POMACE.E. X. Pyrus. 



645 



Young trees are more likely to succeed in exposed sites and poor in the more vacant parts, with a leader to each branch ; train in 

 soils, but the apple will bear transplanting at a greater age than tliese between the mother-branches at their full length all sum- 



any other fruit tree. It may be planted in open weather from 



November till February. 



mer, or where any vacancy occurs some strongs contiguous shoot 

 may be shortened, in June, to a few eyes to furnish several laterals 



neither extremely sandy, gravelly, nor clayey, on a dry subsoil, 

 and with a free exposure, will suit the apple. On wet hilly sub- 



Any common soil, the same season. Keep the shoots in all parts closely trained, 



both to preserve the regularity of the espalier, and to admit the 

 air and sun to the advancinir fruit." 



soils it will do no good, but after being planted a few years will " The winter 'pruning may be performed from November till 



become cankered, and get covered with moss. When fruit the beginning of April. This comprehends the regulation of the 

 trees must be planted on such soils they should first be rendered wood branches, the bearers, and the young shoots. First ex- 

 as dry as possible by under-draining; next provision must be ' ' . . . ■ ^ . ^ 



made for carrying off the rain water by surface gutters ; and, 

 lastly, the ground should not be trenched above a foot deep, and 

 the trees planted rather in hillocks of earth above the surface 



1 « • » - . 



amine the new shoots trained in the preceding summer, and, 

 if too abundant, retain only a competency of well-placed and 

 promising laterals, to furnish vacant parts with a leading shoot 

 to each parent branch. Continue these mostly at their full 



than in pits dug into it. There is no point of more importance length, as far as there is room. Cut out close the superabnn- 



than shallow trenching and shallow planting in cold wet soils, in 

 which deep pits and deep pulverization only serve to aggravate 

 their natural evils of moisture and cold. See Sang, in cal. hort. 

 mem. 4. p. 140. "The apple tree," Mr "^ 

 ** attains its largest stature in a deep strong loam or marly clay ; 



dant and irregular young shoots, and where any of the elder 

 branches appear unfruitful, cankery, or decayed, cut them either 

 clean out, or prune short to some good lateral, as may seem 

 expedient. Also prune into order any branches which are very 

 irregular or too extended. Carefully preserve all the eligible 



but It will thrive in all rich soils, which are neither very sandy natural fruit spurs, but remove all unfruitful stumps or snags, 



nor wet at bottom. It succeeds best," he adds, "in situations and large projecting rugged branches. As each espalier is 



J^nicli are neither high nor remarkably low. In the former its pruned, let the old and new branches be laid in at convenient 



blossoms are frequently injured by cold winds, and in the latter distances according to the size of the fruit, 4, 5, or C inches 



by spring frosts, particularly when the trees are planted in the 



lowest part of a confined valley. A south or south-east aspect 



IS generally preferred on account of the turbulence of the west, 



and the coldness of north winds ; but orchards succeed well in 



all aspects, and where the violence of the west wind is broken 



by an intervening rise of ground, south-west aspect will be found 



equal to any." " All the sorts of apple trees," Abercrombie 



observes, " may be planted in any good common soil, with a 



iree exposure, whether that of a garden, orchard, or field, so 



nat the ground be neither very low, nor excessively wet, nor 



subject to inundation in winter. Avoid as far as possible very 



^^^J"g clayey and gravelly soils." 



Mode of hearing, — " In all the varieties of the common apple 



^^ ^ode of bearing is upon small, terminal, and lateral spurs, 



*\' k ^^ yobust shoots, from half an inch to two inches long, 



ich spring from the younger branches of two or more years' 

 Powth, appearing first at the extremity, and extending gra- 

 "alJy down the side, the same bearing branches and fruit spurs 

 ^»Jinue many years fruitful." Abercrombie. 



Pruning. — <* As, from the mode of bearing, apple trees do 

 admit of shortening in the general bearers, it should only be 

 P^'actised occasionally ; first, where any extend out of limits, or 



asunder, and neatly tied or nailed to the wall or trellis." 



Abercromhie. 



Heading down apple-trees that are much cankered, is strongly 

 recommended by Forsyth, who gives an example of one after it 

 had been headed down four years, which bore plenty of fine 

 fruit. The point at which it was headed down was within 18 

 inches of the soil, and under it on the stump were two large 

 wounds, made by cutting out a cankery part, and which, being 

 covered with the composition, were soon nearly filled up with 

 sound wood. Very little pruning is at first given to trees so 

 cut, but afterwards a regular succession of bearing wood is kept 

 up by removing such as have borne three or four years. Thus, 

 one branch which has done bearing is cut off, and succeeded by 

 another, and when that is'tired also, it is cut off and replaced by 



a third, and so on. 



Grafting old apple-trees of indifferent sorts with superior 

 varieties, is an obvious and long tried improvement. In this 

 case, if the tree is a standard, it is only headed down to standard 

 height; in old subjects, most commonly the branches only are 

 cut over within a foot or two of the trunk, and then grafted in 

 the crown or cleft manner. 



On fertilising the blossoms of toear and awle-trees. — An 



The Rev. George Swayne (Hort. trans. 5. p. 208.) has a tree 

 of the GanseWs bcrgamot pear, which had for a long time baffled 

 all his attempts to alter its unfertile habits. The tree had all 



pow irregular or deformed ; and secondly, a good shoot con- almost general unproductiveness, as to the fruit of the superior 

 ^guous to a vacant space is shortened to a few eyes, to obtain varieties of pear and apple-trees^ has long been a subject of 

 ^^ additional supply of young wood from the lower buds of this complaint with horticulturists, both in south and north Britain. 



oot for filling up the vacancy. But to shorten without such a 

 J>tive is not merely cutting away of the first and principal bear- 



oPart of the branches, but also occasions their putting forth 



.^y strong useless wood-shoots, where fruit-spurs would other- the appearance of health and sufficient luxuriance, and produced 

 ^»se anse; and both effects greatly tend to retard the trees in 

 ^^>ng, whereas the fertile branches being cultivated to their 



Wal length, shoot moderately, and have fruit-spurs quite to 

 "^yxtreniity." Abercrombie. 

 ^^^^aliers and wall-trees require a summer and winter prun- 



ing. 



Th 



a profusion of blossoms at the proper season, but has never 

 borne more than three or four pears in any one year. Before 

 the blossoms expanded, he cut off all the flowers in each co- 

 rymb, except the lower three, in this tree, and another tree of 

 the brown heurre. He divested these trees of at least three- 

 fourths of all their flower-buds. On the beurre this operation 



** Train in the young shoots of the subsequently appeared to have the best effect, for there was scarce- 



e summer pruning,— ^.^ ^^ -o 



tre V^^^ which are likely to be wanted in the figure, and re- 



con • ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ placed or too numerous ; for as the trees 



tinue bearing many years on the same branches, they only 



luT^^ ^^casional supplies of young wood ; therefore begin in 



lyan instance in which the remaining blossoms did not set, which 

 afterwards produced a fine crop of pears. But on the Gansell^ 

 although the blossoms at first seemed to set, and many of theni^ 



pear 



J^y or June to pinch off or cut out all foreright, ill placed, and turity. By dissecting many of the largest whicli fell off last, it 

 '^Perfluous shoots, retaining only some of tlie promising laterals was plain that the kernels had not been impregnated, mdicating 



