554 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 2nd, 1885. 
Fruit Culture under Glass. — Peaches : Conse¬ 
quent upon the bright sunny -weather which we 
experienced last autumn, the trees in cool houses 
ripened their wood thoroughly, and this spring were 
sheets of large blossoms, which, owing to the beautiful 
sunshiny weather which prevailed when the trees 
were in flower, have set very thickly. The young 
fruit will, therefore, require to be severely thinned out 
forthwith, deferring, however, the final thinning until 
they have stoned. 
The Disbudding of the young shoots, if not already 
done, should be completed, and any strong shoots 
that may be on the trees should have the points 
pinched out, to encourage an equal balance of growth 
on the individual trees. Should green or black fly 
have got on the trees during the partial withholding of 
the syringe and clean water when in flower, it will be 
necessary to fumigate’ the house with tobacco-paper 
a couple of evenings in succession, rather than fill 
the house too full at one time, syringing the trees 
thoroughly the following morning, and admitting 
air earlier and more liberally to the house than 
on the preceding days. See that the young shoots 
are tied in their proper position to the trellis in due 
time, and that in doing so overcrowding of the same 
be avoided. > 
Watebing and Ventilating. —Give the trees copious 
supplies of clean water at the roots—liquid manure 
can be liberally supplied thereat after the fruits have 
stoned—and syringe them heavily early in the morning 
and again at closing time, from half-past three to four 
o’clock in the afternoon, according to aspect, Ac., 
on bright days. The cool-house should be freely 
ventilated between the hours of putting on and taking 
off the air in the morning and afternoon. 
Pine-apples.— Examine the soil in which Pine¬ 
apples are growing every week to ascertain their 
condition at the roots, and, should water be necessary, 
give sufficient tepid liquid manure to fruiting plants 
to thoroughly moisten the soil, and clean water only 
to those plants which have been recently potted, until 
the roots have pushed well into the soil, when weak 
liquid manure may be given. Damp the plunging 
material, walls, pathways, and the plants (slightly) 
overhead (but avoid letting water into the crowns), 
morning and afternoon at closing time—about a 
quarter to four o’clock, when the temperature in the 
fruiting-house may be run up to 95 degs. Shade the 
plants on bright days from half-past ten o’clock in 
the morning until three in the afternoon, giving 
plenty of air to all the houses during the interval 
from putting on the air in the morning until taking it 
off in the afternoon.— 11. IV. Ward. 
Size of Vines for Planting.— At this season 
many who may be about to plant young Vines will 
choose those which are extra strong, and either cut 
back the canes to the approved lengths, or, when 
there is danger of “bleeding,” rub off the buds down¬ 
ward till the desired length of cane is reached. This 
practice is sound enough, but when economy is an 
object (and the purchasing of Vines for extensive 
planting is attended with considerable expense) and 
future success is duly considered, we would not advise 
the planting of canes which have length and girth as 
their only qualification. First we should see how 
the wood is for ripeness. It should be firm like 
whalebone, and the pith scarcely visible. Then the 
roots should be carefully examined, and if they are 
hard and a mass of thread-like fibres, those are the 
canes we should decide on planting. Long naked 
roots, free of fibre, with soft pithy wood, are in every 
way objectionable. Two years ago we had a large 
quantity of new Vines for a range of new glass, 
planting supernumaries alternately; the latter, being 
half the price of permanent Vines, are now superior.— 
C. H. 
- - - 
Fruit Trees and “Snags.” —The planting of 
fruit trees for the present season is, here in the 
north, drawing nearly to a close, and is seldom 
practised after the middle of April, except where the 
trees have been raised in a northern district and 
are not yet in very active growth. It is surprising 
to see year by year how the knowledge of manipu¬ 
lating young trees is decreasing. Whether it be that 
planters are showing more favour to “ maiden” trees 
to begin with, or are becoming regardless of the 
quality of the trees which they purchase, I do not 
know; but it is certain that it is very difficult indeed 
to purchase fruit trees worth the planting, except 
they are had as “maidens,” which are free from the 
mutilation of untutored knifemen. Nurseries in which 
well-prepared trees are found are comparatively few. 
