442 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 15,1894. 
stock, or, it may be, double grafted trees, are given the same 
amount of room as those on the Pear stuck should have, and this 
they rarely require. In any case they are several years before 
the lower branches meet, and in the meaniiime there has been so 
much wall space wasted. If, therefore, horizontally trained trees are 
disposed from 15 feet to 18 feet asunder, why not plant one, two, 
or three-branched vertical cordons midway between them? In not 
a few cases there is good room for what are known as “ grids,” or 
trees with five or six main branches arranged gridiron fashion. 
Such can be had already framed out from the leading nurserymen, 
or they could easily be grown from maidens. They are simply 
trees with a stem about 1 foot or rather less in length, with two 
horizontal main branches from which five or six other shoots 
are trained straight up the wall and treated similarly to cordons or 
the branches of horizontally trained trees. These trees are espe¬ 
cially to be recommended for clothing the buttresses that occur at 
somewhat short intervals on many garden walls. They are prefer¬ 
able to cordons, as they require to be less often root-pruned in 
order to keep them in a productive condition, and, I think, present 
a more attractive appearance. 
Are horizontally trained trees so very desirable for furnishing 
walls ? In my opinion they might well be dispensed with 
altogether in many instances in favour of palmette verriers. 
These latter briefly described are merely a combination of 
horizontal and upright training. At the outset it should be 
decided how many pairs of branches shall be formed and allow space 
accordingly. They can be grown with from three to seven pairs of 
branches, and a good number as being more certain to clothe the 
whole of the allotted space would be four pairs. For every pair of 
branches a width of 2 feet should be allowed, and an eight- 
branched tree would in about six years furnish wall space 8 feet 
wide and 8 feet or more high. The start may be made with either 
maidens or horizontally trained trees furnished with two pairs of 
branches and a leader, the preference always being given to 
comparatively young trees, any that are stunted and with spindly 
leaders not answering well. At the winter pruning shorten the 
leader to a length of about 10 inches, and from this, during the 
following summer, another pair of branches and a leader should be 
obtained. If the latter grow strongly and harden sufficiently this 
may be shortened at midsummer, and a second pair of branches and 
leader, if further required, be had in one season. The leading 
growth on side branches should be shortened at the winter pruning 
if at all weak, and left to the full length if moderately strong. 
For the first three or four years train these obliquely with a 
view to promoting a free growth, but before they stiffen too much 
bring the lower pair down to an horizontal position, and train along 
till the full width is reached, when a sharp curve must be given so 
as to bring the branch from that point straight up the wall. The 
next pair should be duly taken to within 1 foot of the other and 
then trained upright, and so on till the whole of the space is filled. 
Thanks to the extra long run of lower branches these hold their 
own with the better placed central ones, and in this, as well as in 
other respects, palmette verriers, or modifications of the same, 
have the advantage. 
Cordons—one, two, or three-branched—are now common 
enough in this country, but in several instances I have noticed 
that those horizontally trained are failures, owing to non-attention 
in the matter of root-pruning. Where the sharp curve is made 
they are most liable to form extra strong growths, and once these 
are allowed to gain the upper hand the cordon soon becomes a bush. 
I could point to some fine bush Apple and Pear trees that were at 
one time two-branched cordons only. Root-pruning having been 
neglected the growths from near the curve were unmanageable, and 
in the end the trained branches were cut back and bush trees formed. 
Horizontal cordon trees should be well attended to, or not 
planted at all. In any case they are only suitable for training 
alongside walks and growing in front of trees trained as espaliers. 
For low walls obliquely trained single or double cordons answer 
well, and vertical cordons are suitable for any garden wall, end or 
front of dwelling house. All things considered the preference 
might well be given in these latter cases to U-shaped or two- 
branched cordons, planted 3 feet asunder and trained vertically, 
these effectively furnishing a wall. Fruit trees are not half utilised 
as they ought to be for clothing the ends and fronts of buildings. 
In many instances they might be taken up with a, single stem past 
doorways or windows, and lateral branches laid in wherever there 
is space to be clothed. Apples, too, might, with a little extra 
trouble, also be made to furnish house fronts ; and who will say 
that they are unsuitable for such purposes ? 
There is, however, one form of cordon not so often met with as 
is desirable. Nearly or quite all that have been alluded to require 
to be supported by fencing of some kind, or to be trained to a 
wall; but the single upright cordons scarcely need a stake at the 
outset, and in time become perfectly rigid and self-supporting. 
