542 



HORTICULTURE, 



October 26, 1907 



THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT. 



A paper read before tbe Gardeners' and 



Florists' Club of Boston, by 



Wilfrid Wheeler. 



Ill presenting- a subject of this kind, 

 wiiich had to be covered by a short 

 paper, [ shall have lo confine rayseli 

 to g-^neralitles rather than give any 

 extended and complete cultural dlrec- 

 lions, but I hope that these will lead 

 to a discussion of the subject whic'n 

 will bring out all the important fea- 

 tures that the gardener and florist are 

 interested in. 



The growing of fruit comes Ho many 

 of you not as a vocation, but rather 

 IS an avocation, or perhaps a side is- 

 sue to your otlier work, and to some 

 of you not at all. This important 

 branch of horticulture has received far 

 loo little attention from the craft in 

 general; not that the craft is entirely 

 lo blame for this, but that conditions 

 have governed the gaideuer over which 

 he has had little or no control. Now. 

 however, a real awakening in fruit 

 culture is at hand, and tile gardener 

 and florist who would be abreast of 

 the times, must be alive to meet this 

 new demard. 



The Enthusiasm of Fifty Years Ago. 



Not more than fifty yeai's ago, Bos- 

 ton and its immediate vicinity was the 

 scene of a great activity in all kinds 

 of garden fi'uit culture. Think of 

 Marshall P. Wilder's garden of that 

 lime, with over one hundred and fifty 

 varieties of peai's, and some of the 

 other gardens of the same period, and 

 find a parallel to them now. No gar- 

 den then was considered complete 

 without its rows of fruit trees auil 

 bushes, as wel! as its collection o£ 

 vines and plants. These conditions 

 have gradually changed until we find 

 beautiful beds of flowers and wonder- 

 ful landscape effects wdiere once the 

 utility garden grew. We have passed 

 I'lom tlie useful to the beautiful, ana 

 have not yet learned to combine the 

 two, and yet, tiiere is probably no 

 garden in the vicinity ot Boston but 

 can g-row some or all species ot native 

 fruits. It is true that certain loca- 

 tions favor certain species, but this is 

 largely due to soil and light condi- 

 tions, both of which cxn be changed by 

 artificial means. The gardens of the 

 old world have much to teach us. Not 

 one of them would be considered 

 worthv of the name, unless it had a 

 poi'tion given over to fruit, which por- 

 tion is made as attractive and beautiful 

 as any other part of the grounds. In 

 -onie cases the fruit trees a:id vines 

 are used with ornamentals cc.ubining 

 the uspful and beautiful in many grace- 

 ful forms, and giving an effect niost 

 pleasing and satisfying. In this coun- 

 try, we consider that we have a fruit 

 garden if there are a few uncared-for 

 fruit trees and bushes which, by the 

 way, are expected lo last a lifetime, 

 as well as produce a good crop of fruit 

 each year. I knovv there are excep- 

 tions to this rule, but they .are few 

 and far between. 



This subject of fruit growing should 

 interest the gardener and florist more 

 from a point of quality than quantity, 

 for seldom does either of this class 

 of men care to grow fruit for sale, so 

 a v.ider field is open to tliem than to 

 the commercial grower, who must be 

 guided in his choice of varieties by 

 their productive quality, while maiiy 

 kinds of i'ruit are less prolific, yet 



yield a very superior quality to the 

 careful gardener. 



How to Plan for a Fruit Garden. 



In pl:!uning for a new fruil garden 

 or remodelling an old one, tliree gen- 

 eral considerations should be kept in 

 raind: 1st, situation; 2d, soil and 

 moistuie c<'nditions; 3d, selection of 

 varieties. Choose a site with plenty 

 of tnnli.ghl. and air. Wheievei' neces- 

 sary, plant large giowiitg trees on the 

 noith side of the garden, so that the 

 shade from them will not interfere 

 with other growing trees and plants. 



1st. Set all vines on the south side 

 of \ our chosen site, using bush fruits 

 and dwarf trees as intermediate fillers, 

 and where the skill of the gardener 

 will shov/ itself more than in any 

 other part of this work, is in placing 

 these trees and bushes so that they 

 will occupy the lea.st space and give 

 the best results. Where space is very 

 limited, plant currant and gooseberry 

 bushes under the larger fruit trees, 

 particularly under pear trees, as these 

 grow straighter and cast less shadow 

 than apple. Hedges of raspberries and 

 blackberries can be made about a gar- 

 den and walks and drives set off from 

 the rest of the grounds by the use of 

 dwarf apple, pear or cherry trees, 

 which can be trained on a trellis as 

 grapes are grown, and will give the 

 greatest ■•etfrns for little trouble and 

 less space. 



Usefulness of the Dwarf Tree. 



