December 7, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
219 
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13th, 
SANDERS 
Great Xmas Sale of 10,000 Orchids, 
BY 
Messrs. PROTHEROE & MORRIS, 
67 & 68, Clieapside, London, E.C., 
Without any Reserve. Write for Catalogues, which are now ready. 
GRAPE VINES and ROSES. 
JOHN COWAN & CO. have this season a 
large and splendid Stock of Grape Vines, suitable 
for fruitiog in pots and planting vineries. 
Also a large and splendid Stock of Tea and other 
Roses in pots. 
Descriptive and priced catalogue post free on 
application to the Company. 
THE VINEYARD & NURSERIES, 
Garston, near Liverpool. 
Carnations! Carnations ! 
Carnations! 
The Choicest Varieties in Cultivation, from the 
late Mr. Dodwell's Garden, 
FROM 6s. PER DOZEN, UPWARDS. 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST ON APPLICATION TO— 
ARTHUR MEDHURST, 
THE COTTAGE, STANLEY ROAD, OXFORD. 
KENT, THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND. 
® u of ALL Kinds}, 
^Ho Cultivate 800 K‘ n ? s m ^ 
r.. T TRUE TO NA^y 
(llustratedLisj|U IST0F « mtSj 
sP SrAMPjw^lm. Gratis. 
Orchid Cultivation . 
nnHE amateur ORCHID CULTIVATOR’S guide 
T BOOK. 2Dd. edition, by H. A. Burberry, Orchid 
grower to the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P. 41 
Coloured Orchids and other beautiful illustrations. The 
Gardener’s Magazine -.— ‘‘A work at once inexpensive 
and thoroughly trustworthy." Price 5/-; post free, 5/6. 
From the publishers, Blake & Mackenzie. Liverpool, or 
the author, Ethel House. King’s Heath, Birmingham. 
For Index to Contents see page 231. 
“ Gardening Is the pnrest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
Edited by J. FRASER F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , DEC. 7 th , 1895 . 
NEXT WEEK'S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Monday, December 9th.—Sales of Dutch bulbs and greenhouse 
plants by Messrs Protheroe and Morris. 
Tuesday, December 10th.—Royal Horticultural Society. Meet¬ 
ing of committees at 12 o'clock. 
Wednesday, December nth.—National Chrysanthemum 
Society. Meeting of the Floral Committee in the Royal 
Aquarium at 2 o'clock. 
Thursday, December 12th.—Great sale of Japanese Lilies 
by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Friday, December 13th.—Special sale of 10,000 Orchids 
by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
CUTBUSH’S MILLTRACK MUSHROOM SPAWN. 
Everyone can readily grow Mush¬ 
rooms, and by using this Spawn will 
ensure success. All growers speak 
in high praise of the quality. Numer¬ 
ous testimonials. None genuine 
unless in sealed packages and printed 
cultural directions enclosed, with our 
Signature attached. Price 6s. per 
bushel, is. extra for package, or is. 
per cake, free per parcels post. 
WIVE. CUTBUSH & SON, 
Nurserymen and Seed Merchants , 
Highgate Nurseries, London, N., & Barnet, Herts. 
CARNATIONS. 
’"J'HE largest and most complete Collection in the 
Kingdom. Strong healthy layers now ready. 
Catalogues free. 
M. CAMPBELL, 
Nurseryman, 
HIGH BLANTYRE, N.B. 
TEC OWfl SMIT HII. 
The Finest New Flowering Plant, as easily 
managed as a Chrysanthemum. It produces in 
autumn large heads of brilliant red and yellow 
blossoms. 
New Seed of all Seedsmen. 
Wardy fruit culture.— The voice of the 
advocate of fruit culture is still heard 
throughout the land. Optimist and 
pessimist views run side by side with those 
that take a moderate and practical aspect 
of the situation. The instructor and 
demonstrator on the other hand usually 
confine themselves to their own particular 
department in trying to instil a know¬ 
ledge of the methods of cultivation into 
the minds of their audiences. Much 
remains to be learnt by the multitude of 
growers if we are to hold our own with 
foreign competitors. There seems no 
reason, however, why fruit growing should 
not be made a profitable occupation in this 
country by skilful growers and careful 
business men; although it is useless, under 
modern conditions, to expect fabulous 
prices from a fruit farm. Moreover, there 
is little room to doubt that until compara- 
I tively recent years, fruit growing in a large 
number of cases has been carried on in a 
very slipshod fashion. This is most ap- 
1 parent in the old orchards in various parts 
of Britain, such as in Devon, Gloucester, 
Hereford, Perth, and other counties. 
