234 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Dec. 13th, 1884. 
The Golden Spire Apple— The last fruit illus¬ 
trated in The Florist and Fomolo<jist , which has now 
ceased to exist, is the Golden Spire Apple, than 
which there are few more handsome varieties. “ The 
name is very appropriate, since it approaches more 
nearly to the idea of Golden than any other Apple 
we know, and in shape and build it is very spire-like. 
This beautiful Apple seems to belong to the western 
counties, where it is not only considered an excellent 
culinary variety, but is also used for cider purposes. 
It is but rarely grown in the neighbourhood of London, 
and only within the last few years have we noted its 
appearance on the exhibition table. Mr. Haycock, of 
Barham Court, Maidstone, knows its value and culti¬ 
vates it with great care. At the National Apple 
Congress it was represented in seven collections, and 
the examples from which the illustration was prepared 
were exhibited by the Cranston Nursery and Seed Co., 
Hereford. The variety may be thus described:— 
Fruit large, conical, somewhat angular, especially 
near to the eye; eye open, deeply set; stalk short; 
skin of a pure uniform golden-yellow throughout, very 
clear; flesh white, tender, somewhat acid; season, 
October to Christmas. The tree is stated to be a great 
cropper.” 
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Birds and Fruit-buds. —I found on examining 
our Bed and White Currant-trees the other day, that 
the birds were making sad havoc among the buds 
despite the mild autumn we have experienced. On 
close examination it appears that they have been 
among them for some little time, for in the most remote 
parts of the garden they have attacked them most 
severely. As soon as we discovered the state of things, 
a man was set immediately to slack some lime, and . 
also to add a portion of soot to tint the wash. I 
myself took up the sharpening-stone and commenced 
to whet my pruning-knife, and gave orders to the 
kitchen-garden-man to give up all work then on hand 
and assist in getting the bushes pruned, and the 
mixture of lime and soot applied with the aid of a' 
syringe. This course we continued until the Bed and 
White Currants and Gooseberry bushes were com¬ 
pleted. We would urge on those who are troubled 
with birds attacking fruit-buds to adopt the same 
system, for we have come to the conclusion that it is 
a poor policy to prune late on account of the birds 
attacking them, and have to be content with what 
they are disposed to leave one. Set about the work at 
once and choose your own buds, then protect them 
by the above means.— G. Warden, Clarendon Parle 
Gardens, Salisbury. 
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On Pruning Gooseberry Bushes.— By way of 
supplementing “ Alpha’s ” remarks on this subject at 
p. 202, I may be allowed to say that no greater error 
prevails in the culture of this popular bush fruit, than 
the xrractice of spurring them, that is, the cutting back 
of the individual shoots to within a bud or two of 
then- base, with the result that a thicket of shoots and 
small fruits only are produced. The way to obtain fine 
large berries, as well as handsome bushes heavily 
laden with ropes of rich fruit, is to thin out the shoots 
freely, and where very long and weak to shorten them 
back a little, so as to promote a balance of growth in 
the individual bushes, as well as to prevent the fruit¬ 
laden shoots from touching the ground, in which case 
they would sustain injury by grit and damp. 
Thus treated the bushes, in consequence of the 
weight of the crop, will assume a pendulous habit, 
and the centre of each bush being partly open, the 
crop can be gathered without the hands being scratched 
in so doing. If the readers of The Gabdening Wobld 
would like to be able to pick large Gooseberries in 
plenty next year, let them follow the instructions set 
forth above at once, for the sooner the pruning is 
performed after the fall of the leaf the better will be 
the results. When the pruning is finished, remove 
the prunings to the fire-heap and with a rake draw 
1 in. thick of the surface soil back about 3 ft. from 
the stem of the individual bushes, and when the 
branches are damp dust them well over with fresh 
lime. This will not only save the buds from the 
ravages of birds, and kill the moss, which is so 
ruinous to fruit-trees, when allowed to spread on 
them, but it will also destroy the larvas of the Goose¬ 
berry caterpillar. 
