November Autumn Work for Summer 



if it is felt that these are indispensable, they ought to 

 be given a warm and well-drained position. Lord 

 Suffield, Warner's King, Cellini Pippin and Lord Derby, 

 cooking Apples, are others liable to suffer from 

 canker. 



As to remedial measures, all one can do is to cut off 

 small diseased branches, and cankered portions from 

 older branches, and subsequently to apply a dressing 

 of gas tar. Unless an affected tree is attended to in 

 this way, insect pests, and especially American Blight, 

 infest the decayed parts. 



Root-Pruning Fruit Trees. Young fruit trees are 

 liable to make vigorous growth, which, if not checked, 

 militates against the production of fruit. The remedy 

 is to lift and root-prune them. Root-pruning is drastic 

 treatment, but it seems the only thing to do when growth 

 is excessive and fruits are conspicuous by their absence. 

 It is accomplished by digging a trench some distance 

 from the tree and cutting back all thick roots that are 

 found ; search should also be made for similar roots that 

 descend abruptly, by forking away the soil beneath the 

 tree. Offending roots having been shortened, the soil 

 is filled in again and made firm. In dealing with young 

 trees the purpose is often fulfilled by merely lifting 

 them each autumn for the first two or three years, and 

 replanting nearer the surface. Root-pruning may easily 

 be overdone, and ^specially with older trees. I have 

 known fifteen-year-old Apple trees to be so severely 

 checked by this practice that they were moribund for 

 several seasons afterwards. The distance from the 

 stem at which the trench is opened varies according 

 to the age of the tree ; it should not be closer than 3 

 feet, even in the case of young trees. In dealing with 

 old trees the roots on one side only are cut back the 

 first season, those on the opposite side being pruned the 

 following autumn ; moreover, the trench should be some 

 6 feet away from the stem. 



85 



