342 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 30, 1886. 
when 9 ins. or so in length, should have efficient sup¬ 
ports placed to them, and during dry weather they 
must have liberal supplies of water. The flower spike 
will not be so good the first season as may be expected 
the second, when in many cases the young shoots will 
require thinning out, never leaving more than six to a 
plant. After the third year the plant should be 
removed to fresh ground, which may be furnished by 
dividing the old stools ; this gives far less trouble, but 
is not productive of equal results to the renewal of the 
stock by propagating afresh from cuttings, which may 
be struck in a cold shady frame during August, from the 
side shoots, or in spring using the strong shoots from the 
stools. In either case pot into 60’s, and get them well 
established previous to planting. 
They are easily raised from seed, but it is only a 
small percentage which come distinct from, or superior to, 
existing varieties, so that unless as a special hobby, or 
there are unlimited resources at command, there is not 
much in the practice to recommend it. The seed may 
be sown in shallow pans in March, and placed in a 
brisk heat where it will soon germinate, and when fit 
to handle pot them singly into small 60’s, gradually 
harden off and treat them the same as cuttings ; if well 
attended to many will flower the first season. The seed 
will vegetate equally well if sown on a warm rich 
border early in spring, by keeping clear of weeds and 
watering them during dry weather, a stock of nice 
young plants may be reared with little trouble, which 
will flower during the second summer, when the best 
should be selected and marked for removal to the flower 
borders during the winter or early spring. To grow 
large specimen plants in pots, select plants in 48’s or 
32’s with from six to eight growths, and before they 
have made much progress, disentangle the roots shifting 
them into No. 24’s or 16’s, and plunge them in abed of 
old tan or leaf mould. Use in potting a mixture of three 
parts of turfy loam and one of well decayed manure, 
with enough sharp sand to ensure sufficient porosity, 
packing it in moderately firm ; when the pots get full of 
roots commence giving liquid manure every third 
watering, and continue it till the flowers show colour. 
Keep them well tied out, so that the spikes stand clear 
of each other. 
These plants if thought desirable will make good 
stools for shifting on the next season into No. 12’s or 
8’s, when six to twelve spikes may be allowed to 
each plant, and when well done contrast favourably 
with some of our choice stove and greenhouse plants. 
Like many other hardy plants they are apt to be 
excited into growth during mild winters before their 
proper time, and when biting windy frosts set in late 
in the season they sometimes get much damaged by it. 
A vigilant cultivator will always be on the alert, and 
can always devise some ready method of safe-guarding 
his pits from its ravages ; the simple and best plan is to 
place an inverted pot over them, it will generally be 
only nights that this will be required. I have never 
known frost to kill them, but it may seriously damage 
their beauty for the season. 
The following is a selection of the very best varieties 
up to the present time Suffruticosa, early-flowering; 
Lady Musgrave, pure white ; Mauve Queen, mauve ; 
Mrs. Hunter, white, crimson eye; Mrs. Miller, reddish 
purple ; Purple Emperor, purple ; The Queen, pure 
white ; W. W. Platt, rosy purple, dark eye. Late- 
flowering, P. decussata ; Alexander Shearer, deep rosy- 
scarlet ; Amabilis, salmon, purple eye ; Bianca, French 
white; Boule de Feu, fiery red ; Coccinea, rich ver¬ 
milion ; Coronet, lilac, shaded rose ; Dr. Duke, lilac, 
shaded rose, carmine eye ; Edith, white, crimson eye ; 
Gaston Olivier, pure white ; George Ramsey, dark 
amaranth; Heloise, white, variously striped and spot¬ 
ted with lilac ; James H. Laing, salmon-rose ; John 
Laing, deep purple-crimson ; Le Yerguer, white, large 
violet-rose centre ; Madame Austin, crimson-purple ; 
Mons. Crousse, dark rosy crimson, crimson eye; Mons. 
Rufrain, amaranth red ; Princess Louise of Lome, 
shaded white, dark eye; Princess of Wales, white, 
shaded rose ; Telephone, violet, magenta-rose eye.— 
TV. B. a. ,» r 
♦ 
Voluntary Allotments. —Representations having 
been made to Lord Radnor, asking that some land in 
the neighbourhood of Folkestone might be let at a 
small charge to working men, his lordship has deter¬ 
mined to give the small allotment system a trial, and 
has ordered a large space of land to be let in allotments 
of from ten perches to half an acre, at from 9 d. per 
perch. There are already upwards of one hundred 
applicants for the allotments. 
