m 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  CAROL  HER. 
November  17,  1898. 
-  Crataegus  Lelandi. — This  berried  shrub  is  most  accom¬ 
modating,  as  it  can  be  trained  up  to  a  house  or  wall,  or  be  left  to  grow 
literally  as  it  likes,  or  be  pruned  in  bush  or  pyramidal  form,  and  no  matter 
how  grown,  it  seems  to  berry  very  profusely  almost  every  year.  1  have 
seldom  seen  it  in  more  attractive  state  than  it  is  just  now  at  Dr.  Trounce’s, 
Surbiton,  where  some  strong  plants,  quite  informally  grown,  carry  large 
heads  above  the  outer  wall,  these  being  densely  covered  with  scarlet 
berries.  Naturally  these  shrubs  attract  the  attention  of  all  passers-by. 
Trained  on  a  house,  the  shrub  wears  a  rather  formal  aspect.  Pyramids 
or  bushes,  especially  such  a  gigantic  bush  as  there  is  at  Coombe  Wood 
Nursery,  form  fine  features  on  lawns.  Small  pyramids  in  pots,  well  berried* 
make  charming  Christmas  or  winter  decoration. —  D. 
-  Apples  and  the  Drought. — It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
any  stint  in  the  application  of  water  to  the  roots  of  fruit  trees  grown 
under  glass  in  the  autumn,  when  the  wood  is  ripening  and  the  buds 
maturing,  is  not  conducive  to  a  good  crop  the  following  season.  By 
applying  the  same  theory  to  outdoor  fruits  we  may  gather  some  idea  of 
the  effect  of  the  drought  experienced  both  last  season  and  this.  Owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  rain  in  the  south  the  soil  is  quite  dry  to  a  considerable 
depth,  and  roots  are  without  the  moisture  necessary  for  the  feeding  of 
branches  and  plumping  of  buds.  We  were  similarly  situated  this  time 
last  year,  and  though  there  was  an  abundance  of  Apple  blossom  in  the 
spring,  it  appeared  to  possess  no  stamina,  and  fell  wholesale.  The  trees 
too,  except  the  most  robust  kinds,  have  not  made  much  healthy  growth, 
and  unless  there  is  an  abundance  of  rain  before  the  year  is  out  Apples 
will  suffer  considerably.  Some  growers  are  watering  by  artificial 
methods,  but  unfortunately  this  is  impossible  in  many  places,  owing  to 
the  scarcity  of  the  liquid. — H. 
-  Growth  on  Fruit  Trees. — The  season,  so  singularly  dry 
and  hot,  has  none  the  iess  shown  the  remarkable  power  possessed  by 
fruit  trees,  especially  free-grown  ones,  to  find  nutriment  for  wood  pro¬ 
duction,  and  on  the  whole  that  has  been  as  free  as  may  be  seen  in  most 
seasons.  We  did  grumble  very  much  in  the  early  summer  on  finding  that 
our  ordinary  trees  of  Apples,  Pears,  and  Plums  were  so  very  lightly 
i  Topped  generally,  yet  it  seems  to  have  been  a  wise  dispensation  of 
Nature  it  should  have  been  so,  seeing  that  heavy  fruit  crops,  to  be  borne 
and  sustained  during  such  a  summer  and  autumn  as  the  past  season  was, 
would  have  been  all  too  exacting.  Now  we  see  trees  generally,  and  in 
spite  of  the  exceeding  dryness  of  atmosphere  and  soil,  carrying  good 
growth  and  a  liberal  stock  of  fruit  buds.  If,  therefore,  we  do  not  get  a 
good  fruit  crop  next  year  it  will  not  be  for  lack  of  fruit  buds,  but  will  be 
due  to  some  other  cause.  What  rains  we  have  had  so  far  have  not  gone 
deeply  and  largely  the  roots  are  still  in  dry  soil.  But  wood  and  leafage 
have  benefited,  and  surface  roots,  where  existing.  When  the  customary 
winter  rains  come,  as  we  hope  they  will  abundantly  shortly,  the  leaves 
will  have  fallen,  and  then  a  copious  supply  of  moisture  in  the  soil,  whilst 
refreshing  the  roots  and  making  them  very  active,  should  yet  do  no  harm 
to  the  bloom  buds,  but  should  rather  help  to  plump  them  up.  Our 
prospect  of  a  good  hardy  fruit  crop  next  year  seems  to  depend  more  on 
the  quantity  of  moisture  furnished  to  the  soil  than  to  any  other  cause. 
