December G, 1SSS. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
509 
I> e converted into other than wood buds ; and by cutting off the 
summer shoots we increase their sterility, because we' concentrate 
the already superabundant sap upon fewer buds, thus causing 
them to break into gross shoots which are not wanted, and which 
would be little good if they were, for unless carefully handled it 
would take years to clothe such shoots with fruit spurs. 
The cultivator must aim at equal balance between root and 
branch ; in other words, when it is seen that a tree is producing 
wood at the expense of fruit buds, it is a sign there are too many 
strong roots ; therefore, instead of annually cutting off a quantity of 
shoots, the tree should be carefully lifted, and the strong roots well 
cut back. Careful root-pruning will be found to cure the most 
obstinate cases of sterility, provided it arises from an undue supply 
of sap ; but, of course, it will have no control over climatic con¬ 
ditions of an unfavourable nature, such as late spring frosts, 
unsuitable localities, or shady positions, only in so far as it enables 
'the trees to form more perfect flower buds. 
It requires care and forethought in dealing with old established 
trees, as, if they have not been lifted for a number of years, there 
will be comparatively few fibrous roots, hence one half should be 
pruned one year, and the other half the next, otherwise too great a 
check may be given. The fact, however, of a tree being old, or of 
its not been lifted for a number of years, need not deter anyone 
from root-pruning, for if it be clean and healthy it is certain to 
Tespond and reward the cultivator. 
Perfect fruit buds and first class fruit can only be formed from 
the most highly elaborated sap, hence the importance not only of 
the roots working in a congenial medium, but of the trees being 
planted far enough apart, and their branches thinly disposed, so 
that the sun’s rays may reach every leaf. The best results are 
obtained from beginning with young trees. If these are lifted 
•every two, three, or more years, always being guided by the amount 
and quality of growth the trees make, they will soon become a 
perfect mat of fibrous roots. Such trees may be lifted without 
any risk early in the autumn, just as the leaves begin to change 
-colour, with every confidence of their ripening a full crop the 
following summer—other conditions being favourable. Should the 
•soil be unduly dry, the trees must be well watered after being 
replanted, especially if it be done in dry weather, otherwise the 
wood may shrivel and the fruit buds be imperfectly formed. In 
exceptionally dry weather it is sometimes necessary to give the 
trees a good watering three or four days previous to lifting, so as 
to prevent too much soil falling away from the roots. An ecca- 
•sional soaking of water during the following summer and a thick 
mulching of littery manure will also be very beneficial.—J. H. W. 
NOTES ON LILY CULTURE. 
Any information calculated to assist those interested in the 
cultivation of Lilies will be always welcome, and I have read with 
interest the notes by Dr. Wallace at page 462, though it does not 
altogether agree with my experience. In the note in question re¬ 
ference is made to L. auratum as a moisture-loving Lily. This is 
hardly the natural wild condition of this Lily, though this matters 
little if it be found to answer under cultivation. By far the finest 
plants of L. auratum I have seen were the occupants of Rhododen¬ 
dron beds, where, while enjoying the shade about the base, which I 
have always regarded as necessary, could not receive much in the 
way of moisture unless special artificial modes of applying it were 
resorted to, or the season exceptionally wet, simply because the 
Rhododendrons with their mass of small fibrous roots would soon 
absorb all, particularly in hot and dry seasons. What I had 
hitherto regarded as “ sunstroke ” in years past has been almost as 
common with this particular species during the past almost sunless 
summer of 1888. Surely if moisture was needed we have had it to 
the full this season, but my experience in Middlesex is very much 
opposed to a repetition of such a rainfall. The flowers have been 
destroyed largely. L. auratum, L. platyphyllum, L. longiflorum 
varieties, and L. speciosum have in this respect suffered alike, while 
I do not see any appreciable difference in the bulbs, which are very 
good. L. Humboldti, the bulbs of which were quite flabby and 
shrivelled when the importation came to hand, has done splendidly, 
far exceeding anything I had expected. 
Nearly twelve years ago when at Sydenham Hill we experi¬ 
mented with Lilies in various positions, more particularly auratum 
and speciosum vars. The former were planted, some among the 
Rhododendrons, which occupied steep banks of a greasy clay—-the 
output from the Penge tunnel—which was beneath us. In this the 
Lilies and Rhododendrons did well. Others were in peaty beds 
well shaded from the hottest sun by some fine Beech trees. On 
single stems of L. auratum I have counted upwards of 100 flowers 
and buds. Others were in semi-wild places in the wood, and others 
still were planted in a bed continually moist though well drained. 
