December  29,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
497 
find  extensive  favour  at  The  Grove,  and  there  is  no  iormal  parterre, 
excepting  a  comparatively  small  one  situated  in  a  somewhat  secluded 
spot  near  the  point  of  observation  just  adverted  to,  and  where  it  tends  to 
lighten  the  abundance  of  tree  leafage  around.  Compensation,  how¬ 
ever,  to  some  extent  is  afforded  by  the  introduction  of  numbers  of 
herbaceous  and  other  perennial  flowers  distributed  in  suitable  spots  over 
the  grounds,  a  feature  being  the  naturalisation  of  bulbs  in  the  turf. 
Proceeding,  we  skirted  the  east  end  of  the  well-kept  lawn  fronting  the 
south-west  side  of  the  mansion,  and  passing  a  small  but  pretty  Pern  bank 
at  a  turn  of  the  walk,  we  were  almost  immediately  confronted  by  an 
entrance  to  the  comparatively  new  herbaceous  and  alpine  garden,  and 
which,  at  the  time  of  one  of  our  visits,  was  aglow  with  a  wreath  of  floral 
beauty.  It  is  hidden  from  view  of  the  windows  above  by  a  bank  of  trees 
and  shrubs.  _ 
Beyond  this  rockery  garden  is  the  vegetable  and  unwalled  fruit 
garden,  which  is  well  secluded  irom  the  windows  of  the  house  above  ;  the 
tall  old  Apple  trees,  however,  occupying  the  upper  part  are  visible,  and 
when  in  bloom  their  pink  and  white  flowers  afford,  intermixed  with  the 
leafage  around,  a  pleasing  effect  as  seen  from  the  house  and  lawn.  It  is 
comparatively  small  in  extent,  but  by  good  culture  and  close  cropping  it 
affords  a  supply  of  excellent  produce  for  the  establishment.  At  the  lower 
end  of  the  garden  is  the  head  gardener’s  neat-looking  abode,  a  counterpart 
of  the  lodge.  The  longitudinal  sides  of  the  garden  aie  respectively 
bounded  by  a  Thorn  and  a  Holly  hedge. 
Returning  to  the  lower  side  of  the  lawn,  the  eye  is  attracted  by  the 
relatively  highly  situated  house  front  above,  supported  by  a  broad  gravel 
walk  and  grass  sloped  terrace,  with  at  the  east  end,  in  close  proximity  on 
the  lawn  below,  a  fine  old  Cedar  of  Lebanon,  whose  numerous 
vertical  limbs  springing  from  the  massive  bole  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
ground,  and  its  head  ot  wide-spreading  branches,  forcibly  remind  one  of 
some  of  those  patriarchal  giants  at  Blenheim  Palace  or  Goodwood  Park. 
Prom  the  terrace  is  obtained  an  attractive  prospect,  the  chequered  agri¬ 
cultural  and  woodland  landscape  extending  towards  the  Lickey  and  Cent 
hills,  with  their  intervening 
ranges  of  lower  elevations.  The 
architecture  of  this  frontage  ot 
the  house  is  comparatively 
plain,  but  of  a  bold  and 
striking  character,  and  it  is  in 
this  portion  that  the  drawing 
and  dining  rooms,  also  the 
library,  are  located.  Attached 
to  the  extreme  west  end  of  the 
house  is  a  spacious  and  high 
span-roofed  conservatory,  which 
also  affords  a  suitable  provision 
for  separating  the  grounds  just 
alluded  to  from  the  back 
premises.  It  is  kept  constantly' 
gay  with  flowers,  that  bear 
strong  evidence  of  the  long 
experience  and  skill  cf  Mr. 
William  Eades  the  head  gar¬ 
dener.  Calceolarias,  Cinerarias, 
Gloxinias,  Cyclamens,  Primulas, 
Hyacinths,  and  other  bulbs  ar.- 
excellently  grown.  Adjoining 
this  structure  is  an  interesting 
Pulham’s  fernery,  the  glass 
roof  of  which  is  elegantly 
drapied  with  the  ubiquitous 
Eicus  repens. 
Passing  through  the  stable- 
yard  we  come  to  the  furnish¬ 
ing  glass  department,  and  which 
is  solely  devoted  to  stove  and 
greenhouse  plant  culture,  ex¬ 
cepting  an  old  but  useful  long 
lean-to  structure  containing 
several  established  Vines,  and 
is  useful  for  the  cultivation  of 
Ferns.  The  main  structure  is 
a  long,  high  span-roofed  house,  Photo  by  H.  Stokes, 
in  two  compartments,  the  one 
an  intermeuiate  and  the  other 
a  cool  house,  both  being  well  furnished  with  plants.  A  span-roofed 
pit  completes  the  glass  department. 
