214 



Garden and Forest. 



[April 30, 1890. 



morning by four 'o'clock the stalls are crammed with the 

 choicest of what is grown by the London market-gardeners, 

 and by nine o'clock, or even before, it has all gone, and the 

 market is closed. 



The Duke of Bedford receives from rents and toll levied on 

 all goods brought to the market something like ,£20,000 a year. 



Covent Garden is the principal of the three markets in Lon- 

 don where garden products are sold. A large proportion of 

 the daily vegetable and Mower requirements of the four mil- 

 lion inhabitants of this great city is distributed from here. 

 The wealthy proprietor of a West End flower-establishment, 

 the humbler green-grocer and florist, the crafty costermonger 

 and the poor flower girl all come here for their daily or weekly 

 supplies. The streets are crammed with vehicles of all kinds 

 either discharging or loading ; gangs of men are rushing to 

 and fro with loads of baskets or boxes, and for about five hours 

 all is bustle and noise. Gradually the vehicles get away, the 

 noise of the workers decreases, until by nine o'clock, or about 

 the time when the comfortable Cockney comes down to break- 

 fast, the market is over, and Covent Garden has assumed its 

 daily quiet. Few who see it in the day have any idea that in 

 the small hours of the morning this small corner of London 

 was alive with busy men and women, and almost every foot of 

 the square and adjoining streets was packed with loads of 

 fresh vegetables and flowers "all a bio win' and a growin'." 



London. Visitor. 



Cultural Department. 



Pruning the Peach. 



THE fruit-buds of the Peach are this spring quite generally 

 killed by frost. Opportunity is thus afforded to prune the 

 trees, by which matured Peach-orchards may be benefited. 

 It may be best done on what may be styled the "renewal 

 system " of pruning. This means to remove the entire head 

 of the tree. 



It is the habit of this tree as it enlarges its growth to set the 

 bulk of its fruit at the extremities of its branches, which are 

 often broken by its weight. As Peach-orchards are usually 

 managed, or mismanaged, a full peach crop generally causes 

 the ruin of many of the trees. After a bountiful harvest a 

 Peach-orchard sometimes looks as if a tornado had swept 

 through it. We see naked stumps of Peach-trees from which 

 all the limbs have been torn by the burden of an excessive 

 crop of fruit. This may be Nature's system of pruning the 

 Peach, but from observing it many years ago I learned to im- 

 prove upon Nature by the practice of a more orderly style of 

 pruning. 



After the growth of the Peach-tree starts in April, and the leaf- 

 buds have opened, saw off all of the limbs of the tree to within, 

 say, two feet, or even less, of where these branch from the 

 trunk. The tree will then form an entire new head, and in one 

 season make a growth of six or eightf eet of new wood which will 

 set fruit-buds and may bear fruit the next year. I have thus 

 renewed and re-renewed an orchard of twenty acres of Peach- 

 trees, securing by this treatment finer fruit, which was more 

 easily gathered, and securing the trees from damage by 

 breakage of limbs from the load of a crop. After the trees 

 have borne two or three crops, and their branches become 

 elongated, pass through the orchard, shortening in the heads, 

 as above described, of alternate trees in the rows. The 

 next spring do the same to the trees left unpruned the year 

 before. The orchard may then be allowed to grow as it 

 pleases for some years, after which the tree-heads may be 

 again shortened in alternately as before. 



The Cherry and other stone fruits may be similarly treated, 

 with advantage to the tree and great improvement of its 

 product. This tree-pruning should be deferred until growth 

 has fully started in spring — from April 20th to May 20th. If 

 the tree be thus headed in during winter, or while its vitality is 

 dormant, it may never awaken into life; but its branches may 

 be all removed after vital action is begun without harm to the 

 vigor of the tree. In fact, it is a good rule to practice all kinds 

 of pruning when a new growth has begun to develop. Many 

 horticulturists consider it imprudent to thus remove all of the 

 limbs of a tree at one operation. They argue that it may give 

 a shock to the tree's growth, from which it may not recover; 

 therefore it is generally advised in top-grafting to remove a 

 portion only of the branches at once, deferring removal of the 

 rest until the next year. Such has not been my practice. In 

 forming a new head to the tree by pruning or by grafting I 

 have invariably made an entire decapitation at once, and 

 during the past forty years I have found this practice always 



vineiand, N. ']. Alexander W. Pearson. 



Grapes for Everybody. 



TX/TR. WILLIAMS' list of Grapes is so good that I feel in- 

 '*■**■ clined to add some notes from another soil and climate. 

