March  8.  1900. 
JOURN'AL  GF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
105 
THE  RENOVATION  OF  OLD  FRUIT  TREES. 
If  we  were  asked  to  describe  the 
pose  we  could  not  reply  more  aptly  than 
in  whtch  we  live,  I  sup- 
by  terming  it  an  age  of 
progress,  marked  by  a  steadi’,  persistent  onward  movement  from 
imperfection  towards  perfection.  In  all  parts  of  the  industrial  world 
this  progressive  advance  maybe  readily  noticed.  We  can  trace  the 
formation  of  newer  and  better  things  to  replace  the  old,  and  the 
equally  important  contemporary  process  of  the  remoulding  of  old 
things  to  serve  the  purposes  of  modern  times.  For  it  must  never  be 
forgotten  that  in  all  branches  of  industrial  economy,  it  is  a  judicious 
combination  of  old  and  new  which  is  best  able  to  meet  the  demands 
that  are  made  upon  it.  In  our  own  particular  sphere  in  the  vege¬ 
table  kirgdom,  this  generalisation  is  well  borne  out,  and  I  am 
about  to  endeavour  to  deal  with  one  phase  of  the 
alteration  of  the  old  to  keep  pace  with  the  new. 
The  word  renovate  or  to  renew  carries  wuth  it  the 
idea  of  rejuvenating,  of  making  young,  and  conse¬ 
quently  healthy  and  vigorous,  that  which  has  apparently 
arrived  at  an  age  not  generally  associated  either  with 
health  or  vigour.  We  have  probably  all  heard  of  the 
wonderful  mill  which  was  accredited  with  the  power  of 
grinding  aged  persons  into  young  ones  again,  and 
probably,  too,  none  of  us  was  very  far  in  years  before 
we  relegated  the  story  of  the  Mill  of  Life  to  the  cate¬ 
gory  of  fairy  tales.  Well,  I  do  not  intend  to  discuss 
the  impossibility  of  making  old  fruit  trees  into  young 
ones  any  more  tnan  I  shoula  think  of  arguing  in  support 
of  the  mythical  “  Mill  of  Life,”  but  I  hope  to  be  able 
to  show,  that  in  the  case 
of  fruit  trees  at  least,  old 
age  is  not  so  incompatible 
with  health  and  vigour 
as  may  be  generally  sup¬ 
posed.  The  title  of  this 
paper,  therefore,  will  not 
sound  strange  or  unfamiliar 
to  the  thoughtful  gardener 
who  may  be  spending 
much  time  in  improving 
old  things,  not,  I  trust, 
without  a  fair  amount  of 
success. 
The  subject  of  fruit 
culture  to  the  present 
up-to-date  gardener  and 
farmer  savours  sufficiently 
of  pounds,  shillings,  and 
pence  to  recommend  itself, 
and  with  them  finds  prac¬ 
tical  exposition  either  in 
the  planting  of  young 
trees  or  in  bringing  back 
to  a  healthy  fruit-bearing 
condition  those  which  have 
been  planted  half  a  century 
or  more.  But  it  is  sad  to 
see  in  so  many  gardens 
and  orchards  large  num  ers  j 
of  old  trees  that  have 
enough  vitality  left  in  them  to  supply,  if  properly  treated,  fruit 
which  would  be  highly  valued  and  appreciated  on  any  gentleman’s 
table  and  that  would  fetch  a  good  price  in  the  market,  lingering 
out  a  practically  useless  existence  for  the  lack  of  proper  treatment. 
There  are  few  farms  but  have  their  orcljards  of  Apple  and  Pear  trees  ; 
but  it  IS,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  the  exjeption  rather  than  the  rule 
to  find  the  old  trees  in  a  healthy  fruiung  condition.  This  should 
not  be  so,  for  not  only  is  it  quite  possible  to  renew  in  these  old  trees 
their  former  fruit-bearing  qualities,  but  the  means  by  which  this 
desirable  result  is  to  be  attained  are  available  to  all.  From  a  com¬ 
mercial  point  of  view  the  neglect  of  old  trees  is  false  economy,  for  I 
maintain  that  no  portion  of  a  farm  or  garden  gives  such  good  returns  as 
a  well-cared  for  Apple  and  Pear  plantation. 
The  question  has  often  been  asked,  “  Why  do  not  farmers  take  up 
fruit  growing  to  a  greater  extent  than  is  at  present  the  case  ?”  This 
question  has  a  twofold  answer  according  to  existing  circumstances. 
In  the  first  place,  there  are  some  fanns  without  orchards,  and  many 
farmers  hesitate  to  venture  on  an  undertaking  from  which  little 
return  may  be  expected  for  ten  or  fifteen  years,  although  much  labour 
and  attention  have  to  be  expended  daring  the  whole  of  that  time. 
Under  the  conditions  on  which  so  miiny  tenant  farmers  now  hold 
their  lands,  it  is  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  they  would  care  to 
embark  on  such  a  lengthy  enterprise;  the  matter  is  a  question  for 
the  landlord  rather  than  for  the  tenantj 
Fig. 
