S16 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 22, 1891. 
HARDY FRUIT CULTURE 
IN SOUTH WALES* 
The climate and the soil and situation in many places 
in South Wales are admirably adapted for the culti¬ 
vation of all kinds of hardy fruits. With these 
natural advantages, and the increasing demand for 
fritfts of all kinds in our large towns and populous 
mining districts, it is surprising that some of our 
intelligent energetic market gardeners have not long 
since made fruit growing a specialty on a large scale 
in the neighbourhood of Cardiff. After eighteen 
years' experience of growing fruit in this district, I 
am thoroughly convinced that as fine Apples, Pears, 
and Plums, and other kinds can be grown here in the 
vales of Glamorgan, and in many other places all 
over the country, as those produced in the best fruit¬ 
growing counties in England, if proper care be taken 
in selecting and cultivating the most suitable 
varieties. 
There are few orchards in Glamorgan, and what 
few I have seen are (and have been) much neglected. 
To judge from the stunted sickly appearance of some 
of the trees, and the bushy mass of branches in others, 
nothing has been done to them in the way of pruning 
and manuring the soil since they were planted. The 
planting, no doubt, in the majority of cases, was crude, 
and consisted simply of digging a hole without any 
previous preparation of the soil, putting the roots 
into it and covering them with earth, after which the 
tree was left to its own resources—nothing being done 
to it afterwards. 
To be successful in the cultivation of fruits of any 
kind the best sites should be chosen, and the ground 
thoroughly prepared, when necessary, by draining, 
trenching, digging, and manuring before planting the 
trees. In orchards Apple and Pear trees should not 
be less than 30 ft. apart each way, and none but the 
best trees — worked on the free stock—with straight 
clean stems of 6 ft. before branching, and not more 
than three years old from the time of budding, should 
be planted. 
I may say here that I remember an intelligent 
farmer telling me in all earnestness, that his father 
was a successful cultivator of the Apple in this 
district, that he grafted his own trees, and those he 
grafted on the Grey Willow stock—which I take to 
be Salix caprea — succeeded the best on his heavy 
soil—the lias clay. It is needless for me to tell the 
members of the British Fruit Growers’ Association 
that I have had no experience of that stock! 
Plants that have stood in nurs_ery rows for years, 
and have been pruned repeatedly to keep their heads 
within bounds, seldom make good trees. When 
lifted they have scarcely any fibrous roots, and after 
replanting become stunted, and fail to make much 
growth for several years. On the other hand, young 
vigorous trees, planted at the age mentioned, start 
into growth at once, and soon become large and 
fruitful. In planting, the varieties must be kept by 
themselves as much as possible for the sake of 
uniformity of growth, and convenience in gathering 
and storing the fruit. Make the pit large enough 
to hold the roots without being cramped, and a 
strong stake driven into it to tie the tree to. After 
which place the tree close to the stake, spread the 
roots out on all sides before filling in the soil, which 
should be made firm, but care must be taken not to 
plant it deeper than it was when growing in the 
nursery row. When planted secure the tree to the 
stake, prune it, and mulch the surface with manure 
to exclude air and to keep down evaporation. All 
that is required now is to protect it from cattle, 
sheep, and horses. Barbed wire guards I find the 
best; they are cheap, durable, and answer the 
purpose better than any other kind of protection that 
I know. The principal culture of orchard trees is 
during the first few years when they are young. It 
consists of pruning and cutting out all weak useless 
branches and those that cross each other, keeping 
the trees clean and free of insect pests, and top¬ 
dressing the ground with good manure to keep them 
in a vigorous and fruitful state. 
Fruit Gardens. 
The cultivation in the fruit garden is different from 
that of an orchard. Apple and Pear trees may 
be planted here a little closer, say from 18 to 
20 ft. apart, and trained in pyramidal form, and 
the ground worked and cropped between them 
*A paper read at the Cardiff Conference of the British Fruit 
Growers’ Association, by Mr. A. Psttigrbw, Gardener, Cardiff 
Castle, 
with Gooseberry, Raspberry, Currant, and Straw¬ 
berries, or vegetable crops, until they have filled their 
allotted space. I have recommended that the orchard 
trees be three years old from the time of budding; 
but for planting in the garden I prefer maidens, or 
plants of one year's growth from the buds to those of 
four or five years’ growth. They soon establish 
themselves, and grow faster than older trees, and can 
be trained to the form desired much easier. I repeat 
that too much care and attention cannot be taken in 
planting, and none but the very best trees should be 
planted to secure successful cultivation. 
