436 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[October 20, 



and a slope to the south or west is to be pre- 

 ferred, but in order to secure a permanent 

 orchard, care must be taken to get deeply culti- 

 vated, or rich, deep soil, or a few years of fer- 

 tility will only be the precursor of decay and 

 disappointment. 



Having settled on suitable land, the tenant or 

 purchaser next proceeds to put the land in order 

 for planting, either by steam cultivation, or by 

 thorough digging or trenching — the latter, 

 though expensive at the start, is of permanent 

 benefit. This operation is best done before the 

 frosts set in, that the land may be purified and 

 sweetened by exposure. The ground should then 

 be set out, and standard trees, on the Grab or 

 free stock, of the following sorts, planted 24 feet 

 apart, requiring seventy-five to an acre : — 



Apples fob Standards on Warm Loamy Soils. 



1. Desserts to Pick and Sell from the Tree. — August : 

 Devon Quarrenden, Sugar-loaf Pippin. September : 

 Lady Sudeley, Yellow Ingestrie. 



2. To Store Jrom October to Christmas. — King of 

 Pippins, Mabbott's Pearmain, Cox's Orange, Blenheim 



3. Kitchen Apples to Sell from the Tree in August 

 and September. — Early Julien, Keswick Codlin, Lord 

 Suffield, Duchess of Oldenburg, Councillor, Grena- 

 dier (true), Ecklinville. 



4. To Store from October to December. — Warner's 

 King, Schoolmaster, Lord Derby, Golden Noble, 

 Tower of Glamis, Waltham Abbey. 



5. To Keep from January to May. — Wellington 

 Winter Queening, Norfolk Beaufin, Lady Henniker, 

 Bramley's Seeding, Annie Elizabeth. 



If the soil is cold but rich, omit Suffield, and 

 add Lord Grosvenor, and omit Cox's Orange and 

 King of fippins. 



So far for the top crop, the space between 

 being utilised by placing three two or three year 

 old dwarf trees between each standard, others at 

 6 feet apart, which, less 75 for standards, will be 

 1135 per acre, until the plantation is filled up. 

 These dwarfs will produce the best fruit from 

 trees on the Paradise or surface rooting stock, 

 and may consist of the following : — 



Apples for Bosh or Free Pyramidal Style to 

 be Grown on Paradise Stocks. 



6. Dessert kinds to sell from the tree. — (7.) Early : — 

 Gladstone, Red Juneating. September: — Colonel 

 Vaughan, Duchess Eavourite, Worcester Pearmain, 

 Duchess of Oldenburg, Yellow Ingestrie. 



(8.) To store for salefrom October to February . — Cox's 

 Orauge, Cox's Pomona, Peasgood's Nonsuch, Gas- 

 coyne's Scarlet, Beauty of Kent, Baumann's Reinette. 



If the soil is cold, omit Cox's Orange and Wor- 

 cesters, but if very rich and good warm land add 

 Adams' and Hubbard's Pearmains, Rossa, Non- 

 pareil, and Gipsy King, while for very late keep- 

 ing Golden Knob, Sturmer, and smaller fruit of 

 Mignonne are useful. 



(9.) Kitchen Apples of large size to sell from the tree 

 (on dwarfs).— hord Grosvenor, Ecklinville, Mank's 

 Codlin, Golden Spire, Pott's Seedling, Stirling 

 Castle, The Queen, Small's Admirable, Grenadier, 

 Councillor, Stone's. 



(10.) Fine kitchen Apples to store (on dwarfs). — 

 Lord Derby, Murfitt s Seedling, Winter Peach, Lane's 

 Prince Albert, Dutch Mignonne, Bismarck. 



In six years' time the trees immediately beneath 

 the standards can be transferred to other land, 

 and will, if removed with care (in October or early 

 in November), suffer little from lifting, and in 

 the second year will produce heavy crops. After 

 the sixth season the orchard should be left with 

 a permanent crop of dwarf Apples and standards 

 at 12 feet apart. Tire dwarfs at some future 

 time could be cut away, and the standards, which 



would then be established and strong, should be 

 laid to grass, and thus fodder for sheep keep and 

 a top crop of Apples could be secured annually. 

 Until the 6 feet trees cover the land Potatos 

 may be grown between the rows, or Lily of the 

 Valley, or Daffodils. But if land is cheap the 

 space may remain without crop, and the roots 

 will benefit greatly from the run of all the land. 

 Weeds must be kept down, and if standards only 

 are planted, no corn crop must be taken ; but in 

 this case soft fruit may be placed between them. 

 The plantation should be dug in Deoember or 

 January each year, and be knocked over with a 

 prong hoe in March. 



Oxen and horses should not be allowed in 

 young orchards. Shelter can be quickly ob- 

 tained by planting Damson or bush Plums (the 

 latter a Kent sort) with Crawford or Hessle 

 Pears as an inner line at 12 feet apart, and 

 this screen would pay its way. If desired, Plums 

 could be placed between the Apple standards 

 and Gooseberries and Currants, omitting the 

 dwarf Apples. If the land is properly prepared 

 the Apples should need no manure for some 

 years, as the use of stimulants while the trees 

 are young is prejudicial by inducing a sappy un- 

 ripened growth which lays the tree open to 

 damage by frost. When the trees are carrying 

 a heavy crop, mulching may be carried out in 

 June, or liquid manure can be used with advan- 

 tage in the growing time. Such a plantation as 

 described would commence to bring a return 

 from the dwarfs in two years, and the fruit with 

 a little care in thinning would command a 

 ready sale, because, when growing in this man- 

 ner, it is cleaner in appearance and much larger 

 in size. In three or four years the standards 

 would commence to fruit, and a much larger re- 

 turn would annually be made, and if properly 

 managed, at the end of fourteen years, the crop 

 would buy the fee-simple of the land outright. 



