96 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
VICTORIAN ERA. 
Progress of Horticulture During the Sixty 
Years of the Present Reign in Great 
Britain—A Marked Advance. 
In the outdoor culture of hardy fruits considerable advance 
.has been made, and more correct views obtain as to the con¬ 
ditions under which the best results can be obtained. In the 
fifties a more rigorous system of pruning fruit trees was advo¬ 
cated, and the advocacy was so far successful that for about 
twenty years trees in gardens were so excessively pruned that 
in instances innumerable they did not produce one-half the 
fruit that they would have done had they been subjected to 
more rational treatment. In the seventies the late Shirley 
Hibberd entered on a crusade against the excessive use of the 
knife, and notwithstanding the fact that he had to contend 
with an immense amount of ignorance and prejudice from 
quarters where there should have been knowledge and an 
open mind, he fully succeeded in revolutioning the system of 
pruning, and immensely increasing the supplies. During the 
eighties a great impetus was given to fruit culture by the con¬ 
ferences instituted, and, having in view the highly beneficial 
influence they have exerted upon this important industry, it is 
eminently satisfactory the Royal Horticultural Society should 
have annually included a conference in the arrangements of 
its autumn fruit show. 
Excessive pruning has been mentioned as a great hindrance 
to profitable fruit culture, but it has been by no means the 
only one. Leaving the trees severely alone has prevented the 
fruit garden and orchard becoming a source of substantial 
profit. Another great hindrance during the sixty years was 
the practice, which found so much favor from thirty to forty 
years ago, of planting collections comprising good, bad, and 
indifferent varieties. In carrying out this practice the fruit 
garden and orchard became crowded with trees that could not 
possibly give an adequate return, and to this fact, and the 
failure to fully appreciate the conditions under which the 
trees attain maximum productiveness, may be traced the foun¬ 
dation of the belief that fruit culture is not profitable in the 
United Kingdom. 
Much has been done in the pages of the Gardeners' Maga¬ 
zine during the past thirty years in advocacy of planting se¬ 
lections only consisting of varieties of exceptional merit, and 
of giving the trees proper attention. Something has been ac¬ 
complished in the improvement of fruit culture, but as these 
pages so well testify, much has yet to be done before the whole 
of the aspects of fruit culture can be regarded as satisfactory. 
Varieties of the several kinds of hardy fruits have been 
greatly multiplied during the period, and numerous valuable 
additions have been made to the several lists. In the case of 
apples, Cox’s Orange Pippin and Dumelow’s Seedling and 
Blenheim Pippin were introduced a short time previous to the 
commencement of the reign; but those fine varieties, Annie 
Elizabeth, Betty Geeson, Bismarck, Bramley’s Seedling, Gas¬ 
coyne's Scarlet, Lane’s Prince Albert, Late Royal Cooking, 
Lord Derby, Lord Suffield, New Hawthornden, Newton Won¬ 
der, Potts’ Seedling, Rivers’ Codlin, and Worcester Pearmain, 
all belong to the reign. Pears of exceptional merit form a 
very small proportion of the varieties introduced, more par¬ 
ticularly by the Belgian raisers, but these few must be re¬ 
garded as decided gains. Especially noteworthy for their 
merit are Beurre Clairgeau, Beurre Superfin, Conference, Do¬ 
yenne du Comice, Duchesse de Bordeaux, Fertility, Madame 
Treyve, Marechal de la Cour, Olivier de Serres, and Pitmas- 
ton Duchess. Plums have been enriched by several useful 
kinds, notably Grand Duke, Monarch, The Czar, and Early 
and Late Transparent, Autumn Compote, and Sultan. Vic¬ 
toria was in cultivation prior to the accession under the name 
of Sharpe’s Emperor, but it was evidently unknown to 
George Linley in 1831, as it has no place in his “ Guide to the 
Orchard and Kitchen Garden,” published in that year. In 
1844 it was introduced as a new variety under its present 
name, so that in some degree it is associated with the period. 
The strawberries now in cultivation wholly belong to the reign 
with the exception of Black Prince and Keen’s Seedling, both 
of which have, after sixty years, retained their position in the 
garden. Changes have been less numerous amongst the rasp¬ 
berries, but several good varieties have been introduced, the 
most noteworthy of the introductions being Superlative. 
Gardeners' Magazine. 
SAN JOSE SCALE REMEDIES. 
The following information as to remedies for the San Jose 
scale has been sent out from the office of the state entomolo¬ 
gist at Albany, N. Y., by Professor J. A. Lintner: 
This insect so richly merits its name of pernicious ” that 
every effort should be made to exterminate it in localities 
where it has gained a lodgment. If but a few trees have be¬ 
come infested, it would be wise to take them up and burn 
them. In cases where the scale has already spread to a large 
number of trees, the owner might not feel inclined to resort to 
this heroic measure, but at least, portions of the worst infested 
trees should at once be cut off and burned. That insect when 
under the scale is so well protected that all cannot be killed 
by spraying during the growing season with either kerosene 
emulsion or whale-oil soap solution, unless the insecticides be 
so strong as seriously to injure the trees or shrubs on which 
they occur. By the use of more concentrated washes in winter, 
it is possible to kill most, if not all, of the scales. Perhaps 
the best of those recommended are a whale-oil soap solution 
of alb. to I gallon of water, or a wash compound of 120 lb. 
resin, 30 lb. caustic soda, 15 pints fish oil, and water enough 
to make 100 gallons. In preparing the latter, boil the constit¬ 
uents in just enough water to cover them “ until the com¬ 
pound will mix properly in water without breaking up into 
yellow flakes.” Dr. Smith has found a saturated solution of 
crude or commercial potash, applied with a cloth or stiff brush 
to the infested bark, to be entirely successful. Before apply¬ 
ing any of these washes, cut the tree back freely and burn the 
excised twigs. The water washes should be used as soon as 
the leaves fall. In the southern states less concentrated 
insecticides than those above given have been found effective. 
The treatment with hydrocyanic acid gas, which has been so 
popular and effective in California, will probably not be used 
to any large extent in the East, unless in the case of nursery 
stock. As it has recently been shown ihat this treatment can¬ 
not be relied upon in the eastern portion of the United States, 
it is likely that dipping nursery stock in whale-oil soap solu¬ 
tion in a long tank, as practiced by the Parsons & Sons Nur- 
