296 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 9, 1886. 
good should they attempt to use a pruning knife. But 
this need not be so if they will reason the matter out 
a little. One of the first things to bear in mind when 
pruning is in hand is That fine quality fruit cannot be 
expected from trees that are over crowded, and with 
the general run of amateurs a good average sample 
gives more pleasure than a heavier yield of inferior 
quality fruits. Any tree then that is over crowded 
in its branches, should have them judiciously thinned, 
and in the case of branches of trees that are too densely 
set with fruit spurs it is advisable to thin those out also, 
for many a promising crop has been lost from weak¬ 
ness and exhaustion brought about by over flowering. 
The next thing is to consider the shape of the tree, 
which may be what their owner fancies to make them, 
but as a matter of good taste it is always best to let 
them assume their own natural form, merely restricting 
them to the size desired. In shortening them back 
some knowledge of the bearing habits of each particular 
sort, especially of Apples and Pears, as some bear on 
the tips of the young shoots, and to cut these off is to 
deprive oneself of a seasons crop. Some may say, 
which sorts are they which bear in this way ? well, the 
answer to such a question is to be found in the 
appearance of the trees themselves, if they have any 
bearing-wood on them. Another thing we like to see 
in trees growing in a well ordered garden is the branches 
arranged at tolerably regular distances apart, and it is 
of great advantage in allowing the sun to act on all 
parts alike. Sometimes shoots too close together may 
be got into position by means of forked sticks placed 
between them for a season ; and in the case of branches 
that want bringing down, it can be done by means of a 
piece of string and a stone suspended as a weight. 
This will answer the purpose admirably, and though 
some may laugh at this notion, as some “ clever ” people 
have done before, never mind them, it will answer your 
purpose, without hurting anyone else.— Scolytus. 
-- 
ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE 
CHRYSANTHEMUM— III. 
Continuing my remarks from p. 246 I may now say 
that the plants will, early in April, be ready for another 
potting, this time into 6 -inch pots. If the weather is 
favourable they can then be stood in a sheltered position 
out of doors, and they will soon make nice plants. Do 
not over water any, but when watering is required do 
it thoroughly, and let the plants get dry (but they 
must not be allowed to flag) before again watering them. 
They should at this time be carefully looked over, and 
if there is any trace of green-fly give them a slight 
dusting with tobacco powder. 
Early in June they should be potted into their 
blooming pots, and 24’s or 85 -in. pots will generally be 
found large enough for most of the varieties. The soil 
for this final potting should consist of three-parts good 
loam and one-part well-decayed manure, with a good 
sprinkling of sand. A handful of bone dust and a 
little soot to each pot will be of great benefit. Great 
care should be exercised over this final potting; well 
crock the pots, and in potting ram the soil down very 
firm. Care should also be taken to procure the best 
loam possible, as that will be found cheapest in the 
end. 
The plants should now have stakes put to them and 
be stood on ashes in a sunny position, and as they 
grow they should receive plenty of clear water and be 
syringed overhead at least twice a day during hot 
weather. The plants will (early in July) throw out 
side shoots, and from three to six (according to the 
variety) should be retained, and all others be pinched 
off. On these shoots the flower-buds will appear about 
the middle of August, and if good exhibition bloom 3 
are desired, they must be disbudded, i.e., there will be 
seen at the end of each stem a cluster of buds, and the 
best one (generally the centre one) should be left, and 
all others be taken off with a sharp knife ; by so doing, 
the strength of the plant will be thrown into the buds 
left, and large blooms will be the result. 
About the beginning of August the plants should 
have an occasional watering with clear soot-water, and 
as soon as the buds appear they should receive their 
first watering with manure-water, as to which directions 
will be given in a future issue. Having now given 
directions for growing specimen blooms, it may not be 
out of place here to give the names of a few varieties 
suitable for amateurs to commence with :— 
Incurved: Alfred Salter, Beverley (white and golden) 
Cassandra, George Glenny, Lady Hardinge, Lord 
Wolseley, Golden George Glenny, Mrs. Bundle, Prince 
Alfred, Prince of Wales, Refulgence. Rifleman, Sir 
Stafford Carey, St. Patrick, Venus, White Venus, and 
Virgin Queen. 
