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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  28,  1895. 
cannot  sum  up  courage  enough  to  thin  out  freely,  then  ought  the 
ineTitable  failures  of  trees  to  be  anticipated  and  prepared  for. 
Young  trees  and  new  borders  are  wanted,  in  particular  having  the 
former  in  readiness  for  transplanting  to  the  place  of  those  cut  out. 
Nurserymen  who  make  fruit  trees  a  speciality  can  supply  strong, 
well  rooted,  perfectly  ripened  trees  capable  of  producing  a  dozen 
or  more  fruit  the  season  following  on  planting  ;  but  those  who 
have  vacant  spaces  on  their  south  garden  walls  would  find  it  a 
better  plan  to  prepare  young  trees  for  moving  into  the  houses 
when  wanted.  Seeing  how  readily  the  trees  move  in  the  autumn, 
or  while  yet  in  leaf,  no  severe  check  is  given  them,  and  a 
moderately  good  crop  can  be  had  the  following  summer.  The 
gentleman  who  last  consulted  me  about  his  trees  has  no  young 
ones  prepared  for  house  culture,  will  not  pay  a  heavy  price  for 
large  trees  from  the  nurseries,  and  will  have  to  be  content  with 
few  Peaches  and  Nectarines  during  the  next  tw©  years. 
Gumming  is  another  frequent  cause  of  early  failure  of  trees, 
and  recently  I  have  seen  several  apparently  healthy  trees  affected 
by  it,  and  which  are  very  likely  to  fail  before  long.  They  had 
been  planted  in  a  moderately  well  made  border,  and  treated  well  in 
all  but  one  respect.  As  I  saw  them  great  lumps  of  gum  or  con¬ 
gealed  sap  had  exuded  in  places  throughout  the  stems,  this  including 
both  the  Plum  stock  and  from  12  inches  to  2  feet  clear  growth  of 
Peach  and  Nectarine  stem.  This  regrettable  occurrence  was  plainly 
traceable  to  a  neglect  to  examine  the  fastenings  to  the  trellis  and 
the  wires  used  for  fastening  the  labels  to  each  tree.  Owing  to  the 
stems  having  swelled  rapidly  the  string  in  some  cases  and  the  wires 
in  others  had  cut  very  deeply  into  the  bark,  and  were  drawn  or  cut 
out  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  I  have  seen  gumming  under  a 
variety  of  conditions,  but  nothing  like  this.  Removing  the  cause 
may  prove  a  remedy,  especially  seeing  that  the  trees  are  young  and 
the  border  far  from  being  exhausted  of  fertility.  The  occurrence 
was  partly  the  outcome  of  crowding  a  variety  of  pot  plants  about 
stems  and  trees  that  ought  to  have  been  kept  clearer. 
Gumming  on  isolated  branches,  or,  it  may  be,  of  whole  limbs,  is 
the  precursor  of  an  inevitable  early  failure  of  that  part  of  trees, 
other  branches  and  limbs  going  the  same  way  in  due  course.  This 
disease  is  said  to  be  infectious,  aud  is  certainly  very  difficult  to 
combat.  The  germs  of  it  may  have  already  been  in  possession  of 
the  tree  prior  to  leaving  a  nursery,  or  it  may  fdlow  injuries  the 
branches  or  shoots  sustain  through  careless  treatment — such,  for 
instance,  as  driving  a  wheelbarrow  against  the  stems,  bruising  the 
latter  with  a  broom,  fastening  too  tightly  to  wires,  neglecting  to 
allow  for  settlement  of  new  soil,  laying  in  coarse  badly  matured 
growths,  and  such  like.  • 
To  me  the  disease  more  nearly  resembles  canker  than  anything 
else,  the  bark  and  wood  gradually  decaying  at  certain  points,  till  at 
last  the  sap  supplies  are  cut  off,  and  branches  well  furnished  with 
fruit  cease  to  grow,  and  one  day  they  are  found  flagging  badly — 
never  to  recover.  Some  French  experts  are  under  the  impression 
that  stems  and  the  older  parts  of  branches  are  injured  by  undue 
exposure  to  fierce  sunshine,  and  they  protect  these  as  much  as 
possible  with  the  aid  of  wooden  troughs  inverted  against  them, 
and  also  with  haybands.  This  view  of  the  case  has  presented 
itself  to  me  repeatedly,  but  I  cannot  claim  to  have  proven  the 
correctness  or  otherwise  of  the  theory.  At  the  same  time  there  is 
no  denying  the  fact  that  Plum  trees  growing  against  walls  which 
sunshine  reaches  only  for  a  short  time  in  the  day  during  the 
longest  days  in  the  year  lose  their  branches  in  much  the  same  way 
as  Peaches  and  Nectarines  do,  so  that  it  looks  more  like  a  case  of 
either  gumming  or  canker.  Planting  and  preparing  young  trees 
before  the  old  ones  are  played  out  is  again  one  way  out  of  the 
difficulty. 
