IRISH GARDENING 



/ 



We have very old trees in the gardens here 

 hearing ahnost annually splendid crops of fruit 

 (some producing fruit fit for exhibition) which 

 when I took charge of them, though being in a 

 deplorable condition between fungoid and insect 

 pests, neglect of and improper pruning, I had 

 no authority to destroy so I attacked the 

 toi)s with saw and secateurs and root ])runed 

 them ; this, with stibsequent liberal treatment, 

 spraying, etc., restored them in a most satis- 

 factory manner : many must be well over half 

 a century old. bvit they still ai)pear fit to bear 

 profitable crops for many years to come. 



Heverting to Bush and Standard trees which 

 I left at the commencement of my remarks. For 

 these 1 strongly advocate a system of extension, 

 jiruning annually, limiting the number of main 

 branches and growing them sufficiently far apart 

 to allow of light and sun having free access to all 

 parts of the 

 flees, especi- 

 ally w h e n 

 t h e y have 

 attained a 

 good height 

 and size. 

 \\' h a t e V e r 

 number of 

 main bran- 

 ches the tree 

 m ay c o m - 

 mence with. 

 l»iune away 

 all side 

 shoots, cut- 

 ting to three 

 or four buds, 

 and cut back 

 the leading 

 s h o o t to 

 from a third 

 to half its 

 length, being 

 always care- 

 ful to cut to 

 a bud tend- 

 ing to pro- 

 duce a shoot 

 to grow in the 

 desired direc- 

 tion. With 

 |) e ndul ou s 

 growing var- 

 ieties chose the nuist cicct growing shoots 

 to form leading branches, and c\it any pen- 

 dulous shoots to a bud on iii)i)er side of shoot. 

 The future good shape and fruitfulness of the 

 tree depends in a great nu>asure on the pro])er 

 anmial pinning of the leading shoots ; the 

 pruner must be guided here by the way in which 

 fruifiiig spU!-« are being foiMiied, and by the varia- 

 tion in strength of nuiin branches in (Ufferent 

 va;ieties. Comparatively weak growers nmst 

 be pruned shorter than the strong erect growing 

 vaT'ieties or the resultant branches will become 

 deformed when carrying heavy crops of fruit, 

 or need su])porting to keep them erect and prevent 

 breaking of branches. Some vai'ieties also need 

 to bave leading shoots ])i'uned more s(>vei'ely, to 

 cause more fruit spui's to foi-m. As the frees 

 attain height, suitable side shoots nuist be selected 

 1o form further main branches as necessary to 

 iiH-rease size of tree, and later on other side 



A WETj.-PKT'XKi) Ai'PiJ^: Thee — Peascood's Xonsic ii. 



shoots must be selected to grow into nrain 

 branches, with a view to their taking the place of 

 older branches which may be sawn out on 

 attaining an inconvenient height. In case of 

 fruiting spurs becoming overcrowded or too long, 

 they may be shortened or cut away altogether: 

 weakly ones a \^,always batter ciit out comjjletely. 

 This system of pruning will give most excellent 

 results, the vitality and fruitfulness of trees will 

 be maintained many years beyond that of trees 

 left unpruned altogether, or pruned in an un- 

 sy.stematic manner, and the fruit will be of a very 

 sui)eiior quality, even though in some cases the 

 tiulk of crop may not be so great. 



The apple tree illustrated has been pruned 

 in the manner described, since I planted it twenty 

 years ago ; it was then seven years old ; it has 

 been only once lifted, and not root pruned since 

 the lifting : two years ago it produced three and 



a half hun- 

 dredw eight 

 of ap|)les, 

 and looks tit 

 to continue 

 f r u i t i n g 

 for the next 

 twenty years 

 or more, 

 being very 

 robust and 

 perfectly free 

 f r o m a n y 

 disease. It 

 is a Peas- 

 good's Non- 

 such, and I 

 believe the 

 fruit from 

 this tree 

 has w o n 

 prizes at 

 fruit shows 

 in all I tarts 

 of Ireland 

 that will 

 c o ni J) a r e 

 very favoiu-- 

 a b I y with 

 any tree of 

 this variety 

 extant. We 

 also have 

 many trees 

 of same age even better shai)ed, and annually 

 carrying heavy crops, notably one that last year 

 yielded over £8 worth of fruit (an acre or nu>re 

 of such trees would form a jjrolitable asset in 

 any plantation or farm holding). This tree has 

 never been lifted or root pruned since it was 

 planfed. 



'IMie collection of apples illustrated are also the 

 liroduce of trees pruned in the manner described. 

 Size has been obtained by liberal manuring, and 

 colour by the fullest exposure to sun and light. 

 Our shallow top soil is moderately good for 

 fruit growing, oiir subsoil is very bad, and we 

 have a very small nvunber of trees of each variety 

 to select from (in many cases only one tree), this 

 being the case, and the character of Carrigoran 

 apples being so well vindicated at vari<nis fruit 

 shows for many years past, I (may confidcnitly 

 claim as a strong recommendation for the maimer, 

 <if ]»runing described, 