Mis-shapen stock by irregular cutting is more the 
rule than the exception, and the worst feature of the 
whole is the abundance of snags left at pruning 
time. Shoots should be cut close above the buds, 
so that the bark may grow over the wounds, thus 
leaving nothing to die back which prepares the way 
for canker.— M. T. 
Work in the Plant-houses.— Pbimula sinensis : 
There are few plants that are more universally 
popular than the Chinese Primrose. Both the single 
and double forms provide such useful material for the 
florist, that they are indispensable in any establishment 
where flowers are in demand during the winter. The 
double varieties are very useful, especially for cut 
purposes, yet they cannot compete with the single 
forms, as the latter can be more easily grown, and 
provide more variety, as well as being more brilliant 
in colour. Many new or improved varieties have been 
raised within the last few years. The greatest im¬ 
provement has, perhaps, been made in the reds and 
purples. We have seen reds which.might almost vie 
in colour with the scarlet Pelargoniums, while the 
purples are of that beautiful crimson-purple shade 
which is most valuable, especially under artificial 
light. Some advance has also been made towards 
obtaining a blue. 
The Best Vaeieties. —It would be difficult to give 
a list of varieties that could be thoroughly relied upon, 
as being raised from seed all are liable to variations, 
and each colour is offered under different names by 
various seedsmen. The following may, however,(help, 
to guide those who are not already acquainted with 
the best varieties. Beds : Chiswick Bed was the first 
great improvement in the bright reds that was offered. 
It was awarded a First-Class Certificate in the autumn 
of 1879, and since that time it has been improved and 
offered under various names, including Swanley Bed 
(Cannell), Meteor (Little), Dr. Denny (Cannell), King’s 
Scarlet (King), &c. Purples: Bubro-violacea; this 
originated at the same time as Chiswick Bed, and was 
awarded the same honours ; it has since been much 
improved. Purple Gem (Little), Swanley Purple 
(Cannell), King’s Purple (King), are among the best 
forms that we have seen. Hayes’sPurple andBuby King 
(Sutton) are also good forms with fine large flowers, 
but not quite so deep in colour as the preceding. 
Whites : there has been no great improvement in 
these, unless we take exception to The Queen (Tomp¬ 
kins), which has flowers of immense size, and leaves 
intermediate between the fern leaf and the normal 
form. Blue: the nearest approach to blue is Messrs. 
Carter & Co.’s Holborn Gem, and Messrs. Cannell’s 
Swanley Blue, which are very fine varieties. Many 
of the intermediate colours are very pretty, as are also 
the striped, mottled, and spotted varieties. 
The Cultuee of Peijiulas. —To have good strong 
plants in flower early no time must now be lost 
in getting the seed sown. As the seed is slow in germi¬ 
nating and cannot penetrate the soil if covered too 
thickly, it requires some care, and we believe there 
are few things that have to be raised annually from 
seed that cause more trouble and disappointment 
than the Primulas, although, if properly managed, the 
seed will germinate almost as freely (though not quite 
so quickly) as Mustard or Cress. In the first place 
the pots or pans should be quite clean, and if new 
should be well soaked in water before being used; the 
compost should consist of loam, leaf-mould, or peat, 
and sand in equal portions, care being taken that it 
is'quite sweet and free from worms or insects. In 
filling the pots the soil should only be shaken down, 
and not pressed. After the seed is sown a very slight 
sprinkle of soil may be shaken over it, but this should 
be sifted through a fine sieve, or, instead of covering 
the seed with soil it will be found a good plan to use 
sphagnum moss chopped up small and sprinkled over 
the surface. The pots should be placed in an inter 
mediate temperature, and kept quite close and wel 
shaded until the seed begins to germinate, and care 
must be taken that the pots do not get dry; if the 
seed once gets dry after it has begun to swell, fata 
results are sure to follow. As soon as sufficiently 
advanced the seedlings should be prieked off, and in 
doing this they should be put in deep enough that the 
seed-leaves are only just above the surface of the soil 
To get good plants it is essential that they should be 
potted on as they require it, and, if sown early and 
grown on in a cool position through the summer, they 
will make much better plants than if sown later and 
grown on in heat. 
