604 
tttE GARDENING WORLD 
April 8, 1699. 
||ints for ||mateurs. 
Disbudding Wall Peaches.—If there is one opera¬ 
tion more than another connected with Peach grow¬ 
ing that is neglected by many an amateur and pro¬ 
fessional gardener is that of disbudding. It may be 
that the operation is but little understood, and that 
the grower has not the moral courage to commence 
to pull his trees about just as they are beginning to 
look nice and green. At any rate, it is a certainty 
that the purport and scope of disbudding is not 
fully grasped by many people, otherwise we should 
not see trees in the unsatisfactory condition in which 
they are often to be seen—crowded with a lot of 
weakly, spindly shoots all through the growing 
season, and in the autumn a mass of twiggy succu¬ 
lent growths that never ripen properly. 
“ Oh ! " says the cultivator who doesn't go in for 
disbudding, “ wait until the leaves are off, and I can 
get to work with the pruning knife, and I'll soon put 
things to rights.” But does he? He hacks out 
a lot of stuff, it is true, and he fondly thinks that his 
trees are in good fettle, and all the while he is 
oblivious of the fearful waste that has been gomg cn, 
and of the grand fruit that might have been obtained 
if the energy that has been allowed to run to waste 
had been directed into proper channels, and so the 
rubbish goes to ihe fire heap, and there is an end of 
it as far as the rubbish itself is concerned. 
But what of the trees in the meanwhile ? They are 
suffering because their master does not know bow 
to husband and make the best use of their energies, 
and thus matters drift on year after year until the 
trees are old and worn out, and the rubbish heap has 
been enriched by many a goodly load. 
Now we have nothing to say against the legitimate 
use of the pruning knife in the autumn and winter 
months, but the intelligent cultivator reduces this 
winter pruning to a minimum, for he does the most 
of his pruniog with the finger and thumb in the early 
stages of growth, and he follows this up by cutting 
out most of the shcots that have borne fruit soon 
after the fruit has been gathered. The result is that 
there is very little to do at winter time in the way of 
pruning. A branch may be taken out here and there, 
but there is nothing like the wholesale cutting out 
that the man who shies at disbudding has to do, for 
there is no necessity for it. 
Disbudding in itself is a weakening operation. It 
would be scarcely necessary to mention this, for it is 
so obvious to the cultivator who uses his head, were 
it net to impress upon the beginner the necessity of 
goiDg caretully to work ; and, as it were, feeling bis 
way aloDg until he feels sure of his ground. The re¬ 
moval of the young growths with their tiny freshly- 
burst leaves must, therefore, be gradually done—a 
handful may be taken out to-day, another handful 
to-morrow, and so on, until only those shoots that 
are wanted are left. These chosen shoots receive 
the benefit of all the energy that would have been 
wasted upon unnecessary shoots, and thus the 
expert cultivator has his grip upon his trees, and is 
able to manipulate them as seemeth him best. 
The method of procedure is simple enough—when 
it is understood. If we take an ordinary bearing 
shoot we shall find that it is breaking into growth on 
all sides. Some shoots will be pointing towards the 
back of the tree, and some towards the front, and 
some to the right and left. It is this question of 
direction that must govern the first thinning of 
prospective shoots, and those pointing forwards and 
backwards, or, in other words, those growing at right 
angles to the general spread of the tree may be first 
taken out, a slight squeeze and a bend backwards 
with the thumb and forefinger being all that is 
wanted. A moment’s thought will convince the 
operator that it would be difficult to train these 
shoots, for that would mean turning them through 
an angle of 90°, and there would, as a consequence, 
be a loop or a bend at the base of each, if indeed it 
stood the strain and did not snap out. 
