January  9,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTIGULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
45 
5^  WOKK.foi(theWEEK.  ^ 
ck^LiI 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden. 
PLANTING  BUSH  FRUIT. — Currants,  Gooseberries,  and 
Raspberries  still  requiring  to  be  planted  may  be  placed  in  the 
ground  on  the  first  favourable  opportunity,  when  the  holes  for 
the  reception  of  the  roots  can  be  prepared  without  the  soil 
sticking  to  boots  and  tools.  It  is  a  good  plan  at  this  season 
when  planting  to  prepare  a  heap  of  compost  of  a  dry,  crumbly 
character,  intermixing  for  the  purpose  wood  ashes,  old  potting 
soil,  and  decayed  manure.  These  materials,  mixed  and  kept 
under  cover  until  wanted,  will  be  found  admirable  to  sprinkle 
over  the  roots  when  planting.  If  all  the  injured  roots  are  pruned 
smoothly  and  spread  out  carefully,  they  will  quickly  emit  fresh 
fibres,  and  the  new  growth  in  spring  will  be  vigorous  and  free. 
Give  ample  space  for  the  bushes,  6ft  not  being  too  much  for 
Gooseberries  and  Currants.  Raspberries  may  be  planted  in 
clumps  3ft  to  4ft  apart,  or  in  lines  5ft  apart.  A  mulching  of 
light,  short  manure  will  serve  as  a  protection  against  frost. 
CORDON  GOOSEBERRIES  AND  CURRANTS.— Growing 
Gooseberries  and  Currants  as  cordons  on  walls  and  trellises  is  an 
interesting  method  of  growing  these  fruits,  and  is  particularly 
suitable  for  affording  a  late  supply  of  fruit,  especially  when 
grown  on  north  walls.  The  soil  ought  to  be  prepared  not  less 
than  2ft  wide,  and  the  same  in  depth,  at  the  foot  of  the  wall  or 
fence.  Single  cordons  may  be  planted  Gin  to  Sin  apart,  training 
one  shoot  uprightly.  One  plant  may  be  trained  to  furnish  three 
shoots,  in  which  case  plant  ISiii  apart,  and  cut  down  the  growth 
to  a  limited  number  of  buds  at  the  base.  When  they  push  in 
spring  select  three  of  the  best — one  to  train  upright,  and  the 
others,  one  on  each  side  outwardly,  but  allowing  them  to  grow 
the  first  season  in  an  upward  dii-ection.  The  following  season 
prune  back  to  a  bud  at  a  distance  of  Gin  from  the  central  stem 
Also  shorten  the  latter  to  equalise  growth,  and  train  from  each 
a  leading  growth  in  an  upward  direction.  The  side  growths 
which  push  from  the  older  parts  of  the  upright  stem  the  following 
year  must  be  summer  pruned  and  shortened  back  to  form  spurs 
in  winter.  If  the  leading  growths  are  pruned  back  one- third 
each  season,  the  side  growths  will  push  regularly,  and  these 
spurred  in  to  one  or  two  buds  annually -will  produce  fruit. 
HEADING  BACK  TREES  FOR  GRAFTING.— Old,  healthy, 
but  unfruitful  trees  it  is  intended  to  improve  by  grafting,  ought 
now  to  have  the  main  stems  shortened  back  to  near  the  point 
it  is  proposed  to  insert  the  grafts. 
CUTTING  SCIONS. — Scions  from  Apples  and  Pears  should 
be  well  ripened  shoots  of  last  summer’s  wood.  They  ought  to 
be  cut  now,  being  perfectly  dormant,  tied  together  with  names 
of  varieties  attached,  and  laid  in  in  moist  soil  under  a  north  wall. 
— Lymington,  Hants. 
Fruit  Forcing. 
waterings,  as  this  only  hinders  root  action,  and  favours  soft 
growths  with  their  flabby  leaves.  A  heap  of  fermenting  materia^ 
on  the  floor  about  18in  deep,  turning  a  portion  of  it  daily,  is 
conducive  to  an  even  break,  and  favours  speedy  growth. 
