396 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  9, 
gladden  the  heart  of  the  intending  planter.  Those  who  are  wise  will 
grasp  every  opportunity  of  pushing  on  such  work,  as  there  can  be  no 
question  that  trees  and  shrubs  planted  under  favourable  conditions 
during  autumn  make  far  better  progress  in  the  following  summer — 
especially  if  it  prove  a  dry  one — than  do  those  planted  in  spring. 
Even  if  root  action  does  not  begin  till  the  latter  period,  the  soil 
becomes  thoroughly  settled  about  the  roots,  wounds  heal,  and  activity 
begins  earlier  than  with  spring-planted  trees. 
During  mild  weather  in  autumn  and  winter  the  roots  of  neither 
deciduous  nor  evergreen  trees  are  in  that  complete  state  of  rest  as 
some  would  have  us  suppose ;  this  I  have  frequently  proved,  and 
others  can  easily  do  so  too.  I  have  at  various  times  when  Roses, 
fruit  trees,  and  shrubs  have  been  received  from  a  nursery,  adopted  the 
time-honoured  practice  of  “  laying  them  in  by  the  heels  ’’  till  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  planting  them  occurred.  Sometimes  this  did  not  come 
for  several  weeks  after,  and  on  removing  them  from  the  soil  numbers 
of  active  white  roots  have  been  found.  How,  then,  can  the  perfect 
resting  theory  be  upheld  ?  When  sharp  frosts  come,  and  the  ground 
is  as  hard  as  adamant,  rest  is  a  natural  result,  but  whenever  mild 
periods  occur,  if  of  sufficient  duration  to  raise  the  temperature  of  the 
soil  to  a  given  point,  then  I  believe  a  slight  amount  of  activity  begins, 
the  solidified  sap  becomes  liquid  again,  and  to  some  extent  begins  to 
flow.  Perfect  rest  in  regard  to  both  the  circulation  of  sap  and 
activity  of  roots  is  only  brought  about  by  continued  severe  weather. 
Hie  bud-swelling  which  may  often  be  noticed  during  mild  weather  in 
winter  and  early  spring  fully  corroborates  this  opinion.  Although  it 
is  not  wise  to  plant  at  midwinter  when  the  land  is  cold  and  wet,  the 
mild  dry  periods  which  frequently  occur  should  be  taken  advantage  of 
by  all  who  have  much  planting  to  do,  for  it  is  exceedingly  provoking 
to  let  an  opportunity  slip  by,  and  afterwards  find  that  bad  weather 
prevents  the  work  from  being  done  till  late  in  spring. 
The  planting  of  standard  fruit  trees  on  grass  seems  to  be  as  popular 
as  ever,  doubtless  because  it  is  an  inexpensive  form  of  fruit  growing 
after  the  initial  outlay,  and  pasture  brings  in  a  regular  return  when 
the  fruit  crop  tails.  In  such  cases  there  is  nothing  like  giving  such 
strong  growing  varieties  as  Bramley’s  Seedling  and  Warner’s  King 
plenty  of  room.  From  30  to  40  feet  apart  is  a  suitable  distance,  the 
trees  then  have  abundant  space  to  develop,  and  the  herbage  beneath  is 
almost  as  good  as  that  from  an  open  meadow.  The  mistake  often 
made  in  the  planting  of  grass  land  is  to  act  on  the  principle  of  “  spoiling 
the  ship  for  the  proverbial  hap’orth  of  tar.”  Holes  a  couple  of  feet  in 
diameter  are  useless  under  such  circumstances ;  trees  which  are  to  stand 
for  half  a  century  are  surely  worth  making  great  preparation  for,  and 
planting  well.  Those  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  prepare  stations 
5  or  6  feet  in  diameter,  and  feet  in  depth,  will  in  the  end  be  well 
repaid. 
