June 24, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
>f the most useful and valuable items for 
Winter salading. 
Onions. —These sown in the ordinary way 
in the open ground ought now to be finally 
thinned, but, where the Onion-fly is pre¬ 
valent, leave the plants fairly thick, and if 
these are well fed up, and the ground 
jkept constantly stirred with the Dutch hoe 
between them, these will make good service¬ 
able bulbs. Those raised under glass and 
which are being grown for large specimens 
should receive an application of soot and 
patent vegetable manure according to direc¬ 
tions, about once in every ten days while in 
active growth, and damp over the tops early 
'every evening with tepid water after a bright 
day. E. Beckett. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
Fruit Garden. 
five or six leaves, subsequent growths being 
stopped at the first leaf, and Peaches and 
Nectarines should be ready for pinching by 
now. Support with a band of matting any 
shoots that show signs of being over-weighted 
with fruit, and keep the trees well syringed 
twice daily on fine days, once sufficing when 
wet or veiy dull, 4 p.m. being a good hour 
to close for the day. Expose Peaches and 
Nectarines to all the sun possible ; in fact, 
all fruits, as sun-coloured fruit must be of 
better flavour than those grown under a 
canopy of leaves. 
Pines are grown only by the wealthy, hav¬ 
ing plenty of glass accommodation, and even 
here are yearly decreasing, no doubt partly 
on account of the low price imported fruit 
can be purchased for, the amateur rightly 
avoiding these costly luxuries. Early spring 
started plants will now be ripening their 
fruits, and must have the water-can sparingly 
Wall Fruit Trees, such as Apples, Pears, 
and Plums have made much growth this 
season, and those shoots that are not required 
for extension or filling up blank spaces should 
be stopped at the fifth or sixth leaf. This 
will remove much in the way of insect life, 
especially on Plums, the maggot being very 
troublesome where spraying was neglected 
in early spring. As a rule, growth is much 
more advanced towards the top of a tree, con- 
; sequently this part should first receive atten¬ 
tion, allowing a few days, or even a week, to/ 
elapse ere the lower part be tackled, and thus 
prevent a too sudden check at once. The 
leading shoots should be nailed or tied in 
place betimes, as the wind often twists or 
cripples it beyond recovery, this being more 
likely to occur when laden with rain. The 
bountiful rains early in the month will have 
removed much of the filth and given the 
trees a new lease of life, as it were, as there 
, can be no doubt they were, in many places, 
feeling the effects of the continued drought. 
Continue to train in the selected shoots of 
Peaches, Cherries, Apricots, Vines, etc., ancl 
see that each fruit of the first and third 
named have ample space to swell up, as when 
nails and shreds are used many a good fruit 
is spoiled by the nail cutting into it. 
Small Fruits were showing signs of dis¬ 
tress before the rain came, and 1 the Currant 
bushes laden with insects ; Raspberries, too, 
appeared quite at a standstill, many predict¬ 
ing a poor crop; but let us hope they 
reckoned too soon. As stated a fortnight since, 
Strawberries are in quantity, and quite up 
to the average, and all that is required now 
is bright weather so that the crop can be 
i harvested, as in a showery, dull time much 
of the fruit rots on the ground. Gooseberries 
make the best of jam now before the skins 
get too hard, and where heavy crops are still 
hanging on the bushes, it will do the latter 
good to relieve them of the strain, the rough 
reds being capital for boiling down. It does 
not pay to keep old bushes about; better 
grub such up as soon as cleared, and have the 
ground planted with vegetables, choosing a 
fresh site for fruit-growing in the autumn. 
Much finer and better fruit are got from 
young bushes, plants, or trees, whichever 
the case may be, and it costs no more, neither 
takes up any more snace, because the returns 
quickly repay any little extra outlay there 
may be in replenishing the- stock. 
