October  24, 1895. 
journal  of  horticulture  and  cottage  gardener. 
387 
good  effects  on  this  species,  but  very  frequently  the  growths 
commence  to  push  just  as  the  winter  is  beginning,  and  it  is  in  this 
case  that  care  and  judgment  are  necessary. 
A  winter  temperature  as  usually  advised  for  such  deciduous 
kinds  as  D.  Devonianum  or  Pissardi,  or  even  the  ordinary  ever¬ 
green  kinds,  would  not  be  high  enough  for  the  species  in  question 
when  in  growth,  but  an  unduly  high  and  moist  temperature  during 
very  cold  weather  would  be  almost  equally  injurious.  The  happy 
medium  must  be  aimed  at  during  the  short  dark  days  of  winter — 
just  enough  heat  to  keep  them  gently  moving,  but  not  sufficient  to 
cause  a  weak  attenuated  growth.  Of  course,  when  the  plants  start 
to  grow  naturally  in  spring  the  cultivator’s  task  is  made  compara¬ 
tively  easy,  as  they  thrive  well  in  company  with  the  other  kinds. 
The  flowers  of  this  fine  Orchid  are  too  well  known  to  need 
description,  their  wondrous  diversity  being  by  no  means  the  least 
of  their  attractions. 
D.  superbiens,  again,  is  another  beautiful  kind,  in  its  better 
forms  thriving  well  under  similar  conditions.  The  flowers  of  this 
are  produced  on  long  elegant  racemes,  fourteen  or  fifteen  on  each, 
and  are  mostly  of  pretty  shades  of  purple,  this  colour  on  the  sepals 
being  especially  rich.  D.  Goldiei  is  even  more  brilliantly  coloured 
than  this,  and  is  a  rare  and  truly  beautiful  kind.  This  must  be 
very  carefully  grown  indeed,  and  excesses  of  drought,  heat,  or 
moisture  studiously  avoided,  during  the  winter  months  especially. 
D.  bigibbum  is  of  a  differing  style  of  beauty,  the  flowers  being 
smaller,  but  having  more  substance  in  the  sepals  and  petals.  The 
colour  is  bright  rosy  purple.  D.  speciosum  and  its  varieties  are  all 
easily  grown  plants,  but  some  growers  find  a  difficulty  in  inducing 
them  to  flower. 
There  is  one  point  in  their  culture  that  needs  attention,  and 
that  is,  they  must  be  well  dried  after  the  growth  is  finished, 
standing  them  right  out  of  doors  in  the  full  sun,  and  giving  them 
no  water,  or  only  a  very  little.  It  does  not  matter  if  the  bulbs 
shrivel  a  little,  they  will  soon  swell  up  again  when  introduced  to 
heat  and  moisture,  but  this  is  the  only  way  to  get  plenty  of  flowers. 
This  is  a  very  old  species,  having  been  introduced  as  far  back  as 
1824,  and  produces  long  dense  racemes  of  yellowish-white  flowers 
in  winter  and  early  spring. — H.  R.  R. 
A  PEEP  INTO  FUTURITY. 
“  You  must  see  the  great  fruit  show,  it  will  be  good,”  said 
my  friend,  and  so  said  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  in  its  pre¬ 
liminary  announcement.  Believing  in  both,  I  went,  and  saw  the 
marvellous  array  displayed  under  Paxton’s  glorious  Palace  of 
Crystal.  There  was,  indeed,  ample  food — food  for  reflection. 
Now  I  am  given  to  cogitating ;  perhaps  those  who  like 
myself  live,  or  strive  to  live,  by  the  land  never  cogitated  so  much 
in  our  lives  as  we  do  at  present.  There  are  so  many,  many  things 
to  ponder  over  in  the  endeavour  to  make  both  ends  meet — so 
many  knots  continually  cropping  up  in  the  tangled  web  of  farm  life, 
that  even  straining  at  the  highest  tension  somehow  falls  short  of 
effecting  the  union. 
However,  to  return  to  my  starting  point,  which  shall  only  detain 
me  to  say  that  I  had  not  been  drawn  so  far  from  my  home  in  Corn- 
shire  solely  by  pleasure,  but  was  driven  rather  by  force  of  circum¬ 
stances  to  see  any  possibilities  that  might  present  themselves  in 
this  craze  of  fruit  culture  of  a  new  opening  for  an  old  farmer. 
