December 12, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



783 



INDOOR FRUIT CULTURE. 



Paper Read by William Downs before the 



Gardeners" and Florists' Club of 



Boston. 



{Continued from pagt J13) 



Insects. 

 The two insects most detrimental to 

 the grapes are mealy bug and red spi- 

 der. The former is a great problem 

 and if plants can be kept out of Hie 

 house it should never be found there, 

 but so often it is necessary to use the 

 house for plants and it is almost sure 

 to get in. if it is there kerosene emul- 

 sion to paint the vines in winter, and 

 applications of hydrocyanic acid gas in 

 the fall, and alcohol in the hands of 

 a careful man should minimize the 

 trouble. A good plan to keep the 

 bunches clean is to put a wad of cot- 

 ton batting around the stem, the bug 

 not caring to travel over this. We 

 washed our vines in one place with 

 water at nearly boiling point in the 

 winter and that killed many of them; 

 "after them all the time" is the watch- 

 word. In the case of the red spider it 

 should be kept down by syringing; in 

 fact, if syringing is properly attendee 

 to this can be almost exterminated; a 

 little sulphur on the pipes helps 

 greatly. 



Peaches and Nectarines. 



Another class of fruit which well re- 

 pays indoor culture is peaches and nec- 

 tarines, and they can be brought along 

 so as to be ripe before grapes. They 

 are perhaps, on the whole, of easier 

 culture than grapes, and are admired 

 for their beauty, as well as appreciated 

 for their good flavor. I know of noth- 

 ing more delicately beautiful than a 

 house of peaches and nectarines in full 

 flower, and coming at a time when we 

 are just emerging from the dull, cheer- 

 less winter scenes makes them doubly 

 appreciated. Again when ripe, what 

 can equal the blush on the peach, that 

 delicate tinge of coloring which no art- 

 ist has as yet been able to reproduce. 

 The very name nectarine, conveys to 

 the mind something very luscious, 

 which they are indeed when properly 

 grown. 



In regard to the peach house, much 

 that has been said of the vinery ap- 

 plies to that as regards size and border 

 construction, good drainage being es- 

 sential, and the roots being confined 

 inside. In making the border I would 

 put in no manure except inch bones, 

 with a liberal quantity of lime rubble, 

 or failing this, broken brick bats, the 

 former being preferable. The reason 

 for putting no active manure in the 

 border, is that the tree while young 

 will naturally make strong growth, and 

 this will not produce fruit, it 1 eing 

 much more difficult to set fruit on 

 strong wood than on tha' of medium 

 growth. 



Planting the Peach House. 



There are two distinct methods of 

 planting a peach house at the present 

 time, namely planting on the sides of 

 the house, training the trees under the 

 roof, and cross-planting, training the 

 trees to upright trellises. While I have 

 had no experience with trees planted 

 in the latter manner, I think there is 

 much to commend it. It is consider- 

 ably easier to care for your trees in 

 every way, as insects can be kept down 

 by syrii ging, you being able to reach 



MELON HOUSE 

 Estate Geo. \v. Vanderbilt, Bar Harl Me., F<lw::r,l Kirk, Gardener. 



The accompanying cut was taken in 

 the interior of one of the melon 

 houses on the estate of Geo. W. Van- 

 derbilt at Bar Harbor, Me. The varie- 

 ties shown are Sutton's "Ringlealer," 

 "Superlative" and "Hero of Locking'. 



Mr. Vanderbilt's gardener, Edward 

 Kirk, is an expert melon grower and 

 has great success with them. At the 

 first annual flower show held last 

 August, Mr. Kirk took all the first 

 prizes with his melons. He raises 

 two or three houses each year. 



every part ot the tree, and in tying 

 and training there is a great ad- 

 vantage. It is contended by some that 

 b/ this method tue trees get more 

 shade from each other, as they must 

 nr-cei-faiily be planted reasonably 

 close, yet I think if the house runs east 

 and west this objection is to a great 

 extent removed, as the sun would shine 

 between the rows most of the day, at 

 least through the hours of the best 

 sunshine. Under this method the 

 trees are pla»*. rl about 6 ft. ;-:>art and 

 in a house 25 ft. wide a row on either 

 side of the walk can be planted, there- 

 by getting quite a numbei of varieties, 

 even in a house of comparatively small 

 dimensions. Still I think for the best 

 results it would be easier to plant the 

 trees in the middle of the house, and 

 have the walks at the side, thereby 

 giving the trees a greater spread; but 

 not so many varieties can be grown in 

 the same space. 



Planting on the sides of the house 

 is the other method and has been the 

 general method, used, I presume, ever 

 since peaches have been grown under 

 glass. We have planted so much clos- 

 er than they used to be, getting so 

 many more varieties in the same size 

 of a house. In one house 33 ft. long 

 and 25 ft. wide, we planted twelve trees 

 and with the varieties coming in at 

 different times we have had fruit al- 

 most every day for ten weeks: this, I 

 think, being a great consideration for 

 family use. 



Training. 



Having secured fan-trained trees, if 

 they are grown outside the first sea- 

 son, so much the better, and they can 

 easily be trained by tying to stakes 

 and wire netting and they will be in 

 fine form and condition to plant inside 

 the next winter. This shifting helps to 



check the rampant growth. They may, 

 be allowed (if they have made good' 

 growth) to carry about six fruit the 

 second year. The rule to go by is to 

 carry one fruit to every square foo: of 

 surface in a healthy tree, yet I sup- 

 pose almost all of us considerably ex- 

 ceed that number, though I have no 

 doubt it would pay in the end. I have 

 heard the objection raised to this close 

 planting, that the trees will not live 

 so long. Well, if they do not. they so 

 soon come into bearing that they need 

 give us no concern, and the advantage 

 in length of season, by being able to 

 plant more varieties, more than coun- 

 terbalances the short life. 



It would not be possible in so short 

 a paper as this to go into the detail of 

 propeiiy training a peach tree, and 

 with the method I have advocated 

 (close planting), this could not be 

 properly caried out. The main object 

 in view is good fruiting wood distrib- 

 uted evenly over the tree, and to ob- 

 tain this careful stopping of strong, 

 rampant growths, and pinching of lat- 

 erals must be carefully looked after. 



Planting and Starting Peaches and 

 Nectarines. 

 Peaches and nectarines should be 

 very carefully planted, making sure to 

 have the soil firm under the tree, the 

 roots all carefully laid out straight 

 from the trunk, evenly as far as pos- 

 sible, and the extreme ends only slight- 

 ly pointing down, keeping them near- 

 ly horizontal, working the soil care- 

 fully between the roots, firming the 

 whole down, a good watering given, 

 and the tree is ready for starting at 

 the proper time. The branches should 

 be tied to the wires and one thing to 

 remember is that the wood swells con- 

 siderably in a season, so plenty of 

 room should be left to allow of this 



