JUNE. 
129 
is never worth doing where healthy fruit are set in abundance, which is sure to 
be by following the foregoing instructions. All bunches of fruit must also be 
thinned to singles at once; then, by degrees, thin the side fruit, and under¬ 
shaded fruit, leaving those as much as possible on the upper sides of the 
wood most exposed to sunlight and air. As the} 7, are now gaining strength, in 
our large structures the engine is set pretty freely to work every fine morning. 
Clear soot water is mixed with the tepid water; and clear well-purified manure 
water is used, occasionally charging the structure well with ammonia. This 
maintains vigour, health, colour, and cleanliness. Neither red spider nor aphis 
ever make their appearance with this kind of treatment faithfully and method¬ 
ically performed. As the days advance with more sun and light, the trees 
are well washed down early of an afternoon, and shut up, and the night atmo¬ 
sphere allowed to advance. Care is taken, of course, in the afternoon’s washing, 
to shut off artificial heat early, if any has been applied, in order to husband 
the sun heat, and to get the trees thoroughly dry before sunset; or by repeating 
the shutting up damp, and then not thoroughly getting the trees dry. Mildew, 
canker, aphis, red spider, &c., may easily be produced by cold and damp. 
In regularly thinning the fruit, of course enough should be left at last to 
allow for stoning; after which they may be thinned to what the tree’s strength 
is able to carry and finish off well. During this time, and as days and light 
increase, the atmosphere by day and night is allowed to increase gradually; 
but the night atmosphere must never be above 55° till the fruit is stoned. If 
any of the young shoots at the base are growing too vigorously, stop them by 
pinching the points, and tying them down; and. this, to properly balance and 
furnish a tree all over with nice-sized short-jointed wood, must be strictly and 
regularly attended to, both as regards the progress of the present crop of 
fruit, and likewise the crop of young wood for fruit-bearing the succeeding 
year. It is the attention during summer to bud-thinning, fruit-thinning, 
pinching, tying, and training which are the operations which maintain those 
fruit-bearing trees in health, vigour, and fruit-bearing for many succeeding 
years; and not the leaving of such abundance of crowded summer wood, and 
then to prune, thin, and slash away with the knife in winter. No; but all 
must be gone through and performed carefully and methodically, without 
allowing either fruit or young wood to advance too thickly previous to com¬ 
mencing thinning, and then commence the thinning by wholesale. No, no; 
such practice will certainly cause failure or disappointment. 
Now that the fruit is stoned finish thinning, if more is required ; apply 
tepid manure water freely to their roots, advance the heat, wash down freely 
morning and evening, shutting up early; gradually tie a portion of the 
strongest young wood down, till all is tied neatly. The fruit that did not, to 
an inexperienced person, appear to be much of a crop, is now swelling and 
growing, and appearing above the foliage to that extent that the wonder is where 
they all sprung from. The foliage or young shoots that shade in any way the 
fruit should be turned down or pinched oft', according to circumstances ; but 
pinch no more foliage than is absolutely necessary on any account. The fruit 
now being full grown, some commence colouring; withhold, then, wholly the 
washing down, and do not water the roots any more than is absolutely necessary. 
Give air freely night and day; keep all fruit well exjDosed to light and air, and 
the success that will attend the foregoing practice will be a beautiful, well- 
coloured, and altogether finished crop, and the requisite proportion of nice¬ 
sized short-jointed wood for another year. 
The crop of fruit all gathered, no time is to be lost in cutting the whole of 
the ties, letting the trees entirely loose. All the present year’s fruit-bearing 
wood not required, cut off to the base of this year’s young wood, or next year’s 
