t 



October o. 



1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE 



K r 



RENOVATION OF OLD 



FRUIT TREES. 



What an extraordinary number of old, 

 worn-out fruit trees there are in country 

 ardens and orchards! One only needs to 

 ake a walk along a country road and 

 through an old-world village or hamlet, 

 where sweet-scented gard^is and green, 

 rass-t^rown orchards peep at one through 



IT 

 O 



hedge-gaps ; there you see these relics of a 

 glorious past, lichen-covered, cankered, 

 gnarled, and twisted in all their picturesque 

 futility.' For they are not fruit-bearing 

 trees, these old specimens. They take up 

 room that might very well be occupied 

 with a nice, healthy, and clean-limbed 

 voung bush or standard tree, a heavy 

 cropper of fine quality fruit, and a better 

 monument to the skill and patient atten- 

 tion of the grower than the disease-choked 

 s])ecimon so commonly encountered. Of 

 I oiu so, tliero is a certain amount of senti- . 

 iiiciit in relation to these old trees; they 

 may have certain historical associations, so 

 alluring to the OAvner of the garden or 

 orchard, that he or she refuses to have 

 them destroyed, or even tampered with in 

 any way. No matter that they produce 

 fruit no larger than crab apples, and very 

 few and far between at that ! The senti- 

 ment is there, and the tree remains. It 

 is forgotten that it may spread the spores 

 of the disease, Avhich cankers and twists its 

 branches into every conceivable shape, to 

 other parts and other gardens, where an 

 effort is being made to grow healthy, sound 

 fruit trees. 



Grafting;. 



It need hardly be said that' not all of 

 these trees are past being renovated. Some, 

 no doubt, should be chopped down and con- 

 signed to a fiery death ; others can be so 

 far renovateil that they will bear fruit of a 

 tolerably good quality, if not in great 

 quantity. The writer has many times been 

 requested to play the part of renovator, 

 and in the course of the work many special 

 points of interest have been noted. One 

 thing is certain : it is a fallacy to suppose 

 that old, worn-out, and half -decayed trees 

 can be brought into any satisfactory state 

 of fruitfulness bj- grafting. In almost 

 every instance where such an attempt has 

 been made, it has been noticed in after 

 years that the graft, which, perhaps, may 

 have made a strong, healthy growth, has 

 eventually suffered a reaction when it has 

 attained large dimensions, for the action 

 of the branches was so vigorous that it put 

 too great a stfain upon the root system 

 below, which, in turn, upset the balance 

 of the tree. Now, it may be supposed that 

 by heading back these strong-growing 

 branches, the strain on the root-growth 

 would be removed, or at least lightened 

 somewhat, and new roots would develop to 

 counterbalance the increasing vigour of the 

 branches above. In a good soil overlying 

 a fine, friable subsoil it mav certainly be 

 pected that such relief coidd be granted 

 to the roi)ts. providtxl, of course, the tree 

 ^vas cf)mparatively healthy at the outset, 

 and was growing on a gotxl crab or vigorous 

 apple stock. Indee<l, I have noticed such 

 excellent results in more than one instance 

 but not manv more than one. 



Root-pruning^, 



Always, in speaking of the renovation of 

 old, worn-out fruit trees, one inclines to 

 thoughts of root-pruning. No doubt, the 

 root action of many of these old trees would 

 ^^^t up a decided improvement, calculated 

 to }>enefit the whole tree, if it were taken 

 in hand by a skilful root-pruner. The 

 ^ork requires careful att-ention, and a con- 

 siderable amount of experience l>efore it 

 ^an be performed properly. In the case 



of young trees on crab and pear stocks, it 

 will l3e noticed that, where they are grow- 

 ing in tolerably good loamy soil an exces- 

 sive amount of woody growth will be 

 developed at the expense of the fruiting 

 spurs, and it will then be necessary to 

 root-prune so as to keep the trees compact 

 and dwarf. The root-pruning of all fruit 

 trees is best performed just aft-er the fall 

 of the leaf, or so long as the soil remains 

 sufficiently warm to encourage the develop- 

 ment of new fibrous rooting growths from 

 the cut surfaces of the tap-roots. In the 

 case of an old tree that is evidently in need 

 of renovation of some kind or another, a 

 trench must be taken o\it round the tree 

 at a distance of three feet or more away 

 from the stem, or just underneath the 

 extending tips of the side branches. The 

 age and habit of the tree must always be 

 taken into consideration when doing this 

 work, for in old trees the roots will bo 

 found to extend very far under the surface 

 of the ground. I^snally it is advisable to 

 do only half the tree one year, taking out a 

 semi-'.'ircular trench for this pnrpase, and 

 completing the work in the following sea- 

 son. There is not so severe a <-lieck to the 

 roots when the work is done in two seasons 

 in this manntM' as when it is conij.h n -l in 

 one operation. 



Care needs to be exercised in severing 

 the thick tap roots that are exposed in 

 the open trench ; some misguided indivi- 

 duals I have noticcnl vigorously hacking 

 away at them with the blunt e<lge of a 

 spade. This is not the correct way to 

 root-prune a fruit tree. A special pruning 

 saw should be obtaine<l for large, thick 

 roots, and after severing these, the ends 

 should be pared off as smoothly as possible 

 with a sharp pruning knife. When the 

 trench is first opened one may be at a loss 

 to know how to dispose of the innumerable 

 fibrous roots that are in the Avay of the 

 root-pruner. The best way to manage 

 these is to tie them up carefully to the ball 

 of soil surrounding the roots, securing thciii 

 firmly out of the way with a few woodni 

 pegs. 