There  is  no  disputing  the  fact  that  the  causes  of  many  failures, 
partial  or  complete,  of  trees  can  be  traced  to  the  borders  in  which 
they  are  rooting  or  trying  to  root.  If  it  is  rich  and  loose  at  the 
outset  then  a  gross  habit  of  top  growth  is  engendered,  and  a 
decidedly  bad  start  is  made.  Later  on,  or  after  the  trees  are 
beginning  to  crop  heavily,  we  may  easily  err  in  the  other  direction, 
poverty  at  the  roots  leading  to  a  starved,  insect-infested,  unprofit¬ 
able  top-growth.  Most  of  us  are  aware  what  is  most  often 
responsible  for  “  yellows  ”  in  Peach  or  Nectarine  trees.  It  does 
not  often  show  itself  when  the  roots  are  kept  active  near  the 
surface  of  the  border,  trees  affected  with  the  “  yellows  ”  having 
only  long,  deep  running,  fibreless  roots.  Some  of  our  most 
successful  growers  lift  and  replant  the  bulk  of  their  trees  every 
autumn,  others  do  it  every  second  year,  and  still  more  probably 
have  to  be  content  with  occasional  liftings.  We  cannot  do  exactly 
as  we  would  like,  and  many  gardeners  cannot  obtain  half  as  much 
fresh  fibrous  loam  as  they  could  use  to  advantage  about  fruit  trees 
and  Vines.  Fresh  soil  does  wonders,  and  if  only  we  can  keep  our 
Peach  and  Nectarine  trees  rooting  in  this,  and  only  just  below  the 
surface,  there  would  be  fewer  failures  from  any  cause — that  is 
to  say,  neither  gumming,  canker,  nor  premature  old  age. — 
W.  Iggulden. 
SHRUBBERIES. 
The  weather  thus  far  has,  with  few  exceptions,  been  favour¬ 
able  for  advancing  the  work  in  this  department.  Much  has  to  be 
done  in  renovating  shrubberies  in  consequence  of  the  severity  of 
the  last  winter,  succeeded  by  the  abnormal  drought  of  the  summer. 
In  other  places  the  formation  of  new  grounds  and  planting  is  now 
in  full  swing.  To  those  with  an  inborn  taste  for  landscape 
gardening,  a  little  diversion  in  this  respect  comes  as  a  relief  from 
the  ordinary  routine  of  attention  to  fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables. 
It  is,  moreover,  essential  that  the  designer  and  planter  should  have 
an  eye  to  discern  into  the  future  as  to  the  ultimate  effect  produced 
by  the  things  planted,  so  that  when  they  attain  to  maturity  the 
surroundings  agree  in  regard  to  size,  colour,  and  general  effect. 
To  the  casual  visitor  or  resident  entering  public  or  private 
grounds  nothing  is  more  conducive  to  the  tranquillity  of  the  senses 
than  to  behold  well-ordered  grounds,  each  member  of  the  Conifer, 
Taxad,  Holly,  or  whatever  it  may  be  occupying  its  proper  place, 
the  taller-growing  specimens  in  the  rear  and  tapering  in  size  down 
to  the  front,  with  sufficient  space  left  between  for  each  to  be  seen 
to  advantage. 
For  planting  there  is  an  endless  variety  to  choose  from  to  suit 
every  taste,  but  when  selecting,  those  most  adapted  to  the  locality 
and  site  must  be  considered  ;  though,  as  a  rule,  most  Conifers  will 
thrive  fairly  well  inland  provided  that  in  wet  situations  the  drainage 
is  good,  and  the  subsoil  not  of  a  deleterious  nature  should  the  roots 
be  allowed  by  any  means  to  penetrate  it.  The  stately  Sequoia 
gigantea  should  be  accorded  the  premier  place  in  single  specimens 
about  the  grounds  or  lawns,  as  also  the  well-known  Araucaria  or 
Monkey  Puzzler.  Of  Pines,  austriaca  is  useful  on  account  of  its 
being  very  hardy  ;  for  a  pleasing  contrast  comes  sylvestris  and 
others.  Then  there  are  Aucubas,  Taxads,  Silver  and  Golden 
Hollies,  and  various  tinted  Retinosporas.  Thuyopsis  dolobrata  is 
much  appreciated,  as  also  are  the  smart-looking  Cupressus  E.  viridis 
and  Lawsoniana,  and  the  Biota  orientalis. 
It  would  be  an  injustice  not  to  name  the  deciduous  family 
which  are  so  ornamental  with  their  various  tinted  foliage.  Although 
much  has  been  and  is  being  written  on  the  subject  of  planting,  a 
few  remarks  on  this  point  may  not  be  out  of  place  in  conclusion. 
The  two  most  common  errors  in  this  respect  are  planting  too  deeply 
and  cramming  the  roots  into  holes  which  are  too  small.  Neither 
should  anything  be  planted  if  the  roots  are  in  a  dry  state,  which 
often  occurs  during  transit  ;  they  should  be  well  soaked  in  a  tub  or 
cistern  of  water. 
It  will  save  a  great  amount  of  time,  and  of  taking  the  tree  in 
and  out  of  the  hole,  to  have  a  staff  6  feet  in  length  sub-divided 
into  feet  and  half  feet,  so  as  to  measure  horizontally  the  length  of 
the  roots.  Thus  the  diameter  of  the  hole  required  is  easily 
obtained,  and  if  1  foot  is  allowed  each  way  ample  room  will  be 
insured.  Placing  the  staff  vertically  an  idea  of  the  required  depth 
may  also  be  obtained.  Before  planting  it  is  a  good  practice  to 
place  slates  flat  in  the  holes  to  prevent  the  roots  from  penetrating 
into  what  may  be  a  clayey  or  injurious  subsoil,  covering  them  to 
the  depth  of  a  few  inches  before  putting  in  the  tree.  When 
placed  in  the  hole,  before  filling  in  any  soil,  it  should  be  ascer¬ 
tained  if  the  proper  depth  is  secured.  This  can  be  done  by 
placing  the  staff  across  the  hole  close  to  the  butt  of  the  tree  ; 
the  safer  plan  is  to  put  it  to  as  near  as  possible  its  former  level  in 
the  ground. 
Each  layer  of  roots  should  be  drawn  to  full  length,  fine  soil 
being  worked  in  with  the  hands,  also  by  gently  moving  the  tree 
to  and  fro  ;  if  the  soil  is  of  a  retentive  nature  make  it  moderately 