In order to make the highest price, all fruits 

 should be " graded," as the Americans say, and 

 be of an even sample throughout, be properly 

 named, and packed carefully, so that the baskets 

 open clean and bright at the market. In the case 

 of choice dessert kinds it would probably pay to 

 pack them in light card boxes, such as those in- 

 troduced by Mr. Tallerman for Cherries, &c, and 

 manufactured by Messrs. Johnson (figured at 

 p. 135, and also p. 292). In fact, we should take a 

 leaf out of the French books, and put up our pro- 

 duce in an attractive form. The pruning of the 

 Apples in February or March is of the simplest, no 

 Apples should be pruned the first year of plant- 

 ing ; for the first two years commence to form the 

 standard trees by taking out all the inner wood to 

 attain a bowl shape, and cut back the young 

 growth to four or six eyes, to a bud pointing out- 

 outward. The fourth or fifth year shorten, the 

 wood of the current year to 6 or 12 inches, and 

 keep the centres clear, and after that time let 

 them grow as they like, merely shortening the 

 tips to procure an evenly balanced head, and 

 taking out any crossing pieces of growth. The 

 dwarf can be cut-in to form pyramids or basins, 

 as desired, for two years, and after that be allowed 

 to grow freely. Other matters, such as securing 

 the limbs in a heavy crop, and staking the stan- 

 dards, will have to be attended to, and the stakes 

 must be removed from the standards in the winter 

 as soon as the trees can do without support, as 

 the ties are apt to cut into the bark and produce 

 canker. 



For Apple growing land need not be contigu- 

 ous to a railway station, as they will travel well 

 if carefully packed. Storing enables a grower to 

 realise a high price at a time when good Apples 

 are scarce ; where proper stores, such as the Hop 



oasts of Kent, do not exist, a frost-proof shed will 

 do ; and if care is taken to store all sound fruit, a 

 thick covering of straw will effectually exclude 

 frost, and keep the fruit plump and heavy. If 

 1100 trees bore half a gallon each, at three years 

 old the crop would be about 70 bushels per acre, 

 which, at 4s. nett (carriage and salesman's 

 charges deducted), would give a return of £14 

 per acre ; at five years 1 gallon each would 

 double the produce ; and so on. When the top 

 and bottom crop come to pick, an average of 

 half a bushel per tree would give a return of about 

 £120 per acre. The risk of loss by wind is small 

 with dwarf trees, and the cost of picking is less 

 than in tall trees, and they can be readily thinned 

 and attended to. 



A word as to old existing orchards. My recom- 

 mendation is, " Woodman spare that tree." If such 

 old trees are well manured,in two years they would 

 be either producing good fruit, or, if cider Apples, 

 they would so benefit from the improved culture 

 that they should pay for re-grafting with superior 

 kinds. I believe much may be done in this way, 

 as the roots soon respond to generous treatment, 

 and the foundation of success rests upon them. 

 Suitable kinds for grafting on old trees would be: — 

 Stone's, Lane's Prince Albert, Small's Admirable, 

 the new and splendid Bismarck ; or the smaller 

 dessert Apples, such as Duchess Favourite and 

 Yellow Ingestrie. 



The list of fruits given is more extended than 

 is advisable, but it may only be possible to obtain 

 a part of the sorts given in the planter's locality 

 the fewer kinds used the better. 



FRUIT CULTURE FOR PROFIT IN THE 

 OPEN AIR IN ENGLAND. 



By WILLIAM PAUL, F.L.S. 



I think I may safely assume that a much larger 

 quantity of English fruit would meet with a ready 

 sale if put before the public in a tempting state. I 

 think I may also assume that there are thousands of 

 acres of land in Great Britain at present bringing little 

 or no profit to owners or occupiers, which if planted 

 with fruit trees, might be made to return a good 

 profit to both. Not that I think large fortunes 

 are to be made by the venture, but a fair remunera- 

 tion for the outlay of capital, and the application of 

 industry and skill. 



To give these opinions a practical application, I 

 propose to say a few words on the subject under the 

 following heads : — 1, Climate ; 2, Soils ; 3, Hold- 

 ings; 4, Sorts. 



1. Climate. 



A mild equable climate free from sudden changes 

 of temperature, and storms of wind or rain should 

 be taken in preference. I do not believe in planting 

 Apples, Pears, Cherries, and Plums in the bottom of 

 valleys. This is often done on account of the 

 quality of the soil. But it is of little benefit to the 

 grower to realize a good growth and abundant flower- 

 ing if his crop is destroyed in the flowering state by 

 the spring frosts. Over the last few years there has 

 been a wonderful show of blossom on the fruit trees 

 in the valley of the Lea, but little fruit has followed 

 owing to the destruction of the embryo by the 

 severity of the spring frosts in this low situation. 

 This is the one point in climate that would seem to 

 render it unsuitable for culture for profit, as it 

 can be but partially amended by shelter or any 

 other means. 



It seems to me that many important points de- 

 sirable to secure success, are well known to those who 

 are thoroughly versed in these matters but which 

 have not yet taken hold of the general mind, and 

 till they do this they cannot be too often repeated. 

 Only a few years ago I was surprised to meet with 

 an orchard newly planted in the bottom of a moist 

 valley, the climate of which in spring was trying in 

 the extreme for early buds and blossoms. The sorts, 

 too, were indifferently chosen. Neverth«less the 



