484 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
November  29,  1900. 
Tlie  Garden  in  Antnnin  and  Winter, 
Time  flies !  Autumn  days  have  once  more  passed  away,  to  be 
succeeded  by  the  dreary  times  of  winter;  yet,  so  far,  how  kindly 
have  the  elements  dealt  with  us,  for  real  November  fogs  have  been 
conspicuous  by  their  absence.  Vegetation  in  the  open  air  still  looks 
fresh  and  green,  and  the  leaves  linger  long  upon  the  Beech  and  Oak. 
What  a  wonderful  autumn  it  has  been  for  Chrysanthemums  in  the 
open  air !  Never  do  I  remember  their  having  made  a  more  gorgeous 
display.  In  gardens,  large  and  small,  throughout  the  land,  they  have 
braved  the  winds  and  rains,  and  have  been  by  far  the  brightest 
flowering  plants  to  be  met  with  in  the  open  air.  During  such 
favourable  seasons  Chrysanthemums  out  of  doors  seem  to  have  brighter 
colours  than  the  same  varieties  when  grown  under  glass. 
These  “queens  of  autumn”  are  so  easily  grown  that  they  ought 
to  be  far  more  extensively  planted  in  the  open  air.  True,  early  frosts 
will  sometimes  nip  their  beauty  in  the  bud,  but  they  give  so  little 
trouble  that  we  can  afford  to  risk  something  in  our  efforts  to  brighten 
our  gardens  in  autumn.  The  following  are  a  few  varieties  which  I 
have  this  year  noted  as  being  especially  good  in  the  open  air  : — Queen 
of  the  Earlies  and  Madame  Desgrange,  both  fine  whites;  Crimson 
Precocite,  Freder  ck  Pels,  crimson  tipped  with  gold  ;  Madame  Edward 
Lefort,  bright  orange  tinted  rrd;  Madame  Marie  Masse,  Eyecroft 
Glory,  W.  Holmes,  Flora,  Bol,  crimson  brown;  Cedo  Nulli,  white; 
Cedo  Nulli,  yellow;  Golden  Fleece,  Piercy’s  Seedling,  and  St.  Crouts. 
Those  who  have  sheltered  positions  in  front  of  a  south  wall  could  also 
plant  some  of  the  later  kinds. 
The  recent  rains  have  thorn ughly  moistened  the  soil,  and  made  it 
suitable  alike  for  lifting  and  replanting  fruit  trees.  Many  eneigetic 
gardeners  have  taken  t  rne  by  the  forelock  and  have  planted  the  bulk 
of  their  trees;  the  work  may,  however,  be  successfully  conducted 
during  mild  weather  for  the  next  three  months.  Our  gardens  and 
markets  are  certainly  not  overstocked  with  late  varieiies  of  Apples. 
All  planters  should  bear  this  in  mind  and  plant  a  good  percentage  of 
such  fine  late  kinds  as  Wellington,  Lane’s  Prince  Albert,  Newton 
Wonder,  Bramley’s  Seedling,  Alfriston,  and  Hambledon  Deux  Ans  for 
cocking;  and  Lord  Burleigh,  Hormead’s  Pearmain,  Fearn’s  Pippin, 
Sturmer  Pippin,  and  Allen’s  Everlasting  for  dessert.  Everyone  of  the 
above  are  sterling  varieties  which  produce  clean,  attractive-looking 
fruit  if  cultivated  on  rational  lines. 
Much  other  work  needs  attention  in  the  fruit  garden  during  the 
next  few  months.  All  root-pruning  necessary  ought  to  be  completed 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  encourage  the  production  of  young  fibrous  roots 
before  growth  is  far  advanced  in  spring.  Numbers  of  old  gardens 
there  are  where  the  espalier  trees  are  not  nearly  so  productive  as  they 
should  be,  because  the  spurs  are  ti  o  thick,  the  roots  too  strong  and 
fibreless,  and  the  top  growth  far  too  gross;  the  wood  does  not  ripen 
as  it  should,  and  canker  and  American  blight  are  rampant.  In  such 
cases  root-pruning  and  thinning  the  spurs  will  often  put  matter.^ 
right.  Trenches  should  be  taken  cut  round  the  trees  at  from  2  to 
4  feat  from  the  main  stems,  the  soil  worked  from  between  the  roots, 
the  main  ones  being  severed,  and  fresh  soil  added.  During  the 
process  of  filling  in  the  roots  ought  to  be  raised,  so  as  to  have  the  bulk 
of  them  near  the  surface,  as  they  usually  go  down  fast  enough 
Simple  matters  these  things  may  appear,  but  it  is  necessary  to  give 
them  due  attention  to  maintain  trees  in  a  fruitful  condition,  or  to 
bring  neglected  ones  into  a  satisfactory  stale  again. 
