396 THE FLORIST. 
oF fruit can. he annually obtained i in “the open air in n Great Buitaiti when 
the necessary conditions to effect that object are observed. ° ‘Byety day" g 
observation and experience tend more and more to satisfy me as to’ the 
soundness of this belief. I have also stated more than once that’ when 
there is a failing crop, the fault is in general to be attributed to bad 
management, and not (as too many are apt to believe) to spring frosts 
and our precarious seasons. I am, however, well aware’ of the evil 
effects of these latter... N evertheless, with proper cultivation, qT do Benteye 
it possible to get good crops. at 
_. Let -us look at our orchards, and see how. they’ are in general 
managed. The trees are often. bought of: some petty nursery man or 
~ 
market gardener, one-half of them not true to name; they are planted 
with, we will. suppose, care, and. then staked and attended ‘to for the 
first year. What attention do. they get afterwards 2?’ In’ general Vittle 
or none.--Apple and Pear trees, if they are to become handsome and 
fruitful, require to be properly pruned, and ‘the shoots'to be trainéd and 
regulated for a few years. Do orchards in general have’ this “attention 
bestowed on them? Not one ina hundred. Look into what erchard 
you may, you will find three times too‘ much wood in’ the trees, and 
this crowded with spurs. What is the result of this negléct ?”” Why, 
in favourable seasons these trees bear three times more fruit’ than’ they 
ought to do, and the, consequence is the trees are so exhausted as'to- be 
unable to bear any the following season. It is bad policy in every 
respect to allow fruit trees to bear very heavy crops; for the fruit-being 
small and of inferior quality, will only bring a sinall price, whereas, 
had two-thirds of it been removed when small, and’ only one-third 
allowed to come to maturity, the fruit would then be large, of superior 
quality, and would realise a good price. . Besides, by, only’ allowing” a 
moderate crop. to ripen, there is every probability of a crop each 
succeeding season. 
Before taking a review of the crop of 1860, I would ask your anon 
to go back with me to the year 1857. The fruit crop of that” year 
was the lightest and worst that had been known for some years 5 > the 
fruit crop of 1858 was one of the finest and-must abundant on record. 3 
There were. no exceptions that season, all were alike good—bush fruit, 
wall fruit, and orchard fruit, were all equally plentiful. “The summer 
of 1858 being hot. and dry, was most favourable for the ripening of the 
fruit, also for the growth.and maturation of the wood ; notwithstandmg 
this, the crop of 1859 was. nearly, if not ‘quite, as’ bad’ as ‘that of 
1857. Oh! but, the spring: frost. did the mischief.’ Did it ° Indeed. 
Were the trees, in the exhausted state in which they were’ after the 
heayy crop,of 1858, in a condition to bear a good cop!” Methinks not. 
The crop bere was everything that could be desired } and this T “att¥it 
bute, and rightly, to the trees being properly pruned, the’ spurs well 
thinned, and the fruit well thinned. 
Onelarge Apple tree (a Cockpit, which is a good hearer) was ANNO 
to carry all the fruit that had remained on, and the result this’ year is, 
there is no crop. Now, after this season's rest, I have not the slightest 
doubt that this tree will have an abundant crop in 1861, no matter 
what the weather may be in spring. 
