1 62 



Garden and Forest. 



[April 3, 1889. 



Quince stock and Apples upon the Paradise can, do, and will 

 produce handsome, clean, well-colored and full-flavored fruit, 

 even in adverse summers, whilst in more propitious seasons 

 the quality is super-excellent, and still proves our theory." The 

 wild Pear stock, with its strong roots and few fibres, and the 

 Crab-Apple stock, equally coarse-rooted, are used for trees in- 

 tended for orchards, but they will not bear comparison with 

 those recommended in the production of large crops and fine 

 fruit in a short time. 



' That those who plant Pears grow fruit for their heirs. 



Is a maxim our grandfathers knew ; 

 But folks have learnt since, if you graft on the Quince, 



The fruit will develop for you." 

 A few days' sunshine would transform our Orchid-houses 

 into paradises, but we must wait till April for the great flush. 

 Cypripedium Elliottianitm is now in bloom, and proves even 

 better than my description of it a few. weeks ago ; Odontoglos- 

 sum Edwardii heixis its tall, branched spikes of purplish flow- 

 ers, the nearest approach to true blue in an Odontoglossum ; 

 AngrcFcum ciiratum, with the most charming little wreath-like 

 spikes of creamy-white flowers ; J£rides Vandarum, truly a 

 " thin " Orchid, although its pure white, curiously formed, 

 large flowers are both interesting and pretty ; Dendrobium 

 Ainsworthii and its second, D. Leechianiim, the handsomest 

 of all hybrid Dendrobiums, and taking rank widi the best of the 

 genus ; Cmlogync cristata Lemoniana, and the pure white 

 form, a pearl of snowy whiteness, and the new PhalcEitopsis 

 gloriosa. These are the pick of what are in tiloom now. I 

 have recently seen some magnificent examples of Dendrobium 

 which had all their old pseudo-bulbs cut away last spring and 

 were apparently a great deal stronger for it. Pruning appears 

 to be good for most of the strong growing Dendrobiums ; at 

 any rate I have seen it practiced on aVjout a dozen kinds, which 

 made stronger growth the season after. The rare and beauti- 

 ful D. Phalcenopsis apparently prunes itself, the pseudo-bulbs 

 dying at the base the year after flowering. By fastening these 

 to rafts of Sphagnum they are induced to develop offsets, and 

 thus out of what looks like an evil, good may come. 



Kew, March 9th. * ^- WatsOH. 



Cultural Department. 



Orchard Notes. 



Hints on Grafting. — Any good whittler can make a scion live. 

 But making a scion live is the smaller part of grafting when 

 one operates on large trees. To secure a new top of good 

 shape and proportions, which shall be easy of access, is 

 a difficult matter. If one attempts to get the head very low, 

 in order to make it convenient, he usually grafts too large 

 limbs and sacrifices too many important branches. If, on the 

 other hand, he aims to graft small limbs he generally makes 

 a top which will be almost inaccessible — a series of what are 

 called "mules' tails," long, naked branches with a bush on the 

 end of each. That grafting is best which modifies the original 

 shape of the tree the least. Stand at a distance from the tree 

 and form an accurate idea of the shape the new top should 

 assume. Then cut the main "stubs" at about the same 

 distance from the body of the tree, using small limbs —say one 

 inch in diameter — and many of them. Then fill in the top 

 with "stubs" along the sides of the main limbs, in such posi- 

 tions that the symmetry of the head will be maintained and 

 supports for the picker's feet will be secured. Use a great num- 

 ber of scions. Part of them may need to be cut out, perhaps 

 one in nearly every "stub," as the new top becomes thick, but 

 if the thinning is properly done good results will follow. 



Shall we Whitewash Fruit-trees ? — There are several reasons 

 given for the practice. One man would whitewash to stop up 

 the pores in the bark, that disease may not enter. But really 

 the l)ark on the trunks of trees has no pores. Another white- 

 washes to protect the trunks from the hot sun — a wholly 

 imaginary benefit. But the greater number whitewash with- 

 out any reason. Something must be done to the trees, and 

 whitewash is as cheap, handy and conspicuous as anything. 

 Others whitewash to kill insects, and in this there is apparently 

 some reason. But there are better washes for this purpose. 

 The soap or caustic soda washes, with a slight addition of car- 

 bolic acid, are better. And if it is desired to soften up the 

 bark on young and slow-growing trees — and this is often the 

 chief benefit of a wash — whitewashes are of little avail. 



Peach Yellows.— Yellows and yellowness should not be con- 

 founded. Yellows is a disease ; yellowness is a condition. 

