THE GARDENING WORLD. 
25 
January 9, 1904. 
to tlie foliage of this class of plants. Spray the plants over¬ 
head whenever the outside conditions permit, doing it suffi¬ 
ciently early to enable the foliage to dry before cooler evening 
temperatures prevail. H. J. 
Hardy Fruit. 
Orchard Trees. —These are still much neglected, and would 
well repay cultivators to give a little more time and attention 
in the matter of thinning out superfluous branches and cleans¬ 
ing the trees from moss and lichen, which harbour all kinds of 
insect life, to the detriment of good crops of fruit. Neglected 
trees ought, not to' be too 1 severely pruned ; rather extend the 
operation to a couple of years, or too great a check may be- 
given the trees, and when, the saw has tO' be used, smooth over 
tlie cut surface with a knife or chisel. In removing moss, 
etc., from the trunks, a small triangle-shaped tool frequently 
used by painters is capital for the work, or even, a piece of 
hoop-iron will serve the purpose, care being taken, that the 
bark is not destroyed more than can be helped. A good bast 
scrubber will get off a, deal of it after a scraper has loosened 
it. Many fruit growers in, this locality whitewash or colour 
the trunks as well as the larger 1 branches above with a mixture 
of lime, soot and clay, which is first passed through a tine sieve, 
the clay being pounded up and all thoroughly mixed together, 
adding enough water to make* it into a liquid, so that it may 
be used as a paint, and to each gallon add one and a half 
wineglassful of paraffin, the whoffi to be constantly. agitated, 
with a stick while being used. Aged trees would derive much 
benefit if drainings from the stables or farmyard be applied, 
especially grass orchards, and this may be put on at any time 
now, and if a top dressing of road scrapings, old Chrysanthe¬ 
mum or waste potting bench soil, with the addition of a good 
percentage of lime or old plaster, can be afforded, so much the 
better. 
Nuts. —Old Filbert bushes are often allowed to become 
quite a, thicket, when an annual thinning of the branches to 
admit more light to the centre would mean better crops 
generally, not only removing cross branches, but, spurring, 
back many of the lateral growths and cutting clean away all 
sucker growths, which soon, choke tlie tree if allowed free scope. 
This work is often, deferred until next month, when the minute 
pink female blossoms show themselves, s,o that the pruned can 
better determine what growth to cut away, but now the male 
catkins are showing in quantity on a great many of the bushes 
these may well be gone over, so as to lessen the work later in 
the spring. After the pruning® have been cleared up afford 
the bushes a moderate dressing of decayed manure:, forking 
the same lightly in. Those growing on grassland can be 
served the same as advocated for orchards. 
General Remarks. —The spell of hard weather will postpone 
any further planting for the present, and the observant gar¬ 
dener will have applied a. thick mulch around recently planted 
trees, as well as secured them with a Stake or tie against 
wall or trellis. There is another item too often neglected ; 
L that is, correctly naming or numbering trees received from 
the nurserymen before the name gets- washed out from the 
parchment. For trees 1 planted against walls or trellis we rely 
upon lead labels with the full name punched thereon, and 
for trees in the open, small pieces of lead l-g in., square, haring 
a hole to carry a piece of copper wire to fasten on the tree. 
These have numbers which correspond with the name written 
on a book. The former are fastened to the wall with two: 
wire nails. After these .names or numbers are imprinted on 
the lead, the letters or figures are painted white with a small 
cornel-hair brush, and we- find they last a lifetime. Needless 
to say, those wired on the trees must not be allowed to cut 
into the bark. Other useful labels are the Acme, Metallic, 
and Chandlers patent, all fairly cheap, and of long duration. 
The- worst of wood labels is they require to be renewed almost 
periodically. James Mayne. 
Bicton, Devonshire. 
The Flower Garden. 
