352 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 1, 1896. 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
Pruning. 
The Apple. —It may be said without any undue 
disparagement of our other hardy fruits that the 
Apple is the king of them all. Not only are the 
varieties in cultivation well nigh innumerable, but 
there are also very many different methods of train¬ 
ing which will meet all the peculiarities of situation 
aod enable good crops to be obtained under a multi¬ 
tude of conflicting conditions. We will glance very 
briefly at a few of the principal kinds of training 
that are applied to the Apple, and notice to what 
extent, and in what particular manner, the knife and 
the saw have to be used in dealing with them. 
Standards.— These are, perhaps, the most 
popular kinds of tree, and there are very few cottage 
gardens indeed, in which a few specimens may not 
observed. But what a pity it seems that so many trees 
that might be fruitful enough are all allowed to go to 
ruin for lack of attention. Pruning in a standard is, 
we are perfectly well aware, reduced to a minimum, 
but it is decidedly not dispensable. Bash year all 
standards should be looked to, and any branches 
that are crossing each other cut clean out, for during 
windy weather these only rub against and bruise 
each other ; insect pests of various kinds, rot, 
canker, and other kindred ailments step in, and the 
life of the tree is considerably shortened. In many 
cases the centre of the tree is apt to become crowded 
with sucker-like growths, that are of no earthly use 
with regard to fruit-bearing. Some varieties are 
more prone to the production of these than others, 
whilst in many instances their presence can be 
traced to an unskilful use of the pruning knife by an 
uninitiated individual who has been trying to work 
out some ideas of his own. Anyway, however they 
may be caused they must be taken out, by cutting 
them off flush with the main branch that bears 
them. Finally, any large boughs that have de¬ 
veloped a tendency to bolt skywards with a 
rush must be beheaded, so as to throw the vigour 
and the energy that they are usurping into other 
parts of the tree, where it may assist in the swelling 
of fruit buds. In all cases where branches of any 
size have been cut out, the wounds should be 
dressed with tar, as soon after as possible, to prevent 
the ingress of insects and the sppres of fungi. 
Dwarf Bushes —For owners of small gardens 
some other shape of tree than the standard has to be 
found, for this is far too bulky and takes up too much 
rcom. For such gardens, dwarfbushes on the Paradise 
stock are a real boon. Besides the important ques¬ 
tion of space they have several points to be urged 
in their favour. They come into bearing much 
earlier than standards on the Crab stock, and can 
be controlled much more easily at the will of the 
operator, as they produce the greater part of their 
roots not far from the surface of the soil Then 
again, no clumsy ladders or steps are required to 
gather the fruit and attend to them ; and lastly, the 
fruit they bear will compare favourably for size, 
flavour, and brilliancy of colouring with that borne 
by trees trained after any other system. The chief 
part of the pruning needed by these must be done 
some time between midsummer and the end of 
August. The shoots will then require to be thinned 
out where they are observed to be too thick, those that 
remain being shortened back to three or four buds, 
leaving the leaders untouched. This will assist in 
the formation of fruit buds. Now the trees must be 
looked over and the leaders shortened back to about 
6 in., taking care that the cut is made so that the 
bud immediately below the cut is posterior to the 
main axis of the tree— i.e., that it points outwards. 
When the trees have filled the space which they are 
intended to occupy, the leaders may be shortened 
back a good deal closer than this. As a rule, a few 
autumnal shoots will also be present. These must 
all be cut back to three or four buds, whilst any 
further thinning of shoots that may be necessary 
must likewise be attended to. 
Dwarf Pyramids. —These want to be treated in 
much the same way as the dwarf bushes, of course, 
cutting back the leaders of the main branches with a 
view to preserving a fairly symmetrical pyramidal 
outline. 
Wall Trees— At one time an idea was some¬ 
what prevalent that it was a waste of wall space 
to plant Apple trees against it, but of late years 
many trees of this kind have been planted. As they 
get the advantage of plenty of light and sun the 
fruit is usually very highly coloured, and in the 
northern counties this fact has to be made the most of. 
