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i So 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE 



March 



a 

 I 



consignment of seedlings reaches me per the editor at an early date, 

 shall hold the view more tenaciously than ever. To the ordinary hor- 



Apples in Ham 



ticulturist there is a certain coldness and "deadness " about ferns which WHEN 



prevents him opening his heart to them as he does to flowers, but it 

 cannot be denied that some of the crested forms are exquisitely beautiful. 

 There is something, too, to be said for the attraction they exercise 

 far transcending that of gaudy flowers— on refined minds. There were 



I 



six 



Planted 



have bush trees in one row above fifteen feet wide H Thu 

 the standards in the next row fifteen feet fromft ^ ^ ** twc * 

 Standard trees may be all very well for the future of tw *°* ° f bush ei 



many people who could make nothing of the original Gulliver until Standard trees may be all very well for the future of thirty 7 *** 

 others, more acute, ferreted out the meaning for them. Perhaps the were to plant again I should have bushes only w;* ■ S) bul if . 



~ fr>r ~* — u..* t h e S pace thoroughly, five years since I planted som h Vlewt0 utilising 



trees of approved varieties of such sorts as Lane*sF > Undreds <* maidej 



oth^u, »«/.v ~ — - r 



"new Gulliver" is also rather too much tor some of us at times, but we 

 shall understand him the better when our intellect departs from the 

 narrow grooves and assumes " cristation." 



Mr. E. Molyneux deals some staggering blows at the generally 

 accepted ideas on the fruit question. In particular he traverses the 

 direct advice given editorially in the Magazine — and not there alone — 

 to plant late, long-keeping sorts for market. If the good people of South- 

 ampton will not buy average fruit of Cox's Orange Pippin and Bramley's 

 Seedling, Mr. Molyneux should send it to parts where they have some 

 elementary knowledge of real merit in fruit. I did not think the English 

 town existed where American or Tasmanian varieties are better known 

 than Cox's. What Southampton is thinking about to have a prominent 

 horticulturist like Mr. Molyneux at its gates and yet remain in ignor- 

 ance of our premier dessert apple passes comprehension. But is our 

 friend himself consistent ? He condemns Bramley's because it is a late 

 keeper, but commends Lane's Prince Albert, which is another of the late 

 section. Surely the fact that in autumn after autumn gluts bring down 

 prices to a ruinous level shows the danger of advice to grow sorts that 

 must be cleared six weeks before Christmas. Generally foreign competi- 

 tion is more severe in the early part of the season than towards the end, 

 and the result of this is that our large growers are putting down more 

 and more late sorts. Are they all wrong ? I doubt it. In any case, it 

 is highly probable that they will want stronger proof of it than the 

 experience of a cultivator who only began planting for market eight years 

 ago. 



Grosvenor, Benoni, Worcester Pearm 



There is no article in the spring number more interesting than that 

 of Mr. Geo. Harris on allotments in the north. Few writers and few 

 tradesmen give special attention to the rapidly increasing army of 

 allottees, although the evergreen Mr. Cannell is an exception among the 

 latter. The enterprise of the energetic northerners quite shames the 

 apathy of the south. The taking of hundreds of acres and cutting them 

 up into small plots bespeaks real progress. What a pity it cannot be 

 done all over the United Kingdom. Or rather, what a pity there is not 

 sufficient public spirit amongst the people to get it done, difficult or easy. 



I thought I should catch it from Mr. Prinsep about those potatos, and 

 I have. 1 1 was Peter who egged me on, and when I had partly recovered 

 from the shock I summoned the tempter to my presence, and demanded 

 to know what I was to say in reply. To begin with, Peter displayed a 

 virtuous wrath. He feels himself at full liberty to question my horticul- 

 tural omnipotence, but no one else must do so. What I have to say is 

 not infrequently wrong to him, but if the world at large ventures to flout 

 me it is characterised as a piece of gross presumption. Having relieved 

 his outraged feelings on this score, Peter delivered the following withering 

 reply to Mr. Prinsep. 



