10 the COTTAGE GABDENEE AND COUNTBY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, Arm. 7, 1857. 
PEACH TREES IN POTS SHOWING BLOSSOM- 
BUDS ONLY. 
“ I have some Peach trees in pots subjected to model ate 
heat in a small forcing house, falling to 40° or 45° of tem¬ 
perature at night. These trees were pruned in good time, 
leaving what was supposed to be six or seven wood-buds on a 
portion of a branch about as many inches long. These have, 
however, all proved themselves to be blossom-buds without 
a leaf, and have actually set their fruit, and in some other 
instances where there were three buds, a wood-bud in the 
middle and two blossom-buds at the side, they have all 
become blossom-buds. Fruit, I believe, is the leaf in another 
shape; but is it not unusual for what appeared to be 
embryo leaves to come out at once in the shape of blossom? 
As none of these buds could without any leaf be of use, 
though they have set fruit they have been taken off, leaving 
the branches quite naked and bare. As this is rather un¬ 
sightly, not to mention other inconveniences, I shall be 
much obliged if you can give me some insight into the cause, 
that I may endeavour to guard against it in future. I should 
be glad also to know whether the now naked branches, but 
not dead, from which the blossoms were taken should be cut 
off, and when?” 
i [Your Peach trees are in a state of debility, arising either 
from bearing too large a quantity of fruit last year, or from 
! too little vigour in the action of the roots. Examine the 
roots, and see if they have become pot bound. If they have 
shift them into larger pots, and give them a supply of fresh 
and richer soil to feed upon, and we have no doubt you will 
not have a recurrence of the same misfortune next year. 
Do not cut off the naked branches just yet, but wait for a 
week or two, and you will find any dormant buds which 
may be at their base will begin to break, and there¬ 
fore guide you as to where the naked shoots should be 
pruned.] 
CUCUMBERS IN A LATE VINERY. 
“ I have a late vinery, and in it a large pit. Some eight 
weeks since I filled a portion of this pit with tan and well- 
turned stable manure, hoping to get a few Cucumbers before 
the Vines should be in full leaf. A two-light frame was put 
on. The heat rose well and steadily, and, moreover, has 
continued , arising, I suppose, from the fact that two-thirds 
of the bed was tan; 80° bottom heat; top heat seldom 
below 70°. Some Cucumber plants, healthy and strong, 
were put in, as also Chrysanthemum cuttings, Vine eyes, 
and young Fuchsias. The bed seemed to be everything 
that could be desired; but yet the Cucumbers have dwindled 
away and nearly perished. I was in the habit of looking at 
them night after night, and of examining the state of the 
heat by a lantern, and I found that as often as I put the 
liame near the bed it was extinguished. At first I was in¬ 
clined to blame the servant for not properly trimming my 
lamp, but have since discovered that it was owing to some 
noxious gas proceeding from the bed. There was evidently 
lack of oxygen ; and, as I drew in breath over the frame, I 
could distinctly perceive that the vapour was very different 
from that which usually obtains in such cases. Would the 
tan generate such a gas, and is there any remedy ?” B. 
[The idea of a Cucumber bed in a late vinery is a very 
good one, and has several times been adopted by ourselves 
with great success. Two great advantages were gained. 
The first was, that the heat from the fermenting material 
was the best of all heat for breaking the Vine buds regularly 
and strongly. The second was, that air could be more 
copiously and regularly given to the Cucumbers than if they 
had been growing in a bed out of doors, because the air in 
the house would always be comparatively warm, and even 
in very cold weather a little fire could be used before the 
Vines did break their buds, and after that artificial heat 
would be used at any rate, we presume, when necessary. 
Our correspondent anticipated fruit before the Vines came 
into leaf; but unless they covered the roof thickly Cucumbers 
might be gathered freely in such a house until they were 
obtained from handlights out of doors. When the house 
was kept high enough for Vines blooming and swelling there 
would be no necessity for the Cucumber frame at all, as the 
shoots of the Cucumbers would ramble freely over the bed. 