FIorizontal-Trained Trees are the most suit¬ 
able for covering low walls. The height to 
which they are allowed to grow will, of course, 
depend upon the height of the wall. Here, no great 
difficulty in the pruning should be experienced. 
The object in view is to get a quantity of fruiting 
spurs, well furnished with fruit buds, distributed 
along the entire length of the lateral branches. 
These latter will be about a foot apart from each 
other, some 5 or 6 in. of space separating the spurs. 
This is necessary if fairly large fruits of good shape 
are desired. The lateral shoots borne by these main 
branches must be cut back to within about an inch of 
their base. In the coming spring two or more growths 
will push from the base of these, which will need 
stopping after they have made five or six leaves, and 
they must be spurred back next winter in the same way 
as those operated on now. Any dead or ragged spurs 
that may be present should also be cut clean out, 
as these only serve to cccupy valuable space with¬ 
out yielding a corresponding return. The leaders of 
the branches may be left fairly long - say from 6 to 8 
in., until the space is occupied, cutting them back 
much harder, however, when this limit is reached. 
Horizontal Cordons. —These are much used for 
planting along by the side of walks to serve as an 
edging, and where they are properly supported 
they are both neat and useful. The trees 
are of two sorts—viz., those possessing only 
a single growth and those possessing two, in which 
case they are trained to the right and left respec¬ 
tively, both forming a right angle to the main stem. 
Supposing the summer pinching of these to have 
been properly attended to, there remains but little 
use for the knife during the winter months—simply 
the cutting out of ragged or useless spurs, and the 
shortening of the leaders according to their strength 
and the space at disposal.— Rex. 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
Anyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
“ Amateurs’ Page ” on the top of their letters. 
Replies.—The Cineraria leaves which you send us 
Canny, are evidently taken from a plant that has had 
an overdose of soot-water, sufficient to burn them, 
as it is usually expressed ia technical language. 
H. Williams, curiously enough, writes to ask if soot 
can be used for Cinerarias. Certainly it can; in 
fact it is one of the best of manures when properly 
used. Not abused, mark you, or your plants may 
shrivel up and go into mourning as Canny's appear 
to have done. The best method of procedure is to 
put the soot into a bag, and soak it in a tank or tub 
full of water. This keeps the solution free of sedi¬ 
ment and enables one to get a better idea of its 
strength. In applying it to the plants sufficient may 
be put to make the water of a brown-black hue, but 
not enough to entirely take away its limpidity. 
Last autumn, Walter Cook potted up a number of 
Strawberry runners into pots, thinking that he would 
be able to force them in his greenhouse in time to 
get fruit by Easter. He can only keep up a tempera¬ 
ture of from 45 0 to 50° Fahr., according to the 
weather, and a friend tells him that that will not be 
warm enough. He asks our advice upon the subject, 
but we can only tell him that his friend is perfectly 
correct. The temperature mentioned would certainly 
be warm enough at the commencement, but then it 
would require to be gradually raised to 6o° when the 
plants were in flower, and to quite 65° in order to 
ripen the fruit properly. Still the plants may be 
induced to bear fruit fully a fortnight or three weeks 
before those in the open with only this moderate 
heat, and thus Walter Cook may be able to enjoy 
early Strawberries a little late. While dealing with 
this popular and easily-grown fruit we may tell S. B. 
that we should not advise the giving of manure 
water until the plants have begun to set their fruit. 
Also that he must not expect too heavy a crop from 
King of the Earlies. We have tried this variety 
several times for forcing purposes, but only with 
moderate success. 
P. M., Swansea, asks for a good heavy-cropping 
Tomato, that may stand a chance for a prize at a 
local show, and we are pleased to tell him that 
Carter’s Duke of York, as far as our experience goes, 
is second to none in this matter ; indeed, it is a real 
burster with regard to size, and of a splendidly rich 
colour It does well for indoor culture, both when 
planted out and when grown in pots. You may in 
anything like an ordinary season expect a good crop 
of Tomatos, Amateur, from plants trained against a 
south wall. You ask for one or two good varieties. 