That root-pruning is advantageous to old, 

 partially worn-out fruit trees there can be 

 no doubt, but it must be admitted that the 

 operation is not always attende<:l with the 

 best results. It is problematical wdiether 

 the tree will recover from the shock, but 

 it is certain that the mechanical effect of 

 the soil at the surface of the ground will 

 have much to do in determining the success 

 of root-pruning. A finely-pulverised sur- 

 face soil, porous and lidit, and well per- 

 meated by air and moisture, will encour- 

 age rooting more than anythino; else; and 

 it is advisable, where the soil is of a lieavy 

 and tenacious character, to lightfui it by 

 the addition of several barrowloads of goofl 

 leaf mould, mixed Avith sand, or some old 

 potting cnm]iost. Of course, root-pruning 

 is productive of vei-v e\c»<'llent results some- 

 times. X'suallv the first beneficial effects 

 may be noted 'in the spring followmg the 

 aut^imn when the woi'k is performed. Leaf 

 action will then assume an added vigour, 

 and there will be an abundance of buds and 

 siuu-s Avhere fornuudy woody growth held 

 full sway. 



Pruning. 



The pruning of fruit trees is not a simple 

 operation ; neither the amateur nor the com- 

 mercial fruit-frower finds it an easy matter 

 to prune his trees in the best possible 

 fashion. Sometimes, unfortunately, fruit 

 trees are cut down so carelessly, and with 

 such a wanton use of the knife, that their 



vitality 



been 



« * 



nined. The fruit-bea 



these 



have become actuallv barren or the fruit 

 has been so small that it lias been scarcely 

 worth gathering. Usually, ir will be 

 noticed, that in the case of clean, healthy 



J- 



trees, this careless system of pruning is 

 productive of a crowde<l, clustering mass ot 

 fruiting spurs along the extension of the 

 thick, woo<lv branches. To remedy this 

 state of aflFairs, all that is n» ( < svai v is to 

 saw off the branches so as to lc;n r. a> nearly 

 as possible, the young shoots of a previoiL? 

 year's growth regularly disposed over the 

 tree at intervals of 10 or 12 inches. These 

 young shoots, so disposed after the ]>runing 



saw lias been at work, will produce plenty 

 of buds in the following se;uson. and a very 

 fair crop of fruit may be relie<l u}K)n, 

 whether it be apples, pears, or plums. 



Ba<l pruning very qnickly reflwts itself 

 in the tlis]>osit ion of t lie fruiting spurs. 

 For exami)le, fifteen to twent v-year-old 

 espalier or pyramid trees sometimes exhibit 

 the effe<'t.s of this unskilful treatment in 

 the shape of thick, crowded clusters of 

 fruit spurs grouped iji a mass a* llic *'n<ls 

 of branches. PbMitv of bl*K»ni will, of 

 course, make its appearame, bnt tlu* v(^ry 

 abmidance of this l>looni will impair the 

 strength of the spnrs consi<lerab]y . and put 

 a stop to their f i n it 1 tiliK^ss. H^-re, in .such 

 f-ascs. tbc r('tu)\atnt must set to \\ork ai»<l 

 thin (lilt t he i iiiii iiii: s|nirs. an* I irnin\e 



all those tliat oidv itnidu; c a wor)dv growth. 

 Also he will remove ]t;n t of the terminal 

 shoots an<] spnrs each season so a« to bring 

 back into their proper position those shoots 

 which ba\-e grown away from tlie parent 

 st-em. J. r. X. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Lifting: Plants from Open 



Borders. 



sufrere<l unduly, and in many instances they 



In these days grrat rjuantities of <'nt 

 flow(M's are lequircd tor iIh^ fUiln'IlishnHiit 

 of r<K)iiis. c(>rridors, and <'niraiH-es of man- 

 sions ;ni(l villas. 



Soon the time will come wlien the gar- 

 dener will have to depend chiefly on forced 

 flowers, and the majority of these are ex- 

 pensive to produce. The chrysanthemum is 

 not an exptmsive plant to grow, and it 

 yields great quantities of bcautifn] flowers 

 which last for a long time in a fresh con- 

 dition. Specimens grown in pots yield 

 many blossoms, and they are especially 

 valuable for placing in greenhouses and 

 conservatories, both as pot plants and for 

 the supply of out blooms. But where there 

 are many plants now showing buds in plan- 

 tations in the garden — it may 'be, in the 

 vegetable quarters — some of them should be 

 lifted and be replantod under glass to sup- 

 plement the supply of flowers provided by 

 the pot-grown plants. 



Very little troubk' attaelies to the hous- 

 ing of these border plants, which will yield 

 a rich harvest of blooms from October to 

 December. The borders of p(*ach houses 

 are ideal places for chrysanthoninms : the 

 latter require abundance of air and a ccol 

 temperature, such as is afforded in a f each 

 house at this season of the year. Tlie in- 

 experienced cultivator should carefully lift 

 the plants, having, about one hour pievi- 

 ously, well watered the soil, so that as 

 much of it as possible may be lifted with 

 the roots. It is a mistake to over-r;rawd, 

 hut the leaves of one specimen may t<mch 

 those of another. Do not dig up, or in any 

 way disturb the soil, but place the rcots 

 an^ adhering f^oil of the plants on it, and 

 then add fresh soil to make a t-rished 

 covering to the roots. Water at once, ard 

 then not too frequently, giving just suffi- 

 cient to keep the leaves quite fresh. 



Geo earner. 



