THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



Wholesale thinning at 



great deal of sap energy to the assistance ot 

 these two processes. 



In order to s-eture the most beneficial re- 

 sults from summer pruning, it is best to 

 practise it little and often." Small, un- 

 dersized fruits are generally developed if 

 a fruit tree is permitted to carry its whole 

 natural free growth. Also, these small 

 fruits are only borne on the outer exten- 

 sions of the tree, and it will usually be 

 noticed that the centi'e is crowded with a 

 ■mass of useless light and air- resisting foli- 

 age^ so that the main extensions of the 

 branches carry few, if any, fruit buds. The 

 gradual thinning out of these shoots, and 

 their subsequent shortening to four or five 

 leaves, is the proper metliod of summer 

 pruning. Eacli day, a little of the work 

 should be done, so as not to disturb the 

 normal growth, 

 this stage is likely to have very injurious 

 eflFects indeed. Bush, espalier, pyramidal, 

 and wall trees all come under this cate- 

 gory. 



In the case of pears and apples, the chief 

 oibject should be to encourage flower buds 

 and restrict the development of side shoots. 

 In the latter case, one must commence the 

 work at the top of the tree, and continue 

 about one-third of the way down. The 

 middle of the tree will then require atten- 

 tion. Severe summer pruning cannot he 

 recommended under any circumstances, for 

 it is always the better plan to have too 

 much wood rather than too little. Wall 

 fruits, such as plums, cherries, and also 

 apricots, should be pruned in such a man- 

 ner as to leave an adequate num'ber of 

 shoots between the branches to fill the 

 spaces without any over-crowding. Any 

 excess of wood over and above this amount 

 should be stopped at the third or fourth 

 leaf, and laterals must also be immediately 

 pinched beyond the first leaf. In the case 

 of wall pears, all the strongest shoots must 

 be reduced to five or six leaves, always ex- 

 cepting those required for the extension of 

 the tree, of course. 



Summer pruning is, to a large extent, 

 simply a corollary to distbudding, and there- 

 fore it is obvious that if the tree is already 

 bearing more buds than it is properly able to 

 mature, the weaker and worst^laced buds, 

 and even a whole spur in some cases, must 

 be at once removed. This overloading of 

 a fruit tree with spurs and .potential fruit 

 buds is of much more frequent occurrence 

 than many growers would imagine, and it 

 may safely be said to be the cause of a 

 great deal of unfruitfulness amongst fruit 



trees. 



Old Basing. 



J. C. Newsham. 



ROSES UNDER GLASS. 



How very unhappy many rose trees ap- 

 pear to be during the summer months when 

 grown under glass. I have seen the plants 

 half eaten up with led spider, and shedding 

 their leaves daily, and the excresence from 

 green aphides sadly disfiguring the pot 

 plants grown under the climhing roses. 



Few plants are more carefully attended 

 to early in the year when they are yield- 

 ing their first crop of hlossoms, and few 

 plante from under glass are more neglected 

 in the summer time. When the autumn 

 crop comes more attention is given, of 

 course, but it is too late to do much good. 



At the present time the small, wiry 

 shoots should be entirely cut out, and 



cause 



Then the g 



tened considerably, 

 gine or hand syringe should be freely used 

 to cleanse the branches retained. If air 

 be freelv admitted also, the cultivator will 

 be wellVl^aseil with the crop of blossoms 

 in the autumn. 



FLOWERING CANNAS. 



Very few classes of plants have made so 

 much headway in popular favour within the 

 last few years as the cannas. Five-and- 

 twentjT years ago the present-day race was 

 practically unknown. True, two or three 

 years before that time a few of the then 

 new section had been distributed, but it 

 was not until the summer of 1888 that some 

 of them were brought prominently forward. 

 Ill that year no less than seven varieties were 

 given first-class certificates by the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, but in later timesonly 

 awards of merit have been bestowed upon 

 the new varieties. As an illustration of the 

 rapid advance of the canna it may be men- 

 tioned that in the years from 1859 to 1888 

 only five varieties had been honoured by the 

 R.H.S. Floral Committee, whereas since 

 then 75 awards have been given. 



Previous to the advent of these Ir i de- 

 flowered forms, cannas were chiefly re- 

 garded as fine fohage plants for summer 

 bedding, the floral features being con- 

 sidered of but minor account. For the 

 commencement of the race of large-flower- 

 ing cannas, which at first were called 



dadiolus-flowered," we are indebted to 

 iM. Crozy, then of Lyons, and afterwards 

 of Hyeres. He devoted a good deal of time 

 to the improvement of the canna, aiming 

 at a dwarf er habit, greater freedom of 

 flowering, and larger blossoms. As little 

 was heard of his work until the new varie- 

 ties were put into commerce their advent 

 caused a considerable stir in the horticul- 

 tural world. Since then numerous varieties 

 have been obtained by different raisers, and 

 the improvement in them has steadily con- 

 tinued, so that the best varieties of to-day 

 are as far in advance of those of 1888 as 

 these latter were superior to the old Canna 

 indica. It may be as well to recall the 

 names of the seven varieties which in 1888 

 gained such high honours, though they are 

 now long since vsuperseded. They are 

 Amiral Courbet, Capricieuse, Francisque 

 Morel, Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Madame Just, 

 Paul Bert, and Ulrich Brunner. 



