September  26,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
293 
other  beauties  are  too  numerous  to  enumerate.  Ulrich  Brunner 
has  not  been  up  to  the  mark,  neither  as  a  summer  bloomer  nor  yet 
as  an  autumn  one — weak  in  petal,  poor  in  colour,  so  unlike  him¬ 
self.  A  superb  Madame  Lambard  is  before  me  as  I  write.  Some¬ 
one  was  quite  right  the  other  day.  For  a  good  handsome  yellow 
let  me  have  a  bowl  of  real  old-fashioned  Marigolds  with  their  sharp 
aromatic  smell. 
To  go  afield  now.  Hay  and  Clover  were  good  crops  ;  Wheat, 
of  which  there  is  but  small  acreage  this  year,  is  short  in  the  straw 
on  some  of  the  drier  lands  ;  Barley  good,  pretty  colour,  and  with 
that  wrinkle  that  maltsters  so  affect.  Now  that  the  autumn 
days  are  upon  us,  and  the  harvest  safely  gathered,  we  shall  soon 
know  what  the  respective  yields  will  be.  There  is  such  a  rich  glow 
over  everything — a  garden  ablaze  with  “  Geraniums,”  Dahlias,  and 
Sunflowers  ;  one  or  two  trees  just  on  the  turn ;  grass  as  green 
and  fresh  as  in  spring,  and  the  bronzy  stubbles  in  the  distance. 
Turnips  are  a  good  average,  and  these  sunny  days  are  all  in  favour 
of  the  small  Mangold  patches. 
It  is  perhaps  a  mistake  to  say  harvest  is  over  ;  the  grain  crop  is 
garnered,  but  the  crop  that  pays  us  best  is  only  just  being  lifted. 
Armies  of  boys  and  girls  are  busily  engaged  in  removing  the 
withered  tops  before  the  forked  rotatory  wheel  of  the  Potato 
digger.  “The  liberal  shall  be  made  fat.”  In  no  case  is  this  more 
exemplified  than  in  Potato  growing.  “  Nowt  has  nowt,”  and  you 
need  not  be  surprised  at  a  scanty  crop  when  you  remember  how 
niggard  you  were  with  your  supplies  of  tillage,  both  farmyard  and 
chemical.  One  crop  near  at  hand  was  spoilt  by  being  earthed-up 
too  wet.  Potatoes  must  have  air  ;  they  cannot  stand  being 
plastered  down  and  made  practically  “air-tight.”  Some  crops, 
again,  have  suffered  by  too  late  planting  ;  other  fields  again  cry 
out  sorely  for  “  new  seed.”  About  here  there  is  promise  of  an 
abundant  yield,  and  many  dealers  have  been  seen  hovering  round. 
Like  wise  men  they  combine  pleasure  and  business.  Early  in 
September  they  appear,  and,  curious  to  say,  they  all  wend  their 
way  to  Doncaster  Town  Moor.  Do  good  “  taters  ”  grow  there,  or 
do  they  want  to  see  the  ex-Premier  score  another  victory  ?  One 
farmer  ha*  sold  all  his  crop,  but  the  price  is  a  dead  secret.  From 
this  parish  a  truck  goes  up  to  Covent  Garden  this  week  as 
“sample.”  To  be  guilty  of  a  trade  expression.  “They  are  good 
users,”  and  from  personal  observation  this  morning  they  are  good 
croppers.  Three  cheers  for  Her  Majesty,  and  may  she  be  worth 
her  weight  in  gold. — The  Missus,  North  Lincoln. 
HELENIUM  AUTUMNALE  STRIATUM. 
Writing  over  the  initials  “J.  J.  B.”  a  correspondent  sends  us 
examples  of  this  handsome  perennial,  with  a  request  that  we  should 
furnish  him  with  the  name  of  it.  This  we  are  glad  to  do,  and  also  to 
give  a  woodcut  (fig.  48)  of  the  flowers  for  the  beneflt  of  other  readers. 
