38 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  9,  1902, 
Morello  Cherries. 
The  pruning  and  training  of  these  on  walls  should  be 
carried  out  on  favourable  occasions.  Mild,  dry  weather  is 
the  most  suitable  time  If  the  trees  are  crowded  with 
branches  that  are  old  and  exhausted,  these  may  be  cut  out, 
which  will  leave  abundant  room  to  furnish  the  vacant  spaces 
with  those  of  a  young  and  vigorous  character,  especially  if 
they  can  be  secured  from  the  base  or  lower  parts  of  the 
main  branches. 
In  retraining,  distribute  the  principal  branches  over  the 
space  available,  leaving  space  for  the  next  largest  or  secon¬ 
dary  branches,  finally  occupying  the  intervening  space  with 
the  young  shoots.  These,  however,  ought  not  to  be  too 
numerous,  though  they  may  be  laid  in  Sin  or  4in  apart.  In 
reducing  the  number  of  these  cut  out  those  not  required 
either  entirely,  or  shorten  them  to  form  spurs.  Not  many, 
however,  of  the  latter  are  required  if  young  shoots  are  avail¬ 
able,  as  the  young  growths  are  productive,  and  can  be 
renewed  annually.  Should  any  of  the  reserved  shoots  require 
shortening,  cut  them  back  to  a  wood  bud.  Endeavour  to 
train  as  straight  as  nossible,  the  growths  being  evenly 
balanced  over  the  trees  as  far  as  possible. 
Should  the  trees  have  been  much  affected  with  scale  or 
red  spider,  a  good  dressing  with  insecticide  should  precede 
the  training,  othenvise  it  will  suffice  to  syringe  them  well 
over  afterwards,  using  a  softsoap  and  petroleum  emulsion 
with  a  good  handful  of  sulphur  mixed  in  to  each  gallon. 
— S.  D. 
- >  • - 
Prunings. 
One  seems  to  get  the  best  grip  of  the  admirable  leader 
by  “H.,”  on  page  503  of  December  5,  last  volume,  in  catch¬ 
ing  hold  of  its  tail,  like  as  a  boy  catches  a  cat.  The  end  of 
the  tale  which  “H.”  unfolds  is  : — “As  a  rule,  the  moderate 
sized  article  is  preferred  for  home  consumption,  and  while 
this  is  so  there  must  be  a  distinction  between  produce  grown 
for  show  and  general  use,  whether  the  fault  be  on  the  side 
of  judges  who  favour  size,  or  consumers  who  do  not.” 
Growers,  judges,  and  consumers  of  garden  produce  seem 
always  more  or  less  disposed  to  each  seek  their  ideals  of 
perfection  from  different  angles  of  vision ;  triangular  points 
sufficient  diametrically  opposed  to  inculcate  confusion.  To 
obviate  this  is  not  an  easy  matter,  but  it  is  an  important 
one,  hence  the  powers  that  preside  over  competition  will 
sooner  or  later  have  to  grip  it  too,  and  evolve  some  clear 
definition  for  the  guidance  of  exhibitors  and  their  judges, 
for,  although  the  chief  end  and  aim  of  vegetable  culture  is 
the  table,  exhibiting,  in  many  cases,  tends  to  run  off  at  right 
angles  from  the  goal,  and  the  exhibitor,  in  playing  at  cross 
purposes  with  th^e  cook,  is  sometimes  run  out.  If  those 
aforesaid  powers  that  be  would,  or  could,  see  their  way  to 
introduce  a  class  for,  say,  a  collection  of  vegetables  best 
suited  for  table  purposes — ^the  cook’s  use — it  would  probably 
settle  the  vexed  question. 
Let  no  exhibitor  think,  however,  that  his  resources  as  a 
grower  would  be  diminished,  for  experience  of  even  our  most 
up-to-date  shows  tends  to  the  inference  that  there  is  ample 
room  for  improvement  apart  from  size.  It  may,  of  course, 
be  said  that  the  judicial  eye,  from  too  long  gazing  in  the 
one  direction,  may  have  a  moral  squint,  and  defeat  the  object 
by  biassed  opinion.  That  is  possible.  Yet  it  is  needless  to 
say  the  best  judges  will  be  employed,  and  we  may  take 
it  nem.  con.  that  the  best  judge  of  what  a  cook  requires  is 
the  cook.  A  jury  of  matrons  may  not  commend  itself  at 
first  sight  to  the  mere  man  gardener,  but  with  lady  gardeners 
in  the  field  this  is,  perhaps,  one  phase,  at  least,  of  garden¬ 
ing  in  which  they  could  beat  him  by  points. 
Size  of  fruit,  in  relation  to  judging,  is  another  tale,  and 
contains  but  little  contentious  matter.  Here  quahty  is 
seldom  sacrificed  to  quantity — size  ;  and  the  noble  Pine,  or 
the  grand  Grapes,  appeal  to  the  eye  as  well  as  the  palate 
without  clashing.  Certainly,  huge  Apples,  or  even  prodigi¬ 
ous  Pears,  may  not  carry  the  highest  value  for  dessert 
purposes  beyond  certain  limits  of  size  which,  if  undefined, 
are  pretty  well  understood ;  whilst  the  monstrous  Melon 
invariably  condemns  itself  by  the  absence  of  all  that  makes 
a  Melon  worth  eating  ;  but  exhibitors,  judges  and  consumers, 
who  are  prone  to  fall  out  over  vegetables  generally,  make 
up  an  undivided  trinity  of  opinion  over  the  fruit,  and  but 
little  room  remains  for  misunderstanding.  In  other  sections 
there  is  room — for  improvement. 
