222 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 13, 1883. 
the roots as well. I am inclined to think that our wall Pears 
have too much manure as a rule. Would it not be preferable 
to manure or mulch only when a full crop is set as is gene¬ 
rally done now with pyramidal trees on Quince ? 
A very useful instrument for severing the roots will be 
found in the French hoppers—a pair of parrot-hilled shears 
with long handles—which give immense leverage power, and 
enable a clean cut to be made through any root that they can 
grasp. The same tool is useful for taking off boughs from 
trees, or pruning old standard fruit trees from a ladder. 
They are supplied by most seedsmen, and can be had whole¬ 
sale of Messrs. Corry, Soper, Fowler, & Co., of 18, Finsbury 
Street, London, in three sizes. While on this subject, too, 
let me note the great improvement in Aubert’s secateurs, 
the latest being that one handle is lengthened and then 
returned to the pin that fastens the blades together, so that 
the spring cannot get broken or fall out. The hoppers and 
these secateurs (No. 193a) are used in the continental vine¬ 
yards, and are very handy tools in a nursery or garden. I 
would also call attention to the American “Lightning” saws, 
which cut on both edges, one being for fine work and the 
other a perfectly new arrangement of teeth for green wood, 
while the handle being on a level with the centre of the 
blade, all the force of the arm acts directly on the cut, and 
they work with great ease. In the old saws the hold is 
rather above the blade, thus necessitating some pressure in 
sawing. 
In the same garden were remarkably well-managed 
Peaches and Nectarines on open walls—quite a treat to see 
such—after the bad seasons for these fruits we have had 
for some years. Noblesse, Royal George, and Bellegarde 
Peaches were large in size, and I saw a tree which produced 
fifteen dozen of the finest Early Beatrice Peaches I ever saw. 
Pine Apple and Elruge Nectarines were loaded with highly 
coloured fruit. These trees had no more protection than a 
9-inch board at the top of the wall. Every precaution had 
been taken to ripen the wood by laying in only suitable 
shoots somewhat thinner than usual.— George Bunyard, 
Maidstone. 
HAEDY FLORIST FLOWERS. 
SEASONABLE NOTES. 
Antirrhinum. —We have two long rows of striped and 
spotted Antirrhinums which have been very beautiful for a few 
weeks past, and which it is expected will continue dowering until 
winter. These were from seed, and are not so fine as named 
varieties; still they are good enough for ordinary decorative 
purposes, and in the majority of tower shows would be superior 
to common strains usually grown. The present is a good time 
to sow the seed, either on a warm border or in a box to be placed 
in a cold frame during winter. In spring prick the plants out 
where they are to bloom, and about a foot to 18 inches apart. 
Self flowers should be weeded out as they come into flower, 
otherwise the strain will soon degenerate. 
African Marigolds. —A good strain of these is well worth 
growing. The flowers range in colour from a very light shade 
of yellow to a deep orange tint. Like Antirrhinums a really 
good strain is not easily obtained. In general the flowers have 
strap-shaped florets and are coarse in appearance. In a good 
strain the florets are quilled like an Aster, only much larger. 
Marigold seed is sown in April in a cold frame, and the seedlings 
are transplanted in June. 
Pentstemons. —For two years some plants of these have 
been lifted and potted, the flower stems cut off, and the pots 
plunged below the rims amongst coal ashes in a cold frame. In 
April they are planted out, and flower in early summer, not with 
one spike but half a dozen. There is no more floriferous plant 
than the florists’ Pentstemon if the weather does not become 
too dry or cold. Our old plants consequently yield a continued 
supply of spikes from June till October. All that is required is 
to cut the old spikes off and not let too many appear at a time. 
Named varieties shoull be grown. 
Phloxes. —It is surprising that the florists’ Phlox is so seldom 
seen in any quantity m gardens. It is perhaps the best of hardy 
flowers. Bold in appearance, chaste or rich in colouring, deli¬ 
ciously scented and free-flowering, only ignorance of its good 
qualities could have kept it so long in the background. The 
best for effect are doubtless such richly coloured sorts as Bryan 
Wynne, Coccinea, and Souvenir de Berryer, but many of the 
light-coloured varieties are also worth growing. Early-flowering 
varieties cut down after flowering are again yielding a crop of 
bloom, but the colours in these are not so fine nor the decorative 
value of the plants as a whole so good as the late-flowering sorts. 
