JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
526 
judge from a comparison with that ruling at the present time— 
viz., Is. 4 d. to Is. Gd. the pound, Gd. a pound would probably be 
about the figure. 
Should, however, the above be of interest to your readers I oiler 
it in the hope that someone may be able to deduce from his own 
observations the causes to which we are indebted for the apparent 
great difference in climate and temperature to that of former 
years.—W. VV. Anderson. 
ROOT-PRUNING AND TRAINING FRUIT TREES. 
No. 2. 
Where trees have been root-pruned or lifted a top-dressing of 
half-decayed material should be applied, as it prevents frost from 
penetrating deeply into the soil. If the work is performed early 
in the autumn it preserves a certain amount of heat about the 
roots and causes them to remain in a fresh condition until spring, 
when they will produce moderate growth and plenty of fruit buds. 
Cultivators differ very much in their opinions respecting the 
pruning and training of fruit trees. One recommends cutting 
back the shoots to thoroughly ripened wood, another advocates 
leaving them their entire length. Under certain conditions both 
would be quite right in their practice. In heated structures it is 
easy to ripen shoots to their extremities ; and if it be desired to 
cover a certain space as quickly as possible every shoot could be 
laid in its full length, except where they would be too thickly 
placed ; and a house is soon furnished with vigorous young trees, 
or the branches of old trees can soon be made to occupy a space 
that it would take years to fill by so much cutting back. The 
extension of the branches must be limited to heated structures, 
except under most favourable conditions. The wet and sunless 
summer of last year, followed by a very severe winter, taught 
many having glass structures, and not possessing the means of 
heating them artificially, that the laying-in of branches their full 
length ends in disappointment. In such structures this year the 
case is very different. Trees under my charge that retained their 
foliage until the end of the present month of last year, are this 
season stripped of their leaves and the buds are quite prominent, 
more so than they were last February. In dealing with these 
trees last year I cut back closely and left the shoots much thicker 
than usual. This time they will most likely be thinned more, and 
those remaining left a greater length in pruning. 
Last winter the shoots of Peach trees were killed, in many cases 
down to the old wood, but nevertheless they have this season 
made a moderate growth of fairly ripened shoots. Should the 
weather this winter prove as severe as last the branches are in a 
better condition to withstand it, and with judicious pruning and 
protection in spring I think we may be rewarded with a crop of 
fruit next year. Like the Peach, most of the trees are full of 
fruit buds, and at the same time have made a moderate and fairly 
ripened growth ; so that where it is desirable to extend the area 
of the trees the shoots may be left longer than usual this season. 
I will next write on the summer pruning of fruit trees.— 
Robt. D. Long. 
CHARLWOOD HOUSE. 
This, the residence of Norton Sparke, Esq., is situated at 
Huyton, six miles from Liverpool. It is not extensive as far as 
the grounds are concerned, yet there are many glass houses 
suitable for the plants and fruit that occupy them. Orchids are 
the principal feature, and many of them were particularly fine at 
the time of my visit some months ago. 
The stove contained a good specimen of Croton variegatus, 
well coloured, symmetrical in form, being 5 feet through and 
the same high. Anthurium crystallinum was also grand, having 
fine large leaves, and in cxcellent’condition. Marantas, Ixoras, 
Dipladenias, and other stove plants were well represented. The 
roof was covered with Bougainvillea glabra and Clerodendron 
Balfourianum in flower, Dendrobiums and Stanhopeas being sus¬ 
pended from the roof in baskets, and were making luxuriant 
growth. Passing through a Peach house, in which the trees were 
healthy and bearing a good crop or fruit, we entered a vinery and 
noticed a good plant of Thunia alba growing very vigorously, also 
fine plants of Dendrobium densiflorum and D. chrysotoxum. 
Suspended in baskets underneath the shade of the Vines were 
Dendrobium AVardianum and D. crassinode, the foliage being of 
immense size, and the pseudobulbs strong ; these Orchids evidently 
enjoyed their position in the shade, with no detriment to the Vines, 
which promised well for a good average crop of fruit. The next 
house in this range had been recently planted with Iloses, and 
contained a miscellaneous collection of plants, amongst them 
being a fine specimen of Aphelexis macrantha purpurea in flower. 
[ December 9, 1880. 
Another house was partially occupied with Orchids ; a large plant 
of Zygopetalum Mackayi, which had in the early spring about 
eighty flowers open upon it at one time, was especially noteworthy. 
The Cattleya house contained good plants of C. Mendelii, C. 
