is:c. j 
THE RIPENING AND KEEPING OF FRUIT. 
57 
about a montli, more or less, the cuttings are generally well rooted, and are then 
shook out of the sandy compost in which they have been growing, and tied 
together in fours or fives, using for the purpose of ligature a shred of bast, and 
binding them close to where the roots are emitted. I use pots some 3 in. or 
4 in. in diameter, and a compost formed of about equal parts of peat and loam, 
with the addition of a portion of leaf-mould and silver-sand; and I place the 
plants in a growing temperature not under 65®. Each cutting will at least pro¬ 
duce two shoots, and where there are five such cuttings bound together ten young 
shoots will constitute something of a bush. It will be necessary to stop or 
shorten any shoots which may be inclined to become too strong, with the view of 
regulating or balancing the form of the plants. 
As soon as the pots are well filled with roots they are shifted into their 
flowering-pots, which are seldom of greater dimensions than 6 in. in diameter; 
and the soil used is the same as has been already described. The plants require 
to be kept for some time after this in a close, warm temperature, and as near as 
possible to the glass, with the view of preventing etiolation, but may, when the 
weather becomes warm, or early in July, be placed in a cold pit or frame, care 
being taken to prevent them receiving anything like a check by being placed in a 
draught, or from the soil in which they are growing being allowed to become 
too dry or too wet, which will have the effect of causing all, or a great portion of 
the leaves, to fall off. 
The plants should be placed in the stove, or in a temperature of from 65° to 
70°, soon after the commencement of October, and will then, if they have been 
properly managed, have the appearance of small healthy bushes, with rich dark 
green foliage, and some ten or more shoots to each, which will all spring from 
near to the surface of the soil. By tying the rooted cuttings together close to the 
roots, the ligature is brought under the surface of the soil, and the four or five 
cuttings appear to form one short stout stem. The use of stakes or supports of 
any kind is generally found unnecessary, and the plants present a free and graceful 
appearance, which renders them suitable for the table, and for other decorative 
purposes. 
Should it be desired to produce very long racemes of these brilliantly-coloured 
flowers for the purpose of forming wreaths, &c., this is most likely to be secured 
by growing only one plant in a pot, and restricting it to one shoot, which should 
not be stopped. Old plants may, if desired, be retained for another season, but 
young plants generally produce the finest racemes of bloom.—P. Grieve, Culfordy 
Bury St. Edmund's. * 
THE KIPENING AND KEEPING OF FEUIT. 
HE difference in the ripening of fruit depends in a great measure on the 
season, and on the aspect on which the trees are grown. Except for a few 
trees of early varieties, such as Marie Louise.^ Williamses Bon Chretien.^ or 
Thompson’s^ south walls are bad for Pears, especially for late varieties. It 
