December  25.  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
589 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain. 
An  Old  Boy’s  Greeting. 
What  of  the  Xew  Year,  young  brothers?  And  what  of 
yourselves?  Are  you  going  ahead,  keeping  pace  with  the 
remorseless  tick  of  Time?  If  so,  pass  on,  all’s  well.  If 
not  so,  pause  on  its  threshold  and  consider,  so  that  at  the 
next  knell  of  a  dying  year  the  retrospect  then  may  be 
brighter  than  the  outlook  now.  Wis°,  is  it  no1',  to  do  so? 
Yes!  You  agree  with  me.  Then  not  to  do  so  is  otherwise  ; 
downright  foolish,  in  fact.  Then  on,  on  ;  no  standing  still. 
Everything  is  moving  rapidly  ;  but,  mark  you,  don’t  lose 
yourself  in  the  hurrying  scurrying  crowd,  to  be  carried 
hither  and  thither  as  an  inconsequential  atom,  trusting  that 
somehow,  somewhere,  and  somewhen  you  will  drift  into 
something,  settling,  down  respectably  like  a  bivalve  on  a 
rock,  merely  existing  to  growl  at  fate  generally,  and  the 
rotten  state  of  gardening  in  particular.  If  you  are  but  an 
atom  in  the  mass  of  homogeneous  humanity,  be  a  mighty 
atom.  Feel  that  you  are  of  some  consequence  in  the 
gardening  world  ;  for  you  are.  Feel  that  fate  is  in  your 
own  hands;  for  it  is.  “Know  thyself,”  and  then,  acknow¬ 
ledging  the  infinite  possibility  that  is  yours,  the  stern 
responsibility  that  is  yours,  and  yours  alone,  go  forth  in 
humble  faith,  but  firm  resolve,  on,  on  into  the  unknown, 
believing  that  “  Man  is  his  own  star,  our  acts  our  angels 
are,  for  good  or  ill.” 
Think  !  Think  in  the  quiet  of  your  lonely  lodging  ;  think 
at  this  milestone  of  Time.  Get  out  of  yourself  for  once, 
out  and  above  all  the  miserable  medley  of  little  illusions 
which  is  ever  falling  around  to  shut  out  the  stern  realities 
of  life,  and  think  seriously,  soberly,  not  solely  on  the  little 
I  can  put  before  you  of  this  great  matter  of  life — your  life  ; 
but  lift  yourself  godlike  far  beyond  all  that  words  of  mine 
could  express.  Fight!  Fight  it  out  with  the  enemy,  that’s 
yourself  ;  then  act.  Let  noble  thought  beget  prompt  action. 
Things  do  not  seem  quite  as  they  should  in  the  gardening 
world.  Many  in  Bothydom  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  more  feel 
it  later  on.  Most  thinking  lads  are  unable  to  view  the  out¬ 
look  with  unqualified  satisfaction  ;  some  few  are  wholly  dis¬ 
satisfied  with  it,  but  fewer  still  dissatisfied' with  themselves. 
To  the  last  and  most  limited  section  my  heart  goes  out. 
Amongst  them  are  the  men  of  the  future,  and  I  venture  to 
predict,  as  I  honestly  believe,  that  they  can,  if  they  choose, 
become  almost  anything  they  like.  If  they  don’t  it  is 
because  they  either  do  not  choose  or  are  ignorant  of  their 
inherent  power. 
To  those  who  have  adopted  gardening  from  an  unbiassed 
choice  there  is  little  to  say.  To  those  who  have  been  forced 
into  it,  as  many  are,  happy  will  they  be  if  their  chance 
profession  becomes  the  profession  of  their  choice.  There 
are,  of  course,  drones,  and  ever  will  be  in  the  great 
industrial  hive  ;  no  spurring  from  me,  or  anyone  else,  can 
urge  them  to  flights  in  the  higher  life,  or  do  more  than  get 
them  to  emit  a  buzz  of  discontent.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
disturb  their  somnolent  equanimity ;  nor,  indeed,  am  I 
likely  to.  Yet  they  are  useful  in  a  way,  and  have  their  own 
niche  in  the  great  temple  of  universal  economy.  It  is  those 
who  have  more  or  less  of  the  good  old  gardening  grit  in 
them  I  would  press  on  to  bring  inspiration  into  their 
lives  and  work  that  this  year,  of  all  yeais,  may  for  them  be 
a  very  happy  one,  some  day  happier  still  if  in  looking  back 
it  has  marked  for  them  a  turning  point  in  the  march  of 
Time. 
Again.  Think,  I  ask  you!  Have  a  little  quiet  thought 
on  a  matter  of  such  immense  concern  to  yourself.  Jot 
those  thoughts  down  with  the  resolve  that  comes  spon¬ 
taneously  with  them.  Then,  “to  be,  or  not  to  be,”  that  is 
the  question,  and  the  question  for  you  alone.  Tu  cs  custos. 
Endorse  the  audit  January,  1903,  and.  in  a  year  from  date 
look  over  it,  look  into  it,  and  again  mark  time.  God  speed 
you  on  your  journey.  May  you  go  from  strength  to  strength 
till  you  cross  the  bar  into  the  soul’s  great  ocean  of  eternity  : 
Too  full  for  sound  and  foam, 
When  that  which  draws  from  out  the  boundless  deep 
Again  turns  home. 
— A.  N.  Oldhead. 
Hardy  Fruit  Girde1. 
