46 



GLEANINGS ON HORTICULTURE. 



ripens better, and often it is improved by the removal of any 

 leaves in its immediate vieinity. It is injudicious to break or 

 prune the shoots of the fig-tree, but to render peaches, vines, &c., 

 fruitful, I cut through the cortex and liber of the bark, without 

 wounding the alburnum, and by so doing, I check the descent of 

 the sap, and confine it in the branches above the incision. About 

 half-an-inch I find quite sufficient to take off in a circle from any 

 vigorous young tree. When the fruit is set in vines, and , the 

 berries are the size of small shot, I have recourse to this system, 

 and the redundant nutriment passes into the fruit. It is a bad 

 plan to crowd vines in a hot-house ; only one cane should be 

 planted at each rafter, and the bunches will be larger and more 

 certain. Grizzly Frontignac (as I have stated) are better planted 

 in a given space within the house as the fluid is then put into 

 regular circulation. 



When the blossoms on wall-trees have been exposed to a 

 severe night frost; syringe them well with cold water, and the 

 flowers will be restored. It is the sudden transition from cold 

 to heat which destroys them, and this operation ought therefore 

 to be performed before the sun's rays can reach the parts affected. 

 This process of watering is also indispensable to the success of 

 the fruit ; indeed, the trouble of syringing, or playing upon the 

 wall-trees with an engine, is only the labour of an hour each 

 morning, and I have been so amply rewarded, that the plan is 

 worthy of general regard. 



MANAGEMENT OF TREES IN THE ORCHARD-HOUSE. 



Having built an Orchai'd-house according to directions pre- 

 viously given, twenty feet in length by twelve in breadth, two 

 trees should be chosen lai-ge enough to cover the trellis, of not 

 over-luxuriant growth, and having well-ripened wood. They 

 should be planted in November, and the roots should be covered 

 with stable-manure and tarpaulin before the severe weather sets 

 in, and great care should be taken not to hurt the fibres when 

 digging up the trees ; the mould in which they are planted should 

 be rich, but not stiff ; the strong shoots must be taken out, and 

 the rest spread over the trellis, and be left for a few days untied, 

 until they have settled. When the roots begin to work, the 

 buds to swell, and the red-dot makes its appearance in the 

 flower-buds, the admission of air must be lessened, and the 

 light canvass covering will be required to protect the blossoms 



