April 11, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
507 
the autumn queen than in the olden times. Truly we 
have examples of gigantic proportions in the blooms 
and in the height of the plants, but the question is, 
Do these compensate for the expense involved in their 
production ? 
It is known that very many groups have been staged 
that collectively have a grand effect ; but oh, dissect 
that noble group ! what have we then to meet the eye 
of refined taste 1 Why, a lot of sticks and coloured 
mops on the apex that are about as ugly as it is 
possible to conceive to the eye in search of beauty in 
harmony with its surroundings. What would the old 
growers say to these long-handled, drawing-room-like 
dusting brushes ? I can understand one man one vote, 
but one plant and one bloom I abominate and repudiate 
so far as I am concerned. Pray let us have well- 
balanced proportions, and the growth made in as quick 
time as possible. Apparently it takes as long to grow 
Chrysanthemums as it does to fatten an ox for the 
Christmas show. 
I saw some plants at the ‘ National ” autumnal 
show with which a few friends and myself were much 
pleased, but not wishing to appear invidious I par¬ 
ticularise no collection. There were, however, some 
that were conspicuous for their dwarf growth and rich 
healthy foliage, without which no plant however well 
bloomed can be said to be beautiful. The blooms were 
numerous and of large size ; in fact, the plants had 
been well handled. We realised their excellence in 
quick time, and growers would do well to obtain if 
possible a leaf out of the books of those to whom these 
plants belonged.— Man of Kent. 
- »>K — -- 
PEAOH CULTURE 200 YEARS 
AGO. 
( Concluded from p. 496 ). 
Pruning. 
1.—We should prune at the end of August or the begin¬ 
ning of September, before the leaves are fallen ; we 
should see then the proper distances more exactly than 
we possibly could if we prune in winter or spring, when 
the trees are leafless. 
2. —Brauch.es being pruned at this season just before 
their growths are at an end, and the air kind and 
warm, nature will immediately close up and heal the 
orifices of the air vessels before the wet and cold of the 
winter come on, which they imbibe to their prejudice 
when pruned at that season. 
When you prune off the end of a shoot, make it a 
rule to cut at least 1 in. above the bud, which must 
always be a leaf bud ; this perishes down to the bud for 
want of nourishment, and becoming very hard, protects 
the branch from the injurious influences of wet and 
cold. 
3. —When fruit trees are pruned at the end of 
autumn, the roots have not so great a quantity of wood 
to support through the winter as when left till the 
spring; so they are, in consequence, better able to 
support their blossoms in the spring. 
4. —When branches are primed early in the winter, 
and the orifices of their sap vessels firmly closed, the 
attracting force of the leaves in the spring is not 
weakened by the many inlets of fresh wounds, which 
he says must happen if pruned in February and March. 
Langley’s conclusion is that comparatively weak trees are 
best pruned early, and those of luxuriant growth in 
spring, because late pruning tends to check over strong 
growths. The reason why the ends of some shoots 
should be shortened, is because of their immaturity. 
He goes on to say that to determine what part of a 
shoot should be cut away is very difficult, because 
different seasons have different effects on their growths ; 
and, therefore, these points must be wholly submitted 
to the judgment of the pruner ; but we must always 
prune to a leaf bud, or for want thereof, nail the 
branch in to its full length. Young trees that are 
truly healthy require the least reduction, and may very 
often be nailed in their full length. 
Insects. 
The several kinds of insects which are seen to destroy 
the leaves of fruits may very reasonably come with 
the eastern winds, or the eastern winds may hatch their 
eggs ; but Langley says that he could never yet find 
that any method would destroy or keep them from fruit 
trees but frequent waterings (syringing), which never 
yet have been known to fail. It is observable, he says, 
that these insects never come in great plenty, except when 
the spring is very dry ; and even then, when the 
weather changes to rain, and becomes very wet, they 
instantly perish. Therefore since Nature has taught 
us a sure method of destroying these vermin, we have 
nothing more to do than to keep fruit trees in a 
continual supple state, by early and frequent waterings 
in dry seasons, when those insects mostly abound. 
