THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
121 
May 30.] 
there really might he such a tiling as an over-powerful 
action of root; and that this quondam friend might, 
under certain circumstances, assume the attitude oi a 
foe. Not all who plant pears plant for their heirs 
merely; these are days of quick return in the commer¬ 
cial world, and, indeed, everything British seems likely 
to partake of this character. No wonder, therefore, that 
horticulture comes in for its share. 
The late Mr. Loudon, in his popular magazine, was 
the first to open a medium for the free exchange 
of gardening opinions; and here was an arena fur¬ 
nished in which the lovers of progress in horticulture 
might exchange opinions freely, and wherein old and 
time-honoured opinions might be submitted to the test 
of science. 
In those days, a Mr. Robert Hiver, whose where¬ 
abouts, we fancy, never came to light, wrote a paper on 
fruit-trees, which at once dealt a severe blow at prescrip¬ 
tive routine; aud we well remember what an impression 
it made on many ingenious friends in the gardening 
w r ay, by the boldness and originality of the opinions 
held forth. Mr. Hiver went at once to the fountain 
head ; he showed by past experience that although ex¬ 
pensive borders of compost, and laborious systems of 
winter pruning, looked very elaborate and pains-taking 
on paper, that they had over failed in attaining the ob¬ 
ject in view ; and that to understand the subject aright, 
wo must “ begin at the beginning,” or, in other words, 
take a lesson or two from the school of nature. The 
dubbed thorn in the hedge was brought into compari¬ 
son, both root and branch, with the unpruned, unmo¬ 
lested thorn-tree, covered in profusion with its crimson 
treasures ; here it was made manifest that a prepared 
compost below, and severe mutilation above, had cer¬ 
tainly made a good hedge, but by no means been pro¬ 
ductive of haws. 
In a very short period the whole question of fruit cul¬ 
ture underwent a severe scrutiny; and although many 
a poor wight had the mortification afterwards to find his 
elaborate paper enclosing a patch of butter, still ho 
might have the gratification to consider that he had 
kept the question warm, and furnished to others, if not 
genuine ideas, at least the germs of them. 
From those days to these in which we are living, both 
science and practice have been brought to bear continu¬ 
ally on this matter; and the subject of the present nar¬ 
rative has fallen in for an unusual share of considera¬ 
tion on both sides. One rather remarkable doctrine 
was long adhered to by the old school gardeners. They 
held, that what is termed “ stopping” had a tendency to 
strengthen the tree. Now, if such were right, the prac¬ 
tice of the present day of stopping over-gross shoots, in 
order to weaken them, is fearfully wrong. The idea was, 
however, absurd; trees strengthen by enlargement and 
extension; and stopping is surely averse to such exten¬ 
sion. 
At this period the trained pears require and deserve 
more attention than most of our trained fruit-trees, their 
tendency to produce spray being almost unbounded 
during the month of June, especially if planted in soils 
too deep, or too rich. Rainy periods, too, exercise con¬ 
siderable influence over pear-trees, especially young 
ones, which in many cases seem capable of taking in 
almost as great an amount of watery matter as some of 
our willows. All this points plainly to the necessity of 
severe restriction at the root. 
With regard to thinning and stopping the spray, where 
trees are in a healthy medium state, the best practice is 
to rub away at once all gross robbers which are not 
required to cover the nakedness of the branches. These, 
if suffered to remain until their succulent leaves are 
developed, will have called an undue amount of new and 
gluttonous fibres into being; for we may rest assured, 
that as the top is so the root is, or soon will bo. In all 
ordinary cases the production of spray is a tolerably sure 
index. After disposing of tbe above shoots, the whole 
of the spray should undergo a revision, and where crowded 
a thinning out must take place betimes, if only to admit 
light freely to the embryo blossom-buds on the natural 
spurs; for these will already be in course of organiza¬ 
tion, and light is indispensable. If a very severe thin¬ 
ning-out becomes necessary, we advise an immediate 
root-pruning. It may alarm some persons to talk of 
root-pruning in June, and certainly, where there is fruit 
swelling on the tree, the process requires some caution. 
A very small amount of curtailment will suffice at this 
period ; indeed, opening a trench at the very extremities 
of the roots, or any portion of them, and suffering it to 
remain open for a few weeks, will alone produce the 
desired result. Without such precautions the cultivator 
will only be deceiving himself; but be it remembered, 
we are speaking of pears which have been improperly 
planted—that is to say, planted without a sufficient 
amount of root control. 
In thinning out tbe young spray (preparatory to what 
we have termed, in previous papers of The Cottage 
Gardener, the tying-down system) regard must be con¬ 
stantly had to the character of the young shoots, as we 
have often urged. Even as early as the month of May 
at least tivo distinct kinds of wood may be distinguished, 
varying somewhat in colour in various kinds, yet still 
retaining some characters in common, the principal one 
of which is, shortness in the joints, or the part between 
two buds, termed by botanists tbe internode. The 
earliest made wood is generally the best, because most 
mature, and probably through its monopoly of' the true 
sap of the former year; for be it understood that much 
of the late made spray—commonly termed “ watery 
wood ”—is the mere production of the sudden impulses 
communicated by rainy weather, bringing into a state 
of solubility manorial or organic matters existing in the 
soil, and facilitating the extension of the young fibres, 
by softening down obsti'uctive matters. 
As much, therefore, of the young spray must be dis¬ 
budded as will admit a fair portion of sunlight to all 
parts of the tree; and this done, the remainder had 
better be suffered to grow unmolested for a few weeks ; 
for any stronger proceedings would cause many of the 
embryo fruit-buds for future years to burst; and this it 
is that causes many gardeners to leave their trees in a 
rude stato until late in the summer—thus damaging the 
welfare of the fruit-buds as to shade, for fear of their 
being over-excited by a too sudden influx of sap. How 
plainly this shows the want of a proper amount of root 
control, which has been so repeatedly urged in the pages 
of The Cottage Gardener. 
Let us press on those who have trellises or walls to 
cover, and training by system to carry out, the propriety 
of attending in due time to the early growths of then- 
young trees. The loss of a year or two, or of many 
square feet of expensive walls or trellises, is an object 
of too much importance to bo overruled by a short¬ 
sighted economy. R. Errington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Spring Bulbs. —The leaves of all our spring bulbs 
are now in their full prime, digesting food suitable for 
the production of blossoms next year. Yes, next year ! 
We often plume ourselves on our skilful management of 
forced bulbs in pots, because we seldom fail of having 
them “ very fine indeed this season; ’ and it seems 
almost unkind in a public writer to disturb this prevail¬ 
ing opinion of our own proficiency; and I should be the 
last to mention it, had it not been that at this season we 
are all of us liable to overlook or neglect the proper 
treatment of these bulbs, by cutting oft their leaves to 
