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JOURNAL Oi? HORTICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



I Uarcli 19, 1874. 



be favoured with a good crop. My trees have for a long time 

 been protected by hexagon netting and frigi domo, as well as 

 by Laurel twigs and Spruce Fir; the object of this is to keep 

 the buds in a more backward state till such severe frosts as 

 we have lately had are not likely to visit us. It will be in- 

 teresting to learu how others have fared from this late frost. 

 I suppose it has been general. — Thoius Eecord. 



OLD APPLE TREES, AND "WHAT TO DO 

 WITH THEM. 

 Inquikies having of late been made about the pruning and 

 management of old Apple trees, and as there are few districts 

 where more of this fruit is grown than in the neighbourhood 

 of Maidstone, I make no apology for describing the general 

 practice in such cases. Very old Apple trees are here only 

 found in the grounds of the wealthy, or it may be of the care- 

 less class of cultivators, for the fruit-grower who pays a high 

 rent for his holding cannot afford to retain old trees unless 

 they are of some favourite sort; yet there are old trees, and 

 they have to be dealt with as such, and if the operator is a 

 new beginner the chances are ten to one that he does much 

 harm, and half a dozen years afterwards blames himself for not 

 having had them all grubbed-up. There is, however, often a 

 tenacity to old trees ; and the gardener or amateur f rnit-grower, 

 thinking something can be made of them, straightway sets to 

 work with the pruning knife and saw, and the moss-grown 

 thickets of branches are severely thinned-out. In all probability 

 the shape of the tree is improved, and it is thought a great 

 change for the better has been made. Unfortunately the issue 

 often proves the reverse ; for although some useful good fruit 

 may result in the first year, if the preceding autumn has been 

 favourable for the buds setting well and strongly, yet after that 

 improvement is often at an end. Such instances are common 

 — in fact, so much so, that old fruit-growers with whom I 

 have had the opportunity of conversing condemn any severe 

 cutting of an old fruit tree as being almost sure to end in dis- 

 appointment. 



As it is certain that Apple trees as weU as everything else 

 do get old, the question likely to be asked is. What can we do 

 with them ? The man of business who sends his hundreds of 

 bushels to market every week says, " Destroy them, and plant 

 something else for a few years, after which Apples may be 

 tried again ; " but some careful and skilful orchard managers 

 contrive to keep these old trees in a healthy good-bearing con- 

 dition longer than their neighbours. If we look into their 

 practice we shall see that their trees have never been subjected 

 to the barbarous ordeal of a severe pruning, but that their 

 growth has been encouraged, and only slight amputations made 

 each season during the early years of the tree's growth ; that 

 a yearly supervision had been exercised when it had arrived at 

 mature age, just cutting off sufficient every season to prevent 

 the tree having a crowded appearance. These cuttings, of 

 course, become less and less each year as the trees attain age, 

 and the growth becomes less free ; and finally, when this is con- 

 fined to the formation of spurs, it is not prudent to allow too 

 many of them to be formed, or at all events to allow the tree 

 to become too much stunted. When such is the case it is 

 better to apply manure to the roots to accelerate growth rather 

 than subject the tree to such fearful amputations as are often 

 seen ; for there is more analogy between vegetable and animal 

 life when in an advanced stage than is often supposed, and 

 the one cannot bear a serious surgical operation any more than 

 the other, hence the failure ; whereas by a careful and coaxing 

 process the tree may be encouraged to develope itself into the 

 largest dimensions it is capable of assuming. Its measure of 

 years is also augmented — not that such can be extended to 

 an indefinite period, but it can be done to a certain extent. 

 There is abundant evidence to prove that a severe pruning 

 hastens the dissolution of the tree, as well as renders its later 

 years unfruitful. 



The foregoing remarks apply more especially to standard 

 Apple trees standing a considerable distance apart, with suiH- 

 cient room on all sides to form large fine heads, from some of 

 which it is not unusual for forty bushels of fruit to be gathered. 

 Such trees, whatever may be said in favour of cordons, espa- 

 liers, and other fancy forms (and doubtless they have all their 

 advantages), are the main sources from which the million 

 obtain their fruit, and an orchard of them when at its prime 

 is perhaps one of the prettiest objects that can be looked 

 upon in May and September. As it is advisable to prolong 

 the bearing condition of such trees, the mode above recom- 



mended is more likely to do so than letting them alone for a 

 great number of years, and then cutting from them dozens of 

 faggots. It may be asked, " What can be done with the trees 

 when by accidental circumstances they have been neglected ?" 

