April 10,1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HOnriCULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
297 
among the most useful of our garden flowers this winter. All 
through the winter we have been cutting flowers, and many are 
now in bloom. Some of the St. Brigid Anemones are very fine 
at present. In light soil I find it better not to lift the single 
varieties, but to let them remain in the ground. A. hortensis 
rubra fl.-pl. is very pleasing, being quite distinct in colour from 
A. fulgens fl.-pl. A. appenina is just opening its beautiful flowers. 
So many flowers are now opening to the genial influences of spring 
that it is impossible in limited space to speak of them. Arabises, 
Aubrietias, Primroses, Polyanthuses, Myosotis, Doronicums, hardy 
Primulas, Erica carnea, and others, all in full flower, also urge their 
claims, but in vain, as we must be inexorable, and plead the 
■exigencies of space.—§. Arnott, Eosedene, Dumfries. 
DISBUDDING PEACH TREES. 
In the formation of even, well-balanced trees, covered with 
fruitful wood from top to bottom, disbudding and judicious stop¬ 
ping play more important parts than are generally assigned to 
them. In more than one instance have I heard the wisdom of the 
extension system of pruning and training Peach trees not only 
•questioned, but strongly condemned, but I am prepared to main¬ 
tain that in nearly every instance where this system results in the 
production of trees with stems bare at the base, although per¬ 
fectly healthy in other respects, the real cause of the evil lies in 
the improper manipulation of the young shoots at disbudding time 
and throughout the growing season. It is when the flow of sap is 
in full play an easy matter, by the aid of judicious pinching, to 
divert some of the vigour of the trees from the strongest shoots, 
when the sap is concentrated into the weaker, and by constant 
attention during the summer months the work of shortening back 
at the winter pruning is reduced to a minimum. By following the 
treatment above indicated the energies of the trees are fully 
utilised, instead of being wasted by growing strong shoots, to be 
subsequently cut away. 
These remarks are intended to apply more particularly to trees 
under glass, as unfortunately severe and unexpected frosts just as 
the buds are beginning to swell, and before protection is given, 
wiU sometimes kill numbers of both wood and fruit buds (on out¬ 
door trees), and by so doing leave many an otherwise fine tree bare 
4it the base, as it is generally the bottom shoots that suffer the 
most. In disbudding Peach trees the strongest parts should have 
the first attention ; this is generally the upper portion, although it 
is by no means uncommon, for very strong shoots to be found near 
the base. Whenever such shoots are situated about half of 
the young shoots should be removed, taking care to reserve one 
at the base, and another at the point. The moderately strong 
shoots should next be looked over, and a smaller proportion of 
them removed, while the weak ones should not be interfered 
with at the first disbudding, the object for this being to draw the 
sap (which has received a slight check by the removal of shoots 
from the strongest branches) with greater force to the weaker. 
This first stage of disbudding should be performed when the 
shoots are an inch long; a fortnight after the trees should be 
examined again. This time the thinning may be done pretty 
freely on those shoots that have been already operated upon, leav¬ 
ing the best placed, but more of them than will ultimately be 
required. Always give the preference to those which spring from 
the upper side of the shoot, although to fill up vacancies it is some¬ 
times necessary to reserve a few from the under side. If the weak 
shoots have by this time made fair progress they can be slightly 
thinned. 
At the final disbudding a careful selection of the best placed 
moderately strong shoots should be made. In the case of trees that 
have filled the extent of trellis allotted to them the matter is 
simple. One shoot should be left at the top of each fruit-bearing 
shoot, and when long enough stopped at five or six leaves. Another 
should be left at the base to be trained in for next season’s fruiting. 
In the case of long shoots, young growths may be trained in at in¬ 
tervals of about a foot, if it can be seen that there is room for their 
development without unduly crowding other portions. If not 
wanted a few should be stopped at a couple of leaves in preference 
to being removed altogether. These will form close spurs, and 
often prove extremely useful in preventing gaps where young 
shoots die, as they sometimes will do. In fact it is a capital plan 
to stop a few young shoots at intervals all over the tree to form 
spurs, not on account of the fruit they will produce if left, but for 
the purpose of having a reserve to fill up vacancies. When young 
trees have plenty of room for extension it must be borne in mind 
that the further they advance from the main stem the greater 
number of side branches will be required to fill the space, leaving 
the young shoots at from 4 to G inches apart. This must, therefore. 
be provided for by leaving the requisite number at disbudding 
time. 
Throughout the growing season a sharp look out should be kept 
upon strong shoots that show a tendency to rob their neighbours. 
These should be frequently stopped and a lateral taken from the 
point, and in cases where there is room the side laterals also trained 
in. This is one of the best of all methods for bringing gross 
shoots into a fruitful state, as by so doing the sap is diverted into 
several channels, the result being numbers of medium-sized shoots 
in the place of a few strong ones, and by following the advice 
above given this result is obtained without the loss of a season’s 
growth, which is the case when the strong shoots are allowed to 
ramble at will for a time, only to be cut away at the winter 
pruning.—H. DuNKiN. 
DEUTZIA CANDIDIS3IMA FLORE-PLENO. 
This cannot be claimed as a new plant, and it was perhaps a cause 
of surprise to some that the Floral Committee of the Il.H.S. recently 
awarded a first-class certificate for a specimen exhibited at the Drill 
Hall; still there can be no valid reason why certificates should be 
confined to novelties, as some of the old neglected or forgotten garden 
plants are w’ell worthy of being again brought into notice by such 
means. The shrub in question is valuable for its floriferous habit, the 
pure white double flowers being produced in long dense racemes, and 
have a charming appearance either cut or on the plant. It is well 
suited for culture in pots, and can be had in flower early by moderate 
forcing. About Easter white flowers of all kinds are much appreciated, 
