372 
JOURXAL  OF  TWRTIOULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  15,  1898. 
to  the  beauty  of  the  place,  pretty  as  it  ia  with  its  Fuiza  growing 
vigorottsly  on  the  rougher  places.  The  park  occupies  commarding 
eminence,  overlooking  Dublin  and  Killinsy  Bays,  and  with  magnificent 
views  over  these  and  the  neighbouring  landscape.  The  afternoon  was 
a  perfect  one,  and  one  feels  it  impossible  to  endeavour  to  tell  of  the 
beauty  of  the  scene.  Bray  Head  and  the  Wicklow  Hills,  Dalkey  Island, 
H(?wth  ;  in  short,  the  country  and  sea  for  many  miles  around  were  seen 
under  conditions  which  make  a  view  like  this  fix  itself  indelibly  upon 
one’s  memory,  but  which  no  language  can  do  justice  to.  Baskin  might 
atterap*^^  it,  but  it  is  beyond  my  feeble  skill. 
Unwilling  was  the  quartette  to  leave  the  fascinating  scene,  but  at 
length  we  found  oar  way  down  by  another  route  and  proceeded  to  the 
terminus,  noticing  by  the  way  the  various  features  of  the  gardens,  and 
remarking  on  the  way  in  which  Cineraria  maritima  had  become  natu- 
ralised  on  the  rocks  at  Sorrento.  A  most  enjoyable  run  on  the  car, 
whence  many  interesting  peeps  at  the  gardens  were  obtained,  a  short 
time  spent  enjoyably  at  our  guardian’s  home,  where  the  number  of 
books  on  gardening  and  kindred  subjects  showed  how  real  is  Mr.  Bur- 
bidge’s  interest  in  his  work,  and  we  parted  after  a  day  which  shall 
remain  green  in  my  memory  while  memory  lasts. 
Homeward  Bound. 
Next  morning  Dublin  was  left  regretfully,  for  though  much  had 
been  seen  there  was  much  which  could  not  be  undertaken,  and  what  had 
been  overtaken  only  whetted  the  keenness  of  the  desire  for  more  of  the 
same.  Pleasant  had  the  daj  s  been,  and  pleasant  are  my  recollections  of 
the  old  city  by  the  Lifley,  and  of  the  more  than  kindness  received 
from  all. 
Ou  the  way  to  the  North  I  spent  an  hour  or  two  in  the  old  town  of 
Drogheda  ;  but  instead  of  going  to  see  the  scene  of  the  Battle  of  the 
Boyne  I  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  a  horse  fair  of 
observing  Irish  ways  and  Irish  folks  under  a  different  aspect.  It  was 
something  new  to  me  to  see  so  many  donkeys  at  once.  The  poor 
animals,  of  all  ages,  were  in  great  droves,  and  it  was  rather  pleasant,  yet 
pitiful,  to  see  how  patiently  they  stood  huddled  together  awaiting  pur¬ 
chasers.  The  horses  were  good  ;  but  I  was  not  sufficiently  interested  in 
them  to  ask  their  prices,  although  curiosity  prompted  me  to  do  it  with 
regard  to  the  humbler  quadrupeds.  The  reply  given  was,  “  Shure,  ye 
can  get  them  at  anny  price.  Ye  could  get  wan  for  a  crown,  but  it 
wouldn’t  be  much  worth.”  Even  the  prospect  of  getting  a  donkey  for 
a  crown  did  not  induce  me  to  purchase,  so  I  returned  to  the  station  I 
unaccompanied  by  the  patient  but  despised  animal. 
Belfast. 
Going  north  my  interest  in  the  scenery  kept  me  from  wearying  until 
Belfast  was  reached,  and  as  there  was  some  time  to  spare  I  made  my 
way  to  the  Botanic  Garden,  which  no  one  outside  Belfast  seemed  to 
know  anything  about.  It  is  easily  accessible  by  tram,  and  on  my 
arrival  there  I  found  that  the  place  was  undergoing  considerable 
alteration.  To  me  it  looked  as  if  it  had  been  somewhat  neglected,  and 
that  it  had  fallen  into  fresh  bands,  who  had  resolved  to  put  it  into  good 
condition.  On  inquiry  I  found  that  this  was  the  case,  and  that  several 
months  before  the  garden,  which  had  belonged  to  a  Society,  had  been 
acquired  by  the  City  Corporation.  New  waiting-rooms  had  been  erected 
at  the  gate,  and  the  glass  department  was  being  thoroughly  overhauled. 
In  front  of  the  conservatory  some  very  effective  beds  were  in  full 
flower.  Begonias  and  other  popular  bedding  plants  being  employed. 
There  is  no  rock  garden,  and  herbaceous  plants  are  not  yet  very  largely 
represented,  except  in  the  beds  devoted  to  the  arrangements  of  the 
natural  orders  of  plants  for  the  use  of  students.  These  beds  seemed 
overcrowded  and  too  small,  but  under  the  new  regime  it  is  likely  that 
they  will  be  taken  in  band.  I  saw  little  new  to  me  except  a  large  plant 
suitable  for  wild  gardening,  named  Achillea  macrophylla,  with  flat  heads 
of  white  flowers. 