To have these very late, plants are divided and planted in spring, 
the result being that these flower much later than older-esta¬ 
blished plants. Five stems are quite enough for one plant to 
carry. We often have individual spikes much larger than any 
we have seen elsewhere as the combined produce of a stool 
unthinned and tied closely up to a stake. In staking there is 
no necessity to tie the plants higher than half the height to 
which they will attain. 
Hollyhocks. —Last year our plant stock were free from 
disease; the year previous they were covered with Puccinia. 
The plants were cut down before winter and left to their fate. 
Strangely enough most of them started into growth late in 
spring and are now in great beauty, most of them with three or 
four 'J-foot spikes of bloom and not a trace of disease to be seen. 
As we grow only named sorts, and such fine old varieties as 
Cygnet, In Memoriam, Queen of Yellows, W. Thomson, Cham¬ 
pion, Hercules, Memnon Improved, &c., the plants, which were 
left in disgust last year, will this autumn be lifted and wintered 
in large pots in a cool house, and the most made of them by 
propagation in spring. Mr. G. Rudd kindly gave me a hint two 
or three tears ago that Hollyhocks would strike freely from 
cuttings in spring if sufficient bottom heat was given. Since 
then I have proved his advice to be good. Where the heat is 
not strong, however, I would still prefer root-grafting. 
Pansies. —It is worth noting of these that cuttings unpro¬ 
tected through the winter do better than those protected by a 
frame. There are plenty of rooted slips on the plants just 
now, and these/should be pulled up and dibbled out in preference 
to cuttings. Is there any good reason why Pansies, both Show 
and Fancy, should be kept to little rectangular beds with small 
footpaths between ? They are quite as floriferous as bedding 
Violas and much more interesting. All that is required to cause 
a prolonged bloom is soil in good condition in the first place, 
and all seed pods removed during the season. All our Violas 
require going over twice to remove the seed capsules, and the 
others require the same treatment, but Pansies are especially 
valuable for filling small vases. If the flowers are picked singly 
and crammed together thickly the effect is bad; but gathered, 
each flower on the growing shoot and loosely arranged by them¬ 
selves, it is necessary to go to exotics of the best class to get a 
better flower for this purpose than the simple Pansy.—B. 
MAIN CROP APPLES. 
Of the dessert Apples mentioned in my letter (p. 175), Worcester 
Pearmain aud Yellow Ingestre (in the London markets called 
Summers) will last some time longer. In the kitchen list Small’s 
Admirable, Warner’s King, and Stone’s may be considered as belong¬ 
ing to the main crop, as they will keep good till nearly Christmas, 
and in the north no doubt longer. There is one other Apple that 
ought perhaps to be included in the early varieties. This is York¬ 
shire Beauty. It makes a handsome tree, suitable either as bush or 
standard, but preferable, I believe, as the former. It has a very 
clean and distinct growth, the wood having a purplish appearance. 
I believe it to be identical with Red Hawthornden and Counsellor. 
I wish those of your readers who grow these varieties would compare 
them ; I can find no difference either in fruit or wood. Yorkshire v 
Beauty would be the best name for it, as it has nothing in common 
with a Hawthornden. 
The late gale has done very serious damage to the orchard fruit; 
in many places more than half of the crop is on the ground. Many 
bushels of Ribston Pippins, Blenheim Pippin, and Cox’s Orange 
Pippin will thus be lost. This latter Apple will of course be planted 
by everyone, but it does not fruit well in every locality. I believe a 
light loam on gravel or any light soil is preferable. I should not 
advise any grower to plant more trees than would be required for 
home consumption until he has proved it. I have this year, when 
almost every variety is cropping, over 700 trees which will not appa¬ 
rently bear more than seven bushels. King of the Pippins (Golden 
Winter Pearmain) is an Apple that is very popular in the London 
markets, and in consequence of its hardiness and free-cropping 
properties should be grown by everyone. It is very handsome in 
appearance and usually of good flavour, but at times the quality is 
second-rate—due perhaps to the soil on which it is grown. There 
is another dessert Apple that I did not allude to in my list of early 
ones that is very popular in the north—Lady Derby or Whorle Pippin. 
This is a small Apple, in shape like the Wyken, but with a bright 
