* 



r 



November 23, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



895 



to the enclosure^ and a 4ft. path divides the 

 plantation north and south ; Avhile a patli 

 along each side allows ample room tor 

 wheeling, cleaning, etc. In every way this 

 wire fruit cage has answered expectations, 

 and crops are safe from birds. 



THE WIRE FRUIT CAGE AT 



NUNEHAM PARK. 



In some districts Avhere birds are very 

 plentiful considerable difficulty is expe- 

 rienced in preserving small fruits from their 

 depredations. The vise of fish-netting is 

 by no means satisfactory, because one or 

 two flaws in the netting will enable the birds 

 to enter, and there is little satisfaction in 

 ciitching and killing the feathered thief 

 after it has devovired a considerable portion 

 of the fruit crop. Further, the use of 

 netting is likely to cause no small damage 

 to the trees unless all the small fruits are 

 in regular plots, so that a wooden frame- 

 work can be erected and covered in with 

 netting. But if this sort of thing has to 

 be done annually it becomes a fairly serious 



problem, and at once suggests the desir- been grown in orchards, and wlien the de 



ESTATE FRUIT 



PLANTATIONS. 



The title of this article suggests its ob- 

 jec*t, namely, to draw attention to the cul- 

 tivation of mixed fruit on the home estate 

 as a crop for the purpose of profit. This 

 may be described as a more or l^ss nKxiern 

 phase of fruit culture, hut it is being de- 

 veloped, and is frequently under the charge 

 of the head gardener. For centuries hardy 

 fruits like apples, pears, and plums lu 



a superabundance of second-rate produce 

 in the market that is responsible for this. 

 The object, then, of any man who sots out 

 to grow fruit as a co m me rc i a 1 ve n t u re 

 should be to aim at the production of the 

 very best, for it is nothing but this that 

 Inis enabled foreign growers to get such a 

 hold on British markets. 



Sites and Soil. 



Nothing could be more mischievous than 

 the doctrine Av]ii<'h 1 am afraid has been 

 preache<l bv ii resi)oiisiblo persons in the 

 past, that fruit <'ulture is an easy way to 

 fortune, ami tbnt any man who ha^ land 

 may plant it willi triiil wnth a reasonaible 

 assurance that it will yii^ld him a profit. 

 The fruit grower may assi.st Nature, but he 

 must not attempt to dictate to her, and, 

 before setting out to form a plantation, 

 there should ho rivistuuible assurance that 



VIEW 



INSIDE THE WIRE FRUIT CAGE AT NUNEHAM PARK GARDENS. 



itbility of a permanent protection, such as 

 the one depicted here, which has doiu' 

 duty for several years at Nunehaui Park 

 Gardens, near Oxford. 



This fruit en<'b>sure was \n\i up in P)(17 

 by Messrs. Boulton and Paul, of Xorwi<'h, 

 and is 187ft. long by 50ft. wide. Mr. C. E. 

 Mimday, head gardener to L. Harcourt, 

 Esq., states that the structure is 16ft. inn. 

 high to the ridge, and 6ft. 6in. to the eaves, 

 Jind therefore throws off snow^ easily. It 

 J'uns east and west, and all the supports are 



Ifin. angle iron work. The netting used 



fin. mesh. Inside, espalier trellises are 

 placed 5ft. apart, the wires being secured 

 by screw-bolts to the supports to allow for 

 tightening. About half the es])ali(M'S are 

 devoted to loganberries and rasi)l>erries, and 

 the other half to gooseberries; and the 

 illustrations show how Mell the former re- 

 spond to good cultivation in this wire cage. 



Three gates along one side give (entrance 



mand arose for more of these commodities 

 the market gai-dener commenced by uiter- 



persing his vegetable plots with Inuis ot 

 trees, and this ]ed up to devoting land en- 

 tirely to fruit. The business is somewhat 

 speculative, it has its ups and downs, ats 

 good seasons and bad seasons, its years 

 when prices are good and others when they 

 are below the average, but the steady in- 

 crease in fruit growing as a commercial 

 venture affords proof of its possibd-ities, 

 iind it is not likely tliat the demand for 

 fruit will grow^ less^ so long as the popula- 

 tion increases and big towns encroach fur- 

 ther and further into country districts. 



The success of commercial fruit culture, 

 however, depends very much on one <*(>u- 

 dition, i.e., the class of fruit that is grown, 

 the method of packing, and tlu^ way in 

 which it is put upon the market. In a w^ud, 

 it is the best fruit that pays, ami when \m 



the soil is adapted to fruit culture. This 

 beim: so. u is the safest plan to start in 

 a district where fruit is already grown, and 

 there is t^vi<ieiu-t^ to show that the local 

 conditions are suitable. There are many 

 circumstan<'cs to bear in mind, for nob 

 onlv should the soil be deep and of a suit- 

 able character, but it should be -well- 

 drained; if not naturally, then artificially. 

 There should he shelter from the prevailing 

 inds. the positioji should be elevated 



enough to be reason;d)ly 

 1;.,^^^ ciirino- frti^ts th:it a r< 



safe from those 

 so fatal in some 



spring fni'-;^ 

 seasons, and tlu^ n<*sition should be <'0!iv( 



of 



liauling 



and 



nient for the purposes 

 general cultivation. . 



The selection of the site for a fnnt plan- 

 t uiou is n.)T a uiatter that should be dis- 

 niisse.l li-htlv. for too much care cannot 

 ho exercised over this at the otitset. and a 

 hlunder at the beginning may lead V^f^^J 



if « fhp best rruit that uavs. ami \\ nen ut- <MiMiit. i ^ wVi^« 



h.."r of ghiSand low prices, it is very often to di-Pin.i.unu.ut andloss of mono> . ^^ hen 



