374 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 31,.1889. 
and Fig. The females penetrate the skin of the ripe fruit and deposit 
their eggs, and the larvae rapidly destroy the fruit. It is believed that 
in the island of Malta there are four broods of the fly in the year. The 
fly has been observed in Italy, Spain, the Azores, and South Africa.” 
No specimens were sent, so that no opinion could be expressed upon the 
matter or a remedy suggested. It was thought advisable to take this 
opportunity of calling the attention of correspondents to the extreme 
importance of their invariably sending specimens with their communica¬ 
tions, otherwise it is quite impossible for scientific experts to return 
satisfactory replies. 
Fog Report .—The discussion upon the injury of London fogs upon 
vegetation was renewed, and a circular drawn up, which will shortly be 
issued to growers within a radius of twelve to fifteen miles from the 
metropolis. The Committee trust that they will furnish as full details 
as possible, with the hope that the investigation may lead to the adop¬ 
tion of such preventives, as conditions will permit, against the in¬ 
creasing injury which now prevails in the suburbs of London. 
The Lady Apple. —Mr. Henslow exhibited a spray covered with 
the brightly coloured fruit from a tree which grows in a hedge within 
his garden, near Drayton Green, Ealing. It is probably a descendant 
from some plant introduced many generations ago. It is asserted 
in “The Fruit Manual,” by Dr. Hogg to have been brought from the 
Peloponesus to Rome by Appius Claudius, and was called the “ Lady 
Apple ” because ladies in France were accustomed to carry it in their 
pockets in order that The peculiar odour might be imparted to their 
handkerchiefs. Though known to early continental writers it does not 
appear to have been introduced into England till the end of the seven- 
tenth century. It was first discovered as a wildling in the Forest of Api 
in Brittany. Only one dish was exhibited (by Mr. Pragnell of Castle 
Gardens, Sherborne, Dorset) at the National Apple Congress in 1883, 
and one dish at the Apple and Fear Conference, 1888. Hence it would 
seem to be nearly extinct in England at the present time. It has little 
or no commercial value, though useful for decorative purposes. 
Gentiana Amarella, sub. sp. Germanica. —Dr. Masters exhibited 
specimens of this plant from Tring, whence it was first recorded. 
Hooker and Arnott, “Brit. Flor,” 1855, give only Tring and Ripon as 
localities, but Hooker, “ Stud. Flor.,” 1884, mentions York, Pemb, 
Herts, Berks. Surrey, and Hants. Though regarded as separate species 
by some continental botanists, intermediate conditions link the extreme 
forms together. 
PRUNING AND ITS EFFECTS. 
An intelligent use of both pruning knife and saw is to be 
commended in cases where the work of renovation is being carried 
out on the lines laid down on page 216, and, it is almost needless to 
add, plays an important part in maintaining the productiveness of 
healthy trees not requiring to be lifted or root-pruned. Many err 
in using the knife especially too freely, and it is also possible to 
make a mistake in Ihe opposite direction. I have a great aversion 
to long, ugly spurs on wall trees, notably of Apricots, Plums, and 
Pears. Of what use are the walls if the portions of the trees 
which only can produce fruit are from 6 inches to 12 inches away 
from them, or where they derive little benefit from their warmth 
and shelter ? Not only is warmth wanted to assist in the develop¬ 
ment of clean, full-sized fruit, but is still more imperative in many 
districts where the growth is naturally late and the wood ripens 
badly. Who ever saw fine Pears, for instance, borne by long, 
knotty spurs ? Long spurs on Apricots and Hums are certainly 
fruitful enough at times, but very rarely is the fruit so large or so 
brightly coloured as the same trees would be capable of producing 
if the fruiting spurs were close to the main branches. The aim 
therefore of would-be successful growers should be to prevent any 
young and as yet unspoilt trees from forming long spurs, and also 
to gradually reduce the number and length of any already too far 
from the walls. 
The start may be made with spur-shortening any time after this 
is in print, and I am inclined to think the sooner the better. 
Supposing summer stopping has been resorted to, or the trees were 
pruned after the lateral growth was well advanced towards maturity, 
all being pruned to within about 4 inches of their starting point, 
those on trees not previously spoilt by the neglect of this precaution 
ought to be still further shortened to a length of about 1 inch of 
the main branch. Persevere with this practice every season, and in 
the course of about three years a good cluster of fruit spurs should 
result. If the trees are too vigorous, and nothing but wood buds 
followed by strong lateral growths result, then in some instances 
nothing but partly or wholly lifting them will correct this unfor¬ 
tunate state of affairs. Not unfrequently, however, the practice of 
laying in all leading growths required for furnishing blank wall 
saijpes, or any thin places among the older branches, to their full 
length, has an excellent effect on the productiveness of a tree. 
