February 10,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Ill 
The shoots of these young Vines generally show fruit, and are 
capable of bearing it. Is it wise to let them bear ? In order to 
have a house full of strong fruit-bearing canes I think no fruit 
should be taken the second season, that all the bunches of flowers 
should be removed as soon as seen, and the shoots left to give 
strength and constitution to the Vines. This is much better than 
cutting back the Vines to the ground a second time. The main 
shoots have to run from midrafter to the top only, where they are 
stopped, and then they send out lateral shoots, which assist the 
Vines ; thus, by the end of the second season from planting houses 
are filled with excellent rods capable of bearing full crops of 
Grapes from bottom to top on the third year from time of plant¬ 
ing ; of course it is possible to take half a crop of good Grapes 
off Vines the second year from planting, but it cannot be done 
without checking the growth and development of the Vines. 
The practice of cutting down young trained Peach and Nec¬ 
tarine trees—so common forty years ago—has been abandoned 
long ago by thoughtful men. The object aimed at in cutting 
down the young trees was to obtain plenty of shoots to begin 
with. Peach trees, like Gooseberry bushes, break at every bud, 
and therefore have to be disbudded from the first. Cutting down 
Peach trees, to say the least, is not good practice ; generally 
speaking a season is lost and often harm is done as well, for young 
Peach trees are apt to produce shoots rather too strong on being 
planted in fresh soil. A rich border so good for young Vines 
does not answer well for young Peach trees.—A. Pettigrew. 
SOLDAT LABOUREUR PEAR. 
" Soldat Laboureur I think well of; its growths are Poplar- 
Fig. 24 .—Pear soldat laboureor. 
like and pleasing, it’does not canker, it fruits regularly, and with 
artificial heat it ripens well.” Thus wrote “Wiltshire Rector” 
in our last volume, and his remarks were, if brief, sufficiently com¬ 
mendatory to lead to inquiries respecting the variety. We answer 
them by publishing the annexed engraving and description of the 
fruit. One correspondent has not comprehended the meaning of 
“Wiltshire Rector’s” reference to the fruit “ripening well 
with artificial heat.” It simply means that the fruit, if removed 
from a cold fruit room into a warmer temperature, is of better 
quality than if left to ripen in a cold place—a plan we know to 
be an excellent one and worthy of extensive adoption. The 
description of this clean-growing and good Pear is as follows :— 
Fruit large, 3| inches long and 3 inches wide, oblong obovate, 
narrowing from the bulge both towards the eye and the stalk. 
Skin pale lemon yellow, marked here and there with tracings of 
russet, and completely covered with minute russet dots. Eye 
large, slightly closed, with long acuminate segments, and placed 
in a shallow depression. Stalk an inch long, inserted by the side 
of a fleshy swelling in a narrow cavity. Flesh yellowish white, 
buttery, melting, and very juicy, rich, and sugary, having some¬ 
what of the flavour of the Autumn Bergamot. 
CHAPTERS ON INSECTS FOR GARDENERS.—No. 18. 
NEW SERIES. 
Strongly as the horticulturist may feel inclined to object to 
weather of such severity as that which has prevailed during the 
greater part of the past month, he would regard it with less dis¬ 
like if he knew it was generally destructive to insect foes of the 
garden. Accurate and extended observation proves that extreme 
cold is not as harmful to insects as we might suppose. Other 
creatures—quadrupeds and birds, for example—suffer much, 
but insects appear to endure low temperatures better than 
moisture. Caterpillars of those species that hybemate in that 
condition have been picked up in frosty weather so rigid as to 
chink against glass like pebbles, and yet they have afterwards 
