August  21,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
187 
|p  WOKK.foii,the' WEEK..  S 
S4 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden. 
APPLES  AND  PEARS. — The  season  for  gathering  the  early 
varieties  is  somewhat  late  this  year,  owing  to  the  untoward 
weather  experienced  over  a  prolonged  period,  and  it  is  doubtful 
whether  even  such  early  Apples  as  Irish  Peach,  Red  Astrachan, 
American  Mother,  and  Devonshire  Quarrenden  have  yet  ceased 
swelling,  or  reached  the  period  when  the  fruits  can  be  advan¬ 
tageously  gathered  and  stored.  Under  the  best  conditions,  how¬ 
ever,  these  varieties  do  not  keep  long ;  hence,  probably,  the 
most  economical  method  of  utilising  the  fruit  is  to  gather  the 
most  forward  fruits  daily  as  they  become  fit,  storing  only  small 
quantities,  until  it  is  compulsory  to  gather  the  whole  crop.  This 
irregularity  in  ripening  has  advantages.  There  is  less  strain 
upon  the  trees,  and  the  season  for  the  different  varieties  is 
prolonged.  Early  Pears,  no  less  than  Apples,  are  late  in  matur¬ 
ing,  and  many  fruits  are  yet  hard  and  green.  It  is  useless  to 
gather  any  in  this  condition,  as  they  would  not  ripen  if  stored. 
When,  however,  the  outer  skin  commences  to  turn  yellow,  and 
the  fruits,  on  lifting  carefully  to  a  horizontal  position,  become 
readily  detached  from  the  spurs,  it  is  then  advisable  to  gather, 
store,  and  there  finish.  When  they  hang  to  fully  ripen  on  the 
trees,  the  fruits  are  mealy.  The  varieties  likely  to  be  ready 
for  gathering  now  are  Williams’  Bon  Chretien,  Citron  des  Cannes, 
Summer  Doyenne,  Jargonelle,  and  Clapp’s  Favourite. 
PLUMS  AND  CHERRIES. — Heavily-cropped  Plum  trees 
will  require  the  branches  supporting,  for  as  the  fruit  gains  in 
size  the  weight  in  the  aggregate  increases,  and  a  strain  is  laid 
upon  the  branches.  Some  of  the  early  varieties  of  Plums  will 
have  fruits  forward  enough  to  be  gathered.  In  doing  this  the 
fruits  are  secured  in  good  condition  and  the  trees  relieved. 
Also  remove  small  and  deformed  fruits,  and  give  a  final  thinning 
to  the  latest  varieties  of  Plums.  These  have  still  several  weeks 
to  swell  and  mature.  Water  and  liquid  manure  may  he  given 
these  trees  with  good  effect  ;  also  remove  superfluous  wood,  and 
expose  the  fruit  to  light  and  air.  The  season  for  Cherries  does 
not  as  a  rule  extend  beyond  the  present  month.  Gather  all 
dessert  varieties  as  soon  as  ripe.  Morello  Cherries  will  hang  for 
a  considerable  time  after  ripening,  if  protected  by  nets  from 
birds.  The  fruit  grown  on  walls  is  best  for  this  purpose.  Fruit 
is  borne  the  most  freely  on  young  wood ;  hence  it  is  desirable 
to  secure  as  much  as  possible,  but,  without  crowding,  laying  it 
into  the  wall  now  in  a  temporary  way.  After  the  season’s  crop 
has  been  gathered,  the  bearing  shoots  may  be  cut  out. 
OUTDOOR  PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES.— Every  en¬ 
couragement  should  be  afforded  trees  on  walls  to  thoroughly 
ripen  and  perfect  the  fruit.  This  can  be  done  by  systematic 
treatment  in  regulating  the  growth,  laying  all  the  most  suitable 
growths  cf  this  year’s  production  which  are  of  medium  strength 
against  the  wall  or  trellis.  These  will  be  ready  to  take  the  place 
of  the  discarded  shoots  which  are  cut  out  after  the  fruit  is 
gathered.  The  fruits  should  be  removed  from  the  trees  before 
they  are  fully  ripe.  They  lose  nothing  in  flavour  by  being  finished 
in  the  fruit  room.  The  fruits,  however,  often  fall  prematurely, 
and  to  save  them  from  undue  bruising  it-  is  desirable  to  suspend 
nets  below  them.  After  fruit  is  gathered,  the  trees  may  receive 
a  thorough  washing  with  the  syringe  or  garden  engine,  red 
spider  frequently  gaining  a  footing  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent 
during  the  time  the  fruit  is  ripening. 
