July 31, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
763 
linnets stripped our Black Currant trees just at the time 
the flowers were revealing themselves. Dark-coloured 
threads will scare these if stretched thickly to-and-fro 
amongst the branches, so that the birds, in their rapid 
flight, come in contact with it, which surprises them 
and makes them shy to return. That which we 
use is almost invisible at a short distance off, and so 
frail that a small bird flying against it in most in¬ 
stances will break it. The tom-tits are not, however, 
terrified in this manner, and when stoned they only 
move from one branch to another. This year it was 
suggested by one of our garden labourers that we should 
try spring traps fixed on a stand or box, and bait them 
with crusts of bread, or peels of Apple or Pear. "When 
the traps were on the ground, other birds, and especially 
robins, that we did not care to catch got in before the 
tits, and we were assured that the novelty of a stand 
would be an attraction to the tits, whilst the other birds 
would keep aloof ; and this proved true, for we had not 
gone twenty strides away from the traps before one of 
these daring little creatures was hopping about on one 
of the stands, and in less than a week we had caught 
thirty of them, or about all that was in the habit of 
visiting the orchard. Raspberries are a heavy crop, 
and the fruit is of fine quality. The only cause of 
failure in this crop, as far as I have observed, is drought 
at the time they are in flower or after. Unlike other 
fruits they are not affected by frosts, as the flowers open 
at too late a date, and on this account I regard the 
Raspberry as the most profitable crop we have, if such 
sorts as Falstaff, Prince of Wales, and Carter’s Prolific, 
are planted. The majority of small gardens in this 
district seem to me to have some old small variety, or 
they may be chance seedlings. When I procured the 
sorts named, I planted a few of this inferior kind found 
on the place amongst them for comparison, and the 
fruit they produced was not half the size. 
Pears are a poor crop, and the fruit is late and small. 
There was once every prospect of a bountiful crop, the 
fruit having been really formed on most of the trees, 
but the cold piercing wind that blew at times with 
great violence for some time, and as late as the 20th of 
June, destroyed foliage as w T ell as fruit. Not only was 
the ground covered with green leaves more than once, 
but many of those that were left on the trees looked 
brown and shreddy, and our hardy forest trees had like¬ 
wise a seared and tattered appearance, traces of which 
may yet be seen. The following standards and 
pyramids have a moderate crop on them, Louise Bonne, 
Beurre Bose, Beurre d’Amanlis, Williams’ Bon Chretien, 
and Eyewood. There are very few on our two west 
walls, and several of the trees are without any ; Easter 
Beurre is the best, and the fruit may readily be counted 
on it ; and Glou Morceau, Napoleon, Beurre Diel, and 
Ne Plus Meuris. A small tree of Easter Beurre which 
makes about 6 in. of growth annually, has had a full 
crop, and always has had, and is one instance of vigour 
and fertility not running together. 
The following Apples are a moderate crop—Blenheim 
Orange, Golden Noble, Wellington, better known to 
many in this part as Normanton Wonder, King Pippin, 
Scotch Bridgett, and Linsey’s, both local names, 
specimens of which were sent to the Apple Congress 
with a request that they might be named, but nothing 
more was heard of them. I have no idea what the 
correct name of the first may be, but I feel sure that 
the second is Tower of Glammis. 
We have not many Peach trees on the walls, and the 
only sorts that carry anything like a crop are Belle- 
garde and Elruge Nectarine, and they have set their 
fruit better than trees of other varieties have done in 
unheated houses- situated in a low shady part of the 
garden. As wall Peach trees have died, we have filled 
their places with Pear and Cherry trees ; three of the 
latter were trees 6 ft. high already on the place, but in 
the wrong aspect to bear fruit when they were moved 
two years ago, and they have a splendid crop. Rarely 
have they and all other fruit trees been so free from 
blight and insect pests, and the continuous downpour 
we have had to day, Monday, will further secure this 
immunity. — TV. P. R., Preston, Lancashire. 
Although here (North Shropshire), we have had it 
very hot and dry, we have been more fortunate than your 
correspondent, Mr. Stevens, Paston, Northumberland 
(p. 747). We had a dry February, 0’80 of rain; afairly 
wet March, 278 ; very dry April, 0’92 ; and great floods 
in May, 7'56. The early part of June was wet, and the 
last half of that month and first half of July very hot 
and dry, so that your correspondent has had two weeks 
more dry weather than us, and earlier in the season. 
