320 JOUENAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
It often happens that Plums on walls grow very vigorously the first 
few years and do not fruit. A timely lifting, root pruning, and replacing 
in loamy soil, without manure, will check this and throw them into a 
fruiting condition. 
I strongly advise cordon trees on walls to be at first planted upright, 
and when they reach the top of the wall the time has arrived when they 
require root pruning, and they can then be placed at an angle. In this 
way spurs are formed on both sides of the stem, while when at first 
planted obliquely the spurs are naturally strongest on the upper side of 
the stem. 
Over-pruning and Stoi:)ping. — We often see Vines and other fruits 
severely checked by these processes. It is advisable to proceed by degrees, 
and I believe more Grapes are spoiled by over-thinning of the foliage 
than any one is aware of, as the check caused by removal of the leaves 
often comes at a critical time and the colour is lost. The finest Grapes 
I ever saw were in a vinery where the thickness of the foliage made it 
almost twilight, even on a bright summer day. 
Thinning Fruit. — This operation is generally neglected in the early 
stages, and the after crop is therefore small and inferior in flavour. It is 
better to harvest a moderate crop of fine well-flavoured fruit than to have 
a big gathering of what can only be called second-rate. In Peaches and 
Nectarines the larger the fruit the better, as a rule, the quality, and in a 
certain but lesser degree this applies to Pears also. And it was never 
more evident than it has been in the past season (1900) when thousands 
of bushels of fruit have been spoiled for the want of thinning. 
Mistakes are often made in gathering late Pears and Apples before they 
are thoroughly matured, and consequently the fruit shrivels and is compara- 
tively tasteless. Growers should not mind losing a few fruits from falling ; 
it is better to have six good, firm, crisp Apples or Pears than a dozen 
flabby and wrinkled ; and a frost of even ten degrees will not harm either 
Apples or Pears upon the trees. To illustrate this, we often find orchard- 
house fruit keeping firm to the last, because so thoroughly matured. 
On the other hand, early Pears must be gathered before they are 
mature, or they become mealy ; while all early dessert Apples should be 
eaten direct from the trees, as they spoil when stored, and it is a good 
plan to let them fall by themselves on to clean straw laid under the 
trees. 
The culture of orchard-house trees in pots is frequently a failure 
because growers do not consider the confined space the roots occupy in 
their pots ; nor do they give sufficient variety of food and nourishment ; 
for instance, a Pyramid Pear outside would feed from some 8 ft. square of 
soil, whereas in a pot there is but a foot diameter to operate in. It is 
necessary also to syringe pot-trees very freely to counteract the evapora- 
tion from the foliage. 
Many employers find fault with their garden produce and say, " But I 
see so much finer in the markets." 
Naturally, because in the first place the best makes the most money, 
and the market growers are keen cultivators, and have learnt that to 
secure success, large, well-ventilated, and thoroughly heated houses, 
specially adapted to the needs of each subject, give the best results ; 
