358 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 8, 1890. 
growing for the foliage alone, as it would be most use¬ 
ful for decorative purposes. 
Cyclamens, although past their best, give one a good 
idea of what they have been, for even now there is a 
magnificent show of flowers. These are arranged in 
batches of colours in the houses, and all the leading 
and most distinct varieties are seen in great profusion. 
The pure white, fine rose, large crimson, and intense 
brilliant carmine varieties, many of which are named 
and have been worthily certificated by various societies, 
are superb. The Giant White and Giant Crimson are 
very conspicuous, having enormous flowers of great 
substance. These plants are about fourteen months 
old, and are in 24-size pots. The plants are over 1 ft. 
through, showing what can be done with proper 
treatment. The Primulas are sown about the middle 
of June, and are grown in 48 -size pots. They are very 
fine. I also noticed fine batches of Calceolarias, 
Cinerarias, Begonias, and Gloxinias, which in their 
turn will make a grand displaj'-.— Visitor. 
-—>I<*- 
ASH-LEAVED BERBERRIES OR 
MAHONIAS. 
The evergreen species of Berberis constitute very con¬ 
spicuous objects during winter, either in the shrubbery 
or in masses skirting the pleasure ground, on account of 
the rich colours of the foliage, which is of a deep 
metallic green or bronzy red. The most of the species 
in gardens are very hardy, and may be planted in all 
sorts of situations, even along the sides of drives, and 
if moderately exposed, or not overhung by trees, the 
foliage takes its characteristic winter hue. On the 
approach of warm weather the leaves again assume 
their normal green hue, and are more or less lost or 
overlooked in the flood of foliage that everywhere 
greets the eye during the summer months. Those 
species which produce berries freely may readily be 
raised in this way. The seed should be squeezed out 
of the fruits soon after they are ripe, and if sown 
immediately will germinate the following spring. A 
slower method of procedure is to layer the young shoots, 
and leave them for two years before lifting. B. aqui- 
folium, B. repens, and others of like habit may be 
propagated by removing the suckers, which are, as a 
rule, freely produced by low bushes or young plants. 
All the hardier species may be transplanted at any 
time duripg the winter ; but a moist time during April 
would be just as suitable, if not better than any, 
because th^ plants commence growing soon after, and 
repair their mutilated roots. 
B. AQUIFOLIUM. — The Holly -leaved Mahonia is the 
hardiest of all the species, and the most widely dissemi¬ 
nated in this country. The large leaves consist of 
five to nine ovate spiny serrated leaflets of a dark 
green colour, but in winter the foliage on well-exposed 
plants assumes a rich metallic bronzy lustre, or even 
red ; and when rustled by the wind on a bright day, so 
that the sun is reflected through, it appears of a 
glowing crimson. Old plants in sheltered places some¬ 
times attain a height of 6 ft. to 10 ft. in this country. 
The species usually flowers in April and May, and the 
bluish black berries ripen in September. As in all 
other cases, the flowers are yellow. 
B. fascicularis. — The general appearance of this 
species more entitles it to the name of Holly-leaved 
Mahonia than the last-named plant. The leaves vary 
with from five to eleven leaflets, and the latter are 
narrowly ovate, deeply spiny-toothed much after the 
style of the Holly, and are characterised by their soft 
glaucous-green colour, while in winter at least the 
primary midrib of the leaf becomes red. Clothed with 
foliage of this kind the species has a much more elegant 
appearance than most other varieties. The flowers are 
borne in axillary and terminal fascicles, and are now 
well advanced towards the flowering stage, although 
they do not usually commence blooming before March. 
It is rather more upright in habit than B. aquifolium. 
B. japonica. — If B. fascicularis may be described as 
the most graceful of the Mahonias, the leaves of the 
Japan Mahonia may be considered the most noble, on 
account of their size, leathery or rigid character, and 
boldness. The leaflets are generally very numerous 
on vigorous plants, roundly ovate, oblique at the base, 
and distantly spiny-toothed. They are usually of a 
light green, with three strong yellowish nerves running 
through them. ' It bears racemes about 6 ins. long of 
soft yellow flowers, and is now in full bloom in some 
places, and therefore greatly out of season. 
