406 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  1,  1900. 
Tl|e  Planting  Season. 
Notwithstanding  the  copious  rains  which  have  recently  fallen, 
the  moisture  has  not  penetrated  far  below  the  surface  in  nurseries 
where  shrubs  and  fruit  trees  are  growing  rather  thickly  on  the 
ground.  The  leaves  of  deci'iuous  trees  are,  however,  coming  down 
in  shoals,  and  soon  the  great  work  of  distributing  throughout  the 
land  hosts  of  trees  and  shrubs  will  be  in  full  swing,  and  planters 
will  be  busy  carrying  out  the  congenial  work  of  planting  shrubs  to 
beautify  our  gardens,  and  fiuit  trees  which  a  few  years  hence  will 
give  fruit  worthy  of  Britain  and  British  gardeners.  The  extensive 
planting  which  goes  on  each  year  does  not  seem  to  lessen  the  enormous 
supplies  of  fine  Apples  and  Pears  which  come  to  us  from  foreign  lands, 
but  it  certainly  helps  to  make  inferior  samples — rubbish — almost 
unsaleable  in  the  markets,  and  will  consequently  seal  the  doom  of 
many  old  orchard  trees  which  are  simply  cumberers  of  the  ground. 
The  sooner  all  worthless  varieties  and  worn-out  trees  disappear  the  better 
for  all  connected  with  them,  for  they  bring  little  if  any  profit,  and  are, 
moreover,  a  blot  on  the  fair  lame  of  the  British  fruit  grower. 
Although  planting  may  be  safely  performed  from  the  present  time 
onward  till  spring — whenever  the  weather  is  mild — yet  every  oppor¬ 
tunity  should  be  taken  to  push  forward  the  work  in  autumn,  as  when 
trees  are  planted  while  the  soil  is  still  warm  the  roots  begin  to  make 
progress  at  once,  and  should  dry  weather  prevail  in  early  summer  they 
are  better  able  to  withstand  drought  than  trees  planted  in  spring. 
Nurserymen  cannot,  however,  execute  all  orders  in  a  couple  of  months, 
and  for  this  reason  those  who  intend  to  plant  early  should  order  their 
trees  early,  or  they  can  scarcely  expect  to  receive  them  just  in  the 
nick  of  time.  When  a  large  amount  of  planting  has  to  be  done  it  is 
impossible  to  get  the  whole  of  the  ground  ready  at  once,  as  it  is  really 
the  work  of  the  entire  winter,  and  it  is  far  better  to  prepare  the  ground 
thoroughly  and  plant  somewhat  later  than  rush  the  work  through  in  a 
slipshod  manner  in  order  to  complete  it  by  a  certain  date. 
Fruit  trees  are  not  now  so  much  planted  around  the  sides  of  walks 
as  formerly,  but  a  quarter  is  usually  devoted  entirely  to  them ;  in 
either  case  when  planted  in  enclosed  gardens  I  pin  my  faith  on  bush 
trees  worked  on  the  broad-leaved  Paradise  stock.  If  these  are  set 
from  9  to  12  feet  apart  they  are  easily  kept  within  bounds  and  begin 
to  boar  fruit  early.  Gardeners  do  not  often  have  much  choice  in  regard 
to  soil,  but  have  to  make  the  best  use  they  can  of  that  in  the  gardens 
under  their  charge.  When  these  happen  to  be  light  and  sandy 
they  may  be  greatly  improved  by  the  addition  of  clay  or  marl.  If 
this  has  been  dried  during  the  summer,  and  then  pounded,  it  will  be 
in  the  right  condition  for  mixing  with  the  garden  soil  as  the  work  of 
digging  proceeds,  but  when  there  is  no  stock  of  prepared  clay  to  draw 
upon  it  should  either  be  burnt  or  spread  upon  the  land  and  left  to  the 
action  of  frost  for  a  few  weeks.  It  is  a  decided  mistake  to  dig  in  large 
lumps  of  soft  clay,  as  land  so  treated  is  several  years  before  it  can  be 
brought  into  good  working  order. 