During  my  sojourn  in  the  great  city  special  notes  had  been 
taken  of  all  things  relevant  to  the  subject,  for,  even  at  my  age, 
anxiety  to  live  causes  willingness  to  learn  ;  hence  in  addition  to 
cramming  my  head  with  wisdom  extracted  from  County  Council 
lecturers  and  doctors  learned  in  the  law  of  pomology,  a  call  had 
been  made  in  Fleet  Street,  where  my  pockets  were  filled  with 
literature  bearing  thereon. 
With  this  and  the  last  copy  of  the  Journal  to  refresh  my 
memory  of  the  great  fruit  show,  I  was  snugly  ensconced  in  a 
carriage  of  the  night  mail  of  the  London  and  Cornshire  Railway 
en  route  for  home.  Cogitating,  of  course,  and  being  monarch  of 
all  I  surveyed  by  the  light  of  a  flickering  oil  lamp,  there  were  no 
supercilious  on-lookers  to  note  the  length  of  time  I  spent  in  the 
endeavour  to  work  out  a  problem  which  a  note  in  the  Journal 
prompted  me  to  solve.  This  was  Apples  at  7d.  a  ton. 
Having  figured  out  the  answer  that  to  live  and  let  my  landlord 
live  each  tree  must  annually  yield  at  least  10  tons  of  Apples, 
which,  even  to  me,  an  ignoramus,  seemed  rather  heavy  cropping,  I 
was  again  seeking  consolation  that  home  consumption  by  a  frugal 
course  of  Apple  dumplings  would  lighten  the  tradesmen’s  bills, 
when  from  out  the  monotonous  whirring  of  wheels  a  voice 
whispered,  “Behold  the  fruit  of  the  future.” 
Awake  ?  Oh,  yes  ;  sufficiently  awake  to  see  any  means  by 
which  hard  times  might  be  softened.  “  Look  through  the  telescope 
of  time,”  continued  the  unseen,  and ’finding  an  instrument  in  my 
hand  it  was  quickly  focussed  on  a  vision  of  surpassing  beauty, 
more  beautiful,  perhaps,  that  its  utility  was  plainly  apparent. 
First  I  noticed  that  long  stretches  of  the  railway  banks,  by 
which  we  sped,  and  which  on  my  journey  up  but  one  short  week 
before  were  in  a  state  of  Nature  unadorned,  had  now  given  birth 
to  a  profusion  of  fruit-bearing  plants.  Here,  on  the  one  side 
sloping  to  the  southern  sun,  tempting  Tomatoes,  clustering  on 
single  cordons,  were  trained  prostrate  on  the  warm  soil.  Further 
on  these  were  succeeded  by  Grape  Vines  similarly  trained  and 
flourishing  equally  as  well,  whilst  on  the  opposite  bank,  facing  the 
north.  Strawberries  and  other  fruits  had,  from  their  cooler  position, 
been  made  to  extend  a  season  previously  all  too  brief.  Miles  of 
hedgerows  were  now  relieved  by  standard  Plum  trees,  and  some 
acres  of  hitherto  waste  moorland  were  now  resplendent  with  the 
shining  red  fruit  of  the  Japanese  Wineberry,  which  I  did  not  fail 
to  note,  had  been  improved  to  double  the  size  of  the  original 
type. 
Magnificent  orchards  had  taken  the  place  of  corn  fields,  yet 
quantity  was  balanced  by  quality,  although  it  was  remarkable  that 
of  the  plethoric  lists  of  Apples  I  had  been  scanning  but  a  few 
varieties — the  survivors  of  rhe  fittest — were  to  be  seen.  “  Ah ! 
but  7d.  a  ton,”  exclaimed  I  as  my  former  problem  cropped  up. 
