230 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December JO, 1892. 
THE FRUIT GARDEN. 
Cutting Back Raspberry Rods. 
I should be very pleased if " W. N." would specify 
the special reasons he may have for advising that 
the tops of Raspberry canes be not shortened back 
till the spring. I do not contest the fact that he may 
have good reasons for what he advises, but I point 
out that it is not in accord with common practice. 
It is the almost universal rule to cut back the tops 
of the canes in the winter when the thinning and 
tying is done, and if I fail to see any reason why the 
shortening back should not then be done, it is 
because I have never found any harm resulting. 
So far from that being the case, I should even 
suggest that the shortening might be done with 
advantage in the autumn, so as to induce the 
swelling up of lateral buds. But we have cut back 
our Raspberry canes so long in the winter, and 
generally with such excellent results, that it is 
natural when another course is advised, explanations 
should be asked for. The usual course of culture of 
the Raspberry is to remove early in the summer all 
superflous suckers, and to retain only the strongest 
and as few as needful. After the fruit is gathered to 
remove then all the old fruiting canes, and that 
allows ample light and air to penetrate and ripen 
the new canes. Then after the leaves have fallen to 
shorten back and tie up those reserved canes. Give 
the ground about them a dressing of manure, and 
fork it in very lightly. 
If the Raspberry canes be secured to wires no 
stakes are needed, but generally it is needful to 
furnish fresh stakes each year. That is one of the 
weak features of Raspberry culture. The growers 
in the open fields for market are independent of 
supports, as they cut their canes back to about 3 ft. 
in height, and leave them to sustain themselves. 
That hard cutting is always done in the winter, and 
generally too when the weather is frosty. Weather 
of that description seems to be always the most 
suitable for the pruning of hardy plants or trees, 
and Raspberries seem to be of the hardiest.— A. D. 
-- 5 -- 
THE FLOWERS OF 
SCILLY. 
The splendid weather with which the islands of 
Scilly have been favoured has had the effect of 
giving the spring flowers, and especially the Narcis¬ 
sus crop, a splendid opportunity to develop, and it 
need be no surprise 10 learn, therefore, that both the 
Anemone and the Narcissus are to be found in bloom 
and many choice samples will in a few days be 
despatched to London. This is different to what 
has taken place during the last three or four years, 
when Christmas has passed before anything like 
blooms have been gathered. Residence in Scilly 
just now must bear a striking atmospherical 
difference to that of the great metropolis, and much 
to be desired. 
Speaking of the Scilly Isles, it would not be 
uninteresting to quote from the remarks of the Lord 
Proprietor, Mr. T. A. Dorrien Smith, as to what is 
being done there. At a recent audit he said :— 
" There is one thing to be thankful for. That is, 
while agricultural interests have throughout the 
country been at a great discount, I think the florists 
and others in Scilly have had a fair share of success. 
That success has been caused in a great measure by 
the pluck and energy of the gardeners and tillers of 
the soil, for the cultivation of flowers is now the 
only industry we have to rely upon. I cannot but 
look with pleasure on the number of glass houses 
that have been created during the last three or four 
years. It is a sign of keeping pace with the times, 
and I hope they will prove a- source of profit to 
flower-growers. There is the question of getting 
flowers into the hands of the dealers, and I 
may say that after communications the Post 
Office officials have promised to do their utmost to 
get an extra service and greater facilities during the 
flower season. Respecting the railway companies 
who refused compensation for non-delivery of flowers 
sent to London, I wrote them on the matter and 
pointed out the unreasonableness of their excuse, as 
they might take the flowers away and sell them on 
their own account. I would therefore advise claims 
from the gardeners to be sent in. It is gratifying 
to know that the flower culture has so increased the 
demand for labour that there are none who are will¬ 
ing to work but may find employment at liberal 
wages. 
This speaks well for the condition of the floral 
world in the west. But this is not all, there are 
earnest efforts being put forth for the cultivation of 
fruits—specially Apples, in Cornwall, and capital is 
forthcoming to help on the new 7 procedure.— X. 
-- 
A NEW ORCHID POT. 