Orchard House. — Pee that ample venti¬ 
lation is afforded this structure; a small 
amount can be left on during the night from 
now onwards. Pot- trees must be afforded 
weak stimulants frequently, to assist the 
swelling fruits, Thompson’s manure beinv an 
excellent fertiliser for a change. Attend to 
the pinching of the shoots that have made 
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used or will be deficient in flavour. Reduce 
to one or two suckers on succession fruiters 
and keep the plants well looked to as regards 
water at the root, Pines taking it twice a week 
in modern houses, whereas once would suffice 
in years gone by. This fruit will stand 
manurial waterings fairly strong, and may be 
poured on quite close up to the base of tli' 
fruit, while the syringe should b° plied well 
amongst the plunging material, and the 
plants lightlv dewed overhead *at closing 
time from 3.30 to 4 p.m. on bright days. 
James Matne. 
Birton Gardens, Devonshire. 
Readers experiencing any difficultv in 
obtaining “The Gardening World” f r nm 
newsagents will oblige by communicating 
with the publishers. 
Hardy Herbaceous Plants. 
The heavy rains of late, which were badly 
needed in many parts, will have proved most 
beneficial to all forms of flowering plants, 
and there is no reason why these should not 
grow away freely, providing the soil is kept 
stirred with the hoe and weeds eradicated. 
The supporting of the various subjects which 
have not yet flowered will need constant at¬ 
tention, and those whose flowering season is 
past should have the stems removed as soon 
as they show signs of decay ; that is, wh n 
they become yellow, but it is a mistake to 
remove them when in a green state. With 
such plants as the Eremurus anl others 
which produce lai’ge quantities of seed the 
pods only should be removed, unless one 
wishes to save the seed, for if left on this 
means a considerable drain on the strength 
of the plant. 
Tritom as -Whether grown as single speci¬ 
mens or in beds these should now he given 
a good mulching of partly decayed cow- 
manure, as they respond well to liberal fee l- 
ing, and in dry weather good soakings of 
water must be given. The foliage which was 
left on during last winter should by now have 
been removed so as to allow the young growths 
and go away without any hindrance. 
Tropaeolum speciosum. —Where this 
splendid climber succeeds it is one of the 
most striking of all climbing plants, but in 
the south of England it, unfortunately, often 
proves a failure. This in many cases may 
be attributed to the fact that when planting 
a suitable position is not selected. Early 
spring is the best time for planting, anil a site 
should be chosen which is well shaded from 
the sun, and the soil cool and moist. A mix¬ 
ture of loam and sand is the most suitable, 
planting about a foot below the surface. The 
young shoots are now through the ground 
and growing away quickly, and if no natural 
support exists, such as Ivy, old tree stumps, 
or the like, good hu-shy sticks should be 
placed among the growths, over which the 
long shoots will ramble, and need no other 
supporting. It is advisable to give a good 
mulching now to keep the roots quite moist, 
and in dry weather good soakings of water. 
A. E. Thatcher. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
Orchids. 
Remarks. —In dealing with Orchids suit¬ 
able for amateurs it is very difficult to define 
as to what really are the most suitable sub¬ 
jects for the purpose of this calendar’. Even 
when dealing with the rnoi-e common kinds, 
say, such as Dendrobium nobile, one is beset 
with the difficulties of an amateur having 
such accommodation as would be required 
to cultivate even this, one of the commonest 
of the Orchids. Even common as it is. and 
with the requirements suitable for cultiva¬ 
tion, it is not by any means the easiest plant 
to grow in a satisfactory manner, so that one 
would again hesitate to introduce such a 
subject as a suitable plant for our purpose. 
Thus limited in scope, I am bound to select 
such subjects as may be successfully culti¬ 
vated by those whose facilities for cultivation 
ar-e limited. It is, therefore, almost impos¬ 
sible to find subjects in season to be dealt 
with weekly. My readers will thus allow me 
some latitude in. selecting mv subjects in my 
endeavour rather to draw attention to more 
than selections that are suitable for a weekly 
calendar of operations. For the information 
of amateurs a definition of the terms so com- 
