3 o8 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



those prices. If it has to be packed in baskets, the price realised will range 

 from Is. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per stone. Aim high, secure large, well-coloured fruit with 

 a good bloom, carefully preserved, temptingly packed, and the best prices will be 

 obtained. 



Unsatisfactory Trees against Buildings. Trees often fail to prosper through being 

 roughly planted in stones or gravel, the roots then strike down into the subsoil, and 

 sappy unfruitful growths follow. Where the ground adjoining a building is composed 

 of rubble it should be taken out or moved 2 feet deep, and not less in width than 

 one-third the height of the wall. If the loam to be placed in is of a close nature, 

 one-third of the finer particles of the rubble may be mixed with it. This, made 

 firm, will be more suitable for fruit trees than a border formed of rich loam 

 and manure. 



Fruit trees against walls often suffer from dryness at the roots, the fruit dropping 

 instead of swelling, or ripening prematurely. Soakings of diluted house slops along 

 the side of the wall and a few feet outwards during late autumn or early spring to 

 render the soil thoroughly moist, would do much to prevent the misfortune. If a 

 gravel path or causeway runs alongside the wall, liquid manure poured into holes 

 made with a crowbar, until the ground became thoroughly moistened, then filled 

 with rich compost, greatly assists weakly trees in swelling their crops. 



But trees against walls oftentimes grow too luxuriantly through the soil being 

 heavily manured and cultivated. The remedy will be found in root pruning severing 

 perpendicular roots firming the ground, and leaving it undisturbed for a radius from 

 the stem of one-third the height of the wall. "When the trees have reached the limit 

 of space, they often produce spray in abundance, but fruit sparingly. Boot-pruning and 

 a judicious thinning and shortening of the spurs afford growth more calculated to produce 

 fruit ; but the better practice is to lay young wood in from the base of the branches, and 

 cut away the old as the new extends for furnishing the space profitably. 



Space on low walls of almost any aspect can be attractively and usefully occupied 

 with currants and gooseberries. 



