P R U 



PRU 



to fake up many old renovated trees from the 

 walls, and plant them out for dwarf stand- 

 ards, supplying their places with pears, plums, 

 peaches, &c." And further he says, that 

 " in all old gardens and orchards throughout 

 the kingdom, and particularly Kent, whence 

 the London markets are chiefly supplied with 

 Cherries, the greater part of the old trees will 

 hardly bear fruit sufficient to pay the expense of 

 gathering it; but if the above method of pruning, 

 &c., were practised, the owner would soon 

 find his account in it, and be amply repaid for 

 his trouble : the fruit would be much finer, and 

 he would have five times the quantity that the 

 trees produce in their present condition ; the 

 trees would be more sightly, and always keep in 

 a flourishing and bearing state : but when old 

 standard Cherry-trees become decayed and hol- 

 low, he would recommend heading them down, 

 as directed for wall-trees and dwarfs, to scoop 

 out all the rotten, loose, and decayed parts of 

 the trunk, till you come to the solid wood, 

 leaving the surface smooth ; then use the Com- 

 position." 



Forcing of Cherries. — This sort of tree may 

 likewise be forced by artificial heat, in houses, so 

 as to obtain fruit at an early season, as in April 

 and beginning of May. And for this purpose 

 the earliest Dukes and May Cherry are the pro- 

 per sorts, but principally the former; trained 

 both in standards, of four, five, or six feet 

 stems, to elevate the heads near the top glasses 

 of the forcing-house, which are generally pruned 

 to a small compass for that purpose; and in 

 dwarf standards, with short stems and low 

 heads : both of which, for this use, should be 

 such as are previously trained in the full ground, 

 till the heads are of three, four, or five years' 

 growth, or till they have commenced bearers in 

 some tolerable degree. The forcing-houses for 

 this use are of different constructions, according 

 to circumstances, and the other purposes to 

 which they are applied. They have proper flues 

 for fire heat, and mostly internal borders of 

 good earth, either in the back part for the taller 

 trees, and in the front for lower ; or sometimes, 

 where no internal bark-pit is made, for bark- 

 bed heat : the forcing being effected wholly by 

 fire, the whole bottom space is entirely formed 

 into a bed of earth of proper depth, and the 

 trees planted in it in rows from the back to the 

 front, in some regular gradation according to 

 their height ; sometimes with dwarfs planted 

 between the taller standards, and towards the 

 front ; and occasionally with dwarf trees in 

 pots. 



In this sort of forcing, a very slight degree of 

 fire-heat is sufficient; therefore when there are 



back flues they need not be employed, only that 

 in the front being used. 



The author of the Scotch Forcing Gardener 

 observes, that where " the situation is dry, the 

 bottom a kindlv sand, gravel, or clav, and the 

 soil a sandy loam to the depth of two feet; the 

 border will require no other preparation than 

 being well enriched with stable dung, and if 

 possible a little marie, which ought to be trench- 

 ed and well mixed twice or thrice during the 

 summer before planting. But, where it is 

 wet, the bottom a cankering gravel or cold clay, 

 and the soil either a poor sand, gravel, or stub- 

 born clay, care must, he says, be taken to 

 render them otherwise, by paving the border to 

 the breadth of twelve or fourteen feet, running 

 a drain in front to carry off the wet, and re- 

 moving the bad, and bringing in good soil ; so 

 as to compose a rich sandy loam to the depth of 

 thirty inches at the wall, and twenty-four in 

 front, allowing three or four inches for settling. 

 If a new building is erecting for Cherries, it is 

 immaterial, he thinks, whether the building or 

 border is completed first, (providing the latter 

 has a sufficient time allowed for the mixing and 

 incorporation of the soil) as the front wall and 

 flue stand on pillars, whose foundations ought 

 to be at least six inches deeper (if the border is 

 not paved) than the soil." 



He considers " about the first of January to 

 be a good time for planting ; although a month 

 sooner or later at this season is of little conse- 

 quence, as there must be no fire-heat applied the 

 first year. Having provided the necessary num- 

 ber of healthv, well-rooted, maiden, or one- 

 year-trained May Dukes ; as experience, he says, 

 shows that no other Cherry deserves a place in 

 a forcing-house, let them be planted against 

 the trellis at the distance of eight, nine, or ten 

 feet, according as the length of the house will 

 best divide; filling-in the pits with vegetable 

 mould from decayed tree leaves, and settling all 

 with a little water. Riders, with five or six feet 

 boles, which have been trained two or thre* 

 years against a wall, and have produced a crop 

 or two, should be provided to fill the upper 

 part of the trellis, where they will yield a 

 few crops before the dwarfs require their re- 

 moval. These will generally produce a few 

 fruit the first, and be sure to produce a full crop 

 the second year." 

 ' The surface of the border should, he says, 

 be forked over once a year, and a little well rot- 

 ted dung occasionally worked into it. 



Tn respect to the trees, he observes, that 

 '•* the dwarfs or principals being the only ones 

 intended ultimately to fill the trellis, the riders 

 being planted sole\y for the purpose of obtaining 