 I would say. At once destroy the most unpromising trees, cut 

 but sparingly those that are left, and by planting others where 

 they are likely to do well, a supply may perhaps be kept up. 

 Of course, circumstances wUl regulate this in a great measure, 

 but it wiU often be found that in after years, when the young 

 trees are arriving at a good bearing condition, the regret will 

 be that the whole of the old trees were not destroyed at first. 



Another question has been mooted, and that is, " Cannot 

 old trees of indifferent kinds be grafted with newer and better 

 sorts ?" This they can be easily enough, and by cutting off 

 all the branches at some smooth place where they are only 

 about the thickness of a broom handle, they can be grafted 

 readily, and it is not unusual to see from fifty to a hundred or 

 more of such heads on a tree. "But how do they succeed?" 

 is the question. Alas ! too often badly. They grow the first 

 year freely enough, and, perhaps, for one or two years after 

 that ; then canker often sets in, or it may be the grafts get 

 broken off with high winds, and in half a dozen years the tree 

 not unfrequently dies. This is especially the case if it is old 

 and stunted. If yoimg, with a vigorous constitution, it will do 

 very well and last many years, and with a Utile care for the first 

 few years the grafts may be prevented from being blown out ; 

 but it is only with healthy young trees that success is at aU 

 certain, and the experienced workman can tell tolerably well 

 at a glance which will do and which are uncertain. I need 

 hardly say that trees Uke the above, when cut down, bear fruit 

 sooner than those grafted on young maiden stocks ; but 

 whether it is prudent to depend on a cut-down tree or plant a 

 new one, is one of the questions that can only be solved ou 

 the spot. Generally speaking, where a healthy young tree of 

 an indifferent kind occupies a good position, it is best to cut 

 it down and graft it with a lietter kind, as it will quickly bear 

 fruit and do well ; but it would be quite another thing if that 

 tree had to be removed. In this case the young small one 

 would have the advantage. But it is needless to enlarge further 

 on this head, as individual cases, as well as individual wants, 

 point out what is prudent to be done better than any amovint 

 of general inBtrnction. — J. Roeson. 



NOTES BY THE WAT.— No. 4. 



Gardening, as we understand the term, does not exist among 

 the natives of Mentone. The gardens, such as they are, are 

 planted with Granges and Lemons with a view to profit ; but 

 with the exception of some flowering trees and shrubs, which 

 take care of themselves, there is no attempt at what we call 

 gardening. The climate is so favourable to vegetation that 

 the native population have all they requh-e without much 

 effort ; but such a style of gardening does not quite suit an 

 EngUshman's ideas, and even there he who desires to indulge 

 his taste must surmount many difficulties to enable him to do 

 so. The only place worthy of the name of a garden is that 

 formed by the eminent English physician Dr. Henry Bennet, 

 whose name is so closely associated with that of Mentone and 

 the health-resorts of the shores of the Mediterranean. 



A little more than a mile out of the town on the road to 

 Genoa, and just beyond the Italian frontier, the visitor may 

 see the British flag waving on one of the watch towers of the 

 ancient castle of Grimaldi. One wonders at first what it can 

 mean, and the idea of a British protectorate over the youngest 

 of European kingdoms is a pardonable solution of the diffi- 

 culty. On inquiry, however, at the custom-house, which is 

 close by, we are told that it is the English garden of " Le 

 Docteur Bennet." Looking at the place from below it seems 

 an odd situation on which to make a garden. To all appear- 

 ance it is the face of a precipitous rocky mountain where 

 nothing but a bare vegetation exists, and like the other barren 

 spots of the neighbourhood, one of the most unlikely places 

 for such a purpose. But let us ascend the winding track 

 which zigzags up to the village of Grimaldi, and after mount- 

 ing a height of about 200 feet we reach the entrance. How 

 suddenly all ideas of rocky barrenness are dispelled ! From 

 the gate a broad walk extends in a straight line, with square 

 stone pillars on either side at distances of 18 feet apart, and 

 festooning from pillar to pillar are climbing plants of various 

 kinds, among which we observed fine specimens of Marcchal 

 Niel and Gloire de Dijon Roses, Clematis of different kinds, 

 Pasaifloras, iSic, and ou the borders there are largo specimens 



