June 1, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
631 
soft while others are quite hard, and as every 
gardener knows a slight squeeze is fatal to the good 
appearance of the fruit. The only safe plan is to let 
the fruit lie loosely in the palm of the hand, the 
fingers gently clasping it near the point of its attach¬ 
ment to the tree, when by a gentle sideward pressure 
it may easily be ascertained whether it is ready for 
picking, for if so it will part very readily from its 
stalk. The flavour of the fruits will be greatly 
improved if they are laid for a day or two on a shelf 
where the sun’s rays can reach them, protecting them 
of course from birds as well as from two-legged 
creatures without feathers that evince a liking for 
their juicy lusciousness.— A. S. G. 
--*«- 
HARDY FRUIT DARDEN. 
Apricots.— The final thinning of the fruit, which 
should by this time have reached a good size, may 
now take place. The removal of unnecessary or 
fore-right shoots will need constant attention, also 
the tying or nailing of those that are to be left. In 
any case overcrowding of the shoots is a mistake, for 
it is far better to lay in less wood and to have it in 
a healthy condition than it is to tie in a lot of 
growths that only succeed in spoiling each other. 
Peaches. —The same remarks anent the laying in 
of woods as were made concerning the Apricot will 
apply to Peaches on walls with equal force. Attend 
to the tying in of growths as soon as they have 
attained a sufficient length, or they will be very 
very liable to be torn or broken at the base, that is 
to say, at the point of junction with last year’s wood, 
an injury that is far too often a fruitful cause of 
gumming. Where the soil is well drained and rather 
light in character, it will be necessary to to take all 
care to see that the roots of the trees are supplied 
with sufficient water. We have now been without 
rain for some time, and when we couple this with 
the fact that vigorously growing healthy wall trees 
soon exhaust any moisture that may be in the 
soil, we shall readily grasp the necessity for the 
caution. 
Mulching. —Too much can scarcely be said in 
recommendation of this practice; for apart from 
the nutriment that is supplied to the soil, a good 
mulching is of great service in preventing the rapid 
evaporation of water from the soil by the sun. A 
good dressing of short well-rotted stable manure 
may, therefore, be given with advantage to the 
borders in which all wall trees, whether Plums, 
Apricots, Peaches, Pears, or Cherries, are growing. 
Strawberries.— As there is a great deal of strain 
upon these at this time of year occasional waterings 
will be an absolute necessity on dry soil if good 
sized fruit is to be obtained. Where the mulching of 
manure was given early in the spring a great deal of 
its goodness will now be exhausted, consequently 
applications of liquid manure will be of great ser¬ 
vice. For this purpose farmyard manure is as good 
as anything if it can be obtained when fresh. Where 
the plantations were mulched a short time ago clear 
water will be all that is necessary. 
Grafted Trees.— As soon as it is seen that the 
grafts are making headway and that a perfect union 
between stock and scion must thus have taken place, 
the clay may be carefully removed, and any ties 
that appear to be too tight loosened. It will also be 
very necessary to afford these young scions some 
support, as a moderately rough wind will often play 
great havoc with them. A light stake may be lashed 
to the stock and the scion tied to this. All shoots 
which are observed to come from the stock itself 
must be rubbed off as soon as seen, so that the 
scions may get the full benefit of the energy of the 
tree. 
-- 
Bedding Out. 
In the majority of gardens whether they be large or 
small the operation of transferring the summer 
bedding plants to their flowering quarters will now 
be actively in progress. Many who were tempted by 
the fine tropical weather which visited us during the 
second week in May, have been discouraged by the 
late spell of cold, raw weather, and planting out has 
in most cases been greatly hindered, and in not a 
few stopped altogether. Now, however, that we are 
once again being favoured with warm sun strenuous 
efforts should be made to get the work well in hand. 
