124 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
February 7, 1895. 
to a rival thinki hia own the more meritorious, I have always found 
judges most willing to review their own decisions, but with a very bad 
grace would they undertake to review the awards of others, because they 
were not looking through the same spectacles. 
I do not see how “ C. K.’s” proposal of “appeal judges’’ would 
work. I will appeal to his own sensibility, and ask him if he would 
cheerfully undertake to judge a Pansy show, knowing that his near 
neighbour was sitting in a room anxiously waiting until “ C. K.” had 
finished, then to sally forth and perhaps reverse some of his decisions. 
Whose decision, then, would be the correct one, seeing that the appeal 
judges are as qualified as he is himself? Let “ C. K.” answer.— 
G. McD. 
YIOLA NOTES. 
As an ardent admirer of the Viola I have read with interest the 
notes from your able correspondent, Mr. W. Dean (page 98). The 
history of our favourite flowers is always a point lost, more or less, to 
every new or young cultivator of the flower, unless, as in this case, an 
old fancier steps into the breach and supplies the need. I have from 
time to time collected from various sources scraps of Viola history, but 
I was quite unaware that Mr. Jas. Grieve had experimented in Viola 
crossing on the same lines as Dr. Stuart; thus it is a case of “ honour 
where honour is due,” at the same time it does not detract from the 
doctor’s work. 
Looking through the list of varieties as given on page 98, it is sur¬ 
prising to notice how few of them are generally grown at the present day. 
Tory, Snowflake, Blue Bell, True Blue, and Golden Queen of Spring 
appear to be all the old varieties noted that have any claim to popular 
favour now, though some of the others are met with occasionally. I 
wish all raisers of Violas would accept the necessary properties as laid 
down by Mr. Grieve in 1880, and I heartily agree with Mr. Dean on this 
point, but what do we find ? Simply this. We are now getting all 
kinds of rubbish year after year ; the only sine qua non followed by 
introducers is “ Something that will sell,” no matter what its value as a 
bedding plant may be, or in fact any other of its essential characters. 
I hold it be a very important point that every new Viola should 
possess the dwarf dense habit of growth so desirable for bedding pur¬ 
poses, but I can recall, only last season, a case where a prominent 
exhibitor had one of the new varieties staked as though it were a Car¬ 
nation. Surely such as these do not come up to our ideal of a Viola. 
The second point in Mr. Grieve’s standard is also being lost sight of— 
viz., “ That they bloom freely and continuously during the spring and 
summer, or summer and autumn.” I am sure any Viola grower who 
has a modern collection can point out many varieties which do nothing 
of the kind. They may produce a few flowers which are very attrac¬ 
tive on the exhibition boards but are utterly worthless for other 
purposes. 
I am quite willing to acknowledge that the majority of our new 
varieties do possess the necessary stout texture in petal, because if 
lacking in this particular point exhibitors would not recognise them, 
knowing full well if put on the show stand they would collapse before 
the judges examined them. The Fancy, or parti-coloured flowers, are 
certainly the most popular for exhibition purposes, and I do not wish to 
decry their merits in the garden, for many of them are particularly 
beautiful ; they may not be so useful for massing as the self colours. 
Duchess of Fife, White Duchess, and Goldfinch, are excellent examples 
of this type, and worthy of a place in every collection. Their growth 
is also admirably adapted for carpeting the ground, if the flowers, 
instead of looking downwards would turn their faces upwards, they 
would form an almost ideal type. Then, again, we have a parti-coloured 
type of a different habit in Skylark, Blue Cloud, Acushla, and Laverock 
that are always the first to produce their flowers in the spring, which 
they do to perfection. Later in the season they do not maintain their 
“ belting ” very well, and this fact alone makes them so unpopular with 
the modern exhibitor. 
The Violetta type, about which we have heard so much lately, is 
essentially one for the flower gardener, as it is not adapted for exhi¬ 
bition purposes unless classes are formed for it, and even then it is not 
striking. Its place is certainly in the garden, and its failing there is 
it blooms very late. If raisers of this new section will turn their atten¬ 
tion to creating an early flowering class of the type, they will be 
conferring a benefit on all lovers of this flower.— Jas. B. Riding, 
Cliingford. 
HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 
Pruning Peaches, ITectarlnes, and Apricots. —As the buds 
will be swelling shortly, the requisite attention necessary at this season 
must be given to wall trees, so that the work may be completed before 
they are advancing rapidly into bloom. As a rule it is advantageous to 
defer the training, if not the pruning, until the middle of February or 
even a little later, because the branches and shoots, being away from the 
influence of a warm wall, the buds are retarded. This is the object of 
loosening the branches from the walls in the winter. The practice also 
fully tends to ripen the wood, and it is necessary when the trees require 
extra overhauling, together with a general regulation of all the principal 
branches. 
