170 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ November, 
into tlie house, full of flower, by June. I have 
often had three-years bulbs with twenty or 
twenty-five blooms on at once.” 
The Chiswick White (Fig. 1) is remarkable 
for its size, its purity, and the stoutness of its 
texture ; and it was, when shown, considered 
to be the best white variety which has been 
obtained. We know of no better which has 
been produced since.—T. Moore. 
PEACHES, NECTARINES, AND 
APRICOTS ON WALLS. 
f HE two former have done remarkably 
well with us this season. The trees 
have been clean, have made a good 
growth, and carried a good crop of fruit. The 
latter has been smaller, and is also considerably 
later than usual; fully half the crop still 
remained on the trees, at the middle of Sep¬ 
tember. 
It is singular, too, to note the difference 
between the time of ripening of Peaches and 
Nectarines. Though so closely related, and 
growing side by side on the same walls as 
Peaches, we had not, at the date just inti¬ 
mated, gathered any quantity of Nectarines. 
The earliest to ripen this season was the 
Pitmaston Orange; the Elruge, Violette 
Hative, and Hardwicke Seedling were, at 
this date, hard, though a few of them had 
fallen. Two of Mr. Rivers’ seedlings, too, the 
Dante and Darwin, were splitting very much, 
especially the former. The origin of this Nec¬ 
tarine is, I believe, unknown ; it seems as if it 
might have a good deal of Stanwick blood in 
it, as I have always found that noble variety 
split very much in the open air. 
I attribute the under-size of Peaches and 
Nectarines this season to the long drought we 
had in the summer. This seemed to set the 
fruit fast in a thick semi-dried rind before any 
copious rains came. Root-watering could 
hardly prevent this check to the fruit, as the 
hot dry weather in June heated the walls to 
semi-scorcliing temperatures. 
The incessant rains for nearly two months 
seemed rather to lower the flavour, than 
enlarge the size of these choice fruits. The 
absence of sun just when most needed also, 
no doubt, contributed to this lowering of the 
flavour of Peaches and Nectarines. In some 
cases, too, not a few of the fruit appear to have 
been flooded off, and have fallen in quite a 
premature state. 
I find the simplest way of improving the 
flavour of such fruits is to gather them as soon 
as they part easily from the trees, and lay them 
on paper or cotton-wool on the dry shelves of 
an early vinery. The more arid the atmo¬ 
sphere, the better. The direct rays of the sun 
must not, however, be permitted to shine on 
the fruit, as that would scorch or scald them. 
This treatment appears to dissipate much of 
the watery sap, while the advance of tempera¬ 
ture improves their flavour. Nectarines will 
bear this artificial ripening longer than Peaches, 
though the latter, if carefully handled, are also 
immenselv benefited bv it in such deluging 
seasons as this. Plums are even more amenable 
to this artificial ripening ; and in many localities 
such splendid plums as Coe’s Golden Drop 
and the Ickworth Imperatrice can scarcely be 
finished in the highest style without it. 
As to the trees, the great point will be 
to arrest their growth. The late heavy 
continuous rains have kept the trees as 
green as leeks. The growth must be stopped 
forthwith, if the trees are to be wintered in 
safety, or do any good next season. There are 
only three modes of arresting such late growth. 
(1st.) To mutilate or remove the growing power, 
that is, the leaves ; this is done by cutting off 
the upper portion of all the more vigorous 
leaves, at the highest or growing end of the 
shoots ; or in other cases, by removing a great 
many leaves, ripe or unripe : either practice for¬ 
cibly arrests growth. (2nd.) A better way is to 
cut or cripple some of the more active roots; this 
cuts off the supplies, and so arrests growth; by 
thus reducing the watery sap, the declining sun 
is also the better able to convert that left into 
wood or buds for next year. (.‘3rd.) To shield off 
from the borders every drop of water from now 
till the end of the year ; this would also tend to 
check growth, and render the maturation of 
the wood possible. Certain it is that unless 
something is done, and that speedily, the pos¬ 
sibility—almost certainty—is that the nice 
wood that has inspired us with hope for next 
year in the making, will form food for the 
Avinter’s frosts, instead of a suie basis for abund¬ 
ant bloom next spring, or a good crop of fruit 
in the autumn of 1882.—D. T. Fisii, Hard- 
vriclce House. 
P.S.—The terrific gales, succeeded by biting 
frosts, on October 15th and 16th, have whipped 
and punished late growths very much, and sud¬ 
denly arrested all further progress.—D. T. F. 
