578 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ December 21, 1882. 
cuttings have been furnished by them. The shoots from the base 
form the best cuttings. 
Many possessors of small greenhouses do not grow these plants 
because they require much room. To such 1 would recommend 
the Pompon varieties. If there is only space for half a dozen 
plants 1 advise the growing of White Cedo Nulli, and, if variety 
be wanted, Yellow and Lilac Cedo Nulli. These may be grown 
and flowered in 6-inch pots if supplied twice a day with water and 
the tops pinched repeatedly. Under this treatment plants 15 or 
18 inches high and as much across will produce between one 
hundred and two hundred blooms in November and December. 
Dwarf plants of tall kinds are often produced by layering the 
flowering shoots of tall plants into pots containing prepared 
compost in August or early in September. The following is a 
selection of good varieties :— Show varieties—Yellow : Jardin des 
Plantes, George Glenny, Mrs. Dixon. White : White Globe, 
Empress of India, Mrs. Rundle. Lilac-purple : Prince of Wales, 
Lady Hardinge, King of Denmark. Pompon or Small-flowered 
varieties : Bob, crimson ; General Canrobert, yellow ; Madame 
Marthe, white. Cedo Nulli varieties are all good. Japanese : 
Kri Kang, rosy-lilac ; Elaine, white ; The Cossack, crimson. Ane¬ 
mone-flowered : Gluck, yellow ; Fleur de Marie, white ; Prince of 
Anemones, lilac and yellow ; Quilled Queen, white ; Golden Queen, 
yellow; Empress of India, white. Reflexed: Julie Lagravere, 
deep red ; King of Crimsons, rich crimson ; and Socur Melanie, 
white. 
CACTUS JENKINSONII. 
Like many others of this class, this is a handsome plant when in 
flower. Its wants are very few : fibry loam, pieces of sandstone, 
and charcoal suit it. Plenty of drainage must be given, and from 
the time it finishes its growth until signs of fresh growth appear 
in spring very little water need be given. Ordinary greenhouse 
temperature all the year round and a sunny position suit it 
admirably. 
CALL A JETHIOPICA. 
The Lily of the Nile, as this is popularly termed, is an old- 
fashioned but indispensable plant, and one exactly suited to the 
amateur. Good drainage, good loam, leaf soil and sand, and 
plenty of water, with ordinary greenhouse treatment during the 
winter months from October to May, and planting out in a 
sheltered spot where it will be exposed to the sun during summer, 
is all that is needed to enable it to do well and reward the culti¬ 
vator with plants which are worth growing, although they never 
flowered, but are doubly attractive when they produce their curious 
vase-shaped pure white spathes. Large specimens may be had 
with little trouble, but small plants in 6-inch pots are preferable 
for ordinary work. They should be divided at planting-out time 
if necessary, and potted, and then stood in the shade for a week 
or two before removing them to the greenhouse in September.— 
J. H. 
(To be continued.) 
*5 WOR11foi\theWEEK,. : 
HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 
When the weather is unfavourable for ground work, or too cold 
for ordinary pruning to be done, orchard trees should have attention 
in thinning. The chief object with standard trees is to keep the 
centres thin and open and the branches from crossing each other, 
which will not only preserve the symmetry of the trees, but admit 
more light and air greatly to the benefit of the fruit. It is necessary 
to bear in mind that a large reduction of the head will cause a 
quantity of young shoots to arise in the following season, and should 
not be practised except in the case of weakly trees. A sharp saw 
and a keen eye exercised judiciously will soon improve the trees in 
the most neglected orchard. In some localities moss and lichen 
seriously affect the health of the trees, in which case scrape the 
trunks and main stems with a blunt hoe-like instrument, and then 
wash them with a strong salt brine, or paint them with limewash. 
The smaller branches may be reached by employing a syringe. 
