372 
October  24,  1901. 
i GU RiVAL  GF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
j 
Summer  Pruning  of  Fruit  Trees. 
The  recent  notes  from  Miss  Baker  on  the  benefits  of  summer 
pruning — or  pinching  rather,  of  fruit  trees,  draws  forth  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Alex.  Traill,  The  Gardens,  Falshaw  Hall,  Wilmslow, 
Cheshire.  Mr.  Traill  sent  a  bunch  of  remarkably  stout  shoots  or 
“  spurs,”  well  set  with  plump  buds  and  likely  to  ripen  thoroughly, 
as  material  proof  that  there  are  benefits  in  timely  pinching.  Well, 
certainly,  and  we  hope  every  gardener  fully  appreciates  the  worth 
of  judicious  pinching.  Mr.  Traill  will  be  sorry  to  learn  that  the 
Pears  he  sent,  splendid  samples  though  they  had  been,  were 
entirely  decomposed  when  they  reached  London. 
Cucumber  Disease. 
Before  the  Scientific  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
on  Tuesday,  October  15th,  Mr.  Houston  described  a  disease  which  is 
doing  much  injury  in  parts  of  England,  one  grower  alone  having  lost 
£1000  worth  of  fruit.  It  appears  on  the  plants  twelve  weeks  after 
sowing  the  seed.  The  fungus  is  Cercospora  melonis,  M.C.C.,  described 
by  Dr.  Cooke  in  the  “  Gardeners’  Chronicle  ”  for  September  5,  1896, 
page  271.  It  begins  with  a  few  spots  on  the  leaves,  spreading  till 
there  is  no  healthy  leaf  left.  As  the  spores  are  nmltiseptate  and  each 
joint  can  propagate  the  fungus,  the  disease  is  easily  communicated  to 
other  plants.  There  is  no  remedy  except  complete  destruction. 
Cucumbers  or  Melons  should  not  be  grown  in  the  same  pits  for  some 
seasons  in  which  diseased  plants  have  been. 
Cucumbers. 
Sweetened  horse  droppings  sprinkled  on  the  beds  occasionally, 
and  on  the  minure  a  little  soot,  act  as  a  gentle  excitant  to  the 
roots,  supply  nourishment  to  the  soil,  and  ammonia  to  the 
atmosphere.  Spare  no  effort  to  keep  the  foliage  clean  and 
healthy,  and  do  not  permit  accumulations  of  dirt  on  the  glass. 
Allow  the  winter  fruiters  to  extend  well  up  the  trellis  before 
stopping  them ;  train  the  shoots  right  and  left  at  about  1ft  dis¬ 
tance  apart,  crowding  being  fatal  to  well  developed  foliage,  and 
the  sturdier  the  plants  are  grown  the  better  for  them.  Earth 
the  roots  as  they  protrude  from  the  hillocks  or  ridges ;  supply 
water  as  required,  not  less  in  temperature  than  that  of  the  bed, 
being  careful  not  to  overwater  or  allow  the  plants  to  lack  need¬ 
ful  supplies  of  that  element,  and  liquid  manure  or  surface 
dressings  of  fertilisers  washed  in.  Maintain  a  night  tempera¬ 
ture  of  65  to  70  degrees  in  mild  weather,  60  to  65  degrees 
when  the  nights  are  cold,  70  to  75  degrees  by  day,  advanc¬ 
ing  to  80  degrees,  85  degrees,  or  90  degrees  with  sun  heat. 
Admit  a  little  air  at  the  top  of  the  house  whenever  the  weather  is 
favourable,  but  avoid  cold  currents ;  indeed  it  must  be  done  with¬ 
out  lowering  the  temperature  or  drying  the  air  too  much. — G. 
“Air  Plants.” 
At  the  latest  meeting  of  the  Scientific  Committee  “  Air  Plants  ’’ 
were  shown.  Dr.  Plowright  sent  a  portion  of  a  species  of  Tillandsia, 
called  the  Cape  Air  Plant,  but  a  native  of  tropical  America.  He 
writes  as  follows : — “  On  the  12th  August  this  specimen  of  Tillandsia, 
the  so-called  Air  Plant  of  Cape  Colony,  was  received  from  Cape  Town. 
To  it  was  attached  a  piece  of  string  by  which  it  had  been  suspended 
in  the  cabin  of  the  gentleman  who  brought  it  over.  It  was  hung  up 
inside  a  south  window  in  my  house  in  King’s  Lynn,  and  in  due  course 
flowered.  There  was  no  trace  of  flower  bud  when  it  arrived,  but 
about  a  fortnight  back  a  dark  blue  corolla  appeared,  springing  from 
what  appeared  to  be  a  pink  calyx.  Those  xerophilous  plants  are 
always  interesting,  and  as  a  companion  to  the  above  a  stem  of  Sedum 
speciosum  was  suspended  in  the  same  window  on  the  same  date.  The 
changes  were  carefully  watched,  and  consisted,  first  in  the  turning 
upward  of  the  flower  bud,  followed  by  the  turning  back  of  the  leaves 
on  the  stem,  so  that  they  pointed  upwards.  The  lowermost  leaves 
— i.e.,  those  nearest  the  root,  began  to  wither,  whilst  those  nearest 
the  flower  remained  quite  fresh.  At  this  time  the  base  of  the  stem 
threw  out  numerous  roots.  The  flower  was  fully  expanded  by  the 
1st  of  October,  and  most  of  the  leaves,  as  well  as  the  roots,  was 
shrivelled.” 
Chrysanthemum  Harmony. 