The next stage is to take out the greater portion of 
young shoots whose direction is parallel to the 
general spread of the tree. In an ordinary bearing 
shoot on a matured tree, that is, one that has filled, 
or nearly so, its allotted area, one good shoot at the 
base of the bearing branch must be left, and trained 
in alongside it to form a fruiting branch for next 
year. The terminal bud on the bearing shoot should 
also be left to draw the sap up to and some of it 
past the fruit. This apical growth helps to furnish 
working leaves, and these will be wanted. 
The directions given above as to the number of 
shoots to be ultimately left apply only to such trees 
as have reached their limit of spread or thereabouts. 
On very young trees which have to build up their 
framework and make their spread, more shoots must 
be left. In the intervening stages between the very 
young and the very old tree the cultivator must use 
his own discretion as to the number of shoots he 
leaves. It would be impossible in a written state¬ 
ment to give definite instructions as to every stage 
of tree. The broad, governing principles have been 
given, and each individual must modify the applica¬ 
tion of these to suit his own special case. There 
are one or two special hints, however, that must not 
be lost sight of in the work. 
First, overcrowding, whether in old or young trees 
is an unmitigated evil. 
Second, determine whether fruit or wood is wanted 
and disbud accordingly. 
Third, always leave a shoot as near the base of the 
branch as possible. 
Fourth, disbud to such an extent that the minimum 
of pruning will be left for the winter months. 
Stopping Yines.—After the bunches have made 
their appearance the shoots must be stopped, and 
this is usually done at the second, and occasionally 
at the third node or joint beyond the bunch. As soon 
as a stop is put to the elongation of the branch the 
energy of the sap will be turned towards the develop¬ 
ment of the buds in the axils of the leaves, and 
lateral shoots will be thrown out. These should not 
be allowed to go very far, but should be pinched at 
the first leaf. 
Watering Yine and Peach Borders.-The work 
of watering the borders in which Vines and Peaches 
are growing is becoming week by week heavier, and 
of greater importance. Too much stress cannot be 
laid upon the necessity of keeping the plants well 
supplied with water. Where the water is drawn 
from a well, or comes through a water company’s 
pipes, it is usually cold, hard, and unkindly. To use 
it raw, so to speak, would be very dangerous, and 
many a check given to growing Vines and Peaches 
may be traced to this. If tanks of fair size are avail¬ 
able these should be filled, and the water allowed to 
stand in them for a day or two before it is used. If 
the temperature of this water is still too low, hot 
water should be added. For an ordinary Peach- 
house in which the young leaves are just making 
their appearance the water used should have a tem¬ 
perature of not less than 55 0 Fahr. For Vines 5 0 
hotter than this will be advisable, and in the case of 
early Vines which are showiog the bunches, 65° will 
not be a bit too warm. 
Be careful to give enough water to soak the whole 
of the border. Incalculable harm is done by giving 
driblets, for they only moisten the surface soil, and 
leave that underneath as dry as before. If this goes 
on for a little while, and no examination is made in¬ 
to the condition of the lower strata of the border the 
trees have a very sorry time of it. 
Forcing Strawberries.—As soon as the fruit is 
set thinning must be resorted to if good fruit is to be 
obtained. For a plant in an ordinary 6-inch pot, the 
size generally employed for forcing Strawberries, 
eight or nine fruits will be a good crop. This num¬ 
ber should be left, therefore, and the remainder cut 
away. The best fruits will be found to lie lowest on 
the flower stems, and as these flowers open before the 
others higher up there is no need to wait for the late 
flowers, but they may be cut off straight away and 
the plant saved so much expenditure. 
Now is the time when feeding with liquid manure 
must be liberally practised. Strawberries not only 
take a great deal out of the soil, but they want to do 
it in a very short time. To enable them to get what 
they want the soil must be well packed with plant 
food, hence the necessity for liberal feediog. Liquid 
farmyard manure, and liquid cow-manure are both 
good, whilst a sprinkling now and again of Thom¬ 
son’s, or of Le Fruitier will produce excellent results. 
— Rex. 
