ning of April, when they are shifted into pots of 7 in. or 8 in. diameter, and remain in them until the roots have filled the pots; they are then finally shifted into pots 12 in. in diameter, where they remain to flower. The subsequent treatment is the same as that described by your able correspondent, A. C. Lambie. (Vol. III. p. 291.) I remain, Sir,. &c.

January 23. 1830.

A CONSTANT READER AND SUBSCRIBER.

ART. XVII. Notice of a Plant of Musa paradisiaca (the Plantain), which has flowered and ripened Fruit in the Garden of John Milford, Esq., Conver, near Exeter. Abridged from three Communications by Mr. HENRY DALGLEISH, Gardener to Mr. Milford, dated July 25., November 9., and December 23.

THE plant grows in a tub, and was only 2 ft. high when it was received into Mr. Milford's hot-house about three years since. It showed flower about the beginning of July last, and on the 25th of that month the spike of fruit, flowers, and unopened buds measured 3 ft. 5 in. long, and contained 21 spikelets, or hands, as they are called by the natives of tropical climates, each hand having or showing eight fruit; in all 168 fruit, 50 of which were at this time set, though the upper half of the spike had not then blossomed.

By the 9th of November the flowering of the spike was completed, and it was found to measure from the base to the extremity 3 ft. 8 in., and to contain 75 bunches of fruit. Two suckers which the plant sent up after it began to flower, and which were 9 ft. high in July, were now 11 ft. 7 in. high, their leaves 8 ft. long and 2 ft. 5 in. wide, and there were about seven leaves on each plant. The fruit is getting soft, and changing colour.

On December 23., Mr. Dalgleish sent us two of the fruit, perfectly ripe. Half of one of them we boiled, and the other half we tasted in its raw state. The taste in both cases was rather insipid; the flavour, if any, seemed to be not unlike that of the sweet potato. The other fruit we kept, in order to note its decay, which took place in about a fortnight.

This is, as far as we have been able to learn, the first time that the plantain has been fruited in the west of England. It had before been fruited at Messrs. Loddiges', Sir Watkin' William Wynne's, the Earl of Haddington's (East Lothian), and other places; and, we believe, there is now a plant in fruit in the magnificent conservatory of Mrs. Beaumont, at Bretton

desires it, he will send an account of his mode of culture. Such an account cannot but be acceptable to our readers, and we shall be most happy to receive it. We shall also be glad to know the total number of fruit ripened, and the length of time that this single plant contributed to the dessert. Cond.

Dec. 30. 1829.

ART. XVIII. Remarks on Mr. Newington's Observations on the Management of Peach Trees. By Mr. JAMES CRAIG, Gardener to G. Cholmely, Esq. Howsham, York.

Sir,

PRESUMING that the pages of the Gardener's Magazine are open to fair discussion on any subject its previous pages contain, I take leave to offer a few remarks on Mr. Newington's observations (p. 55.) on the management of peach trees. Be assured, Sir, I am not turned critic for the sake of cavilling, but with the view of preventing what I think erroneous opinions from taking root and spreading their vexatious branches.

That gentlemen complain of, and that many gardeners feel and confess, a deficiency in the management of peach trees, I readily admit; and that the failure of the crops very often, though not always, arises from the manner of pruning the trees, I will not dispute; but I must tell Mr. Newington flatly that his text is entirely erroneous. He says, "It is the endeavour of every cultivator to procure annually a great supply of long and strong wood, sufficiently large to make basket-rods." Had not Mr. Newington given his name to this extraordinary assertion, I should have suspected that it was invented as a pretext for abusing his brethren; but, as he has given his name, I can only say he is under a mistake. In the circle of my acquaintance among gardeners (and it is not very limited), I do not know one who endeavours to procure "basket-rods " on his peach trees; and if they chance to have any such, they do not expect fruit from them. On the contrary, they all know the sort of wood which is most fruitful, although some of them may be deficient in the "ways and means" of procuring a regular supply of such wood; and Mr. Newington knows, or ought to know, that much depends on soil and situation: but he condemns us all, at 66 one fell swoop," and would send us to Malta or America. If he has been at these places, I believe he could tell us that the peach trees growing there are chiefly standards, and are not much troubled with the handywork of Nature's journeymen.

Peach trees left in a great measure to nature, and growing in the open air, in a soil and climate congenial to them, will not fail to exert those powers with which nature has furnished them, and every other kind of fruit tree, to accomplish the end for which they were created, namely, to bear fruit; and, I reckon, they will produce short stiff branches for that purpose. But a peach tree trained against a wall, in this country, is quite a different thing. A gentleman is at a great expense in building garden walls, and it is required that the trees which are planted against it cover as much of the face of the wall as possible, so that every part of it may return annually some part of the original outlay: and, if short pruning is not resorted to, this cannot be effected; for, without it, the trees would soon become naked in the centre, and this nakedness would spread progressively as the tree advanced in age. Of this, too many of the trees in England bear incontestable proofs.