Double Primrose, Dr. Artlmr Dumolin.— 
I read the article on Double Pr imr oses by“E. J.” 
in The Gabdening 'Woeld, April 18th, with much 
pleasure. Nothing can possibly give a greater charm to 
a garden in early spring than a good collection of these 
pretty early bloomers. A friend of mine whose garden 
space is very limited, and this well overhung by the 
shade of trees in summer, has made a speciality of 
these, and his little place now presents a most 
beautiful display. The sorts recommended by “ E. J.” 
I have grown for some years, and I can testify to the 
correctness of his observations, but there is one 
variety he does not seem to be acquainted with, and 
without which his list is incomplete, namely, Dr. 
Arthur Dumolin, a variety, I believe, of French 
origin, but one of the hardiest and strongest-growing 
of the race, bearing rich lilac plum-coloured flowers, 
in as rich profusion and larger than the old double 
white and lilac varieties. I put out two plants of this 
variety last autumn, and they are now one mass of 
bloom.— J. Knight, Bilston. 
Bomarea Caldasiana.—This lovely species is 
figured in the March number of The Illustration 
Horticole. It is a native of the Andes of Quito, and 
succeeds well under greenhouse treatment; indeed it 
is said to be half-hardy. The flowers are borne in a 
drooping umbel, the outer segments scarlet, and the 
inner ones bright yellow, with numerous scarlet spots. 
The umbel is represented with sixteen flowers. 
Anemones. — I notice that in a recent leader you 
extol to the skies these beautiful plants, but omit to 
mention ,-where we can obtain the seeds. A mutual 
friend forwarded me a packet of seed last spring, 
accompanied by a brief treatise on their culture, 
which ran as follows:—“ The site of the bed must be 
a sunny one, and the soil be taken out to the depth of 
1 ft., when 6 ins. of good cow-dung must be put at the 
bottom. Befill the bed with.tlie soil taken out. Then 
put one barrowful of charred refuse on the top. Let 
it stop for a few days, until the land gets perfectly 
settled down. Bake the surface fine and draw shallow 
drills at 1 ft. apart. The seeds must then be rubbed 
with sand in the same way as Carrot seed, and then, 
if the weather is dry, damp the drills, and sow the 
seed thinly, covering them up, and finishing off by 
nicely levelling the bed. Then be prepared to have 
two crops of weeds before the seeds vegetate.” I 
admit that these flowers take a lot of pleasing, but, 
oh, Mr. Editor, we are amply repaid when they come 
into flower. They are now (April 24th) in full beauty. 
The colours range from the brightest of scarlets to the 
clearest of whites. I measured one flower to-day 
which was 4 ins. across. The petals of the darker 
varieties are pointed like Cactuses, while the light 
and parti-coloured ones are beautifully rounded and 
finely shaped. They most assuredly are the king of 
spring flowers in my opinion.— R. Gilbert, Burgliley. 
--►£-*- 
Chrysanthemums for Cutting 1 Purposes.— 
Doubtless there are numbers of your readers who want 
cut-flowers in quantity during October, November, 
and the milder part of December. For this purpose 
there is nothing like the Chrysanthemum. Even 
those who grow for show purposes keep a quantity 
for cutting from for bouquets, church decoration, Ac., 
as, of course, the scissors must not be used on the show- 
blooms. Now those who are blest with a south, east, 
or west wall cannot do better than put in a layer of 