But it is absolutely necessary to begin these waterings 
before the leaves are infested by them. If, he says, the 
season is dry, and easterly winds are prevalent, the 
watering of the blossom of fruit trees is absolutely 
necessary, because these drying winds convey away the 
moisture from the young fruits with greater force than 
their roots are able to supply it ; so the fruits become 
starved. These waterings must be carefully performed, 
that the water from the engine be not forced with such 
power as to bruise or beat the flowers from the branches. 
The best time for this work is from 10 o’clock to 
11 o’clock a.m. 
Protecting from Frost. 
Mats, old sail-cloth, or Tea haulm hung on the branches 
and secured against wind, being left on until they are 
largely grown, and then taken away by degrees, is 
advocated. If it happen that the weather continues 
freezing during the day time, let the covering continue 
for even three or four days ; and then, if it becomes 
mild, open for three or four hours and cover up as 
before ; but should it not freeze in the day-time, open 
about an hour after sunrise, and close about the same 
time before it sets. When the fruits, he continues, are 
well set, we must be very diligent in covering them up 
from frosts. The best way is to keep the coverings 
rolled up on the top of the wall in readiness. He had 
Apricots one-third grown and well covered with leaves 
killed in great quantities in the beginning of May, 
1722. He speaks favourably of the practice of one of 
his friends, who, during the prevalence of hot sunny 
weather, when his fruits were stoning, shaded them 
for a few hours in the middle of the day, and at the 
same time syringed them. 
Thinning the Fruit. 
If our Apricots and Peaches are very numerous, we 
must ease nature of her burden ; and therefore, at the 
end of April we may thin our Apricots, and the first 
week in May our Peaches, leaving them 2 ins. apart 
at the least. It is observable that Peaches grow very 
little from the 20th day of May to the like time in 
June, nature being employed in perfecting their internal 
parts, that is their kernels, stones, &c. 
Now whilst this operation is going on, it is always 
seen that a great quantity of fruit drops. The meanest 
capacity living may easily believe that if all the 
fruits on a tree were in a perfectly healthy condition, 
it would be impossible for them to fall in the shrivelled 
state they do. It is evident that their fall is caused 
by some decay or weakness of nature ; which last, he 
says, is most probable, for since nature requires moisture 
for daily perspirations, as well as to consolidate the 
watery, supple substances of the kernels, stones, &c., 
it is very easy to conceive that, if very dry weather 
conveys away the moisture which is necessary for these 
formations, the work will be imperfect, and consequently 
the fruits must perish. 
About the 20th of June the fruits are beginning to 
swell for ripening; we should thin them for the last time, 
taking away the worst, and leaving the most promising 
ones. The goodness of Peaches depends very much on 
their quality ; for they are never worth anything when 
left very thick on the trees, which is always done by 
the covetous, which makes good the old proverb, “ Covet 
all, lose all.” He says, “ This year (1729) I numbered 
103 dozen fruits of the variety Smith’s Newington on 
one single tree, which being small and insipid, were 
sold at 6d. per doz.” He seems to have entertained the 
opinion that it was an advantage to the fruit to be 
shaded by foliage up till the time it was almost fully 
grown ; but then more sun was necessary to ripen the 
juices of the fruits, and to give them their beautiful 
colours. He advises the tying back with bast of the 
leaves which are before the fruit, rather than cutting them 
away. 
What I think must be regarded as the weakest point 
in our author’s interesting article on Peach culture is 
his absolute silence upon what is a most essential part 
of the modern practice in the management of Peach 
trees during the growing period. I refer to the 
disbudding of those hosts of young shoots that healthy 
trees always produce. After his insistance upon the 
necessity of keeping the shoots well apart, that air and 
light might have free action upon the wood and fruit, 
this omission seems rather strange, and can hardly 
be satisfactorily accounted for. As he was evidently a 
keen observer, I can hardly think he was ignorant of 
the practice, for without it I cannot see how trees 
could be managed with satisfaction ; and his instruc¬ 
tions in reference to the rubbing out of forward buds 
would imply that he must have been familiar with the 
principle of the practice. So I incline to the opinion 
that all reference to it beyond what I have referred 
to must have been an oversight, or he would have given 
us minute instructions upon it as he has done on other 
matters of not greater importance. In reference to 
gathering Peaches, he says, they are best the day after 
being gathered, and must be placed on their heads ; 
but on no account on their sides, because then they 
would invariably go rotten.— IV. B. Glasscock. 