Although rain is sadly wanted everywhere there is 
this advantage pertaining to dry weather that the 
soil will work much easier, and this facilitates opera¬ 
tions where thousands of plants of all kinds have to 
be put out. To do so in wet weather is, as every 
practical gardener knows, a task attended with con¬ 
siderable difficulty ; the soil sticking to the feet of 
the workmen is very liable to be carried over gravel 
paths, etc., a proceeding that is not calculated to 
improve their appearance. 
Where the plants are in pots the labour of bedding 
out is, of course, greatly diminished, for they may 
then be transferred to their new abodes without 
much fear of a check arising from undue root dis¬ 
turbance. It often happens, however, that owing to 
lack of a sufficient number of pots the plants have 
had to be accommodated in boxes. In this case 
every precaution must be taken to see that they are 
taken out with good balls of earth attached Any 
boxes, therefore, containing Pelargoniums Lobelias, 
or any of the ordinary bedding annuals must be well 
watered the day before their contents are to be trans¬ 
ferred to the flower garden. 
Watering. 
Where the flower garden is of large size, and the 
number of beds it contains numerous, it is manifest 
that the labour of keeping everything well supplied 
with water during a dry spell must be exceedingly 
great. The present period of drought will, therefore, 
cause not a little extra work, for it is very necessary 
that plants which have been newly put out, and have 
from that cause not had sufficient time to become 
established, should not be allowed to suffer for lack 
of moisture. In establishments where the water 
supply is ample and a sufficient length of hose on 
hand to convey the water from the taps to the 
sphere of operations but little difficulty will be 
experienced, although in places where the water has 
to be carried in cans, the work is rendered much 
more laborious. But whether water be applied by 
the hose or with cans care must be taken that it is 
not allowed to fall in an unbroken stieam or much 
washing of the soil will result. Either a rose or a 
water spreader, either of which may be obtained at 
a very small cost, should be affixed to the hose or 
can and the force of the stream thus broken. 
Dahlias. 
While these beautiful plants are favourites every¬ 
where, we have usually to deplore the brevity of 
their brilliant career, for in very many cases an early 
autumn frost puts an effectual stop to the brilliancy 
of their beauty. Last autumn was, it is true, a 
marked exception to the rule, for although in some 
districts Dahlias were cut down early in the autumn, 
in the majority of cases they kept blooming away 
well in November. It is advisable to plant them 
outdoors the moment that danger of severe frost is 
past so as to allow them as long a blooming season 
as possible. The position they are to occupy will 
have been well manured either during last autumn 
or early in spring. The plants meanwhile which 
have been struck from cuttings obtained from plants 
started soon after the turn of the year, as well as the 
larger specimens which were started a month or two 
later by placing the tubers in baskets, covering them 
with leaf mould or any light soil and standing them 
in a Vinery that is being forced, will have been 
hardened by degrees and should now be ready to fill 
their allotted place outside. In planting them, a 
good hole should be made with the spade and the 
earth made firm around the tubers, afterwards giving 
the plants a neat stake to support them against 
storms of wind and rain. Treated thus, it is often 
astonishing to see the rate at which the plants grow, 
making large specimens in no time. 
- -I- 
(Meanings fttorn tfiq JUDorlti 
of Srisnc^. 
