472 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  30,  1899. 
other  trees  is  continued,  as  convenient,  until  all  the  work  is  done  by 
the  beginning  of  November.  If  the  weather  is  warm  the  trees  are 
syringed  daily  after  repotting,  and  if  the  weather  is  line  are  put  outside 
again  immediately  and  are  stood  on  boards  or  bricks.  AIL  the  forced 
trees  remain  in  this  position  till  the  end  of  October.  Those  trees  that 
are  not  forced  are  placed  together  in  an  open  position,  with  stable 
litter  round  the  pots  as  a  protection  from  frost.  They  remain  together 
here  until  the  buds  begin  to  shows  signs  of  colour  in  the  spring,  when 
they  are  removed  to  a  cool  house. 
I  have  often  been  asked  whether  the  trees  are  repotted  every  year. 
The  answer  is  iu  the  affirmative.  The  only  exception  has  been  in  the 
case  of  a  few  Cherries,  but  they,  too,  will  all  be  repotted  annually  in 
the  future.  Every  tree  is  taken  out  of  the  pot,  and  its  ball  is  reduced 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  can  be  replaced  in  the  same  pot  with  fresh 
soil  all  round  and  rammed  down  firmly. 
This  annual  repotting  is,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the  chief  essentials  to 
success.  If  the  ball  were  not  reduced  in  this  way  and  the  tree  were 
put  into  a  larger  pot  the  root  growth  would  be  too  vigorous,  and  the 
effect  would  be  seen  amongst  the  foliage.  Another  good  reason  for 
making  no  exceptions  in  the  matter  of  the  annual  repotting  is  that  the 
soil  gets  exhamted  in  the  course  of  the  year,  so  that  if  this  operation 
is  omitted  even  for  one  year  the  tree  would  be  in  a  poverty-stricken 
condition  in  the  following  year  ;  nor  would  this  lack  of  fresh  soil  be 
compensated  by  the  addition  of  manures,  which  would  not  have  the 
effect  they  are  intended  to  produce  if  the  soil  is  not  in  good  condition. 
The  omission  of  this  annual  autumn  potting  must  in  many  cases  have 
been  a  cause  of  failure. 
It  is  also  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  any  failure  on  the  part  of  trees 
to  fruit  as  they  should  have  done  can  be  corrected  by  omitting  the 
repotting.  Emphasis  must  he  laid  upon  the  fact  that  the  potting 
must  be  done  firmly,  otherwise  the  soil  will  be  partly  carried  away  by 
the  frequent  watering,  which  must  be  given  in  any  case.  Firm  potting 
will  also  produce  suitable  root  action  fine  and  fibrous. 
When  one  looks  at  the  tree  and  the  pot,  the  inequality  between 
the  size  of  the  one  and  the  other  seems  to  be  very  great ;  this  apparent 
want  of  proportion  is  set  right  by  the  yearly  addition  of  soil  in 
connection  with  repotting.  Strong,  well-made  pots  must  be  used,  as 
the  risk  of  breakage  is  considerable  during  the  frequent  movings  that 
occur  in  one  season.  Most  of  our  trees  are  in  10  and  11-inch  pots, 
others  are  in  12  and  13-inch  pots,  but  none  in  larger  ones.  When  the 
repotting  is  done,  either  a  larger  or  a  smaller  pot  is  given  if  it  seems 
desirable. 
A  good  fibrous  loam  should  be  secured.  I  use  a  mixture  of  three 
parts  of  the  well-known  Bansteaa  loam,  with  two  parts  of  a  local 
loam  that  is  tough  and  breaks  up  well,  the  two  together  forming  a 
very  suitable  compost.  To  these  is  added  some  well-decomposed 
manure  in  the  ratio  of  one  part  of  the  latter  to  twelve  of  the  former, 
and  then  nearly  as  much  lime  rubble  finely  broken  up. 
After  potting,  enough  water  is  given  to  thoroughly  penetrate  all 
the  soil,  and  after  this  little  is  needed  until  the  growth  recommences. 
But  care  must  be  exercised,  as  water  cannot  be  lreely  given  until  the 
leaf  growth  has  become  vigorous.  When  the  fruit  begins  to  soften 
water  must  be  given  with  more  care  and  less  freedom  until  the  fruit 
has  been  gathered.  When  the  wood  is  beginning  to  ripen  the  watering 
must  be  gradually  decreased. — J.  Hudson,  Gunnersbury  House ,  Acton. 
