AFP 



APP 



ing of the shoots the better; the knife 

 is a great enemy to early i'ruitfulness in 

 young trees, especially codlings. 



Most good cultivators and we believe 

 we may include the highly-scientific au- 

 thority' of the late Mr. Knight, of Down- 

 ton prefer grafting the shoots of seed- 

 ling Apples, when two years old, on very 

 old, healthy, and fine-bearing kinds. In 

 doing so, the extremities of the best 

 branches should be chosen, as, also, the 

 lightest portion of the -tree, which should 

 stand in a sheltered and warm situation. 



Mr. Knight states, that "the width 

 and thickness of the leaf generally indi- 

 cate the size of the future apple, but 

 will by no means convey any correct idea 

 of the merits of the future fruit. When 

 these have the character of liigh cultiva- 

 tion, the qualities of the fruit will be far 

 removed from those of the native species; 

 but the apple may be insipid or highly 

 flavoured, green or deeply coloured, and, 

 of course, well or ill calculated to answer 

 the purposes of the planter. An early 

 blossom in the spring, and an early 

 change of colour in the autumnal leaf, 

 would naturally be supposed to indicate 

 a fruit of early maturity; but I have 

 never been able to discover any criterion 

 of this kind on which the smallest de- 

 pendarice may be placed. The leaves of 

 some varieties Avill become yellow, and 

 fall off, leaving the fruit green and im- 

 mature ; ansl the leaves in other kinds 

 will retain their verdure long after the 

 fruit has perished. The plants whose 

 buds in the annual wood are full and 

 prominent, are usually more productive 

 than those whose buds are small and 

 shrunk in the bark; but their future 

 produce will depend much on the power 

 the blossoms possess of bearing the cold; 

 and this power varies in the varieties, 

 and can only be known from experience. 

 Those which produce their leaves and 

 blossoms rather early in the spring are 

 generally to be preferred ; for, though 

 they are more exposed to injury from 

 frost, they less frequently suffer from the 

 attacks of insects the more common 

 cause of failure. The disposition to ve- 

 getate early or late in the spring is, like 

 almost every other quality in the Apple- 

 tree, transferred in different degrees to 

 its offspring; and 'the planter must there- 

 fore seek those qualities in the parent- 

 tree which 1-e wishes to find in the future 

 seedling plants. The best method I have 



been able to discover of obtaining such 

 fruits as vegetate very early in the spring, 

 has been by introducing the farina of the 

 Siberian crab into the blossom of a rich 

 and early apple, and by transferring, in 

 the same manner, the farina of the Apple 

 to the blossom of the Siberian crab. 

 The leaf and the habit of many of the 

 plants that I have thus obtained possess 

 much of the character of the Apple, 

 whilst they vegetate as early in the spring 

 as the crab of Siberia, and possess at 

 least an equal power of bearing cold; 

 and I possess two plants of the family 

 which are quite as hardy as the most 

 austere crab of our woods." 



By grafting. Stocks of the Crab and 

 Apple are raised from kernels ; but the 

 Codling and Paradise stocks must be 

 raised by cuttings and layers. Sow in 

 autumn, in beds of light earth, moderately 

 thick, in drills, covering them full half 

 an inch deep ; they will come up in the 

 spring, when, if the season proves dry, 

 water them occasionally, which will great- 

 ly forward the seedlings, and strengthen 

 their growth ; and in autumn, winter, or 

 spring following, they may be planted 

 out'in nursery rows, previously shortening 

 their tap-roots, and planting them in 

 lines two feet and a halt' asunder, and 

 one foot in the rows ; and, after having 

 from one to two or three years' growth 

 here, they will be fit for grafting, parti- 

 cularly if for dwarfs, or even for full and 

 half standards, if it is intended to form 

 the stem from the graft, which is an 

 eligible method for these trees ; but, if 

 the stock is to form the stem, they will 

 require three or four years' growth to 

 rise to a proper height ; seven feet for 

 full, and four or five for half-standards. 

 When these trees are intended for full- 

 sized orchard standards, with strong 

 stems, the too common practice of prun- 

 ing close all side-branches, as they spring 

 from the stem, cannot be too strongly 

 deprecated. A regular series of these 

 should be left up the stem at least for 

 one year after their production, practising 

 what is termed " spurring-in " by our 

 nurserymen, at the first winter's pruning 

 after their production. Indeed, in the 

 second year, if any stout stems are 

 required, we would only totally remove 

 one-half ; and instead of performing this 

 operation in the winter, we would leave 

 it until near midsummer ; for recent 

 wounds heal, and skin over much nicer 