Japanese: Brise du Matin, Colibri, Fernand Feral, * 
Frigon, Madame de Sevin, Bras Rouge, Comte de 
Germiny, Dr. Macary, Elaine, Flambeau, James Salter, 
L’Africaine, Lady Selborne, Le Chinois, L’Or du Rhin, 
Mary Major, Madame C. Audiguier, Mons. Crousse, 
Mons. Moussillac, Red Dragon, and The Cossack. 
Reflexcd: Annie Salter, Christine (peach and golden), 
Cullingfordii, Heloise, Julie Lagravere, King of the 
Crimsons, Mount Etna, Progne, and Mrs. Forsyth. 
Full descriptions of the above will be found in most of 
Chrysanthemum catalogues that are now issued. 
After the amateur has had some experience in eulti- 
tion he will be able to extend his collection, and also 
grow varieties that are seen on the prize-boards at the- 
various exhibitions. An excellent selection was given 
by Mr. Molyneux in The Gardening World for 
December 5th, p. 213. In my next I will give a few 
hints upon training.— IF. E. Boyce, Yerbury Road, 
Holloway. 
--—«£<—-- 
THE CARROT CROP. 
No vegetable crop has given us so much trouble and 
anxiety as the Carrot. We have sown on ground made 
firm by treading, and on that left moderately loose, 
and the surface has been covered with soot and forked 
over a few inches deep. Lime has also been tried before 
now, applied in a similar way, and in other instances 
sand ; but I cannot admit that any relief was derived 
from one or the other, for what little improvement 
there might be must be credited to the season having 
been more favourable than others, and I very much 
doubt if anyone has succeeded in producing perfect 
crops annually on ground that is reputed to be bad 
Carrot ground. If anyone has, I should, in company 
with others, be very glad to learn how they obtained 
such success. 
In 1884, out of 4 ozs. or 5 ozs. of seed I did not get 
a single dish (which has been our worst experience), 
and the deficiency was made up by sowing Early Horn 
and James’Intermediate on every disused hotbed, where, 
strange to say, they escape the attacks of the Carrot 
louse, and that worst of all pests, the Carrot fly, the 
larv® of which produces a cankered appearance all over 
the roots. ‘ ‘ Why this perfect immunity ?” was the 
question that occurred to me. It could not be the 
soil, for on more than one occasion I have conveyed 
soil from the garden for some of these sowings, and 
found no difference in the quality of the crop. Though 
we have a large extent of frame-ground, we could not 
spare a great portion of it for a Carrot garden without 
curtailing the production of other things. We there¬ 
fore resolved to wheel a portion of the old hotbeds on 
to what we regarded as the worst piece of ground in the 
garden for Carrot-growing. 
Here we threw out a bed 5 ft. wide and 18 ins. deep, 
and nearly filled it with the above material, which, 
after being trod, would be about 1 ft. thick, and on 
this the bulk of the soil was thrown but not trodden, 
and as the operation was conducted in January, it had 
beaome properly settled by the time we wanted to sow. 
To guard against the bed getting dry'by being unduly 
elevated, the spare soil and the rakings preparatory to 
sowing were levelled on each side. Drills were drawn 
about 6 ins. apart, and sown alternately with Early 
Horn and James’ Intermediate ; the former being drawn 
as soon as they were fit, allowed more room for the 
latter to develope, which, I am pleased to say, they 
did, and were also thinned for use in their turn, and at 
taking up time we had a fair crop of roots to store, free 
from rust or other blemish, which will go a great way 
towards supplying us till the frame-sown roots are 
ready at the end of April or early in May. 
These are sown the first week in November on a bed 
of leaves with litter round the outside to keep them in 
their place. The interior of the frame is filled with 
the decayed portions of older hot beds, to within 8 ins. 
of the glass, and trodden well down, and the remaining 
space is filled with soil. We fix the frame at a sharp 
angle, so the the sun may strike directly on the surface 
of the bed, and so prevent the plants being drawn. 
