Hay IS, 1666. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



357 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



of 



Month 



Day 



of 



Week. 



To 

 W 

 Tk 

 P 



s 



Sirs 

 H 



MAY 15—21, 



Gompholobium anffastifoliam. 



Grevillea acnmin.ata. 

 GreWllea luiiuifolia. 

 Habrothflinmis elegAns. 

 Sun's declination 19" 47' N. 

 Whit Scnuay. 

 Whit 31ondav. 



Averafie Temperature 

 near London. 



DaT. 



65.S 



66.5 



65.9 



65.7 



66.6 



66.8 



66.3 



Xighl. 

 41.2 

 43.0 

 11.7 

 ( 4-3.8 

 43.1 

 43.4 

 45.0 



Mean. 

 58.2 

 54.7 

 68.8 

 54.S 

 54.8 

 56.1 

 55.6 



P.ain in 



last 

 39 years. 



Days. 

 11 

 15 

 15 

 17 

 IS 

 19 

 17 



Snn 

 Rises. 



m. h. 

 10 at 4 



Snn 

 Sets. 



h. 

 42af7 



Moon. 

 Kisea 



Moon 



Sets. 



7 

 8 



16 9 

 26 10 

 So 11 



h, ni. 

 6 I 44 

 6 I 51 



h. 

 8 

 9 



45 10 

 31 11 

 mom. 

 7 

 87 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 1 

 2 

 8 

 4 

 5 

 6 



Clock 



after 

 San. 



3 ,13 



.1 r,i 



3 51 



3 19 



S 47 



.3 44 



S 41 



Da; 



of 

 Year. 



135 

 136 

 137 

 13H 

 139 

 140 

 141 



From observations taken near London during the last thirty-nino years, the average d.ay temperatore of the week is 66 1° ■ and its nicht 

 temperature 12.9'. The (jreatost heat was 86". on the 15th and 17th. 1333 ; and the lowest cold 25", on the 15th, 1850. The trreatest fall of 

 rain was 0.50 inch. X.B. — The Calendar contains the names of plants flowering in the t^eenhou?e. 



APPLE A\T3 PEAR TREES IN ORCHARDS. 



VENTURE to send yon a 

 few lines on the recent dis- 

 cu.ssion which has taken 

 place in yom- pages on the 

 subject of fruit-tree culture, 

 not with anj' wish to re- 

 open, the controversy, as it is not in tho least mv inten- 

 tion to enter into the arena with t«o clLstiugaished gladia- 

 tors lilce Mr. Robson and Mr. Rivers ; for though I can 

 hardly regret the controversy when it has elicited so much 

 information on the subject, I still cannot help regretting 

 that a mere difference of opinion on the merits or demerits 

 of any particular method of the propagation or culture of 

 fi'uit trees should cause a warfare, even on paper, between 

 those who really have but one common interest at heart. 

 I am afraid, however, tliat " our Chaplain " will tliiuk I 

 am trespassing on his province as Mentor to " our Journal." 

 I will, therefore, only now add that my object in making 

 these remarks on the recent discussion is to call attention 

 to the fact that, with truth on both sides of the question 

 (as there undoubtedly isl, still the old adage. "In medio 

 tutissimus il)!.'!," is true in this particular instance, as in my 

 humble opinion it always is. Put any old saying to the 

 test, there is none v.-liich is so universally true as the one 

 of the golden mean. Neither homoeopathy nor allopathy, 

 neither the do-notliing nor t)ie do-too-much system is true, 

 but the practice of the clever physician is the only one 

 which stands the test of common sense, and it is to help 

 Nature to restore herself. As in medicine so in hoiticulture, 

 the object of the cultivator is not to thwart Nature, but to 

 assist her ; not to teach Nature, but to let her teach us. 

 Now, I do not pretend to set myself up in opposition 

 either to 3L.'. Rivers or !Mr. Robsou. I am fully aware 

 that they both luiow a gi-eat deal more than I do on the 

 subject, and have had far more experience. I merely wish 

 to take a common sense and practical view of the question, 

 and do not -svish to enter into a minute tUscussion as to the 

 best or perfect way of growing fruit, but to draw attention 

 to the most generally practical way. Apples and Pears 

 are so essential in every family, both for the kitchen and 

 the table, that it really is an eminently practical question ; 

 and there is hardly any one who lias a Idtchen garden 

 who is not interested in the question, " How to obtain 

 most easily a supply of fruit that shall be good in qualit}', 

 fair in quantity, and not require too great an outlay." 



