August  8,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
139 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden. 
Strawberries. —  Cleaning  Beds. — The  bulk  of  the  Strawberry  crop  is 
over,  and  attention  is  now  required  by  established  beds  in  the  matter 
of  removing  runners  and  weeds.  After  the  recent  heavy  rain  both 
runners  and  weeds  will  grow  remarkably  quickly,  and  become  aorowded 
mass  of  luxuriant  vegetation,  which  is  of  course  robbing  the  soil  of 
much  nutriment,  and  hindering  the  established  plants  receiving  a  due 
supply  of  food  and  moisture  for  building  up  the  buds  for  the  succeeding 
year.  Strong,  deep-rooted  weeds  are  difficult  to  eradicate,  but  in  the 
prooess  of  clearing  the  beds  a  good  opportunity  is  afforded  of  forking 
them  out  entirely.  If  runners  are  wanted  for  forming  new  beds  the 
best  of  them  must  be  selected  during  the  process  of  clearing,  removing 
all  weeds  and  superfluous  wires,  and  leaving  them  clear  upon  the 
ground,  ready  for  lifting  and  planting  at  the  first  opportunity,  if  that 
is  likely  to  be  soon.  If  not,  lift  and  plant  them  temporarily  on  good, 
firm,  but  not  rich  ground,  endeavouring  to  do  so  with  balls  of  soil 
attached. 
Mooting  Runners. — Where  young  and  promising  plantlets  are  not 
sufficiently  rooted,  small  mounds  of  soil  should  be  raised  about  them, 
and  they  may  be  secured  upon  them  with  pegs  or  a  stone.  They  will 
soon  root  into  the  material,  and  form  thrifty  young  plants  with  an 
abundance  of  roots.  Cut  off  the  wires  beyond  the  plantlet,  and  imme¬ 
diately  rooting  commences  detach  the  wire  from  the  parent  plant. 
Care  ought  to  betaken  to  root  only  runners  from  fruitful  plants.  Pots 
may  be  employed  to  root  the  runners  in  if  this  method  is  more 
convenient.  Partially  sink  the  pots  in  the  soil,  so  as  to  steady  them 
and  prevent  rapid  drying.  Secure  the  runners  on  the  soil  with  a  stone, 
and  give  water  daily  in  dry  weather.  Sometimes  water  will  be  necessary 
twice  daily. 
Spring -planted  Beds. — The  plants  ought  now  to  be  strong,  healthy, 
and  stocky.  Runners  will  again  be  forming  upon  them,  and  should  be 
removed  close  to  the  plants.  Also  clear  away  weeds,  and  slightly  hoe 
over  the  ground  between  the  rows.  Cleanliness  of  the  soil  will  all  be 
in  favour  of  the  plants  making  bold  crowns.  This  is  better  than  the 
production  of  luxuriant  foliage.  Mulching  the  soil  heavily  with  manure 
the  first  season  is  productive  of  the  latter  in  very  young  stock,  and 
should  not  be  practised. 
Preparing  Ground  for  Ntiv  Beds. — The  preparation  of  the  soil  for 
lantiDg  new  beds  should  be  proceeded  with  as  soon  as  possible.  Deep 
igging,  if  not  trencbiDg,  is  essential,  and  the  application  of  plenty  of 
manure  well  worked  in.  Where  the  ground  has  not  been  well  worked 
for  some  time,  trenching  ought  to  be  the  rule,  especially  if  new  beds 
have  to  be  made  on  the  same  site  as  old  ones.  It  is  advisable  where 
practicable  to  prepare  a  fresh  situation,  as  Strawberries,  like  other 
things,  enjoy  a  change  of  ground.  In  trenching,  the  complete  reversal 
of  the  spit 8  of  soil  can  be  carried  out  if  the  subsoil  is  good,  but  if  this 
is  not  the  case  then  bastard  trenching  should  be  adopted  ;  that  is, 
deeply  working  the  gronnd,  but  leaving  the  spits  of  soil  in  the  same 
position  as  before.  Before  planting  make  the  ground  firm  by  treading 
well  in  dry  weather. 
