82 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 11, 1858. 
Suckers should b« pruned clear away, and dressed off 
as neatly and carefully as our Rose growers dress tlie 
roots of their stocks. 
I may now turn to Apricots. The frost before alluded 
to was trying to these; they were just beginning to 
show their embryo fruit, and had blossomed well; but 
this was a severe trial for them, and they suffered 
much; still, I believe, there will be a good crop gene¬ 
rally. No fruit I am acquainted with is so liable to 
1 suffer from frost as the Apricot, especially when set, 
and the tiny would-be-fruit has cast or is casting its 
covering. I have, in common with many other gar¬ 
deners, known the fruits, when large enough for tarts, 
fairly blackened by a frost as late as the 8 th of May ; yet 
they seem as hardy as other fruits until the blossom is 
nearly opened. Apricots, above all the fruits we cul- 
i tivate out-doors, delight in much warmth whilst in the 
growing state. I do not, however, here speak of intense 
heat, or exceedingly high temperatures at any parti¬ 
cular period, but rather that sudden depressions are 
inimical to their welfare. It is for this reason, doubt¬ 
less, that they succeed so surprisingly on the south 
front of many cottages, and small houses in various 
parts of the kingdom ; of this I have no doubt what¬ 
ever. Such walls are warmer than ordinary garden 
walls, in consequence of the fires constantly used 
inside : could it be ascertained with precision, it would 
be found that there were half-a-dozen degrees in their 
favour, on the average. If I were to build walls for 
their proper culture, I would have a sure provision for 
artificial warmth, when I chose to apply it, and this 
would be from the moment the very first blossom 
opened until the fruits were as large as small ripe Cher¬ 
ries, about the third week in May. I would then cease 
during a period of warm weather, and resume them 
occasionally through June, or even July, during fits 
of unseasonable weather. Great care will be requisite 
to watch the development of the caterpillars, the pro¬ 
duce mostly of the Red-bar moth; these are almost sure 
to appear when the foliage is fully expanded ; they must 
be collected by picking—avoiding injury to the foliage. 
Attention will be also necessary as to rampant shoots ; 
these do much injury to the trees, and are for the most 
part caused by over excitement through manurial mat¬ 
ters. Such allowed to grow rampant, and to monopo¬ 
lise the juices of the tree, take the liberty of forming 
such capacious channels for the influx of sap, that 
; other and inferior portions are robbed, and occasionally 
a kind of constriction takes place, and the older portion 
dies, probably of sheer inanition. This I take to be 
the cause, in the main, of the dying off of boughs in 
the Apricot; and what is this, more or less, than self- 
pruning p 
I am well assured that the stock, on which the 
Apricot is budded, is not thoroughly suited to its 
habits ; and it is much to be wondered at, that 
something better has not been discovered: had the 
j thorough investigation of this subject been a profit¬ 
able speculation, such would have been discovered 
long since. 
, .^ n ^} ei ’ r ies, the blossom appears unusually strong 
this spring, as also in Plums ; the latter in these parts 
are a complete garland. I, therefore, anticipate a 
splendid fruit season, principally, however, on account 
of the lateness of the blossoms, and partially through 
the very complete ripeness of the wood in general of 
fruit trees ; and which the last genial summer carried 
j ou t i. 11 first-rate style. It is too soon yet to guess con¬ 
cerning Apples ; they are with us unusually late ; but 
one remark I would make—the fruits kept worse in the 
rooms than I ever knew them ; or, at least, a greater 
proportion rotted. I think it may be affirmed, that 
nearly two-thirds of the whole stock were thus lost. 
I JN ow.this was not simply my case, but universal in these 
parts. This much, however, I may say, those which 
did keep were of very superior flavour. 
Now, to what cause shall we attribute this disaster? 
To what, but the very warm summer. If this be the 
case, it simply shows that we may have too much of 
those elements we, in general, so much desire, for 
our more tender fruits, and for this there is no help ; 
only the subject is worthy of a passing remark. We 
shall, doubtless, find sufficient compensation for such 
mishaps, in the fact that we shall be ultimately gainers 
by a more firm and fruitful habit induced in many 
tender fruits; as also improved qualities in the pro¬ 
duce. Now, in such cases, I do not conceive that it 
is in any particularly high temperatures, for short 
periods, that such singularities consist, but in the 
aggregate amount of heat—taking the three chief sum¬ 
mer months of July, August, and September; which, 
perhaps, more concern the welfare of tender fruit trees 
than any other. And here I would ask practical men, 
of a half-century’s standing in particular, whether the 
springs are not in general later and more severe than 
in our younger days P Or, is it, that as we grow older, 
we grow more impatient ? Let us refer to certain 
flowers for a clue to the mystery. I will point to the 
Mezereon, the Primula family, and in early bulbs, to 
such things as the old starch Hyacinth or Muscari, 
the Dog’s-tooth or Erythronium, the Hepatica, and 
sundry other such little early visitors which used to 
take time by the forelock; but of late years seem to j 
take it much more easy than in former days, or, at 
least, to take a longer nap. I have known many of 
these things in blossom early in March, but now, April 
the 26th, they are, for the most part, just beginning to 
open. 
These, and several other flowers or plants, have been 
with us later, on the average for several years, and, 
with the fruits, would seem to prove that our springs 
are somewhat later. Now, I do not think that this is so 
much owing to a lowered temperature on the average, 
but principally to occasional severe frosts at unusually 
late periods ; these tend to arrest the first growth, and 
to bring on a kind of temporary torpidity, during which 
time is lost. Such depressions occurring suddenly 
after exciting periods, doubtless exercise an ungenial 
influence over our tender fruits, by deranging for i 
awhile that reciprocity between root and branch, on ! 
which, in the main, the welfare of fruit trees may be 
said to depend, to say little about the actual damage to ! 
the blossoms. 
Whilst on the subject of fruits, I am reminded that ! 
some inquirer, a few numbers back, desired to know | 
how to make an artificial loam ; a remark consequent 
on my advices as to soil, surface-dressings, &c. 1 very 
much fear, that with all our boasted advances, we 
should find it a difficult affair to make that in an hour, 
which Nature requires, perhaps, generations to effect. 
. And what is loam, but a mixture of the clayey prin¬ 
ciple, sand, organic matter, lime, and of some other 
little affairs, a trace blended and incorporated in the 
most homogeneous manner ? But the proportions are 
an important consideration : a preponderance of the 
clayey principle constitutes an adhesive or strong 
loam, of the sandy principle the reverse. If any one 
wishes to try his hand at it, I would suggest the 
following :—Take three barrowsful of nice clay, dry it 
thoroughly, and powder it fine as magnesia. Then add 
two barrows of sand, the finer the better, mixing it 
most thoroughly by several turnings with the clay. 
Add one barrow of fresh slacked lime, and give another 
turn or two. 
Here we have the inorganic materials chiefly, and 
now let us add the organic together, with certain 
gaseous matters which they contain. Take two barrows 
of half-decayed leaf soil, and thump it fine, and obtain 
