978 



THE 



December 21, 1910 



of an abundance of lime in the soil it is 

 always advisable to add some lime rubble or 

 old mortar in mixing or preparing the soil 

 for potting purposes. "We always add some 

 ourselves, and look around to secure some 

 old lime rubble from the debris when 

 housebreaking is in process. This does noh 

 deteriorate by being stored, and it is always 

 valuable in many Avays in the potting-yard. 

 This is broken down, so to speak, and is 



old pots, as the trees are turned out of 

 them, should he well cleansed, and then 

 aired for a time. Clean ])ots are, in my 

 opinion, most essential. The crocks used 

 for drainage should also be cleansed. Quite 

 the average amount of drainage should be 

 used, and a handful or two of coarse lime ^^^^ ^ ciaw-iiKe 

 rubble will do no harm. Some rough pieces ^^^^^ \^^.^ ^ ^ 



of turfy loam should then be beaten down 

 firmly over the drainage 



CHERRY TREE IN POT AS LIFTED FROM THE PLUNGE BED. 



ssed 



mesh, the coarser rubble is laid aside to 

 place upon the drainage, if this hapi)ens to 

 be short. Some welWeeomposed manure is 

 added ; for this we prefer s uch as on e 

 would use for the making up of a muslu-oom 

 bed, but in a somewhat drier condition. 



With such a soil of good quality it is not 

 necessary to use any artificial ingre<li<^»it 

 at this stage. Should tlu^ soil, lunvever, 

 l)e not all that one could wisli, a li^ht 

 addition of Clay's Fertilizer is most useful, 

 but use it with caution, otherwise th(^ object 

 in view will l)e defeated. After the loam 

 has been broken down to, say, the size of 

 ducks' eggs — some will be smaller, of course 

 —it is ready for mixing up, and some two 

 or three turnings should then be given. 

 After this is done the heap should be covered 

 up as a safeguard against nn exc ess of ram. 

 We usually mix our soil early in September 

 at the latest; it is then ready for pottin."- 

 operations by the end of the nionth, or by 

 the first wwk in October. avIich we com- 

 mence to do the potting. This wc prefer to 

 do under cover, as it is in every \v;iv ]>rcfi»i-- 

 able to working in the open. ' 



Pots and Potting-. 



It is well to have some pots in reserve at 

 the start, so that the potting can proceed 

 without delay. New pots should be well 

 soaked before thev are used ; they will ab- 

 sorb a considerable quantitv of water The 



Only under most excei)tional circum- 

 stances should any tiees stand over from 

 year to year witluuit being repotted. Wo 

 have potted the same trees of peaches, nec- 

 tarines, cherries, and plums every year, in 

 n(sii-ly eveiy case, for fully fourteen years 

 ]>ast. and with the best results. It is a mis- 

 taken notion to think that potting cannot 

 be thus -(lone with advantage every year. 

 ^ oung fi-iiiting trees ai-e usually prepared 

 |>y the nursiM'vmen, w^ho grow them in 10- 

 in<:-h jyots, or thereabouts. I prefer to 

 purchase trees in pots of this size rather 

 than larger ones. It is better to grow them 

 on under the somewhat altered conditions 

 than to purchase in larger pots. These 

 tr(H's should be secured late in September 

 m order- to be able to pot them afresh in 

 October. If purchased a month or so later 

 than this, it will be better to let them 

 stand over one season. su])posing that thev 

 have not been re])otted. When trees ai'e 

 purchased earlv, in 10-inch pots it 

 . he possible to put some' of 

 the most promising into ll-inch pots the 

 same season. Experience must decide this 

 m every case, and rather than err in using 

 the larger pots I would keep to the samS 

 size in which they have been received 



m a \ 



Preparing: the Trees fo 



Repotting". 



r 



Fn this case, as in that of all the rest of 

 the sto< k ,M pnts, it is a question of reduc- 



ii g the hall so as to allow of a lair aniouiu 

 ot soil us equally as possible ail round 

 both under and on the surfaL-e as uell [ 

 very good guide is to reduce suiRciently t, 

 allow the hands being passed easily down 



In order to do tlm we 

 use a claiv-hke scratcher, with two claws 



inches long ; this with 

 the handle need not be more than one foot 

 m length. ' ■ 



tool. 



around the ball. 



It is an extremely useful little 

 and one that is easy to manipulate 

 Mith a little practice. ' ' ' 



1 . 1 , ^ sharp knife will 



be tound useful for removing some of th» 

 coarser roots. Two or three rammers of 

 varying thickness are advisable for ram 

 mnig the soil down ''firmly/' and equally 

 all around the roots. Guard against any 

 hollow places heing left during potting 

 When finished there should be about one 

 inch, or a trifle less room, left for water- 

 ing. I have emphasised "firmly/' for this 

 is most essential. Sometimes a pot gers 

 broken during the ramming, but this only 

 indicates that the potter is doing his wwk 

 well. We have not a do2>en trees at the 

 present time in pots of more than fourteen 

 inches diameter, although w^e are forcing 

 some of the same trees now as we did four- 



teen 



i7 



are in a robust 



state of health and ^bear abundantly. 



Notes on the Two Illustrations. 



The two illustrations in this week's issue 

 on this subject were from photographs 

 taken by Mr. George Gordon^ V.M.H.j at 

 Gunnersburv House Gardens' in October 



last. 



The first is given to show the im- 



portance of plunging the trees after the 

 fruit has been picked and the trees har- 

 dened off (of this more in next wreck's issue). 

 This speaks volumes in favour of the sys- 

 tem of plunging. Although comparatively 

 little woody groavth is then made, the fruit 

 bnds for another season are being deve- 

 loped^ and this keeps the roots ac-ti\'e. The 

 second of these illustrations shows the 

 same tree knocked out of its pot and pre- 

 pared for repotting by the reduction of the 

 ball of soil sufficiently to permit of its 

 being repotted in the same size of 

 pot. A glance at the former will indicate 

 the amount of roots, and what I think may 

 fairly be termed "fruit-bearing" ronts. 

 These, in the second illustration, are seen 

 all caix^fully pj-eserved^ and will mingle in 

 the potting with the other roots; a few 

 roots were out away at the base, and 

 scarcely anything further needed to be 

 done in this instance. The tree in question 

 was one of the cherries that w^as staged in 

 the non-competitive group at the recent 

 -Royal International Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion held at Chelsea. It was also ow of 

 the group of cherri(^s stngnl at tbe TempI*^ 

 Show some twelve yeaivs back. Jt is about 

 fifteen years old. 



After Pottingf. 



I mudh prefer to place the trees back 

 under glass immediately they are pott^. 

 Jt is better than leaving them outside at 



Soon after pot- 



aiid 



given . 



- * fu xj^M. cixcxxi JLc:ti V 111 



that season of the year, 

 ting one good watering is fs^*^-^ 

 enough is supplied to permeate the 

 Afterwards but little attention, is neer 

 s-ave that we keep the trees syringinl every 

 fine day. I attach considerable im]>ortani e 

 to this item of procedure. On one orcaMon 

 t well remember, during a fine, dry, warm 

 autumn, that the wood in some cases 

 shrivelled in October; this taught me a 

 lesson. The cherries we showed last May 

 were syringed all the way through from 

 repotting in October 1911, until the flower- 

 ing in February last. 



Jas. Hudson, V.M.H. 

 Gunnersbury House Gar<lens. 