Planting. — So  long  as  plants  are  well  prepared  by  seeing  that  they 
are  well  furnished  with  roots  before  transferring  them  to  their  position, 
there  is  but  little  fear  that  they  will  succeed.  If  rooted  in  pots  or 
turves  both  should  be  well  furnished  with  abundance  of  roots,  and  the 
material  must  be  moist.  From  the  open  lift  runners  with  balls  of  soil 
attached,  and  plant  at  once  without  the  soil  becoming  dry.  The  rows 
may  be  from  2  feet  to  2  feet  6  itches  apart,  the  plants  being  placed 
from  18  to  22  inches  asunder  in  the  rows.  Should  the  weather  be  very 
dry  at  the  time  of  planting  place  each  plant  in  a  shallow  basin,  so 
that  water  can  be  readily  applied  until  they  are  established.  When 
they  have  an  ample  amount,  of  soil  attached  to  the  roots  planting  is 
an  easy  matter,  but  when  the  roots  are  bare  they  ought  to  be  spread 
out  on  small  mounds,  carefully  covering  them  from  the  crown  outwards 
in  order  not  to  turn  up  tie  points  of  the  roots.  Make  the  soil  firm 
about  them. 
Protecting  Wall  Fruit. — It  is  very  important  to  protect  ripe  Apricots, 
Peaches,  Nectarines,  and  Cherries,  also  Gooseberries  and  Currants,  from 
attacks  by  birds,  wasps,  and  flies.  Very  choice  specimens  of  the 
former  fruits  may  be  separately  protected  by  enclosing  each  in  muslin 
bags,  which  will  also  prevent  them  being  injured  by  premature  falling. 
To  enclose  the  whole  trees  hexagon  netting  is  suitable  material,  and  ic 
ought  to  be  hung  so  that  it  is  able  to  catch  any  falling  fruits,  but  much 
fruit  may  be  gathered  in  excellent  condition  before  it  is  ready  to  fall. 
Many  wasps  and  flies  may  be  attracted  into  wide-mouthed  bottles  hung 
about  the  trees  if  these  are  half  filled  with  honey  water  or  sweetened 
beer.  In  old  walls  earwigs  and  woodlice  are  troublesome.  Their 
depredations  may  be  largely  prevented  by  giving  due  attention  at  the 
proper  time  to  filling  up  holes  and  cracks  between  the  bricks,  or 
repointing.  Ripe  Red  and  White  Currants  may  be  kept  some  time  on 
north  or  east  walls  if  a  good  net  is  hung  in  front.  The  side  shoots  may 
be  well  shortened  back  to  enable  the  fruit  having  the  benefit  of  a  good 
circulation  of  air,  and  so  that  the  net  can  hang  with  the  least  possible 
obstruction.  The  summer  pruning  of  wall  Plum  trees  should  be 
completed  in  order  that  the  ripening  fruit  may  be  protected  as  soon  as 
colouring  commences. — Lymington,  Hants. 
Fruit  Forcing, 
Cherry  House. — The  trees  that  were  started  early  in  the  year  are 
ripe  in  wood  and  plump  in  bud.  The  leaves,  too,  will  not  be  oapable  of 
much  further  effort  in  elaborating  the  sap  and  storing  it  in  the  buds 
and  adjacent  wood,  therefore  undue  excitement  will  cause  the  trees  to 
start  into  growth,  whioh  must  be  guarded  against  by  exposure  to 
atmospheric  influences  as  far  as  the  house  will  admit,  which  is  the  best 
means  of  averting  premature  growth,  to  which  the  Cherry  is  liable 
when  forced  year  after  year  successively.  The  border  must  not  be 
allowed  to  become  parohingly  dry,  but  have  a  copious  supply  of  water 
when  necessary  for  keeping  it  in  a  moist  condition,  and  if  the  trees  are 
weak  afford  liquid  manure.  To  subdue  red  spider,  give  an  occasional 
watering  with  the  garden  engine  or  syringe,  and,  if  needful,  apply  an 
insecticide,  but  by  all  means  remove  the  roof-lights,  the  cleansing 
influence  of  rain  and  invigorating  tendency  of  dew,  with  the  thorough 
moistening  of  the  border,  having  a  beneficial  effect.  Black  fly,  or  Aphis 
cerasi,  oan  hardly  be  kept  from  Cherry  trees  for  any  length  of  time,  but 
the  leaves  and  wood  at  this  season,  from  their  hard  texture,  are  not 
inviting  to  them,  yet  if  they  appear  on  the  laterals  promptly  use 
quassia  extract,  nicotine  soap,  tobacco  water,  or  dust  the  affected  parts 
with  snuff  or  tobacco  powder  after  damping  them.  The  narcotic  is 
fatal  to  these  somewhat  hardly-killed  inseots,  and  it  deters  egg 
deposition  on  the  young  shoots. 
