November  14,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
439 
•conduct  of  gardens  under  tlie  reign  of  officious  agents,  or  lie 
would  never  have  found  so  many  unfavourable  charges  to  bring 
forward.  At  the  same  time,  all  who  have  had  a  lengthened 
•experience  in  large  gardens  will  have  found  some  onQ.  or  the 
other  grievances  apply  with  more  or  less  truth. 
From  an  agent’s  point  of  view  the  garden  shows  only  a 
Joss  account,  the  expenditure  bringing  him  no  return ; 
they  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  garden  ranks 
next  in  importance  to  the  mansion  in  the  home  sur¬ 
roundings.  I  find  there  is  much  more  pleasure  in  the  up-keep 
of  farm  buildings  than  is  the  case  at  home,  but  I  could  never 
:see  the  logic  of  neglecting  the  home  to  benefit  others. 
Selfishness  is  not  a  desirable  ruling  spirit,  but  there  is  an  in¬ 
herited  desire  on  the  part  of  most  persons,  whether  they  be  rich 
or  poor,  to  look  to  their  home  and  its  welfare  as  the  first  and 
foremost  duty.  It  often  happens  that  agents  form  a  sort  of 
go-between  on  estates  that  are  not  wealthy,  and  the  credit  of  the 
unkept  garden,  instead  of  reflecting,  as  it  should,  on  the  agent, 
falls  on  the  gardener’s  shoulders.  There  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact 
that  a  large  garden  makes  frequent  demand  on  the  resources  of 
the  estate  office,  and  the  repetition  of  these  demands  being 
focused,  so  to  speak,  on  one  department,  makes  it  appear  a  much 
greater  item  of  expense  and  labour  than  is  actually  the  case. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  repairs,  Ac.,  are  kept  well  ahead  year  by 
year  the  cost  is  less,  friction  is  saved,  and  credit  redounds  on 
everyone  to  whom  it  is  due.  It  behoves  every  gardener  to  work 
in  the  pleasantest  harmony  possible  with  the  agent,  any  aggres¬ 
siveness  of  manner  displayed  is  sure  to  meet  rebuff. 
There  is  nowadays  a  regretahle  circumstance  that  render  it 
necessary  for  many  large  mansions  to  be  let.for  varying  terms  to 
paying  tenants.  Here,  again,  the  gardener  and  agent  is  brought 
into  touch  even  more  closely  than  with  the  owner  himself, 
because,  when  a  reasonable,  or  perhaps  an  excessive  rent  is  paid, 
a  tenant  naturally  expects  the  most  he  can  get  for  the  outlay. 
The  scriptural  phrase  applies  here  with  good  force.  “  No  man  can 
please  two  masters.”  The  aim  of  one  is  to  get  the  best  of  the 
bargain  he  has  invested  in,  the  agent  will  do  the  same  for  the 
benefit  of  the  estate,  and  who  can  blame  either?  It  requires 
some  little  grace  on  the  gardener’s  part  to  adjust  matters 
amicably  between  the  two,  and  instances  could,  no  doubt,  be 
related  often  where  the  men  so  placed  has  anything  between,  or 
even  the  extremes  of,  the  thorn  path  and  Rose  bed  to  walk  or 
rest  upon.  The  maxim — give  and  take- — is  the  one  that  is 
applicable  to  a  marked  degree  to  such  instances,  and  requires  a 
good  deal  of  judgment  to  effect  the  happy  medium. — S.  R.  A. 
Indoor  Fruit  Culture, 
(i Concluded  from  page  404.) 
Peaches  and  Nectarines  cannot  be  considered  separately, 
being  practically  the  same  species,  wffiile  their  cultural 
requirements  are  identical.  Like  all  stone  fruits,  they  de¬ 
light  in  a  soil  containing  abundance  of  lime,  and  unless  this 
is  present  naturally  it  must  be  added  in  the  form  of  old  lime 
rubble  or  slaked  lime.  The  rubble  is  preferable,  as  it  acts 
in  the  double  capacity  of  a  fertiliser  to  the  soil,  and  a 
mechanical  agent  in  keeping  it  open  ;  while  the  newly 
•slaked  lime  has  a  tendency  to  fine  the  soil  down,  which  is 
undesirable. 
