50 
JOUBXAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  19,  1899. 
left  to  each  tree ;  all  the  other  large  roots,  being  in  the  clay,  were 
severed.  Each  tree  was  then  lifted  (r  raised  up  about  12  inches,  in 
some  cases  more,  the  roots  being  well  packed  up  with  fresh  soil  (after 
digging  out  the  clay) about  three  to  five  barrowfuls  to  each  tree.  The 
best  of  the  old  soil  was  returned,  well  mixing  with  it  a  quantity  of 
bssic  slag.  Some  ot  the  tree  stems,  from  the  collar  upwards,  were 
buried  from  12  to  15  inches  v\ith  soil.  After  the  roots  were  laid  near 
the  surface  and  covered  with  soil,  a  mulch  of  half-decayed  manure 
was  given  4  inches  thick,  extending  6  feet  from  the  stems. 
Each  tree  when  first  planted  had  a  stone  slab  about  18  inches 
square  placed  underneath  its  roots,  <r  rather,  the  tree  was  made  to 
stand  upon  the  slab.  The  roots  had  turned  over  the  edge  of  the  slab 
and  gone  straight  down  into  the  hungry  clay,  the  slabs  being  fast  in 
the  grasp  of  the  roots.  I  consider  that  pdacing  a  slab  underneath  a 
tree  when  planting  to  be  useless ;  it  sounds  very  well  on  paper,  but 
benefit  to  the  tree  is  nil.  What  effect  the  above  operations  will  have 
on  the  old  trees  time  will  show.  I  have  opeiated  on  old  fruit  frees  in 
a  similar  manner  years  ag(',  and  in  two  years  after  the  operation  they 
bore  respectable  crops  of  good  flavoured  fruit. 
Some  of  your  readers  may  perhaps  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I 
have  been  wasting  time  in  root-pruning  and  lifting  those  seven  trees. 
What  led  me  to  lake  actir  n  was  the  condition  of  a  Marie  Louise  Pear 
of  the  same  age.  It  had  been  planted  close  to  the  doorway  of  one  of 
the  main  paths.  This  path  being  much  lower  than  the  borders  half  of 
the  roots  were  underneath  it,  and  the  neck  or  collar  of  the  tree  was 
not  covered  with  soil,  similar  to  those  that  have  been  lifted.  Through 
making  holes  in  the  gravel  paths  with  a  crowbar,  then  giving  70  or 
80  gallons  of  liquid  manure  about  three  times  a  year,  3  to  4  stones  of 
splendid  russety  fruits  have  been  produced  during  the  last  three  years, 
or  more  than  the  whole  of  the  seven  trees  just  lifted  produced. 
How  trees  can  live  in  the  bard  clay  is  a  mystery  to  me.  You 
may  give  100  gallons  of  liquid  manure  to  each  tree,  but  by  the 
time  it  reached  the  roots  it  would  be  little  more  than  clear  water, 
having  been  filtered  while  parsing  through  the  2  or  3  feet  of  soil 
from  t^he  .surface  down  to  the  roots.  Hacon’s  Incomparable  had  one 
roct  nearly  as  thick  as  the  stem  and  went  straight  down  into  the 
clay.  Eesult — abundance  of  long  weak  shoots,  with  foliage  of  a 
yellowish  hue.  'free  produced  eight  to  twenty  fruits  per  year, 
never  fit  to  eat.  They  remained  (not  as  good  as  a  Turnip)  in  the 
fruit  room,  quite  hard.  All  at  once  the  fruit  would  become  rotten  ; 
there  has  never  been  a  fruit  fit  to  eat  for  the  last  six  years  that  I 
have  known  the  tree  (aspect  west).  Easter  Beurrd,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  wall  (east  aspect)  produced  about  10  to  12  lbs.  of  fruit 
each  year,  about  1  lb.  of  the  fruit  useable,  the  remainder  covered  with 
black  spots  and  much  cracked.  The  principal  roots  being  deep  down 
in  the  red  clay,  what  I  should  like  to  know  is  this — would  ringing 
have  improved  those  trees  ?  Cordon  Pears  on  the  same  walls  give 
good  fruit. — George  Picker. 
