14 
THE GARDENING 
WORLD. 
January 2, 1904 
Beckett's Tree Ties. 
A new method of tying trees was brought to public notice 
at the great exhibition of British-grown fruit and vegetable® 
at Chiswick in September last. For the benefit of our readers 1 , 
at a distance, we now give an, illustration of “ Beckett’s Tree 
Ties,” an invention which has been patented. 
As our readers are aware, there is a. splendid collection of 
trees and shrubs at Aldenham House, Elstree, and for his con¬ 
venience Mr. E. Beckett devised this method of tying trees 
and shrubs for the purpose of saving time and labour. Tree® 
and shrubs should only require staking for the first year or two 
after they have been planted, after which they should support 
themselves. These tie® are made in five different sizes, of which 
Fig. 1. Pass the end between the stake and the tree and 
round the latter. 
Fig. 2. Pass the end through the loop and between the tree 
and the stake. 
Fig. 3. Pull tight round the tree and buckle firmly round the 
stake. 
Fig. 4. Do not cut off the surplus end. 
sample® are now on our table, to suit the size or strength of 
the tree or shrub' to be secured. After the stake is driven the 
tie is passed round the stake, then, the end is put through the 
loop provided in the strap, then round the tree, and pulled 
tight, the buckle at the end holding it in its position,. 
°The illustration shows the different, stages of tying, but we 
may state that, the end of the strap should not be cut off, but 
merely tucked ini, so that should the tie become too tight during 
the season, owing to the vigorous growth of the tree, it may 
be slackened at pleasure before it cuts info the ■stem. This 
can be done by one man much more rapidly than it take® us to 
tell the story, so that a, large number of trees may be tied by 
one man in, a day. Crooked trees may be made straight by 
means of such ties, and the straps are sufficiently strong to 
last until the tree is sufficiently established to require no further 
support. The smaller straps are used-for standard Roses, and 
even if they require renewing every year or every second year, 
the cost, is small and the value saved in labour. 
The invention has been, taken up, by Mr. E. C. Lawson. 32, 
Ashley Road, Hornsey Rise, London, N., who is the sole manu¬ 
facturer. 
The Glastonbury Thorn. 
The flowering of Thorns is usually associated with the month 
of May, and it looks somewhat curious to see a Thorn in full 
flower in November. Such, however, was the ease with the 
plant under notice. The correct name of this, Thorn is Cratae¬ 
gus monogyna, praecox. In all respects, save tire time of flower¬ 
ing, it resembles the common C. monogyna; with regard to, 
flowering, however, it is quite different. In opening its flowers 
it, is very erratic, for while flowers are to be found at almost 
any time during the winter and spring months, it is seldom 
that a really good show is made at any one time. This year 
is an exception, for in the middle of November the tree was a 
mass of flower®,. Those people who go-in for curiosities would 
do well to grow this tree, for although it can, hardly be re¬ 
commended for general cultivation, it, is, still interesting. The 
tree in question is to be seen in the avenue leading from the 
south end door of tire temperate house at- Kew. W. D. 
Old versus Yeung Cyclamens. 
Some of the gardening brotherhood reason falsely upon this, 
as upon many other things, when they think or say that old 
Cyclamens are of no good, and ought to, be cast aside as useless, 
and hold to the opinion that young one® are by far the best— 
that is, cornua or tubers from one to three years old. My own 
experience with them, and also, of a few other growers whom 
I know, is quite the reverse from this. I think they are only 
coming to their best at from four to six years old, and may be 
kept in health and flower splendidly for double that length of 
time. I have got a. few old ones that are from ten to twelve 
years old, which flower very well, considering that they are 
grown without, any very special care or treatment. In one in¬ 
stance the conn completely fills, a 6-in pot. To, help : n 
strengthening my argument that old Cyclamens can be, kept, in 
good flowering condition for many years, I may say that I 
know a gardener veiy well who is a very successful competitor 
at Edinburgh Flower Show, and who tells me the six plants 
with which he competes have been decorated with a first or 
second prize ticket for seven years, and are twelve or thirteen 
years old. These large conns can be halved if necessary, and 
will thrive equally well. The chief difference between the 
young one® and the old is that) the young ones are 
more vigorous, and produce big, fleshy leave®; and 
the individual blooms, although sometimes making a 
scanty display, are larger than the old ones'. If the strain is 
good, the old or large conns produce the best crop of flowers if 
well grown, and they are generally better proportioned plants, 
and, for show work especially, a much evener lot can be made 
up. 
Another point on which many gardeners differ is the drying- 
eff 'system. I believe in withholding the water for three weeks 
or so after they are done flowering, when I see some of the 
leaves beginning to get a. bronze yellow tinge and hang down. I 
do not consider this such a severe drying off as is generally prac¬ 
tised. It is simply a check to growth and a short rest. They 
are then shaken out and repotted into- a, mixture of rotted turf, 
leaf mould, fibrous peat, dried manure, and bruised charcoal ; 
and then, pet a, very little water to induce them to, form fresh 
roots. They ought not to be soaked at, this stage 1 , as they 
sulk at anything approaching stagnation • but it is unnecessary 
to explain this to the practised hand, so that such advice is 
meant only for young growers. 
As the Cyclamen is one of Flora’s beauties, and flowers 
at a season when other flowers are scarce, a few dozen ought 
to be, grown in every garden of any pretensions. There is,, I 
think, n,o, other class of plants so attractive, barring the 
Orchids ; the flowers in every case are beautiful, and with the 
newer sorts are exquisitely so. Their peculiar butterflv form 
is wonderfully effective when arranged along the' front, of 
Chrysanthemums and other high-growing plants, and they are 
also invaluable for cutting, and can be had from November to 
April if a good hatch of old and young conns are grown. 
Champfteurie, Linlithgow. John C. Dick. 
Striking Chrysanthemum Cuttings. 
Growers of Chrysanthemums, both for exhibition and other 
blooms, Avill soon he thinking of providing for another season’s 
display, and no time should now be lost in inserting the cut¬ 
tings. December is the month when most of the general stock 
are usually propagated, but, there can be no hard and fast 
rule a.s; to this. Some varieties are best left, until the new 
year, and others are better if struck a little, earlier; but this 
the enthusiast must determine for himself according to what 
varieties lie has. For exhibition varieties the heist pot® to 
use are thumbs. These should be crocked very carefully and 
a piece of rough fibrous turf placed over the crocks. A suit¬ 
able compost to use is one-half mellow loam and one-half leaf- 
soil passed through a, |-in. sieve, with a, good dash of clean 
silver sand. Fill the pots moderately firm, and place a thin 
iayer of sand on each pot. When selecting the cuttings, avoid 