If  the  subsoil,  now  so  exceptionally  dry,  does  not  get  a  good  saturating 
during  the  winter  we  can  hardly  expect  that  our  trees,  especially  those 
carrying  fruit  crops,  will  coutinue  to  exist  healthily  under  such  dry 
conditions.  At  present,  beyond  hoping,  we  have  no  substantial  reason 
to  assume  that  the  great  deficiency  of  soil  moisture  now  so  apparent  will 
be  during  the  winter  modified,  much  less  equalised.— Wanderer. 
KNIPHOFIA  ALOIDES. 
It  does  not  appear  to  be  generally  known  that  this  S.  African  plant 
can  be  used  with  great  success  as  a  late  autumn  and  early  winter  flowering 
plant  for  the  greenhouse,  with  very  little  trouble.  For  this  purpose  it  is 
necessary  to  grow  it  in  pots  throughout  the  summer  and  retard  it,  so  that 
the  spikes  do  not  begin  to  appear  until  the  end  of  September.  Good 
strong  plants  should  be  selected  and  potted  in  rich  soil  in  March.  They 
must  be  kept  growing  outside — without  the  aid  of  stimulants— until 
the  end  of  August,  when  liquid  manure  should  be  given. 
About  the  end  of  September,  when  the  spikes  begin  to  show,  the 
plants  should  be  stood  in  a  cold  greenhouse,  where  they  will  continue  to 
(lower  for  a  considerable  time.  As  an  associate  for  other  plants  it  is 
admirable,  being  distinct  and  showy.  Numerous  instances  will  suggest 
themselves  where  it  will  make  a  good  companion  for  some  other  plant  to 
form  a  group.  Mixed  with  white  Chrysanthemums  it  is  very  striking 
At  Kew  about  twenty  plants  are  flowering  in  the  temperate  house. 
They  are  in  pots  varying  in  size  from  7  inches  to  12  inches  in  diameter, 
and  are  carrying  from  five  spikes  on  the  smaller  to  fifteen  on  the  larger 
plants.  The  spikes  are  quite  as  fine,  though  the  colour  is  a  little  paler, 
as  they  were  on  plants  which  flowered  earlier  in  open  borders. — W.  D. 
RENOVATING  FRUIT  TREES. 
I  HAVE  been  engaged  for  the  past  month  on  and  off,  as  the  weather 
permitted,  root-pruning,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  renovating  many  of 
my  fruit  trees.  I  have  had  so  little  success,  even  on  a  south  wall 
unprotected,  with  Apricots  and  Nectarines,  that  I  pass  them  without 
further  notice,  except  not  to  recommend  any  friend  to  lose  a  good  south 
wall  with  them,  even  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  except  they  protect  with 
sashes  in  the  early  spring  months.  Most  of  my  walled-in  town  garden 
soil  has  been  made,  and  unfortunately  portions  of  it  are  rather  shallow 
and  poor,  than  rich  and  deep. 
From  this  your  readers  will  see  that  your  most  interesting  notes  on 
improving  fruit  trees  and  root- pruning  must  be  considerably  modified 
to  suit  my  case.  In  fact,  I  should  hardly  have  troubled  you,  though  a 
correspondent  of  the  Journal  for  twenty  years,  except  to  suggest  that 
each  case  be  dealt  with  on  its  individual  merits  and  fully  thought  out. 
My  subsoil  being  shallow  I  had  no  tap  roots,  and  therefore  none  to  cut 
away,  and  the  subsoil  being  rather  poor  than  too  rich  I  had  beforehand  to 
prepare  more  than  a  dozen  loads  of  loam  and  decayed  manure  and  ashes 
to  replace  the  exhausted  soil  around  the  roots.  I  removed  all  the  soil 
three-fourths  around  for  a  4-foot  radius,  and  filled  in  with  this  compost, 
removing  a  few  of  the  larger  roots,  and  leaving  every  possible  feeding 
root.  I  found  this  system  so  useful  and  prolific  of  results  for  the  few 
years,  that  I  determined  to  give  it  a  more  extended  trial. 
A  neighbouring  gpntleman,  on  the  other  hand,  has  a  deep  soil, 
probably  overloaded  with  organic  matter,  and  for  his  case  cutting  the 
deep-going  tap  roots  and  the  application  of  lime  rubbish,  brickdust,  and 
any  soil  of  a  sandy  formation,  would  be  the  most  suitable  autumn  and 
winter  treatment  for  non-prolific  fruit  trees,  especially  Apples,  Pears,  and 
Plums.  In  the  soil  such  as  I  referred  to,  with  me  bush  fruit  has  always 
been  heavily  laden — yellow  and  amber,  red  and  green  Gooseberries,  hairy 
and  smooth  skins,  without  exception — Currants  and  Raspberries  not  so 
satisfactory.  Of  Cherries,  the  heaviest  cropper  is  the  Morello,  then  the 
May  Dukes,  and  lastly  the  Bigarreau  and  Elton.  I  give  them  very  little 
pruning,  root  or  branch.  Two  varieties  of  Figs  on  walls  I  have  not 
succeeded  in  fruiting  satisfactorily. 