On  page  528  “  Onward  ”  again  tackles  the  relation  of 
gardener  and  estate  agent.  “Doesn’t  get  much  farther  on, 
though ;  how  could  he  1  ”  said  a  critic,  who  summed  up  by 
adding,  “  The  discussion  of  such  matters  does  no  good.” 
The  pruner  does  not  agree  with  that,  for  probably  these 
discussions  do  good,  if  by  stealth,  and  well  it  is  that  “  Our 
Journal”  is  a  mouthpiece  for  men  prone  to  think  much, 
but  say  little  where  they  are  personally  concerned.  If  only 
on  the  “  tell  or  bust  ”  principle,  something  is  done  in  airing 
a  grievance,  yet  results  may  be  wider  and  reach  farther 
than  is  apparent  at  first  sight.  How  sol  Well,  the  broach¬ 
ing  of  these  grievances  is  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge ;  one 
gives  it  a  tap,  and  another  gives  it  a  tap,  until  the  force 
of  argiiment,  if  not  actually  removing  the  obstacle,  place 
the  operator  in  a  position  to  overcome  it.  How  essential 
here  is  tact  and  patience !  Push  and  perseverance  are 
atomic  quantities  by  comparison.  Let  a  man  who  is  handi¬ 
capped  by  agents  or  other  intermediary  obstruction  bottle 
up  his  wrath  till  such  time  as  the  time  comes,  when  he  can 
approach  the  fountain  head  and  judiciously  and  diplomati¬ 
cally  state  his  case.  What  a  privilege  is  the  power  of 
knowing  what  to  say,  how  to  say  it,  and  saying  it  at’  the 
right  time !  . 
“R.’s”  critical  notice  of  Mr.  Toichi  Tsmura’s  lecture  on 
Japanese  dwarf  trees,  page  536,  recalls  a  recent  narrow 
escape  of  the  pruner,  whose  employer,  on  returning  from 
Fogopolis,  sounded  an  alarm  by  saying,  “I  was  near  buying 
a  Japanese  tree  so  many  inches  high  and  so  many  centuries 
old.”  Inches  and  centuries  cannot  now  be  correctly  re¬ 
counted  ;  anyway,  the  tree  in  question  was  like  Paddy’s 
potent  refresher,  very  small  for  its  age.  Much  as  we  may 
admire  the  ingenuity  of  the  clever,  progressive  Japs,  and 
appreciate  their  horticultural  examples  of  skill  and  beauty 
as  evidenced,  for  instance,  in  their  lovely  tree  Pseonies,  of 
which  we  have  here  a  collection,  it  is  questionable  if  ever 
these  far  Eastern  deformities  will  ever  find  favour  with 
British  gardeners.  As  curiosities  they  may  certainly  be 
tolerated  by  a  few,  but  as  long  suffering  specimens  of 
Nature’s  endurance,  these  gnarled  and  twisted  abortions 
will  scarcely  be  welcomed  by  the  many  disciples  of  Nature. 
Give  us,  O  energetic  Japs,  give  us  of  your  good  things — your 
Lilies,  your  Irises,  your  Pseonies  ;  but  keep  your  antique 
pigmy  trees.  Again  a  note  of  thankfulness  for  our  near 
deliverance  from  a  ten-pounder. 
Thanks  to  Mr.  F.  Street  for  his  interesting  articles 
generally,  and  those  upon  tropical  plants  in  particular,  for 
which  we  have  a  “  strong  weakness.”  His  “  Table  Plants,”^ 
page  553,  are  such  as  we  have,  and  such  as  we  love.  How 
beautifully  they  brighten  up  a  house — a  plant  house — and 
how  hard  it  is  to  part  with  them  for  that  other  house  from 
which  there  is  no  returning,  save  only  damaged,  dead,  or 
dying.  The  more  need,  then,  to  take  your  correspondent’s 
advice,  and  Time  by  the  forelock,  in  propagating  a  goodly 
number  of  good  tops  early  in  the  season. 
“  Chrysanthemums  for  Christmas.”  Ah !  blessed  is  the 
man  who  has  a  house  full  of  them.  “  An  Old  Contributor  ” 
gives  a  goodly  list  of  late  flowers  on  page  557,  but  where, 
oh !  where,  “  Old  Contributor,”  is  Niveus,  that  gem  of  the 
whites,  since  growing  which  we  have  grown  none  other  1 
“Switch  on  page  559,  please.”  “Are  you  there?”  Yes, 
indeed,  there  he  is — Mr.  Amott,  true  to  the  life,  in  spite 
of  a  little  dark  overtoning.  And  there,  too,  is  the  story  of 
the  man  and  his  beloved  garden.  “  A  Guid  New  Year  to 
thee,  O  graphic  wielder  of  a  magic  pen,  inspired  by  such 
love  as  would  make  converts  of  the  most  stereotyped  green¬ 
house  gardeners,  bringing  him  out  into  a  world  of  freedom 
amongst  the  hardy  plants,  into  Nature’s  own  kingdom  of 
beauty.  Again  a  Guid  New  Year  to  ane  and  a’.” — Saynor. 
