258 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
5 September 20 1888. 
into an adjoining border or shrubbery of such questionable trees as 
Almonds, Cherries, and Plums. The blossoms are lovely, no doubt, 
but greater “ sinners ” in re-pect of gum it is not possible to find. 
They are forced into growth by the free root action of the stocks 
on which they are worked and the result is plethora, and con¬ 
comitantly most, if not all, the insect and fungi diseases to which 
trees cultivated for their fruit are liable. 
The stamping-out process needs carrying further. No stock 
should be used which is originated from stone, sucker, or layer of a 
diseased parent. That may be impracticable, but there is a differ¬ 
ence between propagation from a stock that exhibits traces of disease 
and an apparently healthy one. It is not sufficient to make sure, so 
far as careful selection can make it, of healthy trees for stocks, 
equal care must be exercised in the selection of buds and scions. 
G. Abbey. 
CTo be continued.) 
TOMATOES IN WINTER. 
Outdoor Tomatoes are particularly scarce this year, and all 
that are nearly ripe on the approach of frost will doubtless be 
gathered and suspended in warm houses. That fruits cut in a green 
state and ripened in heat are scarcely so good as those left on the 
plants till nearly or quite ripe I readily admit, and in any case it is 
advisable, where possible, to grow a few plants for fruiting during 
the winter and till more are raised and fruited'next spring. Those 
who, like myself, anticipated a failure in the open, will have, it is 
hoped, taken more care of any plants they may have under cover, 
and also forwarded more in pots ready for placing under glass in 
close succession to exhausted Melons and Cucumbers. We had a 
few late-raised seedlings which, about the middle of July, were 
shifted into 13-inch pots and set in a sunny position. Early in 
August, half of a Cucumber house was cleared and the Tomatoes 
introduced. The growths were thinly trained over the roof and 
all side shoots kept rubbed out. At the present time several fine 
clusters of fruit are set on each plant, and, all going well, plenty of 
good fruit will be cut from them throughout the winter. 
Tomatoes, in common with winter Cucumbers, are all the better 
for having a good and early start, and rather than have to commence 
now with young plants newly struck, or seedlings, I would much 
perfer to put new life into a few old plants in pots. These may be 
freely cut back, this inducing the formation of numerous strong 
young growths, which soon arrive at a bearing state. A shift into 
fresh pots is not necessary nor advisable, but much of the old 
surface soil may be picked away from the roots, and good turfy 
loam, with old Mushroom-bed manure in equal quantities, and a 
liberal addition of superphosphate of lime, added. If the start has 
to be made with either cuttings struck in gentle heat or seedlings, 
they may first be potted off in pairs in 6-inch or rather larger pots, 
and from these, before they are drawn or root-bound, shifted into 
12-inch or rather larger pots. A moderately good loamy compost, 
or say a mixture of two parts turfy loam to one of either leaf soil 
or old horse-droppings, best suits them, and they ought to be potted 
rather firmly, a good space being allowed for a top-dressing later on. 
In whatever manner the plants are prepared, or whether old or 
young plants, it is unwise to plant them in a rich mound of soil, 
as much heavier crops are obtained from plants in pots set on a 
bed of fairly rich soil. Either old Melon or Cucumber beds are 
capital sites for Tomatoes in pots, the latter being set nearly on 
the surface, or only just deep enough to bury any side drainage 
holes there may be. The roots soon take possession of the food 
supply in the bed, while the pots act as a check to rank unfruitful 
growth. Any without this available rich root-run will require 
much more liberal treatment in the way of top-dressings, plenty of 
water and liquid manure, and if well attended to in this respect 
Will produce remunerative crops. 
