Aprin 15, 1906 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
7 
A weak tree will need a heavy pruning to 
strengthen it. Everything should be done in the 
way of cultivating good drainage, &., and the 
branches should be grown on as upright lines as 
possible. 
Root Systems. 
. Trees, by wrong methods being adopted, may 
be very much weakened, and, strange as it 
seems it is perhaps then that a heavier crop of 
fruit will be borne. But this is only a temporary 
spurt of the tree, as it will be followed by irre- 
gular and light crops and final death, if the tree 
be not in some way strengthened. A mistake 
when the young tree is first planted may cause 
irregular bearing. Very few realise the import- 
ance of pruning a young tree’s roots. Often the 
young tree has strong roots on one side and 
weak ones on the other. If the strong roots are 
not curtailed, the tree will be thrown out of 
balance, for it is an axiom in fruit tree culture 
that the side which has the strongest roots will 
also have the strongest branches, and these 
would throw the whole framework of the tree 
out of balance 
Another way to balance the routs would be 
to plant the side of the tree with the stronger 
roots to the windy quarter, the opposition of the 
wind and the exposure would be a weakening 
influence. The cutting back of roots in the 
dormant season would weaken the whole tree, 
because it would mean that the reserve of f: od 
to be laid up by the roots would be lessened, 
also the cutting back of head and roots in the 
growing season will inevitably weaken. 
Tf the soil in the summer is allowed to get 
hard and impervious to rain, or is cultivated 
deeply, the whole tree is affected adversely. 
Any ploughing in summer should be very light, 
just enough to form an earth mulch and to allow 
rain into the svil. Cold, wet, heat and drought, 
when excessive, will chill, sour, dry and harden 
the roots, and so injure the tree, Where coarse 
weeds are turned in round the roots of the tree 
in winter and cold and wet come, the result will 
be dangerous, as they would serve as a host for 
the water and sour the ground: if left on the 
surface they would prevent the sun from warm- 
ing the soil. In summer both of these things 
may be done and, would be advantageous. ‘The 
effects of heat and drought may be made less 
hurtful if proper treatment be given to the soil. 
The heat may be prevented drying up the roots 
by a mulch of light litter being put round the 
tree or a soil mulch given. ‘he severity of 
drought may be lessened by the soil round the 
tree being “dished,” so that when rain comes 
every drop of water will be caught by the tree 
and the soil mulch will also be of value 
The ‘Importance of Sound Leaves. 
Leaves have a great influence on the flower 
buds, and according to their size and vigor will 
pe the quality of the bud. They serve as the 
feeders of the buds, pumping up sap from the 
roots and elaborating it. So wherever any dam- 
age has been done to the leaves, the flower buds, 
and corsequently the fruit, sufter. If a severe 
frost has come when the leaves are on the tree 
and nipped them, the fruit may be spoilt for 
that season. Hot winds, severe storms and hail 
may also damage the tree, and cause destruction 
tothe season’s crop. An injury to the bark alsu 
necessarily weakens that part of the tree which 
is affected. The wounded part should be cleaned, 
the ragged pieces cut away and clay put over the 
wound to prevent uir entering, so that the in- 
jury sustained may be repaired. 
The puture of the seasons has marked effect 
on trees. The weak tree in a favorable season 
ae ht be strong enough to bear, but if a severe 
mig 
drought comes:it is too weak to bear. A strong 
tree in a good season would be too strong to 
bear, but a bad season would have just the 
weakening effect that the tree required, and so a 
good crop would be the result. 
Good Drainage aids Bearing. 
The uneven fearing of a tree is sometimes 
caused through bad drainage. On one side of 
the tree the water may lie at its roots, and on 
the other there may be insufficiency of water. 
The first position may suit a water-loving plant 
like the quince or a fig, but the dryness of the 
other side will perhaps kill that part of the tree 
or curl and shrivel up its fruit. 
Orchard land must be drained. Clayey soils 
need draining ivore than -andy, for the latter 
are often naturally drained. Draining will pre- 
vent surplus water lying about in winter, and 
will conserve water for summer use. The more 
uneven the depth and the surface of the soil is, 
the worse will be the natural drainage. and the 
worse the drainage is, the more uneven will the 
fruit-bearing be. Se any cost incurred by 
draining will be amply repaid by full crops. 
What Cultivation Secures. 
Improper cultivation plays its part in the 
irregularity of fruit cropping. The three prin- 
cipal foods that trees need are nitrogen, potash, 
and phosphoric acid, and lime may be added to 
these. These have all their functions to perform 
that the trees may be nourished and bear fruit. 
