6io 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 14, 1907. 
TREES AND SHRUBS . 
2193. Book on Pruning. 
Would you kindly recommend to me a 
book on pruning, one that gives the time of 
year or stage of growth that trees (more 
particularly forest trees) and shrubs should 
be pruned? (An Admirer of “ G. W.,” 
Surrey.) 
There is a book on trees and shrubs for 
ornamental purposes, namely “ Pictorial 
Practical Tree and Shrub Culture,” which 
would give you a deal of information. It 
is sold by -Messrs. Cassell and Co., Ludgate 
Hill, London, at is. in paper covers, is. 
6d. in cloth with postage extra. Another 
book is “ Practical (Forestry,” 2nd edition, 
price 5s., and sold by Messrs. Ryder and 
Co., 14, Bartholomew'Close, London, E.C. 
FRUIT. 
2194. Apples, Pears and Plums. 
In reference to reply to question 2152, you 
say many of the best fruits ripen after Au¬ 
gust. Would you mind giving me the 
names ? It really does not matter when 
after August they mature, hut I do not want 
fruit that matures before the end of August, 
as we ‘are away from home until the end of 
August as a rule? (Enquirer, Surrey.) 
We should recommend the undermen¬ 
tioned Apples to ripen in the order given 
from August to May, namely, Duchess of 
Oldenburg, Devonshire Quarrenden, Wor¬ 
cester Pearmain, King of the Pippins, 
Ribston Pippin, Cox’s Orange Pippin, 
Braddick’s Nonpareil, Scarlet Nonpariel. 
Wyken Pippin, Northern Spy, Lord 
Burghley, and Sturmer Pippin. Rears to 
keep up a supply from August to April in 
the order named are -Beurr6 Giffard, 
William’s- Bon Chretien, Beurre D’Amanlis, 
Souvenir du 'Congres, Louise Bonne of Jer¬ 
sey, Beurre Hardy, Doyenn6 du Comice, 
Conference, Beur-re Ranee, and Bergamot 
d’Esperen. Plums to give you a supply 
from the end of August till well into Octo¬ 
ber are Greengage, Transparent Gage, Jeffer¬ 
son, Coe’s Golden Drop, Kirke’s and Reine 
Claude de Bavay. 
2195. Orchard on Peaty Soil. 
I am about to plant three-quarters of an 
acre pasture field as an orchard. The soil 
is peat, of good depth, well open on all 
sides, and situated in North Westmorland 
on the flat. Wculd you give me your ad¬ 
vice as to the sorts of fruit trees that would 
succeed best under the conditions mentioned? 
(F. A. Graham, Lancs.) 
Some varieties of Apple do very well on 
the class of soil you mention, provided it 
has some sand in it, and many peaty soils 
have sand. You would also require to give 
the ground some lime before planting and 
some more at intervals of six years or so. 
Additions of top dressings of good loam 
from time to time would also be of great 
assistance in improving the soil. The 
brook is rafher near the orchard ground, 
and if the situation is low, there would be 
more moisture in the spring than is bene¬ 
ficial for fruit trees in blossom. Good 
dessert Apples- that would succeed in West- 
mprlfind are Cox’s Orange Pippin, Ribston 
Pippin, King of the Pippins, -Margil, Court 
Pendu Plat and Scarlet Nonpareil. A half 
dozen very good cooking Apples for West¬ 
morland are Keswick Codlin, Dumelow’s 
Seedling, Lord Suffield, Northern Greening, 
Royal Russet and Warner’s King. 
2196. Pear Tree Eaten Away. 
Will you kindly tell me in your valuable 
paper what is- the matter with my Pear tree ? 
It is very old and half of the’base of the 
stem appears to have been either broken or 
eaten aw-av. Can I do anything to it to 
save it going further? Also, I find a lot 
of the enclosed powder all under the bark 
half-way up the tree, and at times it appears 
around the base of the arms which have 
been cut off some time. If you can tell 
me what to do to prevent this rotting away, 
as it appears to be spreading, and if any¬ 
thing can be done to it in any way to re¬ 
pair the base, you will greatly oblige ? 
Since writing the above I have discovered a 
great number of woodlice under the bark, 
and I syringed it with strong soft soap. 
(Learner, Middlesex.) 
Your tree is being gradually destroyed by 
a fungus-, and the fact that you had Pears 
off it this year merely indicates that there 
is still .a sound poition of the bark between 
the roots and the branches. When once the 
fungus has gone right round the bark the 
tree will inevitably die. The bark under 
which the woodlice were hiding is merely 
coming off, because all what should be the 
live portion of the tree has- been killed. 
We should plant a young tree after renew¬ 
ing the soil or wait until the Pear tree 
ceases to give a supply and then plant. In 
the meantime you can try and stop the decay 
by paring away all rotten tissue until you 
come to sound wood. Then brush this over 
with tar to keep out the wet; still 
further, you can fill the hole with cement if 
by any means- the tree will carry it. The 
tar might save it for a few years longer. 
VEGETABLES. 
2197. Vegetables for a Peaty Soil. 
I have taken over five acres of good peaty 
soil, land which I intend to make into a 
large vegetable garden. It has not been 
cropped in any way for the last ten years. 
It gets- the sun all day and is well drained. 
Would you let me know what vegetables 
will do best in that class of soil and which 
to avoid growing? (F. A. G., Lancs.) 