PRUNING  FAN-TRAINED  FRFIT  TREES.— When  trained 
in  this  manner  on  walls,  some  trees,  such  as  Plums,  Morello 
Cherries,  Apricots,  Peaches,  and  Nectarines,  bear  annually  profit¬ 
able  crops.  The  principle  carried  out  with  this  style  of  training 
is  not  to  allow  the  furnishing  of  the  rvall  to  be  taken  up  with 
a  large  number  of  permanent  branches,  these  being  clothed 
with  spurs  more  or  less  long,  and  thickly  placed.  There  must 
be  a  certain  number  of  main  branches,  but  these  have  been 
originated  at  an  early  date  in  the  tree’s  existence,  and  are 
necessary  for  the  proper  furnishing  of  the  wall  as  well  as  a 
foundation  from  which  the  bearing  branches  may  spring.  They 
are,  or  should  be,  arranged  at  equal  distances  apart,  so  as  to 
give  an  equally  balanced  tree.  From  these,  young  branches 
or  growths  may  be  trained  to  cover  the  rest  of  the  space.  In 
the  case  of  Morello  Cherries,  the  wall  space  may  be  freely  covered 
with  young  growths  of  the  current  year,  secured  about  3in 
apart.  These  growths  must  be  reserved  in  summer,  during  which 
time  there  is  some  difficulty  in  finding  room  for  them ;  but  after 
the  crop  has  been  gathered,  the  shoots  which  have  borne  the  crop 
are  cut  out,  and  those  reserved  trained  in.  The  same  method 
of  procedure  is  followed  with  Apricots,  Peaches,  and  Nectarines, 
though  young  shoots  are  not  quite  so  freely  laid  in  nor  so  close 
together.  One  great  advantage  of  fan-training  is  that  it  is  quite 
easy  to  rearrange  the  branches  when  there  are  vacant  spaces 
requiring  to  be  filled.  In  pruning  now,  cut  out  all  the  super¬ 
fluous  wood,  whether  it  be  old  bearing  wood  or  growths  exhausted 
by  age,  first.  Next,  as  there  are  usually  more  shoots  than  room 
can  be  found  for,  a  judicious  selection  must  be  made  of  those 
suitable  for  training  in  and  are  well  placed  for  the  purpose. 
Morello  Cherries  and  Plums  may  be  pruned  now,  leaving  Apricots, 
Peaches,  and  Nectarines  for  a  few  weeks  longer. 
SMALL  BUSH  FRUITS. — The  pruning  of  Gooseberries, 
Currants,  and  Raspberries  may  be  carried  out  now,  though  it 
is  often  usual  to  defer  the  pruning  of  the  former  until  early 
spring.  There  is,  however,  no  reason  why,  if  more  convenient, 
the  pruning  should  not  be  done  at  the  present  time,  especially 
if  the  branches  can  be  dusted  over  with  soot  or  lime  as  a  means 
of  repelling  birds  which  destroy  the  buds. 
BUSH  GOOSEBERRIES  ought  to  have  sufficient  room 
between  them,  so  that  it  is  not  difficult  to  get  round  for  all 
purposes.  A  good  thinning  out  of  unsuitable  growths  and 
branches  should  first  takp  place,  dealing  with  those  at  the  base 
and  descending  to  the  ground,  also  the  crowded  centres.  Follow 
this  by  a  general  reduction  of  the  other  shoots.  The  system 
of  shortening  or  spurring  back  growths  is  not  to  be  recom¬ 
mended.  Young,  well-ripened  growths  will  bear  freely,  and  the 
object  in  pruning  must  be  to  leave  a  fair  number  of  these,  and 
if  they  have  unripe  buds  such  may  be  cut  back  to  well-ripened 
wood. 
BUSH  RED  AND  WHITE  CURRANTS  can  only  be  profit¬ 
ably  treated  by  one  method  of  pruning,  and  that  is  purely  the 
formal  or  cordon  style.  Bushes  may  usually  have  five  or  seven 
main  branches.  The  side  growths  on  these  must  be  pruned  back 
to  within  an  inch,  and  the  leading  growths  the  same,  unless 
further  extension  is  necessary.  Sometimes  it  will  be  essential 
to  encourage  fresh  growths  from  the  base  to  take  the  place  of 
worn-out  branches.  These  growths  should  be  slightly  shortened 
each  year,  so  that  the  production  of  side  growths  may  be 
encouraged. 
BLACK  CURRANT  BUSHES  are  treated  in  pruning  on  the 
simple  plan  of  cutting  out  the  old  wood  and  retaining  vigorous 
young  shoots  for  bearing,  not  shortening  these  at  all.  They  will 
bear  "profitable  crops,  the  berries  and  bunches  being  finer  than 
any  produced  on  older  wood. 
RASPBERRIES  offer  but  little  difficulty  in  the  matter  of 
pruning.  The  canes  which  have  borne  fruit  during  the  past 
season  are  dead  and  useless,  and  should  be  cut  down  close  to 
the  ground,  leaving  plenty  of  space  for  the  new  canes,  which  are 
very  strong  and  vigorous.  When  numerous,  make  a  selection 
of  the  best,  and  limit  the  number  to  half  a  dozen  to  each  stool, 
or,  if  in  lines,  sufficient  to  train  in  Gin  or  8in  apart  on  the 
trellis  or  wires.  Suckers  issuing  at  a  distance  should  be  dug  up. 
BLACKBERRIES  AND  LOGANBERRIES.— Both  produce 
long  growths  during  the  season,  which  require  to  bo  well  ripened, 
shortened  slightly,  and  trained  in  on  a  trellis,  or.  on  wires, 
to  fruit,  securing  the  growths  more  or  less  horizontally.  They 
will  succeed  trained  in  upright  form,  or  round  stakes  p'ac?d 
in  trianqu'ar  fashion. 