CLEANING  STRAWBERRY  BEDS.— At  the  end  of  the 
Strawberry  season  beds  which  have  borne  fruit  freely  are  apt  to 
be  neglected,  masses  of  runners  and  weeds  choking  the  legitimate 
plants.  This  superfluous  material  ought  to  be  cleared  away  as 
soon  as  possible,  reserving  any  good  plants  or  well-rooted  runners 
so  long  as  it  is  certain  they  have  originated  from  fruitful  varieties. 
These  may  be  planted  to  form  new  beds  at  once,  or  reserved  in 
nursery  quarters  for  later  planting,  especially  if  the  ground  is 
not  ready  for  their  reception.  It  is  important  that  sturdy  plants 
with  bold  crowns  and  healthy  foliage  only  should  be  employed. 
In  clearing  a  Strawberry  bed,  detach  the  runner  wires  close  to 
the  parent  plant.  Then  the  intervening  space  can  be  hoed  cr 
the  useless  runners  and  weeds  pared  off  with  a  spade. 
PREPARING  GROUND  FOR  STRAWBERRY  BEDS.— 
As  the  main  lot  of  new  Strawberry  beds  are  usually  planted  in 
the  course  of  the  next  few  weeks,  the  ground  ought  to  be  pre¬ 
pared  without  delay.  Nothing  short  of  deep  digging  and  generous 
manuring,  should  the  ground  be  poor,  ought  to  be  adopted  for 
Strawberries.  The  best  results  will  in  time  follow' bastard  trench¬ 
ing,  which  consists  in  moving  the  soil  two  or  three  spits  deep, 
but  not  altering  the  position  of  the  several  layers,  cr  burying 
the  top  good  material,  and  bringing  hungry  subsoil  to  the  surface. 
The  manure  used  ought  to  be  well  decomposed,  and  incorporated 
with  the  soil  in  the  course  of  breaking  it  up.  Ground  may  be 
available  for  Strawberries  which  lias  recently  in  spring  been 
generously  treated  in  respect  of  manuring  and  mechanical  pre¬ 
paration.  This  is  really  better  adapted  for  planting  if  rich 
enough,  because  it  has  had  time  to  become  consolidated.  Straw¬ 
berries  like  firm,  rich  ground. — East  Kent. 
Fruit  Forcing. 
VINES.— EARLY  FORCED  IN  POTS.— The  canes  intended 
for  starting  at  the  beginning  cf  November  must  be  strong, 
short-jointed,  brown  and  hard  in  the  wood,  with  rounded, 
plump,  well-formed  buds.  Although  the  leaves  may  not  be  off, 
the  Vines  will  now  be  at  rest,  for  when  the  wood  is  properly 
ripened,  and  water  not  supplied  oftener  than  is  necessary  to 
keep  the  soil  from  becoming  dust  dry,  and  the  house  or  place 
where  they  are  kept  is  cool  and  dry,  there  is  no  danger  of 
starting  the  cane  buds,  even  wdien  the  laterals  are  closely 
pruned  and  the  shortening  effected  to  about  6ft,  more  or  less, 
according  to  the  situation  of  the  most  promising  buds  on 
thoroughly  sound  wood.  The  principal  leaves  will  still  possess 
some  elaborating  power,  and  the  nutriment  assimilated  be 
stored  in  the  -wood  and  buds.  This  makes  all  the  difference 
between  Vines  starting  strongly  and  weakly  when  subjected  to 
the  requisite  heat  and  moisture.  Vines  that  mature  writh  clean 
healthy  foliage  are  the  only  ones  giving  satisfactory  results 
when  early  forced,  but  this  is  dependant  on  their  being  stored 
with  ^concentrated  nutrition  for  utilisation  in  the  early  stages  of 
their  growth  under  forcing  treatment.  When  the  Vines  have 
to  be  bought,  orders  should  now  be  placed,  or  even  the  canes 
selected  and  marked  for  delivery  at  an  early  date.  All  points 
considered,  there  are  no  varieties  equal  to  Black  Hamburghs 
and  Foster’s  Seedling  for  early  forcing.  White  Frontignan 
forces  splendidly,  but  the  clusters  and  berries  are  tco  small 
for  marketing.  Madresfield  Court  is  one  cf  the  best  for  early 
work,  and  when  well  done  commands  good  prices  by  its  taking 
appearance  and  high  quality. 
