February  5,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
129 
S  WOKK.foi\.theWEEK.. 
n 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden 
APRICOTS  :  Planting. — Although  the  autumn  is  the  best 
season  for  placing  trees  in  their  permanent  positions  against  walls, 
j^et  the  work  may  be  clone  at  the  present  time,  the  sooner  the 
better,  as  Apricots  begin  to  push  early  into  growth.  .In  the  first 
place,  the  position  must  be  well  drained,  as  nothing  is  more  con¬ 
ducive  tO'  unsatisfactory  growth  than  a  web  rooting  medium. 
Many  soils — for  instance,  those  with  a  gravelly  or  chalky  subsoil, 
do  not  need  this  attention,  being  naturally  well  drained.  All 
that  is  required,  therefore,  is  to  break  up  the  subsoil,  and 
thoroughly  cultivate  the  upper  strata  of  soil,  which  should  be  of 
a  loamy,  calcareous  character.  A  sandy  loam  may  be  made  suit¬ 
able  by  intermixing  some  pulverised  lime  scraps,  wood  ashes  also 
being  suitable  to  mix  in.  Either  fresh  or  decayed  manure  should 
be  kept  out  entirely. 
The  most  suitable  trees  to  plant  are  the  dwarf  fan-trained  for 
walls.  These  are  about  three  years  old,  have  been  formed  into 
shape  for  training  on  a  wall  or  fence,  and  by  frequent  lifting  and 
replanting  produced  an  excellent  lot  of  fibrous  roots,  by  which 
they  soon  became  readily  established  in  new  ciuarters.  Prune 
away  injured  parts  of  roots,  and  spread  the  latter  well  through 
the  soil  when  planting.  Make  the  soil  firm,  not,  however,  treading 
it  down  over  the  roots,  which  are  frequently  thereby  injured. 
The  final  training  should  be  left  until  spring,  so  as  tO'  give  the 
trees  time  to  settle  in  position.  After  planting  give  a  mulching 
of  long  manure. 
Pruning. — The  pruning  of  5mung  Apricots,  planted  in  autumn 
or  winter,  may  be  confined  to  cutting  back  to  ripei  wood  the 
extreme  tips,  except  where  it  may  be  necessary  to  encourage  a 
multiplication  of  branches,  when  cut  back  niore  closely.  The 
pruning  of  established  trees  should  be  carried  out  now,  before 
the  buds  swell  too  much.  A  general  thinning  out  of  weakly, 
superfluous,  and  crowded  branches  ought  to  be  adopted,  though  it 
is  better  if  as  little  as  possible  is  done  each  year,  owing  to 
E,Nd  Section  oj^  PE- 
CnRn'^tNO(  03  oy*. 
See  “  Setting-up  Grapes,"  page  128. 
gumming  often  following  .severe  pruning.  This  does  not  so  fre¬ 
quently  occur  with  regular  annual  pruning,  by  which  the  trees 
are  managed  without  severe  checks. 
Apricots  bear  on  young  well  ripened  growths  of  the  previous 
year,  on  growths  which  have  been  shortened  and  form  artificial 
spurs ;  also  on  natural  spurs,  these  being  produced  in  fair  num¬ 
ber,  and  should  be  preserved.  The  spur  growths  are  the  most 
convenient  when  situated  on  the  front  parts  of  branches.  Bear¬ 
ing  growths  selected  from  the  wood  of  the  previous  year’s  forma¬ 
tions  being  trained  in  on  the  upper  sides,  chiefly  of  the  principal 
branches.  They  ought  not  to  be  closer  than  Gin,  so  that  the 
leaves  on  each  shoot  may  have  ample  room.  Young  shoots  are 
usually  too  long  to  be  trained  in  at  full  length,  hence  it  will  be 
desirable  to  shorten  them.  This  must  be  done  at  a  wood  bud, 
not  a  blossom  bud.  The  shoots  are  frequently  pruned  to>  triple 
buds,  these  consisting  of  two  blossom  buds  and  a  wood  bud,  which 
acts  very  well. 
PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES;  Planting.— Dwarf  fan- 
trained  trees  should  be  planted  against  a  wall  on  which  there  is 
ample  space  to  train  trees  and  give  them  a  liberal  extension  of 
growth.  Prepare  the  position  to  the  depth  of  2ft,  and  not  less 
than  5ft  wide.  A  fertile  sandy  loam  is  the  best.  The  additions 
to  be  made  to  it  should  consist  of  bonemeal  and  some  wood  ashes. 
Manure  should  not  be  added.  The  trees  selected  ought  to  be 
two  or  three  years  old,  with  a  well-balanced  set  of  branches,  and 
a  nice  lot  of  fibrous  roots.  A  space  of  12ft  to  15ft  between  each 
tree  w'ill  afford  ample  room  for  training.  Make  the  soil  moderately 
firm  and  give  the  trees  ample  time  to  settle  before  finally  securing 
to  the  wall. 
