156 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 19, 1880. 
remain until the plants are large enough for removal, as many 
of them will be the following autumn, the others being then 
replanted at wide intervals to make further growth. If not in 
a shaded border and the sun is bright, they should be shaded 
with mats and syringed frequently to keep the foliage fresh, 
as the longer this is retained the sooner will roots be emitted. 
Any shading that is employed must be removed at night, so 
that the cuttings can have the benefit of the night dews. I 
have struck many hundreds of Rose cuttings according to the 
plan indicated, and if others attempt the same practice and 
fail it will be because of some error in choosing the cuttings 
or fault in management. Those having frames at their dis¬ 
posal can strike the cuttings more quickly, but the lights should 
be drawn off during fine nights. ' 
Autumn propagation is more simple, and when large quan¬ 
tities are required more convenient, but as a rule I have found 
it less certain. As soon as the leaves change and ca?i be 
shaken off, the cuttings may be made and inserted in trenches 
as above described. Sometimes, however, the leaves cannot 
be shaken off before December. In that case they may be cut 
off about the end of October or early November, for by that 
time the foliage has done all that is needed for the wood ; and 
if the evaporating surfaces—the leaves, are removed, the cut¬ 
tings may be prepared in bundles of hundreds, and with very 
little care no shrivelling will occur. They do not need to be 
inserted in a shaded border, but any open position will be more 
suitable. Cuttings divested of foliage and inserted in the 
autumn may with advantage be an inch or two longer than 
those planted in summer, but only an inch of each cutting 
should be above ground in both cases. 
Manetti and Briar cuttings for stocks are made and inserted 
much in the same manner as soon as possible after the leaves 
have fallen. Yet a most important difference must be observed. 
In making Rose cuttings none of the buds require to be re¬ 
moved, as these push from below the surface and make fine 
growths. No winter in England can kill Roses thus prepared. 
But cuttings for stocks must have all the buds removed from 
the portion inserted in the soil with scrupulous care, or 
“ suckers ” will spring up continually, to the great annoyance 
of the cultivator and ruin of the plants. Stock cuttings are 
made about a foot long, inserted to a depth of 5 or 6 inches, 
the soil being drawn or banked up, the remainder within 
an inch of the top. They are thus in ridges, which before 
budding are levelled down ; the bark then runs freely, the 
buds are inserted near the root, and the plants properly 
planted become in due time own-root Roses. This, however, 
is nurserymen’s w r ork, and no one can do it so well as they can. 
It is the most convenient for raising plants by the million, and 
millions of splendid plants are so raised annually. I write 
not for these skilled professionals who “ know their book ” 
better than I do, and who may be depended on for supplying 
satisfactory plants ; but my remarks are intended for those 
amateurs who have, the Editors inform me, desired some plain 
instructions that will aid them in indulging in the pleasure of 
striking a few Roses, not with the object of growing exhi¬ 
bition blooms, but for producing flowers, the work of their own 
hands, for rendering their gardens gay in summer and their 
rooms sweet. Although work presses on all sides I cheerfully 
comply in the furtherance of an object so laudable and desirable. 
—A Northern Gardener. 
PRUNING PEACH TREES. 
More than once the importance of pruning Peach and Nec¬ 
tarine trees immediately after the crops have been gathered has 
been adverted to in the pages of the Journal of Horticulture. 
The practice, however, is far from general, and trees in many 
gardens remain crow led with growth that is absolutely inimical 
to health and fruitfulness, thinning not being done until the 
leaves have fallen. I am referring now more particularly to trees 
grown uuder glass. At the present moment there are hundreds 
of Peach trellises densely covered with wood and foliage that 
ought to be at once carefully removed. To permit the shoots 
that have borne fruit to remain on the trees simply for the pur¬ 
pose of being cut out in winter, either betrays a want of thought 
on the part of the cultivator, or the want of time to do that which 
he must know ought to be done promptly. 
