956 
THE GA RDEN1NG WORL O. 
November 26, 1904. 
Coamemara, on the west coast of Ireland, in 1830. It is now 
considered fairly common in. counties Mayo and Galway. 
A busliy shrub of erect habit, often fully 3 ft. in height, it 
produces! an abundance of pretty pink flowers some two months 
after E. carnea. There are several varieties of this, specie®, 
the best of which is undoubtedly E. m. hybrida,. This is a 
supposed hybrid between E. carnea and mediterranea, being- 
raised in the Darley Dale Nurseries some few years ago-. In, 
general appearance it. resembles E. carnea, forming ai dense, 
rounded tuft, with numerous, erect spikesi of pink blossoms, 
which, in a, mild winter, may be seen even before E. carmea,. 
Other varieties are E. m. alba, with white flowers, E. m. rosea, 
E. m. atropurpureai, ©to. Erica, arborea, is the largest of the 
genu®, and is commonly known a® the Trete Heath. It isi a 
graceful sjirub, with us some 8 ft. to, 10 ft. high, and produce® 
its white flowers' from February to May. This Heath, as a 
rule, does well near the soa-coas-t and in somewhat sheltered 
positions. Ini the Pyrenees it is said to grow upwards of 
20 ft. high amongst, the Myrtles and Arbutus. 
E. arborea. furnishes the Brier-root of commerce-, larg^ quan¬ 
tities, being used in, Austria, and Italy in the making of Brier 
pipes. It is, a, native of Southern Europe generally, and' first 
came into' this country in 1658. Erica cilia,ris is an indigenous 
species found o>n the heaths of Dorset and Cornwall. It is a 
singularly pretty Heath, with cililate, glandular leaves (which 
fact is the reason of its name) and one-sided raceme® of flowers, 
which are very showy from Junei to September. As its rich 
purple crimson flowers fade away to, a, pretty brown colour they 
give to, it, a distinct and charming appearance. 
The individual flowers of the Dorset Heath are larger than 
any of the other native* Heaths. It, is always found in boggy 
places', and never on dry or sandy ground, usually about 1 ft. in 
height.. It is: supposed to have originally been introduced 
about 1773. 
Although, all the hardy Heaths prefer a soil of a peaty 
nature, at the same time it is a mistake to suppose* they will 
not 'Succeed in: anything else. 
Such a® E. carnea and E. m. hybrida d’o very well in, a good 
loamy soil enriched with plenty of decayed leaves, while* a, little 
peat, if possible, might be added for such, as E. arborea. 
Most of them may be propagated by division during thei 
planting season; others that are of a. more arborescent char¬ 
acter can be propagated by cuttings (side growths of the grow¬ 
ing shoots are best) about 1 1 in. to, 2 in. long. Put them in 
pots' of finely sifted peat and sand in the autumn. They must 
be put, up* in a, close frame under a, bell-glass until they are 
rooted. Arboreum. 
Newer Early Chrysanthemums. 
Owing to the exceptional mildness of the season, the] early 
Chrysanthemum ha,si had full opportunity of developing to* the 
utmost its profusion of bloom. Amongst the many good and 
indispensable varieties:, one or two stand distinguished by 
their exceptional beauty or by their recent introduction. 
Chief amongst these is Polly, with a lovely golden-coloured 
flower and long, bread petals, and plenty of substance in 
theme Maggie is a yellow, very similar to Horace Martin, but* 
more floriferous and of more compact habit. Carrie, a lovely 
canary yellow, has splendid flowers, bub unfortunately has 
scarcely strength in the stalks to: bear their weight. Jimmie 
is a light purple shading to claret; it is a strong grower, and 
produces enormous flowers 1 —I have measured them, over 8 in. 
across on plant® which had no special attention, certainly not 
disbudded. 
Parisian,a, is a lovely white flower *of -splendid shape; but 
foremost amongst the newer white® is Rod de*s Blanches, a 
finely petalle-d flower with a most, delicious waxy appearance. 
The flowers are most light and starry in appearance, as they 
have good long stalk®, and the petals are finely pointed and 
quilled. It grows' about 3J ft*, in height. 
