APP 



[62] 



APP 



ter pruning annually; in the summer 

 cut out all the superfluous and ill-placed 

 shoots of the year, and train regular 

 ones towards the lower parts in vacant 

 spaces, at least to remain till winter, 

 some of which may be then wanted to 

 fill some unforeseen vacancy, clearing 

 out all others at this time as close as 

 possible. And in winter, if any worn 

 out or decayed parts appear, then is the 

 time to retrench them, retaining young 

 branches in their places, and if any va- 

 cancy occurs, retain some contiguous 

 young shoot to fill it. Cut clean and 

 close to the branches, still continuing all 

 the branches, and any occasional supply 

 of shoots, at full length, as far as their 

 limited bounds will allow ; then train 

 the whole regularly, tying them in as 

 straight and close to the railing as pos- 

 sible, about six inches asunder. 



Standards, Half Standards, and Dwarfs. 

 The standards having been trained in 

 the nursery with tolerably good heads, 

 they should be planted with those heads 

 nearly entire ; merely pruning away 

 late growths, and occasionally shortening, 

 to produce new shoots when desirable. 

 If any are intended for the kitchen gar- 

 den, plant them at least forty feet dis- 

 tance ; and, for a full plantation, to form 

 an orchard, allow thirty feet distance 

 every way. 



Trim any broken or tap-roots, but 

 leave all the others entire. 



As soon as planted, let every one be 

 well staked, to support them firmly up- 

 right, and prevent their being disturbed 

 in rooting by winds. 



Smaller growing standards, such as 

 codlins and dwarfs upon paradise stocks, 

 may, if required, be planted only at 

 twenty feet distance, or even less, though, 

 if there is room to allow a greater dis- 

 tance, it will be the greater advantage. 



Let them also, in future, advance with 

 all their branches at full length, taking 

 their own natural growth, and they will 

 soon form numerous natural spurs in 

 every part for bearing. 



"With respect to pruning these stand- 

 ards very little is required, probably not 

 more than once in three years, and then 

 only the retrenching any very irregular 

 cross-placed bough, or reducing to order 

 any very long rambler ; or when the head 



is become greatly crowded and confused, 

 to thin out some of the most irregular 

 growth, likewise all strong shoots grow- 

 ing upright in the middle of the head, 

 and all dead wood and suckers from the 

 stem and root. Sec PRUNING, also STA- 

 TION. 



Manuring old Apple Trees. We gen- 

 erally see fruitful old trees starving by 

 inches ; few think of manuring them. The 

 consequence is not only premature decay 

 in the tree, but a continual sacrifice in 

 produce ; and if there be a full crop, the 

 apples either crack, or become corroded 

 with a rusty fungus, under which circum- 

 stances they will lose in a great degree 

 their keeping properties. The best way 

 to deal with such cases is to strip away, 

 at the end of October, six inches of the 

 surface-soil, and to apply a coating of 

 the very slutch of the manure-yard, 

 three or four inches in thickness ; after 

 which the turf or some soil may be 

 strewed over, to prevent the loss of its 

 fertile properties. This, once in three 

 years, accompanied by a rather severe 

 thinning or pruning, will be found to 

 renew the constitution of the tree in a 

 very considerable degree ; the fruit also 

 will regain their size, their clear skin, 

 and, of course, their keeping properties. 



Diseases, See CANKER, RUSSET, and 

 Moss. 



Insects, So impressed was Mr. Knight 

 with the opinion that of all our fruits 

 none suffers more from insects than the 

 apple, that he declared his belief that 

 these are a more frequent cause of the 

 crops failing than frost. The figure-of- 

 eight moth (Episema cwruleoccphalti), Lin- 

 neus denominates the pest of Pomona, 

 and the destroyer of the blossoms of the 

 apple, pear, and cherry. He also men- 

 tions another (Tinea corticella] as inhabit- 

 ing apple-bearing trees under the bark. 

 And Reaumur has given -us the history 

 of a species common in this country, and 

 producing the same effect, often to the 

 destruction of the crop, the caterpillar of 

 which feeds in the centre of our apples, 

 thus occasioning them to fall. Even the 

 young grafts are frequently destroyed, 

 sometimes many hundreds in one night, in 

 the nurseries about London, by the Cur- 

 culio Vastator of Marsham (Otiorliynclius 

 picipes), one of the short-snouted weevils; 



