196 
JOURNAL OF HORTICUUTURE AND COTTAGE GARDLNER. 
August 30, 1894. 
tell bim at once that all my trees are trained on the extension system 
and ri<,'orou 9 ly thinned both winter and summer. None have tap or 
other large roots, while each are heavily mulched both before and after 
flowering. Furthermore, those carrying crops of fruit receive copious 
waterings of diluted liquid manure whenever a dry day occurs. Will 
this satisfy Mr. Raillem ? 
He considers me a sceptic regarding those May frosts. Not at all ; 
only I consider these so common in this climate that their occurrence, 
and the disastrous effects attributed to them by Mr. Eaillem and others, 
would never have been noticed were it not for the weakened condition 
of all trees at that time, due to the ripening or roasting process their 
wood underwent last summer. 
Reports on the present condition of the fruit crop in the provinces 
are now appearing in your contemporaries’ pages, and the majority of 
writers, while agreeing as to the unsatisfactory yield, especially of 
Apples, lay the blame on those late frosts, though the more observant 
acknowledge how much of the fruit fell before May 20th. In addition, 
there is singular unanimity among the writers as to the havoc wrought 
by insects this year. Surely Mr. Raillem will hardly blame the frosts 
for this plague ? I, for one, regard it as an indication of the unhealthy 
condition of trees after that scorching they experienced last summer. 
Friends once gave me some interes ing particulars respecting their 
attempts at Apple culture in Ceylon, where the tropical sun should 
ripen wood with a vengeance. Each year their fruit became smaller by 
degrees and beautifully less, the trees being so stimulated by continued 
hot weather that they never went to rest, and consequently their con¬ 
stitutions became enfeebled, and were unable to produce fruit. Curiously 
enough, in confirmation of this there is much complaint as to the small 
size of Apples this year. Undoubtedly a long period of complete rest 
is essential to the well doing of an Apple tree, and explains why it 
thrives so amazingly in North America, the severity of the winters there 
enforcing a long period of absolute rest. In England our trees rarely 
get suflicient rest, and last winter hardly any, for the buds began to 
move as soon as the leaves were off. I, and probably others, had Pear 
blossoms expanded at Christmas. 
Mr. Raillem has indeed much to learn if he never perceived the 
terriLly weakening effect on vegetation of the blooming period. lias 
he grown Orchids, bulbs, and the like? The deterioration due to flower¬ 
ing is notorious in such plants, and even fruit trees suffer more than 
many superficial observers are aware of. It is for this reason I prefer 
obtaining fifteen Pears from fifteen rather than 1500 blossoms ; indeed, 
I am convinced that sooner or later clever cultivators will recognise 
this fact, and take to disbudding their trees just as they now do their 
Roses, Chrysanthemums, and other flowering plants. 
Before parting with so cheery an antagonist I should like to shake 
hands over “ the scoundrel sparrow.” My heart went out to the writer 
when I read that anathema. If your correspondent will only tell me 
how to be rid of this hardened offender I would willingly forgive and 
forget his belief in “ ripened wood.” I trust, however, that Mr. 
Raillem may yet be spared to see such jargon pooh-poohed as old- 
fashioned twaddle.— A Sceptic. 
National Chrysanthemum Society. 
On Monday evening last the General Committee of this Society held 
a meeting at Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street, Mr. B. Wynne being in the 
chair. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and con- 
flrmed, and other routine business disposed of, a letter was read from 
Mr. H. Briscoe Ironside expressing his thanks for having been elected 
on the Committee in the place of Mr. Hamill, who recently resigned. 
Mr. Ironside, who was present, received a cordial welcome on his return 
from a three years’ absence in Italy, most of which time he said he had 
devoted to the seeding of the Chrysanthemum. He had made many 
experiments, and hoped before long to say something more fully about 
the interesting work upon which he had been engaged. It was stated 
that the income for the present had amounted to more than £110, 
which was in excess of that received at the corresponding period last 
year. Eighteen new names were added to the list of membership, four 
being Fellows, and the remainder ordinary members ; the number of 
new members since the beginning of the year being sixty-five. The 
attendance was rather smaller than usual, and the meeting broke up 
somewhat earlier than usual. 
Stopping Chrysanthemums. 
I WAS disappointed that my note on stopping Chrysanthemums, 
which appeared at the early part of the season, did not elicit fuller 
replies and more discussion upon this vexed question of stopping as a 
means of the more correctly timing of the buds so as to insure perfect 
blooms. Since that time I have met with several gardeners who were 
deeply interested in the subject, and who would gladly have hailed any 
reliable information as to the manipulation of certain varieties. Some 
varieties are known to produce beautiful blooms if the buds could only 
be produced at the most suitable time for their development, and it is 
these on which we require information. Now if by stopping the plants 
the buds of these varieties may be correctly timed, why not do so, and 
not wait to chance, as many growers are now doing? 
