132 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
standard, you should cut back the main stem 
to 15 in. from the ground. Next summer you 
will get several shoots, the best suited of 
which should form the leader, while the side 
ones will farm the commencement of the side 
branches of the tree. If you want to grow 
it as an espalier, these side shoots should be 
cut Dack to one-third or one-half their length. 
If it is a variety inclined to form spurs, you 
do not require to cut it back so hard, so. that 
if the shoot is 30 in. long, you could cut 
off the top 10 in., and the topmost buds being 
from well-ripened wood, would give a strong 
shoot for the continuance of that branch 
next year. We do not know what books you 
have been studying when you say that young 
shoots should be cut right out, because then 
the tree that was grafted would no longer 
be so. Pruning the mairtstem to 15 in. would 
also be suitable for the formation of bushes 
and pyramids, because you would get a 
strong shoot to form a leader and some side 
shoots to form the lowest branches of the 
trees. In the case oi Cox’s Orange you 
should treat it exactly the same as Blenheim 
Orange. You do not want any side shoots 
close to the ground line, therefore cut back 
the small one and the leader to 15 in., as 
that is sufficiently near the ground for any 
form of tree. 
2627. Pear on Crab Stock. 
Last year (in error) 1 grafted a Pear scion 
on a Crab stock. This is also doing well, 
having grown about 18 in. What would you 
advise as to this ? (Sawyer, Beds.) 
We should treat this specimen the same as 
you would treat the Apples. It is not often 
that the Apple is grafted on the Pear, al¬ 
though all these experiments have been tried 
before. After fair trial it was found that 
they did not give so good results as when the 
Apple was grafted on some form of the 
Apple and thp Pear on the Pear stock. The 
tree may not prove to be of long duration, 
especially if the scion and stock grow at 
different rates, when you will almost cer¬ 
tainly have a thick swelling where they join, 
thus restricting the free flow of the sap, as 
often happens in the case of Peaches grafted 
on the Plum stock. We doubt if it will alter 
the scion or its fruit very much, but by 
way of curiosity you could grow the tree and 
determine what are its capabilities in your 
particular soil. 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
2628. Insect in Dwelling House. 
The enclosed insect was flying in the 
dwelling house on the 8th inst. Please say 
what it is. I am only in a small way as a 
market gardener, and have only a few feet 
of glass, but I should like to know if this, 
or any of its relations, are harmful to fruit 
or vegetables. (Nemo, Kent.) 
The specimen you sent us was a queen 
wasp. We ourselves caught one in the dwell¬ 
ing house about six weeks ago. No doubt the 
warmth of the house had made it active. They 
are queen wasps which lay up in some secure 
place in the autumn, waiting till spring, 
when theyicome out and found new colonies 
of wasps. For each wasp that you catch 
and destroy you will save the laying of 
large numbers of eggs, while, of course, 
each wasp or queen mother would mean a 
separate colony or nest. No doubt, you are 
aware that wasps are very destructive to 
various fruits, such as reaches, Nectarines, 
Apricots, Plums, _ Gooseberries, and even 
early-ripening Apples. 
SOILS AND MANURES . 
2629. Trenching Allotment Ground. 
I have an allotment ground, and last year 
most of my things were dried completely up. 
I did not have the ground until late in the 
season, so I only dug it one spit deep. I 
have been a regular reader of The Garden¬ 
ing World for the last three years, and I 
took the advice given so often in the notes 
on the value of double trenching and bastard 
trenching, so I though I would do my .ground 
the same; but after I had started double 
trenching I found that I came upon the 
gravel, so finished the whole of my ground 
by bastard trenching, as the second spit 
seemed to be rather sandy. I have enclosed 
the mould of the first and second spits, and 
I want to know if I have done right, as a 
fellow-gardener on the same allotment tells 
me that I have made the ground unfit for the 
growing of Parsnips, Onions and Beet. I 
have also had some manure from a stable, 
where wood shavings are used, and I should 
like to know if that will be of any benefit 
for the ground. (In Doubt, Essex.) 
We examined the soil you sent us, and 
found that it consisted chiefly of clay, with 
a good'admixture of fine gravel. The top 
spit would look darker in colour, owing to 
the presence in it of decaying vegetable 
matter. The subsoil appears more sandy, 
for the simple reason that it has no vegetable 
matter in it, and no doubt had not been dis¬ 
turbed since it was laid down as a gravel 
bed by the Thames. Probably it has only 
been cultivated by the plough until recently. 