Should the material inside the frame not sink sufficiently 
to allow head room for the plants, we raise it by 
placing bricks under the corners. This autumn sowing 
only comes in about fourteen days earlier than those 
sown in February, but the Radishes that are sown 
among the Carrots come much earlier and finer than we 
can get them from those sown earlier in the year. 
They should be protected from frost, but there should 
be no attempt to coddle them and air should be admitted 
on all favourable occasions, and on fine days the lights 
drawn off. From February onwards, with more light 
and sun, they will bear a little forcing by closing the 
the lights earlier in the day, and not drawing them off 
unless on exceptionally fine days. 
As soon as all danger from frost has passed, the 
frames are lifted off the beds and utilized for other 
purposes, and to prevent the sides of the beds falling 
outwards, we first pack a lining round the frame to the 
level of the soil, which is easily pressed to the sides to 
close the gap left by the sides of the frames. If 
supplied with water during dry weather, it is surprising 
the weight of Carrots that may be secured from a few 
lights, and we cannot point to any crop that gives such 
satisfactory returns for the trouble bestowed on it.— 
IF. P. R. 
-- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM, BOULE DE 
NEIGE. 
The new white variety Boule de Neige, of which we 
to-day give an illustration, is a plant which deserves, 
and, moreover, is certain to receive, a large measure of 
popular favour, as a late-flowering decorative variety. 
It was raised on the continent, and is there classed as 
a pompon, but according to our ideal it is too large for 
that group, and more properly belongs to the hybrid 
pompons. Be that as it may, and to growers generally 
it is not a matter of much consequence, it is, undoub¬ 
tedly, a fine thing, and all the more valuable in being 
naturally a late bloomer. The flowers are pure white, 
and freely produced in clusters of good size, on compara¬ 
tively short stiff shoots, so that but little, if any, stak¬ 
ing is required. If stopped twice during the summer 
it grows only from 18 ins. to 2 ft. high, and has good 
foliage down to the pots. It was exhibited by Mr. R. 
Owen, Floral Nursery, Maidenhead, at South Kensing¬ 
ton on December 8 th, and on the following day at the 
Aquarium, and on both occasions received First Class 
Certificates. 
-- 
ON STORING POTATOS. 
The keeping of all kinds of Potatos—but especially 
of early kinds—presents this winter more than usual 
difficulty owing to the open nature of the weather and 
its exceeding changeability. But this difficulty has 
been much helped by the premature ripening of many 
second early and even late kinds last year, created by 
the drought checking growth, and ripening oft' the 
tubers largely before they were fully matured. Hence 
there has been found more than the customary readiness 
on the part of the tubers to burst into growth long 
before the proper season. Those who have a cool shed 
or store, and in which a fairly equable temperature can 
be maintained, are well off ; but only few can have so 
desirable a place for keeping Potatos. 
I find a shed built on the north side of a wall, and 
somewhat protected by overhanging trees, to present a 
place that if never unduly influenced by sudden changes 
of temperature, especially in the winter, is on the other 
hand not subject to extreme cold, as the trees present 
a valuable buffer to the influence of the weather, even 
though the aspect be a north one. In such a place first 
early kinds for seed, laid out on shelves with straw 
beneath, and easily covered up should the thermometer 
indicate danger, are easily kept in a restful condition, 
whilst later kinds and any needed for eating are well 
kept in boxes, tubs, or bins, with the advantage that 
they can be overhauled, turned, and replaced at any 
time. 
A long shed or store of this kind, especially if the 
front wall be of 9 in. brick or concrete, and the roof 
battened and stuffed with straw, will exclude a lot of 
frost and give space for the storing of several tons of 
Potatos. Those whose vast breadths of tubers renders 
it needful that they should store their crops in pits out 
in the open, find keeping tubers this winter much 
more difficult, for if pitted with ever so much care, still 
the heavy rainfall will penetrate into the soil and straw, 
and moisture is generated which, with the warmth in¬ 
duced by the Potatos lying in bulk, soon creates 
growth. If pits could be protected by means of 