" Mr. Prinsep thinks he's wonderful clever, I can see. Perhaps he's 

 been growing potatos longer'n what I have ; I daresay he has, according to 

 what he says. Well, if he has, why is it that he grows six hundred of 

 other people's varieties [Steady, Peter, sixty, not six hundred— Lux], and 

 other people don't grow none of his ? We've got some here of Mr. 

 Carter's, and some of Mr. Daniel's, and some of Mr. Sutton's, and some 

 of Mr. Webb's, but we haven't got none of Mr. Prinsep's.' What do 

 people like them want to get in his way for? Impudence I call it. 

 Now, I should like to ask this gentleman a question or two. He drops 

 in remarks about growing the heaviest crop ever lifted in England, and 

 producing thirty or forty tons an acre. Oh ! Perhaps he's grown a 

 bigger crop than my grandfather on my mother's side ; but if he has, 

 why doesn t he tell us all the particulars ? I can produce mine if he can 

 produce his. If he can grow forty tons an acre, why doesn't he make his 

 fortune and retire ? Let him send all particulars, and have 'em pub- 

 lished. Now, I should like to ask him another question. Says he, 1 It 

 is not actually necessary to put the tubers on their ends till the winter is 

 half over.' Well, what's he want to put his on end in August for? I 

 suppose he does it because it isn't necessary. Now there's " 



At this stage I interrupted Peter, and pointed out that enough had 

 been said for the moment. By the time Mr. Prinsep has digested the 

 above onslaught, and answered the questions contained in it, more can 

 possibly be said with advantage. My excellent critic is quite right that 

 1 am not thin-skinned, and he, in his turn, will not mind my asking him 

 for particulars of the biggest crop in England. What was the variety? 



V 7,fl 6 f tual ex . tent of & round • Wh *t manure was used ? What 

 steps did he take to check measurements and weighings, so as to pre- 



^t?Si enta L er K° rS - Having dis P° sed of this he ™y * Peter sug- 

 gests, tell us why he starts set-preparation in August when it is not, in 

 his own opinion, necessary. 6 LtJX 



Between the rows at fifteen feet these" mai'den^^^" 11 ^ 5 Sp- 

 eight feet from tree to tree. At the present time that tS^JI?^ *5 

 is now fully grown, the trees almost touching each ni e orch ard 

 obtained from these added trees has perhaps hardlv W« The fru « 

 with the outlay, but here are the trees, and with a little m COmmen sura 

 develop into handsome bushes in a short time Th Space 

 planting was done in the following manner : six weeks \ £ reparation for 

 or holes were taken out four feet square on the surface anH t '° U ? stati °ns 

 in preference to trenching the whole, as we were wiUf^ * eet dee ft 



Lord 

 t 



Children's Prizes for Flowers. 



-This year the Wood Green Horticul- 



society provide the prizes for I d™ ^ " ,emb ?* - J . does the 



petitors with seeds U The seef^lpV^ X^'TtiSl 



requ 



manner. 



deep is a nice friable loam, below for three*feet iies a hard^ 1 * ° ne foot 

 not absolutely clay but a near approach to it. Owimr to it< h» CI ° U , S ^ 

 intermixed with large flint stones it cannot be called ™ 7^ 



rlicro-ina nut thf> hnlf»<; thf- tlirf n«e lo^ • T u<1 , uea Wet land. In 



digging out the holes the turf was laid on one side, the ton TnU k • In 

 and that below by itself The bottom of each hole was b rot I, **? 