In  the  second  place  there  are,  as  I  have  already  stated,  many  farms 
with  orchards  composed  almost  entirely  of  old  trees  in  an  apparently 
decaying  condition.  To  perhaps  the  majority  of  people  an  improve¬ 
ment  in  the  fruit-bearing  properties  of  such  trees  would  be  considered 
an  impossibility,  and  a  purely  passive  attention  only  would  be  given 
them.  For  farmers,  as  a  body,  lack  the  requisite  technical  know¬ 
ledge  for  managing  fruit  trees,  and  in  too  many  cases  they  do  not 
study  even  the  elementary  principles  which  underlie  successful  fruit 
culture. 
From  the  foregoing  it  will  have  been  gathered  that  the  renovation 
of  old  fruit  trees  is  not  the  impossible  or  difficult  matter  which  many 
persons  may  consider  it  to  be.  The  question  which  naturally  arises 
IS,  “  What  is  the  process  of  renovation  ?”  My  own  experience  may 
form  a  partial  and  perhaps  not  altogether  uninteresting  answer. 
It  fell  to  my  lot  some  twenty-five  years  ago  to 
take  charge  of  a  garden  which  contained  a  number 
of  old  espalier  trained  trees  of  the  type  that  our 
grandfathers  were  so  fond  of  planting  all  round  the 
walks  of  the  kitchen  gardens.  These  trees  had  no 
doubt  borne  when  young  a  small  quantity  of  useful 
fruit,  but  in  the  course  of  time  from  hard  pruning 
and  the  most  unnatural  style  of  training  had  become 
subject  to  canker  and  disease,  and  consequently  use¬ 
less.  What  was  to  be  done  with  them  ?  They  were 
neither  useful  nor  ornamental.  I  did  not  want  to  dig 
them  up,  as  they  were  old  favourites  planted  by  some 
member  of  my  employer's  family  half  a  century 
before,  and  to  head  them  down  promised  to  prove 
a  dangerous  undertaking.  However,  I  obtained 
permission  to  operate  on 
one  as  an  experiment. 
The  tree  I  purposed  to 
head  down  was  an  old 
Ribston  Pippin  eaten  up 
with  canker,  and  what 
small  quantity  of  fruit  it 
bore  was  as  diseased  as 
the  tree  itself.  All  the 
side  branches  of  this  tree 
were  sawn  off  close  to  the 
stem  at  about  the  end  of 
February.  By  the  middle 
of  April  I  noticed  a  num¬ 
ber  of  buds  forming  all  up 
the  old  stem.  Eventually 
the  tree  broke  splendidly 
and  made  some  healthy 
growths  of  from  2  to  3  feet 
long. 
In  the  following  winter 
these  were  thinned,  the 
strongest  only  being  re¬ 
tained,  and  these  cut  back 
to  a  sound  wood  bud, 
pointing  in  an  outward 
direction.  The  fact  of  this 
old  stump  showing  such 
signs  of  new  life  made  it 
an  interesting  study  to 
my  employer  to  watch  its 
progress,  because  to  him  it  was  a  great  surprise  that  such  a  develop¬ 
ment  should  have  taken  place  in  an  old  tree.  In  the  second  year  the 
growths  were  quite  as  strong  as  in  the  first,  and  during  this  time  the 
lower  buds  of  the  first  year’s  growth  were  developing  into  fruit  buds. 
In  the  third  year  we  had  some  splendid  fruit — clean,  and  of  the 
finest  quality,  without  a  sign  of  canker  or  disease.  From  that  time  to 
the  present  the  tree  has  never  failed  to  bring  a  crop  of  fruit,  and  last 
season  I  gathered  from  it  9  bushels  of  Apples. 
I  need  hardly  say  that  after  this  experiment  I  had  a  free  hand  in 
dealing  with  old  fruit  trees.  We  have  no  old  espaliers  left  now,  but 
the  garden  is  well  stocked  with  healthy  “  youthful  ”  bush  trees  of 
from  fifty  to  100  years  old,  and  it  is  from  these  that  we  get  some  of 
our  finest  fruit.  My  experience  has  not  been  confined  to  the  class  of 
tree  I  have  just  described,  as  I  have  dealt  similarly  with  standard 
Apple  and  Pear  trees  as  well. 
I  have  spoken  of  heading  down  old  trees  as  part  of  the  process  of 
renovation.  In  doing  this  it  is  well  to  cut  the  forked  branches  as  near 
as  possible  on  the  upper  side  of  the  fork.  The  cut  should  be  made  in 
a  slanting  direction,  the  edges  be  rounded  off,  and  a  thin  coating  of 
green  paint  brushed  over  the  cut,  so  that  rain  may  be  carried  off  and 
decay  prevented. 
In  the  case  of  old  trees  of  a  variety  not  worth  preserving — that  is, 
bearing  a  class  of  fruit  of  an  inferior  quality  to  some  more  modern 
introductions — the  better  plan,  if  the  old  stems  are  healthy,  would  be 
■ELIA  EdISSA. 
