38 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



When the trees have made free growth, and 

 the roots have reached the limit of the prepared 

 soil, it becomes a question whether the area 

 cleared of grass round the trees should be 

 farther extended or not, and the matter has a 

 wider bearing than appears at first sight. When 

 a tree is well rooted and developing freely, a 

 moderate check would have a tendency to pro- 

 mote earlier fruit-bearing than if it continued 

 to make unrestricted growth. It is upon this 



KS ^L\LiL 



Fig. 834.— Wrought-iron Tree Guard. 



Fig. 835.— " Porcupine " Tree Guard 



the opinion rests, which prevails in some fruit- 

 growing districts, that it is advantageous to 

 have some trees (especially Plums and Cherries) 

 entirely in grass when they have passed their 

 earliest stages. It is found, also, that the fruit 

 of Plums particularly is usually obtained under 

 such circumstances in better saleable form, 

 brighter, cleaner, and of higher flavour than in 

 open cultivated soil. As regards Apples and 

 Pears, the presence of grass also has a decided 

 tendency to increase the colour of the fruits, 

 but when these trees are on the Paradise or 

 Quince stocks respectively the effect in reducing 

 the size of the fruits is just as marked. A 

 strong established standard tree on the free 

 stock is not, of course, affected to the same 

 extent, and the influence on the colour and 

 appearance of the fruit is then an advantage. 

 The firmer soil round the prepared area into 

 which the roots penetrate further aids in the 



restriction of growth and the promotion of 

 fertility. It is, therefore, largely a matter for 

 close observation to determine whether the 

 cultivated area round a tree in grass should be 

 extended or not. When the trees have made 

 ample vigorous growth and do not appear to 

 be getting into a fruit-bearing state, we should 

 allow the restricting influences to exercise their 

 effect. If, on the contrary, the trees are not 

 developing freely, we should endeavour to en- 

 courage increased root action. 



Where the whole of the 

 ground in an orchard is culti- 

 vated or cropped, the hoe should 

 be freely used. The destruction 

 of weeds is an important ser- 

 vice, but the constant moving 

 of the surface soil is of greater 

 benefit in preventing cracking 

 and the excessive loss of mois- 

 ture in dry weather. If the 

 plantation is wholly occupied 

 with fruit-trees and bushes 

 planted closely, very little more 

 can be done to the land in the 

 way of cultivation. When, 

 however, alternate spaces are 

 devoted to vegetables, deep cul- 

 tivation is requisite. In many 

 market orchards continuous 

 cropping with both flowers and 

 vegetables is carried on to 

 within a foot or two of the 

 tree stems. In plantations near 

 large towns, whence constant 

 and large supplies of stable 

 manure have been obtained and applied to 

 the land over a long period, it is probable that 

 the rough system of root pruning, which is 

 performed in the digging and planting, may 

 tend to prevent the undue luxuriance of growth 

 that would otherwise result in such soils. In 

 general practice such close cropping is not de- 

 sirable, and we have found that in the early 

 years of a plantation it is not advisable to crop 

 to within a less distance than five feet from the 

 stems. 



At several of the experimental stations in 

 America attention has been given to catch- 

 cropping, with the object of preventing the 

 nitrates formed in the soil during the summer 

 from being washed out during the autumn and 

 winter, but the matter has not received much 

 attention here, and it is a question how far such 

 cropping will pay. In the ordinary way crops 

 are grown which can be sold from the ground 



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