December 10, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
509 
COMING EVENTS 
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Royal Society at 4.30 p.m. 
Qaekett Club at 8 p.m. 
Royal Botanic Society at 3.45 P.M. 
Third Sunday in Advent. 
Royal Geographical Society at 8.30 P.M. 
Society of Arts at 8 P.M. 
THE APPLE ON LIGHT SOIL. 
OST observers must have been struck at the 
extending taste for articles of consumption 
which, up to a period very close to the present, 
were confined to a comparatively limited class, 
but which are now the everyday want of the 
many. As more particularly peculiar to our 
own special employment the wonderful develop¬ 
ment of the taste for the Tomato and the 
increased consumption of Grapes may be men¬ 
tioned as well-known instances. The Apple is also attain¬ 
ing a rapidly increasing consumption, especially among the 
middle classes, but also among the working classes. The 
fruit imported from the United States and Canada, and the 
reasonable prices^ at which that fruit is purchaseable, has 
doubtless been the chief cause of the Apple becoming neces¬ 
sary in so large a number of homes. 
The point which producers have to aim at is to see that 
a taste which has been created and which will increase year 
by year has the means of satisfying its demands. There are 
at the present time sufficient Apple trees in the country to go 
a long way towards satisfying these demands, but unfortu¬ 
nately the great majority of trees of a productive size are of 
varieties which are deficient in the size or quality of fruit, 
often uncertain croppers, and large numbers too old. I do 
not think I am exaggerating the state of things in private 
gardens in saying that for every tree of a variety meeting 
the requirements of a good Apple, there are at least a dozen 
which are practically valueless. In provincial market gar¬ 
dens the same state of affairs holds, with the result that fruit 
retailers are obliged to place their orders for foreign grown 
produce. The remedy for this state of things would be 
simply to take out the old trees and plant good sorts, but the 
country is going through a revolution at the present time, 
which, though quiet, is none the less sure, and the result is 
that occupiers of market ground are chary about investing in 
a property which would take a few years to make good 
their outlay and secure a profit. A grower under three land¬ 
lords told me the other day that though he fully recognised 
the future there is for the Apple as a popular market fruit, 
he was afraid to make any investment until he saw how 
things would turn, and as a matter of course landowners are 
equally shy of entering into costly investments. 
If ever allotment farming—gardening were the better 
name—becomes the national undertaking its promoters expect 
it to be, the cultivation of the Apple must in suitable soils 
and climates become one of the best paying crops which will 
be grown, but in order to make it pay sorts alone which have 
been tested must be planted. In our northern climate there 
is no Apple which I am acquainted with that will pay to grow 
for dessert. These are either too uncertain croppers or do 
not grow large enough. We are, therefore, restricted to 
culinary sorts, and of these the only certain croppers are 
kinds which must be used before January. Of course there 
are plenty of good later kinds which meet the requirements 
of home use, but size for market is now an all-important 
No. 285. -Vol. XI., Third Series, 
matter. Mere de Menage is the only Apple which 1 should 
be inclined to recommend as a later variety which is at once 
a constant cropper, profitable as to quantity, and the whole 
of the fruit of a good size. But I am afraid a good climato 
will be found indispensable for it. 
Since I have taken any great interest in the Apple it has 
happened that the soil in which I have been obliged to study 
its peculiarities has always been of a “ light ” character, so 
that I can only speak of it under that limitation. However, 
as the constituency of the Journal will include a very large 
proportion of gardeners similarly situated, the result of that 
limitation may not be of so much consequence. The main 
points of general interest which I have found about the 
Apple on light soils are—first, the necessity of deep cultiva¬ 
tion ; second, the necessity of good feeding; third, the great 
influence of stock to the advantage of the Crab or free; and 
fourth, the necessity of strictly limiting the varieties to those 
suitable for light soils. 
Enlarging on these four points I have found that Apples 
planted on shallow soil have been unredeemable failures, 
and that those which have a deep root run 30 inches in 
depth have succeeded very well. The drought of the past 
summer, so fatal to the size of fruit in many gardens, has had 
little or no practical effect in ours, and that more especially 
where the ground had been lately enriched. Of course it is 
quite the thing to say in regard to this matter, Keep the 
roots near the surface; but under ordinary circumstances to 
keep roots near the surface in the case of soils such as those 
under consideration is simply to court failure. I have nothing 
to say against those who have the means of supplying water 
to the trees in dry weather, dispensing with other than mere 
surface cultivation, and I may go a step further and admit 
that fruit grown under such conditions will be better coloured 
than those which have been grown in a deep soil. But 
what I want to show is this, that under the circumstances 
under which gardening is carried on, and in the great 
majority of gardens, deep cultivation, so that the trees may 
have a root run away from the effects of local climatal in¬ 
fluences, is simply a necessity. 1 have found also that the 
roots have no tendency to run out of the cultivated soil 
when it is cultivated deeply enough. Trees root-pruned 
seven years ago were this year found to have extended the 
roots made since then, not downwards, but into the good 
soil. 
This brings us now to the second point—the necessity of 
good feeding. Deep cultivation does not always insure 
good feeding. Deep cultivation may improve the soil, 
aerate the soil, and make it of a kindlier nature, but 
it will not give the trees any more food—at least, not to 
an appreciable extent. Feeding material the cultivator 
must supply. The best material, and at the command of 
every gardener if he likes to look after it, is decayed 
garden rubbish. This is easily brought into a fit condition 
to use. Our plan is to make up a heap annually of about 
forty loads. This is composed of all the decayed vegetables, 
ashes from fires, leaves, and the general rubbish constantly 
accumulating in gardens, and after it has lain twelve months 
it forms a heap of compost which is of the greatest value. 
This should be laid on at the rate of from 9 inches to a foot 
thick and mixed with the soil as the ground is being trenched. 
When the trees are being planted more may be employed— 
in fact, too much of it can hardly be made use of. But 
beyond this a coating of dung is required over the roots of 
trees annually. When roots are near to the surface it must 
not be dug in, but where the roots are out of the way digging 
it in will do no harm. Cow manure is the best to use. I 
have found the removal of soil from above the roots, and a 
thick layer from the rubbish-heap compost forked into the 
soil, work wonderful improvement in the strength and vigour 
of heavily cropped trees. 
Then with regard to the stock. I do not find the least 
difficulty in producing fruit on small trees on the free stock. 
No. 1911.— Vol. LXXJII., Old Series. 
