December  10,  1903.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.- 
545 
If  the  latter  iDlace,  why  cannot  a.  man  go  in  there  and  have  his 
fifteen  draws,  imstead  of  having  them  among  the  shrubs  during 
all  kinds  of  weather?  I  fail  to  see  why  the  one  occupies  more 
time  than  the  other.  With  regard  tO'  punctualit.v  find  study, 
I  quite  agree  with  all  that  “Scot”  says;  but  the  object  in  pen¬ 
ning  these  few  lines  is  to  try  to  show  him  that  the  young  men 
in  England  are  not  quite  so  bad  as  what  he  makes  them  out  to 
be ;  if  so',  I  am  pleased  to  say  it  has  never  fallen  to  my  lot  tO'  live 
amongst  them.  In  conclusion,  I  should  like  to  ask  “Scot”  to 
give  us  the  character  of  his  own  countrymen,  as  I  am  of  opinion 
tliat  if  it  is  better  than  ours,  it  might  be  the  means  of  us  trying 
to  mend  our  supposed  evil  ways.  Tru.sting  you  will  find  space  in 
your  valuable  Journal  for  these  few  modest  remarks. — I  am,  sir, 
Ak  English  Foueman. 
Erowallia  speciosa  major. 
This  plant  forms  a  great  addition  to  the  flowering  subjects 
for  the  warm  greenhouse  or  intermediate  house  during  the 
winter  montEs,  its  intense  blue  coloured  flowers,  combined  with 
its  bright  green  foliage,  producing  a  brilliant  effect.  The  more 
common  method  of  progagation  is  by  cuttings  taken  annually 
about  February  or  March,  but  much  better  coloured  flowers  on 
plants  which  bloom  later  in  the  year  (a  consideration)  are  pro¬ 
duced  from  seedlings. 
The  .seed  should  be  sown  in  a  light  soil,  in  a  well-drained  pan, 
about  the  end  of  April,  and  placed  in  a  temperature  of  about 
60deg  Fahr.  Give  a  watering  through  a  rosed  can,  and  place  a 
piece  of  glass  over  the  pan,  and  keep  moist.  The  seedlings  will 
appear  in  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  when  large  enough  to  handle, 
prick  them  out  into  pans  containing  a  light,  loamy  soil,  and  place 
in  a  position  near  the  glass  in  a  pit  or  house  of  the  temperatiure 
indicated,  and  keep  shaded  and  carefully  watered  until  they  are 
again  growing  well. 
In  a  month  or  six  weeks  they  should  be  large  enough  to 
transfer  to  small  60-sized  pots,  using  a  compost  consisting  of 
two  parts  loam,  one  of  leaves,  and  one  of  sliariD  road  grit.  Water 
carefully  for  a  few  days  until  they  root  into  the  fresh  soil,  and 
when  established,  pinch  out  the  tops  of  each  to  induce  them 
to  break,  and  throughout  the  growing  season  this  must  be 
attended  to  so  as  to  form  a  nice  bushy  habit.  The  plants  will 
require  another  shift  latdi-  on,  when  necessary,  a  Sin  pot  being 
sufficient.  Be  careful  to  have  good  drainage,  and  use  a  similar 
compost  to  the  one  employed  previously,  only  coarser,  and  then 
return  to  their  former  po.sition  and  treat  as  before.  Keep  a  sharp 
look  out  for  red  spider  and  thrips,  and  if  they  make  their  appear¬ 
ance,  the  former  can  be  checked  by  the  free  use  of  the  syringe, 
and  the  latter  by  fumigation  on  two  consecutive  nights.  Cow- 
dung  w’ater,  or  guano,  may  be  given  as  a  food  later  in  the  year, 
taking  care  not  to  use  too  .strong,  and  always  be  sure  not  to  over¬ 
water. — E.  B.,  South  Berks. 
Lily  of  the  Valley  for  Forcing. 
