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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COT'i AGE  GARDENER, 
December  20,  1900. 
Clierries  and  Plnms  in  Pots. 
In  a  most  interesting  book,  bearing  the  date  1653,  entitled  “A 
Treatise  of  Fruit  Tret  s,”  by  E.  A.  Austen,  the  author  is  at  great  pains 
to  prove  why  fruit  should  be  grown.  Many  of  his  reasons  are  such  as 
can  hardly  be  read  to  )  olite  ears  of  two  and  a  half  centuries  later,  but 
one  of  the  very  numerous  “Arguments  of  the  Dignity  of  Fruit 
Trees  and  Art  of  Planting”  appeals  to  most  of  us  strongly, 
especially  with  Cherry  orchards.  “  It  is  jdeasure  to  the  Eare  to 
heare  the  sweet  notes  and  tunes  of  singing  Birds,  whose  company  a 
man  ^hall  be  sure  to  have  in  an  Orchard,  which  is  more  pleasant  there, 
than  elsewhere,  because  of  other  concurrent  pleasures  there.”  Perhaps 
in  those  days  the  birds  had  not  acquired  such  a  taste  for  fruit. ^ 
Birds  and  Buds. 
I  believe  that  not  so  very  many  years  ago  starlings  did  not  touch 
Cherries;  now,  if  it  were  not  for  the  orchard  house,  we  should  have 
very  few  ripe  Cherries  at  Sawbridgeworth.  Directly  the  first  tinge 
of  reri  appears  there  is  a  rush  on  the  part  of  the  birds :  rooks, 
starlings,  thrushes,  and  others  make  away  with  the  fruit  as  fast  as 
they  can,  and  apparently  without  any  regard  for  their  digestions.  An 
orchard  house  is  the  only  safeguard  against  th(m.  With  double  d('ors, 
the  inner  of  half-inch  mesh  wire-netting,  and  with  the  ventilator- 
wired  over  with  the  same,  ve  can  ripen  crops  of  such  Cherries  as  it 
is  impossible  to  grow  cntside.  When  ripe  they  will  hang  for  three 
weeks  or  more  on  the  trees,  secure  from  feathered  depredators. 
Dimensions  of  an  Ideal  Orchard  House. 
The  most  convenient  orchard  house  is  a  span-roof  24  feet  wide, 
4J  feet  high  at  the  eaves,  and  12  feet  to  the  ridge.  Ventilator.'^ 
18  inches  wide,  hinged  at  the  bottom,  run  round  the  sides;  the  to]' 
ventilators  are  3  feet  wide  by  15  inches,  feet  apart,  on  alternate 
sides  of  the  ridgei  We  used  to  buit  onr  Chenies  in  a  smaller  house, 
14  feet  wide  and  9  feet  to  tie  ridge.  This  scarcely  allowed  sufficient 
head  room  fur  the  large  trees,  many  of  them  filteen  years  old. 
Certainly  they  seem  grateful  for  the  increased  breathing  space.  As 
soon  as  tl  eir  crrps  are  finished  the  trees  are  taken  out  of  the  house 
and  plunged  nearly  up  to  the  pot-rims  in  a  border  outside.  The 
reason  fi  r  plunging  is  twofold.  First,  the  earth  which  envelops  them 
keeps  the  pots  and  their  contents  moist  and  -renders  the  labour  of 
watering  less  heavy  ;  and  secondly,  the  somewhat  top-heavy  trees 
are  thus  in  n  *  danger  of  being  blown  over.  Water  must  be  given  to 
the  trees  during  dry  weather,  and  occasional  good  syringing  helps  to 
keep  them  clean  and  healthy. 
Soil  for  Repotting. 
In  October  the  trees  should  again  be  brought  into  the  orchard 
house  for  repotting,  before  which  process  they  must  be  under  cover 
for  a  time,  so  that  the  earth  in  the  pots  should  not  be  sodden.  Thi^ 
also  applies  to  the  earth  to  be  used  for  repotting,  a  good  loam  with 
which  is  mixed  rotten  manure  in  the  proportion  of  one  load  in  two, 
and  also  broken  up  mortar  rubble,  a  barrowload  to  a  load.  Ir. 
repotting  the  outer  soil,  filled  wdth  fibrous  rootlets,  is  scraped  away, 
leaving  a  ball  of  earth  containing  the  larger  roots  ;  the  tree  is  rej'laced 
in  the  pot,  and  new  soil  rammed  in  firmly  and  evenly  nearly  up  to 
the  rim.  The  surface  is  at  the  same  level  round  the  trunk  as  before. 
