REPORT OF THE APPLE AND PEAR CONFERENCE. 



21 



bushels per acre, which, at 4s. nett (carriage and salesman's 

 charges deducted), would give a return of £14: per acre; at five 

 years one gallon each would double the produce, and so on. 

 When the top and bottom crop come to pick, an average of half 

 a bushel per tree would give a return of about £120 per acre. 

 The risk of loss by wind is small with dwarf trees, and the cost 

 of picking is less than in tall trees, and they can be readily thinned 

 and attended to. 



A word as to old existing orchards. My motto is — Woodman, 

 spare that tree. If such old trees are well manured, in two years 

 they would be either producing good fruit, or, if cider apples, they 

 would so benefit from the improved culture that they should pay 

 for re-grafting with superior kinds. I believe much may be done 

 in this way, as the roots soon respond to generous treatment, and 

 the foundation of success rests upon them. Suitable kinds for 

 grafting on old trees would be — Stone's, Lane's Prince Albert, 

 Small's Admirable, the new and splendid Bismarck, or the smaller 

 Dessert Apples, such as Duchess's Favourite and Yellow Ingestrie. 



Discussion. 



Mr. Le Maitre asked whether he should prune back every 

 year, or let the tree grow in its own fashion ? 



Mr. Shirley Hibberd asked whether Mr. Bunyard re- 

 commended The Queen as a market apple ? 



Mr. Wright questioned Mr. Bunyard' s dictum that no apple 

 should be pruned the first year. He had always held it to be 

 most important to preserve the balance of roots and branches. 

 If, therefore, you dig up a tree you spoil this balance for a time, 

 and very frequently, if the tree be not pruned, it will develop 

 flower buds on the points of the shoots, and if these are left to 

 bear fruit the tree will often be ruined for life. He, therefore, 

 thought it best to prune after planting. If you dig up a rose and 

 replant without pruning you get certainly no good growth, and 

 perhaps a few miserable flowers. Therefore he asked whether, 

 instead of letting it go forth as a dogma never to prune the first 

 year, it would not be better to say " Prune lightly, and always 

 back to a wood bud pointing outwards." 



Mr. Bunyard said he had every faith in The Queen be- 

 coming a very marketable apple. It had one objection — that of 

 being flat — and he knew market people had a preference for 

 conical apples. It was, however, extremely beautiful and fertile, 

 which placed it in the first rank. As to pruning pyramids, the 

 remarks which applied to standard trees after the second and 

 third year were also intended to apply to dwarf trees. It would 

 be necessary to preserve the dwarf trees by pruning, and it must 

 be left to the judgment of the grower and the state of his soil as 

 to whether he pruned in four or five years or not. In Kent it 