-- 
iltjattrajs Ijrmtt lip '((Torib 
ulf jStirmr. 
Worms and the Seeds of Plants. —The com¬ 
mon earth-worm (Lumbricus terrestris) in its mode of 
life exhibits several curious habits. One of them is 
that it sometimes works its way perpendicularly into 
the soil to a depth varying from 3 ft. to 6 ft. The 
bottom of this it covers with small stones or pebbles, 
or in default of these, it sometimes uses the seeds of 
plants. Now, if oxygen has free access to the seeds 
they will germinate, whether they reach the surface or 
not ; but it no doubt frequently happens that air is 
sufficiently excluded to prevent the germination of the 
seeds, which may therefore lie dormant for a great 
number of years, and under conditions favourable to 
the preservation of the germinative power of the same. 
Should the soil in after years get disturbed to a con¬ 
siderable depth by trenching, draining, by making 
cuttings for certain purposes, such as for roads, railways, 
or the foundations of houses, the long-buried seeds 
get brought to the surface, or sufficiently exposed to 
cause germination. Plants of various kinds then make 
their appearance where no such species had been known 
before in that locality, much to the surprise of those 
observers who take notice of such facts. Seeds may 
and no doubt often get washed accidentally into the 
burrows of worms, independently of those which they 
voluntarily or unconsciously draw into their habitations. 
The Cape Gooseberry. —The plant to which 
this name has been given in its new home at the Cape, 
is a member of the same family as the Potato, and 
comes from South America. It is the Physalis peru¬ 
viana of the botanist, and is now naturalised in several 
warm countries besides that of South Africa. The 
fruit of the type is purple, but that of P. p. edulis is 
yellow, and P. p. violacea, violet. The last is an im¬ 
proved form bearing larger fruits than any, and shows 
that the plant is capable of yielding to the will of man 
in the matter of variety and improvement. The fruit 
is eaten raw in the same way as our Gooseberry, or it 
may be preserved as at the Cape, where it is much 
esteemed. It is also produced in great abundance. 
In this country it will ripen against a wall in the open 
air in ordinary summers. 
The Ear-shelled Slug. — Those who are accus¬ 
tomed to habits of observation have, no doubt, when 
digging in the garden, turned up a curious, fat-looking, 
yellow slug, with a small, ear-shaped shell, on the 
hinder extremity of the back. It is no doubt more 
common than is generally supposed to be, owing to 
its habit of burrowing into the ground during the day, 
like some other slugs which infest the garden. The 
fact cannot be too widely known amongst cultivators 
of the soil, gardeners especially, that it i3 not only 
an enemy, but a friend to the cultivator, as it is 
entirely carnivorous, and lives upon other slugs and 
worms that may come in its way. This good work it 
carries on during the night and iu the early morning 
while the ground is yet wet. I have a specimen 
which had swallowed a worm several times as long as 
itself, and which was caught in the act between the 
hours of 5 and 6 a.m.— F. 
Chinese Cabbage. —There are several forms of 
this, but probably all are mere varieties of Brassica 
sinensis, which has been reduced under B. campestris 
by Forbes and Hemsley in their Index Florae sinensis. 
Now B. campestris is the species to which our Turnip 
belongs, which will give an idea that this Chinese 
Cabbage ; it is very popular in China, where the natives 
consume more of it than of all other vegetables put 
together. Messrs. Yilmorin-Andrieux & Co., of Paris, 
says that Europeans also find it good and of easier diges¬ 
tion than the Cabbages of the West. The form known as 
Pe-tsai resembles a Cos Lettuce when in perfection, and 
forms a close head or sometimes merely a cluster of semi- 
erect leaves of a light green, and which taper to the base. 
Being an annual it soon comes to perfection, and might 
be grown with advantage in this country. 
