December 28, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



1003 



Oftentimes (we, at least, experience it), 

 there may be some days of cloudy weather, 

 then a bright clear day when the tempera- 

 ture is run up rapidly. This is the cause 

 of cherries under ghiss turning yellow and 

 dropping oflF. (If any cultiyator of cherries 

 in the open has ever experienced this an- 

 noying failing^ I recommend the adoption 

 of a thin blind.) This same blind we find 

 to be extremely useful when the fruits are 

 fully ripened. 



Top-dressing:. 



This Wo find to be a great assistance in 

 the final swelling of the fruits, and it 

 should be applied rather in advance of that 

 stage, and when it can be easily discerned 

 that the young rootlets are upon the surr 

 face. For this purpose we make up a mix- 

 ture of about one-third each of turfy loam, 

 short horse droppings (or some old mush- 

 room ibed manure), land AVakeley's Hop 



*. 7 - ' — ^ - ^ ^ 



built up around the outer edge of the sur- 

 face, somewhat in the way of mortar and 

 in the form of a ring, the centre portion 

 being left without any top-<lressing. Into 

 this the roots soon find their way^ and can 

 be clearlv seen upon the exterior of the 



dressing. 



FRUIT TREES IN POTS. 



I have advised (p. 978) that the trees, 

 after potting, be placed under cover. That 

 may not in every case be convenient. So 

 as an alternative, as in the case of trees 

 that are allowed to come into flower under 

 natural conditions, I recommend that thev 

 be protected from frost at the roots by 

 being covered well over the rims with 

 either ashes or litter. I prefer the former, 

 as it does not keep the roots quite so wet. 

 If not in any way protected, there is a 

 great risk of cracked pots during frost. 

 All trees in pots should be brought under 

 cover before they come into flower, and one 

 good fumigation be given them. There 

 should not be any exception to this rule. 

 I have alreivdy alluded to, and advised, a 

 hive of l)ees to ensure a good set of fruit, 

 so no further remark on this is necessary. 



After the Fruit has Set. 



When it is seen that a good set of fruit 

 has been secured, the process of thinning 

 should soon be commenced. First remove 

 all the weakly and smaller fruits, then wait 

 for a few days. Secondly, remove those 

 badly placed, and thin the fruits that are 

 too thickly studded on the branches. After 

 wards proceed with caution, even to remov- 

 ing no more than one fruit at a time on 

 the smaller trees. As previously alluded to 

 in the case of the larger-fruited varieties, 

 lOin. pots, it is a bad plan to attempt to 

 carry a heavy crop of fruit. Of peaches, 

 nectarines, pears, and apples from six to 

 eight fruits are ample to be left at the 

 final thinning. Of plums the same number 

 in the case of the larger fruited varieties, 

 and no more than a dozen of the smaller 

 ones. Bear in mind that one well-developed 

 fruit is better than two second-rate ones. 

 In dealing with cherries I find it better to 

 thin with a pair of grape scissors rather 

 than by means of the hand or knife. Here 

 again, do not attempt to ripen a very heavy 

 crop of fruit. This will be safer, at times, 

 when the trees gain age and experience has 

 been arrived at. The final thinning should 

 be w^hen the fruits are seen to be fairly 

 well over the stoning period in the case of 

 stone fruits, and of pears and apples when 

 a little larger. All trees should be fumi- 

 gated as soon as the fruit is seen to be 

 quite safely set. 



Plums and Cherries. 



In the case of both cherries and plums over-ripe, otherwise they will not keep 

 small, dark-looking caterpillars o-ftentimes so well. It is better to gather them and 



in pots it is possible to reach the foliage 

 from all directions with the syringe. Over- 

 luxuriant and sappy growth will rarely, if 

 ever, occur with the trec^s in pots. Finally, 

 do not think of growing trees in pots under 

 the shade of other trees or plants. This is 

 only to couit failure. 



Jas. Hudson, V.M.H. 



Gunnersburv House Gardens. 



CASTILLEJA MINIATA. 



A goodly number of attempts have been 

 made to establish the effective Castillejas 

 in our gardens, but, unfortunately, the 

 efforts have generally been in vain. I sup- 

 pose there can be no manner of doul)t that 

 several of the Castillejas (sometimes spelled 

 Castilleias, by the way) are ])erennial, and 

 that they ought to be hardv with us, or, 



Miuu^re'rThirVs'all ^^ii^Tlixed/aml thZ least/ some of them. However that is 



fairlv well moistenetl, so that it may be f^f^^' m . actual practice we 



' - * - - rind them very dimcult indeed to make anv- 



thing of in our climate. This is a pretty 



general experience, yet the flowers, which 



M 



We commence to feed somewhat earlier 

 than this stage of top-dressing by giving 

 oceasional applications of liquid majiure 

 made from fi-esh horse-droppings that havo 

 been placed in a tub, or a tank, in which 

 also some old scrap iron has been placed, 

 this latter will giye some aid in the final 

 coloiUMUg. When the ripening stage is ad- 

 vancing no uu)re of any stimulant is ap- deigned to consider the Avants of the ear- 



bear in the New World the expressive name 

 of Painted Cups/' are so brilliant that 

 it must be with reluctance that we write 

 them down as uncertain, coy, and hard to 

 please." 