-- 
The Total Area of Land in Cuitiva’ion in the 
United Kingdom has fallen off, for as it was 
47,86?,553 acres in 1897 it was only 47,792,474 acres 
in 1898, or a difference of 76,000 acres. 
Correspondence. 
Questions ashed by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
A nyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
" Amateurs' Page ” on the top of their letters. 
Nephrodinm lepidum .—Largos : This handsome 
Fern really likes an intermediate house, but it will 
do in a cool house if it is not overwatered in the 
winter. We have seen nice plants in a house 
whose temperature was between 40° and 45 0 by 
night from the beginning of November till the end 
of February. When old plants get into a bad con¬ 
dition it is very little use trying to do anything with 
them, as they only dwindle away and die by degrees. 
Try a few young ones, and you will soon see how 
vigorous they are. 
Selaginella kraussiana.— Largos: It is quite true 
that the green carpet like Selaginella so frequently 
to be seen in greenhouses goes by the name of S. 
denticulata among gardeners, but the name is wrong; 
it should be S. kraussiana. S. denticulata is quite 
distinct from it, and rather rarely seen. 
Manuring Chrysanthemums.— T. Sims: Under no 
circumstances would we advise giving artificial 
manures, or, indeed, manures of any kind to young 
Chrysanthemums. To do so would be as bad as 
giving young children rich and highly-seasoned 
dishes, and the evil effects very much of the same 
nature. For Chrysanthemums right up to the time 
when they have filled their flowering pots* with 
roots, say from the middle to the end of July for the 
earliest plants, the soil should be all sufficient. 
Bush Chrysanthemums.— 5 . M .: You would 
make the plants send out side shcots if you simply 
pinched out the growing top, but then you would 
have rather ungainly-looking plants. The approved 
plan is to cut the plants, right back, leaving only two 
or three leaves. The young shoots or " breaks,” as 
they are technically called, will then be thrown up 
from quite close to the bottom. 
Moss or Lawn.— J. P.: You will find the infor¬ 
mation you want in ” The Flower Garden Calendar ” 
on p. 491 of last week’s issue. 
Stove and Greenhouse Plants.—S., Aylesbury: 
Decidedly the best book on “ Stove and Greenhouse 
Plants ” was written by Thomas Baines, and pub¬ 
lished by John Murray, 50A, Albemarle Street, 
London, S.W., at 12s. There are numerous illus¬ 
trations, and the cultural directions given are ex¬ 
ceedingly mfnute and reliable. 
Cissus discolor.— C. P.: This Cissus is one of the 
handsomest stove climbers we have. It will also do 
well as a pot plant trained to a balloon or trellis, but, 
of course, this system of training makes the plant 
look rather stiff, and we do not particularly recom¬ 
mend pot culture, except when the plants are <juite 
small. You may propagate now by cuttings, which 
will have to be placed in brisk heat to root. The 
cuttings should consist of the tips of the young 
shoots, or the young shoots taken off with a heel of 
the old wood, and each cutting should have two or 
three good leaves attached. 
Dracaena congests .—D K .: Of the narrow¬ 
leaved Dracaenas, D. congesta would probably stand 
the atmosphere of dwelling rooms for a longer period 
than any other. D. rubra also stands fairly well, but 
the leaves are wider than those of D. congesta. D 
gracilis is very pretty, indeed, but it does not like to 
be kept out of heat for long together. You would 
be able to do nothing with the purple-leaved forms, 
and those who recommended them for dwelling room 
decoration must have been napping. 
Asparagus Fern.—There is no such thing really, 
L. T. We are perfectly well aware that many 
people will persist in calling Asparagus plumosus, 
A. tenuissimus, and the other decorative forms, 
Asparagus Fern, but the plants are Asparaguses, aDd 
not Ferns. Those who had the making of that show 
schedule evidently did not know their book. 
Feeding Bees.— M. A.: Certainly, feed the bees 
if you find they are short of foocL More stocks are 
