172 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Junk 8. 
not? Now, it must be remembered, that in tbe native 
climes of the Apricot walls are not necessary adjuncts 
in their culture. A standard, or ordinary tree, under 
such glowing and sunny skies, will, of course, develop 
its parts in all directions, unfettered by such artistical 
proceeding as the needs of our climate call forth, and 
growth, at whatever period, will necessarily acquire a 
degree of solidification almost unknown in our northern 
climes. 
To return to our pet Apricot, I said—“ inclined to 
burst into side spray.” Such a case, then, left to itself, 
generally ends in a very late growth, and by consequence 
a degree of immaturity, which very frequently induces 
weakness of constitution, or positive disease, paves the 
way to abortive blossoms, which do not “ set well,” and 
that through incompleteness in their organism. Now, 
if such gross and rampant young shoots are guillotined 
in June, tbe consequence is, that the development of 
side-growth is much accelerated; for if they must or 
oiiyJit to be developed, the sooner it takes place, and the 
more rapid such side-growths extend, the better, inas¬ 
much, as I shall have to recommend their being pinched 
iu their turn, in the course of the mouth of August, as 
a preparatory step to the solidification of tho parts 
already produced. 
| So those of our readers who feel that much interest, 
j will surely sec how the case stands; a moment’s reflection, 
| and a real interest in such interesting proceedings, will 
soon make it manifest: as for those who do not choose 
to devote their time to such considerations, and yet 
desire to possess a good garden, why they must even be 
content to waive all consideration of principles, and to 
avail themselves of the ordinary routine, be it what it 
may. 
J have here simply put the case of an Apricot, but 
the same romarks will apply with equal or greater force 
to the Peach or the Plum ; as for Pears, they are scarcely 
in such a hurry for side development, under ordinary 
circumstances; and the same may be said of the Cherry 
in general. 
It will, however, sometimes happen, that a young 
tree will shoot very unequally ; it may produce one 
rampant shoot of this character towards the centre of 
the tree, whilst the other portions are but weakly. Now, 
this is a “ticklish case;” and a slight departure from 
ordinary practice becomes necessary. 
And now l could wish that the veteran Beaton held 
the pen instead of myself; and that somebody pulled 
him by the sleeve, and asked him what he would do 
with a tree Rose, or, indeed, any tree under such circum¬ 
stances; for he certainly has the knack of “pumping” 
Dame Nature out of all her secrets; ho is a regular 
“ slyboots ” this way. As my worthy friend is not at 
hand, 1 must now undertake this awkward piece of 
navigation in my little cock boat. 
There is an old saying, “ give a sprat to catch a 
herring;” and, although a trite saying, I seize it for its 
aptitude. It so happens, then, that if we pinch a tree 
under such infirm conditions the year it is planted (sim¬ 
ply because it makes the unequal and equivocal effort of 
j producing one gross shoot amongst a few lean ones), we 
l throw away a power which would have called into being, 
j by reciprocity of action, a host of new fibres of immense 
! importance to the future welfare of the tree. “Leaves 
make roots, and roots make leaves,” is an axiom in 
j horticulture that few men who combine science with 
practice venture to dispute. I must really beg pardon 
j of those of my readers who do not care to pursue this 
subject so very minutely, for these niceties of gardening, 
but I would respectfully remind them, that there are 
those, and good men too, who enjoy such minutire; and 
our maxim is, to endeavour to please all our good friends 
in their turn. 
Iu the case alluded to, then, I say, let the roguish 
shoot play his vagaries freely the first year, but slyly 
make up your mind to reduce bis braggart character in 
tho next summer, in order that his more modest and j 
delicate compeers may share in his easily-obtained j 
wealth, which their delicacy of nerve prevented them I 
from attaining. Let, then, as a general rule, those gross ! 
shoots bo pinched when they are six to eight inches in 
length, which will generally be by the early part of 
June; they will then push forth their laterals freely, and 
these may be trained in on all sides, now and then i 
removing one when too crowded. If all goes well, they 
will, iu many cases, require pinching again iu a month i 
or so ; but of this more in a future paper. 
As for training, let me advise our readers who wish j 
to be iu the ascending scale in gardening, to take care 
that their young trees be trained betimes. It certainly 
is poor policy to purchase expensive trees, to indulge in 1 
fond prospective hopes of a prosperous garden, and to 
neglect the very first steps in the production of such a 
boon to man. And it is not merely the utility and 
profit of such a thing—there is somewhat in appearance. 
Who will not confess to pleasurable sensations on look¬ 
ing over a fruit or other garden, noted not only for suc¬ 
cessful fruit culture, but for the systematic appearance 
of the whole ? 
About modes of training, I do hope shortly to have 
the pleasure of saying more in detail. 
R Errington. 
NOTES ON ROSE-CULTURE. 
As soon as the different kinds of the Banksian Hose 
have done flowering is the right time of the year to 
give them their annual pruning; that time is just at 
hand, and there are no two opinions on that subject by 
men in jtractice; but there are many plants which j 
ought never to be touched by the knife, or hook, except i 
at this very season, or, at least, some time through the 
summer, and at no other period. About them, how¬ 
ever, there are differences of opinion among practical 
men—while many a good gardener, in other respects, 
would think himself outraged if he were told, or com¬ 
manded, to give the yearly pruning to his evergreen 
Berberis, his Laurustinus, his Deutzias, Wiegelias, and 
similarly-habited shrubs, just at the end of May, or very 
early in June. 
The Cottage Gardener is not much given to theo¬ 
retical talk ; but all theory is on the side of the summer- 
pruning of such plants, instead of in the winter, as is 
usual with deciduous shrubs; and when you speak of 
evergreens, you are met with the positive assertion, 
that they, at any rate, ought not to have their annual • 
pruning, except in April, or in July, and the early part of 
August. As a general rule, these assertions are safe 
guides to any one who has a good smattering of garden¬ 
ing already; but to him who knows no more of the 
philosophy than ho does of the man in the moon, they 
are as dangerous as steering without a compass at all. 
Suppose, for instance, that ho jiruned his evergreen j 
Berbery in April, he would have no flowers from it that 
season; or, if he put off the pruning of it till July or 
August, he would ho no better off the year following— 
he would have no flowers either way. It is the same 
with the Banksinn Roses: if they arc pruned in the 
winter, early or late, they give no flowers the following ’ 
summer; and if they are pruned as late as July, or any j 
time through the autumn, they are equally barren. I 
Now, The Cottage Gardener, reasoning from those i 
well-known facts, or from analogy, as they say, took it 
into his head, that all the very strong summer-flowering 
Roses ought to have their annual pruning just when 
they were done flowering—say iu July—and at no other 
period; but many would not believe such an unheard- 