I said above, that much depended on soil and situation; and, before I proceed further, I will submit a few observations on these points. Peach trees planted in a strong-bodied soil, on a clayey subsoil, will generally be inclined to produce gross long-jointed wood, which frequently does not ripen; and those growing in a weak soil, upon a substratum of gravel or other porous matter, have quite a different appearance: here the wood is moderately stiff, short-jointed, and generally ripens well; and such is to be preferred for bearing fruit before any other sort. Low situations, which are often sheltered, confined, and damp, are likewise generally productive of grassy, long-jointed wood; and moderately high, exposed, and dry situations produce short-jointed fruitful wood. Hence the necessity of choosing (where the choice is to be had) a situation for these trees (and, in fact, most other fruit trees) which is not too much confined and damp; and, where the border intended for them is not naturally drained, to lay under it a sufficient quantity of real draining materials, and not to make the border of a too strong-bodied soil.

If it is taken for granted that the most suitable wood for producing fruit is short-jointed and stiff (say from one eighth to three sixteenths of an inch in diameter), it remains to be considered how a regular supply of such wood is to be obtained, so far as pruning, &c., may effect it, where the soil and situation are not favourable for it on trees that have been some time established. In this case, transplantation, where the trees are not too old, may be most judiciously resorted to for once; not so much for the purpose of the immediate checking of the tree as for repairing the substratum, and re

it possible to avoid it, I would not have a fibre damaged, more than their being necessarily out of their element for a few hours would damage them. This would check the tree sufficiently for one year; and, in future, it would remain moderate, in consequence of the arrangements in the border, and the pruning to be treated of. I should not reckon upon a full crop of fruit the first year; because, if the young branches were generally luxuriant, it is probable they would not set much fruit; and, on any part that might be weak, I should not allow any fruit to remain. In pruning, I should leave the branches thin, and shorten those which were vigorous to about two thirds of their natural length, and those that were weak to one third. In summer pruning, I should leave no more shoots than I should calculate upon wanting in the ensuing spring, except where the branches were luxuriant; there I should leave rather more, according to vigour. Where a young shoot was luxuriant, I should treat it as Mr. Newington does, in stopping it, but would take off the superabundant shoots before autumn. My reason for this is, those shoots which were wanted would be more exposed to the influence of the sun and air, and ripen better. As soon as the leaves began to drop in the autumn, I would thin off the ripest of them, by sweeping lightly over the leaves with a few sprigs of birch tied on a stick: this gives the wood a better opportunity of ripening. Allowing the future fruit-bearing branches of peach trees sufficient room and exposure to the action of the air, is generally too little attended to. This is, probably, in a great measure, the fault of the confused manner of training: but more of this hereafter.

When the trees are in an unfavourable soil and situation, and have got too old to be transplantable, and make wood too grassy to be fruitful, I would in that case, as in the other, lay in the young branches very thin. I am aware that this position will appear rather paradoxical at the first glance; but, when it is considered that strong branches not bearing fruit so well as weak ones is not so much by reason of their vigour as of their immaturity, the discrepancy will vanish: for, by their being thin, and properly exposed to the action of the weather, they will ripen much better; and thereby, although strong, a crop of fruit may be obtained by leaving them a good length at the next spring pruning, except where a supply of wood is wanted. By their being thin, a greater quantity of young shoots, for fruit-bearers in the following year, may be left at the disbudding season, which will be pretty moderate. When the tree has carried one or two crops of fruit the point is gained, for we rarely see a fruit-bearing tree luxuriant.

The borders of such trees require to be kept poor: much dung encourages excrescent shoots. Now, what worse would the trees be if the border were lightly cropped with early potatoes, dwarf peas, French beans, &c.? I say, nothing worse, but better. Mr. Newington says, it is a sure mark of a bad cultivator to see the fruit-tree borders cropped with vegetables. He says the trees should not be vigorous, yet he will not allow vegetables to draw a little of the nutriment from the border. How is this? Early vegetables, on the open ground, must be had, and are generally more esteemed than any other; and if they must not be raised on the peach borders, what other means are the majority of gardens furnished with so desirable for that purpose? I unhesitatingly assert, that lightly cropping these borders is in conformity with nature, harmless, economical, and convenient.

Therefore, Mr. Newington may mark me down a bad cultivator. He may remove his trees as often as he pleases, and I shall never say he does wrong, provided he does not try to persuade others to do likewise, and dub them "bad cultivators" if they do not follow his precepts. The practice, at Hylands, of removing the trees annually is, I take it, chiefly for the purposes of preparing the dung-bed, repairing the paper frame, and obtaining early crops in succession, in places too confined for healthy trees; and, by this practice, they obtain annually half a crop, as the trees are at work one year, and resting the next to recruit their strength. But I do not condemn the plan: I can allow others their fancies, if I am allowed mine; and mine would be, to have healthy, well furnished, established trees, both on the walls and in the house; and, for successions of early fruit, of "just enough and nothing to spare," I should have small compartments. I should not be nice about the mode of heating. I would have the border both inside and outside the house, the front wall upon arches ; the trees planted inside, and trained nearly parallel with the glass, and about 18 in. from it. Somehow, I cannot fancy that these portable trees at Hylands are either healthy, handsome, or well furnished.

But you will be tired, Sir, of my zig-zag track; and I confess that, when I set out, I did not intend taking so wide a range: but the fact is, when I get on my hobby-horse, there is no knowing where I shall stop. I am afraid, Sir, your patience has been tried in following my rambles in this hasty ride; but, I trust, if I have not kept a direct path, you will do me the justice to believe that I have all the while been endeavouring to point out the high-road-truth; and I hope I have stumbled upon something worth marking. I will now