Several  young  plants  of  modern  herbaceous  flowers  showed  that  Mr. 
McKimm,  who  is,  I  was  informed,  the  superintendent  of  the  garden,  is 
likely  to  give  this  department  the  attention  it  deserves.  The  grounds, 
which  are  not  very  large,  are  well  wooded,  and  there  is  every  appearance 
of  a  great  improvement  being  made  in  this  garden;  the  only  danger 
being  that  the  stereotyped  arrangements  so  common  in  most  public  parks 
may  be  followed  to  suit  the  popular  taste  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
interesting  features.  Bain  came  on  here,  and  instead  of  spending  any 
more  time  in  the  town,  I  was  glad  to  take  refuge  at  the  station  until  my 
train  started. 
There  was  little  to  note  on  the  way  from  Belfast.  The  train  was 
going  at  a  good  rate,  and  through  the  rain  little  could  be  seen,  a  glimpse 
of  the  bright  flowers  at  the  station  of  Green  Island  being  the  last  feature 
of  floral  interest  on  the  way.  Bain  fell  all  the  way  across  from  Larne  to 
Stranraer,  where  the  train  was  in  waiting.  A  good  run  to  Dumfries 
landed  us  there  about  11  p.m.,  and  I  got  to  rest,  proceeding  to  my  quiet 
home  the  next  morning.  The  farewell  to  Ireland  had  been  said,  and  the 
welcome  home  had  come. 
Thus,  too,  the  end  has  come  to  these  rotes,  which  tell  so  imperfectly 
of  some  happy  days.  Happy  they  were,  and  instructive  too.  When  my 
readers  have  a  few  days  to  spare,  wherever  they  may  be  spent,  may  they 
be  passed  as  pleasantly  and  among  such  kind  friends  as  were  mine.  To 
one  and  all  of  these  friends,  and  to  some  who  introduced  me  to  these, 
are  my  warmest  thanks  due,  We  had  no  jarring  note  in  our  meetings, 
and  the  only  regrets  I  have  are  that  through  a  clerical  error  on  an 
address  I  missed  seeing  a  gentleman  I  should  have  liked  to  have  met, 
and  that  time  did  not  permit  of  a  run  south  to  see  a  garden  at  Queens¬ 
town.  Fate  may,  however,  yet  have  these  pleasures  in  store. — S.  Aenott, 
WINTER  PRUNING. 
Orchards. — Standard  trees  are  frequently  planted  as  they  are 
received  from  nurseries,  neither  then  nor  at  any  time  afterwards  receiving 
aay  pruning.  The  consequence  is  the  trees  are  a  long  time  in  recovering 
fr  <m  the  removal,  and  eventually  grow  up  with  heads  admitting  light 
only  to  the  extremities  of  the  branches.  There  are,  however,  differences 
in  the  habits  of  varieties ;  some  are  of  upright,  others  of  spreading,  and  a 
few  of  semi-pendulous  growth.  Besides,  those  which  spread  have  com- 
piratively  few  branches,  so  that  daylight  has  access  to  the  interior  of  the 
trees  ;  but  other  kinds  produce  a  number  of  growths  and  have  the  head 
^o  dense  that  sunshine  is  as  practically  excluded  from  the  centre  by  the 
exterior  foliage  as  a  person  beneath  an  umbrella. 
In  a  majority  of  trees,  as  they  are  found  in  orchards,  of  what  should 
be  remunerative  there  is  a  great  void  of  suitable  sturdy  growth  for  pro¬ 
ducing  large  and  even-sized  fruit  of  the  respective  varieties,  the  best  for 
such  purpose  being  at  or  near  the  e,xtremities  of  the  branches,  the 
interior  part  of  the  trees,  or  that  not  far  removed  from  the  outside,  pro¬ 
ducing  nothing  but  leaves,  if  those,  and  the  consequence  is  quite  as  much 
small  and  com;  aratively  worthless  fruit  as  of  saleable  produce. 
This  may  be  considered  as  illustrative  of  the  state  of  neglected 
orchards,  but  it  is  a  general  one,  the  trees  in  most  orchards  and  fruit 
pl»ntations  being  no  better  cared  for  than  Crab  trees  in  hedgerows,  yet 
the  owners  complain  of  foreign  competition,  clamour  for  protection,  and 
denounce  fruit  production  as  a  delusion.  No  doubt  it  is  upon  such 
liti°8  as  those  obtaining  in  the  majority  of  orchards,  laden  as  the 
tr.  es  are  with  overgrowths  of  lichen  and  moss,  cramfull  of  dead  and 
dwindling  twigs,  gummed,  cankered  in  branch  and  limb  and  stem,  and 
loaded  with  things  vile  in  the  shape  of  fungi  and  insects. 
