September 21, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
623 
spring, but is growing very high now. Is 
it too late to top it now ? (Amateur, Scot¬ 
land.) 
If the hedge is gappy at the foot now 
after two years, it would indicate either that 
it was not pruned low enough down when 
originally planted, or some other plants 
have been allowed to grow up against it, 
thus shading it unduly. Privet hedges never 
do well if other plants are allowed to grow up 
against them, and if they themselves get 
top heavy, while the base is badly furnished 
with branches, the chances are that you will 
never get branches to grow out of proper 
strength from there. A good plan would be 
to wait till next March and then cut the 
hedge down within 6 in. of the ground. It 
will then grow strongly, sending up shoots 
that, if allowed to grow, would be several 
feet long before autumn. If it is a green 
Privet, we should top it during the su mm er 
each time it has made 8 in. of growth, that 
is, we should top the shoots when 8 in. long. 
Each shoot will then send out a number of 
shoots, and when these have grown 8 in. 
long stop them again. You would thus be 
able to stop the hedge at least twice during 
one year. Thus, while the hedge is being 
formed, it would not require much pruning 
in winter if you stop it at the sides at the 
same time. The proper plan to build up a 
hedge is to do so from the beginning, mak¬ 
ing a point of getting it sufficiently wide at 
the base so that it will gradually taper to 
the top as it grows, or rather be pruned 
in that tapering fashion so that the base 
will always be a little wider than at the 
top. Now that the hedge is established you 
can build it up more quickly than if it had 
been newly planted. We should not top it 
now if you intend to follow our advice by 
cutting it down to 6 in. in spring. The 
stronger the hedge is now, the better growth 
it will make next year. 
VEGETABLES. 
2215. Storing Carrots and Beet. 
Please state how to store Carrots and 
Beets for winter use. Can they be left in 
the ground? It is very light soil and Sal- 
safy stands all right in the ground. 
(Reader, Wallington, Surrey.) 
Carrots will stand well enough in the 
soil you mention and Beet would do so too, 
provided we get a fairly mild, open winter. 
You should remember, however, that if the 
tops get very much damaged by heavy rains 
or falls of snow, many of the roots would 
decay in winter. You could make the ex¬ 
periment if you like, but it would be quite 
an easy matter to lift the Beets and lay 
them up in shallow heaps or ridges and 
cover them with a layer of soil. This would 
take up less space in the garden than if 
they were allowed to stand in the ground. 
We presume that you have not much accom¬ 
modation for storing them. The usual plan 
is to take them up in November and put 
them between layers of sand in a shed or 
outhouse. If you decide to lift them for 
storing in either of the ways we suggest, 
you must be careful not to bruise the roots, 
and when cutting off the tops to leave about 
an inch of the base of the leaves to avoid 
bleeding by cutting the roots. 
FRUIT. 
2 216. Shifting Fruit Trees, 
I am desirous of shifting three small fruit 
trees, one Apple, one Plum and one Pear 
free, from one part of the garden to an¬ 
other.. Will you please tell me which is the 
best time of the year to do so and the best 
way to do it? (A Constant Reader, Mid¬ 
dlesex.) 
.We presume your trees have been planted 
within the last few years, and if that is 
the case, you should have no difficulty in 
transplanting them. The first fortnight of 
November is the best, but you can 'do it as 
soon as most of the leaves fall. Lift them 
carefully so as not to break useful roots. 
The long, rambling ones may be shortened 
back, and this lifting will practically an¬ 
swer as root-pruning and will encourage 
them to come into bearing sooner than if 
left alone. Take care to save all the fibrous 
roots and to have them replanted before they 
get dried up. Plant them at the same level 
as they were before and make the ground 
quite firm. If the heads are in any way 
heavy, stake the trees and tie them firmly 
at the time of planting. 
2 217. Peaches Decayed in the Centre. 
W hat is the cause of Peaches falling be¬ 
fore they are ripe? Many of them are just 
half the size they should be. They look all 
right and the skin is- perfect, but when cut 
up they seem to be decaying round about 
the stone. Has the damp season anything 
to do with this ? The Peaches are grown in 
a house by themselves without any heat. 
(Amateur, Scotland.) 
W'e think the season has been against 
them, but it is more owing to lack of sun¬ 
shine and a high enough temperature rather 
than to the rain. The temperature has been 
low enough in England, but in Scotland it 
has been worse, especially up till July. At 
the same time many Peach borders are made 
without any attention to the use and advan¬ 
tage of lime in the soil. WTien a border is 
made, it would be highly important to use 
a considerable quantity of old lime rubble 
or mortar in the soil, not only for Peaches, 
but for Plums, Cherries and Apricots. Dur¬ 
ing the winter when the trees are being pre¬ 
pared for next season’s Work, we should 
advise you to carefully take off the top foot 
of soil with a fork and get a considerable 
quantity of lime rubble to mix with it. 
Potash is also often wanting, and this could 
be well supplied by dressing the border with 
wood ashes from the heap where the prun- 
ings and other garden rubbish are burned. 