In  this  we  have  another  real  good,  early  flowering  variety, 
with  somewhat  broad  florets  of  a  brownish  buff  tinted  lilac  colour. 
The  habit  of  growth  is  of  the  right  sort,  being  vigorous  and  free 
in  flowering  as  well. — E.  M. 
Chrysanthemum  Godfrey’s  Pet. 
This  is  one  of  the  finest  of  yellow  flowering  early  Chrysanthe¬ 
mums  we  have.  The  habit  is  stiff  and  sturdy,  the  plants  growing, 
but  2ft  high,  and  flowering  most  profusely  in  September.  In 
colour  the  flowers  are  a  rich  yellow,  quite  of  the  Sunflower 
hue,  the  florets  narrow,  and  with  just  a  twist  reminding  one  of 
Agrements  de  la  Nature  of  many  years  ago.  I  look  upon  this 
new-comer  as  a  real  acquisition. — E.  M. 
Ocean  “  Flora.’’ 
The  sea  has  flowers  as  the  land  has,  but  the  most  brilliant  of 
the  sea  flowers  bloom  not  upon  plants  but  upon  animals.  The 
living  corals  of  tropical  seas  present  a  display  of  floral  beauty 
which  in  richness  and  vividness  of  colour  and  variety  and  grace 
of  form  rivals  the  splendour  of  garden  flowers.  The  resemblance 
to  vegetal  blossoms  is  so  complete  that  some  persons  find  it 
difficult  to  believe  that  the  brilliant  display  contains  no  element 
of  plant  life,  but  is  wholly  animal  in  its  organisation.  Among  the 
sea  animals  which  bloom  as  if  they  were  plants  are  included, 
besides  corals,  the  Sea  Anemone  and  the  Sea  Cucumber. 
Ripe  Grapes. 
A  temperature  of  about  50  degrees  is  most  suitable  for  these, 
Muscat  of  Alexandria  being  better  if  5  degrees  more.  No  oppor¬ 
tunity  should  be  lost  in  giving  air  when  the  days  are  fine,  turning 
on  the  heat  in  the  morning  so  as  to  cause  a  genial  warmth  in  the 
pipes,  and  so  expel  damp,  turning  off  the  heat  at  midday,  or  soon 
after,  so  as  to  allow  the  pipes  to  cool  and  the  minimum  tempera¬ 
ture  to  be  reached  by  nightfall,  50  degrees  being  suitable  for 
Muscats  and  5  degrees  less  for  other  varieties.  In  dull  weather 
it  will  be  necessary  to  keep  a  gentle  warmth  in  the  pipes,  and 
the  ventilators  closed,  in  order  to  keep  the  Grapes  from  damp,, 
moisture  being  prevented  settling  on  the  berries. — A. 
Ampelopsis  for  Windows. 
The  following  notes  from  Mr.  W.  Gardiner  refer  to  the 
arrangement  of  the  window  garden,  figured  in  last  week’s  issue. 
He  says: — “I  have  just  received  this  morning  a  further  note 
from  Mr.  G.  Randall  anent  his  x\mpelopsis  Veitchi.  The 
Ampelopsis  is  grown  from  the  top  of  the  bay-window,  around 
the  porch,  and  not  from  Mother  Earth.  A  few  years  ago  it  com¬ 
pletely  covered  the  front,  but  the  boxes  got  so  full  of  roots  they 
largely  died  away.  I  cut  them  down,  pruned  the  roots,  and  gave 
fresh  soil  in  1899.  They  have  grown  well  since,  as  our  photograph 
shows.  I  made  no  special  effort  to  gain  the  prize,  but  have 
always  had  a  good  show.  About  ten  years  ago  I  was  awarded  a 
prize  by  ‘  Gardening  Illustrated,’  and  it  gave  a  pictorial  engraving 
in  one  of  the  issues.” 
Solanum  eethiopicum. 
The  number  of  species  of  Solanum  cultivated  in  gardens  for 
the  sake  of  their  ornamental  fruit  is  very  limited,  the  two  best 
known,  pei’haps,  being  S.  capsicastrum,  the  Winter  Cherry, 
and  S.  melongena,  the  Egg  Plant.  In  addition  to  these  two 
plants,  however,  there  are  quite  a  large  number  which  are 
extremely  ornamental,  are  easily  grown,  and  last  in  good  condi¬ 
tion  for  a  considerable  time.  A  number  of  specimens  of  the  plant 
under  notice  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Temperate  House  at  Kew, 
where,  with  such  other  species  as  Worsleyi,  macrocarpum,  ferox, 
and  others,  they  make  a  nice  effect. 
It  is  an  annual  from  Ethiopia,  and  makes,  with  a  little 
stopping  when  young,  a  nice  bush  l^ft  high.  The  leaves  are 
large,  rough  to  the  touch,  and  very  similar  in  shape  to  those  of 
the  Egg  Plant.  The  flowers  are  whitish,  and  borne  during  July 
and  August.  These  are  followed  by  numerous  roundish,  deeply 
furrowed,  Tomato-like  fruits  an  inch  or  more  across,  which,  when 
ripe,  early  in  September,  are  scarlet  in  colour.  After  the  fruits 
are  thoroughly  ripe  they  hang  on  the  plants  from  six  to  eight 
weeks.  Seeds  should  be  sown  in  heat  in  March,  and  the  young 
plants  grown  on  quickly  indoors  until  the  end  of  May,  when  they 
should  be  stood  out  of  doors,  remaining  there  until  the  fruit  is 
set.  Good,  rich,  loamy  soil  is  required,  and  liberal  feeding  ia 
necessary  when  the  plants  are  well  rooted. — W.  D. 