The nitrogen gives the deep green to the leaves 
and strong young growth, the phosphoric acid 
is required for the ripening of the wood, while 
the potash is necessary in the fruiting stage for 
the ripening of the frait. Lime is a quickener 
of all three and other plant food salts, and so is 
always an adjunct toa soil. Trees for a while 
may grow and bear well on what there is in 
the soil, but there must come atime when, if 
nothing be given back to the orchard to replace 
that used up, nothing »ill be returned from the 
trees. 
The trees can tell us themselves what they 
are needing. If they are making rapid growth 
and have deep green foliage, and mature their 
wood well, it shows they are well supplied with 
food, butif they grow slowly the second or third 
year after planting, and their foliage turus yel- 
low, it shows they have need of food or moisture 
or both. : 
If trees make too rapid a growth on reaching 
bearing age, and show little inclination to fruit, 
it means they are getting too much nitrogen, so 
the planting and turning in of leguminous crops 
which have the power of collecting and storing 
up nitrogen must be discontinued. 
Potash must be restored continuously to the 
soil, as the tree removes more of this component 
than ofthe others. Itcan be given as a manure 
in the form of kainit. Phosphoric acid can be 
given as bonedus , guano ana superphosphates, 
and nitrogen by the turning in of leguminons 
crops such as vetches, peas, beans, lupins, 
clovers, etc. The wh le of the orchard cannot be 
treated wit manure salts, that would be too- 
costly a business, but individual areas might be 
treated. 
Cultivation alsomeans the loosening and pul- 
verising of the soil, which is done in orchards by 
the plough, the disc and the harrow. The two 
chief seasons for this work are autumn and 
spring: it is also done at other times, according 
to the need and the weather. If cultivation 
be neglected the trees will suffer to a consider- 
able degree. Cultivation means the mixing and 
reblending of the svil grains, the exposure of 
fresh surfaces, and the opening of the top soil to 
allow air and water in. It can therefore be 
understood that cultivation is very necessary to 
the well-being of trees. 
The Tree’s Inner Nature 
We have dealt so far with the tree as a 
whole, and the conditions affecting its health asa 
whole, but now we can approach the tree closer 
and examine its buds and flowers, and seeif any 
cause can be found for irregular bearing. 
The first cause will be found in the dropping 
of buds. Buds may form all over the tree, and a 
good crop may be expected, A great many of 
these drop off, leaving only a miserable crop to 
mature and rip.n. When this dropplng occurs 
on long shoots, the reason very likely is that 
there is not sufficient sap to support them all. 
The pruning is at fault, and this can be reme- 
died by reducing tne shoot and making it strong 
enough to bear what buds are left. 
Another reason for bud dropping may be 
that the flow of sap is too strong in a shoot near 
by where a heavy cut has been made by the 
pruner. Do not prune the strong shoot hard or 
it will grow stronger, but thin out and expose 
it so that it may ripeu well and bear. 
An improper ripening season of the previous 
autumn will cause bud dropping: this may have 
been caused by a very mild summer or imperfect 
drainage about the tree, or the tree may have 
been too crowded, A great many flowers always 
fall, especially with apples and pears, a fortnight 
after the trees have come into flower, but this is 
Nature’s own pruning and thinning, and one to 
be desired, 
An early frost often plays havoc with buds, 
nipping them off when they are swelling to form 
flower buds. In stone fruits the flower buds 
are more subject to harm from cold than leaf 
bads. The weather of the season before the ex- 
pansion of the buds exerts a potent influence 
upon the number of flowers formed: the weather 
also during the expansion of the flowers and the 
setting of the ‘fruits increases or reduces the 
coming crop. ie 
The imperfect setting of the fruit is another 
cause of irregular crops. This is influenced 
by the prevailing weather, so that one year the 
crop might be much heavier than that of another 
year. If a severe late frost comes when the 
fruit is just formed, it will be responsible for 
the dropping of the young fruit; and if cold, 
hail and rain are prevalent about this time, the 
fruit will get knocked down or damaged. Bad 
weather, especially cloudy weather, if it lasts 
some time, is very injurious to the fertilising of 
flowers. 
Fruit trees are aimost altogether insect ferti- 
lised (to a small extent, perhaps, they are wind 
fertilised), and in bad weather bees will not be 
out working. So the longer cloudy weather lasts 
the fewer will be the tlowers fertilise {, and con. 
sequently the less the fruit borne. Very windy 
weather blows the pollen away, und causes the 
flowers to be infertile. A great many of the tree 
fruits aie infertile to their own pollen. For this 
reason an orchard planted with Bon Chretien 
pears will be found to be unfruitful, simply 
because of the infertility of their own pollen, 
that is, their flowers will not set uuless their 
stigmas receive pollen from some other variety, 
So it is necessary that at least three or four 
different varieties should be planted in every 
orchard 1t is wise to plant together those varié- 
ties that flower about the same time. 
Destructive Agents, 
Another cause of imperfect setting is the 
presence of disease in the tree. Disease is always 
weakening to atree, and it is those trees that are 