The mere fact that fruit growing in those 
districts has been profitable and successful 
in former years should be proof positive 
that it may be done again. For the present 
we confine our remarks to the question of 
successful cultivation, leaving aside that of 
profit. Where orchards have borne well in 
former years it has been proved that the 
soil is naturally favourable to good crops of 
hardy fruits, particularly Apples. For 
many years the Carse of Gowrie, in Perth¬ 
shire, has been famous for its Apples, but 
the fruitfulness of the trees, even in the 
fertile valley of the Tay, has been declining 
for many years. Excellent samples of fruit 
are, however, obtainable in Haddington. 
The orchards of Hereford and Brecknock 
are on the old red sandstone ; those of 
Gloucester largely upon the oolites ; those 
of Devon on the lower cretaceous and 
oligocene ; and those of Kent on the upper 
and lower cretaceous. These soils have 
been proved to be favourable to the cultiva¬ 
tion of hardy fruit. Why do they not con¬ 
tinue to be so ? In Kent, Surrey, Sussex, 
Hants, and other counties there are, it is 
true, many splendid examples of good 
cultivation ; while at a short distance away 
there are plantations and orchards equally 
as bad as the others are good. 
The evidence of many practical experts 
has proved that the orchards in the Carse 
of Gowrie have been neglected. At the 
other end of Britain, on a recent occasion, 
we have the evidence of Mr. Bolitho, M.P., 
that the orchards of Devonshire, in many 
cases, are in a disgraceful condition, and to 
a considerably smaller extent those of 
Cornwall likewise. From other sources we 
learn that young trees are stuck into holes 
just sufficiently large enough to bury the 
roots in a cramped condition, and that 
often upon a hillside, where the ground is 
afterwards sown down in grass so that the 
rainfall is carried away over the hard and 
dry surface of the sloping ground. The 
lectures on fruit cultivation recently 
delivered in some parts of that county 
under the auspices of the County Council, 
should contribute to a better state of things 
in the near future, if only those concerned 
would but arouse themselves from their 
apathy. From the other side of the Irish 
Sea we hear that finer Apples are not to be 
seen than those that can be grown in 
Ireland, when proper methods are adopted. 
As far as cultivation is concerned, we 
advocate the selection of suitable soil in 
favourable districts, deep tillage before a 
plantation is made, and plenty of surface 
tillage afterwards. Soil and climate con¬ 
stitute a large item in the successful culti¬ 
vation of hardy fruits ; but it must not be 
forgotten that proper and sufficient manur¬ 
ing has much to do with the ultimate 
results. Is it not the case with all of the decay¬ 
ing orchards in the country, that the soil 
has been exhausted by long continued 
cropping, with the annual removal of its 
fertility in the shape of fruit, without any 
attempt on the part of the cultivator to 
make anything like an adequate return of 
manure ? Practically the old trees are dying 
of starvation. Why not make new planta¬ 
tions on fresh ground, and make some 
endeavour to maintain the fertility of the 
latter ? Other points requiring attention 
are the planting of trees at the proper 
distances apart according to the stocks on 
which the trees are worked ; also the care¬ 
ful and necessary pruning or thinning of 
the branches to prevent crowding, and 
allow sunshine and air to do their part in 
the maturation of the fruit. The selection 
of suitable varieties is also a matter of the 
greatest importance that gardeners and fruit 
growers alike should give their closest 
attention. 
-- 
Prospect of Soilly Flowers.—The gales at Scilly 
have been terrific, and many of the flower gardens 
have been literally swamped with water. The 
temperature, however, is as mild as spring, and there 
is every prospect of the production of flowers in 
Covent Garden being as early as usual. 
