OcTOBEH 20, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



437 



planter persevered with tlieir culture, until he found 

 that for three or four years in succession he got 

 plenty of blossom but little or no fruit. He has 

 recently destroyed them and cropped the ground 

 with vegetables. But what a waste of time and 

 money, and what a source of vexation and dis- 

 appointment I 



I believe in planting on slopes or uplands, where 

 the spring frosts are less destructive, with distant 

 shelter to be provided, if not already existing. If 

 cheap, quick-growing trees are planted for shelter 

 within a few yards of the boundaries of the planta- 

 tions, at the time young fruit trees are planted, the 

 former will afford the necessary shelter by the time 

 the fruit trees come into bearing. 



On a farm of 200 acres there may be a difference 

 of climate that would render fruit culture profitable 

 or unprofitable, according to the position in which 

 the trees are planted. In the valley of the Lea I 

 find that in some years the crop is mainly or wholly 

 on the bottom, and in others on the top of the trees. 

 This I attribute to the frost being more severe in 

 the one case near the ground, and in the other 

 at a greater elevation during the period of flowering. 



2. Soils. 



A light or medium loam of good depth and well 

 drained is generally accepted as the most favourable 

 for the production of an abundance of good fruit. 

 It matters not if it be poor, provided manure can be 

 obtained at an easy distance or at a cheap rate. A 

 bad soil in a good climate often yields the grower 

 more profitable results than a good soil in a bad 

 climate. If the ground be wet, thorough and deep 

 drainage is an essential condition of land to be 

 employed in fruit culture, for it improves the climate 

 as well as the soil. Chalk or gravel would seem to 

 be a better subsoil than clay, as the latter, especially 

 if wet, favours the development of canker. 



As lo soils for the different fruits, I would prefer 

 for Apples a medium loam ; for Plums, Pears, and 

 Cherries a light warm loam. For Strawberries a 

 light rich loam, cool and moist, with ready access to 

 water. For Raspberries a deep, light loam, also cool 

 and moist. For Gooseberries and Currants a deep, 

 strong loam. But I would not convey the impression 

 that these soils are necessary ; in well-drained soils 

 cultivation may be safely extended even to strong or 

 clayey loams. 



Of course, the working of the soil is, or should be, 

 much more costly than in ordinary farm operations, 

 and the cultivation of the trees by pruning and 

 keeping free from insects is also an item of cost in 

 labour which must not be lost sight of. In estimates 

 of profits lately put forward it appears to me that 

 these facts in connection with the cultivation of 

 trees and soil have not been sufficiently allowed for. 



'■>. Holdings. 



It is often said one should not plant fruit trees for 

 profit except on his own land. But this would un- 

 necessarily limit the number of growers. A long 

 lease, however, is indispensable. According to cal- 

 culations I have made, but with which I need not 

 trouble you, thirty years is the shortest lease I 

 should advise anyone to plant under. If the lease 

 be for a shorter period I think the tenant should 

 expect from the landlord either a renewal at the 

 same rent as before, or that his trees be taken at a 

 valuation. 



It may be thought by some that this is asking too 

 much from the owner of the soil, but I do not think 

 it is more than it is his interest to concede. By such 

 concession he may secure a good tenant and a good 

 rent, and there is ample security for his rent in the 

 value of the trees on the soil. I will read a brief 

 extract from a recent numberof the Sussex Advertiser 

 in reference to land tenure in Kent, and without 

 offering any opinion on the course taken by the 

 tenant, as I know nothing of the case beyond what is 

 here stated, I think you will all agree with me that 

 such a state of things is to be deplored : — 



" Land Tenure in Kent. — One of the results of 

 the unsatisfactory system of land tenure now prevail- 



ing in this country is to be seen at Knockholt, Kent. 

 The lease held by Mr. Edwin Bath, of Curry Farm, 

 in that parish, expires at Michaelmas, and he is not 

 allowed to renew his tenancy, nor can he recover 

 compensation from his landlord for a valuable plan- 

 tation of 30 acres of Raspberries on the farm. Con- 

 sequently the extraordinary spectacle may now be 

 seen of a reaping-machine cutting down and a steam 

 plough following it rooting up this plantation, which 

 has cost a very large expenditure of time and money 

 to produce. When it is considered that the produce 

 of the plantation in question realised in the present 

 year upwards of £1600, and that the plantation was 

 vigorous and in full bearing, some idea may be 

 formed of the sacrifice of property involved." 



Further : It has often struck me that the manner 

 in which the charges on land are levied is not equit- 

 able, and is calculated to discourage rather than 

 encourage the planting of fruit trees for profit. A 

 few words will, I think, make this plain. A man 

 plants fruit trees, not looking for any quantity of 

 fruit for four years. During that period he receives 

 nothing, or next to nothing, in the shape of produce, 

 although rent charges on land and expenses of cul- 

 tivation are going on and have to be met. Then, 

 when his crop brings him a larger return than ordi- 

 nary farm produce would bring, the charges on the 

 land are raised. Now, it would seem only fair if the 

 charges on land are calculated according to the 

 value of the annual crop, the planter of fruit trees 

 should pay nothing the first four years. 



4. Sokts. 



Of large fruits grown for profit Apples would seem 

 to stand first, Plums next, then Pears, then Cherries. 

