TUB GARDENING WORLD. 
February 9, 1907. 
94 
FRUIT TREES 
,,-c:— —-— > 
FOR. 
AMATEURS. 
My brother amateurs who have a gar¬ 
den, no matter how small, would do well 
to grow as many fruit trees as they can 
find room for without overcrowding. 
What they shall grow depends upon 
the soil, the aspect, and the district, but 
whatever these may be, there are plenty 
of fruits available for selection. 
Nothing in the way of shrubs, orna¬ 
mental trees and flowers, can compare 
with fruit trees for effect changing as they 
do from opening buds to flowers, from 
fruit (first green, then coloured) to autumn 
tints, and so on. I am by no means 
saying a word to discourage the growing 
of" flowers and shrubs, but I do say it is 
a good plan to grow fruit trees as .well, 
as they are so highly ornamental, and if 
profit be a consideration, they offer that 
further advantage also. 
What can. compare with the pleasure of 
watching the continual changes of a fruit 
tree up to the time in which you gather 
in its glorious harvest ? 
If .you have space for only one tree, by 
all means get it. Let me name a few. 
Amongst Apples, with their glorious 
wealth of blossom in the spring time, I 
would especially recommend Bramley's 
Seedling, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Blenheim 
Orange, Newton Wonder, Blenheim and 
Ribston Pippin. If you intend having 
more than one tree, it will be well to 
select those which yield in succession. 
One of the most beautiful new Apples 
is Jersey Beauty, which is justly called 
“The Queen of Spring Apples.” Beauty 
of Bath is also excellent. 
Pears, also, are equally deserving of a 
place in every garden. I strongly re¬ 
commend Williams’ Bon Chretien as a 
dessert Pear and Bishop’s Thumb for 
stewing; also Jargonelle. 
Plums, Damsons, Cherries also are 
most deserving of attention. The fore¬ 
going are most accommodating. One 
can grow them as cordons, bushes, stan¬ 
dards, and in many other forms, but the 
best all-round style for small gardens is 
the pyramid, as it does not interfere 
much with growing other plants quite 
close to it. Get the extra fruiting 
pyramid and you won’t regret it. 
As wall fruits, we have a host of varie¬ 
ties available. One of the most orna¬ 
mental things in the garden is a Vine; 
it has a glorious wealth of foliage, and 
the fruit is very ornamental; also it is 
fairly good for eating. Morello Cherries 
flourish on North walls. 
Amongst bush fruits, surely every one 
desires to grow Gooseberries, Currants, 
Blackberries, and the like. They will 
thrive in the worst town garden, and are 
moderately ornamental. 
Nuts of all kinds can be trained to be 
very decorative. In some parts of Eng¬ 
land Figs can be very successfully grown. 
One of the pleasures of the fruit grower 
is to be found in grafting and budding. 
I had at one time four different kinds 
of Apples on one standard — and the 
effect was very beautiful. 
There is so much to say on this sub¬ 
ject, but I must defer it to future occa¬ 
sions. I would, however, again urge 
every amateur to have in his garden 
plenty of fruit trees. J- C. B. T. 
- +++ - 
WEBBS’ PRIZES FOR 1907. 
Messrs., Webb and Sons, of Wordsley, 
Stourbridge, are offering prizes at more 
than one hundred of the leading shows in 
the country during the forthcoming sea¬ 
son. They offer not less than ^83 5s. 
at eleven of the leading shows in the 
country for vegetables. Besides these, 
over £200 are offered at ninety-eight 
other shows. The method of offering 
them is somewhat novel, so that exhibi¬ 
tors should have a double encouragement 
Ho be amongst the winners. Messrs. 
Webb offer to duplicate all the first and 
Second prizes in the open classes for 
vegetables at the shows mentioned in 
their circular. The seeds have to be 
exclusively the produce of Webb’s seeds. 
Those intending to compete should com¬ 
municate with Messrs. Webb and Sons, 
from whom they will obtain all particu¬ 
lars. 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS.-Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any way,4 any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN 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 propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making Hie award. Mark envelopes “ Gom- 
petiti ,n.” and post not later than the Monday 
folk wing date of issue. Entries received later 
than Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
t 1 .e following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting-gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
The -prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ W. Sherringham ” for his article 
on “ Rhubarb Forcing,” page 68. 
OIMIOIMS 
(Allium Cepa) 
FOR ..... 
EXHIBITION. 
To successfully deal with this important 
vegetable, which is generally appreciated 
by every one, it becomes quite necessary 
to deal with it in the best possible man¬ 
ner if bulbs of a good finish, size, and 
weight are to be od tamed, as the differ¬ 
ence between a well-grown crop and one 
under poor management is very great. 
Onions may be grown on the same piece 
of ground for a number of years, so 
measures should be first taken to prepare 
the ground, dealing with the drainage, 
trencning, and manuring, each detail re¬ 
quiring attention in order to ensure suc¬ 
cess. 
Drainage. — The Onion, although it 
succeeds with plenty of moisture, yet 
stagnant moisture is very deadly, so it 
is quite necessary ho deal with this matter 
first. 
Trenching and Manuring.—A very 
rich, deeply trenched soil is necessary, 
placing at the bottom of the trench the 
longest of the manure, and then a good 
supply of farmyard manure, especially 
that from cattle that have been fed on lin¬ 
seed cake, and preference being given to 
manure that has been stacked under 
cover; good turfy loam and vegetable re¬ 
fuse may be added, and droppings from 
the pigeon or fowl house are also valuable 
ingredients. In trenching, leave the sur¬ 
face in a rough state, and when finished 
apply a good dressing of bone meal and 
soot. 
The trenching should be done as soon 
as the ground becomes vacant, and left 
until favourable weather, when it may be 
forked over again early in March, for 
as with other crops, so with Onions—a 
good tilth is one of the first steps to suc¬ 
cess in their cultivation. 
Sowing the Seed. — This should be 
done as early in January as possible in 
boxes 2 feet long, i foot wide, and 4J4 
inches deep. Drain thoroughly, using £ 
compost of 2 parts good fibrous loam, 1 
part old hot bed material, and 1 pan 
well-decayed leaf mould, adding to thi: 
sufficient sand to keep the whole porous 
and afterwards fill the boxes to within hal: 
an inch of the top, making the compos 
quite firm. Sow the seed thinly, slighth 
covering it, and pressing it down evenl) 
with a board and water in with care 
Then place the boxes in a temperature 0 
about 60 degrees. When the younj 
plants are large entough to be lifted 
transfer them to other boxes filled wit! 
the same compost with the addition of : 
parts well-decayed manure, and a goo< 
sprinkling of bone meal and soot. Lif 
them carefully, dibbing them in about 
inches apart each way in the boxes, an< 
maintain a temperature of 55 to 60 de 
grees, placing the plants near the glass 
and maintaining a moist atmosphere 
Encourage sturdy growth, allow the leas 
possible check, and finally harden off ii 
the same way -as other plants that ma 
have been grown in heat. 
If favourable weather prevail toward 
the latter end of March, break up th 
surface as finely as DOssible, rake ovei 
