August 15, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
127 
some at least of the strong shoots were shortened the first year. 
Mr. Young may have planted other trees since ; but be that as it 
may, and however well they have grown, his experience of neces¬ 
sity falls short of that of others on which I am content to rely in 
support of my own, which is not so short, perhaps, as I could wish 
in this pleasant world full of pleasant friends, of whom Mr. 
Bunyard and Mr. Young are among the most esteemed. 
I think it was in 1847 when I saw the first experiment made 
for testing the question of pruning and non-pruning the first season ; 
and the last was during the present year. I cannot say how many 
times I have tried the two methods during the interval of forty 
years, but often enough to satisfy me that the former plan is, as a 
rule, the better. I know quite well that when the branches are left 
untouched the first season, and make scarcely any growth, that the 
same branches if cut back the second season will push fresh growths 
from the base even if no buds are visible. Old trees do that when 
out down for grafting. The second year’s growths may be good, 
and they ought to be, but a year is lost all the same, as I will show 
from examples. 
A gentleman procured a number of Apple trees from Mr. 
Bunyard last year. They were good trees. Though his experience 
was sufficient to guide him rightly, he yet read attentively Mr. 
Bunyard’s paper and my comment thereon. It may not have been 
in consequence of what either of us said, and probably was not, nor 
does it matter whether it was or not, but the fact remains that he 
did not follow Mr. Bunyard’s advice with Mr. Bunyard’s trees, and 
is now delighted with their condition. The number of branches is 
doubled, or more, and they are as strong as is desired for ripening, 
with fruit buds forming on the lower portions—last year’s wood. 
By the autumn good heads will be formed, and a good “ frame¬ 
work ” for fruitful trees provided. 
Another planter of equally good trees, but in better soil, did 
not shorten the branches. I have been to see both sets of trees, 
=and the number of branches of the latter remains the same as when 
planted, and not appreciably thicker. One or two have pushed 
-shoots 2 or 3 inches long, but the majority only produced a 
few small leaves, the root force being inadequate to do more than 
that. The branches must be cut back in the winter, as Messrs. 
Bunyard and Young advise, or the trees will be ruined, and next 
year they will not, and cannot, produce more and better growths 
than those above referred to of the first year pruned trees. Is 
•there not by comparison a year’s growth gained in one case, and a 
year’s growth lost in the other ? 
If the two sets of trees were dug up in the autumn and sold by 
auction in Maidstone market, those first alluded to that were pruned 
after planting would realise at the least thrice the price of the 
non-pruned, indeed some of these would not be saleable, for they 
are dead, yet the same price was paid for all nine months ago, 
I am meeting Mr. Bunyard, I hope fairly, on the ground of practice, 
and this as borne out by trees that were his own last year shows 
that there is at least, one exception to the soundness of his doctrine 
as represented by scores of trees, and these not growing in a 
garden but an open field. It would almost appear from this 
■experience that his trees are better than he thinks they are, and 
will do more than he expects of them. 
I can quite understand there may be a difference in the growth 
•of field and garden trees, also that in the former case, where the 
soil is heavy and cold and the trees roughly planted, the first 
growth after the first year’s pruning might not be strong and 
matured at the end of the season, but “pipy and sappy;” but 
on the other hand if not shortened some might be dead. Mr. 
Bunyard now says his remarks were “ never intended for garden 
practice.” Had he said this at the first I should not had the same 
scope for comment ; but his statement covered all sorts of Apple 
trees and all sorts of practice, and I am free to confess that I had 
not in my mind roughly planted trees in fields, but rather trees 
well planted in land fitted for their reception. My experience has 
been gained from good workmen and good workmanship rather 
than bad, and this I had in view when first writing on the subject. 
Nursei-ymen have to deal with all sorts of people, and some of them 
no doubt commence spoiling trees as soon as they receive them by 
bad planting in bad soil. Mr. Bunyard has found that for them 
his plan is the safest. Thus reduced I have no desire to say any¬ 
thing against it, but I am not prepared to admit that what is best 
for bad workmen and bad soil is also best for good workmen and 
good soil, but believe in as much skill as can be acquired being 
turned to account, and the best made of immediate circumstances. 
I quite comprehend Mr. Bunyard’s references to “ hospital 
trees,” and also know that his method of treatment is not universal. 
He adopts the plan he finds best ; others do the same, though not 
in the same way. This is a question on which doctors differ, and 
the millennium when they will agree is, I suspect, a few years 
distant. 
