'November 24, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
471 
Earliest House, —Although houses planted with Alexander Peach 
will afford ripe fruit in April when started at the new year, Advance 
Nectarine coming in a few days later, it is not desirable to drive trees. 
Such “express” practice is best exercised with potted trees, and this 
mode of culture is, perhaps, the best for securing a good supply of very 
early Peaches and Nectarines. Therefore it is preferable to start per¬ 
manent trees a month or six weeks earlier, say trees not before forced, 
early in December, the house being closed at the middle of November. 
Trees that have been forced before will start with astonishing certainty 
a 1 ; the customary period, which need not be before the beginning of 
December. Houses containing Hale’s Early, Stirling Castle, and Royal 
George Peaches, with Elruge Nectarine, should be started at the same 
time to supply ripe fruit in May. Replace the roof lights and keep the 
house close, but admit air freely at and above 50°, employing fire heat 
■only to exclude frost during the first fortnight. The more slowly the 
trees are excited the stronger will be the blossoms. Supply water to 
inside borders so as to moisten the soil through to the drainage, and if 
the trees are weakly soak well with liquid manure, but it must not be 
too strong. Sprinkle the trees in the morning and afternoon of bright 
days, not, however, keeping them constantly dripping with water. 
Succession Houses, —The house and trees should be thoroughly cleaned 
when the leaves have all fallen. After clearing away the leaves, the 
house and trees may be well syringed with water at a temperature of 
120° to 140°, the former being fatal to most parasites and their eggs or 
germs. Care, however, must be exercised not to exceed that tempera¬ 
ture. The trees should be unfastened from the trellis and pruned. Then 
paint the woodwork and trellis if necessary, and limewash the walls. 
Wash the trees with a softsoap solution, 3 ozs. to a gallon of water, using a 
brush, and taking care not to dislocate the buds. Tie the trees to the 
trellis, leaving room for the branches to swell. Remove the remains of 
any mulching and scrape off the loose surface soil, after loosening it with 
a fork, and supply fresh loam, chopped moderately small, and mixed 
with about one-fourth of decayed manure. A good handful of the follow¬ 
ing mixture may be sprinkled on each square yard, steamed bone meal 
two parts, and sulphate of potash one part. Inside borders must be 
kept moist and the house as cool as possible. ' 
Late Houses. —Air should be admitted freely, and, where there are 
hot water pipes, the heat may be turned on in the daytime, with 
moderate ventilation, turning it off in the afternoon and throwing the 
house open atinight. Laterals and all gross shoots, also surplus growths, 
should be removed, keeping the trees rather dry at the roots, but not so 
as to cause the leaves still remaining to become limp. Trees having a 
tendency to over-luxuriance should have the roots pr*ned by taking out 
a trench at a safe distance from the stem and cutting off all the roots, 
or the latter may be laid bare, and some of the strongest be detached and 
removed. If the roots are deep it is better to lift the trees, and after 
shortening the long and strong and bare roots, lay those left in fresh 
soil nearer the surface. 
Lifting and Planting Trees. —Any trees that fail to set or stone their 
crops satisfactorily may be lifted and root-pruned ; but it is best done 
when the leaves are mature and before they are entirely fallen. It may, 
however, be carried out with trees that will not be started within a 
month or six weeks, but if the root-pruning is severe they will be more 
or less prejudiced in bearing the following year. Fresh trees should be 
introduced as soon as the leaves are nearly off and can be safely trans¬ 
planted. Due border preparation should be made for them. Good 
calcareous loam is most serviceable for planting, and if it extends a little 
beyond than the spread of the roots it will serve the trees two or three 
years, and can be added to as the roots extend. Trees for planting in 
houses are best three or more years trained to walls or trellises in cool 
structures, as with care in lifting and planting they will afford some fruit 
the succeeding season. Failing these, two or three years trained trees 
from nurseries answer well, and being furnished with bearing wood, 
lifted with an abundance of fibres, carefully planted, and not forced too 
rapidly, they will afford a moderate crop of fruit the first season. 
Younger trees take one or two years to become furnished before they are 
in a fit state for bearing. 
Pig-s.— Early Forced Trees in Borders. —These do not force as readily 
as potted trees, and should not be started before the new year. The 
trees must now be untied from the trellis and pruned. The extremity 
growths must be cut back, so as to give place for promising successional 
shoots, cutting away those fruited to the limit to where the succeeding 
branches with their young shoots start. Also thin the shoot3 where too 
crowded, and remove any elongated spurs, retaining such only as are 
short-jointed and fruitful. Thoroughly cleanse the house, red spider 
lurking through the rest season being ready to emerge and to carry on 
the devastating work. Wash, therefore, the woodwork with scalding 
water, but keep it from the trees ; also scald the walls and wash 
them with quicklime and a handful of sulphur to a pailful of lime. 
