440 



THE GARDENERS* Clin ONI CLE. 



[October 20. 1888. 



the space from whence the gravel was removed. A 

 good dressing of decayed farmyard manure was 

 worked in with the operation of trenching, and as we 

 could obtain good clayey loam, a barrow-load of it 

 was spread out over 2 square yards, and 6 inches 

 below the surface ; a thin layer of decayed manure 

 was placed on the ground before the loam. This was 

 easily done as the work proceeded ; one man could 

 wheel in the loam and manure to two at work 

 trenching. 



When the work was finished we had a good gravel 

 path with Box edging on each side, and the borders, 

 through the trenching and manuring, were about 

 8 inches higher than the surrounding ground level. 

 I had to plant the trees soon after the trenching 

 was finished ; they were Apples, Pears, and Plums 

 on various stocks, and in considerable variety. We 

 planted them but 6 feet apart at first, and when they 

 were plantsd a portion of good decayed turfy loam 

 was placed round the roots. With this treatment, 

 as might be expected, the trees made good clean 

 growth even the first year. 



As we manured rather too heavily by placing in 

 two layers of fat stuff, I thought it best to retrench 

 the ground the next year, lifting the trees as the 

 work proceeded. I found they had made a mass of 

 fibrous roots into the loam, and when the trees were 

 replanted again quite another barrowload of loam 

 was placed round the roots, but no manure this time. 

 However, round the roots of each tree some decayed 

 frame manure was placed, to keep the frost from 

 them. 



The trees made good clean growth again, and 

 formed plenty of blossom-buds. But I found 6 feet 

 was too close even for Apple trees on the Paradise 

 stock, and they had ultimately to be removed from 

 9 — 12 feet apart. In the course of the next ten 

 years other borders were made, and in some cases the 

 trees which were too close to each other were thinned 

 out to furnish them. Many of the old cankered 

 trees remained in proximity to the young ones for 

 quite ten years, and with some two or three unim- 

 portant exceptions none of the young trees cankered. 

 This shows, I think, if the disease has been caused 

 by insects they might have travelled from the old 

 diseased trees to the young ones. It was some seven 

 or eight years before any canker appeared, and then 

 only on the Dumelow's Seedling, or Wellington. 

 These trees were lifted, the canker cut out, and they 

 were replanted again with fresh loam under and over 

 the roots. The cut out portions soon healed over, 

 and I saw no more of the disease. 



The object I had in view was to encourage the 

 roots up to the surface, and to keep and feed them 

 there. The entire border quite close to the surface 

 was full of roots, because it was not dug over, but 

 merely scratched with a fork or hoe ; and during 

 winter and summer there was a thin layer of manure 

 over it. Within the borders were the kitchen garden 

 squares, well manured, to be cropped with vegetables, 

 and the roots ran into this freely. We were well 

 within the London fogs, being less than seven miles 

 from the Bank of England. In our new garden, not 

 much further out, we had to do the same sort of 

 work, but the soil was much better, being medium 

 clay of considerable depth, and nothing more was 

 necessary than to trench the ground twice over, in 

 order to incorporate the top and bottom soil well 

 together. We had to drain it, and find a good out- 

 fall for the water. In such a case the drains should 

 be about 6 yards apart. 



I have brought this subject forward as much in 

 the interest of amateurs who own small gardens, 

 and who do most of the work themselves as a relaxa- 

 tion from sedentary occupations, as in that of 

 gardeners. It is quite true that some classes of 

 soils are more suitable to fruit culture than others, 

 but my experience is that some soils are condemned 

 when neither the soil nor the climate, but the culture 

 alone, is to blame. Only the other day I met a 

 person who has several hundreds of fruit trees in his 

 garden, most of them young ones, and a considerable 

 proportion are showing canker on the larger branches. 

 1 examined the soil, and found that jt had not been 



broken up more than 10 inches deep ; and, further, 

 all sorts of vegetable crops were planted close up to 

 the trees. This system of culture can satisfy no one, 

 and it cannot be profitable. I fancy many good 

 gardeners will bear me out when I say that want of 

 preparation of the soil and subsequent neglect of the 

 special requirement of each class of trees is the sole 

 cause of canker. 



Having found a cause, I would suggest the remedy. 



In the first place it may be remarked that heavy 

 clay soils nearly always require to be drained, and a 

 free outfall provided for the water. Three feet depth 

 of drains is sufficient, with a main drain at the 

 lowest part of the garden 3 feet 6 inches deep. 



Secondly, trenching, or at least stirring, the soil 

 to a depth of about 2 feet is necessary. But I would 

 not invariably throw the subsoil up to the surface, 

 but would always stir up the bottom to the depth of 

 8 or 9 inches with a fork, and if the soil could be 

 trenched twelve months before planting all the 

 better. 



In the third place good healthy trees should be 

 selected ; they ought to be carefully lifted, and planted 

 as soon afterwards as possible. Care must be taken 

 to keep the roots in a moist state from the time they 

 are lifted until they are again in the ground. 

 Spread the roots out carefully when planting them, 

 and work the soil well in amongst them. Trees on 

 the free stocks should be planted the same depth 

 as they were before. Those on the Paradise and 

 Quince stocks, or, in fact, any dwarfing stocks, should 

 be planted to the union of the stock and scion. It 

 is also of great advantage to the trees to have a 

 mulching of decayed manure around the roots after 

 planting, and if they are exposed to high winds they 

 ought to have some artificial support until they are 

 well established. 



