146 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 3. 
period, will be fatal to their welfare the whole summer, 
and not cease even then. What is the use of men 
making such a hubbub in the spring about the wood 
being badly ripened, when the remedy lies in their own 
hands ? If they are short of labour, why then their em¬ 
ployer is to blame, and this is a most pitiable case. 
Those who reduce their garden staff to the minimum 
point during May, June, and July, little know what a 
loss must accrue to themselves ultimately. It has before 
been urged in The Cottage Gardener, that every 
shoot not required for future bearing should be taken 
away before the period when the ripening of the wood 
commences, say by Midsummer, although our thinning 
will be completed by the end of the first week in June. 
There will, probably, be a very full crop of peaches, 
nectarines, and apricots, this summer. As for those at 
Oulton, never could there be better evidence of the 
beneficial influence of the retarding principle, as well 
as of the protecting, for every shoot is dotted with fruit, 
not an inch apart, from the very bole of the trees to 
their extremities, and we challange any one to find one 
whole brick lost within the area of the branches of any 
one tree on a wall 240 feet in length. 
Some remarks on the protecting of fruit-trees, which 
appeared in a contemporary paper lately, were at once 
amusing and annoying, if such be possible. It stated 
that it was hoped a partial crop of peaches and necta¬ 
rines would be secured, as straw coverings were proved 
to be highly beneficial. Strange, indeed, that we should 
own the discovery to the Middlesex gentlemen in the 
year 1852. If our worthy neighbours will tax their 
memories, they will perchance remember that this prac¬ 
tice has been made patent through the medium of the 
little Cottage Gardener for some three or four years; 
aye, and the recommendation persisted in midst adverse 
opinions from men who ought to have known better. 
What though crops of fruit have occasionally been ob¬ 
tained by leaving tender trees to the mercy of the ele¬ 
ments, is that a conclusive proof that protection is an 
evil? Or that coverings, in some cases, should have 
actually destroyed crops; what of that ? There is a use 
and abuse in this, as in most other things. Although 
confessedly strong advocates for retarding and protect¬ 
ing, we could undertake to spoil any man’s crop by such 
means. But why straw screens, when canvass can be 
had so reasonable ? It will cost just fifteen-pence per 
lineal yard of walling, for canvass which will last seven 
years at least, if applied to no other use; or, in other 
words, about two-pence per lineal yard annually. Will 
any man for shame own that his trees are so bad as not 
to pay for this? Walls are expensive things, and when 
built something more than a mere boundary division is 
expected. As for usiug nets, why not import some mon¬ 
strous kind of spider from the antipodes to weave a web 
to cover the walls ? We have no faith in nets, or even 
in bunting—they still leave something to be desired. 
And now to the treatment of peaches through June. 
Let every surplus shoot be disbudded; but, as before 
observed, where any doubts exist, give the shoot the 
“ benefit of the act ” by pinching it; by the end of July 
its fate will be determinable. Let the fruit be gone over 
once a week through June, and at every time let a few 
be thinned away, provided they are set too thick. As 
to final distance for profit, we should say for strong trees 
six inches, and for weakly ones nine. Peaches and nec¬ 
tarines for exhibition purposes should not be nearer 
than a foot apart. All this, however, must be worked 
out cautiously, remembering the stoning, which com¬ 
prises the period after the first swelling has ceased, as it 
were, until the first change for ripening. This is, in 
general, from the middle of June to the middle of July; 
during this period many are apt to be cast. The last 
thinning, therefore, should not be until the beginning of 
July. 
Peaches and nectarines produce shoots termed “ rob¬ 
bers;” these are readily known by their tendency to 
burst into side-shoots during the growing season, or, 
indeed, by then- being much grosser than the bearing 
wood. All such should have the points pinched oft' 
when about six inches in length. This operation should 
be commenced about the last week in May, and con¬ 
tinued through the growing period. This is by far the 
best means of equalizing the strength of the tree, to 
which winter or rest-pruning is utterly incompetent, 
although an auxiliary. Such gross shoots will soon 
shoot again, and produce very strong side-shoots, which 
will in due time require pinching also, and, indeed, dis¬ 
budding, simply reserving one or more for extension’s 
sake. And now cleanliness in the wood is the grand 
point; not an insect may be permitted which can be 
destroyed. 
Pears and plums will require close attention through 
June, as to disbudding, pinching, &c. All succulent or 
luxuriant shoots may be stripped away as produced, and 
much of the young spray which rambles too freely 
pinched betimes. Now all this fuss or trouble, call it 
what we may, arises from improper planting; that is to 
say, planting in soils too deep or too rich. Those, who 
long since commenced our platform mode of planting, will 
by this time have seen the benefit of keeping the roots 
under proper control; good crops and economy of labour 
are the sure result. We have, however, so to shape our 
advices as to meet existing cases; but we apprehend the 
time will come, when people will save themselves much 
trouble over these things; when they will, on a retro¬ 
spection, wonder how it was they could so loDg persist 
in such unreasonable practices. 
Pears are so heavily laden with fruit, that they will 
require thinning, like peaches and apricots; we never 
before had such enormous crops. These must be thinned 
at twice; the first thinning in the first week of June, if 
possible, and another about Midsummer. Indeed, it 
will be well to do it at thrice. The first will consist in 
thinning the heavy clusters; where four or five are 
swelling, reduce them to two or three. In the last 
thinning, what is considered a fair crop must be left, 
and we should say, that in order to obtain flavour and 
size, they should not be nearer than three inches. This, 
of course, refers to trained pears for prime table pur¬ 
poses. It is seldom that plums require thinning—at 
least the more choice kinds; however, it may be ob¬ 
served, that these, or indeed any other kind of fruit in 
which the highest amount of flavour is required, are 
much improved by thinning, w'hen too thickly set. 
Apricots, too, .need and deserve particular attention. 
Of course they have been lightly looked over already, 
for tart purposes; they must still be looked to, thinning 
progressively, for they are treacherous things. They 
may be set out, in the beginning of June, to about two 
three inches apart, and towards the end of stoning 
time, say the early part of July, they should be reduced 
to about four inches. The trees must be carefully 
picked over for the caterpillar in the beginning of June, 
and all robbers and breast wood pinched when two or 
three inches long. R. Errington. 
HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITION, REGENT’S 
PARK.— Mat 19th. 
The Botanical Society have chosen the best day in 
the week, Wednesday, for their exhibitions at their 
beautifully laid out garden in the Regent's Park. The 
fourth commandment is so far respected by that arrange¬ 
ment, that gardeners, then - assistants, and van-drivers, 
who were up most part of the previous night, fagged 
and worn out by the cares, fears, and anxieties of the 
day itself, take home their contributions the same even¬ 
ing, sup, grumble at the judges, and go to bed, get up 