At page 172 “ H. D., Warioicli," supplies a note, and if my memory 
serves me correctly, as I have not the number at hand at present, I 
believe he put forward the plea of late propagation as the panacea. 
Notwithstanding his observations that buds generally are showing at an 
opportune time, and they are with me, I am inclined to the belief that 
information on stopping is much needed. I do not believe in growing 
plants to produce only one bloom, to be selected from the first bud, 
before the natural break of three shoots. Mrs. Falconer Jameson 
treated thus produces an early coarse bloom, whilst a stopped plant will 
produce three handsome and refined blooms of good colour, and produced 
at the right time. This season I am experimenting on several uncertain 
varieties, and will give results in due time. Some of these I find, unless 
the buds come on rapidly, were stopped too late, so I can well imagine 
what the plants or blooms of these varieties will be from unstopped 
plants, to be grown three blooms to a plant. 
Chrysanthemums as grown for large blooms may be formed into 
three groups. First, those which invariably show the crown bud, if 
grown by what is known as the orthodox method, at the correct time; 
the next, which if grown by this method are very apt to show the crown 
too early, whilst if left to run on to the terminal would be too small or 
imperfect; and the other, which produces the crown too late. This 
latter is a very important group, as it comprises many of the most 
beautiful flowers, a few of which are Lord Brooke, Princess Victoria 
Beauty of Castlehill, Le Prince du Bois, Miss Ada McVicker, J. Stan- 
borough Dibbin, and Mrs. Falconer Jameson. The two latter varieties 
produce beautiful flowers by stopping. 
We cannot hope for a standard, as the introduction of so many 
varieties annually prevents this ; in fact, we only know how to treat a 
variety upon introduction by experimenting. In these days of horti¬ 
cultural enlightenment there should be no secrets, consequently, if a 
person is able to show those not so fortunately placed in treating a 
particular variety successfully he should do so. With the newer varieties 
this is very important, especially when it is considered that these do nob 
reach the hands of the greater body of cultivators until a year or two 
afterwards. A year, at any rate, might be gained, if those who have 
grown them a season could give some kind of information as to the 
character of the blooms from early or late buds, also stopped versus 
unstopped plants.— A. Young. 
THE PAPAW TREE. 
Having noticed “ J. L.” (page 178) wishes to know if the Papaw 
tree has been fruited in this country and its cultivation, it may interest 
him to know that 1 have grown it here for the last five years, and also 
fruited it for three years. I have three plants in fruit now, one of them 
bearing twelve fruits the size of a small Melon. The plants were grown 
in pots, and some are now planted out in a bed in same house. They 
are in a house where we grow the Guava, Custard Apple, Monstera, 
and Mango. The temperature is kept at about 60° in the winter, and 
in the summer it runs up to 100°. Of course “ J. L.” knows fertilisation 
is necC'Sary to insure fruit. I only had two female plants out of fifty 
seeds sown. If he will give me his address I will send him a fruit of 
it w'hen ripe.—T. W., Inwood Home Gardens, 
A friend of mine tells me he saw the Papaw tree with ripe fruits 
hanging twenty-eight y ars ago in a tropical house at Byfleet, Surrey. 
On referring to “Johnson’s Gardeners’ Dictionary” I find it requires 
60° to 80° in the summer, 50° to 60° in the winter. I also find an 
interesting account of it in the “ National Bncyclopredia.”—R. Dark. 
“ J. L.” will find no difliculty in fruiting this plant if he grows it as 
an ordinary stove plant. It succeeds best in good loam and leaf soil, 
not forgetting grit or sand to keep the soil open. Being a dioecious 
species “ J. L.” will need a staminate plant in order to “set” the ovaries 
of the pistillate plants. The former plant when in flower is a graceful 
and handsome object. Mr. Tidy of Stanmore Hall Gardens has quite a 
crop of these fruits, looking at present not unlike small green Melons. 
—John W. Odell. 
For the information of “J. L.” I will state what I know of the 
Papaw tree. Thirty years ago I was foreman in the gardens at Byfleet 
Lodge, near Weybridge, Surrey, where there was a very large house 
specially for the cultivation of tropical fruits. A small plant of the 
Papaw was planted in a tub about 3 feet square, and of the same depth, 
filled with turfy loam. The tub was placed in a large bed 3 feet deep, 
under which was a water tank heated with several 4-inch pipes, which 
kept the bottom temperature at about 100°. All spaces in the bed 
between other tubs were also filled with the same turfy loam. Holes 
were bored in the tubs to allow of the roots working through. The 
plant made rapid growth, and within eighteen months after planting 
began to flower, and in less than twm years ripened its first fruits. The 
night temperature in summer was 75° to 80°, and in the day 90° to 95°, 
and even up to 100° with air on. In the winter the night heat was 
658 to 70°, and 70° to 75° by day. After it was well established and 
