202 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 7, 1903. 
Golden-leaved and variegated shrubs must be carefully 
placed, as these are often the cause of creating unpleasant 
effects, especially in small gardens, by their too frequent use. 
Surface-dressing.—After the leaves have fallen in autumn, 
these are raked off and taken away, and rightly so 1 , but one 
must remember that by so doing the shrubs are deprived of 
Nature’s own feeder; therefore, something must be done to 
make up for this. A good top dressing of decayed leaf soil 
or old manure neatly forked in will prove very beneficial. 
A. E. Thatcher. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Exigencies of space at times compel delay in the insertion of many interesting Letters. 
Gardens in West Lothian. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World 
Sir, —Your paper is causing quite a flutter of excitement in 
these days, and I am sure the question is on your lips, “ The 
reason of it all? ” Allow me to answer the question. You have 
enlisted the 1 assistance of men of great literary ability, and the 
singular thing is they belong chiefly to one county. 
The correspondence in regard to “Working to Time Table," 
aiid latterly as to “Trenching on the Brain,” have awakened 
within me memories of the past. Preston was so long and well 
managed by the famous Binnies, now departed (father and son). 
Certainly there was no glass worth mentioning, but their know¬ 
ledge of herbaceous and kitchen garden departments was of no 
mean order. Champfleurie I knew in the days of Potter. The 
ribbon borders—the sight of them still lives with me. In look¬ 
ing over the reports of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural 
Society, Edinburgh, of those days, I find he was a keen and 
successful exhibitor. Binnie House I cannot write: of, nor of 
its gardeners. 1 would whisper in the ear of its present 
gardener, “ T. S.,” do not be discouraged, though you did not 
find success all along the line in 1902. Who did? The lesson 
“ Vigilant,” I think, sought to teach in his letter to you, Mr. 
Editor, might stimulate “ T. S.” to go forward. In this direc¬ 
tion I would caution “ C. B.” and “ J. C. D." to be on the alert 
for friendly and honest criticism, but avoid personalities. I was 
sorry “Cal” suffered so at the hand of “ J. C. D.,” but I hope 
“Cal” may enjoy a share of the Plums, though not all, Mr. 
Editor. A short article from the pen of C. Blair on the principal 
features of gardening at Preston of the present day and of 
Champfleurie by J. C. Dick would be interesting to a Linlith- 
gowwegian, and to the readers of The Gardening World in 
general, as their names have been so much in evidence in your 
columns of late. And in prospect of these articles I will close, 
Mr. Editor. Willow Tree. 
Fruit Growing v. Orchards. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —I was particularly struck by an article in The Garden¬ 
ing World a week or two ago on making an orchard, and how 
easy it is to make a great mistake when at the same time we 
think wd are doing the best thing possible under the circum¬ 
stances. Toi make an orchard, perhaps the advice given there 
was right ; but I take it there was something more to be ex¬ 
pected from that piece of ground than the formation, of an, 
orchard, viz., the production of a good and plentiful supply of 
fruit. During my experience of a great number of years in 
gardening I have known several orchards laid out and planted as 
described in the article mentioned above, but I have never found 
one of them to be a great success. 
There are several reasons why they should not be a success 
which. I think, are often- overlooked in making and planting an 
orchard of that description. Firstly, the distance apart—15ft. 
to 20ft.—leaves the plants thoroughly exposed to all sorts of 
wind and weather ; consequently the trees are longer in coming 
into profitable bearing than trees planted closer. Secondly, if 
the ground under the trees has to be cropped, the position is 
unsatisfactory for most crops, and disappointment generally 
expressed at the labour expended thereon. Thirdly, if intended 
to be laid down in grass, as the trees get established we must be 
content with inferior fruit, A strong indictment to bring against 
an orchard which has been familiar to us- for so many years past, 
and which we find recommended at the present time as -being a 
good method to adopt. It seems heresy to say a word against 
such a practice, but we live in an age so different from what our 
forefathers were used to that we want to get all the short cuts 
in to obtain our goal. Life is a more serious- matter to-day than 
it was then, and more s-oientific knowledge must be brought to 
bear on our every-dav life, as greater results are expected from 
the present generation than in the past. 
My own belief in the old-fashioned orchards received a rude 
shock some fifteen or eighteen years ago at the time of the great 
Apple Congress at Chiswick. In the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s gardens a-t that time was a piece of ground planted 
with Apples on the Paradis© stock, and anyone who saw the 
result of that experiment would hesitate before planting an 
orchard in the old-fashioned way. Here the trees were planted 
on well-prepared ground at about 3ft. apart, which gave pro¬ 
tection to the trees from rough winds, etc., and the trees being 
on the dwarf stock, a good crop of fruit was gathered the second 
year after planting, and the- trees, continued bearing satisfac¬ 
torily for several years to my knowledge. If this system of 
planting is adopted where the trees can be treated as they 
require (not as the crop under them requires), better fruit will 
be the result. One- can easily get at the fruit to thin, and also 
to gather without fear of damage. 
As the trees grow too large for their position every other tree 
can be lifted and the- plantation extended. Then, again, even- 
other row can be moved, thus leaving the permanent trees 6ft. 
apart, which for trees on the dwarfing stock will be found suffi¬ 
cient. Thus we have our fruit trees together, and they are 
more amenable to whatever culture we desire to carry out. My 
own observations since then have thoroughly convinced me of 
the superior fruit to be obtained from the dwarf trees, as well 
as the greater quantity, and at a much earlier period of growth. 
I have several instances, in my mind at the present moment of 
where the trees were planted close and treated as I have 
described, and several that were planted as described in the 
article above mentioned, and the results in all cases are the 
same, viz., the close planting on the dwarf stock has given 
splendid results ; in the other case the good results have to 
come. A. W. 
The Question of Diaries. 
To the- Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I f you will kindly allow me space in your excellent 
paper, I shall try to answer “ Professor ”—no, no, “ Mister — 
“ Cal’s ” questions so that his curiosity may be satisfied. He 
asks what I keep now instead of a diary. Well, if any gardener 
worthy of the name takes a turn round his garden he will see at a 
glance the most necessary work requiring to be carried out for 
the following week or so (weather permitting). I act chiefly on 
that principle. I also preserve “ Mr. Cal’s” quizzings, and when 
I find myself in any difficulty I refer to them. I find them far 
superior to diaries (or -iaries). Regarding “ Viligant —unless 
he is an amateur—he will require no further information con¬ 
cerning the old Chrysanthemum roots, as lie will know, if 
“ Mister Cal ” does not, that old ’Mum roots are generally put 
on the rubbish heap, so that it is an advantage to treat them as I 
suggested and get good -cuttings early. J. C. Dick. 
Gloriosa Superba. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —In a re-cent issue, page 136, I see “ W. P. R. wonders 
what measure of success I have had in the cultivating of Gloriosa 
superba. Well, I must say I have been most successful with it, 
giving it the aspect and treatment described on page 127, in the 
stove and intermediate house, so- much so that I have reserved a 
place in the conservatory this 1 year for a trial, and if I am not 
much mistaken it will thrive there. At any rate, at a later date 
I shall be pleased to report in this paper the result. 
I do not doubt “ W. P. R.” as regards it thriving best in a good 
moist stove, nor do I go so far a® to say it will thrive best in an 
intermediate house, but that it will thrive. It was being so suc¬ 
cessful, and knowing how few gardeners seem to manage it, that 
I c-hose my notes on page 127. J. W. Htjckvale. 