Where  this  cannot  be  secured  sprinkle  the  floors  and  borders 
in  the  afternoon  with  liquid  manure,  the  neat  drainings  of 
stables  and  cowhouses,  diluted  with  six  times  the  quantity  of 
water.  This  will  in  due  course  decompose,  and  ammonia  be 
liberated,  which,  being  volatile,  form  with  the  moisture  also 
given  off  from  the  soil  an  ammonia-charged  atmosphere  highly 
conducive  to  rapid  vegetation. 
inie  outside  borders  should  be  amply  protected  against  frost, 
for  the  roots  cannot  derive  nor  transmit  nourishment  from  a 
frozen  soil.  If  the  roots  of  the  Vines  are  entirely  outside  the 
border  should  have  a  good  supply  of  fermenting  material,  and  if 
this  may  not  be  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  material,  afford  dry 
litter,  or  fern, 'or  leaves,  so  as  to  modify  in  some  measure  the 
chilling  tendency  of  cold  rains  or  snow.  Atterid  to  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  the  stems,  for  if  these  become  frozen  it  is  likely  the  crop 
will  he  destroyed,  if  not  the  Vines,  down  to  where  frozen. 
Sprinkle  the  Vines  two  or  three  times  a  day  in  bright,  di'y 
weather,  occasionally  only  in  dull.  Maintain  a  night  tempera¬ 
ture  of  50deg  to  55deg,  GOdeg  to  Godeg  by  day,  ventilating 
freely  about  65deg,  and  close  at  that  point.  The  rod  and  canes 
of  young  Vines  should  be  placed  in  a  horizontal  position,  or  lower, 
to  secure  the  buds  breaking  with  regularity.— St.  Albans. 
Publications  Received. 
Quarterly  Leaflet  of  the  Women’s  Agricultural  and  Horticultural 
International  Union  ;  December,  1901.-  Straker,  Ludgate  Hill,  E.C. 
*  *  hulustrial  Canada :  Convention  number,  120  pages.  Issued 
by  the  Canadian  Manufacturers’  Association.  *  *  Gartenflora : 
coloured  plate  of  Prunus  Pseudo-Cerasus  Watereri.  *  *  Sunset: 
a  Californian  monthly,  general  magazine.  *  *  Sale  of  Food  ^and 
Drugs  Act  (copy  of):  Board  of  Agriculture.  *  *  Women's  Agri¬ 
cultural  Times. 
•  Trade  Circulars. 
Win.  Wood  &  Son,  Ltd.,  Wood  Green,  London,  N. 
Trade  Catalogues  Received. 
Barr  &  Sons,  11,  12,  and  13,  King  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London. — 
Seeds. 
George  Bunyard  &  Co.,  The  Royal  Nurseries,  Maidstone. — Seeds. 
H.  Cannell  &  Sons,  Swanley,  Kent. — Chrysant'liemums. 
Clibrans’,  10  and  12,  Market  Street,  Manchester. — Seeds. 
Wm.  Cutbush  &  Son,  Highgate,  London,  N. — Seeds. 
W.  Drummond  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  57  and  58,  Dawson  Street,  DubUn. — 
Seeds. 
W.  J.  Godfrey,  The  Nurseries,  Exmouth,  Devon. — Chrysanthemums. 
Kent  &  Brydon,  Royal  Seed  Establishment,  Darlington. — Seeds. 
Little  (fe  Ballantyne,  The  Royal  Seed  and  Nursery  Establishment,. 
Carlisle. — Seeds. 
Albert  Upstone,  Seed  Warehouse,  Rotherham,  Yorks. — Seeds. 