I cannot follow the rationale of Mr. Bunyard’s advice to leave 
the branches of comparatively fibreless Apples on Crab stocks 
unshortened after planting, while those on Paradise stocks, “ full of 
roots,” may be pruned. Most persons would, I think, be inclined 
to reverse the proposition, though Mr. Bunyard thinks “ both 
benefit by being uncut the first year.” The majority of experienced 
gardeners do not, nor does Mr. Kruse. I called at Chiswick in the 
spring, and observed a number of young Apple trees recently 
planted. They included several varieties on different forms of the 
Paradise stock. Mr. Barron is not a great talker, but he has as 
clear ideas as most men on the subject of fruit culture, and his 
work as represented by hundreds of trees of various shapes in the 
garden is more forcible than words. It was not necessary to ask 
if he was a believer or otherwise in the practice of pruning trees 
soon after planting, for the trees were pruned. It does not follow 
that he will prune them similarly next year, as they may produce 
a sufficient number of sufficiently strong branches the first season, 
instead of waiting for the second, for the foundation of fruitful 
trees. 
Spring, when the sap is moving, is the time to shorten the 
branches of newly planted trees. Mr. Young once said he could 
not understand this. I thought it best to leave him to “ think it 
out,” and when he says he is unequal to the task of solving the 
problem I will endeavour to come to the rescue. I think I have 
said enough at present, and thank Mr. Bunyard for his useful and 
suggestive communication.—J. Wright. 
JOTTINGS. 
POPPIES. 
Tiie variable character of the annual Poppies has been taken 
advantage of by cultivators, but not perhaps to the fullest extent 
possible, or our cornfield Poppy (Papaver Rhseas) would have been 
the subject of more experiments. Even in a wild state it varies 
considerably both in the size, colour, and markings of the flowers ; 
in some the flowers possess the dark spots in the centre as described 
in most of the text books to British botany, while in many others 
they are absent, and this seems to be almost exclusively the case 
with the plants in my district. This Poppy is not strictly a native 
of England, but is regarded, in common with all the others found 
in this country, as a colonist, as might be expected in the case of a 
plant that produces seed so freely and is so closely associated with 
cultivated plants. It is widely distributed, being found through¬ 
out Europe, northern Africa, parts of Asia to India, and even 
apparently to Japan. At least, it has been an inhabitant of 
Japanese gardens for a considerable time, as some years ago M.M. 
Vilmorin & Cie. of Paris introduced from Japan a series of distinct 
double and single varieties which were placed in commerce under 
the name of “ Coquelicots Japonais Pompons varies,” Coquelicot 
being the French designation of P. Rhaeas, and familiar to ladies in 
this country as the title of a fashionable shade of colour. These 
Japanese varieties have been increased in number and diversity, 
and now constitute a pretty group, the double forms in particular 
being notable for their compact habit and neat richly coloured 
flowers, constituting, when well grown, really handsome garden 
plants. 
There is also a double form of P. Hookeri, which has been 
grown at Chiswick as Hooker’s Double, having good sized dark red 
full flowers and freely produced. Like the Shirley Poppies it was 
accorded three marks by the Floral Committee, and will, no doubt, 
prove useful, as one strong point in favour of the double Poppies is 
that they last much longer than the others, and, though wanting in 
the gracefulness of the singles, their durability compensates for 
this defect. 
Before quitting these a little experiment may be noted, though 
the results cannot be given. The charming perennial Iceland 
Poppies, Papaver nudicaule varieties, are well known and equally 
appreciated both as garden plants and for cutting. Crosses 
between these and the Shirley Poppies, either with a view of pro¬ 
curing yellow annual forms, or preferably with the desire of 
transferring some of the colours in annuals to the Iceland Poppies, 
ought to give something of an interesting character if the cross 
could be effected. With the object of testing this a plot was 
devoted to plants of the two types named, leaving them in a great 
measure to the chances of insect cross-fertilisation ; but in a 
number of cases also the flowers were fertilised with pollen of the 
other type. It is almost needless to say that abundance of seed 
was secured ; but of course it is as yet impossible to say whether 
the cross has really been effected or not, nor can we imagine what 
the results will be, though we hope for something good. 
One other species of the P. Rhaeas type remains to be men¬ 
tioned—namely, P. umbrosum, which displayed its charms in the 
