

70 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[February 3, 1912. 



&: 



The Week's Work. 



THE HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



By F. Jordan, Gardener to Lady Nunbuknholme, 



Warter Priory, Yorkshire. 



Insect Pests. — One of the most important 



and necessary operations in the culture of hardy 

 fruits is the annual spraying of the trees. This 

 is now the rule rather than the exception in all 

 well-managed gardens, and those who have 

 regularly practised spraying know that the trees 

 make clean and healthy growth, without which 

 fine fruit cannot be expected. American blight 

 and mussel-scale are two of the most persistent 

 pests, and when established are also the most 

 difficult to eradicate. The woolly aphis spreads 

 from tree to tree with great rapidity, and only 

 by constant attention to winter spraying and care 

 during the season of growth can it be kept 

 in check. Mussel-scale attacks every part of the 

 tree including the fruit, and if not kept in check 

 it also increases rapidly. February is one of 

 the best months for winter spraying, for it is best 

 practised after all pruning has been completed, 

 and the primings carefully raked up and burnt. 

 There are now so many cheap and effective pre- 

 parations on the market that it is not worth 

 while to prepare home-made washes unless large 

 quantities are required. Select a mild day for 

 carrying out the work, using a knapsack 

 sprayer ; an ordinary garden syringe will answer 

 equally well where only a small number of 

 trees have to be sprayed. Gloves and an old suit 

 of clothes should bo worn by the operater. 



The Pear Midge. — This tiny insect is most de- 

 structive in some seasons, especially on Williams's 

 Bon Chretien Pears, and is most difficult to 

 eradicate, especially in the case of trees growing 

 in grass land. In cultivated gardens the surface 

 soil should be removed to a depth of 2 inches 

 and taken to the garden fire; all fallen and 

 deformed fruit should also be gathered and 

 destroyed. Give the soil a good dressing of 

 Kainit — 1 lb. or 2 lbs. to the square yard, or a 

 dressing of vaporite afterwards worked well into 

 the ground in the spring. Apply a dressing of 

 fresh soil to replace that which was removed, and 

 repeat the operation the following spring. The 

 Pear slug should be treated in a similar manner. 

 This creature buries itself a little deeper in the 

 ground than the Pear Midge. Kainit, lime or 

 soot may be applied to grass orchards with 

 beneficial results where this pest is troublesome. 



FRUITS UNDER GLASS. 



Harriss, Fruit Foreman, The Royal Gardens, 



Windsor. 



By E. 



Early "Muscat" Grapes. — It is not a 

 difficult matter to keep Muscat of Alexandria 

 Grapes until the end of January, but to have 

 them ripe by the end of May or early in June 

 the conditions under which they are grown must 

 be very favourable. The roots of the vines 

 should be restricted to inside borders to prevent 

 any check to root action during the critical 

 stage of flowering. The borders should be well 

 drained and not too deep, conditions that neces- 

 sitate frequent waterings at the roots. At this 

 date the roots are growing actively, and an 

 application of diluted liquid manure will be 

 beneficial. An occasional sprinkling of some 

 suitable fertiliser will encourage the roots to 

 grow near to the surface. A night temperature 

 of 65° should be maintained, with a rise of two 

 or three degrees during the day. During sunny 

 weather the thermometer may be allowed to regis- 

 ter 80° or 85°. When this temperature is 

 leached, admit a little fresh air through the top 

 ventilators, closing: them again about 2 p.m., 

 after damping all the bare surfaces in the house, 

 to create a moist atmosphere. When the vines 

 are approaching the flowering stage, laterals 

 which require 'stopping" should be pinched, 

 and all superfluous growths removed. The 

 tying of the shoots to the wires should be de- 

 ferred till the bunches have set, except where 

 the shoots are touching the roof-glass. Such 

 shoots may be pulled down a little towards the 

 trellis and secured with a piece of raffia. When 



the flowers begin to shed their pollen, the at- 

 mosphere should be kept dry and the tempera- 

 ture maintained as equable as possible. The 

 minimum temperature may range from 65° to 

 70°, according to the condition of the weather. 

