CG 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
May 
which those robbers would fain appropriate to them¬ 
selves. There must, nevertheless, he no monopoly 
here; the whole system of the tree must he consi¬ 
dered a commonwealth, and care must he taken that 
no ambitious Cromwell renders the affair nugatory. 
Coarse-growing plums should he more liberally 
disbudded and stopped than, perhaps, any other fruit 
except the tig. Of course the disbudding will take 
place first; hut immediately on the heels of this 
operation the finger and thumb must he in requisi¬ 
tion. If occasionally the spurs from which such 
robbers are produced possess few natural spurs, or 
the germs of them, and no fruit has set, they should 
he cut out altogether; this is far better than merely 
disbudding the robber, for there is always a tendency 
to a monopoly of this kind in a spur which has 
given birth to one of these coarse shoots, for the fact 
intimates at once that it has capacious sap vessels. 
This cutting away of old spurs may he rather exten¬ 
sively practised under the above circumstances, in a 
spring like this, when little or no sacrifice has to he 
made in the fruit of the season. On the removal, 
however, of those spurs, a substitute will be requisite, 
and this will he found in the practice we long since 
suggested in these columns of tying down a liberal 
amount of young shoots, annually, on the older wood, 
using such, after it has become somewhat stripped of 
its barren spurs, as a living trellis. This is no mere 
suppositious mode of procedure, neither is it a bor¬ 
rowed feather from a nobler plume ; we write in all 
cases, or nearly so, what we have proved repeatedly ; 
indeed, tliis tying down practice we have followed for 
at least ten years. Some other matters incidental to 
the seasom must now be proceeded with; and we 
leave the plum for the present, with merely observing 
that all the weaker-growing section will only require 
regular disbudding, or thinning out if you will, like 
most other trained trees ; and that it is necessary to 
keep a sharp look out for the plum aphides—by some 
practical men termed the “ dolphin-fly”—which bears 
a resemblance to that which infests the garden bean. 
If these cluster on the young shoots, apply tobacco- 
water from a syringe; if from shag tobacco, half a 
pound maximum will make a gallon; and, in the 
case of young trees, or where trouble is not a consi¬ 
deration, the ends of the shoots may be dipped in 
the mixture, by bending them down slightly before 
nailing. 
The Vine on Walls is now breaking into leaf, 
and we beg to remind our readers of the propriety 
of early disbudding. This cannot commence until 
the show for fruit can be distinguished. The amount 
of thinning of course must be dependent on the 
strength of the tree—better, however, thin rather 
liberally. For a healthy tree, we should say that 
there may be produced one bunch to every two 
square feet. Such guesses, nevertheless, can only 
serve as a rough guide to the most inexperienced, for 
soil, age of tree, and the former year’s crop, should be 
taken into consideration. Of course the thinner-out 
will take care to leave the bearing shoots as equally 
dispersed as possible, in order that the larger leaves, 
which cater for the fruit, may have room for a perfect 
development, for on this much, very much, depends. 
Any shoots which are well placed to fill future 
blanks, and yet not fruiters of the present year, may 
be pinched back Ao a couple of eyes, and frequently 
stopped during the summer, thus forming a reserve 
for future years. We will return to the vine ere 
long. R. Errington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Roses for Grouping in Beds ( concluded ).—There 
are so great a number of kinds of roses that answer 
admirably for bedding purposes, that we feel almost 
at a loss which to recommend in preference to others 
equally as good. We shall give a few more than are 
needful for moderate-sized gardens, but none but 
what are really good for the purpose. Our readers, 
consequently, need be at no loss which to have and 
which to reject. 
White Damask —Madame Hardy. 
White Provence —Unique. 
Rose-coloured .—Common Moss. A bed of roses 
all of this kind is, when in flower, one of the finest 
sights the kingdom of Flora exhibits. The delicious 
fragrance and lovely hue of this beautiful rose, ball' 
shrouded, as it were, with a veil of green mossy 
spray, renders it peculiarly attractive and desirable. 
To grow it to the greatest perfection, you must take 
some pains; and before we describe the proper ma¬ 
nagement it requires, we will observe that the same 
treatment will suit all the strong growing Provence, 
Damask, and Gallic (French) roses, wlien grown on 
their own roots as dwarf roses. 
In the first place, the soil should be of a good 
loamy texture, made rich with very rotten dung. 
The plants should be put in early in autumn, and a 
covering of short dung spread all over the bed. The 
first year they should be pruned to three buds of the 
previous year’s growth. In the autumn of the fol- 
lowiug year, fork the bed over, and lay on a fresh 
coat of rotten dung; then in the spring, early in 
March, procure a few hooked pegs, and peg down a 
sufficient number of the strongest shoots to cover 
the bed completely, shortening them in a few inches 
from the extremity of each shoot. Cut off the shoots 
that are not wanted, to the same length as you did 
the spring previously. The shoots thus pruned, and 
those pegged down, will send up short shoots, and 
each will have a bunch of fine flowers. Though the 
first year’s bloom will produce some tolerable flowers, 
the second will be by far the finest. To prevent the 
bed being entirely bare of flowers in the spring, some 
patches of crocuses and snowdrops might be planted 
amongst them without any injury to the roses. In 
the autumn, after the roses have done blooming, cut 
off all the decayed floweis, and plant a few low grow¬ 
ing annuals, such as Nolana prostrata, Nemophila 
insignis, Leptosiplion androsaceus, and others. These 
will serve to make the bed look gay when the glory 
of the rose has departed. 
Crimson. Gallic roses —Beaute vive, Due deTrevise, Roi dc Naples, 
and Washington. Fairy roses, white and red, arc excellent for 
small beds. Sweetbriers— Double scarlet, La Belle distinguee. 
We have now finished the list and description of 
roses for bedding purposes, and we hope our labour 
will be acceptable to such of our correspondents as 
have asked for this information. 
Next week wc shall try to give a list, of the best 
climbing and pillar roses. 
Routine Work. — Neatness .—Every part of the 
flower-garden should be now in the best order; the 
marks of care and industry ought to appear con¬ 
stantly. Lay it down as a rifle to be strictly observed, 
that no weeds must ever progress beyond the seed- 
leaf. All flowers that require support with sticks 
should have them applied in the early stage of 
growth, and be tied to the supports every week as 
they require it. They arc then safe from being 
