602 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



the purpose. Wherever the bark is decayed or cracked, Abercrombie and Forsyth direct its 

 removal. Lyon, of Edinburgh, has lately carried this practice to so great a length as even 

 to recommend the removal of part of the bark of young trees. Practical men, in general, 

 however, confine the operation to cracked bark which nature seems to attempt throwing 

 off; and the effect in rendering the tree more fruitful and luxuriant, is acknowledged by 

 Neill, in his Account of Scottish Gardening and Orchards^ and by different writers in 

 The London and Edinburgh Horticultural Transactions. 



3804. The other diseases to which orchard trees are subject are chiefly the canker, gum, 

 mildew, and blight, which, as we have already observed, are rather to be prevented by 

 such culture as will induce a healthy state, than to be remedied by topical applications. 

 Too much lime, Sir H. Davy thinks, may bring on the canker, and if so, the replacing a 

 part of such soil with alluvial or vegetable earth, would be of service. The gum, it is 

 said, may be constitutional, arising from offensive matter in the soil ; or local, arising from 

 external injury. In the former case, improve the soil ; in the latter, apply the knife. The 

 mildew, it is observed by T. A. Knight and Abercrombie, " may be easily subdued at its 

 appearance, by scattering flour of sulphur upon the infected parts. " As this disease is now 

 generally considered the growth of parasitical fungi, the above remedy is likely to succeed. 

 For the blight and caterpillars, Forsyth recommends burning of rotten wood, weeds, po- 

 tatoe haulm, wet straw, &c. on the windward side of the trees when they are in blossom. 

 He also recommends washing the stems and branches of all orchard trees with a mixture 

 of *' fresh cow-dung with urine and soaj^'Suds, as a whitewasher would wash the ceiling or 

 walls of a room." The promised advantages are, destruction of insects and "fine bark;" 

 more especially, he adds, " when you see it necessary to take all the outer bark off." 



3805. With the Herefordshire orchardists pruning is not in general use ; the most ap- 

 proved method is that of rendering thin and pervious to the light, the points of the external 

 branches, so that the internal branches of the tree may not be wholly shaded by the external 

 parts. Large branches should rarely or never be amputated. The instrument generally 

 used for the purpose of pruning, is a strong flat chisel, fixed to a handle six feet or more 

 in length, having a sharp edge on one of its sides, and a hook on the other. {Knight's 

 Treatise on the Apple and Pear. ) 



3806. T/je CM^^wre o/'i/te 5oi/ among orchard trees is always attended with advantage; 

 though it can so seldom be properly conducted in farm orchards, that in most cases it is 

 better to lay them down with grass seeds for pasture. To plough between the trees and 

 take corn crops, even if manure is regularly given, cannot be any great advantage unless 

 a space of six or eight feet radius is left round each tree. If such a space is left, and 

 yearly dug but not cropped, the trees will thrive well; and a ridge between each two 

 rows may be sown with com. The greater number of orchards in Herefordshire and 

 Gloucestershire are under pasture ; but the most productive are those trees grown in hop 

 grounds. In Kent, in some instances, the interspaces of young orchards are occupied by 

 hops, in others by filberts, and in grown orchards tile latter are sometimes seen. Some 

 old orchards are likewise in permanent sward, others under arable or garden crops, and 

 some in saintfoin, while others are in lucern. 



Sect. IV. Of the Gathering and Keeping of Orchard Fruits. 



3807. The gathering of orchard fruits, and especially apples, should be performed in 

 such a manner as not to damage the branches, or break off the fruit spurs or buds. 

 Too frequently the fruit is allowed to drop, or they are beat and bruised by shaking the 

 tree and using long poles, &c. Nicol directs that they should never be allowed to drop of 

 themselves, nor should they be shaken down, but should be pulled by the hand. This 

 may be thought too troublesome a method ; but every body knows that bruised fruit will 

 not keep, nor will it bring a full price. The expense of gathering, therefore, may be 

 more than defrayed, if carefully done, by saving the fruit from blemish. 



3808. With regard to keeping of kernel fruits, the old practice, and that recommended 

 by Marshal and Forsyth, commences with sweating, though Nicol, and other modern 

 gardeners, omit this process. Marshal, the author of An Introduction to Gardening, 

 observes that those fruits which continue long for use should be suffered to hang late^ 

 even to November, if the frost will permit, for they must be well ripened, or they will 

 shrink. Lay them on heaps till they have sweated a few days, when they must be wiped 

 dry. Let them then lay singly, or at least thinly, for about a fortnight, and be again 

 wiped, and immediately packed in boxes and hampers, lined with double or treble sheets 

 of paper. Place them gently in, and cover them close, so as to keep air out as much as 

 possible. Preserve them from frost through the winter. Never use hay for the purpose. 

 Kernel fruits and nuts keep no where better than when mixed and covered with sand 

 in a dry cool cellar in the manner of potatoes. Buried in pits well protected from 

 moisture, russets have been found to keep perfectly fresh a year from the time of their 

 being gathered. The keeping of cider fruits is not approved of, it being found best to 