When  the  land  is  light  and  by  no  means  rich,  after  removing  the 
soil  to  a  depth  of  2  feet  the  subsoil  should  be  broken  up  and  goo! 
farmyard  manure  freely  mixed  with  it.  This  will  be  too  far  from  the 
roots  to  cause  rank  growth  while  the  trees  are  young,  but  in  after 
years,  when  they  are  carrying  heavy  crops,  the  trees  will  reap  great 
benefit  from  this  storehouse  of  food.  In  good  deep  loams  no  addition 
to  the  soil  is  needed ;  but  the  cultivator  must  learn  to  distinguish 
between  such,  and  those  which  are  naturally  poor — for  in  the  latter 
some  stimulant  is  necessary  to  enable  the  trees  to  make  clean  free 
growth  at  the  start,  without  which  large  healthy  trees  cannot  be 
produced.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  remarks  about 
maturing  apply  to  trees  planted  on  grass  or  in  fields  ;  in  well  culti¬ 
vated  gardens  manure  is  never  needed  at  planting  time,  except  as  a 
surface  dressing. 
I  he  important  details  of  removing  the  points  of  all  roots,  spreading 
out  those  retained  as  the  planting  proceeds,  bringing  some  near  the 
surface,  and  the  avoidance  of  deep  planting,  are  matters  which  have 
been  so  often  fully  dealt  with  in  the  pages  of  the  Journal  of  Horticul¬ 
ture  that  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  them  here.  When  trees  are  planted 
on  heavy  land  the  extra  trouble  of  placing  a  layer  of  rough  material — 
stones,  broken  bricks,  or  anything  of  a  like  nature  which  can  be  con¬ 
veniently  obtained— -in  the  bottom  of  the  holes  is  well  repaid.  In 
such  cases  the  tree  should  also  stand  slightly  above  the  ground  level, 
and  have  mounds  of  soil  formed  around  the  roots.  Stiff  soil  in  low 
situations  needs  draining  before  fruit  trees  are  plant< d,  as  they  never 
make  satisfactory  progress  when  water  stagnates  about  their  roots. 
When  mixed  fruit  plantations  are  formed  Apples,  Pears,  and 
Plums  ought  to  be  planted  as  standards,  and  Gooseberries,  Currants, 
aud  Raspberries  employed  for  filling  the  remaining  space.  This  plan 
is  largely  adopted  by  the  Kentish  fruit  growers,  and  it  has  the  advan¬ 
tage  that  in  no  season  is  the  entire  crop  a  failure,  for  when  the 
standards  carry  only  a  scanty  crop  one  or  other  kind  of  bush  fruit  is 
invariably  prolific,  and  this  fact  must  always  have  great  weight  with 
those  who  plant  with  a  view  to  profit.  Among  Apples  and  Pears,  such 
moderate  growers  as  Worcestershire  Pearmain,  King  of  the  Pippins, 
Cox’s  Orange  Pippin,  and  Scarlet  Nonpareil,  Marie  Louise,  Jargonelle, 
and  Clapp’s  Favourite,  20  feet  apart  is  a  suitable  distance  to  plant  when 
bush  fruits  are  arranged  between.  The  stronger  growers  ought  to  be 
fully  30  feet  apart. 
When  an  entire  plantation  is  formed  of  Apples,  bush  trees  should, 
I  think,  be  given  the  preference,  as  the  trees  are  easily  managed,  the 
fruit  suffers  less  from  damage  by  winds  than  that  grown  on  standards, 
and  is,  moreover,  much  more  easily  gathered.  Trees  on  the  broad- 
leaved  Paradise  stock  if  planted  9  feet  apart  produce  fine  fruit,  and 
when  a  full  crop  is  obtained  the  yield  per  acre  is  very  large.  For  a 
year  or  two  after  planting  the  spaces  between  the  trees  can  be 
cropped  with  vegetables.  The  advantage  of  this  system  is  that  the 
vegetables  bring  a  fair  return  during  the  first  season,  and  continue  to 
do  so  till  the  Apples  begin  to  bear. 
