224 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 8, 1832. 
WORK/roiTraWEEK.. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Fines.— Young Stock. —The nursing and succession plants always 
present at this time of year, under judicious and suitable management, a 
healthy and luxurious appearance. This arises from the heat of the 
days and comparative coolness of the nights, and other beneficial effects 
of natural agencies, so important in the cultivation of Pines. Such 
influences, however, are now on the decline, and the weather becomes 
moister as the sun wanes in power, therefore it is necessary to exercise 
greater care in the treatment to prevent the growths becoming 
unhealthfully luxuriant—that is, soft. With this object in view steps 
should be taken to consolidate the growth by the employment of 
artificial heat and free ventilation. Plants in a luxuriant condition 
should have air at 80°, above which ventilate liberally, especially on 
warm sunny days, always avoiding currents of cold air and sudden 
depressions of temperature, and closing the house for the day at 80°. 
Maintain a night temperature of 65°, and 70° to 75° by artificial means 
in the daytime. The bottom heat should be kept Bteady at 85° at the 
base of the pots, or between 80° and 90°. Water only when absolutely 
necessary, then afford a thorough supply of weak liquid manure warmed 
to the temperature of the plunging bed. 4 The plants will only need 
syringing occasionally, and it should be effected arly in the afternoon 
of bright days, and not excessively. 
Fruiting Plants. —These must be brought together in a structure 
suitable for finishing the fruit well. When mixed with succession 
plants fruiters cannot be given the treatment essential to the proper 
development and perfecting of the fruit. Those on which the fruit is 
swelling require a liberal amount of heat and moisture, a night tempera¬ 
ture of 70° to 75°, and the heat in the daytime should range from 80° to 
90°, closing the house at 85° with sun heat, so as to insure a rise of 
temperature from that source. Avoid, however, a close and very moist 
atmosphere, as that accelerates the growth of the crowns, and they are 
usually quite large enough. Although due supplies of nourishment are 
needed for the proper swelling of the fruit, it must not be given to 
excess, or the fruit may when cut be found black in the centre. 
Peaches and Nectarines.— Earliest Forced Trees. —These have 
now shed their leaves, and will have some rest before being again 
started into growth. This is absolutely essential to a good start, the trees 
forced several years consecutively taking their rest at the proper time, 
and starting again at the usual period. Such trees are far less costly 
to force than those which have not been forced to ripen their fruit at 
an early period. It is, however, necessary that early forced trees be 
kept perfectly clean and the foliage healthy to the last. Trees that have 
had their leaves smothered by the webs of red spider and their juice 
abstracted are practically useless for affording a crop of fruit. The pests 
always infest forced Peach and Nectarine trees, but we have invariably 
found that the greatest immunity from their attacks was had by insti¬ 
tuting the best preventive measures, and eradicating as far as possible 
the causes of the infestations. Red spider hibernates in cracks and 
crannies of the trees and house, beneath clods and stones, anywhere and 
everywhere that affords a safe retreat. Aphides also live through the 
winter under favouring conditions, and where those are antagonistic they 
instinctively deposit eggs on the trees and on those parts near to where 
growths will be produced that are to form the necessary food for their 
progeny. Scale insects are much the same, all make provision for the 
perpetuation of their species. The business of the cultivator is to safe¬ 
guard the objects of his cultivation against fungoid and insect enemies 
by such preventive measures as are known to be effectual. Whether it 
be in the egg or developed state, no insect can endure the old and 
effectual thorough-cleanliness system. It consists in syringing the trees 
and house in every part with water at a temperature of 140°, This 
must be used carefully ; if too hot it will injure the trees, and if lower 
in temperature it is innocuous as regards the insects and their eggs. At 
the proper temperature it speedily destroys the insects and addles the 
eggs. In bad infestations tbe application should be repeated once or 
twice on different days. Then loosen the trees from the trellis, tie the 
branches in small bundles for facilitating cleansing operations,and wash 
the woodwork and ironwork with a brush, softsoap and hot water, 
reaching every angle and crevice. Limewash the walls, adding a hand¬ 
ful of sulphur to each pailful (three gallons) of hot limewash, and if 
required paint the wood and ironwork. Then prune the trees, this will 
be a light affair if the instructions given in this column from time to 
time have been intelligently followed, merely thinning the shoots where 
too crowded or too weak for carrying fine fruits. No shortening will be 
required, except on long shoots for the production of growth at the right 
place for extension. Wash the trees with a solution of softsoap, 4 ozs. 
to a gallon of water, reaching into every crack, hole, or crevice, taking 
particular care not to dislocate the buds, yet thoroughly wash every part 
of the trees. Tie the trees to the trellis, and remember that carefully 
trained evenly balanced trees are a pleasure to the eyes. Let the ties be 
such that the branches and shoots have sufficient room to swell. Avoid 
bruising or injuring the trees in any way, for such may result in gum. 
