136 PIOTORIAL PBAOTIGAL FRUIT GROWING. 



It is wise to begin with young trees, because If older ones are not very 

 carefully selected it will be found that their root system is too strong. It 

 would be quite possible to get nice bushes or pyramids of, say, three years 

 old from some nurseries which had a fibrous and compact root system, as a 

 result of having been lifted once or twice ; but ordinary nursery stock would 

 be hardly likely to do. If a yearling tree is bought, it should be cut down 

 very much on the" lines advocated in an early chapter on shaping and 

 training various forms of trees. So much was said there on this interesting 

 subject that it would be waste of space to go over the whole ground again. 



With respect to pruning, somewhat the same might be said. A Pear does 

 not so completely change its nature when it is grown in a pot that entirely 

 new ideas of pruning have to be learned. Generally speaking, the spur 

 system is the best, and spur pruning has been very carefully and fully gone 

 into already. Remember that the essence of it is summer pinching — the 

 stopping of the side shoots to half a dozen leaves, more or less according to 

 their position. As to this, a reference may be made to the figures which 

 appear on pages 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, and 135 ; they will serve to make 

 the routine quite clear. 



Trees that have become established in pots must be looked after care- 

 fully, or they will soon grow out of shape. They must also be well 

 supported. Every year they should be taken in hand at a convenient period 

 of the resting season, 2 inches of the top soil removed, and a rich mixture 

 substituted. While in fruit, liquid manure should be given twice a week. 



Cbapter XX — n^tscellaneous* 



Thbbb are certain matters connected with fruit growing which, being a 

 little outside general culture, are apt to be put altogether in the back- 

 ground. Yet they are quite as important as pruning and propagation. I 

 will refer to a few of these. 



Storage.— It has been my lot to deal with the storage of fruit in many 

 circumstances, from the simple loft over a potting shed, with plain, wide, 

 wooden shelves, to the insulated town " cold store," in which machinery 

 reduces the temperature to near the freezing point. In all circumstances a 

 few simple points stand out above all others. (1) Fruit must not be 

 subjected to hard frost ; a degree or two may not hurt it, but on the other 

 hand will certainly not improve it. A temperature of 35° to 40° is the best. 



(2) Fruit that is expected to keep must be absolutely sound when stored. 



(3) It should be gathered for storage at a point just in advance of what is 

 known as "dead ripe." (4) It must be spread to "sweat" before being 

 finally stored away. (5) The temperature must be even, and here double 

 walls for the fruit room come in. (6) The layers should be thin, in order to 

 facilitate examination for the purpose of removing any decaying fruit. (7) 

 There must not be excessive damp. (8) There must be no objects near 

 which are of a strong-smelling nature, or the fruit will become musty, and 

 even ofEensive. This may sound a very formidable list of conditions, but 

 there is really nothing very terrible about it, and it is nearly as easy to 

 secure them as the reverse. Where a special fruit store is not in the 

 question on account of the small quantity of fruit to be stored, the mistake 



