THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 30, 1858. 
| to prevent the solar heat from entering. But, trees 
I hard worked, and, perhaps, carrying full crops, are 
I heavily taxed sometimes about, or soon after, Midsum¬ 
mer, and if the volume of the soil where their roots are 
situated becomes too dry, why we may fairly expect 
the trees to cast much of their fruit in the stoning 
process. Thus we often hear complaints of this kind, 
the owners completely puzzled as to the cause. I do 
not mean to affirm that all fruit casting is caused by 
drought alone, being well assured that stagnation is as 
great an evil. I, however, throw out the hint for those 
! who know their trees are liable to be affected by 
drought. Such is my case, and seldom a summer passes 
but I water Peach and Nectarine trees at the end of 
June, or, perhaps, earlier. But we seldom water more 
than this once, but then it is indeed watering. Pull 
i grown trees receive, at least, a score buckets oi water ; 
and, if rather weak, some guano or dunghill drainings 
are, perhaps, added to the water. X consider it of im¬ 
portance, too, to water on mulching materials, and that 
the latter be well warmed by the heat of the sun; there¬ 
fore, the afternoon of a sunny day is best for the purpose. 
We may now refer to the points necessary with the 
j branches, blossoms, shoots, &c. 
First, then as to training ; of course this will have to 
j be carried out, if not done. Then comes protection,.for 
i those who think well of it; some, it appears, still object 
to it. But it is the abuse, and not the use, of protection 
which misleads some of its opponents. Let those, 
therefore, who would examine this question fairly, ap¬ 
proach it as free from prejudice as possible. One man 
leaves his covering on almost continually; another, 
whose plan I would recommend, only draw his blinds 
down in cases of sheer necessity. So far from fearing 
a puff of wind, he would rather invite it, as tending to 
harden the blossom-buds in course of development. It 
is a pity but this question was dealt with in a more 
liberal way, and that points, apparently trivial to hasty 
observers, were better distinguished, and not judged of 
in the lump. I have years since, in the pages of The 
Cottage Gardener, so explained these matters, as to 
render them, as I think, exceedingly plain; but, some¬ 
how, they get mystified again. How any person can 
think that a Pear, Apricot, or Peach blossom, can be 
expected to endure a dozen degrees of frost, when the 
blossom is out, or nearly so, unscathed, I am at a loss 
to understand. And, if it be admitted, that tender 
blossoms are susceptible of injury from very low tem¬ 
peratures, why the question of protection would appear 
to be recognised ; and all that remains is, how to carry 
it out. Protection then, as all coverings happen to be 
called, has but two uses, viz., as a retarder of the 
blossom-buds, and to ward off those keen frosts which 
we are apt to experience in March and April. As a 
retarder, they should be put up early in February, and 
should be used principally to keep off sunshine ; as a 
protector, when the trees are in blossom, simply to keep 
off intense frosts, daily hardening them by free ex- 
; posure to winds, &c. 
I may now refer to another spring proceeding of im¬ 
portance ; the thoroughly cleansing the trees from 
insects. The moment the blossom is set, the aphides 
are almost sure to make their appearance, and must be 
; grappled with at once. Of course the trees will have 
received attention, if troubled with the scaly insect 
previous. Tobacco water, applied by the syringe, is still 
the best destructive we possess, and this applied two 
afternoons in succession, if possible, will clear the trees 
of this pest. Let no one expect success in Peach culture, 
if the green fly is allowed to prevail; this alone is enough 
to baffle the brightest expectations. It is well, after this 
| tobacco application, to souse the wall and trees with 
clean tepid water, both on account of decency, and to 
clear away lodgments, occasioned by the ravages of the 
plant lice. Peach and Nectarine trees, after even a 
slight attack of aphis, are apt to receive a very con¬ 
siderable fret, and folks sometimes imagine that they 
are still suffering from some ailment. This merely 
shows, how serious the attacks of these insects are, and 
offers a warning against what might otherwise be 
deemed unimportant. And now we must refer to another 
enemy, whose advent must be provided against; one 
not less insidious or dangerous than the aphides. I 
mean the red spider. It is some years since I first 
recommended a clay and sulphur paint, in the pages of 
the ever instructive Cottage Gardener ; but I have 
not ceased, as spring returns, to urge the importance 
of it as a preventive, and I was somewhat amused a 
week or two since, to find my paint strongly recom¬ 
mended by a calendar writer in a contemporary work. 
But to shoot with another man’s powder has become 
most fashionable of late. This clay paint, however, 
is a mighty antagonist of the spider, and applied 
annually, is of itself a guarantee against any severe 
depredations. 
The next thing in order, as spring work, is the wait¬ 
ing on the newly-developed bud : “ disbudding ” this 
is generally termed. The necessity for this arises from 
the fact that Peach trees, in a healthy condition and 
trained, produce many more shoots annually than can 
be retained. As soon as the trees are out of blossom, 
the young shoots are produced, and a selection becomes 
necessary. Of course, the best-bearing shoots are 
selected, and those which get closest to the wall; but 
this disbudding must not be done at once—it must be 
gradual. It should be commenced when the young 
shoots are a couple of inches in length, and repeated 
in about three weeks ; the third or last disbudding a 
little before Midsummer. Many persons, not accus¬ 
tomed to gardening operations, are puzzled about this 
simple process, but there need be no difficulty about 
it. A little consideration of the reasons for it, and an 
eye to distinguish the differing character of the shoots 
produced, will soon convey an idea of what is requisite. 
What are termed foreright shoots are first stripped 
away, and these being generally gross are not of fruit¬ 
ful character. Then it becomes the operator to select 
from the remainder, and to reserve a liberal amount 
at thinning ; the whole to be rummaged over again at 
the final disbudding. The shoots finally reserved 
should be selected on principle; but I think I hear 
some of the amateur readers of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener exclaim, what principle ? Now we all very 
well know, that a good deal of gardening goes ” as 
the maggot bites; ” but let us not be cheated out of 
our principles by trite sayings. This, then, I would 
urge on beginners, that in Peach wood reserved no two 
shoots should be of equal length, and in equal position. 
These things being properly carried out, there will not 
be a crowding together of the foliage, and the wood 
will have every chance of ripening. When trees are 
too weak, it is sometimes necessary to reserve the 
stronger shoots; and when too gross, that of a more 
moderate character. Gross shoots, which have a ten¬ 
dency to burst into axillary wood, should have their 
points pinched when about six inches in length. This 
is a most important procedure, and is generally per¬ 
formed through the end of May and early part of 
June. By this the young wood can be kept of the 
most equal strength, through the whole of the tree, 
and this can never be accomplished by any mode of 
winter pruning; the former being a safe preventive, 
the latter merely an attempted remedy for the inequa¬ 
lities of previous growth. After the preceding opera¬ 
tions are fully carried out, the remaining matters are 
principally summer and autumn work, and pass by 
them now as occupying too much space ; a subsequent 
paper must disclose them. 
i 