There are several fine Apple and Pear trees in the 
Castle gardens here, both on walls and in the open 
quarters of the garden, which are much admired by 
gardeners and others visiting the place. They were 
all planted, pruned, and trained under my supervision, 
and perhaps I could not do better than describe the 
mode adopted in growing and training them. To 
avoid repitition, I may say that most of the trees 
were planted when maidens of‘one year’s growth. 
The Pear trees on the walls are planted at the 
distance of 21 ft. apart, and trained in fan-shape 
with a leader up the centre. When planting 
them they were kept away 6 ins. from the 
bottom of the wall to allow room for the stem to 
swell; the roots were spread out carefully and 
covered, the ground made firm, and mulched with 
manure afterwards. The leaders were then cut back 
to within 18 ins- from the ground and fastened 
loosely to the wall. In the following year they pro¬ 
duced from three to five shoots each, which were 
carefully but loosely nailed to the wall as required 
during the growing season, and allowed to grow their 
full length without being stopped. At pruning time 
the centre shoot of each tree was cut back to 
within 18 or 20 ins. from where it started, 
according to the strength of the growth, and the two 
or four remaining shoots, as the case might be, were 
nailed to the wall their full length; the two lower 
shoots horizontally, one on each side of the main 
stem, and the others at a slight angle up the wall. 
From this time on, until the trees had occupied their 
full space, they were examined regularlv every spring 
shortly after starting into growth, and all the super¬ 
fluous buds rubbed off the leading shoots and a few 
of the buds near the ends of the permanent branches 
picked off to strengthen the terminal bud. I never 
shorten the points of the permanent branches until 
they have grown their full length, unless they have 
met with an accident, or the wood happens not to be 
sufficiently ripe to remain. The brestwood is taken 
off two or three times during the season, but I never 
pinch and stop the growths during the summer, as 
recommended by some writers. 
To build up young trees and furnish the wall with 
them in the shortest time possible I have stopped 
the leading shoot of the current year’s growth after 
it had grown about 2 ft. in length, which caused 
it to send out lateral branches. These in good 
seasons ripened well, and a year’s growth was gained 
by adopting this method ; but I do not recommend 
it in a general way, as the success mainly depends 
on the seasons being good to ripen the wood 
thoroughly. 
Pruning. 
The trees are pruned as soon after the leaves fall 
as possible, and the roots mulched with enough 
stable litter for a breadth of three feet from the 
bottom of the wall, after which the branches, are 
syringed with a wineglassful of petroleum to a 
gallon of water. All is thoroughly mixed by the 
syringe continually churning it up during the opera¬ 
tion. The petroleum thus applied kills scale and all 
insects it comes in contact with, and it gives the 
bark of the trees a smooth and healthy appearance. 
This finished, the branches are then secured in their 
proper position for the year. 
Pyramidal Trees. 
These, though differently trained, are built up 
much in the same way as wall trees. When newly- 
planted they are cut down to within 18 ins. from 
the ground, and the following year they produce 
from three to five shoots each. One of the strongest 
of these is selected for a leader, which ultimately 
becomes the stem of the tree, and all the others are 
rubbed off except three of the best placed, which are 
retained to form the base and framework of the tree. 
The shoots are allowed to finish the season’s growth 
without being stopped in any way. When they are 
being pruned in the autumn the leading shoot is 
lqft from 18 ins. to 2 ft. long, according to the 
strength and ripeness of the wood (but as the 
trees get older the leading shoots may be left even 
longer) and the side branches a little shorter. This 
system is practised year after year, cutting out all 
cross and superfluous wood, and training and 
furnishing the tree with well arranged branches until 
it has filled its space, after which the growth is 
spurred in the usual way close to the permanent 
wood every season to form fruit buds. I do not 
believe that stopping and pinching the young shoots 
during summer adds to the productiveness of the 
tree ; besides, it is impossible in large fruit gardens, 
where there is a great number of trees, to find time 
to do so. 