Wheu  a  quarter  is  planted  entirely  with  fruit  trees  the  whole  of 
the  ground  ought  to  be  trenched,  without  changing  the  position  of  the 
upper  and  low^er  spits,  except  when  the  soil  is  uniformly  good 
throughout.  This  is  sometimes  the  case  in  old  gardens,  and  then 
the  practice  of  reversing  the  spits  is  productive  of  much  good,  as  both 
layers  are  in  turn  brought  under  the  immediate  influence  of  light  and 
air,  to  be  sweetened  and  enriched  thereby.  When  the  whole  of  the 
ground  cannot  be  trenched  stations  should  be  prepared  by  making 
holes  from  4  to  6  feet  in  diameter  and  2  feet  in  depth,  and  breaking  up 
the  subsoil  as  well.  In  such  cases  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  place  a 
couple  of  barrowloads  of  turfy  loam  round  the  roots  of  each  tree  to 
insure  a  good  start. 
The  plan  of  preparing  stations  should  also  be  adopted  when 
orchards  are  formed  on  grass,  and  if  fences  are  erected  around  the 
trees,  and  the  enclosed  space  kept  free  from  weeds  and  the  soil  loosened 
on  the  surface  each  year,  far  better  progress  is  made  than  when  the 
turf  is  relaid  almost  up  to  the  trees.  My  experience  has  taught  me 
that  this  is  a  most  important  matter,  as  these  trees,  innumerable  in 
this  country,  which  are  making  very  slow  progress  for  no  other  reason 
than  because  the  roots  are  shutout  Irom  the  influence  of  light,  air, and 
rain,  through  having  strong  growing  grass  above  them.  When  trees 
have  grown  to  a  good  size  they  are  better  able  to  take  care  of  themselves, 
and  as  the  fences  are  worn  out  they  may  be  removed.  From  40  to 
50  feet  is  a  suitable  distance  apart  to  plant  trees  on  grass,  as  when 
fully  grown  there  ought  to  be  a  clear  space  between  each,  so  that  the 
grass  may  form  a  good  secondary  crop.  We  have  seen  too  much  of 
crowded  orchard  trees  in  the  past — the  future  should  show  better 
things. 
Mixed  plantations  are  universally  popular  with  those  who  rely 
upon  fruit  growing  for  a  living,  because  it  is  seldom,  if  ever,  all  crops 
fail  in  any  one  year,  and  when  one  crop  fails  others  are  often 
abundant  enough  to  make  good  the  deficiency,  as  they  can  be  disposed 
of  to  better  advantage  than  when  all  crops  are  heavy.  Owing  to  our 
at  present  by  no  means  perfect  system  of  dist  ibution,  a  heavy 
all-round  fruit  crop  seems  to  be  the  least  profitable  to  the  grower, 
though  agents  and  retailers  certainly  gain  an  advantage.  But  let  me 
return  to  the  point  at  issue — viz.,  the  formation  of  mixed  plantations. 
Although  termed  mixed,  it  is  not  desirable  to  mix  them  indiscriminately. 
One  quarter  may  be  devoted  to  Plums  as  a  top  crop,  another  to 
Apples,  and  a  third  to  Pears.  Cherries  thrive  best  on  grass,  as  the 
roots  do  not  like  to  be  disturbed.  As  an  under  crop  Gooseberries  can 
occupy  one  quarter.  Red  Currants  another  and  Black  Currants  another. 
When  there  is  a  choice  of  soil  and  site.  Pears,  Plums,  and  Black 
Currants  should  be  planted  on  the  heavier  ground,  but  low-lying 
ground  is  not  suitable  for  the  two  former,  as  there  is  such  great  risk 
of  injury  through  spring  frosts.  For  a  mixed  plantation  the  standard 
is,  I  consider,  the  best  for  Apples  and  Plums.  If  the  former  are 
planted  from  25  to  30  feet  apart,  and  the  latter  15  feet,  a  large  amount 
of  space  is  left  for  planting  bush  plants  from  5  to  6  feet  asunder.  As 
the  standards  develop  a  few  of  the  bush  trees  can  be  gradually 
removed. 