Hand  in  hand  with  root-pruning  should  go  the  practice  of  thinning 
out  the  spurs  of  such  trees ;  fully  half  of  them  may  often  with 
advantage  be  cut  away,  and  the  remainder  be  shortened  so  as  to  aid  in 
the  production  of  fresh  spurs  near  the  main  stem.  When  canker  is 
prevalent  every  affected  part  should  be  cut  out  in  the  spring,  and 
the  wound  coated  with  Stockholm  tar,  to  prevent  the  ingress  of  the 
canker  fungus.  In  tPe  case  of  trees  suffering  from  an  attack  of 
American  blight,  all  the  rough  parts  of  the  bark  ought  to  be  dressed 
with  spirits  of  wine,  worked  well  in  with  a  brush  ;  or  with  a  solution 
formed  of  6  ozs.  of  soltsoap  to  3  galkns  of  water,  and  a  wineglassful 
of  paraffin  oil  added ;  the  oil  should  be  mixed  with  the  soap  in  a  little 
boiling  water  before  the  bulk  of  the  water  is  added. 
In  some  instances  espalier  trees,  instead  of  growing  too  strongly, 
make  very  little  growth  indeed,  and  do  not  blossom  freely.  Poorness 
of  soil  is  often  the  cause,  and  matters  may  be  considerably  improve<i 
by  removing  a  foot  or  more  of  the  surface  soil,  and  replacing  it 
with  good  loam  or  fresh  soil  from  the  vegetable  quartets.  If 
necessary  the  spurs  ought  also  to  be  freely  thinned.  'I'he  abovn 
remarks  apply  to  trees  which,  by  reason  of  their  position  or  for  the 
sake  of  appearances,  must  be  kept  closely  pruned.  When,  however, 
there  is  no  objection  to  allowing  them  to  extend,  the  best  way  to 
bring  them  into  a  fruitful  condition  is  to  simply  let  the  branches 
extend  in  a'l  directions,  and  thin  them  to  a  loot  apart.  In  a  few 
years  abundance  of  fruitful  wood  is  secured,  which  in  one  season  will 
often  give  more  fruit  than  can  be  obtained  in  five  under  a  system  of 
close  pruning  when  trees  are  old. 
Pear  trees  on  walls  which  have  old  and  ugly  spurs  sometimes  reed 
severe  pruning.  If  all  the  spurs  are  sa-n  off  close  to  the  main 
branches  plenty  of  young  shoots  are  sent  out  the  following  season. 
Such  shoots  should  be  thinned  to  4  inches  apart,  in  July  stopped  to 
five  or  six  leaves,  and  at  the  winter  pruning  be  cut  back  to  one  bud. 
In  a  few  years  plenty  of  blossom  buds  are  then  formed.  Only  healthy 
vigorous  trees  should,  however,  be  so  treated  ;  if  enfeebled  or  cankered 
the  best  course  to  follow  is  to  uproot  them  and  plant  approved 
varieties.  Standard  and  bush  Apple  and  Pear  trees,  even  when  not 
closely  pruned,  sometimes  grow  too  strongly,  and  in  their  case  root- 
pruning  will  usually  check  over-exuberance  of  growth,  and  hasten 
blossom  bud  formation.  Many  other  cultural  operations  necessary  in 
the  fruit  garden  I  hope  to  treat  of  shortly.  I  began  these  notes  with 
the  intention  of  dealing  with  various  phases  of  gardening,  but  the 
engrossing  subject  of  fruit  culture  has,  as  usual,  drawn  from  me  the 
lion’s  share  of  attention. 
Let  me  close  with  a  few  remarks  about  vegetables.  I  wonder  how 
many  gardeners  can  remember  a  finer  season  for  autumn  Cauliflov/ers. 
They  seem  to  have  been  plentiful  enough  everywhere,  and  as  good  in 
size  and  quality  as  they  were  abundant.  All  this,  I  think,  was 
principally  owing  to  the  fine  rain  experienced  in  August  when  the 
plants  were  in  full  growth.  Gelery,  too,  is  also  good,  and  the 
numerous  examples  of  the  Brassica  family  promise  to  keep  the  “  pot  ” 
full  to  overflowing  throughout  the  winter. 