Having  thus  far  described  the  more  prominent  features  of  this  desir¬ 
able  retreat,  and  which,  it  may  not  be  irrelevant  to  remark,  is  on  its 
western  boundary  adjoined  by  the  eligible  estate  of  Harborne  Hall,  the 
property  of  Mr.  Walter  Chamberlain,  it  only  remains  for  us  to  remark 
that  the  keeping  of  the  whole  place  reflects  credit  on  the  skill  and  dili¬ 
gence  of  Mr.  Eades  during  the  upwards  of  sixteen  years  he  has  had  charge 
of  it.  It  may  be  further  remarked  that  Mr.  Eades  is  a  staunch  member 
of  the  Birmingham  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Association,  and  of 
which  he  is  the  assiduous  assistant  secretary. — W.  G. 
BARK  PRUNING. 
I  HAVE  read  with  much  interest  the  notes  in  your  last  issue  (page  470), 
by  Mr.  E.  Luckhurst,  on  “Pruning  for  Fruit,”  and  it  reminds  me  of  a 
system  which  1  saw  years  adopted  ago  by  a  gentleman  on  whose  estate  I 
was  then  living.  If  any  of  his  trees,  notably  Pear  trees,  were  inclined  to 
rank  growth,  he  would  cut  off  and  remove  from  around  the  body  of  the 
tree,  below  all  the  branches,  a  width  of  bark  half  to  three-quarters  of  an 
inch,  leaving  merely  a  strip  at  the  back,  similar  in  effect!  to  the  method 
of  the  goat  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Luckhurst.  The  result  of  this  was  that  the 
tree  was  thrown  into  bearing  condition.  The  removal  of  the  bark  arrested 
the  flow  of  sap,  and  thereby  put  an  end  to  the  rankness. 
It  is  my  belief  that  the  roots  would  by  this  means  be  weakened,  and 
having  less  work  than  formerly  would  cease  to  wander  wildly  in  search  of 
food.  If  this  be  so,  could  not  the  system  I  mention  supersede  root- 
pruning,  which,  all  will  agree,  is  a  toilsome  task.  It  is  my  opinion  that 
there  must  be  some  means  of  governing  the  roots  as  well  as  the  branches 
of  a  tree  without  going  below  the  surface.  I  do  not,  be  it  understood, 
advocate  a  general  recourse  to  the  practice  indicated,  but  simply  lay  it 
down  to  be  dealt  with,  if  need  be,  by  the  practical  men  of  our  calling, 
from  whom  a  word  as  to  its  value  is  very  desirable. — W.  R. 
[The  practice  of  what  is  known  as  “ringing”  the  branches  of  Iruit 
trees,  to  subdue  exuberance  and  promote  fruitfulness,  was  much  more 
common  half  a  century  ago  than  it  is  now.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest 
methods  known  for  effecting  that  purpose,  but  the  first  reference  to  it  by 
the  ancient  writer  Aurelius  is  not  in  the  form  of  cutting  away  a  ring  of 
bark,  but  of  affixing  an  unyielding  ligature,  as  of  strong  wire,  round  the 
stem,  or  literally  “ringing”  it.  This  practice  we  can  very  well  remember 
being  more  or  less  common  in  the  “  forties,”  though  it  may  have  been 
very  much  of  a  local  custom.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  exact  mode  which  the 
old  writer  advised  centuries  ago,  as  follows: — “If  you  wish  an  Apple 
tree  to  bear  much  fruit,  a  piece  of  pipe  should  be  bound  tight  round 
the  stem.” 
This  not  only  arrests  the  flow  of  sap  from  the  roots  upwards,  and 
thus  checks  growth  luxuriance,  but  also  impedes  the  deposition  of 
B./mihg/iam. 
Fig.  87. — The  Grove,  Harborne. 
organised  matter,  which  as  a  result  collects  at  the  point  of  obstruction, 
and  the  fruit  above  it  becomes  the  finer.  We  have  many  times  seen  the 
effect  of  this  on  the  berries  of  Grapes,  where  the  ringing  of  an  occasional 
lateral  has  been  practised  below  the  bunch. 
We  have  only  seen  one  instance  of  the  ancient  practice  systematically 
resorted  to  as  a  commercial  operation,  and  that  was  in  a  fruit  garden  in 
Suffolk.  In  this  instance  cankered  Apple  trees  were  restored  by  grafting, 
and  the  branches  of  Pear  trees  roped  with  fine  fruit  by  ringing.  The 
fruit  was  grown  for  sale,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  any  arguments  could  have 
been  advanced  sufficiently  powerful  to  have  induced  the  grower— who 
certainly  made  fruit  growing  “pay” — to  abandon  the  method  which  he 
said  served  him  well,  at  much  less  labour  and  cost  than  root-pruning.  He 
removed  quite  narrow  strips  of  bark  annually  from  such  branches  as  gave 
