July, 1913 



THE GARDlOiN AND FIELD. 



tcrals witli the rxpoctation that fruit 

 spurs will naturally follow, but in- 

 stead luily thin spray wood makes its 

 appearance. This is again cut off. 

 and so the process jjoes on until the 

 lower portion of the tree becomes 

 quite bare and devoid of both fruit 

 spurs and leaves, and the whole of the 

 growth has been forced into the ex- 

 tremities of the branches, which gives 

 the tree the appearance of a broom. 

 Instead of cutting off all these lateral 

 shoots, they should be moderately 

 thinned out. and the full length of 

 the ones that are left should be re- 

 tained, not being cut back at all. The 

 following summer fruit buds will de- 

 velop along the whole length of these 

 shoots, and will become permanent 

 fruit spurs. They should be gradu- 

 ally shortened back a little every year 

 as the growth of the tree expands, 

 and the tree will then be furnished 

 with fruit bearing wood right from 

 the fork. Should too many of these 

 lateral shoots have been left to form 

 fruit spurs, they can always be 

 thinned out or shortened back and so 

 help to regulate the crop of fruit. 

 Fruit spurs of trees in full bearing 

 should be thinned out every year, if 

 good quality fruit is required. Unless 

 this is done, the fruit spurs increase 

 so rapidly that the tree is unable to 

 properly mature the crop of fruit that 

 sets, with the result that it is very 

 small and of little value. Again, many 

 trees such as the Winter Nelis pear, 

 where the spurs have not been 

 thinned, bloom so profusely that the 

 tree exhausts itself in blooming, and 

 is unable to set any fruit. Orchard- 

 ists should therefore study the habits 

 of the different varieties of trees they 

 are dealing with, and regulate the 

 fruit spurs according to the capacity 

 of the tree to bear a crop of fruit of 

 the best quality. 



♦ 



Soils for Citrus Fruits. 



The influence of the soil on the 

 <i;ualitv of crop produced, more es- 

 pecially in the case of fruit trees, 

 isi discussed at considerable length 

 in an article appearing in the Rural 

 Califomian. The following extract 

 relates to soil preferences sihown 

 by oranges and other citrus fruit — 



Citrus fruits prefer soils with 

 good siurface and subsoil, drainage, 

 and with favourable exposures. 

 Rich soils, when low and too 

 moist, produce fruits low in acid 

 and sugar, so that the citrus cha- 

 racteristics are practically lost. A 

 deep soil is desirable, but when 

 ■drainage is good, oranges and 

 lem.ons often do well on soil no 

 more than 4 leet deep, and; resting 

 on impervious hardpan. Under cer- 

 tain conditions even land of less 

 depth has grown good orchards, 

 but such land shotild only be plant- 

 ed vwhen aU the morel suitable soils 

 have been oiccupied. 



Hose for Orchard Spraying. 



Some good poiuler.s on sprav 

 hose are given in The Kr-ulgruw- 

 er and Farmer. There is no part 

 of the outfit which needs more caru 

 in preventing breakdowns and de- 

 lay during the progress of the 

 work. Few parts are given such 

 severe strains. It must stand the 

 full pressure of .the liquid fron-j the 

 pump when the noz/lcs are shut 

 oft in passing from row to row or 

 tree to tree, and this in power out- 

 fits runs up to 200 pounids per 

 square inch. It is worn away on 

 the outside bv dragging over rough 

 ground and stones, from the inside 

 the spray chemicals are weakening 

 the material, and all the while it 

 is being twisted and kinked. 



Ho.se which has been used one 

 season or more should be carefully 

 examined for cracks and strains . 

 before it can be relied on for ser- 

 vice. E;ven if apparently goo.! it 

 is best to have new sections in 

 reserve. New hose should be se- 

 lected with care. Some brands 

 have but two thicknesses of canvas 

 within the rubber and others eight 

 to ten. Some kinds are stiff and 

 heavy, while others are light, easi- 

 ly handled, and at the same time 

 durable. 



♦ 



Pruning the Almond. 



The almond is not, properly speak- 

 ing a nut, but a drupaceous fruit, 

 whose structiure corresponds tD that 

 of the cherry, plum, apricot, and 

 peach. The se>id is the kernel, wb'c-h 

 is, in each case mentioned, enclosed 

 in a hard case (endocarp), called the 

 shell, stone, or pit. Surrounding this 

 is the mesocarp, which is soft, juicy 

 and edible in the plum, cherry, and 

 peach, etc., but forms a leathery 

 husk in the almond. This fact is only 

 of interest now from the light it 

 throws on the near relationship of 

 the trees, and the treatment one might 

 expect would be likely to be required 

 by all. Yet there are many people 

 who although convinced as to the 

 necessity of pruning the peach and 

 apricot, argue that the best thing to 

 do in the case of the almond is to let 

 it alone, and "it will bear when it 

 wants to." That, however, very often 

 is by no means when the owner re- 

 quires the fruit. That the almond 

 tree requires regular pruning, as 

 much as an apricot tree, may be read- 

 ily seen by examining any old tree, 

 and noting how it grows, and where 



the I mil buds arc to bo. found. In- 

 deed, il is rnost instructive to study 

 almond and an apricot tree in con- 

 jumtinii, and then compare the two 

 with a peach tree, for although the 

 stone varieties of trees are nearly re- 

 lated, and obey the same general laws, 

 there are wide differences, due to 

 liiihils of growth, etc., the peach re- 

 (|uiring much more skilful treatment 

 than either the apricot or almond. 

 No one can possibly learn to nrune 

 really well who does not spend time 

 studying how the various trees grow, 

 and how they carry their fruit. 



In pruning the almond the same 

 general plan should be followed as 

 i". the case of the apricot. What is 

 wanted is a strong sturdy trunk not 

 more than knee high, with rigid main 

 arms on which the fruiting wood will 

 be carried. The trees should' not be 

 allowed to get much beyond hand 

 reach, for if this is done they will 

 not sufifer from the disastrous wind 

 storms in spring, which so often strip 

 the old style top-heavy trees of the 

 greater part of their crop. 



♦ 



To conserve moi.stiire, the sur- 

 face of the soil must be kept loose. 



The plant food made available 

 bv fallowing, and removed from 

 the soil b}^ crops, can be restored 

 bv commercial fertilisers. 



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