Your fellow-gardener may be said to be 
partly right and partly wrong. We should 
not hesitate to dig over and otherwise loosen 
with pick or fork the layer of sand in the 
bottom of a trench, but we should not bring 
this gravel or sand up to the top. It should 
be left where it is, merely covering it with 
the good soil on the top. In future years, 
however, after a good deal of many re has 
been applied^ to it, the depth of fertile soil 
could be increased until the whole of it is 
well incorporated together. There is really 
no difference between the top and bottom, 
except the presence of vegetable matter in 
the fop spit, as a result of shallow cultiva¬ 
tion. It will, no doubt, be a hungry soil 
for some years to come, but not a hopeless 
one. It simply wants plenty of manure. As 
we have already said, the gravel should not 
be brought to the top. Your trenching will do 
the- soil no harm for either of those crops 
you mention, if you have not brought the 
barren soil to the top. You could not grow 
satisfactory Parsnips or Beet in a soil only 
one spit deep, so your aim should be to 
deepen it. This trenching should be done 
as early in the winter as possible, so that 
the soil will have settled down firmly be¬ 
fore sowing time. We do not like the 
presence of wood shavings in the stable 
manure. We should shake out the shavings 
by means of a fork and then burn them, 
after which they could be returned to the 
heap of manure with advantage. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
2639. Books on Technicalities. 
Are there any cheap text books on the 
technicalities of crossing, especially for 
Sweet Peas? (West, Berks.) 
Any good book on elementary botany 
should give you the technicalities, yen require 
in the case of the Sweet Pea. It belongs, of 
course, to the order Leguminosae, and all the 
British representatives belong to the same 
group or type as the Sweet Pea. One book 
is “ Elementary Botany,” by J. W. Oliver, 
published by Messrs. Blackie and Son, 30, 
Old Bailey, London, E.C., price 2s., with 
postage extra. Another is “ Primer of 
Botany,” by Sir J. D. Hooker, and pub¬ 
lished by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., St. 
Martin’s Street, London, W.C., price is., 
with postage extra. 
2631. Marketing: Narcissi. 
Will you kindly reply to the following 
questions re growing Narcissi for market? 
(1) About when would the flowers be likely 
February 22 , 190S. 
to fetch the best prices? I am told that if 
they could be marketed after those from the 
Channel Islands are finished and before 
British open-air Narcissi are ready they 
would make a good price. We purpose send- 
ingiours to Liverpool. (2) What is the usual 
charge made by salesmen for selling Narcissi 
by auction ? (3) What would be the average 
price made when English Narcissi grown 
outside aie plentiful ? (4) I am told that 
Narcissi should be cut before fully open 
and put in water in a dark place till fully 
open, then tied in bundles of twelve and 
the stems cut evenly. Is this correct? (5) 
Should any tissue paper be used in packing 
the bundles in boxes, and should the flowers 
be damped slightly before despatched? (6) 
Do the railway companies quote a special 
rate for this class of produce? Any further 
information will be most acceptable to us. 
(March Brown, Anglesey.) 
(1) The best prices of all are obtained 
about Christmas, as Daffodils are then very 
scarce. Only a few people have learned 
how to force them at that early period of 
the year. Then, again, if you can place 
them on the .market after the supply from 
the Channel Islands is getting over, you will 
get better prices, especially if you manage 
to place them on the market -before the Lin¬ 
coln growers can place theirs. It is diffi¬ 
cult to gauge all these times exactly, and in 
some seasons you could not do so, because : 
they might have a cold season in the Channel 
Islands or Scilly Isles, thus retarding the 
bulbs till well into the season. Then, in 
your situation the weather might be mild, 
thus enabling you tot get in advance of your 
usual time. The Lincoln growers might, 
however, come in as well, and this clashing 
of the supplies from various sources would 
make the flowers cheap." - (2) The usual 
charge made by salesmen for selling by auc¬ 
tion is 10 per cent., besides wfiich there 
would be various other market expenses. 
These may vary slightly from those in Lon¬ 
don, though in general they would not vary 
very greatly. (3) When Narcissi flowers are 
very plentiful, you might only get is. 6d. 
to 3s. per box, according to the variety and 
also according to the number of bunches in 
a box, as this varies according to the size of 
the flowers and the length of the stems. You 
may take it for granted,- however, that these 
figures are not absolute. There are so many 
■things which cause the market to fluctuate 
that you should endeavour to be in close 
touch with the market and have someone to 
send you a telegram when the most favour¬ 
able time for sending occurs. (4) Narcissi 
are always fresher and cleaner when cut 
before they are fully expanded, so that you 
would do well to place them in a dark room 
in water -till they open, after which you 
could tie them up and cut them neatly. When 1 
cut at this early stage, you really have the 
whole length of life of a cut Daffodil flower. 
(5) The interior of the boxes should decidedly 
be lined with tissue paper to keep the flowers 
from -rubbing, to keep them clean, to prevent 
them from getting dried up and to give them 
a more valuable and choice appearance when 
placed before the public. If they were- 
loosely huddled in a box thei-r value would 
be greatly depreciated. If the stems are 
fully charged with water while the flowers 
are reaching full expansion no moistening • 
of the flowers will be necessary. Indeed, 
you would only encourage heating and pos¬ 
sibly rotting of the flower-s during transit. 
(6) There are -two rates for the despatch of 
garden produce, etc., by rail. The charge 
for sending the flowers at the owner’s risk 
is only half what they would charge for 
flowers carried at the risk of the railwav 
company. Even then they might get 
damaged, and you would have to p-rove a 
good deal before you- could get the railway 
company to pay for damage done You 
