THE ORCHARD. 



327 



main branch away, so as only to leave about 

 one foot remaining of each. When a tree is 

 defective through age, it must be headed down 

 as already described, and the soil must be 

 taken off the roots at a considerable distance 

 from the bole, and when the roots are bare, 

 let some of them be shortened, and any that 

 are found to have struck perpendicularly 

 down into the under stratum must be severed 

 off; let a quantity of well rotted cow's dung 

 and fresh soil be trenched in around the 

 tree. 



When a tree is diseased from being affected 

 by moss or lichen, it must be brushed over 

 and anointed with composition. (See the 

 Chapter on renovating old and neglected fruit 

 trees.) It is a practice with me to anoint 

 standard trees with a suitable composition, 

 as far as it can conveniently be done, every 

 third or fourth year; also every autumn and 

 spring to sprinkle the trees frequently with 

 soap suds, this is easily performed, and the 

 vigour and health of the trees are greatly 

 promoted by it, whilst at the same time, in- 

 sects with their larvoe are also destroyed. 



It is of very great service to thin the fruit of 

 Apple and Pear trees as far as is practicable. 

 The time for performing which is, as soon as 

 it begins to swell, and only to leave one fruit 

 to each spur. By attending to this, the fruit 

 which remains will be very much improved, 

 and that which is lost in number is more than 