Standard  Pears  are  such  a  long  time  in  reaching  a  fruitful  stage 
that  bushes  on  the  Quince  stock  will,  I  think,  come  more  and  more 
into  favour.  Twelve  feet  apart  is  a  suitable  distance  to  plant  in  a 
mixed  plantation,  but  it  is  a  good  plan  to  devote  a  quarter  entirely 
to  Pears,  set  them  9  feet  apart,  and  plant  Strawberries  between.  A 
return  is  thus  obtained  the  first  year  from  the  Strawberries,  and  the 
Pears  soon  begin  to  give  a  few  fruits.  Such  fine  varieties  as 
Conference,  Williams’  Bon  Chretien,  Beurre  d’Amanlis,  Durondeau, 
Emile  o’Heyst,  Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey,  Marie  Louise,  Souvenir  du 
Congres,  and  Pitmaston  Duchess  are  well  suited  for  growing  as 
bushes  on  the  Quince  stock.  Among  Apples  the  following  are  a  few 
worthy  of  extended  cultivation: — Dessert:  Gascoyne’s  Scarlet  Seedling, 
Lady  Sudeley,  Beautv  of  Bath,  Allington  Pippin,  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin, 
Ribston  Pippin,  King  of  Pippins,  Brafidick’s  Nonpareil,  Fearn’s  Pippin, 
Duke  of  Devonshire,  and  Alien’s  Everlasting.  Culinary:  Early 
Rivers,  Manks  Codlin,  Lord  Grosvenor,  Ecklinville,  Worcester  Pear- 
main,  Bismarck,  Warner’s  King,  Tower  of  Glamis,  Bramley’s  Seedling, 
Lane’s  Prince  Albert,  Dumelow’s  Seedling,  and  Northern  Greening. 
The  last  four  should,  for  market  purposes,  be  planted  largely,  as  they 
have  the  great  merit  of  being  good  croppers  and  late  keepers.  Varieties 
of  Plums  were  dealt  with  in  recent  articles  (pages  244  and  288). 
The  necessary  details  of  removing  damaged  roots  and  the  points  of 
others,  as  well  as  spreading  them  out  eveply  in  the  soil,  has  so  often 
been  treated  of  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  that  it  seems  superfluous 
to  write  much  on  these  points,  but  young  readers  should  remember 
that  success  largely  depends  upon  attention  to  such  matters.  Deep 
planting  also  should  be  avoided.  A  safe  guide  is  to  cover  the  surface 
roots  with  2  or  3  inches  of  soil  only.  All  trees  ought  to  be  staked 
securely  after  planting,  and  have  the  soil  around  them  mulched  with 
manure.  In  stiff  ryet  soils  plant  on  mounds  raised  slightly  above  the 
normal  ground  level. — H.  D. 
- - — <♦♦♦> - 
Tlie  Greenhouse  in  Winter. 
A  GREENHOUSE  to  be  kept  continually  gay  and  effective  from 
October  Ist  to  March  31st,  so  as  to  give  the  greatest  possible  amount 
of  pleasure  to  its  owner,  should  be  provided  with  convenience  for 
maintaining  a  suitable  temperature,  with  a  view  to  including  the  more 
tender  stove  plants ;  nor  too  low  to  feel  chilly  and  stagnant,  in  which 
flowers  would  damp  or  refuse  to  open.  A  temperature  not  very  different 
from  that  of  a  living  room  would  be  the  most  suitable  for  the  plants 
and  the  most  inviting  to  those  who  wish  to  enjoy  them. 
The  greenhouse  should  bo  near  the  dwelling.  It  ought  not  to  partake 
too  much  of  the  more  ornate  conservatory  in  structure,  but  one  adapted 
rather  to  the  requirements  of  the  plants,  to  give  them  all  the  light 
possible  during  the  darker  part  of  the  year,  and  one  capable  of  showing 
them  off  to  the  best  advantage.  There  should  be  front  stages  and 
another  of  a  graduated  form,  about  three  steps  would  be  sufficient,  to 
till  up  the  higher  and  interior  part  of  the  house.  It  would  be  an 
advantage  if  the  two  upper  stages  were  made  portable,  so  that  one,  and 
if  necessary  the  two,  could  be  temporarily  removed  when  required ;  this 
would  enable  us  to  accommodate  taller  plants,  such  as  Chrysanthemums, 
in  their  seasons,  and  help  to  give  variety  to  our  arrangements. 
Constant  care  must  be  exercised  in  ventilating,  watering,  watching 
for  insects,  cleanliness,  and  great  attention  to  the  removal  not  only  of 
decaying  leaves,  but  also  of  flowers  as  soon  as  they  are  over.  These  latter 
should  be  promptly  picked  off,  for  beside  being  exhaustive  to  the  plants 
they  impede  the  expansion  of  sucoessional  flowers.  With  these  attentions 
and  good  taste  in  the  disposal  and  arrangement  of  the  plants  a  green- 
