August 31 , ig°7- 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
573 
pun?igating Plar?t H ouses ' 
How to Find the Cubic Measurement. 
Summer Pruning: 
Its Advantages. 
The advantages of summer pruning are 
n ay one being that if it is properly per- 
f med, there is little or no need for win- 
t> pruning. , . 
Another advantage is that the embryo 
fit buds are more firmly and plentifully 
s . a nd yet another that the operation 
anits more sunshine and light to the 
f its, therefore assisting them to ripen 
e lier. The surplus sap not required for 
t; shoots removed thus goes to benefit 
t fruit and tree. Summer pruning, as 
r ny know, consists of pinching off all 
t. side shoots to about the fifth leaf, 
fl shortening the leaders not required 
sne one or two buds, although in a 
ung growing tree these should not be 
t, severely dealt with, but should have 
t: ends taken off at about the first bud. 
'.us on every young tree a good leader 
c) U ld be left hardly pruned, as the ex- 
i me end merely pinched off will stop 
■npant growth, and embryo encouraged, 
rich on nearly all trees form at the base, 
;d not along the entire branch. If sum- 
i:r pruning was more practised, there 
'uld be fewer cases of unhealthy, weak 
hit-producing trees. 
Experimenter. 
-- 
Erica cinerea. 
Amongst hardy plants the many varie- 
ts of Heaths hold a foremost place; 
lether planted in groups or as single 
ants on the turf they are most orna- 
mtal. T 
During the month of May I saw eight 
nine large masses of a reddish purple 
ad under this name growing as single 
ecimens on a slope of one of the lawns 
Cricket St. Thomas. [We doubt the 
rrectness of the name. — E d.] These 
:re 8 or 10 ft. wide, with a height of 
>out 6 ft., with a grass space of from 
to 15 ft. between them. At this time 
ey were a mass of bloom all over. 
Some few days previously I saw this 
id the white form in splendid flower, 
anding as single bushes at Bicton. The 
tter was a young and vigorous plant 
to 8 ft.. Nothing could be more lovely. 
When looking on these I could not help 
inking how much our gardens suffered 
irough not being more freely planted 
ith such things, and when com- 
ared wdth common ' shrubs the cost 
1 keeping is nothing compared to 
lese latter. These Heaths need no- 
ling when first going out of bloom 
ut a regulating or removing of any 
orn out branches. Should they become 
fin (if in good health) they bear cutting 
jver to 7 or 8 in. high. Another recom- 
lendation to them is that their foliage 
loks well at any time on the grass, and 
le free growing kinds thrive when 
lanted in a free sandy loam or any free 
>il. Where a collection of cinerea is 
Town the blooming season extends over a 
mg time. 
CON. 
From early spring throughout the sum¬ 
mer aphis, etc., become extremely trouble¬ 
some in glass structures, and multiply 
with alarming rapidity unless held in 
check. The old method of cleansing 
houses was by smoking with tobacco 
paper or rag. This has now practically 
Method of finding cubic contents of span- 
roof house for fumigation purposes. Mea¬ 
sure to half the height of the ridge above 
the eaves. 
passed into oblivion, for which we, w'ho 
had to perform it, are extremely thankful. 
Its place is taken by the new method of 
vaporising. W ith the present day contri¬ 
vances the difficulties of keeping houses 
free from insects have been reduced to 
probably the lowest minimum, the anxie¬ 
ties experienced in bygone days are for¬ 
gotten in the simplicity of the present 
method, to say nothing of the cleanliness 
and rapidity with which it can be per¬ 
formed. 
Those who value their plants should 
make use of this means of effectually rid¬ 
ding them of those pests which do them 
so much harm, and have recourse to 
one or other of the patents now procur¬ 
able at so little cost. All the vaporising 
compounds on the market are efficacious 
and safe, provided they are used by a 
person of ordinary intelligence and the 
directions supplied with each properly 
followed. 
The chief point in regard to fumigating 
or vaporising is ascertaining the cubical 
contents of the houses. This may be 
done as followsFirst, measure the 
length and breadth of the house, then 
ascertain the average height. To do the 
first, measure the height of the apex, then 
that to the eaves, adding the two together, 
and dividing by two, the average height 
is obtained. By multiplying the whole 
together, viz., length by breadth, by 
average height, the result denotes the 
number of cubic feet in the house. Thus 
presuming a house is 40 feet in length, 
by 15 feet in breadth, the height at ape’x 
(a) (see illustration), 10 feet, at eaves (b) 
6 feet, added together equals 16 feet, 
divided by 2 equals 8 feet, the average 
height (shown by dotted lines), then 
40 feet by 15 feet by 8 feet equals 4,800 
cubic feet. When once the cubical size 
is ascertained it should be noted for future 
reference, and thus save the necessity of 
re-measuring. 
Fumigating is best performed in the 
evening, choosing a slightly damp still 
one if possible, failing which the floor of 
the house may be damped down, taking 
care not to wet the foliage of the plants 
in doing so. If only one lamp is used it 
should be placed in the centre of the 
house, if more than one, then equally 
distributed about the house, which latter 
should be as tight fitted as possible, to 
prevent the fumes escaping ere they have 
performed their work. If the houses are 
greatly' infested it is occasionally neces¬ 
sary to repeat the operation again the fol¬ 
lowing night. Once a week or ten day's 
is not too often to fumigate houses where 
cleanliness from pests and health of the 
plants are the first consideration. 
M. D. 
-- 
Horticulture’s Greatest Need. 
Horticulture is affected more or less by 
nearly' every science, and by' nearly every 
art. Every walk in life is affected by' the 
horticulture of the country, and in turn, 
as w r e are able to take advantage of the 
best of everything, w 7 e will be able to pros¬ 
per. During some periods our greatest 
needs lie in the direction of better 
methods for controlling insects. At other 
times, information on disease is needed 
most urgently. At one time v'e were in 
great need of information in fertilisers. 
It seems to me that what we are now 
needing most of all is information that 
will enable us to put our crops into the 
hands of the consumer at the least pos¬ 
sible cost. We need a sort of horticul¬ 
tural political economy. — President P. H. 
Rolfs, Florida State Horticultural 
Society. 
Method of finding cubic contents of lean- 
to house for fumigation purposes. Measure 
to half the height of the roof above the 
eaves. 