Those in the moist beds flowered fairly well the first year, but 
nearly all the bulbs perished ; sufficient proof as we regarded it 
that moisture was no good to L. auratum, especially when com¬ 
pared with the others that flowered so well in the drier positions 
above stated. 
What puzzles me most respecting L. auratum is that so many 
imported bulbs make no basal roots at all, and the majority which 
do not form these roots must perish as the result, for no new bulb 
can be formed, hence only a shell is left behind. I fully believe in 
a cool shady rooting medium, and also planting at fair depth, but I 
have never planted more than a foot deep. As far as my expe¬ 
rience goes, deep planting appears to encourage the growth of stem 
roots, and in some Lilies the stem bulbs also, apropos of which I 
may remark that I have purposely buried fresh growths of L. longi¬ 
florum eximium which had made 15 or 18 inches of new growth in 
transit from Japan, and when lifted, these had formed bulbs along 
the whole of the buried portion of the stem, and to just beneath 
the surface, as though they were only 6 inches deep. 
This sudden collapse, be the cause what it may, seems chiefly to 
affect L auratum, while the varieties platyphyllum, virginale, and 
rubro vittatum, invariably make good basal roots and fine new bulb 
growth. Especially is this so with platyphyllum, which has a far 
better constitution than the type, and does better under precisely 
similar conditions side by side. To call this collapse “ sunstroke,” 
is, I consider, a misnomer, seeing it has been quite as common 
this year as last, and that it comes far too gradually ; indeed it 
has occurred to plants in pots in the greenhouse this summer, 
where sunstroke would be quite outside the question. The first 
symptoms of the collapse are in the leaves turning yellow, also the 
buds slightly so. These presently fall with the leaves, then the 
stem blackens ; but if anyone examines the bulbs as soon as the 
leaves begin to turn, he will find little but decayed matter, and 
that there had been no basal root action at all. The development 
of the stem, leaves, and buds up to the given stage has been sup¬ 
ported wholly by stem roots. In the case of healthy bulbs, when 
the main or basal roots exist in plenty, these stem roots materially 
assist in maturing the blooms, and thereby lessens the functions 
of the main roots, consequently these latter concentrate greater 
force in the building up of the new bulb for the next season’s 
flowering. 
Dr. Wallace, in paragragh 3, has evidently abundant expe¬ 
rience of L. auratum decaying, but he appears to attribute it to an 
unsuitable soil, and recommends deep planting with abundant 
moisture. For sound healthy bulbs I quite agree with the advice 
tendered, but what of imported'L. auratum in a heavy water¬ 
logged soil ? Does Dr. Wallace find that a greater per-centage of 
these form basal roots under these latter conditions than under the 
usually accepted method ? Latterly, seeing that year by year more 
imported L. auratum failed than all the other Japan Lilies together, 
in which I include L. platyphyllum, L. eximium, and L. speciosum, 
I had wondered whether the damage was not done during transit—■ 
that is, during the time they are sealed up these deadly germs are 
at work ; at any rate the wreckage is complete when they are 
unpacked in many cases, and in others occurs after planting. It 
may be that L. auratum is less able to endure the voyage than the 
others named, and among which failures after planting are red Teed 
to a minimum.—E. J. 
THE FILBERT AND COB NUTS. 
With the exception of the Grape Vine there is no fruit tree 
with which I am acquainted so much indebted to pruning for 
rendering it fruitful as the Filbert. I believe that I do not 
exaggerate when I state that the severity with which this tree is 
cut in exceeds even that by which the best Grapes are generally 
obtained. Such severe mutilation would very quickly cause disease 
and death in a tree less robust and less tenacious of life ; but the 
Filbert endures all for many years, and rarely succumbs, some 
plantations being quite fifty yearn old, although other reasons often 
afford a cause for removing them before that time. Filberts are 
often met with as a sort of undergrowth to fruit trees of larger 
dimensions, as standard Apple, Pear, Plum, or Cherry trees ; but 
they are also frequently allowed a plot to themselves, and certainly, 
where the soil and other circumstances favour their growth, they 
well deserve a place where they will not be interfered with by 
other trees 
I believe it is generally admitted that the Filbert and Cob Nuts 
are importations from the Peninsula or some other district in 
central or southern Europe, and not a native improvement on the 
wild Hazel Nut of our copses and woods effected by long and per¬ 
severing cultivation, as the Apple and Plum may have been. The 
economical value of the latter fruits being greater than that of the 
Nut, the desire to effect improvements was, no doubt, more earnest 