Where  the  expenses  of  the  establishment  will  not  allow  of  a 
large  enough  quantity  of  the  above  to  be  bought  for  forcing,  a 
plan  might  be  adopted  for  the  maintenance  of  a  supply  on  the 
.same  principles  as  carried  out  here.  A  bed,  100yds  by  3yds, 
under  the  shade  of  a  north  wall,  is  divided  into  three  equal  por¬ 
tions,  and  at  this  time  of  the  year  the  roots  contained  in  one 
of  the  divisions  are  lifted,  and  sorted,  and  the  strongest  crowns, 
which  are  capable  of  throwing  a  flower  spike,  are  placed  in  pro¬ 
pagating  boxes  about  five  inches  deep,  in  old  .soil  saved  from  the 
potting  bench,  as  it  is  not  particular  what  they  are  in,  as  they 
make  no  fresh  roots  wdiatever  whilst  being  forced.  The  smaller 
crowns  are  put  a.side  to  be  dealt  wdth  pre.sently,  care  being 
taken  not  to  let  them  get  dry.  The  boxes  containing  the  crowms 
for  forcing  are  then  put  in  an  exposed  position  on  a  b^ed  of  ashes, 
so  as  to  get  frozen  if  possible,  and  given  a  thorough  soaking  of 
water.  The  small  crowns  which  were  put  aside  are  now’ 
re-planted  on  the  .same  portion  of  the  bed  from  which  they  were 
taken,  which  in  the  meantime  .should  have  been  manured  and 
dug. 
As  the  boxed  crowns  are  required  they  are  taken  into  a  house 
of  a  temperature  of  about  GOdeg  or  65deg  Fahr.,  where  they  soon 
throw'  up  their  flower  spikes  and  foliage  much  better  than  the 
imported  Berlin  crowns.  (It  is  a  general  rule  not  to  force  any 
until  they  have  had  a  good  sharp  frost  on  them,  as  they  do  not 
start  into  growth  so  regularly.)  Next  year  the  second  portion  of 
the  bed  is  treated  in  exactly  the  .same  manner,  and  the  remain¬ 
ing  portion  the  third  year.  By  the  fourth  year  the  first  portion 
so  treated  w’ill  have  grown  sufficiently  strong  to  produce  flow’er- 
ing  crowns  again,  and  by  following  this  simple  routine  a  supply 
of  home-grown  crowns  can  be  procured  which  will  give  satisfac¬ 
tory  results. — E.  B.,  South  Berks. 
- - 
MORELLO  CHERRIES  should  be  grown  wholly  on  tlie  fan 
.system,  as  they  are  more  prolific  in  this  way.  The  pruning  of 
the.se  w'ill  consist  in  cutting  out  the  old  bearing  growths  and 
weakened  branches,  re.servdng  a  fair  number  of  the  current 
sea.son’.s  growths,  w’hich  lay  at  full  length,  not  le.ss  than  3in  apart. 
WOKllF0ff.THEWEEK..h 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden. 
WINTER  PRUNING. — There  are  many  advantages  in  carry¬ 
ing  out  now  the  wdnter  pruning  and  thus  relieving  the  trees  and 
bushes  of  superfluous  wood.  The  foliage  has  all  fallen,  and  the 
roots  are  completing  their  active  deposition  of  material  in  the 
wood  buds  and  fruit  buds,  and  a  dormant  state  is  at  hand. 
The  work  may  usually  be  carried  out  under  more  favourable 
conditions  than  occur  later,  especially  in  the  case  of  wall  trees, 
when  following  pruning  there  is  the  training,  nailing,  or  tying 
of  the  shoots.  On  damp  ground,  how'ever,  it  will  be  better  for 
the  soil  and  more  comfortable  for  the  workmen,  if  boards  are 
laid  down  to  stand  upon  when  operating.  Slightly  frosty 
weather  renders  the  ground  clean  to  tread  upon,  and  the  w'ork 
can  be  readily  done  ;  but  in  the  eyent  of  very  hard  frost  the 
pruning  of  clioice  fruit  trees  should  not  then  be  attempted. 
From  now,  onwards  through  the  month  as  opportunity  offers, 
deal  with  wall  trees  and  trained  specimens  in  all  parts  of  the 
garden. 
