476 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
November  21,  1895, 
giants  against  the  attacks  of  lichens,  moss,  and  other  enemies  which 
were  gradually  extending  over  every  portion  of  stem  and  branch. 
Add  to  these  innumerable  insect  foes,  for  which  such  ample  conceal¬ 
ment  is  provided,  and  it  becomes  a  matter  of  extreme  surprise  that 
the  trees  are  in  any  degree  healthy.  They  are,  indeed,  examples  of 
what  a  vigorous  tree  can  endure,  for  this  season  they  gave  abundant 
crops  of  fruit,  and  the  average  crops  are  considered  by  the 
owner  very  satisfactory,  so  they  are  left  to  themselves.  The  soil 
is  good,  and  the  climate  favourable  for  Apples  and  fruit  trees 
generally,  or  total  failure  would,  ere  now,  have  followed  such 
neglect  ;  but  the  evils  are  seen  in  the  fact  that,  fine  as  the  trees 
are,  they  have  never  been,  nor  ever  will  be,  at  their  best,  and  will 
steadily  deteriorate  during  the  years  when  they  should  have  been 
in  their  most  profitable  condition.  Beyond  this  they  overpower 
and  weaken  their  younger  neighbours  with  which  they  are  closely 
surrounded,  and  further  provide  a  convenient  nidus  for  insects  to 
increase  and  infest  fruit  trees  in  the  whole  of  the  surrounding 
district. 
The  later  planted  trees  are  in  a  still  worse  plight,  for  they  have 
not  had  a  chance  to  make  any  progress,  being  crowded  amongst  the 
older  trees,  and  it  is  only  a  few  here  and  there  which  have 
succeeded  in  making  headway,  growing  into  well  furnished  trees, 
and  proving,  though  at  the  expense  of  their  immediate  neighbours, 
what  could  be  effected  under  good  cultivation  in  such  a  soil.  The 
weaker  trees  have  completely  succumbed,  and  have  been  used  for 
firewood,  while  cartloads  of  dead  wood  could  now  be  cut  out  of 
the  remaining  trees,  the  result  of  crowding  starvation  and  want 
of  attention  that  is  deplorable  to  witness.  Canker  is  spreading 
rapidly,  and  in  a  few  years  the  orchard  will  be  practically 
worthless. 
There  seems  to  have  been  a  partial  awakening  a  few  years  ago 
to  the  necessity  of  replanting  to  fill  up  vacancies  and  provide  for 
the  future  ;  but  the  work  was  done  in  a  half-hearted  and  incon¬ 
siderate  manner,  so  that  the  labour  and  expense  were  almost 
thrown  away.  For  instance,  in  nearly  every  case  the  young  trees 
were  planted  in  the  exact  spots  where  the  other  trees  had  died- 
No  attempt  was  even  made  to  remove  the  foul,  infested,  germ¬ 
laden  soil  in  which  the  old  roots  were  decaying  ;  but  digging  a  hole, 
covering  the  roots  with  soil,  and  securing  the  stem  to  a  stake  was 
deemed  “  planting  ”  of  a  sufficiently  advanced  character.  What 
could  be  expected  from  such  treatment  ?  Yet  the  owner,  an 
intelligent  man  and  a  successful  farmer  (no  slight  indication  of 
ability  in  these  times',  points  to  the  trees  with  the  remark? 
‘‘  I  cannot  understand  why  these  young  Apple  trees  do  not  make 
any  progress.  I  bought  them  at  one  of  the  best  nurseries,  gave 
a  good  price  for  them,  and  the  varieties  are  all  said  to  be  free 
growers  of  high  quality  and  good  constitution.”  The  reply  might 
have  been,  that  it  was  more  difficult  to  understand  why  a  man  so 
well  versed  in  the  cultivation  of  the  land  and  the  requirements  of 
ordinary  crops  should  ignore  the  most  elementary  principles  when 
dealing  with  fruit  trees. 
It  is  very  extraordinary,  but  it  is  a  fact  nevertheless,  that 
outside  gardens  and  market  plantations  there  seems  to  be  a 
general  idea  that  fruit  trees  are  not  subservient  to  the  same  laws 
which  govern  the  rest  of  vegetable  creation,  or  that  they  are 
natural  products  of  the  soil,  and  thrive  best  without  the  aid  of 
man.  Unquestionably,  there  are  thousands  of  small  and  large 
orchards  throughout  the  country  under  similar  conditions  to  those 
described,  and  the  usual  complaint  is  that  it  does  not  pay  tenants 
to  go  to  any  expense  for  the  benefit  of  their  landlords  without 
security.  But  in  the  case  specially  noted  here  the  occupier  is 
also  the  owner,  and  that  difficulty  does  not  apply.  Strange  to 
say,  several  other  instances  have  come  to  my  knowledge  under 
precisely  the  same  conditions.  For  example,  in  one  of  the  southern 
counties  a  farmer  acquired  a  considerable  extent  of  good  agricultural 
land,  upon  a  portion  of  which,  near  the  homestead,  was  an  old 
orchard  of  Apples  in  an  extremely  unsatisfactory  state,  the  trees 
badly  cankered  ;  in  fact,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  find  worse  ' 
examples  of  this  disease,  judging  by  the  few  trees  that  were 
retained,  and  which  I  subsequently  saw.  Rather  than  attempt  a 
partial  renovation,  it  was  decided  to  remove  the  whole  of  the  old 
trees  except  a  few  near  a  walk  ;  this  was  done,  and  the  wood 
stacked  for  burning,  but  the  young  trees  were  mostly  planted  in 
the  same  sites,  although  a  top-dressing  of  farmyard  manure  was 
given,  an  act  that  was  looked  upon  as  an  almost  unwarrantable 
piece  of  extravagance.  Three  or  four  years  had  elapsed  from  the 
time  of  planting  when  I  saw  the  orchard  ;  some  of  the  trees  had 
started  into  vigorous  growth,  but  without  exception  the  evidence 
of  canker  was  apparent  in  every  case,  and  in  several  had  assumed  a 
serious  form.  The  soil,  it  is  true,  was  heavy  and  cold,  the  subsoil 
being  still  worse  ;  but  as  an  example  of  what  cultivation  could  do, 
a  cottager’s  garden  within  a  hundred  yards  or  so,  in  precisely  the 
same  soil  and  with  the  same  aspect,  contained  some  dwarf  and 
standard  Apples  and  Pears  as  healthy  and  as  satisfactory  in  all 
respects  as  could  be  wished.  Not  only  has  this  man  secured  good 
supplies  of  fruit  for  his  own  use,  but  he  has  been  able  to  compete 
with  the  produce  at  several  important  shows,  and  has  taken  a  largo 
proportion  of  first  prizes. 
