438 



THE GA&DENEil8> CHRONICLE. 



[Octobeb 20, 1888. 



fruit grower knows how precarious and how variable 

 the Pear is in different soils, aspects, and positions, 

 and no twelve kinds, however good they may be in 

 one garden or district, will be equally so in another, 

 even but a mile or two away, nor even in the same 

 garden can they be relied on to be of the same 

 excellence any two consecutive years ; and it is this 

 precariousness that I think renders it necessary to 

 grow a goodly number of varieties. For the purpose 

 of this paper I have closely examined the pear notes 

 in my diary for several years, in which is noted 

 date of gathering, of ripening, and duration, i.e., 

 time they continued fit for table, and from these 

 notes I have complied a list of twelve that, supposing 

 I was compelled to grow only that number of kinds, 

 would be likely to give me the most regular (not 

 constant) succession of fruit. They are placed in 

 the order in which they ripened here : Williams' Bon 

 Chretien, Fondante d'Automne, Beurre Superfin, 

 Marie Louise, Thompson's, Doyenne du Cornice, 

 Glou Morceau, Winter Nelis, Josephine de Malines, 

 Huyshe's Victoria, Easter Beurre, and Bergamotte 

 Esperen. 



These twelve kiuds constitute the cream of all the 

 varieties (nearly one hundred) that are grown here, 

 and out of the twelve there are but two that are at 

 all liable to prove of doubtful quality, and this from 

 a cause over which we have no control, namely, a 

 sunless season. The two kinds in question are 

 Easter Beurre and Bergamotte Esperen, both of them 

 late varieties, and requiring a longer season of sun- 

 shine than the others. I may, however, add that I 

 have occasionally in a sunless season had recourse 

 to means that has tended to make both of the kinds 

 palatable, namely, by wrapping the fruit separately 

 in tissue paper, and placing them in shallow baskets 

 in a dry, warm room, for ten days or a fortnight 

 before the fruit were required for use. And now with 

 respect to the question of the number of varieties 

 '• necessary to ensure a continuous supply of ripe 

 fruit." I have, after considerable deliberation, 

 founded on the practical experience of many years, 

 come to the conclusion that it is next to impossible 

 to accomplish the feat with a less number than 

 twenty-five varieties. To some this number may 

 appear excessive, and to such I ought to explain 

 that my experience is given from the standpoint of 

 a private gentleman's gardener— say of a large gar- 

 den — and from which liberal supplies of Pears are 

 demanded the season through, and therefore it is 

 necessary to have, as it were, two strings to one bow ; 

 as, for instance, if Williams' Bon Chretien Pear run 

 Bhort, I ought to have Beurre de l'Assomption to 

 supply the lack ; or if Alarie Louise be scarce, I must 

 eke out with BeurriS Bosc, and so on, to the end of 

 the chapter. 



I regret that I have not practically tested with how 

 few it is possible to keep up a constant supply, but I 

 am sure I should fail if I undertook the task with a 

 less number than twenty-five, and the following are 

 their names, and placed in order of ripening :— Sou- 

 venir du Congres, Williams' Bon ChreYien, Beurre 

 d'Amanlis, Fondante d'Automne, Louise Bonne of 

 Jersey, Madame Treyve, Beurre Hardy, Beurre Super- 

 fin, Seckle, Marie Louise, Doyenne du Cornice, 

 Thompson's, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Glou Morceau, 

 Winter Nelis, Comte de Lamy, Beurre Bachelier, 

 Josephine de Malines, Winter Crassane, Huyshe's 

 Victoria, Olivier de Serres, Easter Beurre, Ne Plus 

 Meuris, Knight's Monarch, and Bergamotte Esperen. 

 All these are generally well known varieties in most 

 parts of Britain— proof sufficient, I think, of their 

 excellence ; and I can vouch for their reliability for 

 this district in respect of constant and free bearing, 

 and their high quality. 



The least meritorious in the list are : — Madame 

 Treyve (quickly over), Duchesse d'Angouleme 

 (gritty), Beurre Bachelier (mealy), and Ne Plus 

 Meuris (also gritty), yet I know no other four kinds 

 that can — all points considered — -replace them. 

