December  27,  1900.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
575 
Clierries  and  Plnii|s  In  Pots. 
{Concluded  from  page  550.) 
Liquid  manure  or  soot  water  should  be  given  twice  a  week  after 
stoning ;  and  as  there  is  so  little  earth  in  the  pot  compared  to  the 
crop  it  ripens,  additional  food  must  be  given  in  the  shape  of  a  top¬ 
dressing  of  equal  parts  of  kilndust  and  horse  droppings  mixed,  making 
a  layer  of  about  2  inches  thick  near  the  rim  of  the  pot,  sloping  down 
to  the  stem  so  as  to  form  a  basin  to  hold  the  water.  Two  top-dressings 
will  be  necessary,  the  first  when  the  fruits  are  stoning,  the  second 
when  they  are  colouring,  by  which  time  the  goodness  of  the  first 
a]  plication  will  be  exhausted.  When  the  young  shoots  have  made  a 
dozen  or  so  good  leaves  they  should  be  pinched  back  to  eight  or  ten. 
One  pinching  alone  is  necessary,  subsequent  growths  being  left  alone. 
The  worst  insect  enemy  to  contend  with  is  the  black  fly,  but  it  may 
be  kept  down  by  watchfulness.  The  first  smoking,  with  tobacco 
paper,  referred  to  above,  will  do  much ;  subsequently  the  trees  may 
be  smoked  at  any  period  with  the  patent  vaporising  compounds  now 
sold.  XL  All  may  be  used  with  perfect  safety,  even  during  flowering. 
There  are  many  good 
Cherries  well  adapted 
to  pot  work  when 
budded  on  the  Mahaleb. 
Selections  of  Cherries. 
Though  it  is  a  mis¬ 
take  to  have  too  many 
varieties,  several  are 
needed  to  cover  all  the 
season,  and  it  is  very 
pleasant  when  one  has 
been  feasting  on  lus¬ 
cious  Geans  to  give 
the  palate  a  change 
by  eating  some  crisp 
Bigarreaus  or  acidulous 
Dukes.  About  the  third 
week  in  June  Belle 
d’Orleans  and  Guigne 
Annonay  are  ripe,  the 
former  light  red,  the 
latter  black,  both  ex¬ 
cellent  Cherries  and 
good  croppers,  though 
the  fruit  is  somewhat 
small,  and  that  of  the 
latter  soon  becomes  dull 
after  ripening.  Werder’s 
Early  Black  ripens 
next;  the  fruit  of  this 
sort  also  loses  its  lustre, 
and  it  is  scarcely  worth 
growing,  since  Early 
Rivers  ripens  almost  at 
the  same  time.  Early 
Rivers  is  an  ideal  pot 
Cherry, bearing  its  large 
black  fruits  abundantly.  They  are  of  excellent  flivour,  and  hang  on 
the  tree  a  month  after  ripening,  perfectly  sound  and  bright  to  the  last. 
Black  Circassian,  Bigarreau  de  Schreken,  and  Bedford  Prolific,  three 
good  black  Cherries,  follow. 
In  July  we  have  Bigarreau  Noir  de  Guben  ;  Governor  Wood,  an 
excellent  pale  red  Cherry,  which  is,  however,  very  liable  to  crack  if 
water  touches  the  ripening  fruit ;  Belle  de  Choisy,  a  fine  Duke ; 
Frogmore  Bisarreau,  red ;  May  Duke ;  Elton,  a  handsome  bright  red 
Bigarreau;  White  Bigarreau,  with  waxen  yellow  fruit  slightly  tinged 
with  red  next  the  sun  ;  Turkey  Black  Heart,  a  fine  pot  Cherry  with 
firm,  juicy  fruit;  Reine  Hortense,  a  large  Duke  ;  Monstreuse  de  Mezel, 
a  very  large  dark  red  Bigarreau;  Bigarreau  Napoleon,  deep  red; 
Black  Hawk  ;  and  Emperor  Francis,  a  very  large  bright  red 
Bigarreau. 
In  August  ripen  Late  Duke  ;  Large  Black  Bigarreau ;  Guigne  de 
Winkler,  bright  red;  Late  Black  Bigarreau;  and  last,  but  not  by  any 
means  least,  G4ant  d’Hedelfinger,  a  brownish  black  Cherry  of  immense 
size  with  very  firm  flesh. 
The  Treatment  of  Pluma. 
The  directions  given  for  the  culture  of  Cherries  may  also  be 
employed  successfully  with  Plums  ;  but  different  species  of  fruit 
should,  if  possible,  be  grown  in  separate  houses  or  compartments  to 
avoid  their  requirements  clashing  at  any  time.  As  with  Cherries, 
many  Plums  will  hang  on  the  tree  under  glass  for  a  very  long  time. 
especially  the  late  sorts ;  they  shrivel  slightly,  and  become  bags  of 
honey.  The  bloom  on  the  fruit  is  very  strongly  developed  under 
glass,  and  Is  quite  firmly  fixed,  not  being  easily  rubbed  off. 
