THE GARDEN.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 372, 29 May 1889, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

(By Hortus.)

Selecting Trees for Planting. As the planting season is just coming on, a few vvorda about the trees to select will be of value. Before anyone begins to purchase his trees he ou^ht to consider well what objects he may have in view before the tree 3 are obtained. Say, for instance, that the object is to plant an orchard. The first consideration should be the seasons at which the fruit is wanted to ripen. As a rule, planters in the past have given this very little consideration. Some varieties of fruit trees will ripen their fruit during January, and other varieties will continue ripening during February, March, April, and up to May. Those varieties that mature early ar9 as a rule of such a quality that they do not keep well, and in most instances should be used almost as soon as they are pulled from the tree. The same may, in a measure, be said of the intermediate varieties. They also only keep for a short period. Now most of the varieties which are ready for pulling during April will keep for a long period, in fact nob fully maturing till some I months after they have been pulled. Taking the above into consideration, planters will find it to their ad vantage to get, as the bulk of their fruit trees, late varieties. In a num- I ber of instances I have seen orchards where j most' of the varieties were intermediate, with the result that the owners could not either sell the fruit at a paying price, nor could they make use of it themselves. In fact, it had to go waste. Now if a judicious selection had been made, there would only have been a few of the early varieties, and also a few of the intermediate, chosen, and the bulk would have been late. Where such a choice had been made the early varieties would- just meet the requirements for the time, then the intermediate would keep the supply going till the late were ready to come off the trees. These again would be stored, thus keeping up a good supply till the spring was* well advanced, and giving a good supply for about six or seven months instead of from two to three. I append a list of good general croppers of early, medium, late and very late apples. These will do better on some soils *nd situations than on others, so growers are not to infer that they will do well everywhere : — Early Irish Peach (blight proof), Red Astrakan, Duchess of Edinburgh (blight proof), Grand Duke Constantino, Lord Suffield, Primate. Medium Apples : Prince Bismarck, Potto's Seedling, Melon, Ribstone Pippin, King of the Pippins. New England Pigeon (blight proof). Late Apples : American Golden Russet, Takapuna Russet, Blenheim Orange, Reinette dv Canada, Lord Wolseley (blight proof), Cobham. Very Late : Stone Pippin, Perfection (blight proof), Newtown Spetzenburg, Edmund Oupp, Horn, Stunner Pippin, Ohinemuri, Rome Beauty, ■ Stephenson's Winter, Wagner, Yatt's Ballarat Seedling, Jones's Seedling, Pride of Australia. The Age of Trees to Purchase. — In purchasing trees for general planting, it is best to obtain trees one or ac most two years old from the bud or graft, as at this age they will most readily take to their new positions. Also in lifting and getting them moved to their new places the trees being smaller will not" be so liable to get damaged, and at the same time the cost of transit will not be so great. Another great consideration should be the quality of the tree itself. Never plant a tree that has been stunted or diseased. To do so will entail a great amount of skill and trouble to bring it into a good healthy condition again. Never plant a tree that has produced rank strong wood the first year, as this tree will be likely to go on for some years producing rank wood, and as long as this is going on there is very little chance of ob.taining good crops of fruit. The best trees of all to obtain are trees that have made a moderate amount of healthy growth, with short jointed wood well ripened off, with plenty of fine fibrous roots. Trees of this cla3s are likely to go on year after year making a moderate amount of growth. At the same time they are likely to come into a good fruit-bearing state in a few years. Where intending planters do not know much about either the varieties or trees, they should consult some reliable nurseryman, and place their orders in his bands, giving only general instructions as to how miny early, intermediate, or late varieties are required, and as a rule satisfaction wil be given. Camellia Snow. Some of our leading gardeners are takin* preliminary steps to get up a camellia show in Newmarket during the incoming spring. The show is to be run on the same lines as the late Chrysanthemum Show. Sixpence only will be charged for admission, and exhibitors and competitors will also be charged for entrance. Numbers of the Newmarket busil ness people havo promised to give speciaprizes. We hope to ccc a permanent Horticultural Society formed in this popular suburb. Weeping Trees. In the whole range of ornamental trees for lawns and gardens, or to place besido ponds and streams, there is no more charming class than the weeping or drooping trees, which are lovely in outline, beautiful in their mode of growth, and both impressive and attractive in theirappearance. The common weeping willow is too often taken as a type of the whole class, but no view could be more mistaken, for, in the wide range of species and varieties which exhibit this trailing tendency, examples of almost every degree may readily be found. Some of the drooping trees have long and delicately pensile boughs, others are partly erect and only the lips of the branches droop ; some are naturally tall and slender, others cover a wider space ; some form large trees, fit only for extensive grounds, and others are of the greatest value in small city gardens where space must of necessity be economised and where only the choicest trees can be allowed. But it might be well to tell somewhat of the best weeping and drooping trees. William C. Barry, the well-known nurseryman of Rochester, has given the following lists : — Select Trees ■for Small Grounds. — Kilmarnock weeping willow, Young's weeping birch, cut-leaved weeping birch, dwarf weeping cherry, weeping larch, American weeping willow, Camperdown weeping elm, birch elegans pendula. For Extensive Grounds. — European weeping ash ; weeping beech ; European weeping birch ; birch tristi3 ; cork-bark weeping elm ; Scotch weeping elm ; weeping linden ; weeping poplar ; weeping cherry ; weeping mountain ash.

"Papa, what is meant by 'an anomaly?'" "An anomaly,' my son, replied the father, " is a man who pays his gas bill without referring to the company as a swindle." Gus : "So your brother is married. Is his wife pretty?" George: "No." "A domestic, lovable little darling, perhaps ?" " No-o ; she is what is called ' a superior woman.'" "Oh! Poor devil."