One most able writer who has succeeded 

 with one of them, thinks that they may 

 be parasitic or semi-parasitic. He is quite 

 correct in his impressions, as wo are in- 

 formed on no less aiithority than Messrs. 

 Britton and Brown that the Castillejas are 

 parasitic on the roots of other ])lants.'' 

 Doubtless this accoinits largely for many of 

 our failures and if these authoi'ities had 



plied, for obvious reasons. 



Gathering: the Fruits. 



A few remarks on this point are perhaps 

 necessary. We find that, with both peaches 

 and nectarines it is better to sever the 

 fruit with the stalk attached thereto rather 

 than attempt to remove it by a twist, for 

 however carefully this may be done there 

 is always the risk of a slight bruise at the 

 base. Early Rivers nectarine is a case 

 in point to illustrate this method of taking 

 the fruit ; this variety, in pots particu- 

 larly, swells its fruit up hard to the wood 

 upon which it is attached. To rem.ove it 

 in the usual course would create a bruise at 



Never allow either peaches or nec- 

 tarines to remain upon the trees until at 



make their appearance. These must be most 

 persistently hunted down, or considerable 

 damage to the embryo frxiits will ensue. 

 In the case of cherries we also remove all 

 outer scales that envelop the flower buds, 

 for these we find are lurking places for this 

 pest. This is done with a finely-pointed 

 stick in preference to anything else. As 

 soon as the cherry croi) is seen to be fairly 

 swelling away, which it will do very soon 

 indeed after the fruit is set, we commence 

 to shade the roof. For this purpose I pre- 

 fer to use a sliding blind made of a thin 

 material, which is known as No. 3 shading. 

 This is the stock name of this material, 

 though some purveyors of shading m.ay 

 attach another name to it. This we fix 

 on a running wire, and the blind is thus 

 easily run out, or drawn in, according to 

 the state of the weather. We also find this 



keep them in a cool place. 



After-treatment. 



AMien tbe fruit is gathered, and the trees 

 well hardened off, the}' should be placed 

 outside to make room for the later crops. 

 Ours are all plunge<^l over the rims of the 

 pots, the watering thence onwards through 

 the sununer being done with the hose, which 

 also helps to cleanse the trees of any pos- 

 sible insects. Our cherries are plunged 

 slightly under the shade of an apple tree, 

 as. in my opinion, I think too much sun- 

 shine is not beneficial to them, even at this 

 stage. The rest are all plunf^ed, as much 

 as possible, in the full sunshine. Thence 

 onwards, imtil the leaves begin to fall, two 

 or three applieations of artificial manure 

 is given them. That this treatment is 

 favoTirable to the trees may l>e noted bv 



same blind very useful when cold nights referring to the cherry tree (as illustrated 



ensue in the spring, rather than employ too 

 much fire-heat. 



By why shade cherries, some cultivators 

 ^ay ask. My reply is in another question. 

 Has anyone ever noticed that a good pro- 

 ]>ortion of the fruits, after swelling rapidly 

 foi-^ a few days, turn yellow and drop off ? 

 It is to remedy this that I advise shadinir. 



in the previous issue) before being turned 

 out of its pot for repotting. 



Syring^ing and Other Routine 



Work. 



Tn this there is no departure from that 

 which obtains with planted-out trees, but 

 it may be noted that in the case of trees 



<lener tliev would havo informed us what 



ft 



plants they selecteil as their liosts, as it is 

 quite ])if)]jal}le that they have their own 

 requirements in this respect. It is a hope- 

 less thing, indeed, for us to set about find- 

 ing out what plants will be hospitable 

 enough to give the Castillejas board and 

 lodgings free of cost. Amid the thousand- 

 and-one plants of our gardens it would be 

 mere ■ehunce which would enable us to hit 

 upon the generous or simple ones which 

 would sei've the Painted Cups. 



Then we are met with another trouble. 

 The perennial Castellejas, and some of the 

 annuals as well, evidently love a moist soil 

 at home, wdiile with us in some gardens 

 this is anathema to them, and they forth- 

 with sulk and die if given what we might 

 assume to be tbeir natural element. 



Now, of the few Castillejas we have the 

 chance of securing, that named C. miniata 

 appears to be th emost obliging if we dare 

 venture to use the term obliging with 

 respect to a churlish, though beautiful, 

 plant like this. I call it miniata, but I 

 fancy that we have in our miniata the real 

 C. acuminata of the botanist, and here, I 

 see, the learned writer already referred to 

 agrees. Well. I have seen it doing fairiy 

 Avell in a crevice well up on the rockery, 

 and I heai' of it thriving on a peat lied, Avell 

 drained underneath; while from the Eme- 

 rald Isle comes the news that it is flourishing 

 with a south-east exposure on a sloping, 

 well-drained bed. 



As for nn'self. I am still in the throes 

 of the experimental stage. So far. a moist 

 climate and our winter Avet seems not onlv 

 hurtful, but even fatal, to the Painted Cups. 

 Couhl we learn the host plants, we might 

 bo better off, and be able to write down 

 the Painted Cups as a ^' joy for ever.'' I 

 have now a feeling that a moraine, with 

 water underneath, would be a good testine; 

 ground. In the meantime I counsel all 

 who read this not to purchase a Castilleia 

 in the confident expectation that they will 

 succeed. That success for me lies still in 



the lap of the gods. 



S. Arnott. 