Cucumbers, of course, require a certain amount of light to 
keep their foliage healthy; but, as the fruit is better without 
seed than with it, it thrives very well m such a subdued 
light as would be obtained by Vine stems four or five feet 
apart on the roof above them. We have tned Melons the 
same way, but with less success, as, though the fruit swelled 
well enough, it was deficient in flavour. In fact, the less 
shade a Melon plant has the finer generally will be the 
flavour of the fruit; while bright, unobstructed sunlight has 
a tendency at times to make Cucumbers bitter. We should 
better have been able to speak of the cause of failure i we 
had known how other things, such as Fuchsias, did m the 
bed, because if there was nothing wrong with them we 
should be apt to imagine that the Cucumbers had received 
some check independently of the state of the bed. Most 
likely, however, the dung had not been quite sweet enoug , 
and the tan might have been better for giving it a sweating 
and a turning before using it. How are the condensed 
drops of water in a morning on the sashbars ? _ If not as 
pure as a dewdrcp it is a sign that the fermenting matter 
is not sweet enough. Even if that was not so sweet as it 
ought to have been the injury might have been avoided by 
leaving the sashes tilted for a quarter or half of an inch at 
the back. In dull weather from 65° to 70° would be quite 
high enough during the day, and 65° at night. So air 
might have been safely left on constantly; and for want ot 
better information we rather think this will be the sheet 
anchor of future safety and success.] 
RESTORING VIGOUR TO ORANGE TREES. 
“ will you inform me how I am to recover the health of 
some old Orange trees? Do what I will I cannot keep 
them clean, and the branches are constantly dying back. 
They are now in square tubs, one foot eight inches wide by 
eighteen inches deep. My employer has granted me some 
new tubs for them. The trees are from seven to ten feet 
high, with stems from six to eight inches m diameter. 
What size ought the new tubs to be, and when should they 
be retubbed? also, what treatment ought they to have 
afterwards ? The Orange house is a lean-to one, with a 
flue underneath the floor.”—A Cornish Subscriber. 
[We cannot tell you what sized boxes you would require 
unless we knew the state of the roots, and the size of the 
head of the trees, and how much they would require to be 
pruned in. If the roots are in a bad state the trees might 
be better retubbed in the same-sized boxes for another 
year. If in good order the tubs may be from two feet to 
two feet and a half square. If in fine health from two feet 
and a half to three feet would not be too much for such 
fine, large-stemmed trees. They could not be shifted better 
than anytime in April when everything was ready for the 
purpose. This is how we would set about it. We would 
procure as much tan as would pack round the tubs when 
set in the Orange house, and have it sweetened by laying m 
a heap and several turnings; or we would get as much dung, 
or dung and leaves, sweetened as nicely as for a Cucumber 
bed, as would be necessary for such a purpose. We would 
also secure a sufficient quantity of fresh fibry loam, breaking 
it chiefly with the hand into small pieces, and, if using a 
riddle at all, using a fine one to get rid of all the fine 
matter when gently sifted. This we would make about three- 
fourths of the compost, and the other fourth would consist 
of bits of charcoal, heath soil, nodules of old, dried cow- 
dung, and a sprinkling of silver sand. When the plants 
were untubbed we would pick out all the old soil possible 
without injuring the roots much. If the ball was at all dry 
we would set it in a tub of water for half an.hour, and let 
it drain afterwards for one hour. If the soil in the interior 
was much wasted we would use this means for washing it out. 
Drain the tubs well; sprinkle a little moss over the drainage, 
then a layer of the roughest compost; pack the new soil 
among the roots, and if previously dipped, and the new soil 
is moistish, little water will be wanted until growth is proceed¬ 
ing. Then pack the fermenting material among the boxes in 
the house, which will encourage active root action, and cause 
the heads of the plants to break freely. Slightly sprinkle the 
heads frequently from the syringe, and give comparatively 
little air for some weeks, preferring to shade in hot, sunny 
days. The above would be the best method, and about 
