January 27, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 





50 



HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 





(The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for 

 the opinions expressed by correspondents.) 



—I was ex- 



see vol. L. 



Rose Mme. Hector Leuilliot.- 



tremely interested in the criticism ( 

 p. 335) by White Rose on my notes on the finely- 

 coloured Hvbrid Tea Rose, Mme. Hector Leuil- 

 hot. I do not think that climatic conditions 

 are responsible for the shy-flowering propensi- 

 ties sometimes attributed to this Rose, neither 

 do I think it is a question of soil. In Mid- 

 Lothian we are not blessed with the glorious 

 climate of, say, Essex, or even the North of 

 London, but, notwithstanding 

 flower Mme. Hector Leuilliot 



this, we can 

 satisfactorily. 



Then, as to soil, I find this Rose grows strongly 

 on a stiff, clayey loam, although the position is 



On the other hand, in a somewhat 



some seven miles from the 



exposed. 



sheltered position, 

 exposed place, and on a light soil upon a gravel 

 subsoil, it also grows well, but not so strongly 

 as in the conditions already described. With 

 plants grown under glass in pots I also find no 

 paucity of flowers, but an absolute immunity 

 from mildew. I believe the secret of success 

 lies in the treatment accorded in the pruning, 

 and the time also at which this opera- 

 tion is performed. These notes are bassd upon 



experience of plants budded low on the seedling 

 briar. As to the pruning, I can better illustrate 

 what I mean on this subject if I refer White 

 Rose to The Handbook on Pruning Roses, 

 issued by The National Rose Society. In that 

 book we are told to prune this Rose according 

 to instruction six, the method being illustrated 

 by reference to plates numbered 7, 8 and 9. 

 Plate 7 represents a plant (unpruned) of a Rose 

 requiring light pruning, while plate 8 represents 

 the same plant pruned for exhibition purposes, 

 plate 9 giving a representation of the same plant 

 treated for garden purposes. To begin with, 

 plate 7, while it may represent a Rose requiring 

 light pruning, certainly does not do justice to 

 any plant of Mme. Hector Leuilliot I have seen, 

 and appears more like some of the strong-grow- 

 ing and robust Hybrid Perpetuals. If the plants 

 are pruned according to instruction five, as repre- 

 sented by plate 8 in The Handbook, the results 

 will be disastrous. The pruning for garden pur- 

 poses, as recommended by plate 9, is much 

 nearer the treatment required by this Rose, 

 yet it is too severe, and two more " eyes,*' 

 at least, should be left upon the laterals. The 

 Handbook recommends that the pruning of 

 Hybrid Teas should be done in March ; here we 

 find that it is best done from the middle to the 

 end of April. Gustave Regis and Mme. Hector 

 Leuilliot seem to require almost similar treat- 

 ment, and careful observation will soon teach 

 the student the requisite experience for a suc- 

 cessful operation. If, as is sometimes the case, 

 the Rose grows too stronglv, a judicious root- 

 pruning will be useful. George M. Taylor, Mid- 

 Lothian. 



Destruction of Rats.— I have read with 

 much interest the remarks of Mr. Kenwood (p. 

 28) and E. M. (p. 44) respecting rat-catching. 

 -Perhaps my own experience may be acceptable. 

 I have with two ferrets and one crossbred bull 

 terrier caught 85 rats during the last ten weeks. 

 1 have hunted one hour every weekday, from one 

 till two p.m.. It is a mistake to wait too long 

 between the hunts. W. Currell, East Cliff 

 Lodge Gardens, Ramsgate. 



Home-grown Pines at Oakbrook, Ham- 



MERSMiTH.-Since the advent of imported fruits 

 market-growers and many private gentlemen have 

 given up Pineapple culture, although at some 

 large establishments, such as The Hendre, Mon- 



"Tt V they are sti11 cultivated, as public 

 exnibitions testify. I was agreeably surprised, 



**J? ' W i ei \ C ^ lling recentl y a t the well-kept 

 garden attached to Oakbrook, Ravenscourt 

 raws, Hammersmith, the charming residence of 

 Mm, Brandon, that Mr. West, the head ear- 

 dener there, grows the smooth-leaved Cayenne 

 cuSn rJ 6 ^ succes ? fu "y- Considering that the 

 few nrh W f ex P e ^ slve > and is only practised in 

 Wist J R gardenS > great credit is due to Mr. 



Acacia Baileyana. — I am enclosing a few 

 sprays of an Acacia. This is the first time the 

 plant has developed such a profusion of bloom 

 here. The tree is growing out-of-doors in 

 an exposed situation. Last season there were 

 prospects of a good show of bloom similar 

 to this year, but the flowers were spoiled 

 by cold winds and frost. Apart from 

 this damage no other injury was caused to the 

 tree. The flowers have been out for nearlv a 

 fortnight. Are there any records of this 

 Acacia flowering so early and so well out- 

 of-doors? A. J. Morgan, Porthgwidden Gar- 

 dens, Devoran, Cornwall, January IS, 1912. 

 [The Acacia is A. Baileyana (see fig. 31), an 

 Australian species. The intensely-glaucous 

 foliage and the profusion of bright yellow blos- 

 som provide a beautiful contrast in colouring. 



Eds.] 



growth continues throughout the night if the 

 temperature is sufficiently high, but no food is 

 formed, so that the growth is liable to be any- 

 thing but sturdy; on the other hand, growth 

 diminishes with a lowering night temperature. 

 Therefore, other things being equal, we should 

 very likely find that in those districts where 

 nights are cold growth is more sturdy, and the 

 colour of fruits brighter than in other districts 

 where the nights are warm ; as illustrated by 

 pot Apples showing a remarkable change in 

 colour when placed outside (see p. 13). It 

 seems to me also that the question of colour is a 

 chemical one (although we do not at present, per- 

 haps, fully understand it), and that whatever 

 affects and changes the chemical conditions in 

 the soil and outside the plant will also affect the 

 chemical conditions inside the plant, including, 

 of course, the colour of the fruit. Soils which are 

 more or less of an acid nature as a rule give 



Fig. 31.— acacta baileyana: flowers yellow. 



The Colouring of Apples. — I have been 



greatly interested in this subject since the 

 autumn of 1909, when I visited a head gardener 

 in Kent, who had at that time Apples which 

 were more brilliantly coloured than any I had 

 seen. The soil was a fairly rich loam 

 on the chalk, and the gardener informed me 

 that he obtained the high colour by allow- 

 ing one or two strong roots to go down into 

 the chalk and confining the others to the loam 

 above. I have long held the opinion that " all 

 factors w r hich tend to induce sturdy, short- 

 jointed growths also tend to accentuate colour," 

 and perhaps this is the pivot, so to speak, of the 

 whole question. It is a well known fact that 



poor colouring effects, but if the chemical con- 

 ditions are changed by adding lime-rubble, 

 chalk, &c, or by confining the roots to the sur- 

 face soil, then an improvement may be expected 

 in the colour of the fruit. This may sometimes 

 be due to chemical action itself or to the by-pro- 

 ducts of such action. What happens, for in- 

 stance, in the soil, and what goes into the plant 

 after certain chemicals, such as potash and 

 sulphate of iron, are added is still an obscure 

 question. We may add either, but does the 

 plant contain more of what was added than it 

 did before, or does it contain more of something 

 else as a consequence of the chemical change, 

 or the by-products of such a change or changes? 





