March  6  190^.^  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER* 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden. 
PROTECTING  APRICOT  TREES.— Apricot  trees  are  among 
the  earliest  to  flower,  especially  when  situated  on  warm,  sunny 
walls.  It  is  all  the  better  for  the  trees  if  a  cold  period  prevails 
previous  to  and  at  this  time,  and  keeps  the  trees  back ;  but  when 
the  buds  commence  to  swell  rapidly,  and  the  flowers  to  op^, 
protection  is  necessai'y  to  avoid  the  expanded  flowers  having 
their  essential  organs  damaged  by  frost  or  otherwise.  The 
best  arrangement  for  protection  consists  of  a  coping  board  fixed 
along  the  top  of  the  wall,  upon  which  protecting  material  can 
be  hung  in  such  a  manner  that  it  can  be  drawn  on  one  side  when 
it  is  not  necessary  to  keep  it  in  position.  The  use  of  any  heavy, 
light-excluding  material  will  do  harm  if  not  removed  when  a 
favourable  time  permits  of  it.  It  may  be  used  on  sunny,  warm 
days  before  the  flowers  open  to  prevent  them  coming  along  too 
fast;  but  on  other  occasions  draw  on  one  side.  Pernianent  pro¬ 
tection  in  the  shape  of  several  thicknesses  of  netting  hung  in 
front  of,  but  not  touching,  the  trees  is  excellent,  as  it  does  not 
exclude  the  light  and  a  constant  circulation  of  air.  This  may 
remain  until  the  necessity  no  longer  exists  of  affording  any 
lirotection  whatever.  The  great  point  is  to  have  the  fixings  and 
materials  so  far  in  readiness  that  they  may  be  used  at  short 
notice  when  required. 
FILBERTS  AND  COB  NUTS.— The  leading  shoots  of  young 
plants  must  be  shortened  to  cause  side  growths  to  push,  and  any 
crowded  growths  thinned  out  entirely,  leaving  the  trees  or  bushes 
well  balanced.  Older  and  well  established  bushes  may  be 
pruned  when  the  female  buds  are  on  the  point  of  opening.  In 
pruning,  as  many  as  possible  of  these  should  be  left,  though 
there  should  be  no  hesitation  whatever  in  removing  crowded 
branches  for  the  ultimate  benefit  of  the  ti’ees.  A  fair  number 
of  branches  must  be  left  containing  catkins,  the  pollen  on  these 
being  essential  for  the  fertilisation  of  the  pistillate  flowers.  The 
latter  are  easily  known  by  the  tufts  of  crimson  styles  protruding 
from  the  buds.  The  catkins  are  slender  and  drooping,  and  when 
fully  developed  have  a  pale  yellow  appearance,  the  ripe  pollen 
giving  it  this  character.  Should  there  be  a  deficiency  in  the 
number  of  the  catkins  on  any  of  the  trees,  cut  some  from  others 
and  hang  about.  Shake  the  catkms  when  dry  in  order  to  dis¬ 
tributed  he  pollen.  Overgrown  bushes  or  trees  may  be  shortened 
freely  back,  and  young  wmod  encouraged.  There  are  usually 
suitable  growths  near  the  base  which  will  take  the  place  of  old, 
worn-out  branches,  and  improve  the  bushes  in  shape  and  size. 
After  the  catkins  have  shed  all  the  pollen,  any  of  the  unnecessary 
parts  may  be  cut  out,  and  the  trees  relieved  of  much  un- 
necessai-y  wood. 
PLANTING  GOOSEBERRIES  AND  CURRANTS.— At  the 
present  time  the  planting  of  quite  small  trees  and  bushes,  either 
for  walls,  fences,  or  in  the  open,  may  be  cari-ied  out;  but  the 
sooner  the  work  can  be  done  the  better,  providing  the  soil  is 
in  a  suitable  condition.  Spring  planting  is  not  preferable  to 
autunm  planting,  but  it  is  necessary  sometimes,  and  with  care 
in  planting  healthy,  well-rooted  trees  and  bushes,  there  is  no 
reason  why  they  should  not  do  well.  See  that  the  ground  is 
well  prepared,  digging  deeply  and  manuring  freely.  As  a  good 
start  to  making  growth,  spread  among  the  roots  when  planting 
some  fresh  material,  laying  them  all  out  straight. _  Work  the 
soil  about  them  firmly,  and  afford  a  light  mulching  of  long 
manure. 
