January 18, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
43 
8 ft. high for a north aspect border, and 
there should be no trees in the vicinity to 
overhang or shade the border in any way. 
A portion of the Raspberries would get the 
• sunshine direct over the wall, but if the 
light is good on all other quarters, you can 
reckon upon getting a good crop from a 
north aspect border. It would tend to make 
the Raspberries somewhat later than on an 
east aspect border, thus prolonging the sup¬ 
ply. Raspberries delight in a little shade 
and for your part of the country they would 
benefit by being on that border, provided 
all the other conditions mentioned are suit¬ 
able. The ground would also be more easily 
kept in a moist condition during the sum¬ 
mer. We should not hesitate to plant and 
grow Raspberries on both of these borders 
if we required so many. The first thing we 
should determine would be whether we 
wanted the fruits early or late. 
2525. Apple Tree with Toadstools. 
Last season I noticed some Toadstools 
springing from the base of one of our Apple 
trees and I noticed the bark coming off in 
places. Is it likely that the Toadstools were 
the cause of it, and if so, what am I to do? 
(T. Kent, Gloucester.) 
From what you say it is probably the 
tree root rot, caused by a fairly common 
fungus named Armillaria mellea. In all 
probability the tree attacked is doomed, 
though you may save it for a season or two 
by taking some trouble to prevent the fungus 
from extending to other trees in the neigh¬ 
bourhood. You would have to gather and 
destroy all the mushroom-like fruits as soon 
as they make their appearance. Burning 
would be the best remedy for them, but you 
should gather them before the spores are 
ready to get scattered about. Then dig a 
trench round about the tree 12 in. to 14 in. 
deep and at least 3 ft. from the trunk of 
the tree, thus making a circle about 6 ft. in 
diameter. If the tree is a large one the 
circle might be at a greater distance from 
the trunk to prevent the mycelium from ex¬ 
tending bejmnd that one tree. Some lime 
might be placed in the bottom of the trench 
which would also act as a check against the 
fungus. Remove all loose pieces of bark 
from the tree and then tar over the surface 
from which the bark is taken off. This will 
keep out the rain and preserve the tree as 
long as it is possible to do so. Very likely, 
however, the fungus is under the bark in 
other places. 
2526. Making- a Fig Border. 
Can you tell me how to proceed in mak¬ 
ing a border in front of a sunny wall that 
would enable me to grow Figs ? Please also 
say what is the best variety for growing out 
of doors. Would they need any protection 
in winter? '(Ficus, Devon.) 
As a rule, it is undesirable to have a 
border of any great width or depth. The 
Fig tree is inclined to fruit better and 
earlier when its roots are rather confined. 
The reason for this is that the shoots do not 
grow so rampantly, and therefore ripen 
earlier in the season. If you take out the 
soil to the depth of 2 ft. wide and 2 ft. 
deep it would be sufficient. Build a brick 
wall, one brick thick, inside of this border, 
or use slates stood upon end to prevent the 
roots of the Figs as far as possible from 
straying into the soil beyond the border. 
Figs, as a rule, like chalk or limestone, and 
if you can get chalk to put in as drainage 
in the bottom of the border it will prove 
advantageous to the Figs. Use good, turfy 
soil, and if there is a fair amount of sand 
in it no other will be necessary, but you 
should examine it fronKthis point of view 
before filling up the border with. it. Brown 
Turkey is the best for outdoor culture. If 
the summer growths are only moderately 
long and well ripened no protection in win¬ 
ter will be necessary. 
2527. Pear Not Ripening. 
Some years ago I planted a Pear tree 
named Uvedale’s St. Germain, as it pro¬ 
duced very large fruit. Last year it gave 
about half a score fruits of fine size, but 
they did not ripen. Does this kind ever be¬ 
come soft or fit for eating ? If not, what 
would you advise me to do? (T. Morrison, 
Northampton.) 
The variety of Pear you mention is a very 
large one, we believe the largest in existence 
when well grown, but it is only fit for stew¬ 
ing purposes, as it never becomes soft nor 
fit to eat until it is cooked. Your best plan 
if you do not like it for cooking purposes 
is to out down the main branches and re- 
graft them with Pitmaston Duchess at the 
end of March. This is a dessert Pear, and 
although not the best in British orchards in 
the matter of flavour, it is one of the 
largest size and usually fruits very freely. 
If you desire to cut it down, this should 
be done in January or February before it 
commences to push the buds. ' Then get- 
shoots of the Duchess and lay them in soil 
in a shady situation till the time we men¬ 
tion. They will take more readily if thus 
kept back until the grafts are put on. An¬ 
other plan would be to get a j’oung tree of 
Pitmaston Duchess grafted on the" Quince. 
That, of course, would be easier to do, if 
you are unacquainted with the art of graft - 
ing. You would, also, probablv gain a year 
by getting a tree already grafted" 
2528. Pruning and Training Young 
Fruit Trees. 