It is not from want of good attention, however, that many fail 
with winter Tomatoes, but rather from being over-zealous. They 
either give too much heat or too much manure, or perhaps the two 
together, the result being very rank or very abundant growth, accom¬ 
panied with few or no fruits. Near to the glass the plants ought 
always to be grown, and thinly, and on no account should much 
manure be given at the outset. First get a good crop set, and then 
feed away to your heart’s content is my advice and that of other 
experienced men. There is no real necessity 7 to confine a plant to a 
single stem, especially when the roots have access to a bed of soil 
and manure underneath. On the contrary, several branches may 
be laid in provided each has good space and is kept free of all side 
shoots. These main branches ought "to be trained fully 12 inches 
apart, and supposing the plants are set near the centre of a long 
low roof, as in our case, the shoots may be taken both up and 
down from the same plants. When it is desired to grow 
Bouvardias, Poinsettias, forced bulbs, fine-foliaged plants, Ferns,, 
or other plants under the Tomatoes, the main branches of th& 
latter ought to be trained not less than 18 inches apart, and if rank 
foliage is formed this also should be slightly reduced in size, or 
everything underneath will be unduly shaded. In any case all 
superfluous growth should be removed as fast as it forms, but it is- 
unwise to stop the leading growths while there is roof space that 
may be covered. ' 
Many persons succeed in covering their roofs with fine healthy 
plants, every detail but one being well understood. Where they" 
err is in maintaining a higher temperature than is needed or suitable 
for Tomatoes. Stewed up in a house more suited as far as tem¬ 
peratures are concerned to Pine Apples, the trusses of flowers are 
certain to be weakly and devoid of pollen, and a good set is an 
impossibility. The other extreme, or a greenhouse temperature, is 
also to be avoided. We find a fairly well heated house is needed,, 
much the same amount of fire heat being given as ordinary stove 
plants are supposed to require. This, however, must be accom¬ 
panied with air, little or much according to the external tempera¬ 
tures, some being left on all night in mild weather. This favours the 
production of strong flowers, and which if smartly tapped towards 
mid-day, or even syringed, rarely fail to set. At the present time not 
less than 9 inches of top ventilation is left on the Tomato house every 
night, but less will be given in colder weather or when we wish 
to forward the fruit more rapidly. I am no great stickler for very 
regular or even temperatures either by night or by day in the fruit 
houses generally, but always prefer to let them drop somewhat 
rather than heat the pipes excessively. I hold that the tempera¬ 
tures for Tomatoes may safely range from 45° to 60° by night with 
an increase in the daytime of from 5° to 10°. A house kept at these 
figures does not need to be damped down often, nor the plants- 
syringed in order to keep down red spider. If the most trouble¬ 
some pest, a small white fly known as aleyrodes, is prevalent,, 
nothing but frequent and gentle fumigations will rid the plants of 
it. When fumigating care must be taken not to use too much hot 
coal or coke in starting the smoke, and on no account should it be 
allowed to burn strongly, or all the flowers expanded and perhap3 
some of the buds will be crippled. 
I have tried a considerable number of varieties for winter cul¬ 
ture, but found none to set so well as the old Red and Dwarf 
Orangefield. Other corrugated or ribbed varieties generally set 
more regularly than the smooth round-fruited Tomatoes, but if 
good plants of any of the latter are available I would unhesitatingly 
start with them rather than wait longer for the more sure setters. 
Hackwood Park, Carter’s or Sutton’s Perfection, Dedham Favourite,. 
Webb’s Sensation, Hathaway’s Excelsior, or any other favourite 
variety can be made to produce good crops of fruit, these being of 
excellent quality and certainly more handsome in appearance than, 
the ribbed varieties. The smaller Plum-shaped varieties, though 
good croppers, are not nearly so profitable or so good in quality as- 
the varieties I have named.—W. Iggulden. 
AN EXPERIMENT WITH EUCHARIS 
GRANDIFLORA. 
I HAVE a good number of rather fine plants of this favourite 
flower, and when I took charge of these gardens last spring twelve- 
month I found the plants all in good health, and had apparently 
been well cared for by my predecessor. I, however, was told by 
my employer that six of the largest plants, purchased at an auction 
sale some - years before, had failed to flower even once since they 
had been in his possession, though the other younger plants flowered 
fairly well. Of course, being a “ new comer,” I was asked the 
reason of the failure, and could only suggest a cause at that time. 
Some gardeners to whom he had shown them pronounced them 
a bad sort, as if there were worthless examples of this Eucharis in 
cultivation, a circumstance I had not before heard of. However, I 
found that the usual treatment failed to induce these six plants to 
flower, and therefore decided on the following experiment. 
The plants were shifted from the stove to the temperature of an 
intermediate house, and in a fortnight to that of the greenhouse 
for a like period, then finally placed outdoors under the shade of 
some standard Apple trees. An hour or two’s sun reached them both 
in the morning and afternoon. There they remained for two 
months, or till the end of August. The pots stood upon boards 
laid on coal ashes, so that the little water they had could freely 
pass away, and beyond the leaves losing some of their dark green 
colour I could not perceive any injury arising from this somewhat 
severe treatment ; but certainly the plants did not grow, although 
the weather was warm and dry. In the meantime I had been pre¬ 
paring a house for winter Cucumbers, in which was a bed of 