All outside fruit is very late indeed this year, and will 
require a sunny autumn to ripen up the late sorts. 
Apricots are thin ; Apples a little thin, but finer 
looking fruits than usual at this season of the year. 
Pears are rather thin, but we have good crops of the 
late keeping sorts. Plums of all kinds are a very heavy 
crop indeed, the best we have had for several years. 
Cherries are yielding good crops, and I am pleased to 
say the trees are freer of black fly than I have seen 
'them for years. Strawberries, very good ; Currants 
of all kinds, also good ; and Gooseberries a very heavy 
crop, and almost free of caterpillars ; of Peaches not 
many are grown outside, but the crops are fairly good 
in places ; Raspberries, very good ; Walnuts, thin ; 
Nuts, thin in places.— J. L. Onslow, Shrewsbury. 
-- 
FRDITS, FLO WERS & V EGETABLES. 
Root-pruning Fruit Trees in Summer.— 
There was a well-timed note recently in your columns 
under the heading of “Scottish Gardening,” and I 
would strongly recommend its perusal to all who have 
trees that are growing too strongly. Root-pruning in 
summer is easy and safe to adopt, and very effectual, 
but many shrink from practising it for fear of injuring 
the trees. In the case of trees of large dimensions, 
however, it is not practical to lift them ; and if done 
all at once in the case of the largest size that can be 
dealt with, canker would be likely to follow, and so 
the remedy would be worse than the disease. But the 
plan of lifting one half at a time as recommended 
by “ M. T.” is good and sound practice. Some few 
years ago I called upon “ M. T.” when he had charge 
of an establishment of some repute in Worcestershire, 
and noticed how fruitful his young trees were on the 
walls. I made a remark about their fine condition, and 
was then told by your correspondent the details of the 
system he was then practising, and now again recom¬ 
mends. On returning home I decided to try the plan in 
connection with some young Plum and Pear trees that 
w r ere getting too strong, and not fruiting so freely as I 
could desire. The work was done in August, that is to 
say, we root-pruned one half of the roots at that time, 
and did the other half in the following season, "with the 
result that the trees soon became, and now are, as fruitful 
as could be wished for. Selecting two trees of Cox’s 
Orange Pippin Apple, we half-pruned one in August, 
and completely lifted the other in October, with the 
result that the last named gave no fruit the next season, 
while the half-lifted tree carried a fair crop of good well- 
coloured fruits. This was six years ago, and now the 
trees are equal in strength. I would strongly advise all 
who have not adopted the system of lifting one half the 
tree at a time to do so, feeling sure they will be satisfied 
with the results.— Con. 
Hardy Plants in Flower.— On looking over 
our borders of hardy plants this evening (July 22nd), I 
noted the following as being very showy and useful for 
cutting, and thinking the list may be useful to some¬ 
body, I send it on to you, with the remark that of 
course it does not include a tithe of the sorts we have 
in bloom :—Achillea ptarmica, Alstroamerias of sorts, 
Anchusa italica, Campanula Hendersoni, C. carpatica, 
and its variety alba ; C. persicifolia and its varieties, 
alba flore-pleno and caerulea ; C. turbinata, C. urtici- 
folia, C. alliariaefolia, Erigeron speciosa, E. macrantha, 
E. grandiflora, Lychnis chalcedonica flore-pleno, L. 
coccinea flore-pleno, L. vespertina flore-pleno, L. vis- 
caria rubro-plena, L. dioica alba-plena, Spinea palmata, 
and S. palmata alba (these are very fine), S. filipen- 
dula, Dianthus Napoleon III., D. striatus, D. High- 
clere, Polemonium Richardsoni, Iberis Gibraltarica, and 
its variety hybrida ; Delphiniums, a large collection of 
sorts, including the rare Siberian D. grandiflora flore- 
pleno ; Ranunculoides, &c.; Phloxes, Pentstemons, 
&c. These are only a few out of our large collection 
that I could name, but they are all good growers and 
most useful things. It would be of great interest to 
many of your readers if those who are interested in 
this grand class would send you notes on other good 
subjects as the season advances, and they would be all 
the more valuable if sent when the plants are in 
flower.— Con. 