This done, lay on a good surface-dressing of short 
manure and point it into the ground with a four or 
five-pronged fork. All fruit-trees and bushes which are 
infested with moss or lichen should be dusted over 
with lime when damp. In the case of large orchard 
trees, we apply a solution of fresh lime and soot with 
the garden engine, one man directing the liquid on 
to the branches, whilst two others work the pump. 
Where a great number of tree^.as in our case, have to 
be operated upon, it will be necessary to dissolve the 
lime in a large tub and strain the liquid through a fine 
sieve into the engine. This will prevent the barrel of 
the engine from being choked, as would otherwise be 
the case, and so facilitate the process of distributing 
this moss and insect-killing liquid.'— H. W. W. 
Apples in Yorkshire. —We take the following 
letters on Apple culture in Yorkshire from British 
Apples .-—Taking all points into consideration, we 
consider dwarf bush-shaped trees, slightly pruned, 
and not hard spurred in, the best, both for private use 
and market. The best fruit is obtained from young 
trees ten to twelve years old. The trees are all on the 
Crab stock. Situation, sheltered from north and east. 
We find that if it be fully exposed to the south-west, 
much fruit is lost by the winds. Soil, one part good 
and loamy, resting on magnesian limestone, the other on 
alluvial soil; subsoil sandy, in some cases a deep warpy 
loam, just above the water-mark of periodical flooding 
of the Biver Wharf. Grown in the latter condition the 
fruit is generally very fine for the north. I have 
known 40 stones of fruit picked from a tree of 
so-called Bed Balsam, or Scarlet Cockpit. To-day, 
October 12th, we have picked 35 stones from a 
standard tree of Lewis’s Incomparable. There is 
a good deal of fruit grown hereabouts considering 
the latitude. I have been trying to induce those 
most interested to plant more Apples for some years 
past. Standards are the most liked, because the 
ground beneath can be cropped or laid down in 
grass, the cattle not damaging the trees to any 
extept. For my own part I prefer bush-shaped 
trees, if the fruit alone is to be considered, 
because of the ease in gathering the fruit, 
and, because the trees are ready of access, they can 
be more regularly pruned, and will consequently 
produce finer fruit—an important advantage. Further, 
there would not be such heavy losses by winds in the 
autumn. For choice dessert Apples I do not think 
there is a more profitable way of growing them than 
on espaliers. Pyramidal-shaped trees we do not care 
much about, unless the natural habit of the tree causes 
it to grow in that form. I ought to mention that we 
are here much more favourably situated than others 
in many other parts of Yorkshire as to altitude, being 
about 100 feet above the sea-level.— H. J. Clayton, 
Grimston Park, Tadcaster. 
The fruits sent were grown on standard trees about 
ten years old, grafted on the Crab stock. Hutton 
Hall Gardens are comparatively new. The situation 
is seven miles inland, 400 ft. above sea-level, and we 
have no old timber in the park. The gardens are 
much exposed to gales off the North Sea. The 
average rainfall is 39 ins. per annum. The soil may 
be described as argillaceous, pure and simple; the 
subsoil consists of hard blue and yellow clay. By 
draining, trenching, liming, manuring, and adding 
large quantities of sea sand, it has been much 
improved, and now grows as excellent vegetables as 
Apple-trees. The cold and sunless weather w-e had 
during July will account for the want of colour in the 
fruit.— J. Mclndoe, Iiutton Hall, Guisborough. 
-- 
Pear, Grand Soliel. —This is an excellent new 
variety raised in Belgium by Major Esperen, and 
highly recommended by M. Edward Pynaert, of Ghent. 
It is rather large in size, variable in shape, with a 
rough skin at first bright green, but changing to 
golden-yellow streaked and shaded with red-brown. 