Pruning. —When due attention is given to all the details of manage¬ 
ment occurring in their various seasons, the amount of pruning required 
at any one time is not large. Neglected trees, however, will need 
considerable manipulation, first in removing any crowded main 
branches, the proper disposal of the subsidiary branches, and then the 
thinning out of the bearing wood. Severe pruning is an evil with most 
stone fruit trees, as it interferes with the balancing power of growth; 
but overcrowding must be avoided, or the crops will be influenced 
unfavourably. With such trees the main object should be to obtain a 
fair amount of vigorous, yet not too luxuriant, wood, discarding the old 
as much as possible, and with due attention to providing successional 
growths from the base of each fruit-bearing shoot, as well as in other 
suitable parts, if necessary, to furnish bare places, the trees will be 
renovated gradually. Trees pruned in the autumn to the extent of 
having all the old bearing wood cut out will need but little now. Thin 
out the future bearing wood, leaving the shoots so that they can be laid 
in 4 to 6 inches apart. The unripe points may in most cases be 
shortened to triple buds, in order that wood growth can be continued to 
attract sap to the fruit. Shortening to a point where a wood bud exists 
is important, and if a triple bud is not selected prune to a single 
wood bud. 
Character of Buds. — The difference between wood and blossom 
buds is easily seen, the former being thin and pointed, the latter plump 
and round. Shoots vary in the number of particular buds they carry; 
some may contain nothing but blossom buds, the end bud or terminal, 
however, will be a wood bud. Such shoots ought not to be shortened 
at all. Others may have nothing but wood buds ; these, of course, are 
useless to retain for fruiting, and being usually weak may be cut back 
to basal buds, providing a number of shoots for furnishing are not 
wanted near that point. On other shoots the buds vary greatly, triple 
buds predominating on some, a wood bud and. two blossom buds. Double 
buds may also be present, both sometimes being bloom buds, at others 
one of each ; while frequently a wood or blossom bud occurs singly. 
Invariably the best shoots are those that have a wood bud adjoining 
the blossom bud or buds. All shoots contain growth buds at the base, 
from which successional shoots are secured each season. 
Lateral Shoots. — Some vigorous trees have growths that during 
the previous growing season formed laterals. These ought to be checked 
by pinching to the first joint, and afterwards to one leaf, shortening at 
the winter pruning to the buds at the base, which by pinching the 
growths have become plump. Shorten the point of the main shoot to a 
ripe portion where there is a wood bud. Those shoots with laterals are 
not quite so desirable as clear young wood, and generally indicate that 
a little curtailment of strong roots would be beneficial. 
Spur Growths. — Fan-shaped unrestricted trees are not freely 
furnished with spurs, either natural or artificial, except in the case of 
Apricots, which produce spurs readily, as well as long annual shoots. 
Natural spurs are those short clustering growths borne on the branches 
without any inducement by pruning. Artificial spurs are formed by 
shortening surplus growths in the summer, and cutting them back in 
the winter. A fair number of each may be admitted, or the trees may 
be kept wholly to producing fruit on young annual wood. 
Cleaning the Trees. — After pruning, and before training-in the 
branches, a fresh and effective dressing should be applied carefully to 
every part of the trees, in order to destroy mildew, insects, or blight. 
Any of the advertised insecticides are good, also a solution consisting of 
4 ozs. of softsoap to the gallon of water ; to this, form into a paste and 
mix in 1 oz. of sulphur. Apply with a brush to the trank, branches, 
and shoots, working the brush upwards from the base of the latter, so 
that the buds are not injured. The solution may be thickened like 
paint by adding enough soot and clay. It is well to cleanse the walls 
by brushing or syringing with the solution or very hot water, filling-in 
all old nail holes, crevices, and bad joints with mortar. 
Training. —Dispose the main shoots over the wall as equally as 
possible, using strong shreds and stout nails ; follow with the subsidiary 
branches, and finally the young wood. Use no more ties or shreds than 
are necessary, and train as straight as practicable. 
Top-dressing. —The top layer of soil immediately over the roots is 
usually poor and inert material. If this is removed down to the roots, 
fresh material—consisting of loam, wood ashes, and a little partly 
decayed manure, adding to every bushel about 1 lb. of chemical manure 
—may be advantageously applied. Make the addition fairly firm, and 
roots will soon lay hold of it. 
FRUIT FORCING, 
Pines. — Fruiting Plants. —The plants placed in heat at the New 
Year are showing fruit, and should have a mean temperature of 70°, 
varying 5° according to the weather, admitting air at 80° with sunshine, 
but do not lower the temperature, nor allow a current of cold air to act 
directly on the plants. Allow the heat to rise to 85°, close between that 
and 80°, and if it rises somewhat after closing that will be advantageous 
rather than otherwise. The plants now pushing fruit will, if in good 
condition at the roots, produce strong suckers. When these are 
large enough to handle, all except one to each plant must be removed or 
have the growth checked by screwing out the centre. 
Supplementary Plants. —To supplement the autumn-potted plants 