Especially is this the case with Pears. I have seen long rows of 
these 12 feet high, and heavily hung with fruit from near the 
ground to the top of the tree. Trees of this columnar form can 
be dotted-in almost anywhere, or an avenue might be made with 
them. These can be had from English nurserymen already formed, 
and would commence paying their way almost from the first. 
Low horizontally trained cordons, as before hinted, are not, as a 
rule, of much value, and instead of these, vertical single cordons 
should be grown. In school and other educational gardens fences 
are being formed with diamond or diagonally trained cordons, and 
this plan answers well for Apples and Pears; but I doubt if 
Plums will succeed so well under this method of training—they 
will form too much wood growth. 
Peach and Nectarines with one long straight stem trained 
obliquely have been tried in a few places, and for clothing a wall 
quickly they answer well. I must, however, confess to a liking for 
the older methods of furnishing a wall, short of the hard pruning 
to which our forefathers resorted. Eiders, or trees with long clear 
stems, at one time were not so often planted as formerly, owiiig 
probably to their extra cost, but these rightly enough are again 
coming in favour. By planting them midway between dwarf 
trained trees, high walls are quickly furnished, and so well do the 
standards or half-standards, as the case may be, succeed, that 
instead of their being cut away to make room for the dwarf 
trained trees, the latter actually have to make room for the riders. 
Some of the most profitable Morello and other Cherry walls 
in the country are clothed with dwarfs and tall trained trees 
in equal numbers, fan-trained trees as a rule giving the best results. 
Standard Gooseberries and Red Currants are not yet largely 
grown, but they must eventually come to the front, as they not 
only present an ornamental appearance, cropping heavily too, but 
also admit of more bushes being grown in a given space. Goose¬ 
berry fences, again, are not often seen, but they are a great success 
where they are properly managed. Two-branched U-shaped 
cordons are perhaps the best for clothing a high wire fence with 
fruiting wood, and these trained vertically and properly stopped 
and pruned are highly prodnctive.—W. I. 
SEASONABLE HINTS ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Gladioli. 
Although my own experience is that the varieties of gandavensis 
may be left in the ground if they are slightly protected by ashes or 
cocoa-nut fibre, yet I would not counsel anyway, especially a 
beginner, to adopt this plan ; therefore, the very important matter 
of lifting the bulbs, as it is called, must now be proceeded with. 
The foliage has now to a great extent become yellow, indicating 
the maturity of the bulbs ; and although it may happen that there 
should be no severe weather during the present month of November 
I think it would be well not to run the risk, so I have already com¬ 
menced taking up mine. Different growers may have different 
places for drying theirs off : I find the shelves of a cool greenhouse 
answer the purpose well. I think it well to tie the bulbs of one 
sort together loosely, so as to prevent confusion of names, and 
when they have been here for some two or three weeks they may 
be trimmed ; and where it is deemed desirable to increase the collec¬ 
tion care will be taken to preserve the spawn (as the small bulbs are 
called) which cluster round the base of the bulb ; and as ea,ch root 
is cleared off these should be carefully removed and placed in small 
paper bags or boxes. 
I always write the name of the bulb upon it, so that if by any 
mischance it gets mixed with others no harm is done. I have 
always kept my bulbs in an open work trellis box with trays, so 
that both light and air can get to them. Others place them in 
paper bags ; others, again, on shelves in the fruit room or any other 
suitable place where they can be kept free from frost and damp. 
When put in bags they are more inclined to stimulate growth, and, 
therefore, I prefer the plan of laying them out singly. With 
regard to spawn, they differ very considerably as to the amount 
produced, some varieties hardly ever producing a single bulb, while 
others produce them in hundreds. A very beautiful variety raised 
by Mr. Burrell of Cambridge, called Snowdon, was commercially 
useless ; and so, although one of the finest whites ever raised, it 
has disappeared from the catalogue. There does not seem to be 
any reason for this difference, and it is one of those horticultural 
puzzles which we must be contented to let remain as inexplicable. 
There are many new and beautiful varieties of which something 
may be said by-and-by. 
Pansies. 
The cool season has been favourable for these plants in the 
south of England, where, as a rule, they suffer much from the 
greater heat and dryness of the atmosphere, and are more suited 
