April 22, 1836. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
321 
to render it presentable. It is remarkable that this species is almost 
unique in point of usefulness and colour, E. splendens being the only 
near approach, and that not to be compared with the first-named. There 
are many other species included in the genus, several of which are true 
herbaceous perennials, as E. pilosa and E. characias, while E. myrsinites 
is alpine in character and of prostrate habit.—J. H. E. 
ROSE SHOW FIXTURES, 1886. 
Fob the guidance of those Societies which have not as yet fixed the 
dates of their exhibitions I append the following list of Rose Shows 
arranged to be held during the coming season by the National Rose 
Society and Societies affiliated with it. 
Bagshot and Windlesham Rose Society, at Bag6hot, Tuesday, 
June 29th. 
Diss Horticultural Society, at Diss, Tuesday, June 29th. 
Croydon Horticultural Society, at Croydon, Wednesday, June 30th. 
Farniagham Rose and Horticultural Society, at Farningham, Wednes¬ 
day, June 30th. 
Canterbury and Kent Rose Society, at Canterbury, Thursday, July 1st. 
Reigate Rose Association, at Reigate, Thursday, July let. 
Tunbridge Wells Horticultural Society, at Tunbridge Wells, Friday, 
J uly 2nd. 
Eltham Rose and Horticultural Society, at Eltham, Saturday, July 3rd. 
National Rose Society, at South Kensington, Tuesday, July 6th. 
Cardiff Rose Society, at Cardiff, Wednesday, July 7th. 
Ealing, Acton, and Hanwell Horticultural Society, at Ealing, Wed¬ 
nesday, July 7th. 
Sutton Amateur Rose Society, at Sutton, Wednesday, July 7th. 
Bath Floral Fete and Band Committee, at Bath, Thursday, July 8th. 
Hereford and West of England Rose Society, at Hereford, Thursday, 
July 8th. 
Crystal Palace Rose Show, Saturday, July 3rd. 
—Edwd. Mawlet, Rosebanh, Berkhdmpstead. 
Now is the critical time when blossom and foliage, especially of 
Peaches and Nectarines, must have our best care to protect it from cold. 
One of the best screens for wall trees we have seen this spring was a pair 
of curtains of thin sacking material, with brass rings running along an 
iron rod fastened to wooden blocks let into the top of the wall. Each 
curtain covered a little more space than half the tree, so that when 
drawn they overlapped, and they were then tied at the bottom to a 
wooden bar, to prevent them from being blown against the blossom. 
This was in the garden of an amateur who has only three Peach trees, 
which, owing to careful protection and skilful culture, never fail to afford 
full crops of fine fruit. Do not forget that the young foliage of Peaches 
and Nectarines suffers as much or more than the blossom from exposure 
to cold, cutting north-east winds, and if you allow the foliage to become 
seriously blistered, the growth is checked, the leaves fall prematurely, 
and it is impossible then that there can be a full healthy development of 
branch growth till midsummer. We cannot have fine fruit from weak 
immature wood growth, and when we protect the blossom we not only save 
the fruit crop of the current year, but we also do something for the crop 
of another season. The development of a crop of fruit is not the work of 
a season—of spring and summer—but of the whole year, and care or 
negligence, even in winter, and still more so in spring, leave an impress 
upon the trees which is visible the year round. If a gardener has proper 
means at his disposal for the culture of the trees under his care, he ought 
not to have any sickly or weak growth among his Peaches and Nec¬ 
tarines. We may go further, and declare positively that, under ordinary 
circumstances, he ought always to have a supply of Peaches from about 
the end of July till about the end of September. 
This sweeping assertion is not made lightly, and is really the teaching 
of mature experience. Only a day or two before writing this note we 
saw a considerable number of Peaches and Nectarines in a large garden, 
to which protection had been given for the sake of the scanty blossom 
borne on a thin attenuated branch growth quite pitiful to behold. There 
clearly before our eyes was the impress of negligence or ignorance, for 
the whole of the trees should have been headed back near to the base of 
all the main branches in winter, no really robust fruiting wood being 
visible upon any of them. The necessity for such drastic treatment is 
an outcome of mismanagement; all Peach and Nectarine trees show 
signs of exhaustion sooner or later; the tissue of the branches hardens, 
the sap action becomes slower and slower, the annual branch growth 
shows a falling off in vigour. Head back 6uch trees, renovate the soil, 
and you have growth of such extraordinary vigour that in a couple of 
years the wall space allotted to the tree is again clothed with healthy, 
vigorous, fruitful wood. This heading back is, under good management, 
so done that there is no serious deficiency in the annual supply of fruit, 
timely attention to the requirements of the trees enabling one to take one 
or more trees year by year, for what may be termed hard pruning. We 
must take a high standard of excellence in our practice, and never rest 
satisfied with anything short of it. 