 Of small fruits, Strawberries, Raspberries, Currants, 

 and Gooseberries are the most important ; Filberts 

 may also be planted to give a profitable crop in odd 

 sheltered spots where other fruits would not grow 

 well. But these different fruits do not all require 

 precisely the same climate and soil. The Apple is 

 perhaps the least particular in these respects, some 

 varieties of which will thrive and produce large crops 

 of good fruit in almost any well drained soil when 

 grafted or budded on the Crab or Apple stock — the 

 Paradise stock I have found next to useless under 

 field culture on the clayey soils of Sussex. There 

 are fifteen sorts of Apples which I should plant in 

 preference to others in my own county (Hertford- 

 shire), having an eye to disposal of the crop, as well 

 as to its production. They are :— Blenheim Orange, 

 Cox's Orange Pippin, Cox's Pomona, Devonshire 

 Quarrenden, Ecklinville, Duchess of Oldenburg, 

 Irish Peach, Keswick, King of the Pippins. Lord 

 Sultield, Small's Admirable, Stirling Castle, Stunner 

 Pippin, Warner's King, ami Wellington. 



I can speak favourably of the Ecklinville from ex- 

 periments made both in Herts and Sussex. I planted 

 in Sussex four years ago two hundred Ecklinville 

 apples that had been cut back as maidens to 2.1 feet. 

 The soil (a quarter of an acre) was good, and had 

 been subsoiled 18 inches deep a few years previously. 

 They grew well. The third year they produced five 

 bushels, the fourth year seventeen bushels, which 

 sold on the ground 5s. per bushel. They were planted 

 about feet by (i feet, but strong growers might be 

 planted feet by feet, and small fruits or vegetables 

 might be grown between the trees for a few years. I 

 estimate the expenses of planting and cultivating 

 these two hundred Ecklinville Apple trees on a quar- 

 ter of au acre of ground in 1884 as follows : — 



Co-t of tree. 200 at 50-. n hundred 



Planting and Digging 



Four i ears' Cultivation, at l-ss. j..t v> 

 Be,,t, Kates, Stc , nt l'-n. per year 



Returns in 1888 : 



Next year I expect to get the outlay back, and 

 look to the future for profits. 



In exposed situations pyramid or bush trees are 

 preferable to standards, because the fruit is not so 

 liable to be blown down, and in large orchards, if 



the trees have stems 2} to 3 feet, sheep could run 

 under them to feed, and thus help the returns. 



Plums.— The Early Prolific. Early Orleans, The 

 Czar, Belgian, and the Victoria are good ones. 

 Purple and Pershore Damsons also, of which the 

 Farleigh is well to the front, are usually a profitable 

 crop. 



Pears want a better climate and a wanner, richer, 

 and deeper soil than Apples, and are not usually so 

 profitable a crop as Apples. They do well a< a rule 

 on a subsoil of chalk. Of Pears, Aston Town, Eye- 

 wood, Hessle, Williams' Ron Chretien, Beunede 

 Capiaumont, and Beurre d'Amanlis are the most 

 profitable sorts to grow in Hertfordshire ; Louise 

 Bonne of Jersey, where it will grow, and Marie 

 Louise, where it will bear freely, are also good 

 varieties. 



Cherries like a lighter and deeper soil than Apples. 

 The May Duke, Bigarreau Napoleon, and Kentish 

 are good sorts. 



Strawberries. — Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, Sir 

 J. Paxton, Elton Pine, President, Sir Chas. Napier. 



Raspberries.— Carter's Prolific, Fastolf. 



Currants. — Black Naples, Lee's Prolific, Red 

 Dutch. 



Gooseberries. — Whitesmith, Warrington, Crown 

 Bob, Lancashire Lad, 



In selecting sorts of fruits it should not be lost 

 sight of that some sorts flower later than others, and 

 the blossoms of some sorts are more frost-proof than 

 others, and thus the crop is often saved by late- 

 flowering or frost-resisting blossoms. If I were 

 about to plant fruit trees for profit, I should look 

 closely to these matters in the selection of sorts. I 

 would examine all the fruit trees, and talk to all the 

 practical gardeners in the neighbourhood whom I 

 could persuade to listen to me to ascertain which 

 sorts produced the best and most certain crops in the 

 district. 



In conclusion, let me say that the grower's work is 

 only partly done when he gathers his crops. He has 

 to sell them. Like other men of business, he must 

 be sufficiently intelligent, industrious, and energetic 

 to find the best market for them, and to pack them 

 properly, if packing is needed, or he misses the 

 reward of his skill and labour. 



DESSERT TEARS. 



Thk Fewest Necessary to Supply Ripe 



Fruit from August to March. 



By W. WILDS.UITH, Heckrkdd, Hants. 

 The subject of this paper was suggested to my 

 mind by the controversy anent the reduction of the 

 varieties of fruits— Pears in particular— that took 

 place in one of the horticultural journals a few- 

 months since. The general tone of that discussion 

 went to show that there was a unanimous feeling in 

 favour of reducing the number of varieties, but to 

 what extent opinions differed greatly, twelve being 

 suggested by more than one writer as the maximum 

 number of varieties — a proposition that in some 

 respects I had a good deal of sympathy with, but the 

 number twelve ended, so far as I was concerned, 

 simply because I knew from years of experience 

 that no twelve kinds that could be named by the 

 greatest expert in Pear lore would suffice to give 

 an unbroken succession of ripe fruit throughout 

 the Pear season — say from the beginning of August 

 to the middle of March. That twelve kinds might 

 be selected that would extend over the Pear 

 season is quite another matter. I have long had 

 the honour to serve an employer whose favourite 

 fruit is the Pear, and consequently have had to give 

 special attention to it, and if one point more than 

 another has had to be studied it is that of quality, 

 a solitary flavourless fruit of an otherwise good 

 variety has not unseldom been the cause of the 

 condemnation of the variety generally. I name 

 this to show that, my experience has been gained 

 at some cost of labour and anxiety, and at 

 the risk of being considered egotistical I think this 

 entitles me to speak with some degree of confidence 

 anent this matter of limitation of sorts, Every 