Remove the loose surface soil down to the roots, and supply a couple of 
inches of tresh loam, strong rather than light. Sprinkle a good hand¬ 
ful of the following mixture over each square yard of surface ; 
steamed bone meal, Thomas’s phosphate powder, and wood ashes from 
twigs only, all in equal parts by weight, mixed thoroughly. If wood 
ashes cannot be obtained (and those from large wood are not nearly so 
good as the others because they consist mainly of lime) substitute 
sulphate of potash for them. Leave it on the surface, the rains or 
waterings will wash the mixture in fast enough, and the soil will hold 
the elements until the trees push active feeders and are provided with 
leaves to assimilate them. Avoid heavy top-dressings, especially of 
crude manure, for they only induce exuberance in the trees and prevent 
air exercising its beneficent influence on the soil. If the lights have been 
removed keep them off until the borders are thoroughly moistened by 
the autumn rains ; indeed, they need not be replaced until the time 
arrives for starting the trees. To have fruit ripe with certainty at the 
end of April or early in May without hard forcing or prejudice to the 
health and bearing powers of the trees in consecutive years, they should 
be started early in December, even when the earliest varieties, such as 
Alexander and Waterloo Peaches, with Advance Nectarines, are grown, 
the house being closed a fortnight before applying fire heat, except to 
exclude frost, so that the trees are gradually excited, and respond to 
the artificial warmth promptly when it is applied about the middle of 
December. The varieties named may be forced so as to produce ripe 
fruit in about three calendar months, but we find it is better for the 
trees and the grower to allow a month or six weeks more time. If fruit 
is required very early and in the shortest time possible, it ought to be 
sought from pot rather than from planted-out trees. Pot trees intended 
for early forcing ought now to be procured ; those that have been grown 
under glass, have the wood thoroughly ripe, the buds well but not over¬ 
developed, and which have not been cropped, or only moderately, are the 
best. They should be top-dressed, be kept cool, but not dry at the roots, 
until the time arrives for starting them, or they may be plunged in ashes 
over the rims of the pots in a sheltered position outdoors. 
Second Early-forced Irees. —The introduction of the early varieties 
has made a difference of a month to six weeks in forcing Peaches and 
Nectarines in having ripe fruit by a given time. By growing the very 
early and usual forcing sorts together a succession of fruit may be had 
from the same house over a lengthened period. If the house is only 
large enough to accommodate three trees, say Alexander or Waterloo, 
Hale’s Early or Early Louise, Royal George or Stirling Castle (we prefer 
the last named in each case for certainty of crop and excedence of 
quality) and the forcing is commenced with the new year, a supply of 
fruit may be relied on from the close of April or early May to nearly 
midsummer, without unduly taxing the energies of the trees, or pre¬ 
judicing their cropping in the future. The trees will now be shedding 
the leaves, and the buds will not be over-matured if the roof lights were 
taken off by the middle of August, and such are not likely to cast the 
buds, whilst those subjected to hot and dry conditions will drop them in 
a shower later on. When the leaves are all down treat the house and 
trees the same in every respect as described for the earliest-forced. The 
roof lights should remain off until the approach of very severe weather, 
and when replaced admit air to the fullest extent, so as to insure com¬ 
plete rest to the trees. When the roof lights are left off until frost has 
come and snow has fallen, and the house is locked in ice and snow, it is 
difficult to replace them, therefore precautionary measures must be taken 
to prevent delay in starting on account of the weather. 
Succession Houses. —Trees that grow too luxuriantly should as soon 
as the wood is getting rather firm have a trench made one-third the 
distance from the stem that the trees cover in extent of trellis and 
quite down to the drainage, so as to detach all roots, and this may be 
left open a fortnight, then the soil may be removed with a fork down to 
the roots and picked from amongst them, laying in the roots in fresh 
material; good strong loam, with a sixth of old mortar rubbish inter¬ 
mixed, being best. Care must be taken that the trees do not suffer from 
want of water whilst the trench is open, but none need be given unless 
the foliage becomes limp. This proceeding should be followed by a 
good watering, and if care has been taken in removing the soil not to 
disturb the roots to an extent causing the collapse of the foliage, the 
roots will soon work freely in the new material and the fruits invariably 
set and stone well afterwards. The taking out of the trench is more 
especially necessary with young trees, the process being very effectual in 
counteracting their tendency to late growth and in assisting them to 
ripen the wood thoroughly. Root-pruning and lifting must be deferred 
until the leaves give indications of falling, but those operations are best 
performed as soon as the wood is sufficiently matured and whilst the 
leaves are upon the trees, yet not so early as to cause their collapse and 
leave the wood unripe and the buds not plumped. 
Late Houses. —These have been favoured upon Ihe whole, the bright 
weather being particularly suited to the late varieties, which, as a rule, 
are not the beat iu colour, though from their wonderful size and delicate 
appearance they are strikingly beautiful, and when the trees are given 
proper supplies of water and nourishment during growth the quality is 
excellent. The trees must still have sufficient water, though a drier 
condition at the roots is desirable when the fruit is ripening than when 
it is swelling, but if kept too dry the fruit becomes mealy. A free 
circulation of air is necessary, utilising sun heat if the fruit is backward, 
as with ventilation early in the day the temperature may run up to 85° 
or 90°, which is very much better than fire heat at a later period, 
increasing as it does the size and appearance of the fruit and enhancing 
its quality. Keep the wood thin, stop any growing shoots at about 
