410 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  17,  1900, 
In  small  gardens  this  system  of  rigid  selection  should  certainly  be 
enforced,  though  a  more  elastic  method  may  prevail  where  increased 
space  permits  the  inclusion  of  a  great  number  of  sorts.  But  with  a 
wed  selected  stock  of  varieties  it  is  neither  impossible  nor  improbable 
that  imperfect  results  may  folloWj  and  this  because  late  varieties 
require  special  care  in  cultivation. 
The  easy  method  of  being  content  with  a  full  crop  one  year  while 
tile  tree  recuperates  the  next  is  a  system  unworthy  of  present-day 
achievements.  Apart,  there'ore,  from  uncontrollable  difficulties  of 
weather,  we  ought  to  manage  the  trees  in  a  manner  calcidated  to 
secure  an  annual  crop  with  unfailing  regularity.  For  one  thing,  the 
peculiarities  of  each  variety  must  be  studied.  Tower  of  Glamis,  for 
instance,  fruits  more  regularly  and  produces  a  crop  of  better  quality 
when  not  too  severely  piuned.  Alfriston,  on  the  other  hand,  requires 
close  pruning.  But  these  are  merely  details  that  may  be  pic  ed  up 
by  anyone  who  attends  the  trees.  In  addition,  there  are  a  few  general 
points  of  management  which  must  be  carried  out  in  order  to  succeed, 
and  though  they  appear  sufficiently  simple  once  a  grasp  has  been 
effected  of  the  principles  on  which  they  rest,  I  am  afraid  they  are  too 
often  overlooked  altogether. 
Ihere  is  first  of  all  the  primary  one  of  securing  uninterrupted 
light  to  every  leaf,  as  well  as  plenty  of  space  for  its  development ; 
and  with  that,  every  shoot  and  branch  so  adjusted  as  to  secure  an 
absolutely  clear  space  free  from  the  obtrusion  of  any  other.  Put 
ia  another  wa}',  the  number  of  branches  and  shoots  must  be  limited, 
not  only  to  those  it  is  possible  to  allow  air  and  light  to  reach  on 
every  side,  but  to  what  the  judgment  and  the  experience  of  the 
cultivator  finds  does  not  strain  the  powers  of  the  tree  to  preserve 
in  fruitful  health.  This  necessarily  reduces  the  amount  of  foliage, 
but  it  is  wise  in  addition  to  examine  spurs  and  to  thin  them 
also,  where  necessary,  to  only  the  strongest,  and  these  further 
limited  to  the  needful  number.  By  these  means,  as  far  as  it  lies 
within  human  intervention,  we  have  a  tree  equipped  and  in  a 
condition  to  respond  to  its  natural  proclivities  to  fruit  bearing; 
and  if  fruit  does  not  follow,  apart  from  the  disturbing  element  of 
weather,  we  must  look  for  the  reason  either  in  the  variety  being 
naturally  shy  to  fruit,  when  it  must  be  displaced,  or  to  the  roots 
requiring  attention,  when  they  must  be  pruned,  raised,  or  otherwise 
treated  as  may  appear  necessary.  It  is  a  fact  patent  to  anyone  iti 
the  habit  of  visiting  gardens  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  that 
Apple  trees  as  a  rule  are  much  tco  closely,  or  thickly,  furnished  with 
branches,  and  also  with  spurs.  Once  the  cultivator  is  convinced  of 
this,  he  is  fortunately  not  confined  to  one  particular  season  of  the  year 
to  initiate  amendments.  Spurs  may  he  regulated  at  almost  any  season, 
and  immediately  grow  th  is  in  progress  in  June  branches  and  shoots 
may  be  excised  without  any  risk^  of  endangering  the  health  of  the 
tree. 
So  far  we  have  only  provided  conditions  the  most  proper  to  produce 
fine  fruit,  and  plenty  of  it,  though  those  who  have  not  studied  the 
question  thoroughly  may  demur  as  to  the  matter  of  quantity.  Now 
the  equally  important  management  of  the  crop  while  on  the  tree 
remains  to  be  touched  on.  First  of  all  I  may  say  that  varieties  must 
be  treated  according  to  individual  idiosyncracies,  some  requiring  to 
be  thinned  more  severely  than  others;  that  is  to  ^ay,  one  sort  fails  to 
carry  a  crop  so  heavily  as  another,  but  that  point  I  do  not  here  insist 
on  so  much  as  the  necessity  of  thinning  the  fruit  of  all  late  varieties 
to  what  many  people  might  be  constrained  to  designate  a  small  crop, 
but  which  one’s  ripened  judgment  approves  as  amply  sufficient  for 
the  tree  to  bring  to  maturity — not,  be  it  understood,  a  few  of  the 
fruits,  but  the  whole.  Taking  an  average  of  years  I  have  no  doubt 
W'hatever  that  in  bulk  of  fruit  the  severely  thinned  trees  exceed  those 
unthinned,  while  as  to  quality  in  any  year  the  examples  surpass 
the  latter. 