While spealciug of dwarf trees, .i 

 furihei- word about them may not be 

 amiss. The dwarf tree fills a long 

 felt want in the private and liomv? 

 garden, and its usefulness cannot be 

 overestimated foi- people who wish to 

 have good fruit quickly and on limited 

 space; then too, it lends itself readily 

 to any form of pntuing or training, 

 and it^: adcxptability is ot the gi'eatest 

 service in producing artistic and pic- 

 turesque eftectb, and these are advan- 

 tages not to be lost sight ct when one 

 has a fruit garden to plan for. If you 

 v/ant a hedge both useful and orna- 

 nienlal. plant dwarf apple trees and 

 train them in a bush form, keeping 

 the centre open as ranch as possible, 

 lo adiiiit air and sunlight. If you need 

 a screen ic divide one part of the 

 garden from a,nother, plant dwas't ap- 

 ples or pears, training them to the de- 

 sired height on wire trellises. If you 

 wish to cover some stone or brick 

 wall, plant dwarf cherries, plums or 

 pears and train them in espalier form; 

 in fact, ar.y available space in the 

 fruit garden can be utilized tc a.d- 

 vantage b.v some forrrs of dwarf fruit 

 trees. 



Repairing the Soil. 



Ld. The jirei-'aralion of the soil for 

 the fruit garden must be thoiougli 

 and complete. No one would think of 

 planting a flower garden in unpiv- 

 ]iared soil, and fruit needs gotid, care- 

 ful preparing even more thar. flower^. 

 All the soil s-hould be treiiched at 

 least three feet deep, with plenty of 

 viell rotted manure and coarse giound 

 bone worked into it. If the soil is of 

 a sandy texture, add some meadow 

 mud or peat; if it is too clayey or 

 heavy, use sand and finely sifted coal 

 ashes, cnorigh to cut the heavier par- 

 ticles of soil and make it more porous 

 and friable Drainage should be sup- 

 plied in all heavy soils, and some forni 

 of tile or stone drains will be founil 

 best, .\olhing is more harmful to the 



loots of growing trees than too mucli 

 water about them. All fruit trees 

 want water to keep litem healthy, but 

 it is heite.- the} should liave too little 

 than 100 much. This does not apply 

 to Iruii idants like the strawberry. 

 Heavy soils are best for pears, straw- 

 berries and bush fruits, while sandy 

 or rocky soil is best adapted for 

 grapes; and the apple delights and 

 flourishes in a well drained, warm 

 soil, with plenty of moistuie, land 

 such as is more often found on hill- 

 sides. 



Selection of Varieties. 



>vow foi our third division — varie- 

 ties to plant. Many of you are at a 

 loss to know the best varieties of fruit 

 to plant, as a number of the so termed 

 "best" are known so only in a com- 

 mercial way, and when the gardener 

 who is growing for quality, plants 

 these, he is much disappointed and, 

 after waiting a number of yeais for 

 the result of his care, is discouraged 

 at the fruit produced. The following 

 is V. list of some of the varieties of 

 fruit suitable for garden culture in 

 our climate and adaptable to a variety 

 of soils; 



Dessert apples. Early Williams, 

 Red Astiachan, Sweet Bough, Early 

 flarvest. 



Fall apples: Porter, Gravensteiu, 

 .Mcintosh, Wealthy, Golden Sweet, 

 Late Strawberry, .Sops of Wine. 



Winter: R. I. Greening, Baldwin, 

 Northern Spy, Lady Sweet, Grimes 

 Golden, Newtown Spitzenburgh, Stay- 

 man, Swaar, Tolman Sweet, Yellow 

 Uelieflower, \\'intei' Banana, Westfield, 

 Red Canada, Roxbury Russet. 



For culinary purposes. Early: 

 Duchess of Oldenburgh. 



Pall- Kalla water, Pumpkin Russet, 

 Pound Sweet, Ribston Pippin, Twenty 

 Ounce, and many of tlie French and 

 Englisn vaiieties, especially when 

 grown as dwarfs. 



^\inter; Noithern Spy, Baldwin, 

 Rhode Island Greening, Jacols Sweet. 

 Ifoik Imperial. Green Sweet, and for 

 very late season use iJen Davis or 

 Gaiio. Here aga.in many of the for- 

 eign varieties may be planted. 



Pears, i'^or summer use- Doyenne, 

 Clapps Favorite, Giftard, Wilder, Dear- 

 born's Seedling, Fall Baitlett, Para- 

 dise, Bosc, Marie Louise, Louise Bonne 

 of Jersey, \'\'^orden Seckel, Belle 

 Lucrative, Seckel, Vermont Beauty, 

 VVhite Doyenne and Sheldon. 



Winter. Barry, Anjou, Langlier, 

 Winter Nells, Dana's Hovey, Clair- 

 geau. 



Plums: Wild Goose, Bradshaw, 

 Damson, Lombard, Jefferson. While 

 there are hundreds of varieties from 

 all quarters of the globe, it will be 

 found that a few kinds to plant are 

 better than a great many, and the 

 choice would, be from the Japanese 

 gioup; -Abundance, Hurbank, Red 

 June, Chabat, Satsuma and Wickson. 



Peaches. Of these, the following 

 will cover a long season; Champion, 

 Carmen, Greensboro, Fox Seedling, 

 Early and Late Crawford, Foster and 

 Old M'lxon. 



Grapes. .Moore's Early, Campbell's 

 Early, Worden, Concord, McPike and 

 Cottage, tor black. Niagara, Moore's 

 Diamond, Victoria and Prentiss, for 

 white Delaware, Vergennes, Salem, 

 ib-ighton and Woodruff Red, for red. 



Clierries; Black Tartarian, Coes 



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