 Lest any one should conclude from what I have said 

 as to the number of kinds to ensure a regular suc- 

 cession of useful fruit, that is all that is required to 

 make certain of the supplies, I will undeceive them 



at once by saying no. There is no fruit that gives 

 better returns for labour expended, and none that 

 more quickly resents the " let alone " policy that 

 one is occasionally compelled to behold. As regards 

 the former, nearly all our trees are grafted 

 on the Quince, from which stock it is no exaggera- 

 tion to say that we get at least double the fruit that 

 we do from trees on the Pear stock, and high feeding 

 is therefore a matter of necessity ; but the labour of 

 applying these manurial mulchings we place as a 

 set-off against that of the time expended in root 

 pruning, that nearly all trees on the Pear stock require 

 about every alternate year, and the fruit is neither 

 so numerous nor so well coloured, and not superior 

 in quality. No, if good crops of fruit are expected 

 annually, water and mulch, mulch and water, must 

 be the order of the day all through the fruit swelling 

 season. Those that must by reason of restricted 

 space grow only a few varieties, and whose demands 

 for fruit are, as a matter of course, proportionately 

 restricted, may do something towards lengthening 

 out the supply of ripe fruit by gathering the same 

 variety of Pear at varying intervals of from a week 

 to ten days. The fruit of most varieties — more 

 especially the earlier kinds — will then ripen at simi- 

 lar intervals, and thus the season of ripe fruit be 

 considerably extended. To those that have un- 

 limited room, and can therefore grow the required 

 number of varieties to ensure supplies, this piece- 

 meal gathering is not of so much consequence, 

 nevertheless I strongly advise its being done with 

 any varieties that ripen rapidly, such as Citron des 

 Carmes, Jargonelle, Williams' Bon Chretien, and 

 Fondante d'Automne. 



ON PRUNING. 



By SHIRLEY HIBBERD. 



It is commonly asserted in the books, and it forms 

 part of the faith of mankind, that pruning tends to 

 augment the vigour of trees, and as a consequence 

 much of the pruning that is done has in view to 

 promote the end predicated for it. There can no 

 longer be entertained by observant men a doubt of 

 the fact that pruning, so far from augmenting, 

 actually diminishes the vigour of the subjects operated 

 on, and the one sole reason that the fact is not 

 strikingly illustrated in the outdoor world is that 

 Nature is generous, and accomplishes much in com- 

 pensation for the injuries that are inflicted By the 

 pruning-knife. And because Nature is generous and 

 compensative, a certain amount of pruning may be 

 done without harm, and as regards the objects we 

 have in view in pruning fruit trees, with positive 

 benefit. But so long as we keep in mind that pruning 

 in the abstract is objectionable, we shall be careful 

 to prune in a way to ensure a maximum .of the 

 advantage for ourselves, with a minimum of disad- 

 vantage to the trees. 



Keeping this in mind, we at once compare the 

 several forms of trees with a view to arrive at con- 

 clusions as to their relative values. For the present 

 we will compare the standards, the pyramids, and the 

 bushes. We must deal with them generally, and 

 make broad comparisons, for particular cases would 

 require particular consideration that would be scarcely 

 possible in connection with this Conference. 