Cherry  trees  in  pots  are  the  most  interesting  of  all  fruits  grown 
that  way  ;  they  offer  such  a  variety,  and  afford  fruit  o'er  so  long  a. 
period,  that  it  is  remarkable  they  are  not  more  commonly  seen.  With 
very  slight  forcing  they  ripen  the  crop  in  May,  and  continue  to  afford 
a  succession  up  to  August.  In  a  house  without  heat,  but  light  and 
well  ventilated,  ripe  Cherries  can  be  had  early  in  June,  and  a 
succession  may  be  maintained,  with  proper  care,  up  to  September 
inclusive.  Belle  d’Ot  leans,  Early  Rivers,  Empress  Eugenie,  May 
Duke,  Arohduke,  Governor  Wood,  Black  Eagle,  Emperor  Francis, 
Florence,  and  many  other  varieties  are  excellent.  For  planting  out, 
Early  Rivers,  Elton,  Governor  Wood,  and  Black  Tartarian  afford 
good  crops  of  large  fruit.  Trees  in  pots  must  be  regularly  watered 
and  syringed  to  maintain  the  foliage  in  health  as  loug  as  possible. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines.  —  Early  Forced  Trees.  —  In  the  houses 
started  in  December  or  January  to  give  a  supply  of  ripe  fruit  early 
in  May,  the  trees  will  soon  part  with  some  of  their  lerves,  but  it  must 
not  be  accelerated  by  the  roots  being  deprived  of  moisture,  for  it  is 
important  that  the  soil  be  kept  in  a  moist  yet  not  a  saturated 
condition,  as  the  former  will  .cause  the  buds  to  drop  and  the  latter 
induce  premature  growth,  both  of  whioh  must  be  guarded  against. 
As  a  safeguard  against  casting  the  buds,  allow  such  lateral  extension 
as  is  necessary  to  appropriate  any  excess  of  sap,  a  few  green  laterals 
doing  that  perfectly.  Eaily  forced  trees  do  not  usually  make  strong 
growth,  and  they  form  far  too  many  blossom  buds,  therefore  the 
pruning  needs  to  be  carefully  performed,  as  many  are  mainly  studded 
with  that  description  of  buds,  with  wood  buds  at  the  base  and 
extremity  only,  and  it  is  necessary  to  retain  a  wood  bud  at  the  latter 
point,  not  cutting  back  next  year’s  bearing  wood  unless  the  shoots  are 
of  great  length,  and  then  to  a  wood  bud.  Where  disbudding  has  been 
properly  attended  to,  no  more  wood  being  retained  than  is  required 
to  replace  the  bearing  shoots  of  the  current  year  and  to  renew  worn- 
out  growths,  as  well  as  to  supply  wood  for  the  proper  extension  of  the 
trees,  very  little  pruning  will  be  needed.  Weakly  trees  require  the 
smaller  growths  out  out,  so  as  to  impart  more  vigour  to  those  retained, 
for  the  weak  shoots  afford  much  smaller  fruit  than  the  moderately 
vigorous  and  well-ripened  growths.  Some  trees  grow  too  vigorously, 
and  must  be  lifted  to  induce  a  sturdy  fruitful  habit,  and  weakly  trees 
should  have  the  old  soil  carefully  removed  from  amongst  the  roots, 
supplying  fresh  turfy  loam  of  a  calcareo-argillaceous  nature.  Give  a 
good  watering  both  to  the  lifted  trees  and  to  those  that  have  had 
the  soil  removed  about  the  roots.  These  operations  require  to  be 
performed  as  soon  as  the  leaves  are  mature  and  before  they  fall  from 
i  he  trees,  syringing  the  trees  and  shading  whilst  the  work  is  in  progress, 
and  for  a  few  days  afterwards  if  the  weather  is  bright. 
Succession  Houses. — As  the  fruit  is  cleared  from  individual  trees 
cut  away  the  shoots  that  have  borne  fruit  unless  required  for  extension, 
and  all  the  shoots  where  the  growths  are  too  crowded  should  be  thinned. 
This  will  allow  of  cleaning  operations  being  more  effectively  performed, 
it  being  imperative  that  the  foliage  be  kept  clean  and  healthy.  With 
the  freer  access  of  light  and  air  the  buds  will  form  perfectly  and  the 
wood  ripen  thoroughly,  provided  attention  is  given  to  a  due  supply  of 
water  to  th'e'rCofce.  The  house  will  need  full  ventilation  day  and  night, 
and  where  the  roof-lights  are  movable  and  the  trees  not  very  vigorous 
ihey  may  be  removed  when  the  buds  are  plumped.  Where  the  fruit  is 
ripening  a  free  circulation  of  air  will  enhance  the  quality  considerably, 