A friend has sent us a sample of a new patent pot, 
not specially as an Orchid pot, but which, to our 
mind, is a grand acquisition for these plants, and 
upon seeing it one is led to wonder that pot-makers 
have never thought of it before. There is nothing 
objectionable in its appearance. The pot is made 
of the same material as other pots ; the difference 
lies only in the bottom, which is turned up into a 
cone like a port w 7 ine bottle, and this is cut into 
narrow slits, so that the wrnter has full egress and is 
carried away, leaving nothing behind to cause a stale 
or soured state, which is so injurious to Orchid life, 
or, indeed, to any other kind of plant. 
We do not know if any particular name has been 
given to the pot, but we shall doubtless know 7 more 
of it later on. There is one thing about it and its 
system of drainage—it will entirely obviate the 
necessity of smaller pots being turned upside dowm 
on the inside of the pot which is to contain the plant, 
and hence the extra weight is entirely done away 
with, there being nothing further to do but to fill in 
all round the inverted cone with ballast or burnt earth. 
This is said to be a first-class drainage material to 
use for the purpose, inasmuch as it absorbs a great 
quantity of moisture, and it gives it off to the roots 
in a gradual manner. We would recommend this 
material to any one useing the ordinary pots. This 
new pot has been sent to us by a friend, not simply 
for Orchids, but for use in the ordinary greenhouse, 
and we have but little doubt that we shall find it 
answer in a marked degree. As an Orchid pot, 
however, we think it will excell anything we have 
ever seen, and w 7 e heartily commend it to the notice 
of all interested in growing Orchids.— IV. H. G., in 
the Orchid Album. 
-- 
A NOVEL CHRISTMAS 
TREE. 
Anyone who has had long and intimate dealings 
with our furred and feathered brothers and sisters, 
must, if he speak the plain unvarnished truth, confess 
that, in one respect at least, they are our superiors. 
The proverb that, “ Virtue is its own reward ” is in 
nine cases out of ten bitterly true, in the sense that, 
from man at any rate, virtue gets no other. And 
although Wordsworth speaks w 7 ith incredulity of the 
“ hearts unkind, kind deeds 
With coldness still returning; ” 
the majority of us are forced, unwillingly, to allow 
that the poet’s experience was exceptional, and that 
the excess of man s gratitude has not often " left us 
mourning.” 
But with the furred and feathered creation the 
case is quite different. Not even a kind word is 
allowed to pass unacknowledged, and by a very 
small expenditure of time or money it is quite possi¬ 
ble to win the gratitude and confidence of a whole 
tribe. 
Last winter we added to the small and select 
company of feathered friends who each winter haunt 
our grounds, many who are “ worth knowing," 
according to Punch's definition (i.e., those who, 
hitherto, have not wished to know us), by the present 
of a Christmas-tree ; and their delight and gratitude 
knew no bounds. 
The big French windows of our dining-room look 
south, and open into a wide verandah. Not more 
than 4 ft. from the window stands a pot, in which is 
a small Spruce Fir between 4 ft. to 5 ft. high. This 
Fir is ornamented with all kinds of dainties calculated 
to win the hearts of the feathered tribe—a Cocoa 
Nut sawn in two and pierced with holes to enable 
us to w 7 ire the halves firmly on to the tree, Brazil 
Nuts cracked and half peeled, lumps of suet and 
dried Figs: and twice a day a miscellaneous meal 
of scraps is strewn on the ground beneath the tree. 
To this feast of good things come various guests. 
The great tits—of which we have at least two pairs— 
are hardly ever absent from the tree for more than a 
couple of minutes together. A pair of marsh-tits 
are constant visitors, and are second in beauty to 
none, with their black satin caps, pulled dowm well 
over their eyes, and their rusty-grey waistcoats. The 
nuthatches come two and three at a time. The tom¬ 
tits and cole-tits are numerous, and there is always a 
crowd of better-known birds pecking at the scraps 
on the ground. Here come the greedy blackbirds, 
and in the presence of so much in which their souls 
delight, the “ rollicking tenors of the shrubberies” 
become mere pugnacious gluttons, chasing one 
another round and aw r ay from the much-prized 
morsels—which are meanwhile snatched up whole¬ 
sale by the harmful, unnecessary, and always vulgar 
sparrows, who arrive in flocks, like ghouls, at the 
mere hint of a meal. The thrushes—both the com¬ 
mon kind and their somewhat overbearing relations, 
the storm-cocks—hop in suddenly amongst the 
crow 7 d, pounce on a morsel, and are off with it at 
once. One thrush—with a curious crest of white 
feathers—has been a pensioner of ours for nearly 
five years now. 
