THE GARDEN ALBUM AND REVIEW. 
23 
HACKING TREES. 
Outside the ranks of professional gardeners 
who have been specially trained in the subject, 
or have made a study of it, how rarely do we 
find anyone who knows how to make a proper 
cut, let alone prune a fruit tree or rose ? During 
the winter season an immense amount of 
mischief is done when a person, who knows 
nothing about pruning, and still less about the 
plants he is handling, takes a knife or a pruning 
scissors in hand. It is simply cutting here and 
cutting there, blindly and ignorantly, with 
perhaps a confused idea that the mal-treated 
plant is being pruned into shape. With eyes 
that do not see, no discrimination is made 
between branches bearing flower buds or wood 
buds. One is as impartially treated as the 
other, and, as a rule, fruit trees are pruned out 
of all bearing, and become a thicket of sappy 
twigs in the course of a few seasons. 
But even when there is some knowledge as 
to the difference between wood buds and fruit 
buds, shoots are often badly cut. The 
annexed drawings show different ways in 
which shoors were cut by eight different 
persons. The first seven—counting from the 
left—are all wrong. The eighth one is correct, 
and has been made so purposely for the sake 
of comparison. It may astonish most people 
to know that there are about 359 wrong ways to 
cut a shoot of a tree, shrub, or rose, but only 
one right way; and that is as shown in No. 8. 
The oblique lines through the other shoots 
show where the proper cut should have been 
made. It will be noticed that pieces of stem, 
called a “ snag ” are left above a bud in most 
cases, and that the cut itself is made not only 
in the wrong direction, but in a slovenly way. 
The proper way (as shown in No. 8) is to place 
the knife exactly on the opposite side, but a 
little lower down the stem than the bud that is 
to be left behind, in such a way that a cut at 
an angle of about 45 0 is made so as to come 
out just nicely above the bud. This bud 
should always point outwards from the centre 
of the tree or bush, except perhaps in cases 
where a gap has been made in the centre by 
accident. It may be then advisable to cut to a 
bud that points in the direction of the gap, so 
that the shoot from it will eventually fill the 
space and restore the symmetry of the plant. 
Next month we shall give some drawings 
showing how Roses are to be pruned. 
HIPPEASTRUMS IN WINTER. 
The gorgeous appearance of these plants 
was brought into striking prominence on Jan. 9 
last, when Mr. K. Drost, of Kew Nursery, 
Richmond, Surrey, staged a group at the 
R.H.S., Westminster, and received the Award 
of a Silver Gilt Medal. Mr. Drost is one of 
the few trade growers who makes a speciality 
of the culture of these magnificent Lily-like 
plants—although for years he has been famous 
for the thousands of lilac bushes he forces into 
bloom in the depth of winter. 
A short time ago we had the opportunity of 
seeing his Hippeastrums. They were simply 
magnificent examples of first-class cultivation. 
This is equivalent to saying that their wants 
have been studied in every way, and the result 
shows that the treatment they receive is in 
accordance with their natural requirements. 
Although the bulbs varied in size from three 
to five inches in diameter, yet every one bore, 
or had borne, two, and in many cases three, 
stout scapes varying from two to three feet in 
length. Four large flowers on the top of each 
stalk was quite a common sight, but there were 
several instances in which five, six, seven, and 
even eight flowers were carried. The individual 
blooms were of great substance, and remarkable 
for their soft, yet brilliant tones of colour. 
Most of them were about six inches across, but 
several exceeded this, while the deep green 
leaves in many instances were fully three feet 
long and just three inches broad. 
Mr. Drost looked upon the culture of 
Hippeastrums as being quite simple. Each 
year he raises a large number of seedlings, 
which reach the flowering stage when about 3 
years old. Some very pure forms—including 
almost a pure white one—have been developed 
in this way. 
The Hippeastrum is a plant that can be 
kept evergreen all the year round, but Mr. 
Drost believes in giving the plants a rest. He 
is very particular in regard to the potting, not 
only in regard to the compost, but also the size 
of the pots. As the bulbs vary in size, each 
one is put into a pot that suits it best, so that 
fine plants are to be seen in bloom in 5, 6, 8, 
and ioin. pots. A light, rich, and well- 
drained soil, composed of old cow manure, 
leaf mould, and silver sand, is favoured by Mr. 
'Drost, in conjunction with sufficient heat, 
plenty of light, and a moist atmosphere. 
The plants of course require to be supplied 
with water in proportion to their increase or 
decline of growth. When the leaves are 
pushing up vigorously from the bulbs, water 
may be given freely, but when the plants are 
to be rested it is better to withhold it altogether. 
This will necessitate the sap receding from the 
foliage into the bulbs, where the nourishment 
will be stored up until growth re-commences. 
During active growth the syringe should be 
freely used to keep the leaves bright and fresh 
and green. 
