38 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 13, 1876. 



strongly, and take a much longer time to mature. On the 

 whole, there are several superior varieties for garden and 

 field." — [Montrose Review.) 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND WOEK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



Apple, Pear, Plum, and other trees as standards, pyramids, 

 and bushes, require to be looked over at this time to shorten or 

 remove any superfluous young wood. We have frequently 

 advocated the early removal of any wood that is not required. 

 Even trees that are under the care of good cultivators very often 

 become too much crowded with wood from frequent pinchings. 

 A free use of the pruning-knife is requisite to thin-out both old 

 and young growths, as the fruit cannot be of good quality where 

 it is shaded from tho sun. In training young fruit trees the 

 habit of each kind must be taken into account. Some varieties 

 of Apples, Pears, and Plums will make three times as much 

 wood as others, and when there is a large quantity of young 

 growths they ought not to be shortened so close back as on trees 

 where the quantity is not so large. The object of pinching a 

 young shoot in Jane and July is to cause it to throw-out two 

 or three more growths, so that the tree may be well furnished 

 throughout. 



If water is laid on in the garden and it can be applied through 

 a hose and spreader to the trees at this season, they will be greatly 

 benefited by it. In villa gardens near dusty roads the leaves of 

 the trees become choked with dust, and a daily washing overhead 

 during a thirsty period will keep the trees in excellent health. 

 If the trees have a thorough washing, and the ground under- 

 neath is mulched with manure, enough water will run on to the 

 ground to keep the roots sufficiently moist. Attention must be 

 given to all wall trees, as they are now making rapid growths. 

 All shoots intended to be saved should be nailed into the wall 

 at once. If Pear trees trained on the horizontal system have 

 not yet filled the wall space allotted to them, the leading 

 growths Bhould be stopped so that a second pair of lateral 

 growths may be formed. Sometimes three pairs may be obtained, 

 but it is not desirable to stop the leader twice in a season. 



We are busy amongst the Strawberries, gathering the fruit 

 and layering all the runners that may be required. Black 

 Prince and Keens' Seedling are already rooted and will pre- 

 sently be severed from the parent plants ; but even for late crops 

 it is best to layer the runners early in the season. The best 

 crops of fruit are obtained when the roots are matted so firmly 

 round the sides of the fruiting-pot by the end of autumn that 

 the plant may be turned out of the pot and be tossed about like 

 a cricket-ball without breaking. 



We have been looking over the Apple trees and find a few 

 fruits eaten by the Apple-boring maggot; it is best to gather all 

 such at once and have them destroyed. Earwigs are also 

 troublesome at this season; they will eat ripe fruits on the walls, 

 and it is best to trap them by placing bean stalks against the 

 walls, into which they crawl at night and may be blown-out in 

 the morning. 



VINERIES. 



The early houses from which the fruit has been cut require 

 but little attention at this time. The Vines have been thoroughly 

 syringed to rid the foliage of red spider, applying the water with 

 some force to the wood and glass work to cleanse it from dirt 

 and to dislodge spiders and other insects. The ventilators are 

 left open night and day. 



Late vineries still demand a little attention in stopping the 

 growing shoots and tying the lateral growths into their places. 

 If the laterals are neglected and allowed to ramble about, the 

 Vines look untidy and the permanent growths are injured 

 through becoming too crowded with leaves. As the weather is 

 very warm and the nights are also warm it is well to admit a 

 little air at nights : even if the temperature should fall for a few 

 hours below the usual minimum it will do no harm. As there 

 is no heat in the hot-water pipes atmospheric moisture is 

 supplied by evaporation from the paths, borders, and walls of 

 the house. 



Vines in pots intended to fruit next year should now be ripen- 

 ing their growths. If the Vines have not yet been repotted into 

 their fruiting pots, no time should be lost in potting them. We 

 never plunga the Vines in bottom heat at this season. It is not 

 necessary to do so, as some suppose, as growths and roots formed 

 under such circumstances are not so good as those formed when 

 the pot has been placed on an open stage over hot- water pipes. 

 The best potting material is good turfy yellow loam not too 

 heavy ; but we prefer it more of a clayey than of a sandy nature. 

 Three inches of the top spit only should be used, and the turf 

 be torn to pieces by the handB. Crushed bones in the propor- 

 tion of a 9-inch potful to each barrowload of loam, and one part 

 of decayed manure to six, form an excellent compost. Twelve 

 or thirteen-inch pots are large enough for the strongest canes, 

 and the potting material must be rammed in quite firmly. The 

 beBt variety for pot culture is certainly the Black Hamburgh 



or Prankenthal; and the best white Grape is Poster's White 

 Seedling. Buckland Sweetwater when well grown is the best, 

 but it is not so constant; the fruit, when it is not freely exposed 

 to the sun, being rather watery, and the berries wanting in 

 plumpness. 