The varieties popular at the present day 

 can be, and are, put to a great variety of 

 uses, though they are more generally 

 grown in pots for greenhouse decoration 

 than for any other purpose. For single 

 stems pots from 6in. to 7in. in diameter 

 are very suitable, and grand heads of bloom 

 can be obtained, whereas if cramped in 

 smaller pots the display of bloom is les- 

 sened. Plants grown in this way are not 

 only of considerable value for the embellish- 

 ment of the greenhouse, but they are also 

 largely employed foi grouping purposes at 

 the various exhibitions held during the 

 summer months. Owing to their handsome 

 leafage they harmonise well with the vari- 

 ous foliage plantt^ which go to make up the 

 major portion of the groups seen at many 

 of the shows, and then, in addition, their 

 fforseously coloured blossoms serve to 

 iten up what might otherwise be a 

 somewhat sombre display. 



Again, they can be grown as bold masses 

 in large pots or tubs, and so treated there 

 are many places wherethey may with advan- 

 tage be placed during the summer months. 

 In^this way, with an occasional supply of 

 liquid manure, they will continue to grow 

 and flower throughout the season. 



Lastly, these cannas can be highly recom- 

 mended for summer hedding, both foliage 

 and flowers being very fine if they are 

 liberallv treated. This last item is most 

 essential. It was brought home forcibly to 

 me during the trying weather of last sum- 

 mer when beds of cannas, and some of 

 them in noted gardens, presented a most 

 unhappy appearance. The mam cause of 

 the trouble was that the sod was heaped 



try 



up in such an unnatural fashion that even 

 when artificially watered the major portion 

 of the liquid flowed on to the neighbourint? 

 grass, instead of moistening the soil around 

 the roots of the cannas. After these exam- 

 ples of how not to do it, I was agreeabiv 

 surprised to find some magnificent beds in 

 an establishment of much lesser pretensions 

 The soil had been deeply dug and well 

 manured, and the surface of the bed made 

 saucer fashion, so that not a drop of water 

 was wasted. Given a very wet summer, 

 the results might not be so markedly 

 superior to the others, but last year at 

 least this mode of treatment paid. 



Among other items in favour of these 

 large-flowered cannas is the fact that they 

 pass the winter in a dormant state^ and 

 consequently they may at that season be 

 kept under the stage of the greenhouse, 

 provided they are free from drip, or, la 

 fact, anywhere safe from frost. On this 

 point it is as well to bear in mind that 

 the rhizomes of the yellow-flowered varie- 

 ties are more delicate than those with red 

 blossoms, so that the best place should in 

 winter be assigned to the yellow forms. 

 These cannas are all readily increased by 

 division, as in spring the rhizomes may be 

 cut up into as many pieces as there are 

 buds, and if these are put into Sin. pots, 

 and placed in a gentle heat, they will form 

 good-sized plants by bedding-out time. 



The list of varieties is at the present day 

 very extensive, and, although the question 

 of a selection is one on which there are sure 

 to he differences of opinion, the following 

 are all thoroughly good and reliable: A. 

 Ortmann, dark purple ; Baron de Richter, 

 bright apricot, lighter edge ; Black Prince, 

 deep maroon ; Bronze Poitevine, ^ bright 

 orange, rosy centre; Ernst H. Krelage, 

 cherry-carmine; Evolution, golden-yellow, 

 pink centre ; Feuermeer, brilliant scarlet ; 

 Frau E. Kracht, rosy-salmon ; Furst Weid, 



J. B. Van der Schoot, 



J. Lochner, 

 Humbert, 



yellow, freely 

 scarlet and 



intense crimson ; 



dotted red ; 



orange ; King 

 reddish-orange; Konigen Charlotte, deep 

 scarlet, edged yellow, dwarf; Meteore, 

 brio-ht orange-red; Niagara, intense scar- 

 Oscar Dannecker, 



vermilion ; 



Crozy, 



let, gold margin ; 

 orange-yellow ; Papa. 

 Rosea gigantea, rose; R. Wallace, canary- 

 yellow; Schwabenland, cherry-crim^n ; 

 Stuttgartia, scarlet and orange, light yel- 

 low edge; Venus, pink, yellow border; 

 William^ Saunders, rosy-scarlet; and v\u 



li 



Watson, deep salmon. 



S. W. 



Campanula pyramidalis ana ils 



white variety, although quite hardy, is oi 

 immense value for the conservatory or 

 greenhouse. It has to be treated as a bien- 

 nial, and when well grown, the fine spi^^^ 

 of bloom reaching five to six 

 height, produce a fine effect. Seed should 

 now be sown for next year's display in a pa 

 filled with .a sandy compost. Sow thinly ana 

 evenly over the surface, and ]ust cojer u 

 with fine soil. Place the pan in an ^nh^at«i 

 frame, when the seed will soon germinate^ 

 When large enough for handling put tne 

 seedlings into 3in. pots, and shift tliein 

 as they require more root space until n^^ 

 reach lOin. pots. During the winter tliey 

 should remain in the unheated frame, oai 

 be protected from frost. They will at tms 

 stage lose most of their leaves. In February 

 they should he moved to a frame ^li^^^^Tf^' 

 will have the assistance ot a 



heat, to which they will ^^^^ly^^^Cer 

 Fresh leaves will appear, and the now 

 spikes may (be seen developing trom J^" 

 centre; when this takes place the suppi 

 of stimulants should commence, tirst ou 

 a week, but after a few weeks every time 

 they need water.— Lewis Smith, Shotesnu 

 Park Gardens. 



