February  ]4,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
137 
cultivated  in  this  country,  as  they  are  of  easy  culture,  highly 
orramental,  and  the  flavour  of  the  fruits  is  immeasurably  superior  to 
any  imported  fruit,  probably  owing  to  the  fact  that  when  ripe  it  is 
gathered  and  eaten.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  testing  a  specimen  of  the 
Egg  Orange,  and  must  say  that  it  was  superb.  The  great  objection  to 
Oranges  is  that  they  are  “  dirty  ”  plants,  the  trouble  being  caused 
almost  entirely  by  scale ;  if  this  pest  is  kept  at  bay  the  plants 
remain  perfectly  clean,  and  are  then,  whether  in  or  out  of  fruit, 
particularly  attractive.  The 
Sawbridgeworth  collection 
comprises  all  the  principal 
varieties,  both  in  the  young 
and  fruiting  stages,  and  is 
a  never-failing  source  of 
interest  to  visitors.  A  col¬ 
lection  of  Lemons  bears 
the  OraDgeB  company,  and 
these,  too,  are  attractive 
and  fruitful. 
Fruit  and  Roses  Out 
of  Doors. 
The  area  of  ground 
under  fruit  and  Rose  cul¬ 
ture  out  of  doors  is  very 
great,  and  all  types  of  trees 
and  bushes  are  produced. 
The  fruit  trees  range  from 
the  maiden  to  trees  of 
unknown  age.  In  one  place 
there  is  a  drift  of  Apples 
on  the  Paradise  stock,  all 
of  which  are  at  least  forty 
years  of  age,  and  yet  they 
signs  of  diminu- 
vigour  ;  on  the 
they  continue  to 
excellent  crops 
year.  This,  no 
largely  attribut¬ 
able  to  the  stocks  upon 
which  they  are  worked,  the 
Nonesuch  and  Broad-leaved 
Paradise  being  exclusively 
employed  for  bush  Apples 
at  Sawbridgeworth.  The 
two  trees  illustrated  repre¬ 
sent  the  new  Plum  Presi¬ 
dent,  which  received  a 
first-class  certificate  from 
the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  last  year,  and  a 
pot  tree  of  the  well-known 
Apple  Emperor  Alexander. 
All  the  trees  seen  on  the 
occasion  of  my  last  visit 
were  healthy  and  clean, 
and  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  Roses,  to  which 
large  quarters  are  devoted. 
Despite  the  somewhat  un¬ 
favourable  weather  the  few 
hours  at  Sawbridgeworth 
were  admirably  spent,  and 
the  pleasure  of  a  pilgrimage  when 
burdens  of  fruit,  and  the  Roses 
ant;cipated  by — A  Londoner. 
Pruning  Pears. 
show  no 
tion  of 
contrary 
produce 
year  by 
doubt, 
is 
Apple  Emperor  Alexander. 
The  articles  on  this  subject  by  “  N.  H.  P.,”  p.  458,  and  “  S.,  Yorks,” 
p.  557  (last  vol.),  show  two  opposite  methods  of  renovating  Pear  trees. 
To  cut  away  the  horizontal  branches  to  the  main  stem  seems  to  be  a 
system  not  generally  practised,  and  it  would,  I  am  afraid,  where  the 
demand  for  the  quickest  returns  is  made,  be  a  somewhat  tedious  operation. 
Operating  cn  old  trees  can  be  done  with  absolute  success  without 
going  so  far.  Having  had 
considerable  experience 
with  old  Pears  planted 
about  fifty  years  ago,  and 
which  were  at  the  time  of 
my  commencing  a  thicket  of 
spurs  some  18  inches  from 
the  branches,  the  fruit  of 
which  was  of  the  most 
meagre  description,  I  re¬ 
solved  to  set  about  the  work 
in  real  earnest  to  try  to 
make  an  improvement. 
Every  variety  was  suitable 
for  the  locality,  so  the  idea 
of  grafting  on  others  was 
at  once  discarded.  Im¬ 
mediately  after  the  fruit 
was  gathered  we  bared  the 
roots  freely  and  made  a 
careful  examination,  finding 
some  quite  devoid  of  fibre 
and  running  in  the  cold 
subsoil.  A  trench  was  taken 
out  4  feet  from  the  bole 
of  the  trees,  by  that  means 
allowing  any  long  straggling 
roots  to  be  severed.  Then 
as  many  as  could  be  con¬ 
veniently  brought  nearer 
to  the  surface  were  held  in 
position  by  placing  old 
pieces  of  broken  flags  under¬ 
neath  until  there  was  quite 
a  respectable  number  of 
roots  to  be  seen.  The 
surface  soil  I  should 
mention  was  then  lowered 
to  the;  depth  of  1  foot,  and 
so  the  roots  were  brought 
mere  within  the  influence 
of  the  heat  of  the  sun. 
The  next  thing  was  to  see 
to  the  covering  of  them, 
and  a  compost  consisting  of 
loam,  burnt  refuse,  old 
mortar  rubbish,  a  fair 
sprinkling  of  lime,  decayed 
horse  manure,  and  some 
half-inch  bones,  was  ap¬ 
plied,  but  only  to  such  a 
depth  as  would  just  cover, 
and  over  each  a  slight 
mulching  of  manure,  which 
was  left  until  spring.  A 
commencement  was  then 
made  with  the  branches, 
and  this  I  had  no  hesita¬ 
tion  in  doing.  They  were 
t  iken  in  turn,  and  as  there 
Wire  three  times  more 
spurs  than  was  necessary, 
the  more  unsightly  were 
cut  back  to  the  branch. 
are 
the  trees 
diffusing 
are  bearing  their 
their  fragrance,  is 
Soap  from  Trees. — There  are  several  trees  and  plants  in  the 
world  whose  bprries,  juice,  or  bark  are  as  good  to  wash  with  as  real 
soap.  In  the  West  Indian  Islands  and  in  South  America  grows  a  tree 
whose  fruit  make3  an  excellent  lather  and  is  used  for  washing  clothes. 
The  bark  of  a  tree  which  grows  in  Peru,  and  of  another  which  grows  in 
the  Malay  Islands,  yield  a  fine  soap.  The  common  Soapwort,  which  is 
indigenous  to  England,  is  so  full  of  suponine  that  simply  rubbing  the 
leaves  together  in  water  produces  a  soapy  lather. 
Instead  of  leaving  a 
jagged  cut,  sharp  knives 
were  used,  and  the  wounds  carefully  trimmed  and  touched  over  with  a 
little  wet  clay.  And  so  the  old  trees  were  left  for  the  winter.  I  was 
more  than  anxious  to  see  the  result  in  spring,  and  as  the  sao  began  to 
rise  in  the  thick  trunks  I  saw  that  I  had  overcome  a  difficulty. 
The  first  season  we  had  sufficient  Pears  to  make  quite  a  respectable 
show,  my  employer  as  well  as  myself  being  delighted  with  the  result, 
while  the  renewal  of  the  trees  was  evidenced  by  some  two  or  three 
young  growths  coming  from  where  the  old  spurs  had  been  removed. 
The  best  shoot  only  was  left,  the  others  being  carefully  removed. 
When  shortening  the  laterals  in  the  summer  more  usele-s  spurs  were 
removed,  and  the  same  pruning  adopted  during  the  following  winter. 
In  three  years  the  trees  were  quite  changed  ;  there  were  no  unsightly 
spurs,  but  the  old  branches  were  studded  with  young  shoots  bristling 
with  fruit  buds,  and  increasing  crops  each  year. — R.  P.  R. 