Fuchsia, Phenomenal. —“Do you grow Phe¬ 
nomenal 1 ” was the question put to me when looking 
over a collection of Fuchsias last spring in a nrrrsery- 
man’s place. The answer was promptly given, “No ; 
I do not.” “ Well, you should possess that variety, I 
can recommend it as very good,” said the nurseryman, 
and I ordered a plant on his recommendation. I have 
now bloomed that plant. It was potted in a 6-iu. pot 
when it came, and has had no more than ordinary cul¬ 
tivation, but I have had one bloom which has certainly 
been a phenomenon to me. The corolla measured when 
fully expanded quite ins. across. I have grown the 
Champion of the World and Avalanche to a good size, 
but not to equal this. I consider it an improvement 
o:i the Champion, which has hitherto for size taken the 
lead. It is also of better habit than the Champion, 
and more free ; the foot-stalks of the flowers are of a 
good length ; colour of the sepals bright red, broad, of 
good substance, and well reflexed. The corolla, which 
is very double, is of large size, and is of a bluish purple 
colour. I enclose a shoot on which are two flowers, 
the corolla of one of which is close upon 3 ins. in 
diameter.— B. L. [The variety is well named, its 
blooms being, as described by our correspondent, of 
truly Brobdignagian dimensions.— Ed.] 
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum var. 
Puy de Dome.—In the.stand of Messrs. Backhouse 
& Sons, York, at the late provincial show of the 
R. H. S. at Liverpool, I espied a variety of the Oxe-eye 
Daisy under the name of Puy de Dome, and which 
showed itself so conspicuously that I ordered plants of 
it, taking it to be a good variety. It has good broad 
flat florets of the purest white, and the individual 
flowers are of good size ; a fine improvement on such 
of the existing varieties as I am acquainted with. It 
was found by their collector, Mr. Potter, growing in 
the mountainous districts of Central France, at an 
elevation of 4,000 ft., and it received a First Class 
Certificate from the Floral Committee.— B. L. 
Clematis Jackmanni.—I have just returned 
from enjoying one of the finest floral sights I have ever 
seen out of doors, namely, a Clematis Jackmanni, 
which has taken possession of a Cherry tree, 20 ft. 
high, and is now perfectly festooned with blossoms. 
It is a sight I shall not very soon forget, and I advise 
all lovers of flowers to grow the Clematis. It is easily 
managed, and most beautiful when in bloom. Truly, 
as Messrs. Smith & Co. have often proclaimed in your 
advertising columns, many an unsightly position may 
be made beautiful aud cheerful by the use of such 
plants. —Thomas Garnett, 2, Bussell Terrace, Tooting, 
S. TV., July 27th. 
White Violas.—Allow me to thank Mr. Stevens, 
of Paston, for his answer to my enquiries respecting 
a white Viola. I shall certainly give Snowdrop a trial, 
and have selected Mrs. Gray to accompany it, out of 
the batch named by the editor, in the same issue, last 
week. I obtained a collection of a dozen varieties late 
last autumn, and Mrs. Gray was among them, but un¬ 
fortunately some of them missed fire, this among the 
number. The best white, out of those saved, is 
Champion, but it makes rather long growths here, 
nevertheless, it is a good round flower. Skylark is 
another, but it cannot be called exactly a white, 
having blue edges around the petals, but it is very 
pretty and attractive. I am exactly on a par with 
Mr. Stevens, in having had for five years a border of 
Perfection, alongside the drive here, 150 yds. long, 
and which, in its season, has been a perfect mass of 
blooms, and it has not been disturbed. It is the 
general recommendation that young plants do best, 
and to plant yearly, but if they are left alone and the 
flowering shoots are cut out when they have done bloom¬ 
ing, and a slight mulching of manure is given, you can 
and will have better bloom and more of them than is the 
case where they are always planted or uprooted.— B. L. 
Earwigs and Chrysanthemums.—I have 
been catching and killing earwigs every day for the 
last six weeks on my Chrysanthemums, and since I saw 
the opinion expressed in the interesting notes of Mr. 
George Kidson, have been watching to see if they are 
merely “ hiding there ” in the partially curled leaves of 
the young shoots, or whether, as Mr. "\V. E. Boyce thinks, 
“ the young shoots and buds are seriously injured by 
their ravages. ” I am satisfied they do infinite mischief 
to the flower-buds, and should be killed to prevent 
propagation ; but until the flower-buds are formed I 
lean to Mr. Kidson’s opinion. Mr. Burbidge, in his 
excellent book on the Chrysanthemum, which should 
be in every growers’ hands, inclines to the latter 
view, adopting Professor "Westwood’s opinion. — IV. J. 
Murphy, Clonmel. 