After  all  that  has  been  written  upon  the  subject,  the  stern  fact 
still  remains  that  too  small  a  proportion  of  late  Apples  have  been 
planted.  Difficulties  of  storing  for  a  long  period  may,  perhaps,  have 
something  to  do  with  this,  but  those  who  have  the  necessary  capital 
and  enterprise  will  assuredly  in  due  time  reap  their  reward  if  they 
take  a  bold  course  and  plant  late  Apples  largely,  for  though  the 
markets  are  often  glutted  with  early  and  midseason  sorts,  in  winttr 
and  spring  good  late  ones  are  always  in  demand.  The  following  are 
a  few  grand  varieties  for  the  purpose  which  will,  to  use  a  hackneyed 
expression,  take  a  lot  of  beating Culinary — Old  Nmthern  Greening, 
Betty  Oeeson,  Striped  Beefing,  Lane’s  Prince  Albert,  Bramley’s 
Seedling,  and  Dumelow’s  Seedling.  Dessert— Stunner  Pippin,  Ash- 
mead’s  Kernel,  King  of  Tompkin’s  County,  Reinette  du  Canada, 
Golden  Knob,  and  Scarlet  Nonpareil. — II.  D. 
TROPICAL  FRUITS  AT  KEW. 
To  the  ordinary  visitor  the  tropical  fruits  pr  uluced  at  Kew  appear 
to  be  full  of  interest,  while  to  persons  who  have  had  experience  with 
the  same  things  abroad,  they  seem  to  have  special  attractions.  At  the 
present  time  quite  a  number  of  species  are  bearing  crops  in  various 
stages  of  ripeness,  whilst  others  have  just  stt  fruit  which  will  ripen  in 
spring. 
In  the  Palm  house  several  nice  bunches  of  Bananas  are  to  be  seen, 
Musa  sapientum  and  its  varieties  being  the  bearers.  A  plant  of  the 
Coffee  in  the  same  house  is  producing  a  quantity  of  green  berrii  s 
which  will,  later  on,  turn  to  a  bright  red.  In  the  Mexican  house  the 
Guava,  Psidium  Cattleyanum,  and  a  variety  called  littoralis,  are 
bearing  crops  of  fragrant,  purple  and  yellow  fruit,  respectively.  Two 
plants  of  the  Tree  Tomato,  Cypliomandra  betacea,  are  bearing  between 
them  about  300  fruits  just  approaching  riper  ess.  This,  lor  a  large 
house,  makes  a  very  ornamental  specimen,  being  little  trouble  and 
fruiting  freely,  the  fruit  when  ripe  being  orange-.' car  let  in  colour  ami 
as  large  as  a  hen’s  egg.  Tn  the  same  bouse  a  specimen  ol  the  Mango 
is  bearing  about  a  score  of  ova'-shap' d  Iruits  while  Musa  Cavenuishi 
is  carrying  a  bunch  which  is  now  about  half  developed. 
The  Papaw  adds  variety  to  the  list,  while  a  large  variety  of  the 
common  Lemon  causes  no  little  astonishment.  The  plant  in  quedion 
has  only  two  fruits  on  at  the  present  time,  but  their  size  is  enormous. 
The  larger  of  the  two  measures  17|  inches  in  circumference  the 
smaller  way,  and  lOj  inches  lengthways,  the  fruit  in  point  of  size 
being  more  like  a  Melon  than  a  Lemon. 
In  the  orangery  adjoining  the  Mexican  house,  Oranges,  Lemons, 
and  Limes  are  to  be  seen,  while  in  other  parts  of  the  garden  several 
other  interesting  plants,  such  as  the  Date  Plum,  Egg  Plant,  and 
others  of  economic  value  are  on  show.  For  people  who  are  interestad 
in  the  subjects  under  notice  a  visit  to  Kew  at  the  present  time  would 
be  a  source  of  much  pleasure. — Iv, 
