THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 12 
blossom-buds before the month of January is past—the 
thinning out, pruning, and dressing, boing previously 
carried out. 
This is no new practice here ; we have yearly pushed 
the idea a little farther; and having mended, as to 
i success, in every advance, we have small idea of re 
| treating. We find that not only quantity but tbe quality 
of tbe fruit is enhanced thereby—at least, as attested 
! by facts; for we never had Pears more abundant, or 
: finer-flavoured, than last winter. 
In a letter received the other day from a first-rate 
| nurseryman, a great man in the Fancy Pear way—and, 
i indeed, in all fruits—was a rather amusing remark.’ 
Having exulted somewhat on the success of the Pear 
season, we were emphatically reminded by our corres¬ 
pondent of our geographical position; “You may thank 
your northern climate for it.” Well, then, it occurred, of 
| course, that the Edinbro’ folk were two or three degrees 
luckier still, but that they were as nothing compared 
to Johnny Groats, to say nothing of the Laplanders! 
Now, suppose any gentleman, who is too highly 
favoured by climate, were to increase the amount of his 
northern latitude for a few weeks, by preventing the 
excitement consequent on sunshine, through the 
medium of a skreeu applied even before the excitement 
took place, where would be the harm ? 
lo repeat what has before been urged in these pages-' 
if Mr. A , whose garden joins Mr. 13., can, by retarding 
his blossoms, throw them a fortnight later than Mr. 13., 
there can be no doubt, in the minds of reasonable 
persons, that in general tbe chances would be much in 
favour of Mr. A., inasmuch as every week in spring 
perforce lessens the amount of intensity of frost, or a 
very low temperature. And if a comparative immunity 
bom scvcie weather be not favourable to the impreg¬ 
nation of the blossoms of fruit trees, pray what is? 
With regard to trees in full bearing, and which, from 
being somewhat tender, require much solar light, it 
wdl be obvious that a somewhat liberal disbudding 
and thinning out becomes necessary, more especially 
of the late-made spray, which such trees generally pro- 
duce pretty liberally, especially if somewhat luxuriant. 
I he object here is to throw a little sunlight through 
all poi tions ol the tree, and this being somewhat 
difficult with the ordinary formed standard, the utility 
of a trellis instantly suggests itself. Of course, in most 
trees of this kind, under a dwarfing system, some little 
shortening, in autumn, of the reserved points, becomes 
necessary, not only to keep them within due bounds, 
but to induce them to devclope spurs, or the rudiments 
of them, which shortening back has a tendency to do. 
A very small amount removed will promote this object; 
too much shortening is a sad waste of material. It'will, 
in geneial, suffice to remove any portion which may 
appear immature, or lean. J 
With regard to young trees in the course of being 
moulded into shape, it frequently becomes necessary to 
make a sacrifice in order to obtain shape; and shoots 1 
sometimes have to be cut away, or severely shortened, : 
which, in the case of maturer trees, would have to be ; 
reserved. 
Y hatever sacrifice becomos necessary, should be i 
made during the first two years after planting as far as 
possible, and if the trees are thriving, this is easily 
accomplished. It is not an uncommon thing to find 
j )°ung trees very unequal—one side full of weak shoots, 1 
i an d on the other, one or two gigantic shoots, revelling ! 
1 at the expense of the rest. Now this is a case for ! 
summer pruning, or, rather, stopping. Such will effect 
what the pruning-knife cannot do ; it will turn this pre- 
i l ,on deiance on the other side—into other and more 
needy channels. When such things have been omitted, 
such gross shoots must be reduced in length con¬ 
siderably, with a determination to pinch any ramblers 
which may proceed from them as soon as six or eight | 
1 inches in length. 
The middle of young trees should be kept somewhat | 
open at first, but not so open as tho currant bushes. 
This will be tho means of establishing good, firm shoots ; 
round the exterior; for the middle of the tree is apt to 
“ run away with the outside,” to use a mere technicality; 
most trees, indeed, having a continual tendency to 
escape tho artistical trammels of man, and to become i 
ordinary standards. R. Ekrington. 
BEDDING OUT HERBACEOUS PLANTS AND 
BIENNIALS. 
Towards the middle of May, if the weather is fine, 
planting flower beds begins in earnest, and in ten clays, 
those who did not calculate in time on the number of 
plants they require to fill up the beds, must needs 
either buy in more plants, or submit to have their want 
of foresight demonstrated by the wide distances between 
the bedding plants. Such occasions are the when and 
where to plant out and make use of autumn-sown annuals. 
Bedding plants have kept well in most places this 
winter, as far as I can learn, and annuals not well at 
all, generally. I have only one simple piece of advice to 
give to the planters, but it is worth, 1 know not how 
much. Do not plant too soon. Do not plant just yet 
such plants as w r ere but tbe other dav taken from heat 
or close confinement; and be in no hurry in planting 
out such plants as have been recently bought, or recieved 
through the kindness of a friend. I have seen, I was 
well nigh saying a hundred times over, a whole month 
lost by transgression against this rule, in the hurry to 
get the planting done. The best planters are often 
obliged to take possession only of a certain number of 
beds for which the right number of plants are not quite 
teady, and I mention this to show the other side of the 
question. It is a bad practice to hold back any plants that 
are wanting more pot room, or are too dose together, because 
there are not enough of them to fill the beds at once. 
Suppose No. 12 bed, on tbe plan, to be marked for the 
Dmma I eibena, or tbe dark variety of Senecio, or double 
American Groundsel, and that it takes thirty-three 
plants of the first, or forty-three of the second, to fill 
this bed, and that you are ten plants short, which ten 
are nearly struck, or nearly ready to come out of the 
close pit. 1 ou may think it matters little to keep the 
first plants waiting till the ten are ready; but it is not 
so. It is much better to take possession, as tbe planters 
assert, of No. 12, with what plants are ready, and to 
plant all round tbe bod full enough at first, leaving the 
plants wider apart in the middle of the bed for tbe 
second lot to be put in between the first planting in ten 
days hence or later. 
1 elunias are very liable to be blown about too much 
in open and exposed places before they take root-hold 
ol the bed, and many other plants suffer in the same 
way, particularly those with long and pliable shoots. 
I he way to deal with such plants is to set the plants 
more to one side at first planting, and to fix them to 
their places as soon as the bed is planted. For laying 
plants to one side there is but one rule, and only two 
applications of it. It the plant is single-stemmed, tbe j 
top must point to the north pole; if more stems than one, i 
the v eakest should point northwards and the strongest J 
towards the sun at mid-day; and, whatever the position I 
of tbe shoot, it must not be so as to turn any of the I 
leaves upside clown. I attach very great importance to 
these two applications of this planting rule. When a 
siund plant, or a weak shoot, is fixed in a slanting way 
to the north, every morsel of the leaves look full in the I 