CUCUMBER AND MELON FRAMES. 



A couple of Cucumber lights 6 feet by 8 will produce Cucum- 

 bers enough for a large family if the plants are managed so that 

 a few fruits are always coming on. Por instance, a brace may 

 be ready to cut, two more may be half grown, two more may be 

 two or three days later, and a few may be in flower. One plant 

 is sufficient for a light 6 feet by 4. The growths must be thinned- 

 out weekly, and thoBe that remain be stopped a joint or two 

 beyond the fruit. Some rich dressing Bhould be applied to the 

 surface once in two or three weeks, and each plant will require 

 about four gallons of tepid water sprinkled over the foliage daily 

 when the frames are shut up at 4 p.m. A little air ought to be 

 admitted at Bix in the morning, increasing the ventilation as the 

 sun raises the temperature of the frame. 



Melons require very similar treatment, but omitting the sur- 

 face-dressing. Melon plants grown in frames and trained over 

 the surface of the bed are liable to damp or rot-off at the collar 

 of the plant, and many persons, thinking to prevent this, starve 

 the plants for water ; no greater mistake can be made, as plants 

 insufficiently watered are more liable to decay at the collar than 

 thoBe that have been well supplied. When the fruit ia ripening 

 water must be withheld. 



PLANT STOVE AND ORCHID HOUSES. 



Where a number of large specimen plants are grown for ex- 

 hibition purposes there is now plenty of work repotting or 

 training the growths. The exhibitors seem more inclined to 

 grow greenhouse than stove plants now for exhibition purposes. 

 The plants do not suffer by removal like stove plants, and as a 

 rule they last longer ; and this is a great advantage where there 

 are a number of exhibitions in succession. Still there are few 

 greenhouse plants, if any, that can stand against well-grown 

 examples of Stephanotis floribunda, Ixora coccinea superba, and 

 Dipladenia Brearleyana or D. insignis. Potting large specimen 

 plants requires to be done with great care. A space of 1| inch 

 or 2 inches clear Bhould be allowed between the ball and Bides of 

 the pot. The drainage should be placed carefully in the bottom, 

 and the potting material must not be allowed to mix with the 

 drainage, which it would do if it was put in without first placing 

 some fibry peat or loam, according to the nature of the plant 

 intended to be potted. Ixoras should be potted in turfy peat- 

 only, Bougainvilleas in turfy loam ; Clerodendrons, MedinillaB, 

 Allamandas, &c, require turfy loam in various proportions added 

 to the peat. All of them that require to be potted must be done 

 at once, so that the plants may be well established before the 

 winter. Even when repotting is done with the greatest care the 

 plants do receive a check to their growth, and it is better to do 

 the work in cloudy calm weather, as wind is quite as injurious 

 to the plants as sunshine. The house where the plants are 

 placed should be kept rather close and moist for a week or more 

 until the plantB are established. Watering must also be care- 

 fully performed ; either too much or too little will be injurious, 

 and it is of the greatest importance to have the plant quite 

 moist at the roots before potting it. A plant may sometimes 

 show signs of Buffering for want of water after repotting, and 

 to all appearance the mould may be wet enough ; but let the 

 plant be turned out of its pot again, and the old ball will be 

 dusty dry while the new material is spongy wet. This is the 

 result of potting a plant when it was too dry at the roots. If a 

 plant flags after repotting, and when it is thought to be suffi- 

 ciently moiBt at the roots, it may be dewed overhead with a fine 

 syringe, and on no account should recently potted plants be 

 exposed to draughts of air or the direct rays of the sun. 



We have repotted many of the cool as well as a few Orchids 

 in the warmer houses. Specimens that have been in the same 

 pots for two or three years are thickly matted with roots, which 

 cling to the sides of the pots. It is a mistake to turn such a 

 plant out of the pot in the usual way. If when the pot is in- 

 verted and the rim tapped two or three times on the potting- 

 bench the Orchid still clings to the pot, this is a proof that the 

 roots are firmly attached to the pot, in which case the pot should 

 be broken by a smart blow with a hammer; all the growing 

 points of the roots Bhould be carefully preserved. Cattleyas, 

 Odontoglossums, Masdevallias, Lycastes, Anguloas, &c, were, 

 potted in good fibrous peat and live sphagnum in equal propor- 

 tions, the pots being from a half to three parts filled with clean 

 potsherds. — J. Douglas. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 

 Secretaries will oblige us by informing us of the dates on 

 whioh exhibitions are to be held. 



Highgate. July 13th. Mr. W. M. Blirck, G, North Road, Highgate, Seo. 

 West of England (Hereford). Roses. July 13th. Rev. 0. H. Buhner, 



Credeohill, Sec. 

 Clifton, Bristol (Roses, &c). July 13th. Mr. J. T. Jackson, Sec. 