When  the  produce  of  trees  under  such  different  treatment 
(mostly  bad)  is  offered  for  sals  is  it  surprising  that  prices  are  low  ? 
The  astonishing  part  is  that  they  can  be  sold  at  all,  yet  at  the 
present  time  in  our  local  market  very  ordinary  Apples  are  being 
sold  at  53.  and  Gs.  per  bushel,  while  Pears  that  are  not  fit  to  place 
on  any  table  are  priced  at  7s.  per  bushel.  Can  it  be  said  truly  that 
really  good  fruit  cannot  be  sold  profitably  when  rubbish  is  vended 
at  such  prices  ? — A  Beitish  Gardener. 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
Frost  has  come,  and  at  its  icy  breath  leaves  and  flowers  have 
shrivelled  and  grown  black.  Many  flowers  which  lingered  with  us 
as  if  desirous  of  balking  winter  of  his  prey  have  at  length  had  to 
confess  themselves  worsted  in  the  unequal  struggle,  and  hang 
forlorn,  their  beauty  not  sufficing  to  defend  them  from  their  cruel 
foe.  We  do  not,  however,  mourn  over  most  of  these,  as  we  would 
did  we  not  know  that  they  will  spring  afresh  and  greet  again  the 
delighted  world.  We  may  have  passed  away,  but  they  will 
re-appear  at  the  magic  touches  of  milder  airs  and  brighter  skies  and 
warmer  sunshine.  Now,  when  sharp  winds  blow  and  skies  look 
cold  and  the  briefly  shining  sun  gives  but  scant  warmth,  we  are 
fain  to  leave  the  garden  walks  for  the  shelter  of  the  greenhouse 
with  its  protected  flowers,  bright  as  though  naught  but  summer 
reigned,  to  admire  the  exotics  to  which  our  northern  clime 
untempered  would  prove  an  unkindly  foster  mother.  Still  the 
heart  proves  true  to  the  outdoor  flowers,  and  we  must  look  among 
blackened  stems  and  on.  the  rock  work’s  slopes  and  nooks  to  see 
what  rays  of  pleasure  can  reach  us  from  the  hardy  blooms  which, 
as  yet,  remain  to  give  us  cheer. 
Some  of  the  Michaelmas  Daisies  still  stand  and  look  bright 
despite  wind  and  rain,  frost  and  sleet.  Aster  grandiflorus  and 
A.  diffusus  horizontalis  are  the  brightest  ;  the  former  with  fine 
violet  flowers,  and  the  latter  with  charming  sprays  of  tiny  white 
blooms  with  red  centres.  Around  are  many  others,  nearly  all  of 
which  show  by  their  wool-like  heads  that  a  plentiful  store  of  seed 
is  preparing  for  the  increase  and  improvement  of  the  race. 
The  great  Moon  Daisy,  Chrysanthemum  uliginosum,  though 
injured  by  the  frost,  still  yields  some  perfect  blooms,  with  their 
greenish-yellow  centre  and  white  rays  ;  but,  light  and  pretty  as 
they  are,  they  cut  but  a  poor  figure  beside  their  cousins,  the  florists’ 
Chrysanthemums,  which  receive  the  homage  of  so  many  lovers  of 
floral  beauty,  and  reign  unrivalled  as  queens  of  the  winter  flowers. 
Some  of  these  florists’  Chrysanthemums  are  still  in  bloom  outside, 
but  cannot  now  compare  with  those  which  have  opened  under  the 
friendly  shelter  of  a  glass  roof. 
Seemingly  almost  unmindful  of  the  frost  we  have  had  as  yet  a 
fine  plant  of  Androsace  lanuginosa  trails  its  satin-like  leaves  over 
the  rock  garden  ledges  and,  reared  slightly  above,  its  delicate  rose 
flowers  with  tiny  yellow  eye,  which  are  still  nearly  unscathed. 
Should  damper  weather  come  with  cold,  sleety  showers,  I  shall 
place  a  little  above  it  a  sheet  of  glass  or  slate  to  ward  off  the 
unkindly  rains.  Thus  it  will  pass  the  winter  months  unharmed, 
and  be  prepared  to  give  another  year  its  delicate  and  beautiful 
flowers. 
The  white  Cornish  Heath,  Erica  vagans  alba,  looks  happy  yet, 
and  stands  long  in  its  flowering  garb,  though  the  rockery  on  which 
