THE 



GARDENER. 



JUNE i88i. 



FRUIT-CULTURE. 



THE APPLE. 



Treatment of established Trees. 



HE remarks in our last chapter apply wholly to trees in 

 the open garden or orchard. Further on we will deal with 

 wall-trees. In the meantime we will confine our attention 

 to the treatment of the trees which we have been treating 

 of, after they have become established. 

 Orchard-trees. — The first thing that will require attention is prun- 

 ing. Standard trees on good deep soil require very little of it ; and, 

 generally speaking, the less they get of it the better. When healthy 

 young trees on good soil are hard cut in, the result is that almost every 

 bud left on the shoot is forced into growth. When trees are unduly 

 repressed by pruning, their vigour is expended in numerous strong 

 unfruitful shoots. When hedges are hard cut in, the result is a dense 

 thick growth ; and the same result follows in the case of fruit-trees sim- 

 ilarly treated. Well-kept thorn-hedges seldom produce much blossom, 

 while neglected hedges are generally covered with a profusion of bloom. 

 Well-pruTied trees behave in a way similar to a closely cut hedge, and 

 trees which are let alone generally blossom and fruit as freely as neg- 

 lected hedges. When a strong growth is cut back half-way, most of 

 the buds which are left grow to be shoots. When left untouclied 

 many of them become flower-buds, which develop ultimately into 

 Apples instead of twigs. The lesson to be learnt from this is to let 

 healthy trees, which are to be allowed full development, alone or almost 

 so. Still, intelligent regulation of the branches will prove beneficial. 