A Comparison of Forest Floras. —There are 
many points of resemblance between the forest 
floras of Japan and North-East America—a fact 
which has been known for many years, and seems to 
indicate a common origin. Professor Sargent, the 
well-known American botanist, has written a book 
entitled the Forest Flora of Japan, and the following 
quotation taken from his work expresses some of his 
views on the points of resemblance between the 
floras of the two countries above mentioned : “ The 
floras of Japan and Eastern America have, it is true, 
some curious features in common, and the presence 
in two regions of certain types not found elsewhere 
show their relationship. But these plants are usually 
small, and are rare or grow only on the high moun¬ 
tains. Diphylleia, Buckleya, Epigaea, and Shortia 
show the common origin of the two floras ; but these 
are rare plants in Japan, as they are in America, 
with the exception of Epigaea, and probably not one 
traveller in ten thousand has ever seen them, while 
the chief elements of the forest flora of Northern 
Japan, the only part of the empire where comparison 
is possible—those which all travellers notice—do not 
recall America so much, perhaps, as they do Siberia 
and Europe. . . . The forests of the two 
regions possess in common Magnolia and Aesculus, 
which are more abundant in species and individuals 
in America than Japan. The Rhuses or Sumachs 
are very similar in the two regions, and so are the 
Witch Hazel and the arborescent Aralia Cornus 
macrophylla of Japan is only enlarged Cornus 
alternifolia of Eastern America and the so-called 
flowering Dogwoods of the two countries are not 
unlike. The Japanese Walnut is very like the Ameri¬ 
can Butter-nut, while, rather curiously, the Japanese 
Thuya and the two Chamaecyparis, the Piceas and 
Abies, resemble species of Pacific North America, a 
region whose flora has little affinity with that of 
Eastern Asia. Tumion is common to the two regions : 
in Eastern America it is one of the most local of all 
our trees, while in Japan it is abundant in the moun¬ 
tainous regions of the central and southern parts of 
the empire." 
The Walking Leaves of Australia—Among 
the stories told about the wonderful things to be 
found in Australia there is one of crawling leaves. 
English sailors first brought an account of this 
phenomenon. They were roaming along the coast 
when a sudden breeze shook down a number of 
leaves, which floated gently to the ground. The 
sailors were surprised at this shower because it was 
not the fall of the year, but midsummer, and the 
falling leaves looked fresh and green. But this was 
nothing to what followed. After a short rest these 
leaves began crawling along the ground towards the 
tree from which they came. The sailors were too 
much frightened to stop and investigate,and one of the 
men said, in relating the adventure, that he expected 
every minute to see the trees step out and dance a 
hornpipe. Fortunately other travellers were not 
too much frightened to stop and examine the matter 
It was discovered that these queer leaves are really 
insects which live upon the trees, and are of the 
same colour as the foliage. They have very thin, 
flat bodies, and wings shaped like large leaves. 
When disturbed by a breeze they fold their legs 
under their bodies, and then the leaf-like shape, 
with stem and all, is complete. Not only are they 
bright green in summer, like the foliage of the trees 
at that time, but they actually change like the leaves 
do to the dull brown produced by frost. Another 
peculiarity of these insects is that when shaken to 
the ground they seldom use their wiDgs. After 
lying there for a few minutes, as though they were 
really leaves, they crawl to the tree and ascend the 
trunk without seeming to know that they have the 
power to get back to their quarters in a much easier 
and quicker way .—New Orleans Picayune. 
A New Vegetable Fat Tree.—The Deutsches 
Kolonialblatt says that Dr. Stuhlmann, while 
travelling in Uluguru, has ascertained the frequency 
of the tree called Mkani by the natives, from the 
fruit of which is derived a tallow-like fat that is sent 
to market in Bagamoyo. Some leaves and fruit of 
this tree have been sent by Dr. Stuhlmann to Dr. 
Engler, director of the Berlin Botanical Gardens, for 
scientific examination, who asserts that the tree 
belongs to a hitherto undescribed species of the 
Guttiferae, and to which he (the director) has now 
given the name of Stearodendron Stuhlmanni. The 
late Professor Holst observed this tree growing wild 
in quantities at Nguelo, in Usambara, and described 
it as one of the largest of the tropic forests of that 
region. The fruit is big and heavy, measuring a foot 
long by half a foot thick. When pierced, the ripe 
fruit yields a thick golden juice. The branches have 
a strange twisted appearance. The tree is doubtless 
closely related to the butter-and-tallow tree of Sierra 
Leone and Nun River. The latter tree has egg-shaped 
fruit, containing in its sections only one or two seeds 
each, while the Stearodendron contains more than 
twenty seeds in each section. 