 The vinery at this stage should never be quite 

 closed. The flowers should be pollinated during 

 the middle of the day by passing a rabbit's tail 

 gently over them. It is a good plan to have 

 vines of Black Hamburgh flowering in another 

 vinery at the same time as the Muscats, so that 

 the pollen from this free-setting black Grape 

 may be used for pollinating the Muscats. I 

 have found this to be of great assistance in set- 

 ting Muscat Grapes at this early date. See that 

 the borders are sufficiently moist before the vines 



flower. 



Late " Muscat 



1 1 



Grapes. — In southern 



districts the beginning of March will be soon 

 enough to start late Muscat of Alexandria 

 Grapes into growth, but in colder districts it 

 may be necessary to start them earlier. A great 

 deal depends upon the nature of the soil and the 

 situation of the vineries. In any case it is neces- 

 sary to have the bunches perfectly finished in 

 order to keep them for as long a period as pos- 

 sible. If the vines were infested with either red 

 spider or mealy bug last year, the house should 

 be cleansed thoroughly with strong, soapy water. 

 Afterwards remove the loose bark from the rods 

 and scrub the vines two or three times with a 

 solution of soft soap and sulphur. Before 

 starting young vines into growth, dress the cut 

 surfaces with styptic to prevent bleeding, re- 

 membering that young vines break into growth 

 evenly if they are started very gradually. 



Propagation by n Eyes"— Choose moder- 

 ately-strong, well-ripened shoots from which to 

 select the buds. Leave half an inch of wood on 

 either side of the buds, and insert them in 3-inch 

 pots, in loam mixed with a small quantity of 

 finely-crushed mortar rubble. Make the soil 

 fairly firm, and leave the bud just level with 

 the surface. Plunge the pots in a hotbed, and 

 lightly spray the buds two or three times each 

 day. A hotbed which has been prepared for 

 Cucumbers is suitable. Avoid having the soil 

 too wet, as much moisture is not required until 

 the buds are bursting into growth. 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 



By Edwin Beckett, Gardener to the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, 



Aldenham House, Hertfordshire. 



Parsnips. — The Parsnip requires a long 

 season of growth, and it is not too soon to sow 

 the main batch. The w'eather has been very un- 

 favourable for all ground operations, and no 

 attempt should be made to sow seeds of any kind 

 until the soil is in a fairly dry condition, but 

 directly opportunity permits, make a good sow- 

 ing of this vegetable. Avoid ground that has 

 been recently manured, rather select a quarter of 

 the garden that was liberally dressed with dung 

 last season. Such land will only need digging 

 and making ready for the seed sowing. Before 

 forking the ground sprinkle it with wood-ashes 

 and soot, and level the surface with a wooden 

 rake. Make the drills about 1^ inch deep, allow- 

 ing a distance of 18 inches between the rows. 

 Sow the seed thinly, press it firmly into the 

 ground, and then, with a rake, make the bed 

 level again. In order to obtain extra fine roots 

 for exhibition purposes, bore, with an iron bar, 

 holes 4 feet in depth at 20 inches apart, allowing 

 2 feet between the rows. It is necessary that 

 the ground be deeply dug or even trenched 

 in order that the roots may grow without 

 hindrance. Fill the holes with finely sifted soil, 

 old potting loam being suitable, taking care that 

 every particle of the hole is filled, using a thin 

 stick for the purpose. A seed or two should be 

 sown over each station and covered as advised 

 for ordinary sowing. 



Shallots. — Shallots should be grown on 

 ground that has been w r ell worked and liberally 

 enriched with farmyard manure. A border near 

 to the kitchen garden path is a very suitable 

 place to grow Shallots. When the ground is in 

 a workable condition, lightly dig the surface and 

 afterwards make a fine tilth by means of a 

 wooden ^ rake. Plant in straight lines 1 foot 

 apart, simply pressing the bulbs into the soil at 

 every 10 inches. For general purposes the 

 common variety may be grown, but Large Red 



and Giant yield much larger bulbs suitable for 

 exhibition. In their cases allow a few more inches- 

 between the individual plants. 



Celery. — Make a small sowing of Celery for 

 the earliest supplies. The plants should be ready 

 for consumption during August and September. 