EARLIEST  FORCED  PLANTED-OUT  VINES— There  is 
seldom  any  question  as  to  the  ripeness  of  the  wood  in  the  case 
of  early  forced  Vines.  It  is  different  with  those  not  previously 
subjected  to  early  forcing,  but  those  intended  for  starting  in 
November  or  early  in  December  should  now  have  the  wood 
ripe  and  some  foliage,  perhaps,  falling;  but  there  must  not  be 
any  attempt  at  removing  it;  nor  to  cut  the  laterals  close  in, 
or  that  may  cause  the  pfincipal  buds  to  start,  therefore 
remove  the  laterals  by  degrees,  and  shorten  some  of  the  long 
shoots,  preserving,  however,  some  growth,  especially  when  the 
basal  leaves  are  clown,  the  final  pruning  being  deferred  until 
the  early  part  of  the  next  month.  In  the  case  of  such  Vines 
it  is  desirable  to  remove  the  old  surface  soil  down  to  the  roots 
and  go  amongst  them  with  a  fork,  taking  this  advantage  to 
raise  any  that  are  deep,  laying  them  in  fresh  material  nearer 
the  surface.  Good  calcareous  loam  of  the  red  sandstone  forma¬ 
tion  is  the  most  suitable,  with  an  admixture  of  crushed  bones 
and  other  opening  and  enriching  substances.  If  the  soil  be 
light,  add  a  sixth  of  clayey  marl  dried  and  powdered,  or,  if 
stiff,  a  similar  proportion  of  calcareous  gravel  or  old  mortar 
rubbish.  The  thing  is  to  secure  a  healthy  rooting  medium, 
such  as  will  induce  fibrous  root  formation,  and  keep  the  roots 
in  a  healthy  state.  This  can  only  be  effected  with  sound 
materials  and  thorough  drainage.  Give  a  moderate  watering, 
and  the  roots  will  push  from  near  the  collar  into  the  soil  at 
once,  thus  the  Vines  will  be  in  capital  condition  for  starting 
when  the  time  comes  round.  When  lifting  or  renovating  the 
border  is  deferred  until  the  leaves  fall,  the  starting  of  the 
Vines  is  not  nearly  so  satisfactory. 
MIDSEASON  HOUSES. — Midiseason  Vines  delight  in  a 
good  spread  of  foliage,  every  principal  leaf  having  full  exposure 
to  light  and  air,  and  with  these  formed  under  well  ventilated 
conditions,  the  wood  is  then  stout  and  short  jointed,  the  leaves 
thick  and  leathery,  deep  green  in  colour,  and  the  Grapes  well 
nourished,  colouring  and  finishing  well,  while  the  wood  ripens 
kindly,  being  brown  and  hard,  and  the  buds  plump  and 
promising  for  next  season’s  work  and  cropping.  Copious 
supplies  of  water  and  top-dressings  cf  fertilisers  are  necessary 
for  the  perfecting  of  the  current  crop.  Mulching  light  soils 
materially  aids  results  where  water  is  scarce.  Even  sewage 
water  may  be  requisitioned  on  some  places  with  advantage,  but 
this  must  not  be  overdone,  for  an  over-strong  dose  of  fertiliser 
or  liquid  manure  and  needless  waterings  are  the  precursors  of 
shanking,  which  in  this,  as  in  most  seasons,  has  been  no  sinecure 
as  regards  giving  employment  to  scissors  in  removing  shanked 
berries.  Sustaining  rather  than  stimulating  food  is  desirable 
for  Vines  ripening  their  crops.  Moderate  nitrogen  supplies 
aid  the  Vines  immensely  in  the  late  stages  of  the  Grapes 
swelling,  but  that  from  blood  and  bone  manure  and  good  all¬ 
round  fertilisers  containing  potash,  magnesia,  and-  iron  is 