BLACKBERRIES  AND  LOGANBERRIES.— There  is  still 
time  to  plant  these  so  that  a  fair  start  may  be  made  during  the 
coming  season ;  but  no  fruit  should  be  allowed  to  be  bome.  The 
ground  should  be  dug  or  trenched  deeply,  adding  abundance  of 
manure,  as  it  is  practically  impossible  to  make  the  ground  too 
rich  for  those.  Secure  moderately  strong  suckers  having  a  nice 
lot  of  fibrous  roots;  in  fact,  roots  of  this  character  are  really  of 
more  importance  for  the  future  sxiccess  of  the  plants  than  strong 
stems  at  this  stage,  because  it  will  be  necessary  to  cut  them 
down  closely  for  securing  future  strong  growths.  These  will 
is.suo  from  the  base  of  the  present  stems,  and  if  the  root  action 
is  strong,  fine  growths  will  ensue  in  the  course  of  the  season. 
The  roots  may  be  planted  8ft  apart  in  rows  5ft  asunder,  and 
the  growths  can  be  trained  on_  wires  attached  to  posts  at  each 
end  of  rows.  After  plantmg  is  completed,  mulch  the  ground 
with  manure  of  a  light,  open  character.  Later  on  in  the  season 
it  may  bo  found  necessary  to  water  so  as  to  encourage  growth ; 
but  for  some  time  this  will  be  unnecessary,  especially  in  a  strong 
holding  soil.  Established  plants  of  these  may,  if  not  previously 
done,  receive  a  mulching  of  rich  manure. 
RASPBERRIES.  —  Cut  newly-planted  Raspberries  down  - 
closely  to  the  ground,  whether  they  were  planted  in  the  autumn 
or  have  only  recently  been  inserted.  Established  plantations  of 
Raspberries  w'hich  have  been  pruned  and  tied  up,  but  the  tips 
left  to  be  shortened  in  spring,  can  now  be  pruned  back  to  ripe 
wood.  A  liberal  mulching  of  rich  manure  is  appreciated  by 
Raspberries ;  therefore,  it  is  desirable  to  replenish  the  autumn 
mulching  by  another  dressing  applied  now. 
STRAWBERRIES.— The  soil  about  the  roots  of  young  Straw¬ 
berries  should  be  made  fii'in  where  it  has  been  loosened  by  tlie 
frosts.  Where  it  is  intended  to  form  beds  of  Strawberries  this, 
spring  the  ground  must  forthwith  be  prepared,  digging  the  soil 
to  a  fair  depth,  moving  the  subsoil,  and  adding  decomposed 
manure  if  the  ground  should  be  poor  in  quality.  Make  the- 
ground  before  planting.— Lymington,  Hants. 
Fruit  Forcing. 
VINES:  EARLY  FORCED  IN  POTS.— The  earliest  forced 
are  taking  the  last  swelling  in  the  berries,  w'hich  they  do  best 
with  a  fair  amount  of  lateral  extension,  especially  above  the 
fruit;  but  Vines  in  pots  do  not  extend  much  when  fully 
cropped,  therefoi'e  little  pinching  will  be  required.  To  promote 
a  good  swelling  of  the  Grapes,  supply  liquid  manure  at  every 
watering,  not  making  the  soil  sodden,  for  that  commonly  results 
in  shanking,  but  allowing  it  to  become  fairly  dry,  then  afford  a 
thorough  supply.  Ventilate  at  70deg,  increasing  it  with  the  sun 
heat  to  85deg,  and  close  sufficiently  early  to  maintain  it,  and  if 
with  an  advance  of  90deg  all  the  better.  The  beds,  paths,  and 
walls  may  be  sprinkled  two  or  three  times  a  day  with  water,  so 
as  to  maintain  a  genial  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  continuing 
this  until  colouring  commences,  when  a  drier  condition  of  tlie 
atmosphere  will  be  more  favourable  to  good  colour  and  finish. 
EARLY  FORCED  PLANTED-OUT  VINES.— When  the 
berries  are  set  attention  must  be  given  to  thinning  directly  it 
can  be  seen  Avhich  have  been  properly  fertilised  by  their  taking  . 
the  lead  in  SAvelling.  Remove  badly  set  and  ill-shapen  clusters, 
striving  to  secure  a  crop  of  compact,  good  shaped,  well  furnished 
bunches,  properly  SAvelled  berries,  and  perfect  in  colour  and 
finisli.  AIIoav  laterals  to  extend  beyond  the  bunches  where  there 
is  room  for  the  exposure  of  the  foliage  to  light ;  but  do  not 
encourage  growth  to  the  prejudice  of  the  pi’incipal  leaves. 
