106 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Febbparx 17, 1912. 



YUCCA WHIPPLEI (NITIDA). 



VSee fig. 47 and Supplementary Illustration.) 



yVe are indebted to Mr. Fletcher, Aid wick 

 Manor, Bognor, Sussex, for the photographs of 

 Yucca Whipplei represented in fig. 47 and the 

 Supplementary Illustration. Our correspondent 

 has also contributed the following note : — 



" In the article on Yucca gloriosa var. 

 Ellacombei, published in Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 October 21, 1911, Mr. Elwes states, so far as he 

 knows, Yucca Whipplei has not yet flowered in 



now retain any green colouring, and no suckers 

 appeared from the base last year as I had hoped 

 would have been the case." 



It 



close 



may be pointed out that there 

 resemblance between Mr. 



is a 

 Fletcher's 



this country. I have the pleasure of forwarding greatly in amplitude of panicle, &c. 



plant and that figured in Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 1902 (i.), p. 153, as Y. nitida. But it is not 

 by any means certain that Y. Whipplei is not 

 a sufficiently variable species to include this as 

 well as other forms. Dr. Trelease, who has paid 

 special attention to Yuccas, states that the 

 mountain and valley forms of Y. Whipplei vary 



His de- 



\ 



Fig. 47. — FLOWERS of yucca whipplei (nitida). 



(See also Supplementary Illustration.) 



herewith phot raphs of a plant of that species scription of it is as follows: — " Simple, or, in the 

 which flowered in my garden in the summer of 

 1910, and was an object of great beauty for 

 several w T eeks. The plant attained a height of 



mountains, frequently caespitose. Leaves ascend- 



ing 



rigid, .3 to 1 m. long, about 15 mm. wide, 



plano-convex, sub-triquetrous, or keeled on both 

 faces, sometimes falcate, striate, glaucous, 

 keenly but finely denticulate, with very slender, 



Inflorescence 2 to 5 m. 



about 10 feet ; the flower-stem, when cut down, 

 measured 8 feet 10 inches in length, and, at the 

 base, 1 foot in circumference. I believe the 

 plant was sent to me by the Royal Horticultural 

 Society some six or eight years ago. It has been 

 planted out for practically the whole time, being the most striking and beautiful features of the 



pungent end spine. 



high, oblong, long peduncled, glabrous. Flowers 



Yucca-like, pendent, fragrant. It forms one of 



protected over its roots by a carpet of a prostrate 

 Veronica, and, in the winter, by a hand light, 

 bo long as its size allowed. I am afraid the 

 plant is dying after flowering, as but few leaves 



coast-range vegetation of Southern California. " 

 According to Mr. J. G. Baker, in Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, 1876 (2), p. 196, Y. Whipplei flowered 

 in the collection of the late Mr. Peacock in 1876. 



HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 



(The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for 

 the opinions expressed by correspondents.) 



Fruit Trees in Grass Land.— The fol- 

 lowing method of planting and tending fruit 

 trees will be found to be free from any of the 

 defects w T hich Mr. Spencer Pickering ascribes 

 to the method of planting trees in grass land. 

 The trees should be planted in properly 

 prepared holes, say, about 3 feet in diameter, 

 and nearly the same depth, the natural soil, 

 where lacking in fertility, being improved by a 

 small quantity of short manure incorporated with 

 it, relaying the top 3 inches of the grassy 

 turf to within 1 foot of the stems of the individual 

 trees. Instead of trenching over the entire area 

 of land to be planted with fruit trees, I should, 

 tw r o years after planting, open a circular trench 

 2 feet wide at 18 inches from the stems of the 

 trees, and the same depth as the holes in which 

 the trees are planted. Afterwards filling up the 

 trench with the good portion of the excavated 

 soil to which has been added one-fourth its bulk 

 of well-rotted stable manure, decomposed vege- 

 table matter or wood-ashes. Repeating this 

 operation, say, every third year, until the whole 

 intervening ground space has been practically 

 trenched, the grass turves being relaid after 

 each trench extension had been completed. It 

 will be obvious to all practical horticulturists 

 that trees thus treated have a decided advantage 

 over trees which have been planted in ground 

 which had been trenched all over previous to 

 planting, inasmuch as there is little, if any, 

 chance of the soil becoming sodden or sour before 

 the roots reach it. In addition to the beneficial 

 advantage derived by the trees, by doing th 

 trenching in the manner indicated the work can 

 be more conveniently done in places where a 

 limited number of men is employed. I have 

 had to do w r ith the planting and management of 

 orchards in England, Ireland, and Scotland 

 which had been treated on the lines indicated 

 above, and which yielded most satisfactory 

 results. Of course the trees were duly attended 

 to in the matter of pruning, so as to allow plenty 

 of light and air to reach the branches ; the latter 

 being washed overhead with hot liquid lime 

 applied by the garden engine on a calm day, at 

 intervals of two or three years to keep the trees 

 free from lichen and moss growth, and to destroy 

 any insect pests or their larvae that might have 

 effected a lodgement thereon. I fail entirely to 

 see in what possible way grass-surfaced land can 

 be injurious to root and branch growth of fruit 

 trees, or any other kind of tree for the matter 

 of that, provided the soil in which the trees are 

 growing is in the matter of depth and fertility 

 congenial to their requirements. Abundance of 

 conclusive evidence showing that this is not the 

 case may be found in most private and public 

 gardens and parks throughout the United 

 Kingdom. The deplorable condition of the tie s 

 in manv orchards in various parts of the country 

 must not be attributed to the fact that the trees 

 are growing in " grass land," but simply ana 

 wholly to continuous neglect on the part of the 

 owners of such orchards. Perhaps an examina- 

 tion of the soil would reveal insufficient depth 

 and fertility in which the young trees referred to 

 in the Report are planted, thus accounting for 

 the stunted growth of wood, foliage, and fruits. 

 H. W. Ward. 



Spraying for Big Buds.— I have often read 

 with pleasure the very practical articles from the 

 pen of A Southern Grower in your pages, but . 1 

 must take exception to his remarks under the 

 above heading in your last issue. What he sa}S 

 about the results of the spraying experiments 

 undertaken by the Board of Agriculture is quite 

 correct, but he fails to point out that the experi- 

 ment loses all value from the fact that the spray- 

 ing was commenced at least a month too later 

 and that consequently a large proportion of tne 

 mites leaving the old buds would be safely 

 ensconced in their new quarters before the spra} - 



sliced. I also hear from the inspectoi* 

 that some of the trials were left in the hands 01 

 private growers, and that the sprayings wer^ 

 not conducted with any regularity. I do not k n< ? 



me: commence 



where 



scorching of foliage 



comes m 



but 



I da 



spraying with soft soap and quassia, 

 know that if properly carried out it is a sate c ^ 

 for the mite. I have had two inspectors throng 

 a plantation treated under my supervision 