B. eepens.— The creeping Mahonia is characterised 
by its forming numerous suckers, which it throws up 
all round it, and by the shoots remaining unbranched 
and seldom exceeding 2 ft. in height, although usually 
only half that height. The leaves are divided into 
five to seven broadly ovate, spiny serrate leaflets that 
in winter are bronzy green with a red mid-rib, or often 
of a bronzy red all over. 
B. rotunjdifolia. —This is somewhat similar in 
■ appearance to the last, but is.taller, say about 3 ft. high, 
and the foliage is of a deep uniform glaucous green, 
with the exception of the red mid-rib. The leaflets vary 
in number from five to seven, and are broadly ovate, 
with the terminal one much larger and roundly ovate. 
The spiny serratures are very fine, almost obsolete and 
rather widely arranged. 
B. Fortunei. —Fortune’s Mahonia is a native of 
China, and is the least hardy of all the above mentioned. 
The leaves even in winter retain their rich dark green 
hue, and consist of five to seven linear-lanceolate 
leaflets rather distantly arranged on the mid-rib, and 
‘furnished on either side with numerous small spiny 
serratures. It should be planted in situations well 
sheltered by other shrubs in a well-drained soil. It 
also makes an ornamental and suitable subject for 
planting out in large conservatories.— Taxus. 
-~>2-v—- 
PEACH BUDS DROPPING-. 
We hear from friends living many miles apart that 
bud dropping of Peaches is very general this season. 
This need not be wondered at when we have passed 
through a time of mildness not excelled for many years. 
There has been scarcely any cessation of growth in the 
open ground, either among flowering plants or vege¬ 
tables. We have seen enough of snow to remind us of 
the time of year, but not enough to cover the surface 
of the ground. On several occasions there has been 
4° to 6° of frost, but not such weather as to allow fruit 
trees to go to rest, and Peaches under glass which have 
been stifled with “Mums” (such as is the case in most 
gardens), have had little opportunity of preparing the 
fruit buds to perform the ripening process. 
Trees opening their flowers at the end of January, 
which should have been dormant till March, do not 
bid fair for abundance of fruit. Where the houses have 
been kept open night and day for three months past, 
after the wood was well ripened during October, the 
Peach crop will not give so much concern ; but the 
cramming of the structures with Chrysanthemums, 
bedding plants, and a host of things that cannot be 
subjected to frost, must unavoidably reduce the 
chances of a good set of fruit, by keeping growth more 
or less active when the trees should be at rest. It is 
seldom the case that there is a rage for any class of 
gardening, or the growth of any kind of flower, but 
that some of the more useful branches suffer in pro¬ 
portion. It is impossible to spend time, skill and 
labour without additional means being supplied, and 
at the same time give the attention to all other items 
as when the extra pressure did not bear on the general 
work. It often happens that bud dropping is caused 
through the want of water ; the roots near the surface 
may have a superabundance, but the more important 
ones may probrbly be low down, and embedded in a 
dry crusty soil. While they are well attended to, 
natural rest must now be considered a secondary 
matter. — Stirling. 
- — - 
ORCHARD AND FRUIT 
GARDENS. 
It is a fact that cannot be refuted, that our orchards 
and fruit gardens in the north have been on a down¬ 
ward course for some years past. Probably the cause 
is that American Apples, used by every class of society, 
are so comeatable in every town and village. 
The most neglected fruit farming we have seen any¬ 
where is in the great fruit-growing counties of England 
(fruit growing for profit by farmers in Scotland has 
almost become extinct). Most of the trees are old and 
worn out, being full of dead wood, and canker is, in 
many cases, doing its deadly work. In some parts 
young trees are being planted largely to take the palace 
of the old decayed stock. It is a pity that such steps 
were not taken many years ago. Tree planting in 
Scotland is done on a very limited scale. Along the 
valley of the Forth, where extensive orchards were once 
the pride of proprietors, they are almost things of the 
past, and where they now exist at all the fruit which 
they produce is mostly unfit for market purposes. 
Quantities which may be seen sold should be prohibited 
from being offered publicly for sale, except to buyers 
who want such for culinary purposes. It is to be 
hoped that in the north a revival in fruit culture may 
take place. If this be done on lines similar to that 
at Madresfield Court, near Malvern, we believe the home 
demand for culinary Apples would be met. By selection 
of kinds suitable to the district, with careful planting, 
and the usual requirements carefully administered— 
which must have been done so skilfully by our fore¬ 
fathers —the immense imports would be gyeatly reduced. 