Lastly, as to the pruning and training. I seldom 

 do any pruning in winter. It is a more pleasant 

 occupation in summer, and is a very simple oper- 

 ation, merely consisting in thinning out the young 

 wood when it is too much crowded, and pinching off 

 the points of any vigorous young growths that are 

 likely to run out too far for the others. If they 

 grow too much, it is easy to dig round the circum- 

 ference of the roots, and to underneath to sever any 

 roots that are running directly downwards. This 

 will be enough to throw any tree into bearing. To 

 allow a fruit tree to form a thicket of wood in the 

 summer, and then to cut it all off in the autumn, is 

 the right treatment for a pollard Willow, but will 

 not do for fruit trees of any kind. There should be 

 more reverence for life in the mind of the pruner 

 than for such reckless pruning to be possible. 



It is quite time that a better system of fruit tree 

 culture should be adopted in small as well as in large 

 gardens. Why should amateurs purchase fruit when 

 they can grow it themselves, and have all the plea- 

 sure as well as the profits ? It is useless to sit down 

 and blame the climate, the soil, or anything else, 

 when the real cause is a bad selection of varieties, or 

 bad cultivation. Let the old worn-out cankered 

 trees be rooted'out from old gardens, and their places 

 filled with approved sorts likely to do well in the 

 neighbourhood, for each district has its special 

 varieties. 



Preparation of the ground by trenching and 

 manuring is necessary, and whether the soil is light 

 over gravel or a clay soil over heavy clay, the results 

 will be satisfactory, and justify all the expenditure. 



CAXKER IX FRUIT TREES. 



By EDMUND TONKS, Esq.., B.C.L., Knowle, Warwickshire. 

 I have been requested by Mr. Barron to contribute 

 a paper for discussion at this meeting, and as the 

 results of some experiments recently made by me 

 appear to indicate that there may be a remedy for 

 that worst of all diseases affecting fruit trees — canker, 

 which is described in the Herefordshire Pomona as 

 " the terror of all orchardists and the bane of most 

 orchards," I thought it right to comply with the 

 request. As my own experience scarcely extends 

 beyond my garden, and numerous duties have pre- 

 vented me from devoting even there that close and 



continued observation which is necessary for the 

 proper study of such a subject, I should have hesi- 

 tated to intrude my crude notions in antagonism to 

 the authorities if their views had been clear and 

 definite ; but as these are very vague, both as to the 

 cause and the cure of the disease, I venture to state 

 my own. Thompson, in the Gardener's Assistant, 

 says : — " The cause is imperfectly understood, and so, 

 consequently, is an effectual cure ;" Mr. Pish, in 

 CasscU's Popular Gardening, saj-s : — " In fact it may 

 almost be said to be incurable;" and the Dictionary 

 of Gardening, the most recent publication on the 

 subject, says : — " Were the causes better known, the 

 remedy might generally be much easier found." Yet 

 these, and most of the other writers on the subject, 

 according to my ideas, indirectly indicate both the 

 cause and the remedy for the disease, the cause being 

 mal-nutrition, the consequence of an imperfect pro- 

 vision in the soil of the food required by the plant ; 

 the remedy, the supply of the food which is deficient. 

 These writers inferentially indicate this remedy : for 

 instance, Thompson recommends that " the soil be 

 ameliorated, by trenching and other means ;" Mr. 

 Pish, in Popular Gardening, says : — " Lift the roots 

 into higher places of warmth, and better and more 

 immediately available supplies of food ;" and the 

 Dictionary of Gardening says : — " Trees that are 

 badly cankered may be improved by lifting and re- 

 planting in improved or better drained soil." 



Perhaps the most convenient method of dealing 

 with the subject in detail is to analyse, paragraph 

 by paragraph, all that is stated relating to canker by 

 some recent and recognised authority ; that splendid 

 work, the Herefordshire Pomona, is possibly the best 

 for the purpose, as it may be assumed to contain a 

 summary of the most recent knowledge of all that 

 relates to orchard growth. The first paragraph of 

 the passage in that work relating to canker states 

 that " it is always due to direct injury." In a con- 

 troversy a clear and definite issue is most satisfactory, 

 therefore with all submission I venture to assert that 

 it is never due to such cause. That canker may 

 appear in parts which have been injured is no proof 

 that the injury caused the canker, although the in- 

 jury may determine the particular spot where the 

 disease makes itself visible. A well nourished and 

 consequently healthy tree may be injured to any ex- 

 tent without development of canker, while an ill- 

 nourished tree, or, to avoid begging the question, a 

 tree infected with the disease, will develop in all 

 parts the external signs without the slightest injury 

 or abrasion of any kind, and very frequently on parts 

 where, from their well-protected position, such as the 

 angles of the branches with the main stem, it is 

 almost impossible that injury could take place. The 

 coincidence of canker and an injured part is no more 

 proof of the former having been caused by the injury 

 than that a hole in a building through which the 

 flames of a conflagration are first visible is the cause 

 of the fire. 



The second paragraph states that " weakness is 

 at the bottom of the canker." This weakness cannot 

 be want of apparent vigour of growth, for I have 

 frequently observed trees attacked which for a 

 number of years have made the strongest growth, yet 

 the disease has appeared before any external signs 

 of weakness were visible, the very vigour of the 

 growth in some cases appearing to hasten the attack 

 in a soil containing too limited a supply of the neces- 

 sary food, as that supply is sooner exhausted, and 

 the time arrives when the large tree can no longer 

 find within reach of its roots sufficient for its main- 

 tenance. It may be that only one element of food 

 is failing, but every element is indispensable for 

 perfect growth of the whole tree, and that failure 

 would fully account for arrest of growth in parts, 

 weakness and consequent disease. 



The third paragraph is " the tree is old." This 

 may be expressed in other words — the tree has for a 

 long time been growing in the same soil. It is not 

 difficult to realise that in the course of many years 

 a tree may exhaust the most fertile soil. Many seem 

 to overlook the necessity of restoring to the soil 

 what is taken away year after year by large crops of 