There  are  two  outstanding  reasons  why  late  varieties  should  be 
lightly  cropped.  One,  that  the  fruit  is  better  grown,  fully  matured, 
and  consequently  keeps  better  and  longer.  The  other,  that  the  trees 
assume  a  habit  of  bearing  a  crop  year  after  year,  which  in  itself  is 
infinitely  more  to  be  desired  than  a  superabundant  supply  at  irregular 
intervals.  There  is  no  method  of  securing  these  two  desirable  results' 
other  than  by  severe  thinning.  But  still  that  is  not  everything,  for 
unless  the  fruit  is  allowed  to  remain  long  enough  on  the  tree  to 
become  matured,  the  value  of  late  Apples  is  greatly  lessened. 
Last  autumn,  for  instance,  towards  the  end  of  October  we  experienced 
a  serious  gale  of  rain  and  wind  which  brought  not  a  few  late  Apples 
to  the  ground.  I  rather  regretted  the  loss  of  much  of  the  fruit 
which  was  large  and  good  in  quality,  so,  as  it  was  fully  grown,  I 
stored  after  drying  all  the  late  ones.  These  kept  wonderfully  well, 
but  for  some  time  much  of  it  has  shrivelled,  just  as  late  fruit  does 
which  has  been  stored  too  soon.  That  left  ten  days  to  three  weeks 
longer  on  the  trees  has  not,  however,  shrivelled  at  all,  and  in  colouring; 
the  difference  is  markedly  in  favour  of  that  which  hung  the  longest. 
1  am  sometimes  met  by  what  seems  an  unanswerable  argument 
when  advising  Apple  thinning — the  time  it  swallows  up.  That  I  can 
assure  everyone  is  a  bugbear.  A  properly  managed  tree  does  not  require 
so  very  much  thinning,  and  it  is  marvellous  how  much  can  be  done  by 
ni'iible  fingers  and  sharp  eyes  in  a  few  hours.  And  ultimately  the 
labour  is  well  saved,  when  nothing  but  fruit  of  good  quality  remains 
to  be  gathered  for  storing.  System  in  this  as  in  other  garden  manage¬ 
ment,  though  apparently  laborious,  tends  to  an  essential  saving  in 
work. — B. 
- - 
Some  of  the  Dses  of  Lime. 
Lime  in  a  garden  soil  favours  the  decomposition  of  the  organic 
matter  which  has  been  added  by  the  litter  of  stable  manure,  or  by 
the  refuse  of  crops  dug  into  the  earth.  The  action  of  lime  on  the 
organic  matter  is  to  produce  carbonic  acid ;  this  chemical  element 
combines  with  the  mineral  ingredients  of  the  soil  in  such  a  way  as 
to  render  the  natural  plant  food  easy  of  assimilation.  Lime  also  jdays 
an  important  part  in  changing  the  ammonia  of  the  soil  into  nitric 
acid,  or,  in  other  words,  placing  at  the  disposal  of  the  growing  plants 
the  nitrogen  which  has  been  pireviously  stored  up  in  a  non-usable 
form. 
There  are  certain  garden  plants  belonging  to  the  Leguminous 
family,  such  as  Broad  Beans,  Peas,  Scarlet  Runners,  and  French  Beans, 
which  draw  their  nitrogenous  food  very  largely  from  the  atmosphere. 
But  these  plants  are  unable  to  make  a  satisfactory  growth  if  the  soil 
is  overcharged  with  acidity.  Hence  we  sometimes  find  in  very 
old  kitchen  garden  soils  that  Beans  and  Peas  will  make  plen  y  of 
haulm  but  produce  few  pods  and  little  corn.  It  seems  that  the 
minute  organisms  which  dwell  in  the  nodules  or  small  tubercles  tbit 
are  formed  on  the  roots  of  legumes  cannot  thrive  if  the  soil  is  charged 
with  humic  acid.  By  the  application  of  lime  this  acid  is  neutralised, 
and  the  Beans  and  Peas  will  grow  more  readily  and  yield  more  cor 
not  only  because  soluble  nitrogen  has  been  assimilated,  but  from  ti  e 
fact  that  the  lime  acts  upon  the  potash  compounds  in  the  soil  in  such 
a  way  that  they  are  set  free  for  the  use  of  the  legumes  and  they 
become  ca>^riers  of  nitric  acid. 
Of  course  excessive  amounts  of  lime  might  prove  injurious  to  some 
garden  plants,  but  this  can  easily  be  guarded  against,  and  the  amount 
required  by  different  soils  be  determined  by  a  few  trials.  Old  lime 
and  mortar  rubbish  are  especially  suitable  for  garden  purposes,  as  this 
material  greatly  facilitates  the  formation  of  nitrates  in  the  soil,  and 
helps  in  its  mechanical  disintegration — a  great  boon  in  heavy  land. 
Thus  lime  applied  to  stiff  clays  causes  them  to  become  more 
friable,  more  permeable  to  the  air,  easier  of  working,  and  better  capable 
of  supplying  water  to  the  growing  plants  as  needed.  Sandy  soils,  on 
the  other  hand,  ate  rendered  by  it  more  compact  and  more  retentive  of 
water  and  manurial  substances.  On  very  dry  sandy  soils  smaller 
applications  of  lime  must  be  made  than  upon  moist  soils,  and  the  u-e  of 
large  qumtitiesof  lime  upon  such  soils  in  single  applications  is  not 
advisable.  Also  we  have  to  remember  that  lime,  without  manure 
will  soon  make  a  garden  poor,  the  reason  for  which  is  not  far  to  seek 
if  these  facts  are  considered. — J.  J.  Willis,  Harpenden. 
