viii 



INTRODUCTION. 



When I came to a thinking age, I became anxious to know 

 why those refuse trees never made strong, vigorous shoots 

 like those growing in their immediate neighborhood, and yet 

 nearly always bore good crops of fruit. Many years elapsed 

 before I saw "the reason why," and long afterwards I was 

 advised by a friend, a F. H. S., to write a crude, short paper on 

 the subject, and send it to be read at a meeting of the Horti- 

 cultural Society: this paper is published in their "Transac- 

 tions." I had then practised it several years ; so that I may 

 now claim a little more attention, if the old adage that " prac- 

 tice makes perfect " be worthy of notice. 



This little work is not designed for the gardens and gardeners 

 of the wealthy and great, but for those who take a personal 

 interest in fruit tree culture, and who look on their gardens as 

 a never-failing source of amusement. In some few favored 

 districts, fruit trees, without any extra care in planting and 

 after-management, will bear good crops, and remain healthy 

 for many years. It is not so in gardens with unfavorable soils ; 

 and they are greatly in the majority. It is to those possessing 

 such, and more particularly to the possessors of small gardens, 

 that the directions here given may prove of value. The object 

 constantly had in view is, to make fruit trees healthy and fruit- 

 ful by keeping their roots near the surface. The root-pruning 

 and biennial removal so earnestly recommended are the proper 

 means to bring about these results, as they place the roots 

 within the influence of the sun and air. The ground over the 

 roots of garden trees, as generally cultivated, is dug once or 

 twice a year, so that every surface-fibre is destroyed and the 

 larger roots driven downwards : they, consequently, imbibe 

 crude watery sap, which leads to much apparent luxuriance in 

 the trees. This in the end is fatal to their well-doing, for the 

 vigorous shoots made annually are seldom or never ripened suf- 

 ficiently to form blossom-buds. Canker then comes on, and 

 although the trees do not die they rarely give fruit, and in a 