Some  Choice  Plums. 
An  ample  selection  may  be  made  from  the  following  sorts ; — 
Stint,  the  earliest,  a  pretty  yellow  Plum  mottled  with  red,  which 
must  be  picked  directly  it  is  ripe ;  Early  Prolific  (or  Early  Rivers),  a 
round,  deep  bluish  purple  Plum ;  Czar,  large,  oval,  reddish  puf^ple  ; 
Mallard,  deep  purple;  Oullins  Golden  Gage,  very  large,  oval,  rich 
yellow  ;  Denniston’s  Superb,  Early  Transparent,  and  M'Laughlin’s,  all 
fine  Gages  of  a  greenish  yellow  colour,  blotched  with  purple  and  red  ; 
Jefferson,  golden  yellow,  spotted  with  red;  Kirke’s,  roundish,  dark 
purple,  covered  with  a  heavy  blue  bloom ;  Belgian  Purple,  a  round 
dark  purple  Plum  ;  Golden  Transparent,  described  by  its  name  ;  Late 
Transparent,  purple,  tbe  leaves  of  which  have  a  curious  habit  of  curling 
inwards  to  the  midrib,  and  thus  exposing  their  under  surface  when 
the  fruit  ripens  (this  must  not  be  mistaken  for  want  of  water)  ;  Coe’s 
Golden  Drop,  oval  with  a  short  neck,  a  yellow  Plum  with  dark  red 
spots ;  and  Decaisne,  large  oval  skin,  bright  yellow  with  a  dense  green 
grey  bloom,  both  of 
which  hang  especially 
well;  Reine  Claude  de 
Comte  Atthems,  a  large 
red  Gage  which  does  not 
hang  long;  Monarch,  a 
very  large  purple  Plum  ; 
Reine  Claude  de  Bavay , 
a  late  Green  Gage ; 
Grand  Duke,  an  oval 
purple  Plum  which 
carries  an  extremely 
heavy  silver  blue  bloom; 
Primate,  very  large, 
bright  purplish  red  ; 
and  Rivers’  Late  Oj'ange 
of  a  glowing  yellow 
orange  colour. 
A  Closing  Word. 
The  flavours  are  very 
diverse  and  pleasing ; 
they  seem  to  be  en¬ 
hanced,  and  at  the 
same  time  refined,  by 
the  additional  sun  and 
warmth  under  glass. 
Trees  studded  with 
their  different  coloured 
fruit  make  an  orchard 
house  quite  as  beautiful 
as  is  a  conservatory  of 
flowers.  The  Japanese 
Plums,  so  largely  grown 
now  in  America,  but 
which  cannot  be  called 
a  success  with  us  in 
the  open,  I  thought  at 
one  time  would  prove  an  acquisition  in  the  orchard  house,  but  they 
are  not.  Perhaps  we  have  yet  to  discover  the  secret  of  their  culture. 
With  both  Cherries  and  Plums  the  glass  should  be  shaded  by  syringing 
with  whitewash  when  the  fruit  is  ripe.  The  direct  rays  of  the  sun 
are  too  scorching  if  the  summer  be  hot. — {Paper  read  by  Mr.  H. 
SoMEKS  Rivers  before  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.) 
- 1  •  '  ' 
Dangerous  Knowledge. —  A  celebrated  English  writer  of  the 
last  generation  was  renowned  for  his  asceticism.  One  saying  with  which 
he  is  credited  is  that  “  a  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing.”  This 
is  particularly  exemplified  at  the  present  time  by  the  talks  on  microbes 
which  come  in  the  public  prints.  Just  before  us,  as  we  write,  is  an 
article  in  a  magazine  of  some  pretensions  which  reads  as  follows  : 
“  Fruit  skins  carry  germs,  and,  when  these  are  taken  into  the  stomach, 
cause  disease.  The  raw  fruit  itself  is  dangerous,  and,  in  many  oases, 
should  not  bo  eaten.  Cooked  fruit  is  in  all  cases  preferable,  but  when 
fruit  is  eaten  the  skins  should  always  be  discarded.  They  are  full  of 
microbes,  which  they  catch  from  the  atmosphere  and  retain.”  The 
folly  of  this  is  apparent  when  it  is  known  that  the  number  of  disease- 
producing  germs  is  infinitesimally  small  in  comparison  with  those  which 
are  beneficial.  Nearly  all  the  operations  of  life  are  carried  on  through 
the  agency  of  these  microbes ;  there  could  be  no  life  without  them. 
Ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  microbes  that  are  attached  to  fruits  do  no 
more  injury  than  to  eat  a  dish  of  oysters. — (“  Meehan’s  Monthly.”) 
Fig.  149. — L.eiia  anceps  waddonensis. 