Wash the trees with softsoapy water, 3 ozs. to a gallon using a brush so 
as to dislodge scale, and to reach into every angle and crevice, taking 
care not to injure the young wood. Secure the trees to the trellis after 
repeating the wash or a dressing of an insecticide, and in tying allow 
room for the growth of the branches. Fork the surface of the border 
lightly, remove the loose material, and apply a top-dres9ing of turfy 
loam moderately rough, to which a 9-inch potful of crushed half-inch 
bones and twice as much wood ashes and lime rubbish has been added 
to every good barrowload of loam—say 3 bushels. Ventilate freely at 
all times, keeping the house dry and cool, merely excluding frost. 
Lifting Unfruitful Trees. —Those casting their fruit untimely or 
growing too rampantly to produce any, should be lifted and severely 
root-pruned and ihe roots restricted to narrow borders of sound calcareous 
loam, with sufficient lime rubbish or grit to render them permeable to 
water. The trees should also have a firm soil to cause the roots to pro¬ 
duce numberless fibres, thus giving them a large feeding surface m 
a small compass, where they can be fed to any extent by surface dress¬ 
ings and liquid applications. The curtailment of the roots must be 
preceded or directly followed by a judicious pruning of the head, 
cutting away the gross and useless wood, leaving the best and most 
promising in the most favourable places for extension. The sooner 
these matters are attended to after the foliage becomes mature the better. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Gladiolus Colville! The Bride.-— This is an excellent plant when 
six or eight corms are placed in o-inch pots and grown for flowering in 
the greenhouse. The corms should be covered with half an inch of soii, 
and then stood in a cold frame, covering the pots with about 1 inch of 
ashes or cocoa-nut fibre refuse, allowing them to remain until the 
plants grow through, when they should be gradually exposed to light 
and placed in a cool house close to the glass. 
Carnation iviiss Jolliffe —Strong layers potted early and given 
cold frame treatment are producing a central flower stem. The strongest 
may be placed at once into 5-inch pots and put in a greenhouse where 
they will flower freely during early spring. If the plants are not needed 
for this purpose the points may be pinched out, which will cause them to 
branch freely. It is time that all layered outside for growing under 
glass were potted, so that they can become established before the winter. 
& Pelargoniums. —Keep these on shelves close to the glass, where 
the temperature will not fall below 40°, or rise beyond 45° at night. 
Abundance of air must be given during the day. loung stock well 
established in 3-inch pots should be placed into 5-inch. The point or 
each plant ought to be removed, if this has not already been done. Late 
cuttings, poorly rooted, may be placed on a shelf where a temperature 
of 50° to 55° can be maintained until they commence to root and grow, 
when they must be hardened to cool airy treatment. Old plants cut 
back late may have the soil shaken from them, and be repotted in o 
smaller pots. Great care is necessary in watering these plants, or else 
their foliage will damp and become spotted. They should be potted 
firm and kept on the dry side, but care must be taken to give them 
sufficient water to prevent their fresh-growing roots perishing. 
Petunias. —Young plants in 3-inch pots should be placed on a shell 
close to the glass. When they have well filled these with roots they 
ought to be transferred to 5-inch pots. 
Imantophyllums. —These should be kept perfectly cool and on 
the dry side at their roots, or else the tips of their foliage are very liable 
to die back. Where seed on any specially good kinds is ripe it should 
be dried and then sown in a pan or pot, and placed in a temperature ot 
60°. Seedlings ought to be grown in heat, where they will make much 
& Amaryllis. —Even the latest of these should have completed their 
growth. If the foliage has practically died away store them under the 
stage where they can enjoy a lengthened period of rest. Some of the 
earliest that have been well rested may have the old soil shaken from 
them, repotted, and placed in the forcing house. The old Johnsom 
varieties are useful for this purpose. Care is needed after flowering to 
prevent the foliage drawing up weakly. They do fairly well on a shell 
where heat is maintained to assist them to make their growth. 
Araucaria excelsa.— This is a capital room plant ; in fact, one ot 
the best that can be grown. Young plants in 5-inch pots should not be 
confined at their roots if rapid progress is needed. The plants may be 
placed into 7-inch pots. It is a mistake to overpot them. This plant 
grows much more rapidly where a little higher temperature than that 
of an ordinary greenhouse is maintained, but it must not be rushed 
up quickly in heat. . . 
Chrysanthemums. —As these go out of flower remove any weakly 
growths, and place the plants in a cool house, where they will soon pro¬ 
duce strong sturdy cuttings that are certain to root and do well after¬ 
wards. Cuttings of the earliest flowering section may be taken off and 
rooted whenever they are ready. It is best to strike them under hand- 
lights in a cool house. Careful feeding should be practised with those 
that are developing their blooms. Late kinds must not be neglected. 
Give them abundance of air, and syringe them gently twice on fane days. 
Ventilate the structure early in the morning where large flowers are 
expanding, or the work of the season may be destroyed by the flowers 
lamping or becoming spotted. 
Iiillum Harris!. —Bulbs should be removed from the ashes under 
which they were placed to start. Place the plants on a shelf in the 
greenhouse where slow but sturdy growth will be made. Give water 
is soon as they are removed from the plunging material, and be carefu 
not to allow them to become dry. 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Queens. 
Tiie progeny of two queens from a divided hive having access 
to one common super can return to either hive or compartment, 
so that when the bees come into contact with the queen, 