Where bullfinches are troublesome a good syringing with a mixture 
of water, lime, and soot will help to prevent their attacks. Pruning 
Gooseberry and Currant bushes is objected to at this season on 
account of the havoc birds sometimes make with the buds, par¬ 
ticularly near towns or buildings : but as most of the mischief is 
committed by the birds when the buds are swelling in spring, it is 
questionable whether it is not preferable to prune now and proceed 
as above advised. In pruning Gooseberry bushes it is advisable to 
distinguish between those that make much wood and do not bear 
freely, and those that make little wood and fruit abundantly. Very 
little pruning should be practised in the first case, merely thinning 
out in the centre, otherwise leaving the bushes intact, whilst the 
second description may be spurred in closely as regards the side 
shoots, shortening extensions as desired. Red and White Currants 
usually bear freely enough on spurs, hence the spray of last sum¬ 
mer’s growth should be cut hard back to the base. Black Currants 
should have the old growths well thinned out, and straggling 
branches and those too long cut back to young growths at the base. 
This will keep the bushes well furnished with strong young wood, 
which affords fine fruit plentifully. 
Pruning wall and other fruit trees should be proceeded with as 
weather permits. Thinning and shortening back any spurs pro¬ 
jecting too far from the wall should be practised more generally 
than it is, as it not only adds greatly to the appearance of the trees, 
but improves their vigour and health, as old spurs from their con¬ 
tracted bark do not admit of a free circulation of the sap. Old 
Pear trees still endure very hard pruning, breaking again regularly 
if the trees are healthy; but Apricots, Cherries, and Plums are not to 
be depended upon in that respect, yet they may safely be cut back 
to a single eye, which is necessary to keep the spur alive and assist 
it in becoming fruitful. Extensions should as far as practicable be 
trained in their full length, cutting away, however, any unripened 
shoots to firm wood, and any leading shoots may be shortened to 
originate growth to the required positions for filling vacant space. 
If the trees are not entirely loosened from the wall and re-nailed or 
tied, they should be examined carefully, renewing any shreds or ties 
that are worn out, loosening those too tight, as well as nails likely 
to cause inj ury to the branches or shoots drawn and replaced, so as 
to allow of the unimpeded swelling of the growths and the free 
flowing of the sap. 
Young trees are frequently cut back severely, which is advisable 
when the trees are ill furnished as a provocative of vigorous growths 
for furnishing properly from the base, and in the case of trees that 
have the shoots imperfectly ripened. Then it becomes a necessity; 
otherwise to cut a young tree hard back is only to encourage strong 
growths, which from their grossness rarely ripen well. Trees left 
with their branches entire, properly laid in and trained, cover double 
the space and bear in half the time, as the more top the more roots 
and the less probability of the trees producing strong gross shoots. 
Healthy young trees always break freely, and afford plenty of young 
shoots to choose from without having the tops reduced, and come 
into bearing quickly, besides avoiding canker, gum, or other ills. 
FRUIT HOUSES. 
Vines .—A Grape room is as important for the keeping of Grapes 
during the next five months as the house in which the late fruit is 
grown, and to ensure the good preservation of the Grapes the room 
must be well ventilated, dry, and free from frost; indeed, it should if 
necessary be provided with artificial heat, so as to maintain a tem¬ 
perature of 45° to 50°. Freedom from dust is also essential. Racks 
for holding the bottles should be fixed in the walls, so as to maintain 
the bottles in a slanting position ; and now the wood of the Yines is 
ripe the Grapes should be cut with some wood both above as well as 
below the bunches, and a few pieces of charcoal placed in the bottles 
along with clear rain water. The Vines should then be pruned and 
dressed. Gros Guillaume, Gros Colman, and Alicantes do best on the 
long-rod system of pruning, but Lady Downe’s is so free that it suc¬ 
ceeds well if pruned to a good eye. All glass, woodwork, and pipes 
must be well washed, removing the loose soil and mulching from the 
inside border, and replace with fresh loam with some bone meal 
intermixed. 
In houses which have been closed the Yines are in various degrees 
of development. Where the buds are breaking freely a night tem¬ 
perature of 60° should be maintained, and 65° by day, allowing an 
advance from sun heat to 75° before giving any air, and then be 