[We  should  doubt  the  efficacy  of  ringing  under  the  circumstances, 
but  are  open  to  conviction  by  “  W.  R.”  or  others  who  have  reason  to 
think  differently'.  If  the  branches  of  the  trees  are  fully  too  close 
together  the  removal  of  every  other  to  near  the  stem  might  lead  to  the 
issue  of  young  branches  while  lessening  the  strain  on  the  much- 
reduced  roots;  and  if  the  spurs  on  those  remaining  are  closely  set 
reducing  them  to  a  foot  apart  or  thereabouts  would  be  further  conducive 
to  healthy  growth.] 
ROYAL  HORTICULTURAL  SOCTETY. 
January  10th. 
Scientific  Committee.— Present  :  Dr.  M.  T.  ATasters  (in  the 
chair)  ;  Mr.  Veitch,  Mr.  Bennett-Pce,  Dr.  Aliiller,  Dr.  Russell,  Rev.  W. 
Wilks,  Prof.  Church,  Mr.  Michael,  and  Rev.  G.  Ilenslow,  Hon.  Sec. 
Bigener  Orchid. — Mr.  Veitch  exhibited  a  fiow'ering  plant  of  an  Epi- 
Cattleya  (Airs.  Jas.  O’BrienI,  Epidendrum  x  O’Brianum,  the  latter 
being  E.  evectum  x  E.  radicans.  The  male  parent  was  Cattleya 
Bowringianiim.  It  has  been  stated  that  in  these  bigeners  the  result  gene¬ 
rally  resembled  the  female  parent  almost  entirely,  but  in  this  case  there 
was  a  decided  inclination  towards  Cattleya  in  the  form  of  the  lip  and 
foliage. 
Mildness  of  the  Season. — Mr.  Wilks  brought  a  spray  of  Oak  leaves,  still 
partially  green,  and  mentioned  that  Blackberries  had  been  lately  gathered 
ripe — an  unusual  occurrence  in  early  January. 
Thuia  gigantea  (jpUcatd)  harked. — Dr.  Masters  showed  a  stem  which  had 
been  nearly  stripped  of  its  bark,  exposing  the  central  axis  as  an  almost 
cylindrical  rod.  The  young  wood  had  made  renewed  efforts  to  surround 
the  latter,  which  appeared  to  be  dead.  It  was  received  from  Air. 
Croucher,  of  Auchstertyre,  near  Crieff. 
-  Pear  Princess. — When  at  the  Chrysanthemum  Show  in 
St.  George’s  Hall,  Liverpool,  in  November  last  T  tested  the  flavour  of 
this  Pear.  In  appearance  it  much  resembles  Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey. 
The  flavour  is  first-class,  being  exceptionally  juicy  and  sweet.  It  is  said 
to  grow  vigorously  and  bear  freely  on  the  Quince  stock. — E.  M. 
XATIOXAL  CHRYSANTHEAirAI  SOCIETY. 
On  Monday  evening  last  the  Executive  Committee  of  this  Society 
held  a  meeting  at  Carr’s  Restaurant,  Strand,  when  Mr.  T.  W.  Sanders 
took  the  chair.  Alinutes  and  routine  correspondence  having  been 
disposed  of,  the  report  and  circular  .of  the  Classification  Committee, 
intended  to  draw  the  attention  of  affiliated  societies  to  the  question  of 
too-much-al'ike  varieties,  were  submitted  for  consideration.  The 
election  of  Judges  for  the  1899  shows  next  occupied  attention  with  the 
following  results: — October  Show,  Alessrs.  G.  Langdon  and 
J.  AIcHattie ;  November  Show  (plants),  Alessrs.  D.  Donald  and 
Reeve;  incurved  blooms,  Alessrs.  Geo.  Gordon  and  J.  W.  Aloormau  ; 
Japanese,  Alessrs.  E.  Beckett,  T.  Bevan,  E.  Alolyneux,  and  E. 
Parker;  decorations,  Alessrs.  J.  Hudson  and  H.  J.  Cutbush ;  fruit, 
Alessrs.  G.  Reynolds  and  J.  Smith  of  Alentmore  ;  vegetables,  Alessrs. 
H.  C.  Piinsep,  W.  Fyfe,  J.  Willard,  and  G.  Maycock  ,*  at  the 
December  Show,  Alessrs.  W.  Alease  and  P.  Waterer.  The  Judges  of 
miscellaneous  exhibits  at  all  the  shows  are  Alessrs.  Gleeson,  Outram, 
and  AVitty. 
