106 THE FLORIST. 



US say. And, with respect to wall fruit trees, such as Peaches, 

 Nectarines, and Apricots, I have nevercondemned the use of temporary 

 coverings for these ; but I did say, and I repeat it now, and every day's 

 experience tends more and more to confirm me in this opinion, " If the 

 wood is well ripened I would not, nor do I, use them (coverings)." 

 Does Mr. Bailey see anything very startling in this? Mr. B., in 

 his interesting " Notes on a Journey," has informed us how thin that 

 very clever gardener, Mr. M'Ewen, kept the wood on his fruit trees ; 

 that it was hard as whalebone, and that one of Mr. M'Ewen's maxims 

 was to do all necessary pruning in sunmier. This is what I have 

 always contended for. I have over and over again insisted on the 

 necessity of having all fruit tree borders well drained ; I have insisted 

 on the necessisty of proper and timely disbudding of shoots, thinning 

 of fruit, &c., in order to get the wood well ripened. I have said that 

 with well drained borders and well ripened wood we would secure good 

 crops of fruit in nine seasons out of ten. Whereas, if the borders are 

 undrained and the trees neglected as to thinning, disbudding, kc, so 

 that the wood never got properly ripened in one season out of ten ; I 

 have said that when this was the case late springs would not ensure 

 good crops, not even with coverings. Spring frosts are often blamed for 

 the failure of crops, when the real cause often is unripened wood and 

 imperfect blossoms ; I have scores of times noticed cases of this kind, 

 when the wood is well ripened, and the blossoms are perfect, so far 

 from regretting having some of the flowers killed by frost, I think it a 

 great gain, for by some of the blossoms being killed they do not rob 

 the tree of any of its organised matter, consequently there is more left 

 for those that remain, which will be much finer ; and by there not 

 being too many, the trees will make better wood, and will be prepared to 

 bear a crop of fruit another year. Now, if a tree that has the wood well 

 ripened, is protected, it will generally happen that so many fruit set, 

 that oftentimes four-fifths, and sometimes a great deal more, has to be 

 thinned. Now, these fruit, if only the size of Peas, will have robbed 

 the trees of some of their organised matter. The Apricot trees here are 

 now (March 13th), in sheets of blossoms ; if forty-nine out of every 

 fifty were killed by the frost, there would even then be four times too 

 many for a crop. 



In the number of the Florist for August last, I said, " The crop of 

 Apricots in these gardens is very good, and as the fruit has for several 

 years been regularly thinned, I have no fear as to the results another 

 season, whether late or early, precarious or otherwise." The prospect 

 at present is most cheering, and I anticipate having the pleasure in a few 

 weeks of thinning many quarts of young fruit. Mr. Bailey will perhaps 

 say, don't count your chickens before they are hatched. If my other 

 work allowed, and I could spare the time, I would thin the blossoms 

 now, so as to prevent them from robbing the trees. I may here mention 

 that the Apricot crop this season promises to be a very heavy one in 

 Yorkshire. Everything is three weeks earlier than it was last season, 

 which was a late one. The Apricot crop was a failure last year in 

 Yorkshire, though the spring was a late one. This militates against 

 Mr. Bailey's theory of retarding, and confirms the opinion I have so. often 