We will begin with standard orchard trees that bear 

 abundantly, as many orchard trees do. It will be 

 observed that pruning neither augments the vigour 

 of these trees nor does it promote their fruitfulness, 

 for as, generally speaking, they are not pruned at all, 

 they teach a bold lesson of the non-necessity of 

 pruning. Now we will turn to the perfect pyramids, 

 say of Apples and Pears, formed to an ideal model 

 by long years of pruning and pinching. As pyramids 

 they are perfect, being of even contour, dense with 

 foliage, with scarcely room anywhere to allow one 

 to thrust a hand in, and they are healthy and bright 

 from the ground line to the summit. It has to be 

 remarked of these compact, leafy trees that they 

 produce so little fruit as but rarely to pay a fair 

 return for the land they occupy. They do, indeed, 

 occasionally present their owner with a crop, and 

 often he is satisfied. But if we are to take measures 



for increasing the production of fruit we shall rather 

 avoid than accept trees of this form, or if we must 

 have them we shall, having fruit in view, rather pro- 

 mote an open growth with room to thrust one's head 

 in at many places, this form of tree being favourable 

 to fruit production. We have in our collections 

 many kinds of Apples and Pears that will not, no 

 matter what we do for them, conform to our ideal 

 of the perfect pyramid. It is usual, therefore to 

 suffer these to grow as open loose bushes, and the 

 difference between them and the pinched pyramids 

 is seen, not only in the form and furnishing, but in 

 their superior fruitfulness. 



Pursuing the comparison, it will be observed that 

 pruning tends to promote secondary growth that 

 often is immature when the season closes. This 

 growth, therefore has been obtained by a false system, 

 and its uselessness is a proper commentary on the 

 violence done to Nature. The perfect pyramid is for 

 ever loaded with immature wood that earns nothing, 

 and the density of the foliage so completely excludes 

 the light and air from the wood that fruit-spurs are 

 few and commonly unproductive. The free bushes 

 that are not pruned at all, or but moderately pruned, 

 are, as a rule, vastly more fruitful than the pyramids, 

 and the free standards are more fruitful than either. 

 Thus, as a matter of fact, the order of fruitfulness is 

 in an inverse ratio to the order of the pruning ; and 

 we may conclude that the pruning-knife is a deadly 

 enemy to Apples and Pears. 



The natural growth of a fruit tree is definite and 

 orderly, but much of our practice appears to proceed 

 on the hypothesis that it is a matter of accident. 

 There is sent forth a certain number of long rods. 

 If these are cut back secondary rods appear, and by 

 stopping these we obtain a lot of soft spray ; and so 

 on for ever. But the long rods left to themselves 

 throw out a few side branches and form fruit-spurs 

 the greater part of their length. In due time the 

 fruit appears. Often, where the soil and climate 

 favour the business, and the varieties are naturally 

 free-bearing, the fruit may be seen to hang like ropes 

 of Onions, while at the same time pruned trees of 

 the selfsame sorts are thinly dotted with fruit, so 

 that we can actually count them, which in the other 

 case is impossible. The unpruned standards and 

 bushes are free to follow the course of Nature, and 

 we see them fruiting abundantly and frequently, 

 while the pruned trees fruit scantily and seldom. 

 The obvious lesson is that long rods, admitting light 

 and air freely, are more serviceable than rods sys- 

 tematically cut back, and thereby compelled to 

 become densely furnished, forming compact trees 

 impervious to light and air, as compared with the 

 free trees, that delight to display their fruits in the 

 fullest exposure.. The leading shoots, therefore, 

 should never be shortened except for some special 

 reason. 



In the year 1876 I had the honour of reading 

 before the Society of Arts a paper on " Fallacies in 

 Fruit Culture." One of my objects was to demon- 

 strate that systematic pruning and pinching of open 

 ground fruit trees deferred and limited the pro- 

 duction of fruit, although these operations were in- 

 tended to hasten and augment fruit production. 

 And I placed before the meeting for inspection and 

 criticism a number of trees that I had in the first 

 instance selected for their ugliness, but which, having 

 for some years occupied a good soil in a suitable 

 situation, had acquired symmetry and proportion and 

 fruitfulness without aid from the pruning knife, one 

 great point in the business being that every annual 

 growth had been allowed to acquire maturity, no 

 secondary growth being promoted by summer pinch- 

 ing, and no superabundance of furniture resulting 

 from winter pruning. Some of you will remember that 

 in doing this I exposed myself to what I may now 

 recall as a shower of hot shot ; but I live still, and 

 repeat the story, and if another dose of hot shot is 

 ready for me I will not flinch so much as to move 

 my eyelids, so sure am I that common sense will at 

 last prevail, and that it will be agreed all round that 

 Nature has something to do with the production of 

 fruit. 