 It is our practice to sow the seeds thinly in small 

 pans or 6-inch pots filled with finely silted loam, 

 leaf-mould, and manure from an old Mushroom 

 bed, adding the necessary quantity of sand oi 

 road grit to keep the soil open. Use plenty of 

 crocks in the pots for drainage purposes. Water 

 the soil carefully through a fine rose, and thei 

 stand the pots in a forcing house, where a tem- 

 perature of 55° is maintained at night time. 

 Directly the seedlings appear, stand the pots near 

 to the roof -glass, and transplant them as soon 

 as they are large enough into shallow boxes filled 

 with the same compost as before, but in a slightly 

 coarser condition. The plants should be grown, 

 on in the same house. 



Parsley. — There has been little difficulty 

 this winter in obtaining a supply of Parsley. 

 Plants in frames should be afforded an abun- 

 dance of fresh air whenever the weather is 

 favourable, the soil stirred occasionally, and 

 decayed and decaying leaves removed. Make a 

 sowing at the end of this month to furnish plants 

 for setting out-of-doors in April. Sow the seeds- 

 evenly and thinly in shallow boxes, and 

 germinate them in gentle warmth. 



Tomatos. — Young Tomato plants should be 

 repotted as soon as they require larger re- 

 ceptacles, using clean pots with efficient drain- 

 age. Do not employ manure in the compost 

 unless it be bone-meal, which is beneficial. The 

 compost may consist of good fibrous loam. Keep 

 the stems well down in the soil, and allow plenty 

 of space for top -dressings later. Water should 

 be afforded with great care until the roots have 

 grown freely in the new soil. Place suitable sup- 

 ports to the plants, and stand them in a light 

 position to favour a sturdy growth. 





PLANTS UNDER GLASS. 



By Thomas Stevenson, Gardener to E. Mocatta, Esq., 



Woburn Place, Addlestone, Surrey. 



Clarkia elegans. — Several annuals are suit- 

 able for greenhouse cultivation, and the varieties 

 of Clarkia elegans may be especially recom- 

 mended. Plants of Clarkia raised from seed 

 sown in the autumn should be potted into 3-inch 

 pots (60' s). Specimens that have been grown in 

 pots of this size during the winter may be placed 

 five or six in each 8^-inch pot (24's). The single 

 plants are best for conservatory or greenhouse 

 decoration, and they make fine bushy speci- 

 mens from 4 feet to 5 feet in 6-inch pots (32's). 

 Afford the plants a cool treatment until they are 

 well rooted in their flowering pots, when warmer 

 conditions may be allowed them. But avoid too 

 much warmth, as this would cause the shoots to 

 become spindly and the plants to lose their best 

 form. Seeds may be sown now to provide a suc- 

 cessional batch, but the plants will not be so large 

 as those raised in the autumn. Still, they will 

 make beautiful decorative subjects, and, bein 

 easily cultivated, will afford a good return for the 

 trouble. Most varieties are suitable for pot- 

 culture, but for choice select Firefly, Carnation 

 Flake, Double Salmon, and Carmine Queen. 



ScHiZANTHUS.-The Schizanthus is another 

 annual which is very valuable for greenhouse 

 decoration. It is now time to place the plants 

 in their flowering pots; if large specimens are 

 required pots from 7 inches to 9 inches in 

 diameter should be employed, choosing the larger 

 growing kinds, such as pinnatus, roseus and its 

 variety, also the larger-flowered hybrids for the 

 purpose. S. retusus and S. wisetoniensis may be 

 cultivated in either 4^-inch or 6 inch pots, in 

 which they will bloom satisfactorily. Like 

 Clarkia, Schizanthus requires a cool treatment, 

 and succeeds best in a light, airy house. 



Pelargonium. — The Pelargoniums are all 

 showy -flowering plants, and, although they are 

 not cultivated so extensively as in former years, 

 they are almost indispensable for conservatory 

 and greenhouse decoration. Those of the Show 

 and Fancy sections make useful pot-plants, whilst 

 the regal varieties provide, in addition, a valu- 

 able supply of cut blooms. They may be had in 

 flower at almost all seasons of tfie year, but it is 