In  planting  a  house  of  Peaches  and  Nectarines,  a  number 
of  gardeners  would  use  nothing  but  small  maiden  trees. 
These  are,  of  course,  excellent  for  the  purpose,  but  they  are 
not  the  only  suitable  kind,  by  any  means.  If  planted  as  men¬ 
tioned  above,  just  as  the  foliage  is  turning,  large  specimen 
trees  may  be  safely  used,  and  with  care  will  carry  a  light 
crop  the  first,  season.  But  besides  the  advantage  of  an  early 
•crop,  these  trees  are  less  bkely  to  run  away  to  strong  wood 
than  are  small  maidens  cut  hard  back.  The  weight  of  the 
crop  must,  in  a  manner,  be  governed  by  the  strength  of  the 
trees,  and  when  cropped  moderately  and  judiciously  they 
soon  settle  down  into  a  regular  routine.  The  advocates  of 
hard  pruning  object  to  this  system  of  plant’ng,  as  they  say 
the  upper  buds  are  apt  to  start  weakly.  But  the'r  argument 
will  only  hold  good  with  very  inexperienced  growers. 
Prunir  g. 
There  are  few,  I  venture  to  hope,  who  would  not  be  able 
to  tell  by  the  look  of  a  bud  at  the  time  of  disbudding  whether 
it  would  break  into  a  healthy,  vigorous  shoot,  or  the  reverse, 
and  by  rubbing  out  the  weak  ones,  and  reducing  the  number 
•of  strong  ones,  a  more  regularly  balanced  tree  is  produced. 
Of  course,  this  system  will  not  do  for  careless  or  unskilful 
planters.  Every  point  must  be  watched,  and  the  wants  of 
the  trees  anticipated  ;  those  who  are  not  prepared  to  do  this 
must  be  content  to  continue  planting  maidens,  and  wait  for 
fruit  until  these  have  gone  through  the  usual  ordeal  of 
training,  and  often  root-pruning,  to  bring  them  into  a  fruitful 
state.  It  may  be  objected  that  over-sized  specimens  are 
often  expensive  and  difficult  to  obtain  ;  but  by  purchasing  a 
year  or  two  in  advance  of  requirements,  and  growing  the 
trees  on  at  home,  this  is  overcome,  and  you  have  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  the  trees  being  at  hand,  so  that  the  exact  time  for 
planting  may  be  chosen,  and  the  trees  are  out  of  the  soil  for 
a  few  minutes  only.  In  most  gardens  there  are  spaces  o  i 
the  walls  under  rider  trees  that  may  be  profitably  occupied 
by  young  trees  of  this  description,  which,  beside  being  useful 
for  planting  new  houses,  will  also  go  a  long  way  towards 
filling  the  place  of  old  or  worn  out  specimens  when  these 
fail. 
Skilful  Disbudding. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines  are  often — I  might  say  usually — 
much  too  crowded  on  the  trellis,  this  being  the  result  of  un¬ 
skilful  disbudding.  To  disbud  a  tree  properly  is  an  impor¬ 
tant  detail  of  culture,  and  I  can  recommend  all  young  gar¬ 
deners  to  give  it  their  careful  study.  The  appearance  of  the 
tree  is  the  safest  guide  as  to  how  to  proceed.  Usually,  some 
part  of  it  has  stronger  buds  than  the  others,  and  this  part 
ought  to  have  attention  first.  Beginning  at  the  bottom  of 
the  last  year’s  wood,  take  care  to  select  two  strong  shoots, 
one  on  either  side,  rubbing  out  the  next  few  eyes,  excepting 
when  fruit  has  set,  and  always  leaving  a  sound,  strong  eye 
at  the  top  of  the  wood,  to  ensure  the  proper  swelling  of  this 
fruit.  After  a  week  has  passed,  as  the  trees  grow  rapidly 
at  this  stage,  it  will  be  necessary  to  again  go  over  them,  this 
time  pinching  the  growths  that  spring  from  the  base  of  the 
selected  fruits,  and  also  any  foreright  shoots  that  appear  to 
be  taking  an  undue  share  of  the  energies  of  the  tree. 