We have a number of kinds which never entirely fail 
in this locality, and most of which are loaded every 
season. Stirling Castle, Lord Suffield, Seaton House, 
King of Pippins, and Northern Greening are five of the 
most certain, and would supply the culinary depart¬ 
ment with very useful Apples from September to May. 
Many hardy kinds have been lost by the rooting out of 
the old orchards. 
As to planting in a low-lying district, as indicated, 
the ancient planters were alive to the necessity of keep¬ 
ing the roots as long as possible in healthy soil. The 
ground was thrown into ridges of semi-circular form, 
from which the water would fall to each side at a dis¬ 
tance of 10 ft. or so from the trunks of the trees, 
which were planted on the highest part of the ridges 
in rows equidistant from each other. A decided advan¬ 
tage was the great depth of good soil which the roots 
were allowed to monopolize. In positions where it was 
almost impossible to drain the ground, the ridges referred 
to kept the trees from suffering materially from damp. 
Many large trees may yet be seen standing showing 
what had been done in years gone by, and we think 
may still be done. If old bricks and lime rubbish were 
firmly rammed a yard or so wide under each tree when 
planted, the roots would, as we have often proved, 
travel outwards, and a much longer time would elapse 
before they found their way into bad sub-soil, and 
suffer thereby. Most of the old orchards which are in 
a state of decay may by examination show that the 
roots have gone down into inert or unwholesome soil. 
We have near us large Oaks, Beeches, Willows, and 
other forest trees, which have suffered in the manner 
indicated ; their huge growth had been made before they 
reached the bad subsoil. 
We have seen in some of the lower parts of East 
Anglia a good system, as follows The surface tutf, 
which had not been broken up for many years, is 
thinly turned over in circles a yard or so wide, and 
young standard trees planted on the level ground, good 
soil placed over them, and mulching placed over all, 
after the soil was made firm. This practice induces a 
growth near the surface, and the roots are not inclined 
to go down in search of food and moisture. The same 
practice does well for shrubs and Conifers, where the 
sub-soil is wet and unwholesome. We have a large 
number which were planted on a hard floor of old 
bricks, and all fool is from the surface, and every 
kind has grown well.— Stirling. 
-—- 
EUCRYPHIA PINNATIFIDA. 
The three species of Eueryphia which have been intro¬ 
duced vary considerably amongst one another in the 
form of their leaves. That under notice has pinnate, 
dark green, leathery foliage, resembling that of a 
Mahonia to some extent, but on a smaller scale than 
the common one. Another species has oblong entire 
leaves, while a third has cordate elongated leaves, 
crenate at the margin. E. pinnatifida is the best, and 
forms a compact bush, varying from 2 ft. to 6 ft. high, 
according to age and circumstances. In Chili, its 
native country, it reaches a height of 10 ft. Here it 
flowers in July and August, presenting a grand display 
of its large white blossoms, which may be compared to 
those of a Hypericum, owing to the profusion and 
length of its stamens, only they are pure white instead 
of being yellow. It may, however, be compared to a 
single Rose, and, indeed, belongs to the Rose family ; 
but the stamens are longer and more prominent than 
in the genus Rosa, while the fruit is also very different. 
The best position in the garden for this plant is on 
the lawn, where it may form a bush, and be seen to 
advantage when in bloom. The situation should be 
sheltered, but well exposed to light, and the soil a 
good, free, well-drained loam. If the latter be heavy, 
an admixture of peat will be of great advantage. Some 
growers protect it in winter with a mat fastened on a 
conical framework, so that the whole may be removed 
or replaced at pleasure, according to the state of th? 
weather. In severe winters this may be necessary ; 
but the species was introduced in 18S0, aud in some 
places has been grown in the open air since that time 
without any protection whatever. This is the case in 
the southern counties, anl the shrub might well be 
planted tentatively in the midlands and the north, 
reserving a stock plant in a frame until the hardiness 
of that put out can be ascertained. Propagation is 
effected by means of cuttings in a frame or hand-light, 
using lralf-ripened wood. 
