56 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



strongly rooted in the soil, the transference to 

 fresh quarters necessitates considerable root 

 injury, and a corresponding check to the 

 growth, which is not recovered from very 

 readily. 



Time to Plant. — The Apple can be planted 

 at any time from the falling of the leaf until 

 the buds start in spring. The success of the 

 trees depends mainly upon their condition and 

 the state of the soil at the time of planting. 

 There are, however, several good reasons for 

 the early autumn being preferred for this 

 operation. In the first place the weather and 

 soil conditions are usually more favourable for 

 preparing the land and lifting and transferring 

 the trees. Then, too, if trees are selected in 

 a nursery, the earlier the choice is made the 

 better chance there is of securing what are 

 required. Above all, if trees are planted before 

 the soil has lost the heat accumulated during 

 summer and autumn, and before winter rains 

 have saturated it, the injured roots have a 

 better opportunity to heal. The tree also has 

 time to recover from the check before growth 

 commences in the spring: 



But it is by no means essential that Apples 

 should be planted in October or November. 

 It might, for instance, be advisable to postpone 

 the work on account of excessive wet, especi- 

 ally on heavy land. On light soil the rain might 

 not interfere with the work, and in many cases 

 it would prove beneficial. 



Very early planting, i.e. before all the leaves 

 have fallen, is not recommended; in moist 

 districts and seasons it can be done without 

 much risk, but there is always danger of the 

 young growth shrivelling. 



Trees planted late in the season are often 

 injured by drought, and if the buds start 

 before the roots are able to meet the demands 

 upon them, failure will probably result. This 

 may be partly avoided by close attention to 

 watering and syringing. We have planted 

 young Apple-trees in April, when the buds are 

 expanding, without the loss of a single specimen, 

 but the cost of the needful attention renders 

 such planting an expensive proceeding. The 

 particular season must always be taken into 

 consideration, as there may be quite a month's 

 difference in the starting of growth in the 

 different years, and what may be safe in one 

 season would be dangerously late in another. 

 It is therefore impossible to fix definite dates 

 for such work without the risk of their proving 

 misleading to the inexperienced. The simplest 

 rule is: 



Plant Apples as soon after the leaf falls as the 

 soil is in a suitable condition, avoiding frost at 

 all times, and a wet state on heavy or adhesive 

 soils. 



Distances for Trees. — If a large plantation 

 or orchard of Apples is to be formed, it will 

 be needful to determine the arrangement and 

 distances before the trees are secured. The 

 principal methods of placing the trees are 

 described in the chapter on Orchards, and it 

 is only necessary here to give the most suitable 

 distances for Apples. 



Standards of the moderate-growing varieties 

 may be planted 18 or 20 feet apart, but in 

 orchards or mixed plantations where other 

 fruit-trees are introduced between the trees as 

 temporary crops, it is always advantageous to 

 allow more space. There is a tendency to plant 

 such trees too closely. A distance of 30 feet 

 should be allowed whenever possible, and all 

 strong-growing varieties must have this space 

 at least, while even 35 or 40 feet may be allowed 

 where growth is vigorous. The greater distances 

 are advantageous for plantations in rich soil and 

 moist districts, where, unless provision is made 

 for a free circulation of air amongst the trees, 

 they soon become loaded with lichens. Crowd- 

 ing is bad under any circumstances, but in such 

 localities as those referred to, of which abundant 

 examples will be found in some of the western 

 counties, close planting in a few years produces 

 its worst effects. 



We have seen standard Apples planted 10 

 feet, 12 feet, and 15 feet apart with the inten- 

 tion of " thinning " the plantation as soon as 

 necessary, but in too many instances the thin- 

 ning is deferred until all the trees have suffered 

 from crowding, and the removal of the extra 

 trees is then attended with danger to those 

 which remain, both as regards root disturbance 

 and wind effects on the weakened permanent 

 trees. This is a defect that is perhaps more 

 frequently demonstrated in commercial or 

 market plantations than in private gardens, 

 as when the possibility of danger from "thin- 

 ning " is recognized the trees are often left from 

 year to year until a dense and useless thicket 

 is formed. It is safer and preferable in every 

 way to allow minimum distances of 20 feet or 

 30 feet, for medium and strong sorts respec- 

 tively as standards, and fill the intermediate 

 spaces either with dwarf trees or other kinds 

 of fruit of bushy habit. Thinning will not then 

 be such a serious matter, as the heads of the 

 standards can develop freely. 



Dwarf Apples on Paradise stocks, either as 