I do not advise root-pruning to be practised except 
in cases where the roots have penetrated a cold wet 
subsoil, in which the trees produce strong rank 
unfruitful wood. When such is the case, and the 
trees are young, they should be lifted entirely, the 
strong roots cut back, and the fibrous roots spread 
out near the surface ; but when the trees are large it 
is advisable to dig a trench three or four feet distant 
from the trunk all round, cut back the strong roots, 
and add some good soil to encourage fibrous roots to 
grow near the surface. 
The Apple is more liable to the attacks of insect 
pests and disease than the Pear. The canker is the 
most difficult to deal with, and some Varieties are 
more subject to it then others. When planted in 
low, damp situations the trees get covered with moss 
and lichen. They are also subject to the attacks cf 
American blight, and this, in my opinion, is one cf 
the principal causes of canker, but there is a great 
diversity of opinion about this. When once a tree is 
attacked with canker it is almost impossible to cure 
it, and the sooner it is grubbed out and a new one 
planted in its place the better. I think it is a 
mistake to lose time and valuable space with a sickly 
tree from any cause whatever when trees can be bought 
so cheaply from our nurserymen. Moss and lichen can 
be destroyed by dusting the trees with newly slacked 
lime on damp mornings during the winter months, 
and American blight by scrubbing the bark of the 
affected trees with a hard brush and soapsuds, and 
by frequent syringings of petroleum mixed in water 
as previously described. 
Of Apples there are more than forty varieties, and 
of Pears about the same, grown in the Castle gardens. 
But the following twenty-four of each are amongst 
the most useful, both culinary and dessert. Apples : 
Devonshire Quarrenden, Irish Peach, Lord Suffield, 
Keswick Codlin, Lord Grosvenor, Potts' Seedling, 
Blenheim Pippin, Beauty of Hants, Cox’s Orange 
Pippin, Ecklinville, Emperor Alexander, Gloria 
Mundi, Golden Noble, Hawthornden, Annie Eliza¬ 
beth, Sturmer Pippin, Alfriston, Beauty of Kent, 
Dumelow’s Seedling (Wellington), Lane’s Prince 
Albert, Rymer, Warner’s King, and Rushock 
Pearmain. 
Of Pears the following twenty-four varieties are 
grown successfully both on walls and pyramidal 
trees in the open. Duchesse d’Angouleme, Jargon¬ 
elle, Summer Bergamot, Beurre Magnifique, Beurre 
d’Amanlis, Beurre Diel, Beurre Ranee, Beurre 
d'Esperen, Durondeau, Louise Bonrtte of Jersey, 
Pitmaston Duchess, Uvedale's St. Germain, Thomp¬ 
son’s, Brown Beurre, General Todtleben, Doyenne 
du Comice, Glou Morceau, Winter Nelis, Marie 
Louise, Beurre Bose, Beurre Clairgeau, Williams' 
Bon Chretien, Vicar of Winkfield, and Gansel's 
Bergamot. 
Plums, 
The trees in the open quarters here are treated 
much in the same way as the pyramidal Apple and 
Pear trees, and those on the walls are pruned and 
trained the same as the Pear trees in that position. 
The Plum, like most of the stone fruits, is subject to 
the attacks of aphides, red spider, honeydew, mildew, 
gum, and canker. The aphides generally show them¬ 
selves first on the points of the young vigorous 
shoots, which they cause to curl. As soon as they 
are observed the points of the shoots should be 
nipped off, to keep them from spreading over the 
tree, except in the case of the main shoots of wall 
tree, when the affected leaves should be picked off 
to preserve them entire. Syringing the trees with 
soapsuds and tobacco water keeps them in check, but 
once the trees are badly affected—the way the}’ are 
in some places this season—it is not easy to get rid 
of them by any means. Honeydew is the effect of 
aphides’attacks. Red. spider is difficult to master 
in dry seasons, and some districts are worse for it 
