August 28, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
191 
do mucli to make it more widely known. It may also be had 
from seeds, though cuttings make the best plants in a very little 
time. It comes to me from the Himalayas, where its brilliant 
Vinca-like flowers make a good display. 
Aknebia echioides.—A most interesting and showy Borage- 
wort (fig. 35) from the Ural Mountains, and one which still remains 
a rarity. It grows from 9 inches to a foot high, having a some¬ 
what woody stool, from which its annual flower stems are 
produced. It is, however, quite alpine in character, and retains 
its foliage. When first expanded its flowers are of a clear 
yellow. This is succeeded by the appearance of five dark 
blotches near the throat of the corolla. These gradually dis¬ 
appear, and the flowers assume a pale yellow tint. These 
sudden and continuous changes have attracted much attention 
among botanists, since flowers of various shades of yellow w'ith 
these conspicuous spots may be daily witnessed. The flower 
stems are erect, as are also the flowers, which are densely set on 
the stems. The habit is neat and compact, and is adapted for 
the border among good plants, or the rockery. In either case a 
airly rich compost is desii'able, to which add broken brick 
rubbish. I am reminded of one of the first plants I ever saw, 
which was finely in flower in that choice and well-known col¬ 
lection which the late Rev. Harper Crewe possessed. Among 
these was this Arnebia, a foot high and as much through. It is 
only increased by seed, as cuttings seldom root. Seeds, however, 
are more freely produced than formerly. There is good reason 
to believe that one day it will form a conspicuous object in the 
flower garden. It commences flowering in May, and if seed is 
not required the old stems may be cut away, and another batch 
of flower stems will soon appear. When these are past repeat 
the operation, and another batch of flowers may be had far into 
September. 
Tinella coedieolia. —This elegant little plant seems almost 
to have vanished. We rarely meet it, and rarer still hear any¬ 
thing respecting it. That so pleasing a plant should be lost sight 
of is a matter for regret. I grew it ten years ago without the 
least trouble, and it is well adapted for the border, the rockery, 
or for pot culture. Its foliage somewhat resembles a small¬ 
leaved Heuchera, above which its graceful spikes of bloom 
produce a most pleasing effect. The flowering spike is some¬ 
what pyramidal, well furnished with its starry-white flowers. 
It is a native of North America, and came into our gardens in 
1731, thus making it an old inhabitant. It is, however, now any¬ 
thing but a common plant in gardens, and should be sought 
after, seeing it is so easily grown and increased. Of such good 
habit, and so free-flowering, it might be made useful in a variety 
of ways in the hands of those who are desi '•ous of having 
effective and interesting changes without verging nto formality; 
indeed the plant cannot be used in any formal arrangement 
happily, and will soon itself suggest many positions, either alone 
or in groups, where it may be acivantageously placed. Its leaves 
are formed into a compact tuft, from which issue its flower 
stems, which seldom exceed 9 inches in height. Mitella diphylla 
is of a genus nearly allied, though it must not be confounded 
with it, the plant under notice being in all respects superior.— 
HOT WEA-THER AND FRUIT TREES. 
Since 1859 I do not remember so hot and dry a summer as 
the present. The winter was dry, so was the spring, and the 
summer fast drawing to a close has been exceptionally parchinc. 
Although the frosts of April made quick destructive work of the 
blossoms and embryo fruit of hardy trees, particularly Plums, 
Pears, and Apples, completely destroying Nuts, including 
Walnuts, I cannot but think that 1884 will prove one of the 
most favourable prospectively to fruit trees that has occurred 
for very many years, as the heat and drought cannot but insure 
the perfection of the growth and the formation of fruit buds. 
For a number of years previous the weather had been com¬ 
paratively cold, dull, and wet. Fruit trees then made much 
growth and the wood has been very indifferently ripened. Al¬ 
though plenty of fruit buds were formed, the comparatively poor 
crops resulting pointed to the imperfect development of the 
blossoms and necessarily indifferent setting of the fruit. Then 
the scantiness of crop tended to induce vigour in the trees. They 
made much growth, which was difficult to restrain by summer- 
pruning, and the heat was not sufficient to solidify and ripen the 
growth. This had a tendency to induce canker and other forms 
of disease, which have been more apparent in Apricot trees than 
perhaps any other, although the stronger-growing fruit trees 
have shown a tendency to gum and canker in a very marked 
degree as compared with those that are of only moderately 
vigourous growth, making firm short-jointed wood, and forming 
fruit buds on short stubby shoots or spurs. 
A dull, wet, and cold season encourages soft growth; it is not 
solidified, and it is not ripened well in autumn. The trees may 
form fruit buds, give promise of abundant crops by the profusion 
of bloom, yet the fruit fails to set, or, if setting, drops off before 
taking the first swelling. This is a consequence of last year’s 
imperfect development of the buds and immaturity of the wood, 
and the future is not moi’e hopeful, unless we have favourable 
weather for the ripening of the wood and development of the 
blossom buds. Summer-pruning, root-pruning, lifting, wholly or 
partially, may do something ( and does) to check luxuriance, the 
tendency to make growth, and assist in its ripening; but it is a 
poor apology for sun heat to ripen the wood and plump the fruit 
buds. Restriction aids a sturdy and solidified growth by expos¬ 
ing the parts retained to the influence of light and air, whilst 
extension equally furthers the object in view, provided the 
growths are trained or disposed so thin as to be exposed fully to 
atmospheric influences ; and this is even better than restriction, 
as the action between the head and roots is recipi’ocal, whilst in 
the case of restriction, unless the roots and the head are restricted 
alike there will be an excess of vigour—late growths that are 
never productive of fruit. 
There is nothing so salutary in checking the tendency to 
excess of vigour in fruit trees as a good crop of fi’uit. The diffi¬ 
culty of late years has been to secure such a condition of growth 
as is favourable to a golden harvest. Culture is all very well, but 
unless the elements are propitious the greatest skill is of little 
avail; indeed, trees left to have their own way are, especially in 
unfavourable seasons, the most satisfactory in cropping. Com- 
pai’e the growth and resulting crops of trees in orchards with 
those in the richer soil of gardens, and under the manipulations 
of the cultivator. It is not difficult to discern between the 
success of the one and the indifferent issue of the other. 
But what I wish more particularly to allude to is the very pro¬ 
mising condition of fruit trees at the present time. Disastrous as 
the drought and heat may have been to many occupants of gardens, 
it is not without its corresponding benefit on fruit trees, which, 
despite the paucity of fruit, have not made a very vigorous 
growth, the growth being short and stubby, and most, if not all, 
the growths of Apples and Pears are terminated by fruit buds. 
It seems a pity in the case of trees trained to walls, or as 
espaliers, to cut away shoots of a few inches growth terminated 
by fruit buds for the mere keeping in form of the trees. Why 
not let them fruit, and cut away or shorten back after fruiting, 
such as is the case with Peaches, &c. ? It strikes me that we 
prune too hard—sacrifice utility for appearances, more particu¬ 
larly in the case of Apples and Pears, which in many instances 
form the strongest bloom buds on shoots of a few inches length, 
and which retained afford fine fruit more freely than that 
