^January 6, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
299 
heating the pipes till the sulphur fumes fill the 
house, is an old but good remedy. 
The Carrot Fly (Psila rosae).— This fly is 
smaller than the Onion or Cabbage fly, but resembles 
them in a general way. It lies in the ground all 
winter in the pupal slate, and is hatched out in the 
spring; it then lays its eggs on the roots of the 
young Carrots. Being a very small fly it can find 
its way to the roots by very small holes and crevices. 
If the soil is inclined to be heavy these holes and 
crevices will not crumble down in dry weather, but 
remain rigid, giving every opportunity for the insect 
to enter and lay its eggs on the roots of the Carrots. 
The reason that Carrots do so well on very sandy 
soil, is that when the sand gets dry in fine weather 
(that is when the fly lays its eggs), there is a want of 
cohesion amongst the particles of the sand, and im¬ 
pelled by their own weight they run into every cre¬ 
vice and hole, completely blocking up every entrance 
to the roots of the Carrots ; and the fly is quite un¬ 
able to make an entrance for itself. Gardens, how¬ 
ever, that were almost pure sand to begin with, after 
years of manuring get well mixed with humus and 
go into rents and fissures, earthworm burrows, &c., 
in the same way as a loamy soil, and the Carrot Fly 
is not slow to avail itself of the opportunity to lay 
its eggs. This condition of soil favourable to 
the growth of Carrots might be imitated on heavy 
soils by covering the ground with sand after the seed 
is sown, repeating it once or twice, as the teeming 
life of the soil would gradually mix it with the sur¬ 
face. If the sand was soaked with paraffin it would 
be all the more effectual. 
In conclusion, I would say that a gardeners’ study 
should be how to avoid insect pests, more than how 
to kill them ; and to know how to avoid them is to 
know something of their life history ; and to know 
that is better than to know about the newest insecti¬ 
cide .—William Kennedy. 
THE JOBBING GARDENER AND 
PRUNING. 
In The Gardening World, of December 23rd, p. 
268, " C. S.” has some notes about the jobber and 
his modes of pruning. Many gardeners must have 
noticed this cruelty to trees, for one can call it 
nothing less, to all classes of shrubs. They, at the 
same time, must sympathise with the poor crippled 
subjects. But very few interested people seem to 
come to the rescue, or write against such malpractices. 
If they would, how much good they could do ! The 
nurseryman especially should find it his duty to do 
so, for the sake of improvement to his business and 
directions to those of his customers who require it. 
People who plant shrubs for flowering effect, must 
get tired waiting for blooms which can never come 
so long as the jobber prunes them with hedging 
shears into all sorts of ugly shapes. And people 
must surely get tired of trees planted close to the 
roads, trees which are not suitable and which have 
to be crippled by close pruning. A great deal of 
this mischief might be avoided if there was a little 
more advice given by experienced men, and I am 
sure a great number of gardeners and jobbers 
would be thankful for it, besides a great number of 
those employers who are interested in the beauty of 
nature. Much could be done to improve the 
plantings in the suburbs of London and other 
crowded cities. At present it is a disgrace to see so 
many crippled trees. 
After having grumbled about the bad habits of 
pruning I will say a few words expressing my views 
on the subject itself, and I would be pleased if other 
gardeners would give their opinions. Starting with 
large trees it is advisable to have the pruning of 
them done by thoroughly careful and experienced 
men. Beautiful trees are often ruined in a very short 
space of time, or so damaged that it often takes 
many years before they re-establish themselves in 
health and beauty. Therefore, take care when 
pruning large trees that only those branches are cut 
out which do not injure the symmetry of the sub¬ 
jects, and any branches operated on should be cut 
off close to the joint. A pruned tree always will 
look a disgrace if there are stumps left of 12 in. or 
15 in. long. These stumps start rotting in a short 
time and very often result in the ruin of the tree. 
A well-pruned tree should allow the light to pass 
freely into it and between the branches. Take some 
Stockholm tar and paint all fhe wounds carefully; 
this will heal the wounds much quicker and keep all 
moisture off the wound. 
