NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



811 



trees which takes place. The agent of a large estate who during the 

 past twenty-five years had provided 20,000 trees for planting informed 

 him that not 7,000 of them were now living and doing well, and from 

 other estates he had received similar reports. He considers it would be 

 wise for proprietors of orchards attached to farms to take over the care 

 of them during the first ten years after planting. Planting in unsuitable 

 soil is one cause of failure. Draining must be seen to and varieties 

 selected w^hich will succeed in the soil of the district. In planting, the 

 strip of land on which the trees are to be planted should be trenched and 

 properly prepared, not a mere hole dug whether square or round. The 

 strip should be dug to a depth of three feet and over all its length for 

 eight feet wide, the land between the trees being cropped with potatos 

 or vegetables for a few years, and staking must not be neglected. 



Protection by galvanized wire against rabbits and stock must be 

 afforded, the grass kept away from the roots, and the trees pruned to 

 nine or ten buds the first winter. When pruning, the shoots from the 

 leading branches should not be cut back at all, but shoots from the base 

 unless wanted to fill a gap should be thinned out. The annual cultiva- 

 tion consists in keeping the soil clear of grass for at least 2^ feet round 

 young trees. At the end of May a top-dressing of manure and soil may 

 be given. With this system root pruning is not generally necessary ; 

 when it is so, the necessity shows itself when the trees are four or five 

 years old. The trees should in such cases be taken up bodily, the 

 roots examined, and the stronger ones cut back to two feet from the 

 stem. The cut face should be on the upper not on the lower side, in 

 order to induce the new roots to break upwards. The operation should 

 be performed as soon as the leaves fall. For protection the stems should 

 be bound with hay bands after planting. For the renovation of old and 

 partly worn-out trees the ground should be cleared as far as their 

 branches extend, a sprinkling of bone meal at the rate of two handfuls to 

 the square yard scattered, and then four inches of decayed manure 

 spread over the ground and forked in, and finally, a good soaking of 

 water should be given. To counteract dryness at the root a ridge of 

 soil seven or eight inches high should be formed at six or eight feet 

 round the tree, and the basin so formed filled several times over with 

 water. The winter is really the best time to do this. — H. R. D. 



Orchid, New. By O. N. Witt {Orchis, vol. iv. pt. i. pp. 7-8).— 



A new hybrid obtained by crossing Gattleya Trianiae with 0. x ' Enid.' 

 'The bloom resembles that of a good form of G. Trianiae. As secondary 

 hybrids are very variable, other products from the same parents may 

 exhibit wide differences. — S. E. W. 



Orchid Plates {Orchis, vol. iv. No. 5). — Contains seven plates 

 illustrating the Orchid Exhibition, but no letterpress of interest. 



S. E. W. 



Orchids. By U. Dammer {Orchis, vol. iv. pt. ii. pp. 23-25). — A 

 specimen of Cycnvches niaculatuin flowered in January, and again in 



