August 29, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
729 
Among the Cactus Dahlias. 
Growers of Dahlias are just now in the thick of the work, 
and a few hints as to proper culture may be of use to many. 
If not already done, three stakes should be put to each plant 
at once, as it is difficult to safely secure a plant against wind 
if one stake only is relied upon. The ground should now be 
cowered with a. good ooat of rough stable manure, as the 
plants derive great benefit from this, whatever the weather 
may be, and it keeps the soil from getting trodden down. so. 
hard from the incessant trampling nee'dful in tending the 
plants. A thorough system of tying is a great saving of labour 
in the long run, and a more satisfactory appearance is given 
to the plants. Round the three stakes twine should be run, 
about four different rounds being sufficient. To this twine 
the main shoots should be tied and the subsequent lateral 
growths simply slung up loosely one against the other. From 
four to six main stems is a fair number to leave, and after¬ 
wards the shoots should be, limited by dispensing with all 
the inside growths, and the weakest outer also. 
Should the grower be growing for decoration or cut bloom, 
a good plan is to leave all the buds, but a joint or so of the 
side-growths may be picked out now and then, as if too many 
buds, are allowed to flower they naturally become very poor 
and shallow specimens, and throw discredit on the section. 
When, however, fine specimen blooms are desired, the two 
side buds and at least two joints down should be disbudded 
and fewer stems left to flower. Here I might mention that 
many growers in my opinion do wrong, as they continually cut 
away all growth with the intention, as) they suppose, of throw¬ 
ing all the strength into the flowers, and oftentimes do not 
leave enough young growth to properly stimulate the root 
action. It is always best to leave more or less young growth 
at the bottom, and disbud the strong-flowering stems somewhat 
severely. 
Towards the autumn, after the main stems have flowered, 
the plants often get cut about, and consequently loosened. 
About the middle of September a good plan is to thoroughly 
go over them, thinning out all shoots not likely to blow 1 before 
frost and tying up the remainder, when they will look neat, 
and give but little more trouble before they are cut down; 
whereas by far the majority of growers leave their plants to 1 
run up a mass of small useless wood in the late autumn. 
During dry weather, and, in fact, whenever the plants can 
take water, feed liberally. All sorts of manures are suitable; 
those containing a good proportion of ammonia, are best, but, 
sheep manure is as good as any, and cow manure good on 
light ground. If artificial manures are used, Clay’s manure 
is very suitable, but natural manure should be used as a 
change. Water in an ordinaiy diy time can be given at the 
rate of a 2-gallon can per plant, and on heavy ground it is 
often necessary to run a fork into the soil round about the 
plants to* loosen it, in order to get the water to soak in freely, 
but of course do not lift the soil, as in digging, and break 
the fibres. If a good coat of manure has been put, on, it is 
a great aid in keeping the water from trickling away. 
Dahlia growers have little peace, for even at night they 
must turn out, lantern in hand, to catch earwigs and young 
caterpillars. The latter often liatcli out in batches, and it is 
no uncommon thing to find a plant suddenly swarmed with 
small ones from \ in. to § in. long, which, unless checked at 
once by this nightly search, quickly ruin every flower on a 
plant. So many are the enemies to the production of a perfect 
Cactus Dahlia that I often wonder how any ever come to 
maturity where they are left practically to themselves. 
If flowers are wanted for exhibition, they must be sheltered 
from the 1 sun on hot days. Many sorts now throw blooms 
erect and clear of all leaves, and so quickly get, bleached with 
the dew and glaring sun. Where possible, blooms can be tied 
down, so that the leaves shelter them, and any other contri¬ 
vance which may suggest itself to the grower may be adopted 
just for the last day or two, it being most annoying to have 
a fine lot of bloom spoilt after the trouble and care taken to 
grow them to perfection. If money spent and trouble taken 
are not objected to, the more secure way of having conical 
shades made on purpose for shading blooms may be adopted, 
and each likely-looking bud, just as it begins to unfold, placed 
under cover. This system has much to recommend it, as not 
only sun, but rain and hail are effectually guarded against. 
There is, however, a lot of work attached to it, as the shades 
have to be continually shifted from old blooms too forward, to 
younger ones, and so on, as no one can calculate to a day 
when a flower will be' in. itsi prune, it being best to begin by 
shading those buds which may just hold out, and then, if too 
early, dropping back to younger ones. By this means the 
grower is sure to have his blooms in good order on the day 
of the show. One word on shades and wind. Very often the 
shades will twist and smash the side of a, flower; so secure 
them as much as possible. D. D. 
The Fruit Crops. 
Whatever room for uncertainty there may be in the case of 
field crops generally, there is no doubt now as to the fate of 
the fruit harvest. To take one or two Midland reports, market 
gardeners in the Cookliill district—a centre which supplies a 
large portion of Redditch and district with garden produce— 
have a very poor outlook for the approaching autumn and 
winter. Pears and Plums cannot be obtained at any priec, 
and only in, a very few instances, where the fruit gardens and 
orchards happen to be sheltered, is there anything like a 
medium crop of Apples. Soft, and stone fruit round about 
Evesham have turned out failures; so have Apples. In. the 
Kineton district fruit “ isl a general failure.” In the Cotswold 
country the prices asked for all kinds of garden fruit are 
proof of the scarcity. A placard up' in one Cotswold town, 
offered 4Jd. per lb. wholesale for Black Currants, and in another 
place 9 id. retail was asked for Plums 1 , as: attested by the 
“ Midland Counties Herald.' Apples and Pears suffered badly 
through the frosts of May. 
In Worcestershire farmers are concerned in the failure of the 
Apple crop,, for 1 there are good Apple orchards on most farms. 
Apples: are a very poor crop indeed, and there will be a shortage 
of cider fruit for a second year in succession. Even in famous 
cider districts now it is: hard to obtain a good cup of cider, and 
the make this season must of necessity be limited. As, many 
farmers in the Vale of Evesham say that they cannot get 
labourers to work for them in the hayfields without a very 
liberal allowance of cider, the short supply is a matter of some 
importance. 
The general scarcity of home-grown fruit amounts, it is said, 
almost to a famine in the Greengage and Plum-growing dis¬ 
tricts of South-west Cambridgeshire. So complete was the 
destruction of the, crops: by the spring frosts, that in. some 
orchards there is absolutely no fruit, while in others two or 
three on, a tree is all that can, be seen. 
Only two years ago, of Greengages alone the consignments 
from the villages of Meldreth and Melbourn amounted on 
two: days to 30 tons: each, and one week’s return was 140 tons 
of Gages. For the occupiers of small homesteads, with 
orchards attached, of whom there are a. number in the villages, 
it is: a serious loss. In a, fruitful year an orchard will pay 
nearly the whole year’s rent of a. homestead. But this year it 
will mean £100 rental for a house worth in itself £20. and no 
produce from the orchard. As a rule, orchard land which is 
fairly planted will make about £10 an acre rent, which is a 
very good thing for the landlords, and also for the tenant 
in a good or even average year. 
In the circumstances it is more than likely that the year wall 
see a more than usual quantity of Blackberries marketed. 
Unlike the cultivated fruit, these wild berries promise very 
well. There is a growing demand for them even in ordinary 
years, and as it is they must inevitably be called upon to sup¬ 
plement the poor garden and orchard crops. The bushes bear 