Oh, yes, happy to oblige ! Here’s a string of them 
—Perfection, Golden Queen, Hathaway’s Excelsior, 
and the Duke of York. All of these are good. As 
you have no convenience for raising plants from 
seed in time to put out in May. it would be as well 
if you bought a few later on from the nearest grower. 
The seed should be sown now and in a temperature 
of not less than 6o° Fahr. 
While speaking of seeds we would request F. W.B., 
who writes for a list of common vegetable seeds to 
look at our last issue and peruse carefully the reply 
to Tomato. This will save our time, economise our 
space, which is valuable, and, we trust, prove satis¬ 
factory to F. W. B. 
Fig for Vinery.—Will you tell me the best Fig for 
me to plant against the back wall of my vinery, and 
also the way to treat it ? —George Fulton. 
For a good variety nothing will beat Brown 
Turkey. It bears wonderfully well, and the fruit is 
of first-class flavour. In making up the bed it 
should be remembered that the trees always fruit 
better when the root run is confined, than they do 
when the roots are at literty to ramble for some 
distance. A border some 4 ft. wide, and about the 
same in depth will be quite large enough. If this is 
enclosed by a brick wall so much the better. Good 
drainage is an essential point, and a bottom layer 
one foot in thickness of bricks or old mortar 
rubbish will be required. The soil may consist of 
good loam, chopped up with the spade, to which'has 
been mixed a goodly quantity of lime rubbish, 
broken bricks and chalk to keep it porous. Plenty 
of water will be needed when the tree is in full 
growth. You should lose no time in getting your 
tree planted as the season is getting on. 
Leeks Rotting.—Can any of your correspondents 
tell me why my Leeks for the last two seasons have 
rotted away in the heart, the outside standing well? 
Is it the seed, the manure, the season, or what ?— 
Puzzled. 
Have you been very liberal in the use of strong 
artificial manures, with a view to the obtaining of 
Leeks of large size ? as this would account for them 
going rotten in the way you mention. Onions when 
fed up to a large size are very seldom good keepers. 
Perhaps your land is cold and heavy, which would 
increase the extent of the mischief. You do not 
state what variety you have pinned your faith to. 
Try a change of seed as well as of variety, and, as 
before intimated, do not overfeed the plants. 
Stable Manure —I have a large quantity of stable 
manure which is mixed with fresh sawdust, owiDg to 
the horses being bedded with the latter. Would it 
be safe to apply the same to any garden crops, in¬ 
cluding Potatos ? I am of opinion that it would prove 
fatal to any crops growing on the soil to which it 
had been applied, as it contains a certain amount of 
turpentine.— Derrybawn. 
1 he sawdust itself would have no directly injurious 
results to any crop, although if large quantities of it 
were put upon soil that was naturally very light in 
character it would be hurtful as tending to impoverish 
the soil. Upon heavy land, on the other hand, it 
would be useful, as it would help to make it more 
porous and workable. The turpentine it contains 
will not be present in sufficient quantity to be harm¬ 
ful ; besides, it is very volatile and will soon disappear 
entirely If you propose employing the manure we 
should advise its early application to the soil. You 
may also, by forking the heap over, separate a great 
portion of the sawdust from the droppings with very 
little trouble. 
Bowling Green . — Dingwall: Bowling greens are 
usually made in the form of a sunk panel. To carry 
this out the top soil is removed and the proposed 
site for the ground excavated to the depth of 2% ft. 
The top soil is then re-placed, levelled very carefully, 
and the turf laid. The latter must be as free from 
moss as possible, as a thick sward of good grass is of 
the utmost importance. If you cannot procure turf 
of good quality you must have recourse to seed¬ 
sowing. 1 he width you mention will, of course, be 
sufficient, but we should advise you to make the 
ground of sufficient size to enable several games to 
be played at once A drain on each of the four 
sides will be required to carry off the surface water, 
and thus enable the ground to play true during a 
wet season. This, indeed, is second only in impor¬ 
tance to the proper laying of the turf. Repeated 
rollings, mowings, and waterings, if the season 
be dry, are essential to the production of a sward 
whereon the players may manipulate their balls 
with the nicety required by the game. 