The fruiting wood of a healthy Peach tree in full vigour is the size of 
an ordinary lead-pencil, and well set with triple buds. When there is a 
falling off in the size of the fruiting wood, fruit buds are frequently even 
more numerous, but they come singly, and there are often very few wood 
buds. This hint from exhausted nature is plain and unmistakeable, and 
there must be no hesitation in acting upon it with promptitude and 
energy. 
Repeatedly have we called attention to the great value of intersecting 
hedges in fruit gardens as a means of shelter at this season of the year. 
To plant trees with full exposure to the north-ea3t is to court failure, and 
yet it is an easy matter to plant sheltering hedges among the trees and 
thick belts around them. Now is the time to gain valuable knowledge 
about this matter, cause and effect being before our eyes like an open 
page. The quick-growing Thuja Lobbi is the best tree we have tried for 
hedges, the dense growth being admirably adapted for breaking the force 
of the wind, and it grows so fast that we may soon have hedges from 
10 to 20 feet in height, while it may be clipped into a close compact 
mass. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Peaches and Nectarines. —Early Hort.ies.-~ The trees from which 
ripe fruit will be gathered about the end of May and through June will 
now require the final thinning of fruit and wood, and when this has been 
completed the young shoots which have been allowed unrestricted growth 
during the stoning period (about six weeks) should be neatly tied to the 
trellis, and the points or apexes of the fruit be elevated by means of these 
latter fixed across the wires of the trellis. Quality being always preferable 
to quantity, healthy trees well furnished with active roots in inside 
borders may be allowed to carry one fruit to each square foot of trellis 
covered with f> liage, whilst Nectarines may be left a little thicker ; but 
nothing is gained by leaving a great quantity, which accounts for this 
fruit often being small, badly coloured, and poor in flavour, as the forma¬ 
tion of the stones weakens the trees, and the fruit in consequence when 
ripe is small and worthless. It also permanently injures the trees. Shoots 
which emanate from the bearing wood of the current year should be 
allowed to grow evenly over the trees without being stopped, as they 
will become the fruit-bearers next season ; remove other shoots left 
between them and the terminals. Do not stop terminals until they reach 
the extremity of the tiellis ; but shoots that will be removed after the 
fruit is gathered will only require moderate extension, being pinched 
when the last swelling for ripening commences. Ample supplies of liquid 
manure at a temperature of about 75° will be required by the roots, the 
great strain of the crop and the extensive breadth of foliage exposed to 
the sun will enable the trees in properly drained borders to take large 
quantities of water. Premature ripening may most frequently be traced 
to an insufficient supply of water to the roots through the last stages. 
When the fruit is advancing for the last swelling, the temperature by day 
may be considerably increased, provided the trees can be allowed to rest 
by night, when a rather free circulation of air will add greatly to the 
colour and flavour of the fruit. Syringe twice a day with clear soft 
water, as water containing lime disfigures the fruit, and endeavour to 
have the foliage quite free from red spider as the ripening stage 
approaches. 
Succession Houses.— Follow up disbudding until every shoot that is 
left will have full space for development and exposure to the solidifying 
influence of light and air. It is no use trying to hasten the stoning 
process, as the fruit must have time, an equable temperature, and generous 
treatment. Disbud the trees in late houses, and thin all small and badly 
placed fruits, leaving a fair per-centage for choosing from when the most 
promising take the lead. Syringe copiously when the weather is fine, 
and ventilate by night as well as day when it is desirable to have the 
fruit as late as possible. 
Figs. — Early Forced, Trees in Pots. —The fruit will soon be ripening, 
and on this account the supply of moisture will have to be reduced while 
ventilation may be increased. Much judgment and great care will have 
to be exercised in the management, as the trees laden with fruit in every 
stage of growth the daily routine must meet the wants of the trees in 
respect of the succession as well as the ripening crop. The trees, being 
surrounded with turves and a mass of roots, will require plentiful supplies 
of warm water. The surface of the plunging material and the lower part 
of the trees will need regular syringing, and as the fruit is gathered, it 
being well to do it closely, the trees may be well washed overhead. This 
occasional washing assists in restoring the wasted energies of the trees, 
keeps them free of red spider, and keeps the successional crop steadily 
advancing. Fire heat is necessary to maintain a temperature 60° to 65°, 
and 70° to 75° by day, with a rise of 10° to 15° from sun heat. Any strong 
lateral growths that require stopping and tying must be attended to, as 
good Figs cannot be obtained without a free circulation of warm air and 
exposure of the fruit to sun and light. 
Succession Houses. —The weather has been more favourable of late, and 
under those conditions succession crops have made satisfactory progress. 
If not already stopped and tied down no time should be lost in getting 
this done, as the fruit will soon begin to show signs of swelling for 
ripening, and if, as is often the case in succession houses, the trees have a 
very heavy crop, a general thinning should be made as the work pro¬ 
ceeds. It is a great mistake to suppose that a fruit tree, particularly a 
Fig, is more likely to mature a crop by being oppressed with a load that is 
enough for two, and it certainly results in complete loss of quality, and 
V6ry often of the entire crop of fruit. The general routine will consist of 
