FRUIT TREES 



of a tree may have become clubbed by being allowed to grow too 

 closely together, thus hindering proper wood-growth and restricting 

 the fruit-bearing capacity of the tree. In sudi a case cut away the 

 upper part of the clubbed growth in such wise as that only two oi; 

 three spurs remain, when small buds will push out and form fruiting 

 wood the following year. 



SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF FRUIT TREES 



There still remains something to be said as to the particulcir 

 qualities of the various kinds of fruit trees. The peach — and with 

 it may be classed the nectarine — ^has purposely been p . . 

 taken as an example of the wall-trained fruit tree j^lctMine 

 because it seems to deserve more general cultivation 

 by the amateur than is usually accorded to it. It is invariably 

 conceded that there is no more delicious fruit than a well-ripened, 

 full-flavoured peach, and if the methods already suggested are carried 

 out intelligently such fruit can be grown successfully and will well 

 repay the care and attention devoted to it. 



The apricot and the greengage are also, as a rule, treated as 

 wall-trained trees, for in our humid climate, when 

 planted as standards or dwarfs, and away from dry Apncotand 

 and warm walls, they do not fruit well. The reason reengage 

 assigned is that in a damp atmosphere the pollen of the flower 

 becomes " glued " and fails to fructify. 



The cherry may also be wall-trained, but it is not fond of the 

 knife, and it does not need much thinning of the _^ 

 branches. Summer nipping is generally sufl&cient, a ® ^"^ 

 method which prevents the " gumming " to which the tree is liable. 

 Being an early flowerer, the tree is sometimes trained on a wall with 

 a west or north-west aspect, with the object of checking its early 

 blooming. In that case, however, it has the disadvantage of getting 

 little or no sun at the roots, with the result that a tree of delicate 

 constitution may sometimes be chilled to death — for the cherry loves 

 warmth at its roots. On the other hand, the writer has a fine 

 Morella in his present garden, trained against a wall facing due north, 

 which is flourishing vigorously and has borne fruit abundantly for 

 many years, though it is only fair to mention that the garden is well 

 protected and the soil light and warm. 



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