256 
TUB GARDENING WORLD 
April 1, 1905. 
Hardy Fruit. 
Peaches. — These are flowering abundantly, and so 1 far give 
every promise of a full crop, but one’s hopes may yet be frus¬ 
trated by the weather. The bees have been particularly busy 
during the bright days after the stormy weather which set in 
quite early in March and continued up to the 16th of that 
month, although the bountiful rains have done' a great deal of 
good throughout the country generally. During such bois¬ 
terous winds? enough to blow away copings and protecting 
material almost, it was necessary to- be constantly on the alert 
in case the ties got loose and the nets blown on to the trees, 
but' happily not much damage was noted, and the floral display 
appeared to sufler but little, as the small embyro fruit can be 
distinctly seen on most of the trees. An hour or two 1 twice a 
week will be well spent in examining the new growths pushing 
out from among the fading blossoms and other parts of the 
tree, as aphis soon make their appearance, which cannot be 
battled with too soon if they are to be kept under. Tobacco- 
powder puffed from a distributor is the safest and surest means 
of achieving this end, and is in no- way hurtful to the tender 
flower or foliage. Where the border was much trod on while 
erecting the protecting material the same should be lightly 
moved up with the fork or the flat hoe run through after a 
few dry days, the late heavy rains, too, having battered it 
down pretty hard on retentive soils. 
Strawberries. — As soon as the ground can be conveniently 
worked the top-dressing or mulch should be forked in, keeping 
the fork fairly shallow so as not to disturb the roots much. 
This will allow the spring and early summer rains to penetrate 
down among the said roots and be a stay. Should a dry time 
set in during May or Junet, the strawy- litter put down before 
the flow-ers begin to open will to a very great extent pre¬ 
serve the moisture in the ground. This may not benefit heavy 
land, but on our sandy soil we find it of great service, and 
should require a. deal of argument to turn us off the beaten 
tiack. Alpines may be sown under glass and duly pricked 
off previously to hardening and planting out- where they are to 
fruit; and St. Joseph, the perpetual fruiting variety, is best 
transplanted annually, choosing the strongest crowns and 
planting 12 in. to 15 in. apart each way. Plants of Royal 
Sovereign brought along quietly in unheated structures during 
April and early May are the best to- form permanent beds ; 
these should be well supplied with water while they remain in 
the pots and all strings removed early or weakening of the 
crowns must be the result, and if they have to wait until an 
early crop of Potato® has been cleared stand the plants under 
a north wall, where not half the' labour will be required as to 
water if stood in the full sun. 
Black Currants. — Examine the bushes, and should the 
disease- show itself in abnormal buds, either remove every one 
or cut back the bushes pretty near the ground-level, and 
syringe the remaining wood with paraffin emulsion or quassia 
extract several times during the' growing season. If this does 
not effect a cure the bushes should be destroyed and a new 
berth given to a- fresh supply of bushes in early autumn. As 
yet this disease has not appeared in these gardens, and the 
longer it can be kept away the better, by accounts I read of it. 
Hints on Work. —Push forward grafting operations, as 
growth is active now, and during dry weather the flat hoe 
should be plied between all fruit quarters to kill seedling- 
weeds. The fruit store in most establishments will by this 
date be getting empty, but what little fruit is left should be 
frequently examined, using up iff the kitchen all that is likely 
to soon decay or shrivel. We have a nice lot of Newton 
Wonder still fresh and plump, likewise Rymer and Bramley’s 
Seedling, three most excellent keepers as well as cookers. Blen¬ 
heim is beginning to- shrivel, though it has lost but little of its 
esteemed flavour. Dessert kinds include Adam’s Pearmain 
and Stunner Pippin, but the latter is inclined to shrivel a bit 
in spite of its being the last fruit to- be harvested. We are 
increasing the stock of these by grafting, as they are most 
useful for table, the last-mentioned usually keeping well into 
May, and we have had them to' pretty near midsummer, but 
by that date juice is wanting in any Apple. 
Bicton Gardens, Devonshire. James Matxe. 
Among the Orchids. 
Cattleyas. — Some of the species and hybrids among the 
Cattleyas and their allied genera will now be commencing to 
emit new roots, and will thus afford the opportunity of attend¬ 
ing to any repotting requirements that may be necessary. 
While in other cases the surface moss has become over¬ 
grown, or, perhaps, may have died from drought during the 
rooting period, so that a general overhaul of the Cattleya 
house at this season is to be recommended. Plants that are 
producing their flowers, or will be flowering during the next 
few months, should not be disturbed. These are best dealt 
with as soon as the flowering season is passed. 
The Potting Compost. — Those who are accustomed to 
growing plants in leaf soil have every reason to advocate 
its use, and will procure highly satisfactory results from its 
use intermixed with rough sand. There are no kinds of 
Orchids which produce more satisfactory results from the leaf 
soil treatment than do the Cattleya family. I am as much 
an advocate of its use as anyone, but I would warn those who 
have had no experience in its use to be more than careful. 
The watering, as I have previously pointed out in The Gardex- 
ing World, is the principal difficulty, and must be done with 
care and discretion. After the material has once been wetted 
through, only sufficient moisture will be required to keep the 
sphagnum moss -in a growing state. A great measure of this 
may be done from merely spraying with a syringe, or sprink¬ 
ling the surface with a rose on the watering-can. I would 
prefer to advise a more porous compost for general use, that 
is, a compost of one-third fibrous peat, one-third leaf soil, and 
the remaining portion of chopped sphagnum moss and rough 
sand, or broken crocks. This compost will not require nearly 
the amount of water that the old system of peat and moss 
used to need, but it will prove-a £afe medium whereby bene¬ 
ficial results may be acquired. It will, also prove a medium 
where through careful observation the wholly leaf soil com¬ 
post may be successfully used. The compost should be made 
firm, and a layer of chopped 1 sphagnum should overlay the 
surface of the compost. 
As soon as repotting has been done, water with rain-water, 
poured through a moderately coarse rose on the water-can, 
thoroughly wetting the compost through. Fresh potted plants 
must be protected from the scorching rays of the sun, and 
even from too much strong light, or the leaves will turn yellow, 
and will thus probably give the plants a permanent, unsightly 
appearance. When the roots have got well away into the 
new compost, light may then be more freely given. Before 
restaging, after overhauling the plants, it is well to take the 
opportunity of washing down the roof inside, and cleaning 
the staging, pots, etc. There is nothing gives greater pleasure 
to one’s employers than cleanliness in every respect, and the 
plants obtain greater advantages also from freeing the roof 
glass from corrosion or dirt that may have become attached, 
either from moisturo internally, or atmospheric conditions 
outside. As soon as the plants have been rearranged, the 
atmosphere should be kept fully charged with moisture (pro¬ 
viding, of course, that the outside conditions are favourable), 
This can only be obtained by frequent damping of the floors, 
staging, etc. 
Where there are many cement or tiled floors there is always 
a great difficulty in providing the required atmospheric mois¬ 
ture. Floor of this description would only be advocated 
by the inexperienced cultivator, or the ' unpractical ideas of 