The  Secretary  next  read  the  draft  annual  report,  to  be  submitted 
at  the  general  meeting.  In  this  the  work  of  the  past  twelve  months 
was  reviewed,  and  satisfai  tion  expressed.  The  draft  financial  state¬ 
ment  and  balance  sheet  was  alsosubmit:ed,  and  both  were  recommended 
to  be  laid  before  the  annual  meeting  in  the  form  presented.  There 
was  much  discussion  cone  rning  alterations  of  rules,  the  voting  of 
representatives  of  affiliated  societies,  and  other  formal  matter.  Some 
new  members  were  elected,  and  the  meeting  closed. 
AVELLS’  CHRYSANTHEMUAI  CALEXDAR. 
Chrysanthemumists  seem  ever  to  be  on  the  search  for  novelties, 
literary  and  otherwise,  and  we  cannot  say  there  is  any  particular  lack 
of  either.  This  calendar  of  what  should  be  done  under  the  different 
months  in  growing  Chrysanthemums  is  no  microscopic  or  even  waist¬ 
coat  pocket  affair,  and,  if  affixed  to  the  wall  of  potting-shed  or  office, 
wull  be  distinctly  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  It  is  a  sheet  about  3  feet 
long  by  nearly  2  feet  wide,  embellished  wfith  photographic  illustrations 
of  Australian  and  other  novelties,  with  the  letterpress  bold  and  clear. 
Air.  AVells  evidently  attaches  importance  to  “  size,”  both  in  blooms 
and  bills,  and  both  are  of  good  quality  in  this  latest  from  the  press  ofi 
Redhill. 
FEEDING  CHRYSANTHEAIUALS. 
I  read  with  much  interest  “T.  C.’s  ”  contribution  re  chemical 
constituents  of  the  Chrysanthemum  plant,  and  I  have  often  thought 
it  would  be  of  great  service  if  one  of  your  contributors  would  give  an 
article  or  ariicles  dealing  with  the  scientific  treatment  of  the  plant 
with  regard  to  fieding,  from  the  stage  of  the  young  plant  onwards. 
By  feeding,  of  course  I  mean  anything  added  to  the  loam,  be  it  only 
leaf  mould— not  only  the  liquid  feeding  of  August  onwards. 
It  seems  to  me  a  lazy  and  wrong  principle  to  be  satisfied  to  apply 
either  dry  or  in  solution  any  particular  mixture  of  artificial  manures 
without  the  knowledge  of  what  they  are  composed.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  most  of  them  are  very  good,  but  there  is  no  guarantee  of  their 
composition,  or  that  they  are  invariably  alike,  so  that  you  may  easily 
be  using  at  a  given  moment  something  which  is  absolutely  useless  to- 
you  for  the  particular  plant  and  stage  of  growth  in  hand. 
As  it  is  a  rather  slack  season  now,  would  it  not  be  a  good  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  publish  a  contribution  on  the  subject  from  some  reliable 
scientific  Wticulturist,  and  also  from  experienced  growers,  which 
would  tell  us  in  plain  language  exactly  what  the  Chrysanthemum 
should  have  during  its  life  to  attain  the  highest  possible  result,  not. 
“so  much  of  Smith’s,  Brown’s,  or  Robinson’s  manure  for  all  kinds  of 
plants,”  but  specifying  the  amount  and  proportion  of  phosphates,, 
potash,  lime,  nitrogen,  or  whatever  may  be  needed  ;  the  most 
economical  form  in  which  each  may  be  supplied  to  the  plant,  and 
the  intervals  at  which  each  (or  several  mixed)  should  be  supplied. 
I  have  no  doubt  such  information  would  be  greatly  appreciated  by 
the  large  number  of  your  readers,  amateur  and  otherwise,  who  make 
their  gardening  a  real  pleasure  and  study,  if  you  can  see  your  way  to 
adopt  my  suggestion.  ' 
I  must  remark  in  closing  that  I  was  rather  surjjrised  to  hear  of  a 
successful  grower  and  exhibitor  using  nitrate  of  soda  and  sulphate  oL 
ammonia  so  often  as  stated,  to  even  the  strongest  growers,  which  is,  I. 
believe,  so  contrary  to  the  accepted  practice.  It  would  be  useful  to 
hear  from  some  of  our  best  known  cultivators  on  this  point. — J.  G.. 
AIills. 
