November 4, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
the ligatures tightly, allowing ample space 
for expansion of the wood, using small cord 
for the largest of the branches, raftia strong 
enough to last one season for the wood made 
last year. 
As soon as the tying is finished clean up 
the borders, and then with 1 the garden fork 
prick up the surface a couple of inches or 
so, removing inert soil, and replace with 
fresh loam, adding a five-inch potful of bone 
meal and a seven-inch potful of wood ashe'S| 
to every bushel of the loam, lime rubble being 
also good for stone fruits, and may be used 
in the same pi’oportion as bone meal. If the 
border is found to be in want of water, apply 
a good soaking, and let the house remain 
open until the necessary time for stai’ting, 
which may be from tlie middle of the month 
to that of December, stai’ting with a night 
temperature of 40 deg. to 50 deg., according 
to the outside temperature, syi'inging the 
trees morning about nine a.m. and again at 
two p.m. on bright days, admitting a little 
air when the sun raises the thei’mometer 
above 60 deg. These figures should be. main¬ 
tained until the flowers begin to expand, 
when a slightly warmer temperatui’e may be 
given, a subject to be dealt with in a later 
issue. Succession houses as the ti’ees become 
leafless should receive the usual routine in. 
the matter of pruning, washing wood work, 
glass, etc., as advocated for the early house. 
It.is a good plan to fumigate each structure 
when they are first closed, and again before 
any flowers open. Allow open or full venti¬ 
lation wherever possible. A spell of frost 
will do good to the trees, and it appears to 
have sot in quite early this autumn, as many 
as 18 deg. being registered not far from here 
on the 17th of last month. 
Outdoors. 
Planting fruit ti’ees or bushes may soon 
be undertaken, the frost having hurried off 
the foliage in many instances, especially 
among Currants, Raspberries, Pears, and 
Plums. Previous calendars have dealt with 
the preparation of the soil for vai’ious kinds 
of fruit, and what remains to be done now is 
a shoifl list of vai’ieties found to do or give 
satisfaction generally, although no hard or 
fast line can be laid down, as locality, soil, 
and situatioix have to be studied by the 
planter, but the kinds of fruit we are going 
to deal with in this issue do well anywhere, 
that is, east, west, north, or south ; it is 
Apples and Pears that require the most selec¬ 
tion, especially Apples. 
Currants.—We will take these first, as red 
and white always lose their foliage first, and 
may be moved at once. Both these varieties 
have been much improved of late years as 
regards size of berry, notably Comet and 
Fay's Prolific among the reds, probably two 
of the best in cultivation. The Dutch and 
Versaillaise white will give satisfaction, and 
all may be planted 5ft. or 6ft.apai-t each way. 
While not saying these two CuiTants do not 
require rich ground to crop, well, they will do 
where it would be fallacy to plant the Black, 
therefore give the latter the best ground and 
where more moisture can be had, these not 
objecting to a little shade. The best Blacks 
are Boskoop Giant, Carter’s Champion, Bald- 
wixx and Lee’s Prolific, the former having the 
reputation of proving immune from the mite. 
These make large bushes when highly culti¬ 
vated, as they should be, so should stand 6ft. 
asunder each way. Small bushes of either 
colour may be planted at. half those distances 
given, eventually thinning out in a few years 
845 
before crowding each other. Currant bushes 
continue to give good crops for many years 
when attended to annually, but there comes 
a time when new plantations are a necessity, 
hence the value of the above remai’ks. It is 
not advisable to plant during much frost or 
when the soil is too sodden, but this autumn 
the general cry is the ground is too dry. 
Probably before these lines get into print 
things will have changed ; in any case, I am 
a firm believer in early autumn planting, as 
OUR WEEKLY PRIZE COM¬ 
PETITIONS. 
General Conditions. — Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular paid 
contributors to The Gardening World, or other 
gardening journals, are debarred from entering, 
but occasional contributors may compete. Tin 
name and address of the competitor must appeal 
on each article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right to re¬ 
produce, in any way, any article or photograph 
sent for competition. The conditions applying to 
each competition should be carefully read. 
PRIZES. 
A Prize of Ten Shillings will be given for 
the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propagation or 
cultivation of flowers, fruits or vegetables, 
eradication of pests, etc. The paragraph or 
article must not exceed a column, but value 
rather than length wall be considered in making 
the award. Mark envelopes “ Competition,” and 
post not later than the Monday following date of 
issue. Entries received later than Tuesday 
first post will be left over until the following 
week. 
Two Prizes of Two Shillings and Six¬ 
pence each will be given for the best supple¬ 
mentary replies to questions asked in “ The G.W. 
