992 
THE GARDEN I NO WORLD. 
December 20. 1904 
Hardy Fruit. 
Seasonable^Remarks. —Before! my last calendar was in! print 
the state of the ■weather—rather severe frost, and in many 
place® quite a deep snow—will have prevented such work there 
enumerated from being carried out. But the alert gardener 
will have applied a good mulch to all recently planted trees 
before many degrees of frost were registered, the snow, too, 
where enough had fallen, acting in the same capacity. Make 
no- attempt to plant while the frost lasts, and several days must 
elapse, even shoal'd mild weather set. in, before the soil will be 
in a lit state for such, work, yet there is much that can be done 
during inclement weather, such as cutting shreds, steeping in. 
bo-iling water any that may have been taken, from the wall 
and are likely to last another season ; the heating of old nails 
in an iron vessel over a slow lire, and when cool well worked to 
and fro in a. bag to remove the rust, a,s well asi the writing 
or printing of labels for either new trees or to replace those 
that have got effaced on older specimens. These latter are 
often, covered with, moss near the ba,se, and sometimes the 
branches on aged trees. This should be scraped off with, a 
piece of hoop-iron, but is easier done when the weather is wet 
and mild, although where spraying is practised there will be 
no need for this. It is quite possible that before these lines 
are read the weather will have again changed ; in such a, con¬ 
tingency persevere with the pruning of wall trees, both 
Apricot and Plum bearing on medium size wood made the pre>- 
vious year, and likewise on spurs, cutting clean out extra 
robust shoots; such seldom hear fruit, and only rob other parts 
of the tree of its share of sap. Endeavour to keep all spurs as 
near the face of the wall as possible, advice previously.given 
but, worthy of repetition ; and, what is more, do not allow the 
said spurs to interfere with the necessary light, and sun, both, 
needful for the maturation of wood as well as fruit, In’prunr 
mg young wall trees, much forethought, is required ; our object 
isi to. lay a, sound basis or foundation, and see that, right, and left, 
are evenly balanced, cutting to a wood-bud where it is. n,ecas> 
sary for one or more shoots to emanate for replenishing or 
extending the trees. Maidens—that is, trees worked la,st year 
—require to be cut back within 9 in. to 12 in,, from their union 
to get well-feathered trees, this, applying to either those 
grafted or budded. 
Pears appear to. be well set, with fruib-budsi again,, and where 
this isi the, case and the trees have been well attended to, durin.o- 
summer, the necessary pruning will consist in, merely short,emt 
mg back the breast-wood beyond the cut made back in July, 
earlier or later according to practice, and perhaps in some cases 
especially old trees—it became a necessity to thin out, the 
spurs, doing a,wa,y with a few each year, as they are liable nob 
only to get crowded, bub too,far from the wall. Bush or pyramid 
trees should be kept fairly open in the centre, and espaliers 
need similar attention, as, wall treeisi, and in the, ease of exten¬ 
sion of the leading branches it is best to nip out the point, as 
often a fruibbud forms here, which if allowed to, remain one 
year’s growth would be lost. 
Apples require almost identical treatment as advocated for 
Pears, old'orchard trees requiring to, be overhauled every few 
years, cutting out a branch here and there, especially any that 
cross each other or where crowded, thus admitting more light 
to, the centre of the, tree. Clear the stems of moss., and where 
American blight is troublesome get a small paintbrush and 
work in, gishurst compound or methylated 1 spirits, and, it may 
be necessary in bad case® to go over the trees a, second time. 
^Raspberries. —Get. the canes tied to the wires, allowing a 
space of 4 in. to 6 in,, between' each one, the topping of the 
canes to be deferred until February. Take advantage of frosty 
weather to wheel on a good mulch of half-decayed manure, 
spreading the same to a good width, as their roots are surface- 
searchers rather than going down to any great depth in search 
of food. Now is a good time to, give the Strawberry beds or 
quarters a dressing of partly decayed manure so. that their 
rna.nurial properties may get washed among their roots before 
the drying winds of early spring take away all the. goodness of 
A- James Mayne. 
Bicton, Devonshire. 
Hardy Herbaceous Border. 
Some Little Known Plants.— Where herbaceous plants are 
cultivated to* any extent and interest is taken in them one looks 
annually for new plants which may prove of value and will help 
to make the collection richer, and to obtain these and prove 
their worth is one of the most interesting phases of then- cul¬ 
ture. Last, spring many new subjects came before the public, 
and) as I was able to test several of them I can thoroughly 
recommend those mentioned below, feeling sure that they 
would prove very desirable where not at present grown. In 
addition to the totally new varieties, there are older one® which 
are far from being so largely cultivated as, they deserve, and 
are, worthy of inclusion in all select collections. 
The Astilbes are a beautiful family, and several distinct 
colours are obtainable. These are very welcome,, as the best, 
varieties; until recently were white or oreamy-wliite. A new 
rose variety is a, decided acquisition, having spikes of silvery- 
rose flowers about 2J ft, ini height. A little taller and with 
much darker foliage is A. rubra, with deep, reddish-coloured 
spikes. Very closely allied to, these is -Spiraea or Aruncus 
Kneiffi, in which, the elegantly divided foliage is quite as 
attractive as the white inflorescence. A giant among the 
Astilbes is A. rivularis, which, after becoming well established, 
has immense foliage fully 4 ft, a,cross and pleasingly divided. 
The flower-stems, are quite 7 ft, in height and creamy white. 
This is most effective for grouping. Hie above plants enjoy 
a moist, partially shady position, but, failing the banks of a 
stream or pond, they will succeed well on the most shady side 
of the, herbaceous bolder if liberally supplied with water in, dry 
weather. 
Many so>-called new Phloxes annually appear, hut they are 
often little improvement on the older kinds,. One, however, 
is a great advance on anything I have previously seen, This 
is a variety named Helene Vacares-co, brought out by Mr. J. 
Forbes, of Hawick. It grows between 2 ft, and 2.V ft, in height,, 
with an immense truss of well-formed white flowers, the side 
branches nearly reaching the ground. It is, in fact, as a border 
plant the finest Phlox in cultivation. I congratulate this 
notable .nurseryman upon its introduction, and predict that it 
will be the forerunner of many fine varieties. 
With blue^flowered plants, we are, none boo plentifully sup¬ 
plied, but in Anchusa italioai supeirba we have a, most beautiful 
addition, perhaps the finest, herbaceous plant of its colour. A 
well-established specimen, will grow quite 7 ft, ini height, pyra¬ 
midal in, habit, and if properly staked will measure 8 ft, 
across. It, flowers right, from the ground and continues over a 
great length of time. 
The double variety of the common Meadow Sweet is far too 
little known and succeeds well in almost a,ny position. With 
its large quantities of white flowers and) pleasing foliage, 
Spiraea Ulmaria plena, is one, of the most effective plants for 
grouping and is excellent for cutting. 
The Japanese Anemones have been greatly improved, during 
recent, years,, and we now have many to select from, especially 
among the pink and rosei-coloured varieties. A. ja-ponica 
Mont, Rose isi one- of the best, having several rows of pale pink 
petals, deeper at the edges, and it is wonderfully floriferous. 
A. j. Queen, Charlotte is an immense flower similar in colour 
to the, preceding. In A. j. crisp,a the foliage is the principal 
attraction!, this being very large and curled similarly to* a. good 
Parsley. The flower's are deep, rose and single. 
Among the taller Campanulas a notable variety is C. persi- 
cifolia Moerheimi, with siemi-double, pure white; flowers of large 