Attend  frequently  to  stopping,  for  the  alternate  checks  to  root 
action,  consequent  on  removing  large  amounts  of  groAvths, 
nullify  the  acceleration  of  their  formation,  and  are  attended  with 
bad  consequences  to  both  foliage  and  fruit.  Maintain  a  night 
temperature  of  GOdeg  to  65deg,  and  70deg  to  75deg  by  day,  com¬ 
mencing  to  Amntilate  from  70deg,  and  keeping  through  the  day 
at  80deg  to  85deg  from  sun  heat,  closing  between  those  tem¬ 
peratures,  damping  at  the  time.  Afford  thorough  supplies  of 
liquid  manure  to  inside  borders  at  intervals  as  necessary  to  keep 
the  soil  in  a  moist,  healthy  condition,  supplying  the  liquid  after 
moistening  the  soil  with  Avater,  or  top-dress  Avitli  fertiliser  and 
AA'ash  in.  In  the  case  of  borders  of  open  material  or  limited 
areas,  mulch  with  a  couple  of  inches  thickness  of  SAveetened  short 
stable  manure.  If  this  is  quite  fresh  there  is  danger  of  tlie 
ammonia  oA'olved  prejudicially  affecting  the  foliage.  ^\void 
syringing  the  Grapes,  as,  hoAvever  clear  and  soft  the  Avater  may  be 
there  is  almost  certain  to  be  a  sediment,  Avhich  may  not  appear 
until  the  fruit  ripens,  and  then  it  is  a  great  blemish  on  an 
otherAviso  well  finished  crop. 
VINES  STARTED  AT  THE  NEW  YE.VR.— Commence  disbud¬ 
ding  as  soon  as  the  best  shoAvs  can  be  determined ;  but  it  is  wise 
to  let  this  be  plain,  as  any  scrutiny  of  the  points  of  the  shoots 
by  forcible  means  more  or  less  damages  the  groAvth.  It  is  also 
desirable  to  let  the  shoots  groAv  up  to  the  light,  alAA'ays  attending 
to  tying  in  time  to  prevent  the  points  touching  the  glass  and  in 
bringing  down  be  careful  not  to  snap  the  groAvth  at  the  bast*,  or 
cause  it  to  bi'eak  at  the  point  by  too  abrupt  depression,  .\11oav 
no  more  groAvth  to  remain  than  can  have  full  exposure  to  light, 
not  only  for  the  principal  leaves,  but  a  fair  amount  of  lateral 
groAvth.  Stopping  is  best  attended  to  Avhilst  the  groAvths  are 
forming,  the  leaf  at  the  stopping  joint  being  about  the  size  of  a 
halfpenny.  Allow  at  least  tAVO,  and,  if  possible,  three  or  four 
joints  beyond  the  bunch,  stopping  all  latei'als  beloAV  the  fruit  at 
the  first  joint,  or  they  may  be  rubbed  off,  except  from  the  two 
loAvest  Icxaves.  The  laterals  from  these  should  be  pinched  at  the 
first  leaf,  and  any  subsequent  growths  from  them  pinched  at 
every  leaf ;  but  thoso  on  a  level  AA'ith  or  above  the  fruit  may  be 
alloAA'ed  to  extend  as  space  permits,  always  stopping  eply  enough 
for  securing  subsequent  groAvth,  and  Avith  space  for  its  d^evelop- 
inent.  Wlicn  in  flower,  afford  a  night  temperature  of  Godeg  l() 
70deg,  Avith  80deg  to  8odeg  from  sun  heat,  Vines  set  the  fruit 
most  satisfactorilv  AA’hen  the  atmospheric  moisture  is  not  <’  ^ce.s- 
sive  during  the  floAvering  period;  but  an  over-dry  atmo.spheri' 
must  be  avoided.  Artificial  impregnation  is  desirable  _f(w  tli- 
shy-setting  varieties.  In  the  case  of  Afuscats  fertilisauon  is  a 
necessity, 'keeping  the  points  of  the  bunches  well  up  to  the  light  ; 