This sort of soil could be improved by 
giving it top dressings of loam obtained 
from road sides or from any other source 
you can get it, putting it on as a top dress¬ 
ing before digging or ploughing the ground. 
Lime would also be beneficial at inter¬ 
vals of six years or so. Potatos would 
grow well in such a soil, but in very wet 
years they might be more liable to disease 
than on sandy soils. You could, however, 
grow such varieties as -Sir John Llewellyn, 
Royal Kidney and Factor. As a late 
variety, Champion would also succeed, ex¬ 
cept in very wet seasons. In the way of 
Cabbages you could plant Ellam’s Early, 
B-attersea and Winningstadt; 'Cauliflower, 
Walcheren and Autumn Giant; Brussels 
Sprouts, Aigburth and Wroxton; Borecole, 
Dwarf Curled and Cottagers’ Kale, the 
latter to supply Sprouts in spring ; Savoys, 
Early Ulm and Green Curled ; Horn Carrot, 
Champion Scarlet and Intermediate Carrot; 
Parsnips, Hollow 'Crown and The Student. 
All of these should succeed well with you, 
but we believe you can grow many others 
if -the land is well tilled and renewed by 
top dressings of soil and manure annually. 
You can make trials of others that you know 
to be good kinds from time to time. We 
should not plant Broccoli to stand the win¬ 
ter. 
2198. Horseradish. 
'Could you give me all particulars as to 
the culture of Horseradish? Do they like 
rich or poor soil ? How long do they last 
before they are unfit for use? (Scottie, 
Dundee.) 
Ground for Horseradish should, of course, 
be trenched and manured with well decayed 
farmyard manure, putting this well down 
so as to avoid the branching of the roots. 
From this you will gather that it likes good 
soil, apd the better it is the better roots 
you will get. We cannot say how long a 
bed would remain fit for use, as it all de¬ 
pends upon those using it. The best roots 
or thongs are of one year’s growth. Those 
of two years old would be thicker and much 
more pungent, but still serviceable for the 
purpose. We do not think it desirable to 
keep a bed too long if much value is placed 
upon the Radish, as the younger roots are 
the best. A plantation should be made at 
least every second year. 
2199. Salsafy and Scorzonera. 
Could you give me particulars about the 
culture of Salsafy ? Are the roots the part 
of the plant that are cooked, and when dc 
they come in season? Please also give cul¬ 
ture of Scorzonera. (Scottie, Dundee.) 
The roots are the portion of both of these 
plants that are cooked and used as a vege¬ 
table. They may be sown sometime in 
March when the ground is in a workable 
condition, so a9 to give them a long season 
to make strong growth. Sow them in lines 
about 12 in. apart and at least 6 in. from 
root to root in the lines. Of course, they 
can be thinned out to this after the seed¬ 
lings show which are going to be the 
strongest. They would come into season in 
September, or as soon as the roots are large 
enough. 
2 2 00. Artichokes. 
Could you give me particulars about the 
culture of Jerusalem and Globe Artichokes? 
1 suppose you will have to keep some of the 
Jerusalem Artichokes for planting next sea¬ 
son ? The Globe always stands, does it 
not? (Scottie, Dundee.) 
Jerusalem Artichokes are grown on from 
tubers, something like a rough and knotted 
Potato tuber. They are usually left stand 
ing in the ground until some convenient 
'time in 'March. In the -meantime a supply 
of tubers could be dug up from time to time 
during winter as they are wanted. When 
you find a convenient time to make a fresh 
plantation, keep the larger roots for kitchen 
use and plant the others in lines about 3 ft. 
apart and 12 in. to 18 in. from tuber to 
tu/ber. This^ of course, are close distances, 
'but for your northern district we think it 
would ‘be sufficient, as they do not grow so 
tail in (Scotland. The soil should, of 
course, be fairly rich. Globe Artichokes 
are either raised from seeds sown under 
glass in March and planted out during 
April or May, or, on the other hand, you 
may get young suckers of the plants. A 
fair average distance to plant them would be 
4 ft. from line to line and 2 ft. to 3 ft. in 
the lines. That is if you allow them to 
stand for more than two years. In fairly 
dry soils they stand the winter well, but are 
liable to get killed in heavy soils. To 
guard against this jou should put a mulch¬ 
ing of rank manure over the ground and 
round the neck of the plants in November, 
digging it into the soil sometime towards the 
end of March when the severe weather has 
gone. If you have any 'blanks in the 
plantation in spring, you can make them up 
by getting suckers off the larger plants to 
put in those blanks. 
2 2 01. Name of Vegetable. 
Kindly name flowers enclosed. What sort 
of vegetable is this I enclose with the 
flowers? (Scqttie, Dundee.) 
The vegetable you sent us was a small 
sample of green skinned Kohl Rabbi. This 
portion should get about the size of a Tur¬ 
nip more or less, and is cooked for use. A 
good size for garden use would be 3 in. tc 
4 in. in diameter and not too old. Your 
plants are named under Names of Plants. 
2 20 2. Lettuce for March and April. 
I should be greatly obliged if you put 
me right in the'following question. I have 
a cold house now occupied with Tomatos. 
When they come out I want to grow Cabbage 
Lettuce for the local market to be ready foi 
pulling from the middle of March to the 
middle of April. What variety should I 