Mr. Pavers is so accustomed to the management of fruit 

 trees, more especially under one method of cultivation, tliat 

 he does not see difficulties, or tliiulis nothing of them, which 

 would be great difficulties to the genei'aUty of cultivators : 

 for, though Ml'. Robson may have over-estimated the value 

 of an acre of Apples or Pears grafted on tlie Paradise and 



No. 263,— Vol. X., New Sebips. 



Quince, and planted a yard apart, yet I tliink it would be 



hardly possible for any gentleman or amateur to plant the 



trees, or even to plant the stocks and gi'aft them where 



; they stand, at less than (i'/. a-piece, wliicli would make an 



: outlay of about *1'20 an acre (at a yard apart every way), 



I so that even if it be granted that tliis system of dwari' and 



small trees is the best, yet the first outlay is so great as 



I to put it quite beyond the reach of the generality of cul- 



' tivators. 



I On the other hand, the system of planting standard 

 ' trees on gi-ass land at 10 yards apart, leaving the grass to 

 ■ grow over the roots of the trees, and the trees to grow as 



they nice, is really no cultivation at all. 

 I What I would advocate is the bush and espalier systems, 

 I both for .Vpples and Peai's. not placing the trees too closely, 

 but planting them in rows, leaving open spaces or plots of 

 ground for vegetables between the trees, according to tlie 

 ; size of the garden or the number of trees which may be 

 requii'ed. I would in tins way have double lines of espa- 

 I licrs wherever the walks are, and grow tlie trees which are 

 planted m the other Uues as bush trees. If the subsoil 

 is bad root-priming will be necessary, or rather it ■will be 

 I advisable to prevent any tap roots running do^vii into the 

 soil ; but otlierwise. by judiciously forkuig and manuring 

 t the gi'ound. and by not cropping too near to tlie trees as they 

 ' grow, the}' mil be induced to push their roots to the sur- 

 face, and these ■vi'ill come upwards for tlieir supply of 

 I nom'ishment rather than run downwards, and there will be 

 no necessity constantly to lift or transplant tliem. 



Again, as to pruning, a yearly shortening of the sum- 

 mer's growth in the spring of the following year, and an 

 occasional thinning during summer of any growtlis that 

 may be too luxm-iant, will be q-.ute sufficient, the object 

 being not to dwarf or stunt tlie trees, Imt to keep them ia 

 a compact and bush-like Ibnn, and to make them fniit 

 down to the ground. By leaving open spaces for vegetables 

 between the rows plenty of light and ah' is admitted, and 

 the trees make healthy and strong stems, instead of being 

 drawn-np and spindly. Of course the requirements of 

 difi'erent gardens varj' so much tliat it is difficult to lay 

 down general rules : but I am inclined to think, on an 

 average, that bush Apple trees should not be planted at less 

 than s feet apart, and Pear trees at (■ feet, leading a space 

 of from s to 10 yards square between the rows, or more, at 

 the option of the planter. Trees ti'eated in tliis method 

 will, in eight or nine years after planting, yield from jive 

 to ten pecks a-picce. I sold last year from two Pear trees 

 adjoining each other in a row of this land, one a Beurre 

 Diel, the other a Van Mons Leon Leclorc, whicli had been 

 planted eight years, live pecks of saleable Pears from each 

 tree, for which I received 4.?. a-peck. I do not, however 

 quote the price as thinking tlie marketable value of friiit' 

 any real criterion of their worth, e'scept, perhaps, in the 

 case of market gardeners, or li'ui'soi'yniofi, or any persons 

 who grow a gi'eat quantity of fruit for sale, because the 

 size of fruit is much more considered in the market than 

 the quality ; be.'-ides, the object of most pei'.'Sons in growing 

 fruit ia to supply, their own table, and to grow a sufficient 

 quantity of each variety to be able to fiu'uish either tlie 



No. 9-20.— Vol. XXXV., Old Series. 



