THE FRUIT GARDEN 



CHAPTER I 



THE APPLE 

 By GEORGE BUNYARD 



The planting of orchard standard apple trees, which are best upon the Crab or 

 Free stock, is carried out as recommended in the chapter on Planting. When- 

 ever practicable it is best to plant orchard trees in arable cultivated land, but 

 corn crops must not be grown with them. The trees should not be pruned 

 the first year of planting, and subsequent pruning should be carried out with 

 the view of making the branches assume a bowl or cup shape. This is 

 attained by always cutting the shoots on the outside of the tree to a bud 

 pointing outwards, and keeping the inner shoots pruned back to four eyes ; 

 after about five years' growth little pruning will be needed, except just 

 sufficient to regulate the branches, and to remove useless central shoots or boughs 

 which cross each other. It is often necessary to plant orchard fruit trees in 

 grass, and in that case care must be taken to leave a circle of 3 feet diameter 

 around the base of each tree free from grass and weeds, and the space must 

 be regularly hoed to prevent the soil cracking. In all cases the trees must 

 be protected against the possibility of injury from cattle by the use of wire- 

 netting ( I -inch mesh), by boughs tied round the tree, or by cradles sufficiently 

 high to keep off horses and cattle. These cradles are made either square or 

 triangular, the upright stakes should be from i|^ to 2 feet apart at the base, 

 and from 3 to 3J feet apart at the top, with cross staves about I foot apart. 

 If during the course of a few years the trees have made less than i foot of 

 growth annually, they should be manured, but a hard, firm, well-ripened 

 growth is preferable to strong sappy shoots which may not be well ripened 

 before the winter, and which may suffer from the effects of frost ; for the 

 same reason the boughs should be well thinned out, and the centres of the trees 

 kept open to let in sun and air. In this way the fruit will be of good size 

 and colour, and of the best quality as well. 



Summer Pruning is better left until early August, as starting sooner only 

 induces a secondary growth, which has to be removed ; whereas, when per- 



