10 
THE FLORIST. 
will, without shortening, which will greatly add to the longevity of the 
trees. The fruit is produced from the small wood and from spurs 
formed on the larger branches. The fan form, similar to that recom¬ 
mended for the Peach, is most suitable for the culture of this fruit, and 
the trees require a summer and winter pruning; the former should 
commence in May, which is termed disbudding, and consists of 
removing all strong and superfluous shoots as soon as they make their 
appearance, leaving only those that may be required to replace old 
worn-out shoots, or to form new fruiting spurs. In June the trees will 
again require going over, stopping all shoots growing from the spurs, 
and fastening the remainder to the wall. Should another growth take 
place, again shorten the shoots previous to the ripening of the fruit; 
nothing more will be required in the way of summer pruning. Keep 
a vigilant search for the grub, which often infests the trees in the early 
part of the season; and should the weather be dry when the fruit is 
stoning give the trees a copious watering. 
If the summer pruning has been properly managed, very little 
remains to be done at the winter pruning—indeed the less cutting the 
Apricot gets the better. The principal thing is to keep the spurs short 
and close to the wall; therefore any that are getting long or unsightly 
should be cut close back, when short, healthy spurs will form at the 
base the following season. By removing a few of the longest at every 
winter pruning, and reducing the rest, the trees will be always fur¬ 
nished with short healthy spurs. Remove any subordinate shoots that 
have become unfruitful, and replace them with young shoots selected 
the previous summer for that purpose. Do not shorten any of the 
leading or lateral shoots, and be careful in not leaving them too thick, 
which is a common error in pruning Apricot trees. 
The Apricot, unfortunately, is much disposed to die off, or what is 
commonly termed canker. As yet nothing satisfactory is known as to 
the principal cause of this disease ; we find it making its appearance at 
times under all circumstances, in all soils and situations, at all seasons, 
and in its native clime; therefore it must be constitutional, often 
hastened by injuring the bark, or strong manure and excessive 
moisture at the roots, causing a larger supply of sap from the roots than 
the tree can consume; this leads to the exudation of gummy matter 
on the branch, and ultimately canker. Rotten fruit resting on the 
branches will also kill the bark and lead to the same result; these are 
minor causes, which should be guarded against. 
(To be continued.) 
NEW DAHLIAS. 
We sometimes hear that there is nothing new : we think, however, 
the phrase will not, just now, apply to Dahlias, of which it has fallen to 
our lot to see upwards of eighty seedlings exhibited under name, during 
the past season! This fact presents to those who wish to choose a few 
flowers only, a great practical difficulty ; not, indeed, that a moiety of 
the eighty odd kinds will ever be offered to the public. But even so, 