(To  be  concluded.) 
THE  FAIRY  APPLE  AS  AN  ORNAMENTAL 
TREE. 
It  seems  somewhat  strange  that  this  highly  ornamental  Apple 
should  not  have  received  more  recognition.  According  to  its  size 
and  appearance  it  is  generally  included  in  nurserymen’s  lists  as  an 
ornamental  Crab  ;  and  so  far  it  ranks  with  the  best  of  the  several 
varieties  extant,  with  the  advantage  of  being  classed  as  a  dessert 
Apple,  and  its  pretty  yellow  and  red  fruit  I  have  ere  now  utilised  with 
charming  effect  as  a  garnish  to  other  fruits.  The  flesh  is  of  a  rich 
yellow  hue,  crisp  and  juicy,  with  a  fine  delicate  aroma  when  eaten  with 
the  skin  on.  It  is  in  perfection  from  December  till  April,  and  is 
excellent,  especially  for  decorative  purposes,  at  Christmastide.  The 
lruit  is  produced  in  clusters  of  from  three  to  five,  similar  to  clusters  of 
Cherries.  The  ripe  fruits  make  a  delicious  preserve  served  whole,  also 
an  excellent  jelly,  similar  to  that  of  the  Siberian  Crab  and  its  congeners, 
such  as  the  beautiful  Dartmouth,  John  Downie,  Transcendant,  and 
other  varieties. 
The  Fairy  Apple  was  raised  about  half  a  century  ago  by  Mr.  John 
Jennings  in  his  nursery  at  Shipston-on-Stour,  South  Worcestershire, 
from  seed  of  the  Scarlet  Siberian  Crab,  or  Cherry  Apple.  The  feed 
was  sown  for  the  production  of  stocks  for  grafting  Apples,  and  one  of 
the  seedlings  exhibiting  signs  of  fruiting,  *he  grafted  it  upon  a  free 
Apple  stock.  I  was  one  of  the  first  purchasers  of  the  resulting  stock, 
and  was  also,  I  believe,  the  first  to  exhibit  a  dish  of  the  fruit  at  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Fruit  Show  at  the  Crystal  Palace, 
where  it  was  much  admired. 
Our  complement  of  ornamental  berry,  or  fruit-bearing  trees  and 
shrubs,  is  somewhat  limited,  and  none  are  more  worthy  of  extended 
recognition  for  the  decoration  of  shrubberies  and  pleasure  grounds  than 
the  ornamental  Crabs  were  for  their  flower,  leafage  and  fruit,  while 
the  Fairy  Apple  (or  Crab)  especially  combines  the  utile  et  dulce  in  an 
eminent  degree.  There  is  a  wide  field  open  to  our  hybridisers  for  a 
further  production  of  these  Fairy  Apples. — W.  Gardiner. 
A  PLEA  FOR  GROS  COLMAN  GRAPE. 
We  often  hear  this  handsome  Grape  spoken  about  in  disparaging 
terms,  and  doubtless  in  many  cases  there  are  sound  reasons  for  so 
doing ;  but  we  venture  to  say  the  fault  does  not  so  much  lie  with  the 
Grape  as  with  the  cultivator.  No  matter  what  fruit  you  take,  if  you 
do  not  give  it  that  treatment  which  is  calculated  to  develop  to  the 
fullest  extent  its  particular  characteristics  the  result  is  inferior  quality. 
This  is  exactly  what  many  persons  are  doing  with  this  fine  winter 
Grape  :  it  is  probably  planted  in  a  house  where  the  Vines  are  allowed 
to  break  almost  without  any  fire  heat,  a  house  in  which  (other  details 
being  right)  Black  Hamburghs  do  capitally  and  produce  fruit  of  first- 
rate  quality,  while  the  Col  mans  are  insipid  and  scarcely  fit  to  eat. 