Mossise, C. gigas, and C. Skinneri. The beautiful and rare Cat¬ 
tleya amabilis was in flower, with its delicate pink petals and lip 
of the richest crimson, also the following :—Lfelia cinnabarina ; 
Trichopilia suavis, which had six spikes carrying eighteen flowers ; 
Trichopilia crispa, a beautiful species bearing six large flowers; 
the free-flowering Chysis Limminghii, having four spikes and twenty 
blooms. This house also contained recently imported plants of 
the new Lrelia anceps alba, which were starting vigorously into 
growth. A house was devoted to cool Orchids, and the first that 
drew our attention was a handsome plant of Odontoglossum glo- 
riosum, having a four-branched inflorescence and about two hun¬ 
dred flowers. This is one of the finest specimens of its kind 
ever exhibited, and Mr. Sherwin was awarded a first-class cultural 
certificate for it at one of the Manchester shows. Odontoglossum 
cirrhosum was represented by several varieties in flower, one a 
fine dark variety and by far the finest I have ever seen ; it had 
one spike and about twenty flowers open. Another had about 
thirty flowers. A third had one spike with eight branches or 
laterals, bearing fifty-two flowers ; this was blooming for the first 
time under Mr. Sherwin’s care, and is a very good variety. The 
beautiful Odontoglossum Halli with its large buff and brown 
flowers was represented by several plants. This I consider the 
finest of the dark-coloured section. One plant had two spikes and 
twenty-five large flowers ; two others were coming into flower, 
one with a spike 4 feet long and the other 3 feet, the first having 
twenty flowers and the latter eleven. Odontoglossum triumphans 
had two spikes and sixteen flowers. Many other Orchids were 
represented, such as Odontoglossum Alexandras, 0. Pescatorei, 
0. citrosmum roseum, and 0. pardinum. Disa grandiflora was 
growing luxuriantly, also Masdevallia Harryana showing upwards 
of three dozen flower spikes. 
An adjoining house was partially devoted to Ferns and partially 
to Orchids, the former filling the back portion of the house and 
planted upon neatly arranged rockwork, the front being devoted 
to the Orchids, and many were suspended from the roof in baskets. 
Two plants of Dendrobium Devonianum were in flower, having 
about a hundred flowers each ; D. Pierardi latifolium had fifty 
flowers, and D. Freemani thirty fine flowers ; the lovely little 
D. pulchellum was also well bloomed. On the front stage we 
noticed a quantity of Odontoglossum vexillarium ; some of them 
imported last July -were showing flower freely. This lovely 
Odontoglossum is a free grower in a little warmth, and flowers 
profusely. Odontoglossum Roezlii, Coelogyne barbata, and Cym- 
bidium Lowianum were doing equally well. Oncidium ornitho- 
rhynchum had ten good leads, and produced twenty good spikes 
last autumn. Oncidium incurvum had twenty breaks, and the 
rare Zygopetalum Gautieri was doing well. 
The East Indian house contained a good specimen of Dendro¬ 
bium Dalhousianum bearing fifty flowers. This is a lovely 
species, and doubtless highly prized by those who have fine plants, 
yet the flowers are of very short duration. The old Oncidium 
sphacelatum had ten large spikes of flowers. Cypripedium laevi- 
gatum had six flowers. The plants of Phalasnopsis Schilleriana 
were grand in pots. Grammatophyllum Ellisii was growing well; 
Saccolabium Blumei majus w p as also fine. The conservatory is 
situated at the end of this range, and contained an assortment of 
the usual flowering plants intermixed with good plants of Den¬ 
drobium nobile and its varieties, of which there are two grand 
forms, one having the petals and sepals all white, with a much 
darker spot on the lip than nobile. The other is much larger in 
the flower, and the pink markings on the sepals and petals, as 
well as the crimson spot of the lip, being more vivid than in the 
species. 
I have only enumerated a few of the many Orchids which are 
comprised in this collection. Mr. Sherwin has a liberal employer, 
who takes great delight in Orchids, and all appear to be thriving 
well under the treatment they receive.—W. Bardney. 
Loasas.—N umerous as are our winter-flowering plants there 
are still some which are rarely seen, although worthy of at¬ 
tention. This is the case with the above genus, the species of 
which are admitted to possess both curious and attractive proper¬ 
ties, as well as some that are very objectionable. The leaves and 
stems often bear numerous glands yielding poison far more irri¬ 
tating than our Stinging Nettle, consequently the cultivator should 
be careful to avoid touching them with his unprotected hands. 
All the species are easily raised from seed sown in the early spring 
in a mild bottom heat, and when the plants are large enough they 