It has a large fleshy stalk; a deep eye, and white, 
moderately firm flesh, brisk, luscious, and perfumed. 
Its season is November and December, and the tree is 
stated to be a vigorous grower. 
Seasonable Work in the Plant-houses. —In 
the stove some useful work may be done at this 
season. In any case where Crotons or Dracaenas have 
become leggy they should have attention. If good- 
sized tops of Crotons are taken off they will root 
freely where there is a good bottom heat, and will 
make nice plants for the spring. 'With Dracaenas it 
will be found a good plan to cut the stems about half 
way through at a point where the foliage is good, 
placing a small wedge in the incision to keep it open, 
and then bind some moss round the stem, keeping it 
moist until roots appear where the incision is made, 
when the top may be taken off and potted, and if 
extra stock is required the bottoms may be shaken 
out and laid horizontally in some cocoa-nut fibre 
refuse, these will throw up young shoots which should 
be taken off as soon as they have made a few roots at 
the base. Both these and the tops should be placed 
where there is a brisk bottom heat and remain until 
they have made some fresh roots. It is also a good 
time to finally thin out and clean Stephanotis previous 
to its starting into fresh growth. In pruning it, none 
but well ripened growths should be left. We recommend 
that the knife should be used freely, leaving only just 
sufficient wood to cover the space allotted to it. It is 
better to cut out a little too much, than to leave too 
much wood in the plant, especially where the space is 
limited. 
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Chrysanthemum Soeux Melanie.— Nothing can 
be better for supplying cut flowers at this time of the 
year and all through the month of November than this 
variety. It has the great advantage of being of a dwarf 
habit of growth, and consequently is not so liable to 
be blown about by the winds. If cuttings are struck 
any time in March, and grown on into nice stiff plants 
by being stopped about twice, hardened off carefully, 
and planted out in the herbaceous borders early in 
May, watered occasionally during the summer, if dry, 
and kept neatly tied to stakes, the plants will reward 
the cultivator with an abundance of pure white flowers 
at a time when most of the varieties in the early 
blooming section will be over. Soeur Melanie grows 
only about 2 ft. or 2 ft. 6 ins. high.— E. M. S. 
The Daffodil.— At a late meeting of the Linnfean 
Society the following letter was read from Mr. William 
Brockbank, F.L.S., dated Brockhurst, Didsbury, 
November 17th :—“ On April 2nd I had the pleasure 
of exhibiting to the Society a number of prepared 
specimens of the Daffodil, which appeared to prove 
that Double Daffodil flowers might produce seeds, and 
I advanced some arguments, based upon the observa¬ 
tions I had made, to show that they were spread over 
wide areas in a wild state by seeding. The specimens 
showed the seed vessels filled with ovules, but this did 
not fully prove that ripe seeds capable of germination 
would be matured. I therefore carefully observed a 
number of flowers of Double Daffodils (Narcissus 
telamoneus plenus), and marked them as they went 
out of bloom to prevent any mistakes. One of these 
produced a capsule containing nine shining black 
seeds, which were gathered June 24th, and at once sown 
in a pot and covered with a sheet of glass. Of these 
seeds four have already germinated, and show grass¬ 
like growths an inch above the soil. This, therefore, 
completes the proof.” 
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Spiraea (Hoteia) japonica.— In many gardening 
establishments this useful and effective decorative 
plant is grown largely and systematically for house 
and conservatory embellishment. Annually from 
April to July, as the plants have done flowering, they 
are, while thoroughly moist at the roots, divided and 
planted in a favourable situation out-of-doors in rows 
from 15 ins. to 18 ins. apart, according to the size of 
plant aimed at, and at the same distance asunder in 
the rows. The plants are then watered and mulched, 
and, with the exception of keeping them free from 
weeds, and, in case of the summer being a very dry 
one, giving them an occasional soaking of water at 
the roots, they are left to take care of themselves for 
sixteen or seventeen months. Where batches of 