During open, weather attention should be given to lawns and 
walks. The former should be swept and frequently rolled, while 
all bare or other-wise unsightly places should be relaid with 
fresh turves free from moss 1 . Walks which have become worn 
and unsatisfactory from constant traffic or the washing in¬ 
fluence- of heavy rains m-ay be taken in hand now. Remove 
the loose gravel to tlie edge of the walk, -and lightly prick up 
the bare surface ; in, raking level, keep the centre of the walk; 
slightly higher than the sides, and finish off by replacing the 
gravel and rolling firm. 
When the weather is not suitable for work in the open, much 
may be done in the preparation of stakes for Dahlias, Sweet 
Peas, etc. 
Cb-rms of Gladioli may n-ow r be cleaned and laid out in boxes 
or on shelves in a cool house- or shed t ill planting time arrive®. 
Thoroughly examine all stock plants- of bedding material 
required to- furnish cuttings later on. Roots- of Dahlias, Salvia, 
paten-si, etc., are apt to become unduly shrivelled if kept too 
warm and dry ; precautions should be taken to' have the stock 
of such plants in right condition t,o- yield strong cuttings when 
placed in heat. 
Begonia®, of the semperflorens section:, may be topped and 
placed near tlie glass in a warm house to- induce healthy breaks. 
Make all preparations- possible for the work of propagation, 
which must be taken in hand in a few weeks;’ time. 
If not abeady done, no time- should be lost, in- procuring seeds 
of annuals and half-hardy annuals required for the flower 
garden). Unsatisfactory results are often due to delay in send¬ 
ing off the seed order. B. W. J. 
Trade Notices. 
SEED AND PLANT CATALOGUES. 
Messes. James Cakter and Co. —Under the name of “ Carter's 
Practical Gardener and List -of Tested Seeds for the Garden,” 
Messrs. James Carter and Co., 237, 238, -and 97, High Holborn, 
London, issue their annual catalogue of seeds. It is not the 
large-leaved catalogue of former years, but takes the form of 
a book running to 197 pages, including a good index, which is 
always a valuable portion of what is meant to be a reference 
book. Besides being now of convenient size, the whole book is 
more carefully prepared and the illustrations far superior to 
those of even three years ago. The coloured plates, perhaps, 
are not so numerous as they were last year, but the plates of 
different varieties of Garden Peas, Carrots, Onions, Cinerarias, 
a.nd Cyclamen are much -more accurately and handsomely 
executed. In the matter of colours that of Carter’s Holborn 
Standard Lettuce is perhaps th,s least satisfactory of ah, but 
we admit that the shading of a Cabbage Lettuce is somewhat 
difficult to reproduce. Reproductions from photographs are 
v-ery numerous and admirably executed, including Peas and 
Celery as seen growing, and samples of Pea pods are given life 
size on the same picture. The fitting of the two pictures into 
one another is of course due to the expert manipulation of 
the photographer. Celery, Tomatos, Melons, and other sub¬ 
jects have been illustrated in the same way. Flowers are also 
represented by many new pictures reproduced from photographs. 
The coloured plates of Sweet Peas and Shirley Poppies are very 
handsome, though we think the blue varieties of the former are 
rather uniform in colour for the natural tendency of the Sweet 
Pea, the bloom of Countess of Radnor being a little too dark 
and Captain of the Blues rather too decidedly uniformly blue, 
notwithstanding Die fact that the real article takes a very high 
position in the classification lists. Much information is given 
in the form of descriptive matter, so that the catalogue does 
not belie its name. 
Messes. Dobbie and Co.—The new catalogue of the above firm 
of seed growers and florists, Rothesay, N.B., -comes out in the 
form of a white-covered book, adorned with a great variety of 
sprightly Columbines on the front cover and some shapely and 
beautifully-coloured Turnips on the back cover. The yellow 
varieties are -more frequently grown in the north than they aie 
in the south, but our market growers and those in private estab¬ 
lishments might even improve the cuisine by adopting Golden 
Bafi more frequently than is done. The catalogue runs to 232 