Those who possess a root or -so of any of these varieties 
should now pot them up and induce -them to throw up cuttings 
which can be taken off immediately, and with very rare varie¬ 
ties can be pinched, and the: point thus taken rooted and so 
on until the planting-out time, when a, good propagator, with 
luck, will have raised a surprisingly large number of young 
plants from even one old stool. Japonica. 
The Planting of Fruit Trees. 
November ha® returned once again, and with it the season 
of planting, so: that -a, few words on the subject may not be out 
of place:, (having seen, a,s I have, the many failures brought 
about by improper o*r injudicious planting. 
When planting, the first thing toi bear in, mind should be 
that the future health and well-being of the fruit tree, like 
that! of children, largely depend upon tihe care and treatment 
bestowed upon them in their infancy. 
There -are many practi-cesi in, vogue amongst gardeners, but 
many o*f them are totally inconsistent with good sense and 
judgment. Some; even men, in good positions, have an idea, 
that, every young tree must have a barrowful or two of the 
richest compost -obtainable placed around their roots, espe¬ 
cially ®oi with Peach trees. This shows lack of judgment, 
-because if the so-il (where the tree is planted) is already of 
a rich nature, and a still richer be added, the tree is sure to 
rush away into coarse sappy growth, which is utterly useless, 
and as a result the trees have to be either root-pruned or re¬ 
planted, if they are to do any good. 
Others, again recommend taking out! a hole 2 ft. or 3 ft. 
deep, and putting a large quantity of manure at the bottom, 
and planting on the top, of this. Needless to say, -such a stupid 
practice should be strictly avoided, as the aim of the cultiva¬ 
tor should be: to endeavour to* keep the root® as near the sur¬ 
face as possible 1 . A tree: planted in, this fashion would assuredly 
grow and wax strong, but. I venture to say that not one tree 
in. a hundred go planted would bring forth fruit. 
Yet, again, we often see the jobbing gardener come along, 
spade in hand, to plant some new addition to the small 
suburban, garden, but, lie simply takes out a, few -spadefuls of 
earth, crams the root® of the tree into- as small a space as 
possible, covers them over, and the job is done. There are 
‘various, other methods of planting which are also bad, but 
I think those: above mentioned are the most commonly met 
with.. Now, if planting is to be made a success, the first thing 
to consider is the soil, provided, of course, that the aspect, has 
been predetermined. If the: soil is of a medium character as 
regards richness, the planting should proceed as follows: — 
Place the -tree on the -site where it is to be planted, draw a line 
•around with the spade, keeping- about a foot off from the roots, 
then take out, sufficient soil to allow of the topmost, roots being 
placed about* 6 in. below the surface, taking care to comb all 
the roots -out with the fingers in a, perfectly horizontal position, 
shortening back any that -are over-long with a sharp knife, 
filling in with the -same soil, but should iti he at all rough cover 
the -roots with a little finer soil first. Tread firmly, and secure 
to, a, firm stake or wall as the case may be. When the soil is 
-of a poor nature, a barrowful or two of a richer compost should 
-be mixed with it before filling in the hole. Never overdo- it, but 
always keep these two facts* in mind, viz., do not overdo it at 
the start, and always keiep the root® near the surface, so that 
they may be fed as occasion requires. 
Should the soil be over-rich, some of the poorest soil obtain¬ 
able should he mixed with it in proportion,, as the case may 
require. Another point to* be remembered is that all stone 
fruit® require lime in isorne form, or other to mature properly, 
and a little 'should ,be lightly forked in around them annually. 
The advice I give: above is based on many years’ practice, and 
not on, theory alone; it, is therefore with the utmost, confidence 
that I recommend it, to the readers of The Gardening World. 
Elruge. 
Medal for Essay. —The Special Board for Biology and Geology 
at Cambridge have awarded a medal to Mr. R. P. Gregory, B.A., 
Fellow of St. John’s College, for an essay entitled “ The Re¬ 
duction Division in Plants and its Significance on the Phvsioloav 
of Heredity.” ‘ 