 I should, for general planting, exclude Cottage entirely and 

 Moore's Early almost wholly, and would moreover advise 

 everyone to plant Worden alone for a black grape. I see no 

 reason for planting Concord any longer. Worden is equally 

 hardy and prolific, and is of better quality. It is sweet as soon 

 as colored and hangs well on the vine. It is a capital keeper, 

 much better than Concord in this respect. It has the thin skin 

 of the Concord class, but does not break so easily. A cross 

 between Herbert and Worden would be nearly perfect. Why, 

 then, shall we not adopt Worden as for the present our ideal 

 black early Grape? For late black I would place Herbert ahead 

 of Wilder and the rest. But if a really very early black Grape 

 must be had, Moore's Early is so far our best with me. 



For red grapes I agree in selecting Brighton if planted with 

 other vines to supply pollen. But next to it I should name 

 Gaertner, one of Rogers' hybrids not at first appreciated. 

 Lindley is a fine Grape,' about as good as Massasoit, which Mr. 

 Williams does not mention, and not quite as early. I should 

 make my list of reds Brighton, Gaertner, and Salem, I think. 



For white grapes I do not hesitate to take Diamond for the 

 head of the list. I think it is sufficiently tested and by the best 

 judges in all parts of the Union. I have not seen one severe 

 stricture on its quality, growth, habit or bearing qualities. 

 Lady, at last, I am compelled to discard. It yields no crop to 

 speak of. It is my ideal grape in quality, but it will not prove 

 itself even a decent vineyard grape for cropping. Niagara I 

 class with Diamond. But Hayes is very fine indeed and per- 

 haps we shall learn to rank it first or second, for Niagara mil- 

 dews very easily. Duchess I should not hesitate to include in 

 the list, were it not tender. It must be covered; but in quality 

 it is delicious. Pocklington is a grand grape when dead ripe, 

 but it is too often sold and eaten when only half ripe. Empire 

 State is nowhere near as good as it ought to be. Martha, if 

 thinned sharply, is fine; otherwise, poor. I make my list of 

 white grapes Diamond, Hayes, Niagara and Duchess. 



Now for special purposes there is another list necessary. 

 Iona is unequaled for a red grape if protected. Goethe, if 

 well placed in a sunny spot, is also delicious — late and a grand 

 keeper. Jefferson, if well ripened, is superb. For arbors, 

 barns, etc., August Giant is a remarkably rampant grower, 

 prolific and quite a good grape. Eldorado is a fine grape, un- 

 suited for general planting, but a vine or two deserve a place. 

 Mr. Campbell, of Delaware, Ohio, will offer us before long 

 some new hybrids, some of which by his favor I am testing. 

 I am inclined to think our progress in grape improvement is 

 nowhere near its end. The points already achieved are size, 

 prolific bearing and hardiness. We should work to eliminate 

 seeds largely. Most of the Rogers' hybrids are very seedy; 

 Jessica is little else. Diamond is a great improvement in this 

 direction. Iona, with its small seeds, is nearly perfect in all 

 points but in hardiness. Goethe is the nearest approach to 

 the hot-house grape, but it is too late for the Northern States, 

 except in very favored spots. Let me add that success with 

 Grapes depends, more than all else on a high, well drained soil. 



Clinton, N. Y. E. P. Powell. 



The Babianas. 



THE Babianas are a very pretty genus of bulbous plants, 

 -*- natives for the most part of the Cape of Good Hope; they 

 all have long and narrow leaves, folded lengthwise like those 

 of some Palms and covered with fine hairs, except the small 

 species, B. Socotrana, whose leaves are smooth. They are of 

 very easy cultivation, needing to be potted in September in a 

 light soil and to have plenty of water, sunlight and air. The 

 temperature of an ordinary greenhouse is sufficient for them. 

 Thus treated they will be in flower in February, and being 

 from their plaited leaves and the color of their blossoms un- 

 like other Cape bulbs, they furnish an agreeable variety and 

 never fail to attract attention. 



Like most bulbs from the same country they are hardy 

 enough to do well in a cold frame if there is not room for them 

 in the greenhouse, and so treated they flower very finely, but 

 at a time when Scillas, Narcissi and Muscaris are plentiful. I 

 have a long row of them now (April 21st) about five inches 

 high in a frame, which in about two weeks will be in blossom. 



There are about twenty species known to science, some of 

 which are not in cultivation and many of the others not to be 

 had of ordinary dealers; for even the Dutch wholesale dealers 

 and growers can supply only four or five species at the most, 

 and those often incorrectly named; the remainder of the 

 "fifteen most beautiful sorts" offered in their catalogues are 