Shrubs pruned with hedging shears generally 
assume formal shapes, whereas with a knife or 
secateurs no more expense need be entailed and the 
shrubs can be specially pruned so as to bring out 
their fullest flowering qualities. All flowering 
shrubs which bloom immediately out of wood 
grown the previous year, such as Deutzias, Ribes, 
Wiegelas and Philadelphus, should have all the old 
wood pruned out, leaving only sufficient of the 
younger shoots and suckers, the tips of these only 
to be pruned, and that slightly. Shrubs with an 
arching or hanging habit (Wiegela) may be pruned 
so that the upright growing shoots are kept. If a 
shrub is growing too tall, a skilful gardener will 
prune in the above-mentioned way without losing the 
individual habit, beauty, or flowers of the shrub. 
All pruning should be done with knife and secateurs, 
never with hedging shears. There are many shrubs 
which flower on shoots grown late in the same year 
such as Spiraeas. With such, prune all old wood out 
and cut back the younger shoots to about 12 in. to 
24 in. This depends on the position in which the 
shrubs stand. Those in the front of shrubberies 
should be cut back still more. 
Lilacs do not require much pruning, only just 
enough to keep them in their place. Evergreen 
shrubs such as Laurels, Euonymus and Aucubas. 
require to have all dead wood and weakly shoots 
taken out. Prune the tall growing shoots back and 
keep the shrubs in a pleasiDg shape. Conifers do 
not require a great deal of pruning except that they 
have to be kept in good shape, but what Conifers 
require very much is cleaning out the dead scale-like 
leaves every year. If this' is done in May it will 
improve the health and growth of the tree. Most 
gardeners will agree with me that the best season for 
tree and shrub pruning is from November till 
February. Growth is then at rest and the new 
development in spring proceeds in the most proper 
and best way.— H. L. 
---f®-- 
EARLY TOMATOS IN POTS. 
Many will be about to make their first sowing of 
Tomatos for the season. For this the earliest crop pot 
culture yields the quickest and surest returns. The 
plants for placiog into borders in a warm house are 
safer left till the middle of January, whence they can 
be grown on steadily to be planted into a border 
when the days are brighter and becoming more 
lengthy. Deep pans preferably, though 4-in. pots 
may also be used, and these filled with an open, 
friable loam made to pass through the |-in riddle, 
and a goodly quantity of sand and leaf-mould, all 
well mixed, will be found to suit for seed-sowing. 
The drainage should be ample and well placed. 
Rougher compost should be used in the lower parts 
of the pots or pans, becoming finer as the surface is 
reached. Seed should be got from a reliable source, 
and sown very evenly, but quite thinly, over the 
firm, smooth surface. Only the merest covering of 
very fine soil should be screened over the seeds after 
sowing, and a gentle watering from a fine-rosed can 
given. The pans should then be placed in a warm 
pit, their tops being covered with glass. This glass 
should be frequently turned and wiped. In three 
weeks’ time the seedlings will be fit for potting on. 
After this they will require constant and regular 
shifts until they are installed into eight or 10-in. pots, 
in which they should fruit. Lesser pots may be 
made to answer, and fruiting the sooner precipitated 
by allowing the plants to become root-bound, and to 
sustain them by persistent feeding. On all occasions 
it is well to have the potting soil warmed. The 
newly shifted plants should likewise be retained in 
the same temperatures after the pottings as that in 
which they were previously. This allows a fresh 
start to the roots, &c., whence they may be removed 
to cooler quarters. For plants going into 6-in. pots, 
a compost consisting of good yellow or red loam, 
leaf-mould, spent mushroom dung, and coarse 
sand, in the respective proportions of 3, 1, 1, and 
one half of sand in the order as named may 
be used with all surety. Firm potting is essential. 