In  orchard  and  standard  trees  generally  is  seen  the  acme  of  the 
extension  system,  which  is  successful  or  otherwise  on  trees  on  either  the 
free  or  dwarflng  stock  (to  which  the  system  has  been  extended,  for  it  is 
merely  the  orchard  plan  over  again)  as  they  are  furnished  with  stout 
bearing  wood,  and  the  sun  shining  between  the  branches.  To  secure 
this  some  pruning  is  necessary,  primarily  that  of  shaping,  and  afterwards 
such  manipulation  as  will  continue  the  desired  form  with  all  branches 
so  disposed  as  to  derive  greatest  benefit  from  sun  and  air.  This  does  not 
entail  much  labour  provided  it  is  continued  each  year  from  the  planting, 
irregular  growth  being  shortened  in  order  to  secure  symmetry  and 
branching  at  the  required  place,  thinning  where  too  crowded  or  likely  to 
become  so,  and  keeping  the  branches  from  interlocking  and  crossing 
each  other,  withal  having  the  main  branches  to  form  them  so  far  apart 
as  to  admit  the  body  of  a  person  between  them.  If  this  were  attended  to 
trees  would  come  into  bearing  much  earlier  and  continue  productive  for 
many  years. 
The  foregoing  is  all  we  mean  by  winter  pruning  orchard  trees,  or 
even  plantation  on  either  free  or  dwarfing  stocks.  The  best  time  to 
attend  to  such  matters  is  the  early  part  of  July,  then  the  growths  left 
get  the  benefit  of  the  sun  and  air  for  the  remainder  of  the  season,  and 
the  trees  profit  accordingly  in  the  formation  of  spurs,  development  of 
the  buds,  and  general  solidification  of  growth.  But  summer  pruning,  as 
it  is  called,  is  not  without  its  influence  on  the  health  of  the  tree,  for,  as- 
in  the  case  of  the  Cherry,  there  are  spores  of  parat-ites  about  that  are 
waiting  to  gain  an  access  into  the  tissues,  and  can  only  do  so  through  a 
wound.  This  is  the  case  as  regards  gumming,  hence  the  pruning  of 
Cherries  is  always  best  done  in  the  early  part  of  October,  and  early 
winter  pruning  is  preferable  in  all  cases  of  regulating  young  growths  to 
later.  There  is  then  no  danger  of  the  wound  being  gorged  with  sap  so 
as  to  prevent  its  healing,  the  surface  soon  becomes  dry,  and  therefore  is 
practically  proof  against  frost  causing  dying  back. 
When  orchard  trees  or  any  others  have  been  left  to  take  care  of 
themselves  and  become  mere  thickets,  producing  fruit  little  better  than 
Crabs  in  either  size  or  value  for  use,  the  labour  is  considerable  and  the 
after  results  uncertain,  as  when  overdone  the  trimming  is  followed  by 
an  exuberance  of  sappy  and  close-growing  shoots,  which  does  not  improve 
matters.  There  are,  however,  many  old  trees  that  may  be  restored  to 
profitable  production  by  a  judicious  pruning  at  this  time  of  the  year.  I 
say  this  time,  for  it  is  always  better  to  see  what  should  come  off  when 
the  trees  are  in  leaf  that  when  they  are  leafless.  About  dead  wood  and 
twigs  there  can  be  no  cavil,  but  begin  with  them  and  see  what  a 
difference  it  makes  in  admitting  air,  if  not  light,  to  the  living  parts. 
Follow  that  up  by  thinning  where  there  is  most  crowding,  and  if  that 
be  sufficient  to  let  a  fair  amount  of  light  into  the  tree,  every  part  of  the 
living  spurs  receiving  an  equal  share,  as  they  will  if  the  hand  can  be  got 
between  them,  do  no  more  for  that  season.  Spurs  may  be  thinned 
where  too  crowded,  and  in  most  cases  these  are  so  brittle  as  to  be  easily 
broken  off  close  to  the  branch,  so  that  there  is  little  need  for  the  knife 
or  other  pruning  instrument. 
In  extreme  cases  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  a  saw  for  cutting  out 
branches.  This  should  have  small  teeth  and  be  thin  so  as  to  make  as 
smooth  a  cut  as  possible.  The  cuts  should  be  made  close  to  the  branch 
whence  the  part  removed  proceeds,  and  in  thinning  the  outer 
branches  make  a  point  of  doing  it  at  a  fork,  so  as  not  to  leave  a  stump 
to  produce  useless  spray.  Avoid  overdoing  the  thinning,  but  let  day¬ 
light  into  the  tree  and  let  the  parts  left  be  as  evenly  disposed  as 
possible.  If  the  pruning  be  done  with  care  there  will  not  be  any 
rending  of  the  bark  beyond  the  wounds,  and  these,  if  made  with  a  thin 
saw  with  small  teeth,  will  be  smooth  enough  for  painting  over  with  a 
suitable  substance  without  any  thinning  or  paring  smooth. 
Large  wounds  may  be  coated  with  gas  tar,  taking  care  to  confine  it 
to  the  wound  and  not  smear  it  on  living  bark,  especially  smooth.  Suffice 
if  the  wood  receive  an  even  coat  of  the  tar.  It  will  sink  into  the  wood 
