted about twelve years, 

 and which now covers a large space. Every year it has in 

 creased in size, and in the number of its blossoms. While 

 u^e write, (the middle of May, ) it is in bloom, and there are 

 64O clojters of blossoms fully expanded on it, 



to see it, and the Double Michigan Roses, — two 

 of the finest of hardy climbers yet known, for the 

 middle and eastern states — become the ornament 

 of every rural cottage and countr}'^ house in the 

 land. The comparative freedom from insects, 

 th3 permanency and vigor of these climbers, 

 added to their great beauty, must soon make 

 them universal favorites. The genus Wistaria^ 

 was named by Nuttali, in honor of Dr. Caspar 

 WrsTAR, the celebrated Philadelphia savaiu 



There is also au indigenous species sometimes 

 called the Glycine, Wistaria frutescens, a native 

 of Virginia and the south and west Though a 

 pretty climber, its clusters of flowers are not 

 more than a third of the size of the Chinese spe- 

 cies, and it is much less ornamental, as well as 

 hardy, in the northern states. Its flowers are 

 produced later, or towards mid-summer. 



A new variety of the Chinese Wistaria has 

 lately been brought out to England, by the cele- 

 brated collector to the Lcndon Horticultural So- 

 ciety, Mr. Fortune. Its blossoms are white^ and 

 the effect of this and the purple flowered species 

 will both be benefitted, by planting and training 

 them together. We have not learned as yet, of 

 its introduction into this country. 



We find the following interesting hints for 

 making the Chinese Wistaria a -perpetual bloom- 

 er, in PaxtoTi's Magazine of Botany. 



" Mr. Knight, of the exotic nursery, Chelsea, 

 has a simple method of causing this plant to flow- 

 er three times a year, by the following ti-eatraent: 

 After the first flowering is over, which will be 

 about the end of May, he strips off" all the leaves, 

 and cuts off all the young and superfluous shoots 

 which have been formed, to within a few eyes of 

 the stem, which causes it to throw out fresh leaves 

 and to flower again in July and August ; and 

 after this flowering is over, the same process is 

 repeated of cutting off the leaves, and this causes 

 it to flower again in the months of October and 

 November. It may be said that this plant will 

 naturally flower twice, and sometimes thrice, in 

 the season ; but, when it does, (which is but very 

 seldom,) the flowers are so very weak, and there 

 are so few of them, that it is never worth notice ; 

 whereas, by the above simple process, an abund- 

 ant succession of flowers may be insured through- 

 out the whole season. It should be remembered 

 that these remarks will not apply to ymcng plants, 

 but only to those that are well established." 



Sometimes we have seen plants sent out from 

 the nurseries, which appear for a long time after 

 to have a dwarfish, stinted habit, and do not climb 

 freely. This is probably owing to their having 

 been raised from downward or impoverished 

 branches. It is necessary in such instances, to 

 head the plants down to a single bud, as near the 

 ground as possible, and to make the soil rich and 

 deep, where they are planted. This will give 

 them a vigorous start, and they will afterwards 

 maintain a natural state of luxuriance. — Hart. 