These leading branches, if well ripened, will usually develope fruit 
buds at nearly every joint and good crops of fruit, and is an 
excellent preventive of grossness, the fruitful habit gradually 
extending to other parts of the tree. On no account should well 
matured leading shoots be topped or shortened back, however 
slightly, as this is certain to defeat the object in view ; in fact, 
unless they, if pruned at all, are cut back to about one-third of 
their length the greater portion as a rule will not even be furnished 
with laterals next season. 
Much may be done in the way of reducing the length of old 
spurs by foreshortening, but in many instances the more drastic 
measure of sawing them off cleanly to within 1 inch, or even closer, 
to the main branch ought to be resorted to. The former is perhaps 
the slowest method of the two, but if persisted in every autumn 
till such times as the spurs are all sufficiently close to the branches 
there will be no appreciable falling off, but rather the reverse, in 
the weight of the crops, while the quality will be gradually 
improved. Foreshortening in this case merely consists in cutting 
back the longest spurs to a well-placed bud or cluster of buds much 
nearer the branch, and if this is done piecemeal the greater portion 
will push out back buds, and an improvement in every way soon 
becomes apparent. Long naked spurs cannot be treated in this way, 
but as these are usually found on trees too densely clothed with 
so-called bearing wood the removal of one half of these would act 
beneficially, even if many of them failed to break afresh round the 
stump left. The trees I have served in this way, the work of thus 
freely shortening back being extended over two or three years, 
have failed to break freely in a few instances only, and none need 
be afraid to adopt the plan, as the trees must be in a very miserable 
plight at the roots if they fail to respond to knife or saw. The 
spurs on several of the Pear trees, the roots of which we gradually 
lifted and relaid in fresh soil (see page 216), were extensively 
sawn off, and not a blank space on the main branches is to be 
seen. A tree of Yicar of Winkfield, which covers a wall space 
24 feet by 12 feet, this season produced twenty-four dozen fine 
clean fruit, and the crop was nearly as heavy last year. Another 
equally large and healthy specimen on the same wall (aspect east) 
and similarly treated produced nearly twenty dozen fruit in 1888, 
and this week we have gathered eleven dozen fruits from it of 
extra good size and appearance. The quality of neither of these 
old favourites is usually considered first class, but unless I ara 
much mistaken few lovers of fruit would condemn either as 
grown and ripened here. Marie Louise has greatly improved 
under this process of top and bottom renovation, and the same may 
be said of Glou Moreau, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Winter Nelis, 
and Easter Beurre. I ought to add that we take particular care not 
to drag off old spurs with a part of the main branch attached, as 
they are either cut with a strong sharp knife or are sawn off, the 
wounds being pared and smoothed with a knife. 
Not only is it advisable to replace old spurs by short new ones, 
but in the case of Apricots and Plums especially worn out or 
stunted old main branches may often with advantage be replaced 
by young ones. Sometimes it is necessary to cut back a few of the 
main branches to near the main stem or base of the tree, in order to 
obtain the requisite young shoots for laying in, while in others 
they are naturally produced where most needed, and in this case 
those they are to replace need not be cut out till the young ones 
are two or three years old. Not a few Plum trees, notably where 
the head room is much restricted, form a thicket of lateral growths 
at the top of the wall, the lower portion of the main branches being 
very badly furnished with fruiting spurs. Either these top-heavy 
branches ought to be freely shortened back, so as to promote the 
formation of shoots nearer the bottom of the walls, or else the long 
spurs must be sawn off, and more care taken of the lower shoots 
that may be formed, and also in pruning the laterals resulting from 
the stumps. When trees grow thus strongly near the top of the 
walls those in charge, or it may be the owners, are apt to let them 
to extend as much as they will, the consequence being a bushy head 
fully exposed to all weathers, the rest of the tree gradually getting 
weaker and still more useless. It may be urged that these more 
naturally grown heads are frequently much the most productive 
part of the trees, and this I readily admit is the case ; but the 
proper place for standards are in the open, as walls ought to be 
more profitably utilised.— Cultivator. 
TREE CARNATIONS. 
I am glad to know that the opinion of “ W. S.” coincides with 
my own in regard to the great value and undoubted floriferousness 
of the two varieties of these beautiful flowers, the good qualities of 
which were enumerated in a recent note of mine. I am also pleased 
to hear that your correspondent has been successful in flowering 
satisfactorily all the varieties of Carnations he has yet tried ; and 
although he does not quite agree with me when I say that some of 
the most beautiful of the varieties bloom but little till the spring 
months, I think he will go so far as to admit that among the varieties 
he mentions some flower much more freely during the dull months 
of November and December than do others under precisely the 