Now,  these  two  excellent  Grapes  need  very  different  treatment  to 
bring  them  to  that  state  of  perfection  in  which  their  individual  good 
qualities  are  fully  developed.  Black  Hamburgh  is  essentially  a 
summer  or  autumn  Grape,  which  can  be  brought  to  maturity  in  a 
comparatively  brief  period,  just  as  circumstances  require,  and  this 
without  any  perceptible  injury  to  its  quality.  But  not  so  with  Gros 
Colman,  which  resents  being  hurried,  but  requires  a  long  season  to 
thoroughly  mature  its  large  handsome  berries.  While  Black  Ham¬ 
burghs  can  be  ripened  in  six  mouths,  or  even  less  if  need  be,  Gros 
Colman  requires  from  seven  to  eight  months  to  ripen,  and  even  then  it 
has  not  attained  to  its  proper  flavour,  but  should  be  allowed  to  hang 
on  the  Vine  for  two  or  three  months  to  mellow  before  the  bunches 
are  used.  What  we  mean  is  this,  supposing  a  house  of  Colmans  is 
started  on  the  1st  of  March  the  Grapes  should  be  ripe  by  the  end  of 
September,  but  ripe  in  this  case  does  not  mean  in  a  fit  condition  for 
use  ;  that  condition  is  not  reached  till  about  Christmas,  by  which 
time  the  fruit  has  had  time  to  thoroughly  mature,  and  in  this  state 
is  by  no  means  to  be  despised. 
We  do  not  intend  to  enter  into  any  minute  details  regarding  the 
culture  of  this  excellent  Grape,  but  merely  to  touch  on  one  point 
where  we  consider  many  gardeners  err.  In  its  early  stages  Gros 
Colman  delights  in  a  warm  temperature,  such  as  is  given  to  Muscats. 
This  should  be  afforded  up  to  that  period  at  which  the  Grapes  begin 
to  show  signs  to  colour,  and  at  this  stage  we  would  change  the 
usual  treatment  followed.  Instead  of  keeping  up  the  high  tempera¬ 
tures  during  the  ripening  process,  a  practice  which  many  adopt,  we 
would  gradually  lower  it,  so  as  to  allow  the  fruit  plenty  of  time  to 
absorb  and  thoroughly  assimilate  the  juices  supplied  by  the  Vine. 
During  the  latter  half  of  August  and  the  whole  of  September  we 
would  not  hesitate  in  dispensing  altogether  with  fire  heat  and 
admitting  a  free  supply  of  air.  Even  though  the  night  temperature 
fall  to  45°  or  a  few  degrees  lower  it  will  do  no  harm,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  prove  beneficial. 
Look  into  our  orchards  and  take  a  lesson  from  Nature.  When 
do  the  Apples  assume  the  beautiful  colours  to  their  fullest  extent  ? 
Is  it  not  when  the  nights  become  chilly  and  the  mornings  have  a 
sniff  of  frost  about  them  ?  Give  this  rational  and  natural  treatment 
to  this  much-maligned  Grape  and  the  reward  will  be  fruit  of  much 
higher  quality  as  well  as  better  in  appearance. 
Another  thing  in  regard  to  this  handsome  Grape  which  should 
be  guarded  against  is  overcropping.  No  matter  how  careful  the 
cultivator  may  be  in  carrying  out  details  in  culture,  if  too  heavy  a 
crop  is  left  on  the  Vines  the  results  will  be  disappointing.  This  is  the 
rock  on  which  many  come  to  disaster;  they  give  the  Vines  a  task  to 
perform  which  they  are  entirely  unfitted  for,  and  consequently  the 
results  are  disappointing  and  unsatisfactory  —  disappointing  to  the 
grower,  and  unsatisfactory  to  the  eater — and  it  thus  happens  that 
both  employer  and  employed  are  unanimous  in  condemning  this 
particular  Grape. 
I  maintain  that  if  Vines  were  treated  to  a  much  cooler  temperature 
during  the  period  when  the  fruit  is  ripening,  the  bunches  left  hanging 
on  the  Vine  at  least  two  months  after  they  are  ripe  to  mellow,  and 
only  a  moderate  number  of  bundles  allowed  to  each  Vine,  a  change 
regarding  the  quality  of  this  noble  Grape  would  take  place.  We  know 
we  may  have  stepped  aside  from  the  beaten  track,  and  are  liable, 
to  be  sharply  reprimanded  for  so  doing,  but  our  desire  is  merely  to  see 
justice  done  to  that  grand  Grape  which  occupies  such  a  prominent 
plsce  amongst  dessert  fruits  during  the  Christmas  and  New  Year 
festivities. — Albyn. 
