1016 
December 17, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
deep pits which are slightly heated for choice. A good depth 
of finely-sifted soil should be placed thereon, and quick-matur¬ 
ing varieties sown. E. Beckett. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
Fruit Under Glass. 
The Peach. — Where early forcing is practised the greatest 
care isi required in not 'Subjecting the trees to high tempera¬ 
tures, either' by day and especially so during the many hours 
of darkness we shall have for the nest two months or so. The 
correct time to push forward the crop is after the final stoning 
of the fruit, but before that period arrive© the gardener or 
fruit, grower may be caused, much anxiety asi to whether a 
full crop will be the result of his labours. Tree© that have 
been forced for some years naturally come along kinder than 
those which, have not been so treated ; nevertheless, it, iisi much, 
better even with these to err on the side’of low temperatures 
than high ones; besides, one has only to study stone fruits in 
the opera,, where not only very low temperatures, but often 
several degrees of frost are registered during the time the trees 
arc in bloom, and unless it is very severe good crops are usually 
got. By this, I do not advocate tbei temperature to' reach the 
freezing point during the night, but would much prefer to see 
the thermometer 38 deg. or 40 deg. than standing at 50 deg. 
first thing in the morning after a cold might,, up to' the time the 
tree® have passed out of flower, when a, slight advance may be 
given. Again, avoid too high a temperature from sun heat, in 
the early stages of forcing, admitting a little air whenever the 
weather is favourable and the glass! reads 60 deg., and not 
allowing it to exceed 70 deg., even while the trees are in bloom. 
Syringe the tree® mornings a,bout 9 a.m., and again at 2 p.m. 
if they are dry, except wet days*, when usually a damping of 
the surroundings will suffice. Examine the trees occasionally 
for aphis, in case any esicaped the winter washing, for they 
soon increase under a, genial climate, fumigating the structure 
immediately if any are found, and even, if they are not, it is 
wisest to fumigate a couple of times just' before the flowers 
begin to unfold their petals', as it is much more difficult to 
eradicate them when among the tender foliage'. Get, succession 
houses put in order, as every week from New Year’s Day brings 
more work for the fruit forcer. 
Strawberries. —Avoid too much water at' the root for the 
next few weeks, until growth becomes more' active, but examine 
the pots every other day or so as to thei state of the soil, not 
allowing them to Bluffer for water. Plants plunged under glass 
lights must also be tested once each week, while those plunged 
in the open' often get sodden, and it is' a, good thing if a, few 
temporary lights could be so' placed to throw oft’ excessive 
rains, such washing out all the nutrition of the soil. The end 
of_thei year will be a, good time to introduce to heat another 
hatch, of plants, according to the demand. As soomi as we can 
detect that the plants have made a start we give them a weak 
dose of guano water, about every pen days, which we eomsiider 
assist® the flower spike to push up, and at this stage a, watch 
must be kept for aphis, and the structure at once fumigated. 
Grapes still hanging on, the Vines should be cut and bottled 
before the new year comes in, so that the said Vines can! have 
a thorough reisifc, which, is impossiiblei while the fruit is hanging 
there, as one must maintain a, temperature vaiying from 40 
deg. to' 50 deg., but when the bunches are cut the house may be 
thrown open day and night, a few degree®' of frost, doing no 
harm. After a few days’ exposure prune the Vines, and wash 
wood-work, glass, also the rods with warm soapy water, lime 
wash the, walls, and attend to the removal of mulching, prick¬ 
ing up the border a couple of inches, and apply a, rich top- 
dressing, details' of which were' given in, my calendar for 
November 5th. Bottled Grape© keep 1 much better in. a, fairly 
even temperature and must be examined once or twice each 
week for decaying berries, also to see the stems reach the 
water, or shrivelling soon, will be noted. Of late years several 
late varieties of Grapes have been introduced, ibut up to the 
present I h&ve seen bub few, if any, to beat, the good old Lady 
Downe’s Seedling, which, when thoroughly ripened, can with 
fair convenience be had in plump condition well into the 
month of June. James Mayne. 
Bicton, Devonshire. 
Interesting Trees. 
At this season of the year the Glastonbury Thorn begins to 
attract the attention of tree lovers on account of its precocious 
winter flowering. Tlie name Crataegus Oxyacantka praecox 
has been given this variety. The weather recently has not 
been very favourable to its flowering at Christmas, but there 
is, nevertheless, a chance of its flowering yet during January 
or February. The name Glastonbury Thorn was applied to 
it from the fact that a tree used to grow near the ruins of 
Glastonbury Abbey. Concerning it was a legendary tale that 
Joseph of Arimathea, on a pilgrimage to this place planted his 
staff in the soil, and that it grew and flowered annually at 
Christmas. Whatever may be said about the truth of the 
story in relation to Joseph of Arimathea, there is nothing 
miraculous about the statement that someone might have 
planted his staff there giving rise to such a. tree as the Glas¬ 
tonbury Thorn. Many of the members of the Rosaceae can 
be raised from cuttings even in the form of limbs large enough 
to form a staff or a fence post. The Hawthorn has also been 
raised in this way from large truncheons, and if the staff men¬ 
tioned in the legend happened to be a limb' of the early-flower¬ 
ing C.O. praecox, there is nothing improbable that the tree 
at Glastonbury might have originated as a staff, whoever 
planted it. 
Such a tree as the common Holly is conspicuous and in¬ 
teresting at this season of the year, but there are several 
varieties having fruit of even more interesting appearance, be¬ 
cause of a different colour from the type. That named Ilex 
Aquifolium fructu luteo has yellow berries. Those who have 
difficulty in procuring varieties that do produce berries would 
have some reasonable hope of succeeding by getting correctly- 
named plants of the yellow-berried variety. Very closely akin 
to the Holly are several others having yellow fruits. A good 
instance of this is Hedera Helix chrysocarpa, having other 
names, but indicating a yellow colour to the fruit. The yellow- 
fruited Rowan (Pyrus Aucuparia fructu luteo) is another good 
instance. The tree is an old variety, for it was certainly 
known at least earlier than 1844, for trees of considerable 
size in different parts of the country were known at that date. 
It might well be planted for the sake of contrast which its 
bright yellow berries afford when growing alongside the or¬ 
dinary red-fruited form. The yellow berries are even more 
conspicuous than the red ones at a distance, and, notwithstand¬ 
ing the age of the variety, planters at the present time do not 
seem to give it much, and certainly not special attention. 
The European Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaeus) furnishes 
even a greater amount of variety in the colour of its fruits, 
which are not in any sense berried or baccate. The walls of 
the fruit in this instance supply the colour, and in E.e. fructu 
al'bo the walls of the fruit are white. In the ordinary form 
the capsules are rose coloured. Another distinct variety is 
that named E.e. fructu violacea, in which the capsules are 
violet coloured. When the latter burst open the seeds, beinsr 
covered with a rich orange-red aril, are highly conspicuous. 
When well fruited either of these varieties is decidedly orna¬ 
mental in the ground, and might with propriety be more 
cultivated than they have been for some years past. 
All of the Laburnums have their leaves made up of three 
leaflets, but these are entire, and one would scarcely look for 
divided leaflets amongst them, but there is a singular excep¬ 
tion in Laburnum vulgare quercifolium, which lias its leaflets 
deeply sinuated, somewhat after the style of those of the 
common Oak. At present it is rather scarce in gardens, being 
usually regarded as a botanical curiosity, because at a distance 
the remarkable peculiarity of the leaves is unobservable. A 
good-sized specimen has been grown in the Oxford Botanic 
Gardens for many years. The Persian Lilac is another species, 