“  Ah !  ”  said  the  voice,  “  we  have  changed  all  that.”  “  See,”  and  I 
saw,  as  the  telescope  of  Time  was  readjusted  and  brought  to  bear 
on  distant  scenes.  New  York  markets  supplied  direct  by  the 
Pneumatic  Tubular  Association  with  English  Apples.  “  What ! 
why  American  Apples  used  ?  ”  “  Used,”  said  the  voice,  “it  is  not 
what  was,  it  is  what  is,  and  what  your  teachers  of  old  time 
have  spurred  yon  on  to.  This,  coupled  with  up-to-date  transit, 
has  made  England  practically  mistress  of  the  markets  of  the 
world,  not  to  speak  of  home  consumption,  increased  an  hundred¬ 
fold,  which  has  given  health,  vigour,  and  occupation  to  its  teeming 
population.” 
Corn,  and  wine,  and  oil  you  are  still  dependent  on  imports 
for  though.  I  was  further  informed  that  English  champagne  made 
from  open  air  Grapes  (not  Gooseberries)  bid  fair  to  oust  the  foreign 
article  from  our  shores.  “Marvellous,”  quoth  I.  “  Practical,”  was 
the  answer.  “  But  does  it  pay  ?  ”  “  Pay,”  echoed  the  unseen  ; 
“  did  it  pay  to  feed  the  masses,  mentally,  with  a  practically  free 
education  ?  and  if  so,  why  these  vain  regrets  at  a  cheap  and 
bountiful  fruit  supply  ?  Behold  the  nations  unarmed,  cultivating 
the  arts  of  Peace,  not  of  War.  Jingoism  has  perished  by  inanition 
since  your  earth-dwellers  have  supplanted  your  sanguinary  animal 
food  by  peace-promoting  fruit.  Look  back  with  gratitude  to  the 
pioneers  of  the  new  order  of  things.”  I  looked  back,  was,  in  fact, 
called  back  as  the  vision  faded.  Vision  was  it  ?  Surely  my  hand 
still  grasped  the -  What  ?  only  the  family  umbrella  and  - 
“  All  tickets  please.”  No  wonder  that  in  my  bewilderment  I 
handed  to  the  official,  who  was  regarding  me  somewhat  curiously, 
the  card  of — An  Old  Farmer. 
PRUNING  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 
An  intelligent  use  of  both  pruning  knife  and  saw  is  to  be 
commended  in  cases  of  renovation,  and,  it  is  almost  needless  to 
add,  plays  an  important  part  in  maintaining  the  productiveness  of 
healthy  trees  not  requiring  to  be  lifted  or  root-pruned.  Many  err 
in  using  the  knife  especially  too  freely,  and  it  is  also  possible  to 
make  a  mistake  in  the  opposite  direction.  I  have  a  great  aversion 
to  long,  ugly  spurs  on  wall  trees,  notably  of  Apricots,  Plams,  and 
Pears.  Of  what  ase  are  the  walls  if  the  portions  of  the  trees 
which  only  can  produce  fruit  are  from  6  inches  to  12  inches  away 
from  them,  or  where  they  derive  little  benefit  from  their  warmth 
and  shelter  ?  Not  only  is  warmth  wanted  to  assist  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  clean,  full-sized  fruit,  but  is  still  more  imperative  in  many 
districts  where  the  growth  is  naturally  late  and  the  wood  ripens 
badly.  Who  ever  saw  fine  Pears,  for  instance,  borne  by  long, 
knotty  spurs  ?  Long  spurs  on  Apricots  and  Plums  are  certainly 
fruitful  enough  at  times,  but  very  rarely  is  the  fruit  so  large  or  so 
brightly  coloured  as  the  same  trees  would  be  capable  of  producing 
if  the  fruiting  spurs  were  close  to  the  main  branches.  The  aim 
therefore  of  would-be  successful  growers  should  be  to  prevent  any 
young  and  as  yet  unspoilt  trees  from  forming  long  spurs,  and  also 
to  gradually  reduce  the  number  and  length  of  any  already  too  far 
from  the  walls. 
The  start  may  be  made  with  spur-shortening  any  time  after  this 
is  in  print,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  sooner  the  better. 
Supposing  summer  stopping  has  been  resorted  to,  or  the  trees  were 
pruned  after  the  lateral  growth  was  well  advanced  towards  maturity, 
all  being  pruned  to  within  about  4  inches  of  their  starting  point, 
those  on  trees  not  previously  spoilt  by  the  neglect  of  this  precaution 
ought  to  be  still  further  shortened  to  a  length  of  about  1  inch  of 
the  main  branch.  Persevere  with  this  practice  every  season,  and  in 
