i88i.] HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 259 



HINTS FOE, AMATEUKS. 



HARDY FEUITS. 



It will now be generally known what the crops of fruits are to 

 be. Except in the case of those which are not right at their roots, 

 and liable to throw off the greater portion of what have set, one may 

 fairly judge of the amount of thinning which will be required. This 

 operation should not be left in the hands of a novice, who might remove 

 the most promising of the crop. The finest and best-placed fruit now, 

 are generally the best in the end; but better to go over the trees 

 several times with the view of doing the safe thing. These remarks 

 apply more to Peaches, Pears, Plums, and Apricots on walls, than to 

 standards ; but with them it is better in every way when they are not 

 overcrowded. The distance between fruits on walls is a subject which 

 cultivators are undecided on. Peaches, to average all over, about 

 a foot apart is a safe distance ; and if such can be had year after year, 

 we would consider it successful growing, and wish that we could 

 always be content to act on this principle ; but circumstances often 

 compel one to crop too heavily all kinds of fruits. Nectarines may 

 average 8 or 9 inches apart ; but the strength and health of the trees 

 are a guide to practice, and when the roots are a mass of fibre, quanti- 

 ties of manure-water can be given with great advantage. The thin- 

 ning of the shoots is a matter of much importance. When a tree is so 

 well under command that all the wood can be removed except that which 

 is to bear next season, the work is made very simple. The new shoot 

 starting from the base of the predecessor, and one leader left to each 

 shoot with fruit on it, may meet all wants, except when trees have to 

 be extended or vacant spaces filled up. Whatever form the tree is in, 

 the same rule applies as to absence of crowding. With amateurs, 

 smaller sizes of trees are preferred — many have cordons for sake of 

 variety ; but on the whole we prefer moderate-sized trees — and one ob- 

 jection to large ones is, when accidents occur a large space is denud- 

 ed, and the loss is greater than when trees of moderate size are grown. 

 The form of training is more a matter of taste than any advantage to 

 fruiting or to quality. We find our few horizontally trained trees 

 more easily and quickly managed than other forms. Pears are as 

 common in this form as any other ; Plums, Peaches, Apricots, and 

 Cherries are not so common. One thing we would consider of much 

 more importance is to be able to save the trees from the mischief caused 

 by late frosts. We have often alluded to the destruction, more or less 

 every year ; and although every precaution is used as a preventive, in no 

 case is there absolute success. Protecting material is too often useless. 

 For example, during the last week in April, when we had a splendid 

 set of Apricots and Peaches about casting their flowers, frost from 8° 

 to 10'' continued the most of the week. The Apricots are severely 

 handled, and Peaches are shrivelled up in great numbers — probably 



