APRIL. 105 



I shall be surprised if it does not have a heavy crop this season. Does 

 Mr. Bailey see anything very startling in this ? Now, I ask, are not 

 too many of our orchards something like this tree — " overloaded with 

 spurs," as M. de Jonghe says ! " In fact," as the editor of the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle remarks, " Orchardists never dream of removing 

 them ; the more they have the greater they fancy is the chance of a 

 good crop ; they are like those speculators who, in their eagerness for 

 immense gain, contrive to realise nothing." Another fact I mentioned 

 was, " That in these gardens there are six trees of Calville Apple ; five 

 of these trees have been regularly pruned, the other one never. Their 

 situation is similar in every respect, yet the one not pruned has not 

 for the last six years had anything like a crop of fruit, whilst those 

 pruned have never failed to bear an average crop." The third fact 

 stated was, " Here are nine trees of Manks' Codlin Apple ; for the five 

 years previous to 1854 they had no fruit except a very few misshapen 

 ones. These trees have been covered with spurs, and nothing could 

 exceed their beauty when in blossom ; but year after year no fruit 

 except, as just observed, a few misshapen ones. A pressure of other 

 engagements prevented me from giving them any attention until last 

 spring. I was well aware that thinning of the branches, thinning of 

 spurs, and thinning of blossoms and fruit, was sound practice founded 

 on science. Our grandfathers knew this, and some of them followed 

 it, though, unfortunately, it has not been carried out so fully as it 

 ought to have been. Well, then, I cut off a third part of the spurs of 

 some of the trees, and more than that of others, and the result is I had 

 the past season a fair crop from all the trees, and the fruits were 

 particularly fine and well formed. One tree, the smallest of them, 

 which was operated on very freely, in order to get it to grow, was much 

 admired by many gardeners who called here during the season ; the 

 fruit on it was very fine. To the pruning of these trees last spring I 

 attribute the crop of the past season." I can now add that the crop 

 the second year after the operation (that is the crop of 1855) was even 

 still finer. In the article from which the foregoing extracts were made, 

 after stating one or two more facts of similar import, I said, " Had not 

 this article already extended beyond all reasonable limits, I could adduce 

 scores of facts similar to those mentioned, all showing that with proper 

 cultivation we may in nine years out of ten expect average crops." 

 Can Mr. Bailey find anything in this that he can misconstrue into " to 

 insure crops of fruit in alternate years ? " No, he cannot. Neither 

 can he find anything very startling. Nor can he find that I have ever 

 condemned the use of canvas coverings and Fir branches for wall fruit 

 trees, nor of glass cases, if people hke to go to all that labour and 

 expense. But I have contended, and do still, that by thoroughly 

 draining and improving the land, a proper selection of stocks and scions, 

 a proper selection of sorts, careful attention to pruning and thinning of 

 the wood and spurs when crowded, and above all, never, on any account, 

 allowing the trees to bear too heavy a crop ; by these means I am fully 

 persuaded, from aU my observations and experience, we can, no matter 

 whether the season be late or early, secure good crops of fruit in nine 

 seasons out of ten ; not in alternate seasons, as Mr. Bailey would make 