Up to the period in which the Tomatos were placed 
in the 6-in. pots, a warm house with a temperature 
of 55 degrees should be given to them. After this 
shift a temperature of 56 degrees at night, rising to 
63 degrees during the day, with a constant, but very 
limited, current of air from the bottom ventilators 
at all times, are the conditions under which they will 
thrive. The growth, of course, must always be de¬ 
veloped firmly. If lankiness is allowed the prob¬ 
ability is that no fruits will set. Firm plants yield 
quick returns, and the best produce too. For these 
earliest plants the lateral growths must be kept con¬ 
stantly pinched off. When a number of trusses have 
set well the leading shoot may be also pinched to 
terminate growth of wood, and to throw the 
strength into the crop. A dry, moving air, and 
practice with a hare's tail over the flowers at the 
time of their development greatly ensures the setting 
of a decent return of fruits. Sutton's Earliest of 
All, Ham Green Favourite, The Trophy, Conference, 
Hackwood Park, and others, are good varieties.— 
J. Harris. 
-—-— 
SYON HOUSE. 
(Concluded from p . 249.) 
Hardy Fruits. 
A passing notice was given to a few items in the 
vegetable garden on page 249, and the methods 
which Mr Geo. Wythes so successfully employs. 
The hardy fruit section has not so many points of 
interest for us at this season. The pruning opera¬ 
tions were being pushed on. There are wall trees, of 
course, in all forms, and in all stages of development. 
A fine west wall of Pears, Apricots, &c., had just 
been replanted before the writer’s visit, for when the 
trees are very young they are planted close, and so 
soon as they have filled the spaces between each 
other no delay is made, they are entirely lifted and set 
wider apart. With the careful and skilful treatment, 
the vigorous young trees receive just sufficient check 
to be beneficial toward fruit production. Young trees 
are made to bear so soon as they have organised a 
shapely and healthy frame. By judicious cropping 
splendid fruits are secured, and the strength which 
their development withdraws from the trees saves 
any danger of depreciation into gross wood growth. 
The maxim seemingly followed is Get a tree into a 
fruitful frame, and afterwards it will remain fruitful. 
The system of having horizontal cordons as an edg¬ 
ing to the walks is one which, to careful cultivators, 
provides a feature of much ornamental merit and also 
valuable returns. They are trained at from 15 in. to 
18 in. from the ground, and parallel with the same. 
From all points of view this is the best height at 
which to train these cordons. The fruits are just 
above the reach of splashes or spattering from pass¬ 
ing pedestrians, and the meD have freedom to work 
beneath the boughs, while these are still within the 
influence of the slightest radiation from the soil. If 
they happen to be in blossom and a late spring frost 
appears imminent, light protective material can be 
gently spread along their length in a few minutes. 
For this purpose dried vegetable Asparagus fronds 
may be tried, or soft hay, tiffany, &c. Having re¬ 
ferred thus pointedly to the edging cordons we should 
hope planters may be led to reflect upon the advisa¬ 
bility of joining in the method. 
Strawberries 
are grown at Syon House as annuals. Much has 
been written in one or other of our gardening papers 
by the most eminent growers of Strawberries, as to 
the merits of the practice whereby the Strawberry is 
treated as an annual. To those of us who have all our 
lives been used to plantations ranging in age from five 
to fifteen years, the “ new fangled ” manner of grow¬ 
ing appears to require explanation. Mr. D. T. Fish, 
in defending the practice of the old school, expressed 
the opinion that Mr. Wythes expected from babies 
what could only be got from adults, in other words, 
he hoped to get as fine returns from one-year old 
plants as other men only got from five-year-olds. 
But I've been to Syon House, and I’ve seen Mr. 
Wythes’ annual Strawberries. They are splendid 
samples. The man who has to provide the best 
fruits possible to parties, which reach to quadruple 
figures, surely must have a powerful plea to make, 
and must needs have unimpeachable illustrations to 
show. As has been already stated, Mr. Wythes 
grows plants, call them mother-Strawberries, if you 
care to, specially to bear runners. Fruit they never 
are allowed to be adorned with. These, of course, 
have their strength concentrated in one issue, that of 
runner production. By the cultural care bestowed 
on them, the plants provide young plantlets early in 
July. They are rooted and taken up then, planted 
in nursery rows, and at a time when many other 
growers have just finished their pegging down, the 
