PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OP THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
823 
nearly full of water, so as to allow the leaves 
to float, and was continued in this state until 
they were suificiently strong to rise of them- 
selves above the surface of the water to the 
height of about eighteen or twenty inches ; I 
then began to reduce the water by slacking 
the upper hoop of the tub so as to let the 
water escape gradually through the staves to 
about the level of the earth which the plant 
grew in ; this it generally did in the course 
of the night. This process was pursued 
during the last summer, the tub being filled 
up with fresh water every night until tlie 
flowers and leaves died away gradually, and 
the water, as before noticed, was reduced at 
the same time. — Letter of Mr. A. Stewart. 
Pruning Dwakf Standard Fruit Trees, 
— Young trees are to be treated in the follow- 
ing manner. If there are more than three 
shoots on the plant, reduce them to that num- 
ber, and shorten each to thi-ee, four, or six eyes, 
according to their strength. The following 
season, reduce the number of leading shoots 
to six, and shorten them to three-fourths of 
their length, and spur in the remaining 
shoots. The tree should be managed in every 
respect in this manner until it has attained 
the required size, which of course depends on 
the convenience or fancy of the owner, or 
conductor of the garden. I make a point of 
letting the trees take their natural foi'm of 
growth as far as the system described will 
permit ; for I consider it of little consequence 
what shape is given to the tree, provided my 
■ end is attained ; that is, to make every branch 
as it were a long spur, with bearing buds, 
from the base to the extremity. Two or 
three years' trial of this method only, might 
possibly deter many from a continuance of it, 
in consequence of the quantity of young wood 
which will be produced yearly at first, and 
from the apparent difiiculty of getting rid of 
the superfluity. But the inconvenience will 
be ultimately surmounted, if the foregoing 
instructions are attended to, and the conse- 
quence will be the possession of both healthy 
and fruitful trees. To attempt to bring very 
old trees into this method of management, 
would be attended with difficulty, unless they 
w^ere cut down short, and allowed to make 
new heads, which I should recommend where 
their produce can be spared for a time. In 
a few years fine healthy heads would be 
formed, which will yield fruit superior to any 
that could be expected from them if left in 
their rude state. But if the trees cannot be 
spared to be headed down, thv"y may be very 
much improved, by thinning out the spray, 
and cutting away a few old branches, which 
will cause them to throw out young shoots, 
and these, in a short time, will become bearing 
wood. The remainder of the old branches 
may then be thinned out with effect. — Letter 
from Mr. William Greenshields. 
Culture of Horse Radish. — After hav- 
ing fixed on a spot of the garden sufficient for the 
crop I intend to plant, it is trenched two good 
spades (I ought rather to say two feet) deep, 
either with or without manure, according to 
the state of the soil, which, if in itself good, 
requires no enriching ; but if it is poor, some 
good light manure ought to be added to it, 
and this must be carefully laid into the bottom 
of each trench, for, if not so done, the Horse- 
radish, which always puts out some side- 
roots, would send out such large shoots from 
the main root in search of the dung contiguous 
to its sides as to materially deteriorate the 
crop. After the bed is thus prepared, plants 
are procured by taking about three inches in 
length of the top part of each stick, and then 
cutting clean off about a quarter of an inch 
of this piece under the crown, so as to leave 
no appearance of a green bud. Holes are 
then made in the bed, eighteen inches apart 
every way, and sixteen or eighteen inches 
deep ; the root-cuttings, prepai'ed as directed, 
are let down to the bottom of the holes, which 
are afterwards filled up with fine sifted cinder- 
dust, and the surface of the bed is raked over 
as is usual with other crops ; it will be some 
time before the plants appear, and the opera,- 
tion of weeding must be done with the hand, 
and not with the hoe, till the crop can be 
fairly seen ; afterwards nothing more is requi- 
site, beyond the usual work of keeping clean, 
till the taking up of the crop, and this may 
be done at any time during the winter months. 
My time of planting is between the middle of 
February and the middle of March ; I always 
find that the stouter the cutting the better 
will be the produce ; no make-shift roots will 
do well, neither can careless planting be 
allowed: if due attention to these essential 
points is not given, I cannot promise a good 
crop. The instrument used for making the 
holes is like a potato-dibber, about an inch 
and a half in diameter near the point, and two 
inches and a half at the upper part, so that 
the top of the hole it makes is larger than the 
bottom.— Letter from Mr. D. Judd. 
[We prefer leaving the sets in the bottom 
of the trenches to any dibbling ; but we have 
no doubt the writer grew them to his own 
satisfaction.] 
Flax as an ornamental plant in the 
Flower Garden. — The soil of every flower 
garden is always rich enough to produce good 
flax ; but if it is loamy rather than sandy, the 
quantity will be nearly double : even in the 
fields, which can never be cultivated with the 
nicety of a gentleman's garden, I have ob- 
served the greatest crops in a loamy soil, and 
that they yielded an article superior in quality 
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