Ov ercrowding of the growths of fruit trees of all kinds is one 
of the commonest errors committed in gardening, and it is especi" 
ally apparent in the training of Peach trees. Few will dispute 
the value of hard, brown, short-jointed wood thickly studded 
with triple buds for increasing a full crop of fine Peaches and 
Nectarines. It is a mere accident if such wood is produced 
when the trees are crowded with foliage throughout the summer, 
the shoots being trained to the trellis from 2 to 3 inches apart 
and covered with two or three layers of leaves. How can the 
sun act on that wood to render it fertile, and the syringe be applied 
to the foliage to cleanse it from red spider ? 
It is as easy at the present time as during the resting period of 
the trees to determine which portions can be advantageously re¬ 
moved and which retained on those trees from which the fruit 
has been gathered. If one-balf, or in some cases nearly two- 
thirds, of the growth were cut away now, that remaining would 
be in a greatly improved condition at the end of the season, and 
a more certain crop and better fruit would follow another year. 
After much experience in Peach culture, and an intimate ac¬ 
quaintance with both failure and success, I urge strenuously the 
importance of making an intelligent selection now of those 
growths that must be depended on for next year’s crop, and to 
give these shoots every advantage by the removal of others that 
have done their duty, for to permit them to remain to be cut out 
in winter is needlessly exhausting the trees, and a sure mode of 
impairing their fruitfulness. The trees should be so thinned now 
that the sun can shine on every leaf ; and if these leaves are kept 
clean and healthy, as they easily may be, wood essentially fruitful 
in character will certainly be produced, and little winter pruning 
will be needed.—A n Old Grower. 
LAXTON’S NEW PEAS. 
At sowing time Mr. Laxton kindly Sent me small packets of 
seed of his three best new seedling Peas ; and as one of them, 
John Bull, was figured with accompanying remarks on page 137, 
I propose giving my experience with two of those received some¬ 
what earlier than usual. 
Mr. Laxton is undeniably a great authority on all matters per¬ 
taining to Peas, and on this account I was prepared to find John 
Bull, from the brief description received with it, what it really is, 
“ the king of Peas.” It is very sturdy and branching in habit, 
very prolific ; and the pods, though not of sensational size, are 
large, and like another of Mr. Laxton’s excellent varieties, The 
Marvel, are literally hard packed with peas. It is a main crop 
variety, about 3 feet in height, and must eventually become one of 
the best of market sorts. The latter remark is often made about 
other varieties, simply because the pods are of great size, and the 
quality perhaps fairly good, no regard being paid to the heights of 
the respective varieties, and we thus see a variety recommended 
which grows 6 feet in height. The fact that stakes are not used 
by the market growers, and that thick pods cannot be sold, are 
apparently forgotten. 
Another variety which I will allude to is aptly named Minimum, 
which, according to my experience, is a real gem for early work, 
and unequalled for cultivation either in boxes or pots. In habit 
it is very dwarf, growing to about 10 inches in height, and so very 
branching that for the future it will be sown very thinly. The 
pods are freely produced, are about 2 inches in length, and the 
very sweet peas are so closely packed in them that they flatten 
each other in a manner resembling Indian Corn. At a later and 
more seasonable date I shall refer to the culture of this variety in 
some remarks on growing early Peas generally.—W. Iggulden. 
The Journal of Horticulture has lately become famous amongst 
the profession for the faithfulness ot its illustrations, but in my 
opinion the likeness of John Bull Pea at page 137 is underdone, 
as the woodcut neither gives the true size nor beauty of it. 
“ Thirteen peas in a pod,” however, conveys more idea of its pro¬ 
ductiveness, and its other qualities cannot be overrated, as it is 
one of the most wonderful Peas ever introduced. In the spring 
of this year we were fortunate enough to have twelve seeds of it 
sent to us, and the produce of these gladdens our heart every time 
we enter the garden.—A Kitchen Gardener. 
EUCOMIS PUNCTATA. —A lady from Sligo who has this in¬ 
teresting and too rare plant now flowering finely sends me the 
following description that would seem to commend it to the 
notice of your readers :—“ I have it now beautifully blooming in 
my morning room, which it scents most fragrantly. It comes 
into flower about this time, and remains for the better part of 
six weeks, the admiration of every visitor. The colour is waxy 
white, and the florets are closely set on a central spike, not 
unlike a tall Hyacinth. After measuring this spike, which is 