Thorough  repotting  need  only  be  done  alternate  years.  In  intermediate 
years  the  outer  soil  can  be  removed  nearly  down  to  the  bottom  of  tbe 
pot  and  replaced  by  fresh  without  taking  out  the  tree.  A  good 
drainage,  very  necessary  with  Cherries,  is  provided  for  by  a  layer  o! 
crocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  pot. 
Winter  Working. 
In  repotting  the  tree  must  not  be  moved  into  too  large  a  pot.  An 
11-inch  pot  is  ample  for  a  three-year-old  tree,  which  may  be  given 
one  size  larger  at  each  repotting  if  necessary;  an  18-inch  pot  will 
contain  the  largest  tree.  When  this  operation  is  finished  the  trees 
are  stood  as  closely  together  as  possible  in  single  rows  in  the  house, 
in  one  end  of  w  hich  is  heaped  sufficient  Barley  straw’  to  pack  round 
and  over  the  pots,  making  a  layer  of  about  a  foot  deep  when  there 
is  severe  frost,  and  the  trees  are  snug  for  the  winter.  Water  must 
be  given  until  the  leaves  are  all  fallen.  From  about  the  middle  o( 
November  to  the  end  of  December  the  trees  will  require  none  at  all. 
If  January  be  mild  they  should  have  some  water  again,  and  from 
then  onwards  occasionally  when  necessary.  Towards  the  end  of 
February  they  must  be  pruned,  an  operation  rendered  quite 
unnecessary  in  seme  cases  where  the  older  trees  in  full  bearing  make 
no  new  shoots.  The  last  year’s  growths  must  be  cut  back  to  about 
five  eyes ;  with  very  strong  shoots,  or  in  the  case  of  strong  growers, 
eight  to  ten  eyes  may  be  left.  Water  will  now  be  wanted  about 
once  a  week.  ■ 
Arranging  the  Trees. 
The  pruning  finished,  the  house  should  be  set  out — i  e.,  the*  trees 
placed  in  their  permanent  positions  for  the  summer,  and  this  should 
be  done  symmetrically  and  carefully,  as  it  makes  all  the  difference  in 
the  appearance  of  the  bouse.  A  centre  bordrr  5J  feet  wide  takes  two 
rows  of  trees  ;  a  path  3  feet  wide  runs  round  it,  leaving  side  borders 
5^  feet  wide.  The  floor  of  the  house  is  firm  and  solid,  never! being 
.stirred,  and  the  path  is  rammed  gravel  and  clay  A  thin  layer  of 
fine  cinders  over  the  surface  of  the  borders  gives  them  a  neat 
appearance,  and  is  kept  raked  and  clean.  Tbe  pots  may  be  plunged  in 
the  borders  up  to  about  3  inches  of  their  rims,  a  bed  of  large  cinders 
being  placed  in  the  bottom  of  each  hole  to  allow  the  water  to  drain 
efficiently.  The  trees  should  be  grouped  with  regard  to  the  colour 
of  their  fruit.  A  good  smoking  with  tobacco  paper  now  will  lessen 
the  number  of  aphides  hereafter,  the  trees  being  syringed  thoroughly 
'  the  next  morning. 
A  Time  of  Beauty. 
About  the  middle  of  March  the  trees  are  a  mass  of  white  blossom# 
and  are  wonderfully  beautiful  ;  this  cives  place  to  dinginess  for  a  time 
when  the  blooms  are  dead.  The  calyx  remains  round  the  swelling 
fruit  for  a  long  time,  and  must  be  removed,  as  also  tbe  scales  at  the 
base  of  the  fruit  stalks,  which,  although  they  fall  off  eventually, 
persist  until  the  fruit  is  nearly  developed  if  suffered  to  do  so,  and 
harbour  insects,  &c.  The  thinning  of  the  fruits  should  be  done  when 
stoning  is  finished,  and  all  those  fruits  which  are  not  going  to  swell 
can  be  detected.  Ample  room  must  be  allowed  to  each  berry,  so  that 
the  fruits  shall  not  be  overcrowded  when  ripe.  The  bunches  will 
have  ultimately  from  six  to  sixteen  or  twenty  fruits. 
