218 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Sept. 



MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES. 



The annexed communication, which we extract 

 from the August number of the Horticulturist, touches 

 upon one or two points on the Management of Fruit 

 Trees, that we conceive to be of great importance 

 to the cultivators of this country generally, but par- 

 ticularly to the South and South-west. It is well 

 known to those who read the horticultural publica- 

 tions of the day, that in all the Western and South- 

 western States, great difficulty is experienced in 

 the cultivation of the Cherry, on account of the 

 bursting of the bark on the trunk and large branches 

 of the tree. Prof. Turner, of the Illinois College, 

 has written for the Horticulturist and other papers, 

 some very able and interesting articles on the subject, 

 that we have intended to review if we could find 

 leisure. His theory is, that the corticle of the bark 

 is so strong as to prevent the tree from expanding 

 in the natural way, and the consequence is, that the 

 sap vessels become gorged with the return sap, and 

 finally burst through the corticle, by mere mechan- 

 ical pressure. He proposes as a remedy for cherry 

 trees thus suffering, to peel off the corticle, or tough 

 outside bark, entirely; and as preventives, "a poor 

 soil, low culture, and above all, to allow all the limbs 

 to grow as nature indicates, from the ground up, so 

 as thereby to increase as much as possible the ratio 

 of the surface for the descending sap." This is Prof. 

 Turner's theory. We cannot adopt it without great 

 modification. 



The idea of trees being hide-bound is old enough, 

 to be sure, and scoring and skinning them, too, has 

 been practiced time out of mind — but we do not 

 believe in either the cause or the cure. Nor can 

 we advise with Prof. Turner, " poor soil and low 

 culture;" but we.unite with him heartily in recom- 

 mending that form or mode of culture that allows 

 the trees to branch low — and this we recommended 

 long before Prof. Turner's articles appeared. By 

 referring to the volume of this paper for 1847, page 

 196, in some notes of a tour we were then making 

 in the Western States, it will be seen that we noticed 

 this malady of the cherry tree, and wrote as follows : 



" We suggest as a remedy, that the trees be not pruned up 

 as they usually are, but be allowed to branch out near the 

 ground. The trunk will be thus protected, which seems 

 to be all that is wanted. In Cincinnatti, we are informed, 

 they have almost abandoned the culture of the cherry, they 

 are so much discouraged. We think that the trees grown 

 as dwarfs or pyramids will suffer less, if they suffer at all. 

 At any rate, the experiment may be tried. We consider it 

 a great error to expose the trunks of cherry trees to the 

 height of five, six and eight feet, in that climate." 



Since we wrote the above we have seen many in- 

 stances of success in this mode of culture. In our 

 own climate indeed it is quite preferable, where cir- 

 cumstances will admit — and we predict that in less 

 than ten years people will not so generally look for 

 trees with naked trunks as far up as one can see. 

 The same principle holds good in regard to all trees, 

 but particularly the more tender ones. It is not only 

 the heat of summer, but the sun of winter, and the 

 sudden freezing and thawing, that deranges the sap 

 vessels in the trunk and large branches. 



We think that the choice of a suitable stock will 

 be of great importance, too, in this matter. Where 

 cherry trees are desired of branchy habit and less 

 vigorous or rank in growth, the St. Lucie or Cerasus 

 Miihaleb should be used instead of the Mazzard, 

 which is a rank free grower. But we shall say 

 more on this point at another time: 



How to Manage Fruit Trees. — I have gained 

 two pieces of information from your journal, which 

 I consider invaluable; and as I fear some of your 

 readers may not have been so much struck with 

 their importance as myself, I shall venture a few 

 words to call attention. 



I allude to the absolute neceesity, in this climate, 

 of shading the trunks of fruit trees; and the no less 

 important fact, that the mulching the soil greatly 

 promotes the health, vigor, and longevity of a tree. 



My eyes were first opened to the great value of 

 protecting the trunks of trees, by allowing the trees 

 to form loiv heads, as close to the ground as possible, 

 by reading the masterly article on "Vitality and 

 Longevity of Trees," by Professor Turner, at page 

 1 30 of the last volume of your journal. That able 

 correspondent proves, conclusively, to my mind, (and 

 I have by many observations since very fully verified 

 his theory,) that just in proportion to the heat of the 

 climate the trunk of a tree needs shelter; that in a 

 state of nature, all trees which grow alone, and not 

 in woods, where they are sheltered by others, put 

 out branches near the surface, so as to hide and 

 shelter the trunk; and finally, that all fruit trees 

 would do the same if left to themselves, and not 

 continually mutilated and robbed of their fairest pro- 

 portions by the saw and knife of the " trimmer." 



What, indeed, can be more rational ? A few days 

 since, we had four successive days when the mercury 

 in Fahrenheit's thermometer stood above 90 degrees 

 all day long in the shade. I took the trouble to hang 

 the glass at midday against the trunk of a peach tree 

 in the full sunshine, when, to my surprise, it rose to 

 130 degrees. Now, it is next to impossible that the 

 sap-vessels should not become almost baked; and it 

 is not a matter of the slightest surprise to me, that 

 we find the trunk and principal branches oozing out 

 gum,' and the tree looking feeble and sickly. 



Nature has fitted the upper surface of leaves to 

 bear the most powerful sunshine; and the constant 

 perspiration through this upper surface of the foliage 

 keeps them comparatively cool. But it is not so with 

 the bark; and if the stem of a delicate tree is exposed 

 to those intense rays of the sun, feebleness or disease 

 must inevitably follow. 



I have had a striking proof of this truth before my 

 eyes the past month. Bordering my garden walk 

 are two rows of fruit trees, — each row containing 

 six apricots and twelve peaches. They were both 

 planted five years ago. One of these rows had been 

 headed back, so as to keep the trees quite bushy and 

 low, — the lower branches starting out within a few 

 inches of the ground. (This was done to test more 

 completely the shortening-in pruning, and before I 

 knew the value of shading the roots.) 



The other row has been grown in the usual way, 

 as standards; that is> the trees have been trimmed 

 nearly as high as one's head, so as to leave the trunk 

 and lower branches fully exposed to the sun for a 

 good part of the day. 



The difference between those two rows of trees is 

 a very remarkable one, even to the general observer. 

 The low headed trees, in tho first place, are unusually 

 full of foliage; the leaves themselves are large, and 

 the shoots luxuriant; and the trees have that dark 

 green look, which is the unmistakable sign of good 

 health. The crop of fruit is healthy, hangs on well, 

 and promises to be large and excellent. 



The high-headed trees, whose trunks are exposed, 

 are some of them in excellent health; but none of 