EARLY  VINERIES. — Careful  attention  must  be  given  to 
these  in  ventilating  so  as  not  to  admit  cold  draughts  of  air, 
which  cripples  the  foliage  and  produces  rust  on  the  berries.  Dis¬ 
bud  when  the  best  shows  for  fruit  are  discernible  in  the  points 
of  growth,  and  he  the  shoots  down  before  theiy  points  touch  the 
glass.  In  stopping,  be  guided  by  the  space  at  command.  If 
the  distance  between  the  rods  does  not  admit  of  much  extension 
beyond  the  bunch,  stop  one  or  two  joints  above  it,  always  allow¬ 
ing  space  for  one  or  two  joints  of  lateral  extension.  But  where 
there  is  room  stop  three  or  four  joints  beyond  the  show  for 
fruit,  nipping  off  the  points  of  the  shoots  when  the  leaf  at  the 
stopping  joint  is  about  the  size  of  a  penny,  and  the  tendrils  as 
they  form.  Extend  the  laterals  so  that  an  even  spread  of  growth 
will  be  insured,  but  do  not  crowd  the  trellis  with  more  foliage 
than  can  be  fully  exposed  to  light.  Remove  all  superfluous 
bunches,  overcropping  being  the  precursor  of  deficiency  of  colour, 
and  some  say  of  shanking  in  the  Grapes.  When  the  flowers  open 
maintain  a  night  temperature  of  70deg  to  75deg  when  mild,  about 
5deg  less  if  severe  weather  prevail,  and  insure  moderate 
humidity  in  the  atmosphere.  Where  fermenting  materials  have 
been  employed  in  the  house,  do  not  allow  the  heat  to  decline 
at  this  critical  stage,  but  make  additions  of  sweetened  material 
as  required  to  maintain  the  heat  of  that  in  the  house  with 
regularity. 
AHNES  STARTED  AT  THE  NEW  YEAR.— The  inside 
border  must  be  brouglit  into  a  thoroughly  moist  condition  by  re¬ 
peated  waterings  or  liquid  manure  not  less  in  temperature  than 
the  mean  of  the  house.  The  liquid  manure  will  enrich  the  soil, 
and  its  value  will  be  seen  later  in  the  increased  chlorophyll  in 
the  leaves  and  the  berries.  This  means  good  colour  later  on  ; 
but  avoid  making  the  soil  sodden  and  sour  by  needless  early 
- - 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Chiswick. 
Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens  at  Chiswick — 
height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Temperatuie  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
o 
1901-2. 
.2'S 
•AS 
?  ^ 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
.s 
5 
At 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4  ft. 
deep. 
U  . 
D  CD 
S  g  g 
December 
and 
January. 
O 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
•AS 
CG 
<u 
bo 
S 
•AS 
CO 
Q) 
O 
i4 
1-ft. 
deep. 
j  g  B 
S  o 
Sunday  ...29 
s.w. 
deg. 
42-5 
deg. 
41-2 
deg. 
52-1 
deg. 
39-3 
Ins. 
0-35 
deg. 
369 
deg. 
393 
deg. 
44-0 
deg. 
33-8 
Monday  ...30 
s.w. 
5C1 
50-8 
55-9 
40-4 
0-13 
38-9 
40-0 
43-8 
38-5 
Tuesday  ..31 
s.w. 
53-4 
51-8 
55T 
51-5 
0  05 
42-4 
411 
43-7 
48-8 
Wed'sday  1 
s.w. 
44-9 
43T 
52-5 
42-9 
0-20 
44-4 
42-7 
44  0 
36-3 
Thursday  2 
s.w. 
45-9 
43.9 
51-6 
43-5 
— 
44-4 
43-3 
44-1 
39-6 
Friday  ...  3 
S.E. 
38-2 
37-6 
52-8 
37-8 
— 
43T 
43-8 
44-5 
28-3 
Saturday  4 
s.w. 
51-4 
49-6 
52-4 
38-0 
015 
44-7 
43-9 
44-8 
35-2 
Mhans  ... 
469 
45-4 
53-2 
41-9 
Total. 
0-88 
42-1 
42-0 
44-1 
37-2 
_ _  . 
Mild  wet  weather  has  been  the  prevailing  feature  during  the  past, 
week.  Sunday  last  was  an  especially  fine  day. 
i  vj 
JO'* 