VentiJation  and  Watering. 
During  flowering  all  the  ventilation  possible  must  be  given,  except 
when  there  are  cutting  winds;  a  single  het-wa'er  pipe  running  round 
the  house  will  keep  out  tl  e  frost  it  necessary.  Water  will  not  be 
required  in  large  quantity,  sufficient  being  given  to  prevent  the  earth 
■from  becoming  over-dry.  When  the  foliage  is  coming  out,  and  from 
then  onward,  water  must  be  given  more  frequently  according  to  the 
weather.  The  amount  of  water  the  individual  trees  require  may  be 
easily  ascertained  by  tapping  the  pot,  which  will  give  quite  a  bell-like 
note  if  the  earth  be  dry.  When  watering  the  borders  and  paths 
should  be  thoroughly  damped  down  to  insure  moisture  in  the  air. 
The  trees  must  be  syringed  morning  and  evening  until  the  fruit 
begins  to  colour,  after  which  syringing  should  be  discontinued,  or  the 
fruit  will  crack. — {Paper  read  by  Mr.  H.  Somers  Rivers  before' the 
Royal  Horticultural  tiociety.') 
(To  be  concluded.) 
’  ✓ 
- ; 
Certificated  Plants. — No.  3. 
Permit  me  at  the  outset  to  make  cne  or  two  corrections' lin  the 
first  paragraph  of  my  last  communication,  and  also  supply  an  addition 
or  two.  In  line  17,  Charles  Lidyard  should  read  Lidgard.  He  was,  I 
think,  the  host  of  the  Albion  Tavern  in  the  Albion  Road’  at 
Hammersmith.  He  raised  in  the  early  fifties  a  blue  edged  Cineraria 
named  Brilliant,  which  had  a  great  reputation  in  its  day.  He  was 
one  of  the  principal  censors  at  the  imetings  of  the  National 
Floricultural  Society,  and  greatly  esteemed  as  a  judge  of  florists* 
flowers.  When  well  stricken  in  years  he  would  go  all  the  way  to 
Alnwick  to  judge  florists’  flowers.  In  the  last  line  but  two,  it  will  be 
obvious  to  many,  Samuel  Brown  is  a  misprint  for  Broi  me.  I  used  to 
meet  him  at  the  Chrysanthemum  shows  at  Liverpool,  where  his 
services  were  in  request  as  judge.  How  few,  probably,  are  aware  that 
the  ashes  of  this  grand  old  “mummer”  lie  in  Nunhead  Cemetery 
underneath  a  massive  tomb,  raised  by  his  many  friends  to  his 
memory,  and  on  the  forefront  of  which  is  sculptured  an  incurved 
Chrysanthemum.  That  other  notable  Temple  gardener,  Joseph  Dale, 
may  be  mentioned  in  this  relation. 
The  list  of  certificated  Begonias  comprises  220  species  and  varieties, 
and  one  may  well  hesitate  to  deal  with  such  a  vast  array  in  anything 
like  chronological  order.  They  comprise  forms  of  the  B.  Rex  section  * 
the  fibrous-rooted,  the  tuberous-rooted,  and  not  a  few  hybrids.  We 
are  taken  back  to  1864,  when,  in  March  of  that  year,  William  Earley 
(not  Early)  was  gardener  at  Digswell,  Welwyn,  and  was  experimenting 
with  some  of  the  winter  flowering  section  and  raised  digswelliensis. 
It  was  almost  the  first  Begonia  to  receive  an  award,  and  the  very  first 
among  tbe  flowering  forms  to  do  so,  and  it  became  widely  cultivated 
for  some  years.  The  Begonia  recalls  the  name  of  Colonel  Trevor 
Clarke  and  his  hybrid  weltoniensis,  raised  at  Welton  Park,  Daveiitry, 
which  received  a  certificate  of  merit  in  October,  1868.  This  was  “a 
rosy  flowered  hybrid  from  the  white  flowered  B.  Dregei,  lertilised 