We think that the absence of lime and the 
low temperature is chiefly responsible for 
the decays around the stone. 
2 218. Time and Distances to Plant 
Fruit Trees. 
I have taken an acre of ground under the 
Small Holdings Act and am desirous of 
getting a good plan for the entire piece. I 
find that it has a slope to the west—a total 
drop of about 20 feet from top to bottom. 
The soil is of a sandy loam, has been pas¬ 
ture land, and therefore requires a good 
deal of spade work. I am not a complete 
ignoramus in regard to gardening, but I 
do not know the necessary times and spaces 
apart that fruit trees should be planted; 
therefore I am desirous of a little informa¬ 
tion as to the seasons for planting, the best 
kinds to plant, the distances apart and the 
general rules to be observed when plant¬ 
ing. I also desire information as to any 
sheltering trees, if necessary, as the land is 
absolutely unprotected. It is intended to 
build the house for occupation later on. 
(Alfred Grant, Leicestershire.) 
The best time to plant fruit trees is from 
the time the leaves drop up to the middle 
of November. You can, however, plant 
again in January or February, according to 
convenience, but the planting should be com¬ 
pleted, if possible, by the end of that month. 
The space apart depends entirely upon the 
form of the trees which you intend to plant. 
Standards require the greatest distances 
apart, but we should advise you to grow 
the trees in the form of bushes, pyramids 
or half standards. They require less space 
and are not so exposed to wind during the 
autumn. Half standards and bushes are 
not so likely to get the fruits blown down 
in autumn, as in the case of standards. 
Plum trees in the form of standards would 
require to be planted 15 ft. apart each way. 
In the form of bushes or half standards 
10 ft. apart would be sufficient. In the 
case of Pears, if you have them on the free 
stock and prune them in the form of pyra¬ 
mids, they should be 12 ft. apart each way. 
If the Pears are grafted or budded on the 
Quince stock you may grow them 6 ft. apart 
each way for a considerable number of 
years at least. The Quince has a dwarfing 
effect, hence the trees come into bearing 
early and require less space. Apple trees 
are naturally more spreading than Pears 
and require more space. If they are grafted 
or budded on the Paradise stock, they may 
be planted at 6 ft. apart each way and they 
will give you a crop of fruit for a number 
of years before they eet in any way 
crowded. Every alternate tree could then 
be lifted and transplanted to some other 
part of the ground. Half standards will 
require to be planted 12 ft. apart each way. 
They would, of course, require attention to 
see that one row does not interfere with an¬ 
other if the half standards are grafted on 
the Crab stock, but if you get them into 
good fruiting condition the pruning they 
would require would not be heavy. 
2 219. Part of Garden for Fruit Trees. 
I desire to place at least half an acre 
under fruit cultivation. My land is of a 
sandy loam and slopes to the west. Should 
I plant fruit trees on the top of the ground 
according to the enclosed plan, or should 
they be planted on the lower parts ? (Alfred 
Grant, Leicestershire.) 
Whether the trees should be planted on 
the high ground or the low ground is a 
point to be determined on the spot. If there 
is water near the lower end of the ground, 
we should advise you to plant on the higher 
ground. On the other hand, if there is no 
water near the lower part, the ground, no 
doubt,- would be better and perhaps deeper, 
and in that case the trees would get the 
advantage. At the same time, you should 
take advantage of the steepest slope for the 
cultivation of vegetables, as you would get 
the advantage of the afternoon’ sun to en¬ 
courage growth upon that slope. Under 
those conditions, especially if you intend 
growing for market, the fruit could occupy 
the middle of the garden between the flowers 
and the vegetables. The fruit would, there¬ 
fore, be nearer the dwelling house and be 
less likely to be interfered with than if it 
was at the far end. Thus we think that 
you would derive most advantage from vege¬ 
tables on the slope," especially in the case of 
early varieties for the first supply. We have 
given you the reasons for and against, and 
you will have to decide for yourself. 
2220. Plum, Pear and Apple Trees. 
■For continuous cropping in Plum, Pear, 
Apple trees, etc., which do you advise me 
to plant? Please give times of ripening of 
various sorts and also whether you consider 
it necessary to plant some shelter trees in 
any part of the garden. In Gooseberry and 
Red Currant trees give names of the best 
kinds. (Alfred Grant, Leicestershire.) 
You do not tell us what you intend the 
fruit for, whether it is for your own con¬ 
sumption, or for market purposes. We have 
endeavoured to strike a middle line by- 
selecting some that are useful for dessert 
and others for cooking. To furnish you 
with a supply of Plums from August to the" 
end of September you could plant such des¬ 
sert Plums as Greengage, Jefferson, Kirke’s, 
and Coe’s Golden Drop. Splendid cooking 
Plums are Victoria, Pond’s Seedling and 
Monarch. The list of Pears are dessert 
varieties, and if intended for market, a few 
kinds would suffice, but if. for home con¬ 
sumption a greater variety would be de¬ 
sirable. If you reallv want fewer Pears 