 inches deeper to assist the free percolation of the water from hea 

 The soil was returned to the holes in an opposite manner to how it^ 

 taken out, thus keeping the surface soil— which is the best— in th* 

 position. Mounds six inches high were formed on which the trees S!f 

 planted, with the object of keeping the roots as near to the surfaJS 

 possible. The turf was utilised to plant each tree in with the addition 2 

 two or three shovelfuls of decayed vegetable refuse and wood ashe swiJ 

 a small portion of half-rotted manure. No manure was used below 2 

 roots, thinking this would be an incentive for the root to go deeply in 

 the soil. Mulching and staking of the standards was done at once 

 The vexed question of pruning the newly-planted trees was mv neit 



opinions as to the advisability of 

 pruning at once as against non-pruning, I determined to put the two 

 systems to a practical test, although my mind was already made up as 

 to which was most likely to succeed. In February I cut back the bulk erf 

 the trees to a few eyes on each shoot, my object being to lay a found on 

 to increase the size of the trees, starting the bushes as near to the ground 

 as the shape of the trees would admit. The result of this close pruning 

 was to induce a vigorous growth the first year by curtailing the energy <5 

 the tree to a limited number of shoots. In some cases I simply removed 

 the point of the shoots, the result being but scanty growth and clusters 

 of flower buds on the shoots retained. In other instances no pruning 

 was done at all, the result being scarcely any growth, and in some 

 instances bloom -buds formed 



checked future growth. 



^ on the point of each shoot, and thai 

 Certainly in the case of Ecklinville this was so, 

 and in addition to the cluster of buds at the point of the shoot mar 

 more formed on other parts, and, as I suspected, from the two latter 

 methods of pruning the base eyes remained dormant, and in mai 

 instances died entirely. For the above reasons I neither practise nor 

 advise either method, as it is growth we require the first season, and not 

 fruit blossoms. The advocates of non-pruning the first year argue that 

 to give two checks — planting and pruning — at one time is not a good 

 system. The latter ought to be deferred for a year until some recupera- 

 tion has taken place in the tree as the results of interfering with the 

 roots. Surely, then, to cut a tree hard back after one season's growth is 

 a much too slow policy in these go-ahead days. 



My practice of pruning since has been to simply shorten the season 

 growth sufficient only to ensure sufficient base eyes to burst into growtk 

 and furnish the trees properly and preserve their shape. I am not a 

 believer in the hard-pruning principle after a tree has become established 

 I have no hesitation in saying that, with few exceptions, it is not neces- 

 sary to root-prune apple trees to induce fertility if space is available to 

 allow a sufficient extension of the branches. Not so when the trees art 

 closely pruned annually. 



A few words as to the mulching of the newly-planted trees may not 

 be out of place here. I am a firm believer in the value of mulching for 

 conserving the moisture about the roots during dry weather, but this 

 may be carried to excess. A thick mulching of manure during toe 

 month of May prevents the sun warming the soil, and, of course, toe 

 roots also. This I hold to be a mistake, as solar heat at that penoa 

 encourages free root action, which means successful progress. M >'P~* 

 is to remove the mulching on one side for a time to admit of the m 

 exercising its influence on the soil, and should the weather remain m 

 enough dry to parch the surface soil the manure is returned. 



If three-year-old trees are planted many will develop blossoms W 

 first season ; it is time well spent removing these, thus concentrating; 

 whole energy of the tree into the growing shoots. I am a firm oen ^ 

 in the practice of summer pruning apple trees. It is not possw 

 obtain heavy crops of fruit from immature branches. It an ^ p 

 shoots are removed they do not incommode the penetration oi suuu* 

 air, and wind, all influences to wood maturation. If these su r~ 



id at the wintt. , 



is, why not dispense with them in July, or at tne iaic ? i -» • 

 Little remains now to be said in this article, which I fear is ; a in* s 

 long, but which might have been extended, and perhaps with mie 

 some of your many readers. 

 Swanmore Park Gardens. 



«ix, aim wniu, an influences to wood maturauun. ^ ■ — - r ^mtA 

 growths are removed at the winter pruning as a necessity, my aq ? 



E. MOLYNE 



IN. 