Last spring I grafted a number of stocks 
for Plums and Apples. They made growths 
from 2ft. to 4ft. long, some with two or 
three rods. Please advise me how to pro¬ 
ceed. Do I cut them all back to about three 
buds from the scions? If so, when, now or 
in the spring ? They were moved to their 
fruiting positions last November. The 
Plums are for east and west walls. Please 
say which varieties are most suitable for. 
which wall. They are Curlew, Pond’s 
Seedling, Coe’s Golden Drop, and Victoria. 
The Apples consist of Mr. Gladstone, Lord 
Suffield, Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Blenheim 
Pippin, etc., and are for cordon and pyra- 
mid. Do Plums make good cordons? Would 
you advise pruning fruit trees now that were 
purchased in November? They apparently 
have not been pruned lately, as the heads 
(standards) have a great many long shoots 
on them. (B., Bedford.) 
It entirely depends upon the form in which 
you intend training the Plums and Aoples 
as to the pruning you give them. There is 
no obiect in cutting them back merely for 
the sake of cutting them If you are going 
to train the Plums upon walls the r -ddle 
shoot should be pruned back to about 12m. 
from the ground, so as . to furnish s eral 
shoots, one of which would constitute the 
leader next season with two side shoots to 
form other two branches of the tree. If you 
wish to make standards of the Apples then 
only the best stem should be allowed to re¬ 
main nearly or quite full length if properly 
ripened. - The side branches in such a case 
ought to be cut entirely away. The present 
is the best time to carry out this operation. 
All of those Plums you mention are per¬ 
fectly suitable for either an east or a west 
aspect wall, but we should give preference 
to a west wall, because they bloom early and 
the sun is not likely to shine upon the blos¬ 
som in spring if it happens to be caught by 
late frosts. The Aople trees which you de¬ 
sire for different forms of trees should be 
pruned accordingly. If you wish to make 
single upright cordons of any of them, then 
the one-year old trees may be cut back to 
about 15m. and the leader in the following 
year mav be cut back to 12m., or even 
shorter if the variety is inclined to run away 
without making short side branches or spurs. 
All the side shoots should be pruned back to 
one good bud near the base at the winter 
pruning. In the case of pyramids you may 
prune back the one-year old trees to 15m. 
and then allow about i2in. for a few succeed¬ 
ing years until the trees get about as high 
as you want them. Then the leaders may be 
shortened back more extensively or entirely 
cut away if the trees are as tall as you wish 
them to be. About a foot a year will be 
sufficient in the case of pyramids to give you 
a number of side branches, together with a 
leader. In pruning pyramid trees you 
should endeavour to make them symmetrical 
and have the side branches as nearly at 
equal distances as possible. The side 
branches should also be so shortened that the 
lowest ones will be longest and the others 
gradually shorter towards the top. There is 
nothing absolutely exact as to where these 
branches will be, as it will depend largely 
upon chance as to where good branches will 
arise, but by exercising good discretion you 
can retain those that are most suitably placed, 
and those that are weak or in unsuitable 
positions can be entirely removed, except a 
bud at the base. In the. young state these 
pyramids may be allowed to go up fairly 
rapidly, as you do not expect flowrnr buds 
to be produced upon the main stems. If you 
get sufficient side branches to form the body 
of the tree that will be sufficient. In the 
case of cordons, you wish to make them pro¬ 
duce spurs all along the main stem, which 
is the only one retained in a single cordon. 
For double cordons it means that the leader 
would be cut entirely away and two side 
branches taken up to furnish the two stems 
or rods. Such trees are intended, of course, 
for walls. There is no reason, as far as we 
know, why Plums might not be grown as 
cordons, because they fruit on spurs just 
the same as Apples and Pears. You should 
treat them, therefore, as for a cordon Apple. 
The standard trees which you purchased in 
November should be pruned to such an ex¬ 
tent as they may require it. The object in 
pruning a young standard is to get a suffi¬ 
cient number of branches in suitable posi¬ 
tions to form a round head to the tree. You 
say they have a great many long shoots on 
them. The point for j r ou to determine is 
whether you have sufficient branches to form 
a large head or whether there are too many 
at present. We do not recommend that all 
the branches of a head should spring directly 
from the top of the stem. A better plan 
would be to commence with three shoots 
placed regularly and then to cut these so 
as to furnish six in the following 
year, and those six would give twelve 
branches in the third year. As a 
rule, these would be sufficient to form a 
shapely head if they are all regularly 
placed, but you can always get an additional 
branch by only partly cutting back some 
shoot that mav be suitably situated for fill¬ 
ing a gap. The point for you to determine 
then is whether or not there are too many 
branches arising directly from the top of the 
stem, and if so some of them should be cut 
out. We mentioned three to start from the 
stem, but if these are already well advanced 
four or five might be left if they are regu¬ 
larly placed. If we commenced with trees 
when they were quite young, we should regu¬ 
late the branches to our liking from the very 
first, but after they have already grown to 
some size we should simply attend to regu¬ 
lating them to avoid crowding and to get a 
suitable number to fill every side of the tree. 
The branches that are left may have one- 
third of their length cut off in order to 
encourage strong growth from them next 
vear. If }'ou still require a greater num¬ 
ber of branches to make a big head, then you 
can at least get two from each of the shoots 
you now have. As a rule, pruning becomes 
unnecessary in the case of standards after 
