FORCING THE APRICOT, PLUM, AND CHERRY. 



549 



answer the same end. " With this treatment 

 nearly every blossom will set. As soon as the 

 fruit becomes the size of a large pea, com- 

 mence syringing the trees both morning and 

 evening with soft water, and continue till they 

 begin to change colour." In houses heated by 

 smoke-flues or hot-water pipes, syringing will 

 have to be earlier commenced, and carried to 

 the extent only to counteract the drying effects 

 of artificial heat. Mr Rivers commences thin- 

 ning the apricot when of the size of a horse- 

 bean, " leaving at first, upon a bush that has 

 been two years in a pot, about three dozen, 

 which, when the fruit has attained the size of a 

 small nutmeg, must be reduced to two dozen ; 

 the third year, a tree, if it has prospered, will 

 be able to bear three dozen ; it is, however, 

 better to have a few finely -grown fruit than 

 many that are small." Plums and cherries 

 will require similar treatment, and a judicious 

 thinning of the fruit also ; but in all cases it is 

 safest to delay the final thinning until the ker- 

 nel is fairly formed in the stone, and the fruit 

 has begun to swell in size. If it be desired to 

 have the trees removed, and placed on the table 

 laden with their ripe fruit, this can readily be 

 done by cutting the roots below the pot as 

 before recommended. This will do little injury 

 to the trees, as the chief functions of the roots 

 have begun to cease when the fruit is ripened, 

 and it will have the effect of only putting the 

 trees to rest a little prematurely. They should 

 in such cases be returned to their former places, 

 and be supplied with water till October. " In 

 pruning the second season," Mr Rivers observes, 

 " summer-pinching in May and June must be con- 

 tinued, as before recommended; and in October, 

 when the trees are put to rest, the leading young 

 shoot of the summer on each branch must be 

 shortened to 6 inches. The third season these 

 shoots may be reduced to 4 inches. As the 

 tree becomes fruitful, but very short annual 

 shoots will be produced; these, if longer than 4 

 inches, may be shortened to 1 or 2 inches, till 

 ultimately pinching off the tops of the young 

 shoots to 1 or 2 inches will be all that is re- 

 quired. 



" To sustain the tree in its confined state, some- 

 thing more must be done than allowing its roots 

 to go into the border. Annually in March," but 

 as soon as they are excited artificially, be it 

 December or January, " every tree must have a 

 top-dressing of some strong stimulant. I have 

 applied," Mr Rivers informs us, " with much 

 success, horse-droppings saturated with night- 

 soil, exposed to the air two or three months 

 previously, placed on the surface of the pots, 

 previously stirring the soil, and taking out a 

 portion of it with a pointed stick to 2 or 3 

 inches in depth. Liquid manure not too power- 

 ful must be applied once a-week during the 

 summer," and in the case of early forcing, from 

 the time the foliage forms till shortly before 

 the fruit ripens. " Weak guano-water, one pound 

 to thirty gallons, is perhaps as good as any; a 

 weak soaking of this once a-week is better than 

 using it too frequently." An important part of 

 forcing fruit-trees in pots is to avoid the ex- 

 tremes of wet and drought at the roots, and this is 

 VOL. II. 



the more important on account of the thorough 

 drainage below, and the constant evaporation 

 going on over the whole surface of the pots. 

 Some, to counteract this, envelop the pots in a 

 covering of hay-bands, or cover them with moss. 

 We believe that want of proper attention to the 

 roots in this very respect has been the cause of 

 the frequent failures in forcing stone-fruits in 

 pots, and hence the unpopularity of the prac- 

 tice. " The treatment for the second year," 

 Mr Rivers continues, " may be continued every 

 season without variation, except as regards 

 pruning; and every spring the pots should have 

 a fresh station on the border, and after two or 

 three years the soil of the border may be re- 

 moved 2 or 3 inches in depth, and filled up with 

 a compost of burnt earth, 1-inch bones, and 

 turfy loam; and it will be necessary in very dry 

 winters to watch the trees to see if their roots 

 shrink: if so, they must have a small quantity 

 of water, but not in severe frosts; and if the 

 winter is excessively severe, some dry hay or 

 litter may be laid on and around the pots." 



Time of beginning to force. — This of course 

 must be regulated by the time the fruit is re- 

 quired to be ripened, as well as the varieties to 

 be grown ; for some of these, particularly in the 

 cases of the cherry and the plum, will ripen a 

 month or more sooner than others. From the 

 beginning of December to the beginning of 

 February may be taken as the periods of com- 

 mencement. But as these are fugacious fruits, 

 it is better to commence by introducing a few 

 at a time, and bringing in others in succession; 

 yet were it not that the dark months of winter 

 are the most unfavourable for the setting of the 

 fruit, their successional bringing in might be 

 avoided by filling the house at once with a 

 portion of those which ripen earliest, those 

 which naturally succeed them, and also of those, 

 like Coe's golden drop, which ripen the latest. 

 If forcing is begun by the first of February, the 

 earlier varieties of cherries and plums will, 

 under ordinary circumstances, be ripe by the 

 first week in May, the later sorts by the second 

 week, and apricots by the first week in June : 

 much, however, depends on the season, whether 

 it is cold, cloudy, or otherwise. Beginning at 

 the first of January, the earlier plums and 

 cherries may be expected to ripen by the last 

 week in April, and so of the others. No doubt 

 both cherries and plums may be ripened in less 

 time, but it will be with less certainty as to crop 

 and the health of the trees. During the time 

 the trees are in blossom, avoid syringing over 

 their tops and the application of tobacco smoke 

 for the suppression of the green and black fly, 

 and admit of extra ventilation, applying a slight 

 increase of fire-heat to maintain the temperature 

 at the regulated point, but upon no account 

 allow it to exceed that point, for the process of 

 flowering should not be excited by such means. 

 If the house is properly fumigated just as the 

 wood-buds are bursting, there need be little 

 cause to fear the appearance of the fly. Fumi- 

 gation is extremely dangerous during the period 

 of the development of the blossom. 



Temperature. — Merely shutting up the struc- 

 ture during the night — say from four in the 



4 A 