MANAGEMENT OF SHRUBS. 
The remarks at p. 311 of “ W. B. G.” upon the 
pruning and general management of shrubs are 
judicious, and deserve special attention. I quite agree 
with him when he says that shrubs should be gone 
over annually from the first, i.c., train them up in the 
way they should grow, with the object of securing in 
their early stages of growth the necessary requisites to 
ensure ultimately well-grown handsome specimens, if 
such be desired. I have had considerable experience 
in the management of shrubs, and I am fully convinced 
that too much attention cannot be given to the cutting 
and regulating of the growth of almost all kinds. I 
speak more particularly in reference to evergreen shrubs, 
having due regard to the situation that it is intended 
they should occupy, whether planted in borders to 
form a dense background, or planted in beds of an 
ornamental character, though the first require less 
severe cutting than the latter. 
1 have commenced with shrubs in beds from 1 ft. 
high and upwards, not allowing one shoot or branch to 
have the advantage of the other in the precedence of 
growth ; I scarcely stand to a fixed rale, as during the 
growing season it has been my practice to check the 
strong growths where necessary for the benefit of the 
weaker shoots, so as to reduce the whole as much as 
possible to one uniform standard. I am speaking of 
such shrubs as Aucubas, Hollies, Laurestinus, Ever¬ 
green Oaks, Portugal Laurels, Phillyreas, Arbutus, 
Box, Yews, &c., &c., which are capable of being grown 
into dense bushes of almost any form by judicious 
treatment; even the Privets may be made to assume 
an ornamental character if a little painstaking care be 
devoted to them. 
One thing to my mind has been, pretty clearly 
demonstrated as regards the practice of cutting and 
pruning shrubs annually, and that is the fact of a 
corresponding fibrous root-growth taking place simul¬ 
taneously with the dense bushy growth of the shrubs 
so operated upon. I have found this to be apparent 
when engaged in removing plants of large size from one 
position to another, some of them, perhaps, measuring 
from 9 ft. to 12 ft. and upwards in circumference, such 
as choice Hollies, Portugal Laurels, and many other 
evergreen shrubs; and there are other advantages 
resulting from the constant cutting or pruning that 
are obvious to my mind. It very materially conduces 
to their hardiness ; the strain put on the plants causes 
a comparatively stunted growth, numerous latent buds 
are forced into action, and hence for the most part 
arresting or impeding strong, vigorous, succulent growth. 
I am not speaking of lopping large neglected 
shrubs, as I feel disposed to repudiate that practice 
altogether ; I have a very great objection to large 
wounds being made, and oftentimes have remarked 
that it is far easier to make a wound than it is 
to heal it, viewed in its literal and broadest sense. I 
have cut shrubs, perhaps, once or twice during the 
season, shrubs that have been under my special care 
since they were many of them from 1 ft. to 2 ft. high, 
and which measure from 12 ft. to 20 ft. in circumference 
at the present time, and which are perfect models in 
contour ; these exhibit no wounds, and form a dense 
opaque surface of healthy foliage, with a bold per¬ 
spective ; care being taken that no one plant interferes 
with the growth of another. 
The advantage of the close system of pruning has 
shown itself only during the past heavy snowfall ; 
shrubs of a straggling loose growth suffered con¬ 
siderable damage, while the others escaped in¬ 
jury, having been uniformly enveloped as with a 
beautiful white mantle. Some may say that they 
object to any mode that is formal or mechanical in 
appearance or design, however tasteful the arrangement 
may be. Assuming such to be the case, and that such 
persons take charge of shrubs that have been thus 
treated, they can at once allow the plants to assume 
their natural growth, and onty cutting away or shorten¬ 
ing any superfluous growth as may be considered 
absolutely necessary, so as to preserve a symmetrical 
form, which is a task of no difficulty whatever, care 
having been taken, perhaps, for years previously to 
render that object a permanent one ; and although I 
like system and order in the arrangement and the 
grouping of shrubs, more especially when planted in 
beds, and where they form a distinctive feature in 
garden and landscape scenery, I can fully appreciate 
the natural and attractive beauties of the wild and 
romantic scenery when localised with telling effect. In 
some situations art would be entirely out of character, 
in others, in perfect harmony with good taste in the 
skilful grouping of choice trees and shrubs.— George 
Fry, Lewisham. 