The  number  of  yellow  Composites  flowering  in  late  summer  and  autumn 
is  so  great  that  there  is  danger  of  some  gardens  being  overdone  with 
them.  Yellow  is  a  colour  that  requires  to  be  used  with  much  greater 
care  and  judgment  than  are  generally  exercised  if  garishness  and 
vulgarity  are  to  be  avoided.  For  this  reason  Helenium  autumnale 
striatum  should  be  much  grown,  as  it  imparts  a  very  desirable  break  in 
colour  while  retaining  the  hardiness  and  floriferous  character  of  its 
relatives.  The  flowers  are  about  2  inches  in  diameter.  The  disc  is 
maroon  and  gold,  the  florets  rich  red  striped  with  yellow. 
Referring  to  this  plant  on  page  267  of  our  last  issue  Mr.  Arnott  says, 
“The  fault  it  has  is  that  if  strongly  grown  it  becomes  too  tall,  and 
makes  too  much  growth  at  the  expense  of  its  flowers.  When  established 
in  good  soil  it  will  grow  5  or  6  feet  in  height,  and  then  presents  rather  a 
coarse  appearance.  This  can  be  easily  remedied  by  planting  in  poorer 
soil,  or  by  lifting  and  replanting  annually.” 
ORCHARD  TREES. 
Whole  bundles  of  fruit  trees  can  be  bought  very  cheaply 
every  spring  at  public  auctions  in  most  market  towns,  but  when  one 
half  of  them  either  die  or  are  several  years  before  they  recover  from 
the  severe  check  which  trees  badly  prepared  for  moving  inevitably 
experience,  and  the  other  half  prove  to  be  shy  bearing,  and  the 
fruit  of  little  value  when  it  is  produced,  they  are  far  from  being 
cheap.  Such  trees  are  dear  at  any  price.  It  is  true  economy  to 
give  a  good  price  for  a  good  article,  and  those  who  would  succeed 
with  their  trees  and  bushes  should  go  to  a  reliable  nurseryman 
and  pay  a  fair  price.  At  the  same  time  I  do  not  advise  purchasing 
the  dearest  trees  in  all  cases.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  young 
trees  that  are  the  cheapest,  and  it  is  these  that,  as  a  rule,  give 
the  greatest  satisfaction  in  the  end.  Trees  and  bushes  four  years 
and  upward  in  age  do  not  transplant  so  readily  as  do  those  two 
years  younger.  Doubtless  this  assertion  will  not  be  allowed  to 
pass  uncontradicted  by  some  of  my  readers  ;  but  generally  speaking 
the  larger  trees  require  the  most  skilful  treatment  during  the  first 
two  season*  after  planting,  or  otherwise  they  are  liable  to  become 
stunted  in  growth.  They  may  be  the  first  to  become  nroductive, 
but  the  strain  is  often  too  much,  and  a  stunted  growth  results. 
Private  gardeners  are,  in  many  instances,  in  a  position  to  well 
prepare  sites  for  young  trees,  and  if  carefully  planted,  properly 
pruned,  and  not  overcropped  at  the  outset  or  during  the  first  two 
years,  progress  may  be  satisfactory  enough.  With  market  growers 
the  case  is  somewhat  different.  Very  frequently  they  do  not 
spend  enough  over  the  preparation  of  the  ground,  and  in  addition 
to  the  soil  being  poorer  than  that  in  which  the  trees  were  growing 
previously,  colder  winds  than  formerly  have  to  be  contended  with. 
According  to  my  experience  it  is  the  younger  trees  that  become  the 
most  quickly  re-established,  and  are  not  long  before  they  surpass 
those  moved  when  much  larger  and  older. 
Not  only  do  I  believe  in  young  trees  for  planting,  but  I  would 
also  have  many  of  them,  or  say  all  that  are  intended  to  be  grown 
either  as  low  or  full  sized  standards,  with  feathered  stems.  Trees 
that  have  had  two  clear  seasons’  growth  from  the  bud,  or  graft 
near  to  the  ground,  are  what  are  wanted.  These  would  have  been 
topped  at  or  slightly  beyond  the  required  height,  two  or  three 
stronger  breaks  resulting  than  are  produced  below.  All  the  lower 
side  shoots  should  be,  and  in  some  nurseries  are,  lightly  summer 
pinched,  and  “  feathered  ”  trees  are  the  result  of  this  treatment. 
These  feathered  trees  should,  at  the  winter  pruning,  have  their 
heads  freely  shortened,  say  to  the  third  leaf,  while  all  the  side 
branches  ought  to  be  spurred  back  to  the  second  joint,  the  aim 