Pruning. — Newly  planted  trees  will  require  the  shoots  to  be 
shortened  to  ripe  w’ood.  Not  less  than  one-third  of  the  shoot 
should  be  removed,  leaving  the  last  bud  a  wood  bud. 
The  pruning  of  established  trees  may  take  place  now,  as  they 
are  very  similar  in  growth  and  habit  to  Apricots.  It  is  more 
permissible,  however,  with  Peaches  and  Nectarines  to  confine  the 
selection  of  growths  to  a  greater  proportion  of  young  shoots,  as 
they  invariably  bear  with  greater  freedom  and  jiroduce  finer  fruit 
than  spurs.  This  does  not  follow  that  no  spurs  should  be  origi¬ 
nated,  as  they  are  found  useful  in  certain  positions,  and  will  help 
to'furnish  the  trees  with  fruit-producing  parts.  When  cutting 
out  superfluous  growths,  it  will  probably  be  seen  that  they  might 
be  made  use  of  when  situated  in  convenient  positions ;  therefore 
leave  a  limited  number  and  prune  them  back  to  a  few  buds,  so  a.s 
to  induce  them  to  form  artificial  spurs,  and  eventually  fruit. 
The  foreright  shoots  are  generally  the  most  useful  for  this  pur¬ 
pose.  becriuse  the  growths  do  not  lend  themselves  to  laying  in 
readily.  There  are  also  other  shoohs  which  naturally  form  spiirs. 
Sometimes  they  are  of  a  longer  length  than  desirable,  but  being 
of  a  fruitful  character,  they  should  be  retained. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines,  like  Apricots  and  the  majority  of 
stone  fruits,  do  not  care  for  much  severe  pruning  at  one  time. 
The  trees  should  be  generally  overhauled,  each  season,  so  as  to 
obviate  the  necessity  of  cutting  out  many  branches  of  a 
large  character  at  one  time.  Semi-exhausted  branches  should 
be  cut  out  when  their  vigour  is  seen  to  be  declining,  allowing 
young  shoots  to  take  their  place. 
Having  thinned  out  all  the  wood  and  .shoots  that  are  necessary, 
proceed  with  the  work  of  laying  in  the  branches  and  shoots 
afresh.  Dispose  the  main  and  secondary  branches  regularly  over 
the  space,  then  lay  in  the  young  growths.  _  It  will  be  necessary  to 
shorten  them  in  numerous  instances.  As  in  Apricots,  this  should 
be  done  at  a  wood  bud,  which  may  be  a  single  bud  or  one  between 
two  blossom  buds,  usually  termed  a  triple  bud.  Wood  buds  are 
distinguishable  from  fruit  buds  by  being  long  and  pointed. 
The  distance  apart  for  the  .shoots  may  be  4in  to  bin.  the 
customary  manner  of  securing  the  shoots  to  the  ■vvall  is  nailing 
with  cast-iron  wall  nails  and  shreds,  but  if  a  trellis  is  the  only 
space  for  training  the  shoots  upon,  then  they  must  be  tied  in 
to  tying  them  or  nailing  dress  the  branches  with  an 
insecticide,  and  When  the  trees  are  secured  syringe  them  with  a 
solution  combined  with  sulphur.  E.  D.  S. 
Fruit  Forcing. 
PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES ;  Earliest  House.— The 
eather  during  last  month  generally  favoured  forcing  operations 
id  where  proper  attention  has  been  given  to  tEe  ventilation  and 
rtilising  the  blossoms,  thei  set  is  satisfactory.  The  late-blooni- 
ig  varieties,  however,  are  still  in  flower,  and  should  have  the 
o'^soms  with  ripe  pollen  brushed  over  daily,  either  with  a  camel- 
lir  brush  or  feather,  though  shaking  the  trees  answers  in  many 
ises  especiallv  when  the  house  is  kept  dry,  or  rather  so,  witli  a 
ode’rate  circulation  of  air  until  the  flowers  fade,  when  a  slight 
rrino-inf^  with  tepid  water  will  soon  bring  off  the  remains  of  the 
iwers.  °  Peach  and  Nectarine  trees  on  inside  borders  always  clo 
=tter  when  early  forced  than  those  having  the  roots  in  cold  out- 
de  borders,  and  will  set  the  fruit  in  a  lower  temperature,  and 
iiy  apparent  lateness  will  be  recovered  rapidly  as  the  days 
icrease  in  length  and  brightness.  Undue  haste  causes  many 
isasters  in  forcing  stone  fruits  but  success  ^ 
>eadv,  progressive  method.  Disbud  cautiously,  retaining  a 
rowth  level  with-or  above  the  fruit.  In  drsbudding  take  off  the 
ireright  shoots  first,  commencing  with  the  upper  part  of  the 
rees  and  work  down  to  the  horizontal  branches  at  the  base. 
FUMIGATE  WITH  APPROVED  MATERIAL  or  vapoiirise 
■ith  nicotine  on  the  first  appearance  of  aphides,  but  not  whilst 