Enquire Within ” column. These replies should 
be brief. 
A Prize of Five Shillings will be given for 
the best novel device for saving labour, protecting 
plants, or a garden utensil, which reaches us 
during any week. A rough sketch must accom¬ 
pany the biief description. 
RESULTS OF LAST WEEK’S COM¬ 
PETITIONS. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ R. Thatcher,” for his ai’ticle on 
“ Peaches and Nectarines,” p. 836. 
A prize for a supplementary reply was awarded 
to “ J. C. ” for his article on “Wall for Fruit 
Trees,” p. 835; and another to “ D. V. E.” for 
an article on “ Tuberous Begonias,” p. 836. 
A prize was also awarded to “ U. Arnold ” 
for a device, “ Wireworm Trap,” p. 837. 
the trees can better withstand a dry summer 
than when planted in spring. 
James Mayxe. 
Bicton Gardens, Devonshire. 
Hardy Trees and Shrubs. 
The Falling Leaves.— The sharp frosts 
which we have experienced during the past 
few days has brought down the decaying 
leaves in great numbers, and though there 
are yet many to fall, the work of collecting 
them can be proceeded with. To the gar¬ 
dener there is nothing more valuable or more 
necessary than a good supply of well-decayed 
leaf mould, which can be used for a number 
of purposes, such as the top-dressing of 
shrubberies, Rhododendron, Andromeda, and 
Azalea beds, for nearly all sorts of pot plants, 
etc., so that instead of wheeling them away to 
the l’ubbisli heap, as is often done, it will be 
well to place them all in an enclosure or leaf 
pen, as it is generally called. They should 
be trodden firmly together, which will forward 
the decaying pi’oeess, and by so doing one 
will be able to get a great number in a small 
■space. If any remain from last year’s supply 
these should be thoroughly turned over and 
stacked xxp at one end of the pen, and if 
there is more than will be required some can 
be wheeled out for any of the above-mentioned 
purposes, or on to some vacant piece of 
ground which has to be trenched during the 
winter. lor new flower borders, or old ones 
which are to be rejuvenated, leaf soil in com¬ 
pany with manure is most valuable, and every 
endeavour should be made to collect and store 
as much as possible. 
Pyrus erythrocarpa.— An addition to the 
list of shrubs which have highly-coloured 
foliage in autumn is always welcome, and xo 
variety of recent’introduction is more so than 
this. In geixcral appearance it much re¬ 
sembles Pyrus arbutifolia, which I have men¬ 
tioned before, but the leaves are much larger 
and more pointed, and do ixot commence to 
colour till quite a foi-tnight later ; they are 
also a rich orange-red entirely. Another 
great point iix favour of this Pyrus is that 
the leaves are not at all injured by sharp 
fi’osts, which would alone recommend it to 
lovers of beautiful coloured shrubs. When 
this variety can be obtained in quantity I 
am sure it will be a fiixe subject for bedding ; 
at all events, it is very beautiful as a single 
specimen. A. E. Thatcher. 
Aldenham Hoxxse Gardens, Elstree. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Seasonable Notes. —With the decliniixg 
days discretioix is necessary in the various 
methods brought to bear in the successful 
cultivation of Orchids. It is often obsei’ved 
that it is by ixo means a diflicxxlt matter to 
induce maixy of the members-of the Orchid 
family to thrive in a satisfactory manner dui-- 
ing the growing season, yet how great the dis¬ 
appointment when the resting aixd proper 
ripening of such growth has to be accom¬ 
plished in such a manner-as to enable the 
plants to pi’odxxce equally strong growth and 
flower in a satisfactory manner iix succeedixxg 
seasons. It used to be a commoix saying 
amongst Orchid growers that moisture and 
ventilation were the two principal items to 
be considered in the successful treatment of 
Orchids ; these are certainly very desirable 
accomplishments to be achieved, but I have 
foixnd, after all. that the proper maturity 
and ripening of growth is a far more difficult 
subject, and by far the most impoi-tant 
item to be considered, for on it depends prac¬ 
tically the whole of the future well-being of 
the plaxxts. 
When we have reached the dull season of 
November many members of the various 
genera of Orchids have exxtei’ed, or are just 
entering, upon their dormant season. With 
those that have reached maturity the difficulty 
is veiy considerably minimised. The appli¬ 
cation of the root moisture being the chief 
item, too much moisture at the roots must be 
strictly guarded against. It is often observed 
that when plants retain too much moisture 
in the pottiixg compost for a prolonged period 
black spotting in the foliage may occur, the 
eyes at the base may turn black, and the 
rhizome connectiixg the pseudo-bulbs or 
growths aixd' roots get into a state of decay. 