The whole tribe are now so tame that we can 
stand at the window to watch them without disturb¬ 
ing them at all. Occasionally, if we come to the 
window suddenly, or make an unexpected noise, a 
feeding tit will screw his head backward over his 
shoulder to look at us as he hangs upside down to a 
Brazil nut. Sometimes too, under similar circum¬ 
stances, a nuthatch will pause in the act of letting 
himself slip down into his coconut, to look reproach¬ 
fully at us as if to say, “ Don’t do that again ; I’m 
easily frightened.” But no one moves away for us, 
and the re-decorating of the Christmas-tree is 
always watched from the Cedar and an old Apple- 
tree in the field below by an excited crowd, who 
swarm back almost before the window is shut, chirp¬ 
ing and chattering, raising their crests, and looking 
at the window with bobs and jerks, as if in gratitude 
for the replenished feast. 
To those who are tired of racking their brains and 
emptying their purses in the vain attempt to give 
pleasure to satiated human senses and stomachs, I 
would say—if you live in the country, try the ex¬ 
periment of entertaining guests from the waysides 
and hedges. You will not meet with sneering depre¬ 
ciation of your hospitality from the feathered bipeds, 
and the Toms will not be offended at being asked to 
meet the Coles. Indeed, their gratitude to you will 
be out of all proportion to your expenditure of 
thought and money. Half-a-crown will buy a Spruce 
Fir; spend another half-a-crown on Suet, Brazil and 
Coconuts, and then enjoy the unfeigned delight and 
gratitude of Nature’s great operatic company over 
their Christmas-tree .—Ella F. Conybcare, in Nature 
Notes. 
--J—- 
NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM 
SOCIETY. 
The annual dinner of this society took place at 
Anderton’s Hotel on the 30th ult., when some 130 
members and friends sat down ; the chairman (Sir 
Edwin Saunders) being supported by Sir John T. D. 
Llewelyn, Bart., Sir Henry Doulton, Dr. Gervis, 
Dr. Walker, Mr. R. Ballantine, Mr. E. C. Jukes, 
Mr. J. R. Starling, Mr. F. Clarke, Air. H. Clarke, 
Mr. W. H. Fowler, Mr. C. C. Payne, Mr. W. 
Seward, Mr. A. Veitch, Air. Ingram, Air. H. 
Canned, Air. Ratchelous (St. Neots), Air. Drover, 
Mr. H. J. Jones, Mr. C. Hicks (E D‘. Shuttle- 
worth & Co.), Mr. Head, Mr. J. W. AVilkinson, 
Royal Aquarium, Mr. Gordon, etc. The pro¬ 
ceedings were of a most social and enjoyable 
character, and the after-dinner speeches excel¬ 
lent. The principal speakers all bore testimony 
to the value of the work done by the society in pro¬ 
moting the culture of the Chrysanthemum, and to 
the healthy, vigorous manner in which the operations 
of the society are carried on. It was stated by the 
chairman that there are now 760 members, 65 of 
whom are Fellows, and 26 foreign members, and 90 
affiliated societies. During the evening the Chal¬ 
lenge Shield, won by the St. Neot’s Chrysanthemum 
Society, the Holmes Memorial Cups, and the medals 
awarded at the November show were presented to 
the respective winners. The musical programme 
was in the capable hands of Mr. Sam Payne, and 
the general arrangements made by Air. Dean left 
nothing to be desired. 
- ■*» - 
Florida Oranges.—A Florida Orange grower states 
that a capitalist interested in that country has char¬ 
tered a special fruit steamer which sailed direct from 
Fernandino to England on the 15th ult. Hitherto the 
Oranges from Florida have been sent to England in 
the ordinary Atlantic liners—swift but not fitted for 
carrying quantities of fruit. The new servicewil save 
the disastrous re-shipment in New York, and avoid 
the high freights and losses from rotting in transit. 