A  timely  hint  to  those  who  have  old  gardens  to  manase  is  dress 
any  vacant  quarters  with  gas  lime  at  the  rate  of  56  lbs.  per  rod,  and 
let  it  lie  for  a  month  or  six  weeks  before  digging  it  in.  Little 
trouble  should  then  be  given  by  grubs,  millipedes,  and  slugs  next 
season,  and  the  land  will  also  be  in  other  ways  sweetened  and  enriched 
by  the  application. — Onward. 
- - 
Certificated  Piants.— No.  2. 
Florists’  Flowers. 
The  year  in  which  the  Floral  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  was  formed — 1859 — was  a  period  of  great  activity  in  the 
improvement  of  what  were  termed  florists’  flowers.  During  the  end 
of  the  forties,  and  early  in  the  fifties,  it  was  possible  to  hear  of  crowds 
of  the  Aite  of  London  society  thronging  to  see  Dahlia,  Pansy,  and 
Tulip  exhibitions  in  London  and  its  suburbs,  so  great  a  hold  had 
these  and  other  plants  upon  the  imagination  of  the  people.  They 
were  the  most  popular  flowers  of  the  day,  and  at  that  time  society  had 
not  put  forward  such  grievous  claims  upon  the  time  of  the  well-to-do 
as  it  has  for  some  years  past.  Nurseries  for  the  propagation  and  sale 
of  florists’  flowers  had  sprung  up  in  many  of  the  suburbs  of  London. 
Chandler  &  Sons,  Catleugh,  Gaines,  Denyer,  Dobson,  the  Hendersons 
in  the  Wellington  Road,  St.  John’s  Wood,  and  Pine  Apple  Place  j 
Salter,  Hopwood,  Ivery,  Lee,  Osborn,  Rawlings,  Salter,  and  Smith, 
were  then  leading  florists,  while  in  the  provinces  were  Brown,  Keynes, 
Lane, Turner,  Paul, and  others.  Glenuy  and  Widnall  were  to  the  fore; 
amid  their  followers  John  Edwards  was  at  Holloway,  Chas.  Lidyard 
at  Hammersmith,  Kinghorn  at  Orleans  House  ;  further  afield  would 
be  seen  Hoyle  at  Reading,  Foster  at  Clewer,  Perry  at  Handsworth, 
there  editing  the  “Midland  Gardeners’  Magazine;”  Dr.  Maclean  at 
Colchester,  Anthony  Parsons  at  Ponders  End,  R.  Headly  at  Stapleford, 
E.  S.  Dodwell  at  Derby,  and  numberless  others.  What  a  rush  of 
memories  come  with  the  contemplation  of  these  names  !  Nor  must 
Donald  Beaton  be  forgotten,  with  hia  pleasant  chatty  papers  on 
florists’  flowers  in  the  “Cottage  Gardener,”  and  his  confreres  Fish 
and  Errington  ;  nor  Samuel  Brown,  then  beginning  the  task  of 
showing  the  people  of  London  what  an  excellent  town  flower  the 
Chrysanthemum  is. 
The  Auricula  was  a  popular  flower  during  the  fifth  s,  and  many 
raisers  were  at  work  endeavouring  to  improve  it.  It  is  an  interesting 
tact  that  during  the  first  five  years  of  the  existence  of  the  National 
Fb  ricultural  Society—  1851  to  1855 — only  four  Auriculas  received 
awards,  and  one  of  those  was  Alpine  King  of  Crimsons;  a  kind  of 
epoch  flower,  because  it  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  Mr.  C.  Turner’s 
improvements,  and  the  forerunner  of  many  floricultural  triumphs.  It 
was  not  until  1887  that  the  Floral  Committee  of  the  R.H.S  made 
awards  to  Auriculas  such  as  Abbe  Li zst,  green  edge;  and  Sir  Wm, 
Hewitt,  self,  both  raised  by  Mr.  J.  Douglas,  gaining  certificates  of 
merit  in  that  year. 
But  the  National  Auricula  had  meanwhile  made  awards  ta 
seedlings,  for  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  had  been  at  work  for  a  few  years, 
and  by  carelul  cross  fertilisation  setting  up  high  standards  of  quality 
in  his  seedlings.  It  is  probably  impossible  to  adequately  express  the 
obligations  of  Auricula  cultivators  of  the  present  day  to  Leigh  for 
his  Col.  Taylor,  Page  for  his  Champion,  Booth  for  his  Freedom,  Old 
Robin  Lancashire  lor  his  Hero,  Lightbody  for  his  Richard  Headly, 
Headly  for  his  George  Lightbody,  Taylor  for  his  Glory,  Heap  for  his 
Smiling  Beauty,  and  Kay  for  his  Topsy.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  up 