-—- 
THE FOREIGN FRUIT TRADE. 
Grapes, packed in ground cork, and of the kind retailed 
in the streets at 6 d. per pound, are known as Almerias, 
taking their name from the port of consignment. In 
twenty years the trade has grown from 20,000 barrels 
to 160,000, in addition to immense supplies from Denia 
and Malaga and from Lisbon. An attempt to place 
Australian Grapes on the market in fair condition has 
so far been unsuccessful. Melons in great numbers are 
imported. The best—usually to be had in September 
—are from San Lucar, in the Cadiz district, and are of. 
a rich golden olive, but the varieties in season just now 
are the green or white, shipped from Denia or Yalencia. 
Pines, excellent and cheap, grown under glass at St 
Michael, have been freely imported, to the almost entire 
displacement of English Pines. Quite two-thirds of the 
American Apple trade is done in Pudding Lane, and 
the varieties are many, a highly recommended kind 
being the Spitzbergen, a red cooking Apple. Two well 
known sorts are given singular and unrecognisable 
names, such as “Seeks”—a contraction of “Seek-no- 
Further ”—and “ Northern Spy,” the latter a cooking 
Apple, red in colour and somewhat striped. Of Nuts 
the consumption is enormous. No fewer than ten 
millions of Cocoa-nuts are disposed of in one year. 
Spanish Nuts which come to hand at this season are 
conveyed loose in the holds of small vessels from the 
north-west coast of Spain, the cargoes ranging from 1800 
to 6000 bushels. Chestnuts in bags from the north of 
Franceand Bordeaux district. Walnutsfrom France,and 
Barcelonas shipped from Tarragona, go to make up the 
Nut trade; and the imports from Brazil, a trade almost 
wholly done in Liverpool, must be added to the general 
consumption; also the Black Sea Nuts from Trebizonde, 
transhipped at Marseilles. 
Altogether distinct from Pudding Lane, and dealing 
principally with the “ softer” fruits, is Covent Garden 
Market. In summer business commences at about 4 
a.m., and the wholesale trade is over by nine o’clock, 
after which hour and during the rest of the day the 
arcades are open to retail customers. To the salesmen 
large quantities of Apples, Pears, Grapes, &c. , are con¬ 
signed by home growers and French exporters. Fruit 
from France is despatched, per Grande Yitesse, three 
times a week. There is just now a feeling of depression 
in Covent Garden, for, although supplies have been 
plentiful and prices low, there has not been a corres¬ 
ponding increase of consumption. There is an abun¬ 
dant choice of dessert fruit here on sale. Against 
foreign competitors English Apples hold their own, 
commanding top prices. The Ribston and Cox’s 
Orange Pippin are considered best for eating. Perhaps 
the most popular winter cooking Apple is the 'Welling¬ 
ton. For Blenheim’s Oxfordshire is especially noted. 
Amongst other English counties, Cambridgeshire and 
'Worcestershire chiefly contribute to the metropolitan 
supply. Boston, Nova Scotia, and Canada augment 
the Covent Garden supplies by forwarding in the best 
condition neatly-coopered three-busliel barrels of 
yellow Newtown Pippins, or of ruddy Baldwins, and of 
other distinct sorts of Apples, which, however, all go 
under the general name of “American.” Pears 
consumed at this time of the year come from France, 
the great bulk of them having been bought up by 
dealers in Paris, who store them in caves specially 
constructed, until the market here is ready to receive 
them, when a daily despatch of cases and hampers 
takes place to London, where they are put up to 
auction. The importations of French Pears are very 
extensive, and it frequently happens that 10,000 cases 
may be disposed of in one day at Covent Garden. The 
number of Pears contained in each case varies with 
their size, and ranges from twelve to forty-eight. A 
day or two ago a couple giant Belle Angevine were sold 
for 18s. wholesale, and the outlay was only justified by 
the value of the fruit as exhibition specimens, for they 
were perfectly uneatable. Fine Chaumontels come 
from the Channel Islands. For stewing, Catillac Pears 
are recommended. Bananas come from Madeira, 
Walnuts from Naples (dried) and from Grenoble, Cob¬ 
nuts from Kent, and Forbidden Fruit and Custard 
Apples are also now fairly plentiful.— Daily Telegraph. 