Heeling-in  (as  it  is  termed)  of  the  selected  basal  shoots  is 
also  necessary,  but  the  time  for  this  must  be  carefully 
studied.  If  tied  in  too  early,  there  will  often  be  a  bend  at 
the  point  where  the  raffia  comes  in  contact  with  the  shoot  ; 
while  if  left  too  late,  they  are  difficult  to  get  into  place. 
The  raffia  should  always  be  used  fiat,  never  twisted,  for  this 
purpose,  as  it  is  not  so  likely  to  cut  into  the  young  wood. 
And  another  point  that  should  be  avoided  in  Peach  tying, 
though  this  applies  more  particularly  to  the  winter  tying,  is 
the  wrapping  of  a  twisted  stroud  of  matting  round  the  point 
of  the  shoot,  ar.d  straining  this  to  the  next  cross  wire.  It 
gives  the  tree  a  smart  and  tidy  appearance,  but  the  matting 
“  grows  into  the  shoot,”  to  use  a  common  phrase,  crippling 
it  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  swell.  When  the  shoots  are  once 
selected  and  in  place,  their  after  treatment  is  very  simple. 
All  sub-lateral  shoots  must  be  pinched  out,  and  the  main 
shoots  themselves  pinched  when  they  have  filled  their 
allotted  space. 
Fiuit  Thinning. 
Thinning  of  the  fruit  will  be  necessary  as  soon  as  the 
flowers  have  fallen,  and  the  embryo  fruits  can  be  distinctly 
seen.  Some  advise  thinning  the  flower  buds  ;  but  I  could 
never  see  that  any  good  came  of  it,  while  in  a  dull  season 
the  lessened  amount  of  pollen  must  be  against  a  good  set  of 
fruit.  The  second  thinning  should  take  place  when  the  fruit 
is  about  the  size  of  marbles.  This  should  be  followed  by  a 
third  after  stoning  has  taken  place,  but  it  is  not  wise  to 
leave  very  much  until  then,  as  the  formation  of  the  stone 
takes  far  more  out  of  the  tree  than  the  flesh  ;  besides  this, 
I  have  always  found  there  is  a  slight  check  to  the  tree  when 
heavy  thinning  after  stoning  is  practised. 
Heavy  cropping  is  always  best  avoided.  Even  on  young 
vigorous  trees  it  is  harmful,  and  it  is  much  worse  for  weak 
or  old  ones.  Nothing  is  more  likely  to  lead  to  bud¬ 
dropping  in  spring,  especially  if,  as  often  is  the  case,  the 
trees  are  neglected  after  the  fruit  is  taken  from  them.  To 
allow  the  trees  to  carry  too  heavy  a  crop,  and  then  to  throw 
the  house  open,  and  expose  the  border  to  the  full  sun  and 
air,  without  a  thought  as  to  moisture  at  the  roots,  is  about 
on  a  par  with  making  a  man  do  a  hard  day’s  wTork  a^d  de¬ 
priving  him  of  his  supper  and  bed.  Growers  of  good  fruit 
will  find  the  greatest  advantage  accrue  from  throwing  the 
house  open  ;  it  ripens  or  consolidates  the  wood,  and  is  dis¬ 
tasteful  to  insects,  but  plenty  of  moisture  at  the  roots  and 
over  the  leaves  until  they  fall  must  be  allowed,  especially 
when  the  trees  are  forced  early.  Even  in  winter  the  borders 
are  often  let  dry  too  much,  and  a  thorough  soaking  of  water 
in  autumn,  and  again  in  winter,  will  po  far  to  check  bud- 
dropp  ng  and  its  attendant  evils. — H.  R.  R. 
