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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 1», 1994. 
FRUIT TREES AND LIQUID MANURE. 
The leading article on “ Stunted Fruit Trees,” by “ Experientia 
Docet,” in the Journal of Horticulture of April 12th, is worthy of 
careful study by all gardeners, and no doubt many readers will preserve 
it for future reference. Your correspondent’s remarks anent the 
watering of fruit trees at this time of the year will at once commend 
themselves to every unbiased mind, for many others, like myself, are 
convinced by practical experience of the wisdom of such advice, and 
also that many valuable crops of fruit, both under glass and outdoors, 
are annually lost by the omission of this simple but very important 
matter. 
A few years ago, while serving as a journeyman under a good 
FIG. 49.—IRIS HELENA. 
“ chief ” in a private garden, where Peaches, Nectarines, and Cherries 
were extensively grown both inside and out, I well remember that, 
although the trees were judiciously attended to after the fruit had been 
gathered in the spring, just prior to the trees coming into bloom they 
were carefully examined, and any showing signs of an enfeebled 
condition were treated with a good soaking ol weak liquid manure, 
which always resulted in a good set of fruit. At the same time, 1 do not 
consider it would be wise to indiscriminately treat every tree in this 
way. Each requires its own special line of treatment, which must be 
left entirely to the gardener’s judgment. No rule-of-thumb gardening 
here, if you please ; but rather an extra use of brains. 
If anyone will take the trouble to carefully examine the sexual 
organs, say of the blossoms of a Peach tree that has been seriously 
enfeebled by overcropping or drought during the former season, they 
will find that in most instances those organs are very weak and small, 
and cannot therefore properly perform the work Nature intended them 
to do. The pistil will, in the majority of cases, extend but a very little 
way beyond the ovary, hence the difficulty of proper fertilisation and 
the ultimate iwholesale dropping of the embryo fruit. > In such a case 
the judicious application of liquid manure would undoubtedly help 
the tree to regain some of its former vigour and strengthen the sexual 
organs. 
Some four or five years ago a friend of mine, a smith by trade, 
sought my advice respecting a Pear tree growing in his garden that 
“blossomed like a sheet,” as he termed it, every spring, but never 
produced a fruit. The cause of failure was undoubtedly on account 
of the tree carrying too much blossom, thereby becoming completely 
exhausted. I prescribed plenty of liquid manure for the remainder of 
the season. My directions were not carried out exactly in the way I had 
intended, but the following season the owner of the tree called my 
attention to a splendid crop of fruit. Instead of feeding the tree with 
liquid manure, he had cleared all the rubbish out of his workshop, which 
included scraps of iron, horse droppings, and hoof parings, and tipped 
the whole around and about the stem and roots of the tree, for as he 
said, “ It was too much trouble to give liquid, so I made a rubbish heap 
there instead,” and Nature did not fail to avail herself of it. 
Depend upon it, trees furnished with a moderate amount of blossom, 
which will naturally be stronger, are the ones to tell a pleasant tale 
later on ; hence the advisability of a judicious thinning of the bloom on 
all overladen trees, which will prove a great help at such a critical 
period. Nature demands for every tree its own peculiar conditions for 
a favourable development, and if we would be her “assistants,” she 
demands of us not only keen observation, but intelligent judgment.— 
Hedley Warren. 
The note by Mr. Duncan (page 286) is opportune. I am positive 
that many fruit trees growing against walls suffer for the reason 
there indicated. In light sandy soil especially the moisture is quickly 
absorbed to the detriment of the trees. When the roots do not obtain 
enough moisture they cannot be expected to store sufficient nutriment 
for the perfection of foliage and fruit together. Brick walls absorb 
much more moisture from the soil than many persons seem to realise. 
Apricots, especially, have suffered in the past from a lack of moisture at 
the roots. Peach and Nectarine trees are often regarded as being un¬ 
suitable for a particular locality, when, if the truth could be ascertained, 
the real fault lays at the roots. 
It is difficult to provide fruit trees with too much root moisture in 
any soil but that which has a subsoil of clay. Where the subsoil is 
closely allied to the latter ingredient it is, however, often freely mixed 
with flint or other stones, rendering it porous and consequently able to 
absorb more water than is generally supposed. It may yet be rather 
early to commence watering where the ground is heavy and retentive 
of moisture, but all the same, it would be well to make a close examina¬ 
tion of the soil. If found dry on the surface only a light watering 
would suffice, followed by a mulching of half-decayed stable manure with 
a view of maintaining the surface roots in this position by keeping them 
cool and moist. If the opposite is the case they will go downwards in 
search of moisture.—E. M. 
IRIS HELENA. 
This is a charming Iris of the Oncocyclus group, and a flower of 
it exhibited by Mr. H. J. Elwes, Colesbourne, at a meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, on the 10th inst., attracted some attention. It is 
said to have been introduced from the desert between Egypt and Pales¬ 
tine. As depicted in the illustration (fig. 49) the flower is compara¬ 
tively large and of a striking colour. The standards are broad and 
erect, of a purplish hue, while the falls, although rather smaller, are 
none the less conspicuous, these being a rich velvety purple, passing to 
nearly black in the centre. A first-class certificate was awarded Mr, 
Elwes for the species, and the engraving has been prepared from the 
flower exhibited on the above mentioned occasion. 
CULTURE OF THE VIOLET. 
Having for some years been an extensive grower of these favourite 
flowers, and with a fair amount of success, I have several times been 
asked for details of my treatment. I will, therefore, endeavour to give 
them for the benefit of others who may not have been so successful. 
My first experience dates back some twenty-three years, when in a large 
garden near London I had a number of frames containing Neapolitan 
Violets to look after. At that place they were given some bottom 
heat to assist them. We had what were considered good Violets then, 
but not such as we expect to grow now without the bottom heat. I saw 
that mode at one other place, but I think it has quite died out, at least 
I trust so, as it is possible to have fine blooms without that extra labour. 
I consider the month of April the best time to make a start with 
them. Procure some good healthy plants, divide them into single 
crowns, choosing the strongest, plant out on a well prepared border that 
is partially shaded ; it should have been well dug, but not given any rank 
manure. Some old spent Mushroom bed I usually mix in, with a little 
burnt refuse. If possible choose showery weather, and plant 9 inches 
apart each way. Should the weather be dry the plants must be watered 
every evening with a rose can until they are established and throughout 
the summer occasionally, also stirring the soil among them. Give 
constant attention in removing all runners and flowers. 
By the end of September they will have made strong, healthy plants 
