THE GARDENING WORLD 
249 
December 16, 1899. 
Pruning Apple Trees. — A. K., Donnybrook : Prune 
now, as advised recently in the “Hardy Fruit 
Garden.’’ 
Limb of Tree in Danger Fearful : If pruning 
is not a fault in your case, then relieve the limb of 
some of its weight. Otherwise the remedy or pre¬ 
vention of damage, lies in having iron girders made 
to encircle the limb—two semi-circular bands to be 
screwed together by means of nuts—and this to be 
attached by a stout chain or rod to the main trunk, 
which must also be encircled. 
Hydrangeas. — R.S .: These should all be housed 
by this time, and potted firmly or well top-dressed in 
good soil. The houses which accommodate them 
should be cool enough to prevent new growth, but 
the proper ripening of the foliage is necessary, and 
for this reason it is well to make them secure and 
comfortable. The old foliage should be carefully 
treated and ought not to be dried off too suddenly. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS AT UDSTON 
HOUSE. 
Many fine collections of Chrysanthemums are never 
seen outside of the gardens which they have been 
grown to beautify ; yet they redound to the credit of 
the gardeners who rear them in the seclusion of 
private domains. 
The accompanying illustration shows a group of 
Chrysanthemums, which have seen good service in 
one of the houses at Udston House, Hamilton, the 
residence of Lady Belhaven. The photograph 
necessarily shows them very much reduced. Some 
of the blooms were equal to the conventional 14 in. 
across, which means that they would measure 8 in. 
or 9 in. in diameter in the natural position without 
spreading out the drooping florets. Mr. D. Chis¬ 
holm, the gardener, informs us that he grew all the 
single stemmed Chrysanthemums, this year, by way 
of experiment, in 6-in. pots, with excellent results. 
No other feeding was given than that obtained from 
sheep droppings, and employed in the liquid form. 
In more ways than one this has given the greatest 
satisfaction. The nitrogenous constituents of this 
manure, like that of deer droppings and fowl 
manure, are generally reckoned the most valuable 
part of it. At the beginning of the present month 
the big blooms which appear in the front of the 
picture had been fully developed for two months, 
and gave promise of keeping fresh for another fort¬ 
night. This, for the moist climate of Hamilton, is 
certainly very good, and must also be an indication 
of the careful treatment given them on the part of 
the cultivator. 
- * 1 - — 
SYON HOUSE. 
The outstanding residences of aristocracy are com¬ 
paratively voluminous but those which peer up like 
mountain peaks above a sea of well-defined but 
lesser summits, are, just like the physical objects 
referred to in simile, scarcer and in ratio, they attract 
and obtain greater attention. Of course the point 
of view from which each person, as a complete and 
separate medium of thought, regards a place or 
object regulates and determines the value of that 
place or object in the mind of the person who views. 
Syon House,one of the seats of the Duke of North¬ 
umberland, from a horticultural standpoint is very 
eminent. A kindred science is forestry, and again 
seen through the tree-lovers’ spectacles, Syon is a 
land flowing with milk and honey, a storehouse of 
many fine old relics. The architect might not have 
very intricate studies to engage him at Syon but the 
landscapist could spend days in meditation upon the 
ripened ideas of his ancestral brother craftsmen, for in 
all likelihood Kn'ght, Price, Brown, Loudon, and 
others either had a share in the planning of Syon 
House grounds, or studied from its pattern at one 
time or other. 
Syon House, Brentford, Middlesex,—the name of 
course hauls up that of Mr. Geo. Wythes, and 
at the mention of Wythes and Syon House, 
one naturally has a picture of splendid gardens 
where vegetable and fruit culture are in their 
quintessence of perfection, where new ideas, bettered 
systems of procedure and every plan employed which 
an able and trustworthy gardener can adopt toward 
the improvement of the crops under his charge and 
their most economical management. We may as 
well speak upon a few things connected with 
Vegetables, 
and their method of treatment by Mr. Wythes. 
The manner in which clean, crisp, fat and well 
blanched Asparagus is produced is an “ original ’’ 
of Mr. Whythes’ own invention. The beds are of 
the ordinary width — 3 ft. or so—but in place of 
alleys or paths, one finds a brick built trench 18 in. 
to 24 in. wide and 4 ft. deep. The side walls, entirely 
loop-holed, are built on the principle of one halved 
brick laid on its edge and supporting a whole one 
which lies flat. At every 10 or 12 ft. along the 
trench a transverse little wall acts as a stay to the 
walls of the long trench. Into this trench about 
this time of year, fermenting material composed 
chiefly or entirely of forest leaves, is trodden in. 
The whole trench is filled and the beds likewise 
covered over to a goodly depth. From so simple and 
efficient a plan Mr. Wythes is able to cut beautiful 
heads of the luscious esculent in six weeks or two 
months from the time of applying the fermenting 
leaves. The system is as good as it is successful, for 
the heat is a steamy heat,not a drying one,suiting the 
marine likings of the Asparagus roots. The ferment¬ 
ing material is left in the trenches till the next 
season and by its decay, forms a rich region into 
which the strong roots and the weak roots of the 
Asparagus equally like to penetrate. For those who 
have not attempted the plan, which has been 
frequently exploited in our own and other papers, it 
is worthy of a fair trial. 
Strawberries are grown as annuals. When they 
have given their yield of fruits and no further returns 
are expected they are razed with spades so that the 
ground is as even as a brake newly dug. Broccoli 
are intended to go upon the land, however, so it is 
not dug, but the surface is thoroughly cleaned. The 
Syon House soil is very sandy and light so that 
every means for conserving solidity and moisture 
according as one or the other is demanded by a 
coming crop, every means, we say, has to be con¬ 
trived to obtain the desired end. 
The Strawberries for runners are entirely a sep¬ 
arate crop to that of the Strawberries for fruits, the 
one is grown especially to produce fruits, in the 
others the flower-trusses are picked off. The young 
plants which are to furnish the runners for next 
June or July, are in lines about 15 in. apart, 
or rather more, and just now (and this is why I 
mention the Strawberries) St. Martin’s Cabbages are 
forming or have formed their fine heads in lines 
Detween the Strawberry rows. So by such an 
economical combination,for neither crop appreciably 
suffers, the most and the best are raised from a given 
space. The St. Martin’s Cabbage is one of Mr. 
Wythes’ own raising. It is so named because it 
comes into use about St. Martin's Day. It received 
an Award of Merit at Chiswick recently. The var¬ 
iety has a capital habit, forming as it does, 
conveniently sized heads, not too tightly packed, and 
when cooked it has the fine flavour of the Colewort, 
which with the Christmas Drumhead formed the 
two parents. Cardoons are not seen every day. At 
Syon these are grown, their culture being much like 
that of Celery after the manner of which plant they 
are cooked. The long leaf blades have to be 
blanched beneath the mounded soil. Specimens 
will be seen at the Drill Hall at a meeting in the near 
future. 
(To be continued.) 
— ■—- 
“Just fancy! the thermometer registered twelve 
degrees below zero last night." "That’s not 
Fahrenheit ”? ' No. but it’s very far-in-cold." 
Chrysanthemums at Udston House. 