Among  Apples  that  have  given  me  excellent  results  with  this  treatment 
are  Warner’s  King,  Hawthornden,  M&re  de  Manage.  Stirling  Castle, 
Worcester  Pearmain,  Lord  Suffield,  King  of  the  Pippins,  Emperor 
Alexander,  Blenheim  Orange,  and  for  the  first  three  years,  Ribston 
Pippin— it  then  cankers.  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin  even  on  a  wall  is  unsatis¬ 
factory.  I  cannot  say  any  variety  of  Pear  or  Plum,  and  I  have  most  of 
the  popular  kinds,  is  as  heavily  cropped  as  I  see  them  in  gardens  in 
England,  Ireland,  and  a  few  in  Scotland. — W.  J.  Murphy,  Clonmel. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM  SHOWS. 
BIRMINGHAM.— 8th,  9th,  and  10th. 
The  second  of  the  largest  of  the  thirty-eight  shows  held  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Birmingham  Chrysanthemum,  Fruit,  and  Vegetable 
Society,  was  held  in  the  Bingley  Hall,  and  the  arrangements,  under  the 
joint  efforts  of  the  Secretaries,  Messrs.  J.  Hughes  and  F.  W.  Simpson,  and 
their  co-workers,  were  an  improvement  on  the  first  occasion.  In  one  or 
two  respects  the  competition  was  not  so  great  as  that  of  last  year — 
notably  in  the  “  groups  of  Chrysanthemums  for  effect,”  and  the  “  display 
of  floral  arrangements,”  in  which  there  was  a  considerable  falling  off. 
A  great  attraction  was  the  fine  and  interesting  exhibit  of  fruit  and  flowers 
sent  from  the  Royal  Gardens,  Frogmore — not  for  competition.  It  was 
rendered  further  conspicuous  by  the  prettily  draped  and  canopied  stand 
on  which  the  exhibit  was  arranged,  additional  interest  being  created  by 
the  fact  that  by  the  Queen’s  kind  commands  the  produce  was  to  be 
afterwards  distributed  by  the  Lady  Mayoress  among  the  local  hospitals. 
There  were  about  150  dishes  of  Apples  and  Pears,  a  dozen  fine  Pine 
Apples,  and  several  bunches  of  Grapes,  cut  from  the  celebrated  Hampton 
Court  and  Cumberland  Lodge  Vines.  Conspicuous  also  in  the  floral 
arrangements  were  a  large  number  of  vases  filled  with  Princess  of  Wales 
Violets.  The  Right  Hon.  Joseph  Chamberlain’s  special  non-competitive 
exhibit  of  plants  and  cut  flowers  also  came  in  for  a  share  of  public 
attention. 
Amongst  cut  blooms  of  Chrysanthemums  the  leading  exhibits  in  the 
incurved  section  were  remarkably  fine,  and  in  point  of  merit  doubtless 
excelled  the  Japs,  and  which  latter,  though  of  excellent  quality,  were 
hardly  on  the  average  so  large  as  some  of  those  exhibited  on  former 
occasions. 
In  the  display  of  floral  arrangements,  in  spaces  not  exceeding  20  feet 
by  5  feet,  the  coveted  prize  of  £12  10s.,  and  silver  cup  value  £5,  was 
secured  by  Mr.  John  Crook,  Birmingham,  with  an  artistic  arrangement ; 
Messrs.  Pope  &  Sons,  Birmingham,  being  a  close  second.  Continuing 
the  principal  classes  according  to  the  order  of  schedule,  that  of  the 
“  collection  of  British-grown  fruit,  to  be  grown  by  the  exhibitor,”  was 
well  contested,  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Goodacre,  of  Elvaston  Castle  Gardens,  had 
to  give  way  to  his  formidable  opponent,  Mr.  G.  Marlkins,  gardener  to 
Lady  H.  Somerset,  Ledbury.  The  third  prize  was  allotted  to  Mr. 
W.  Crump,  Madresfield  Court  Gardens. 
The  specimen  Chrysanthemum  class,  which  has  always  been  a  feature 
at  the  Birmingham  shows,  showed  a  material  falling  off,  especially  in  the 
size  of  the  blooms.  For  nine  large-flowering  plants  (Japanese  excluded) 
the  first  prize  was  awarded  to  Mr,  Oliver  Brasier,  gardener  to  Lady 
Martineau,  Edgbaston  ;  the  second  to  Mr.  J.  Maldrem,  gardener  to  Geo. 
Cadbury,  Esq.,  Northfield  ;  and  the  third  to  Mr.  A.  Cryer,  gardener  to 
