BULBOUS PLANTS. 



51 



Pear-trees, distances of twenty, twenty-five, or thirty 

 feet apart, are all alike good for profit and effect. 

 With freer conditions as to distance, far greater 

 freedom of growth may be allowed. Five or six feet 

 apart are useful distances for ordinary pyramids. 

 Planted about three rows deep in blocks, or as nearly 

 as may be quincunx fashion, each plant will have 

 as much room as possible in the most limited area. 



Bush Pears may be planted from four to five feet 

 apart on the Quince, and from five to six on the 

 Pear. But it must be borne in mind that root-prun- 

 ing and frequent transplanting will repress growth 

 almost as effectually as dwarfing stocks, and that 

 where these and also summer pinching have been 

 persistently followed, or are meant to be adopted, 

 own-root Pears may be planted almost as closely as 

 those on the Quince. This is especially true of 

 Pears struck from layers or cuttings. 



Cordons, as a rule, may be planted at distances of 

 one foot to four. Fifteen and eighteen inches are 

 good distances for vertical or oblique cordons. Where 

 the run is long it is well to allow six inches more, 

 as cordons are apt to broaden at the base in the ratio 

 of their length and their age. Double cordons 

 should be planted double the distance, to permit of 

 sufficient run on either side of the root-stock. 

 U-shaped cordons on walls should not be nearer 

 than two feet or thirty inches apart. Multiple, 

 or three-branched cordons, should be planted three 

 or three and a half feet apart. For diamond cor- 

 dons the distance should never be less than fifteen 

 inches asunder ; eighteen is better. Even at these 

 distances close spurring is needful, to prevent the 

 diamonds growing up, and to insure abundance of 

 light and air to every part of the tree and its fruit. 

 There is yet another excellent use to which cordon 

 Pears can be put, and to enable them to accomplish it 

 well they should have ample space — say a yard, at 

 least, apart. This is to run over iron or other arch- 

 ways or arbours spanning the central or other walks 

 of the fruit or kitchen garden. 



The roots of the Pear should be planted, that is 

 covered, somewhat deeper than those of the Apple. 

 It is not well to have the surface roots nearer to the 

 surface than six inches. Rather more care must be 

 taken in planting Pears on their own roots than those 

 on the Quince. Pears, in fact, unless carefully pre- 

 pared beforehand, do not move nor transplant kindly. 

 The reason is obvious : they form very few fibrous 

 roots, their fangs run down to unfathomable depths, 

 and the major portion of these are mostly left in the 

 ground through the thrust-and-pry mode of lifting 

 Pear and other trees, in vogue in so many nurseries. 

 These ragged, rent fangs must be carefully dressed 

 before planting. As Pear-roots have such a strong 

 tendency to descend, it is better in all cases, in plant- 



ing Pears on their own roots, to take some precaution- 

 ary measures to prevent this. The first consists in 

 making the bottom of the hole as firm, smooth, and 

 level as it can well be made. This simple preparation 

 does much to give the roots a horizontal start, and 

 if to this level hard base one or more slates or thin 

 slabs of York or other stone are added, to forcibly 

 check the downward digging tendency of Pear-roots, 

 this will be all that is needful to give them a proper 

 start, and to keep them in or near the surface tilths. 



Full instructions as to filling up, &c, have already 

 been given for the planting of Apples, pages 252 and 

 253, Vol. II., and there is little or nothing more 

 to be added. Use no leaf-mould, manure, or other 

 rich compost in contact with the roots, only the 

 finest, sweetest soil, in which the trees are to be 

 grown. 



BULBOUS PLANTS. 



By William Goldring. 



Barnardia scilloides. — This little plant from 

 Macao much resembles a dwarf spring Scilla. It is 

 rather a pretty plant, producing in autumn dense 

 cylindrical spikes of flesh-tinted small flowers. It 

 is not very hardy, but Succeeds in a warm sunny 

 border in light soil. It is also worth pot culture 

 under a frame or hand-light. It belongs to the 

 Lily worts, and is lately called Scilla chinensis. 



Bellevallia romana. — A Lilywort, called also 

 Hyacinthus romanus. It is a little dwarf plant, with 

 grassy leaves, and has spikes of whitish flowers. It 

 is not showy, and is only rarely seen except in full 

 collections of bulbs. It is a native of France, the 

 Pyrenees, and other southern districts, but is quite a 

 hardy border plant with us. B. dubia is sometimes 

 mentioned in bulb catalogues, but like romana is 

 scarcely worth the attention of the general cultivator 

 now that really beautiful bulbous plants are so 

 numerous. There are two or three new kinds re- 

 cently introduced, but they have not yet found their 

 way into English gardens. One named atroviolacea 

 promises to be a showier plant than B. romana. 



Bessera elegans. — This is a charming Mexican 

 bulb of the Amaryllis family, possessing elegant 

 growth, bright and cheerful flowers, rendering it a 

 most desirable plant for frame or green-house culture. 

 It is of slender growth, the flower-stems being about 

 afoot in height, terminated by umbels of star- shaped 

 blossoms, each about an inch across, of wax - like 

 texture. They are of a bright scarlet-red, the in- 

 terior of the sepals being white, with a stripe of red 

 on each, while the stamens are tipped with purple. 