APPLES  AND  PEARS  ON  WALLS.— As  wall  trees  fine 
.specimens  are  usually  found  trained  horizontally,  and  also  as 
cordons  with  upright  or  diagonally  trained  branches.  It  is  often 
found  that  horizontal  branches  are  too  thickly  placed,  with  the 
result  that  the  trees  are  rendered  fruitless,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  spurs,  especially  when  they  grow  at  too  great  a  di.s- 
tance  from  the  wall,  shade  or  injure  those  below  them.  The 
thinning  out  then  of  crowded  branches  is  one  of  the  first  con¬ 
siderations.  All  principal  branches  furnished  with  spurs  must 
not  be  closer  together  than  a  foot.  This  is  the  minimum 
distance,  but  15in  will  in  many  cases  be  much  better,  some 
varieties  of  Apples  and  Pears  growing  much  more  strongly  tha'n 
others,  consequently  the  spur  growths  are  thicker  and  require 
more  room.  Following  upon  the  removal  of  crowded  branches, 
the  next  thing  should  be  the  thinning  and  regulating  of  spurs 
and  spur  clusters.  It  is  good  policy  to  keep  the  spurs  as  near 
the  wall  as  pos.sible,  but  when  crowding  has  been  permitted  of 
the  branches,  spur  growths  will  extend  unduly  from  the  wall. 
Elongated  spurs  must,  therefore,  be  gradually  shortene'd  back. 
In  the  case  of  long-neglected  trees  this  must  extend  oyer 
seyeral  years  if  there  are  buds  at  the  back  which  will  eventu¬ 
ally  swell  and  form  fruit  buds.  In  some  cases  the  more  desperate 
remedy  of  shortening  to  within  a  few  inches  of  the  main  branch 
must  be  adopted,  relying  on  dormant  buds  to  push,  and  eventu¬ 
ally  by  culture,  developing  the  best  into  fruit  spurs.  Ordinary 
pruning  with  many  of  the  trees  will  only  require  the  foreright 
or  side  shoots  cutting  back  to  two  buds,  and  a  few  extended 
fruit  spurs  reduced  here  and  there.  Where  the  leading  shoots 
have  not  filled  no  their  allotted  space,  shorten  them  to  the  length 
of  1ft,  or  15in  if  strong. 
FAN-TRAINED  PLUMS  AND  CHERRIES.— The  advan¬ 
tages  of  this  sy.stem  of  growing  the  trees  are  the  ease  with 
which  branches"  can  be  replaced  when  worn  out  or  weakened. 
Plums  may  be  grown  on  the  combined  system  of  having  branches 
with  spurs  originated  on  them  and  relays  of  younger  wood,  this 
usually  bearing  well  at  two  years  old.  Even  the  spur-furnished 
branches  can  be  readily  replaced  when  necessary  by  younger  and 
better  v’ood.  De.ssert  Cherries  may  be  treated  similarly. 
These  and  Plums  are  also  amenable  to  horizontal  training  of 
branches  on  walls,  and  bear  well  when  a  spur  system  has  been 
well  established. 
CORDON  GOOSEBERRIES  AND  CURRANTS.— For  north 
and  east  walls  to  produce  a  late  crop  and  for  espaliers  in  the 
open  to  produce  a  general  supply,  cordon  culture  of  these  fruits 
is  well  adapted.  The  chief  and  most  abundant  growtlis  are 
foreright  .shoots,  which  ought  to  be  pinched  back  in  summer, 
and  in  winter  cut  to  basal  buds  which  are  situated  in  clusters 
at  the  ba.se.  Although  the  general  pruning  of  Currants  and 
Gooseberries,  especially  the  latter  in  the  open,  is  not  advisable 
now  in  view  of  birds  taking  the  buds  during  severe  weather; 
yet  the  pruning  of  cordons  on  walls  may  be  safely  done,  as  they 
rarely  attack  these  buds.  Young  corclons  which  have  yet  to 
Limish  the  space  allotted  them  must  have  the  leading  shoots 
shortened  to  about  lOin  so  as  to  induce  the  side  buds  to  push  in 
spring,  the  growths  being  pinched  in  summer  and  eventually 
winter  pruned.  In  the  case  of  old  trees  which  niay  require 
renovating,  a  stout  shoot  should  be  allowed  to  originate  as  near 
the  base  as  possible.  Train  it  in  the  direction  desired  alongside 
the  old  branch.  Shorten  in  the  winter  to  induce  side  buds  to 
push,  and  wlien  the  lower  part  becomes  clothed  with  side  shoots 
those  on  the  corresponding  part  of  the  old  branch  may  be  cutT 
off.  Treat  another  length  in  the  same  way  until  the  new  branch 
can  take  the  place  of  the  old  one. — East  Kent. 