 Yellowness may be due to poor soil, poor culture, borers, 

 hard winters. It is amenable to treatment. Yellows is wholly 

 different. It is communicable and does not submit to treat- 

 ment. It has no relation whatever to soil-exhaustion or 



methods of culture. I have lost a whole orchard upon new 

 ground. I have seen orchards set upon virgin soil die with 

 yellows. One who has had wide experience with the disease 

 cannot hold to the soil-exhaustion notion, if he is an honest ob- 

 server. Prompt and radical removal of diseased trees will 

 keep the disease in check. No other course has been suc- 

 cessful. This has. No consideration should allow of dally- 

 ing. It is time to stop quarreling about the cause of yellows, 

 and check the evil by vigorous concert of action. The in- 

 vestigation of the yellows is one of the things which Peach- 

 growers should demand of experiment stations. 



Protection for Young Trees. — This is often needed, particu- 

 larly on the surface of the soil, and for several reasons : To 

 prevent soil from freezing too deeply ; to prevent heaving ; to 

 prevent too great drying of the surface by winter winds ; to 

 keep trees from swaying in soft weather and forming funnels 

 about the base which collect water. A mound of earth about 

 the tree is good. Some mulch, in which mice will not nest, is 

 good. Snow is excellent when it can be held. To hold it, 

 dump a load of manure in a pile on the windward side of the 

 tree, three or four feet from it. Snow will drift over the pile 

 and persist about the tree. 



Longevity of Trees.— Complaint is made that Apple and 

 Peach-trees are shorter lived than formerly. It is probably 

 true. It would be strange if it were not. High culture forces 

 and develops a tree prematurely, as compared with natural 

 growth, and stimulates production. This is, no doubt, in 

 some measure at the expense of long life. But there is no 

 occasion for lamenting the fact. Short life and much fruit is 

 better than long life with the same amount of fruit. When 

 trees begin to decline, cut them down. Younger ones are 

 more profitable. A Peach-tree is seldom profitable after 

 twelve years old, and a Plum-tree" after fifteen or twenty. 



Cornell University. ^. //; Bailey. 



Vineyard Notes and Studies. 



T)Y the third spring after planting the vine will have growth 

 J-* enough to need the trellis. Remove all canes but the 

 best one ; prune this to three feet long and tie it to the wire. 

 It may make what growth it will during the sunimer. Some 

 vine-dressers, thinking that nature may be helped by art, 

 practice "summer-pruning." It is needless and noxious. If 

 one will try summer-pruning for a few years, and also leave a 

 row of vines untouched, he will need no argument to convince 

 him that to summer-prune a Grape vine is to do worse than 

 waste time. Late next autumn thepruner may begin to shape 

 the vine for growth on the trellis. Taking two of the branches 

 grown from the main stem, as near as may be at the height of 

 the wire, shorten them to six buds each. These branches will 

 l)e made fast to the wire, and the vine when pruned will re- 

 semble a capital T. A few spurs, with one bud each, may be 

 left near the crotch to grow renewal canes for next year. On 

 the arms of the T not more than six buds should be left, be- 

 cause not more than six buds will grow. The vine always 

 tends to push toward its extremities. If nine buds be left on 

 a branch, the six nearest its end will start and the three next 

 ■ (he trunk will probably remain dormant. In training the vine 

 one must take care that it does not get beyond control. We 

 often see vines with a long stretch of bare and unfruitful cane, 

 a common result of stupidity in pruning. It is easy to keep 

 the vine within bounds, maintaining growth of new wood and 

 fruitf Illness near its trunk. In pruning the vine for another 

 year the canes which were made fast to the wire may be cut 

 out and new canes from the spurs left near its middle may be 

 laid on the wire. This is the " renewal system " of pruning, 

 and suitable for varieties of the Labrusca family.' 



A Grape vine thus pruned will seem to have small chance 

 left to bear fruit, but it must be remembered that each bud 

 will form three or four clusters of Grapes, which should weigh 

 about a pound each. Supposing twelve buds be left on the 

 arms, and, say, six buds on spurs about the main stem ; these 

 eighteen buds may be counted on to set fifty-four clusters of 

 fruit ; too many for the vine, in vineyard culture, to carry. 



The renewal system of pruning will not suit vines of the 

 Riparia class. These must be pruned on the "spur system," 

 and must be allowed to gradually extend themselves. The 

 Clinton, the Oporto, the Ironclad will fruit best when pruned 

 to spurs. The main arms may be gradually prolonged to one 

 hundred feet in length. For some years I have had the fruit 

 from a Riparia vine which stretches several arms more than 

 a hundred feet each in length, and which yields yearly several 

 hundred pounds of fruit. The Riparia vines should be pruned 

 in autumn. If cut in February the vines will bleed, and the 

 buds upon the spurs will not grow. 



