JOURNAL  OU  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
MarcU  19,  1903. 
£'02 
Devonshire  Orchards  :  Their  Possible  Value. 
In  a  county  so  beautiful,  and  among  a  people  so  truly  in¬ 
dustrious,  one  might  expect  the  fullest  possible  size,  colour,  and 
quality,  and  therefore  market  value  from  Devon’s  27,000  acres  of 
standard  trees,  chiefly  i^pple  trees.  Does  the  failure  lie  with 
the  law  of  tenure  .P  We  think  that  most  men  with  no  money 
interest,  either  in  the  landlords  or  tenants,  will  admit  that  a 
lease  which  compels  a  farmer  to  replace  every  fruit  tree  at  the 
end  of  his  lease,  whether  it  be  wanted  or  not,  is  an  arrangement 
that  should  engage  the  attention  of  landlords  and  their  agents. 
At  times  the  result  of  this  law  is  seen  in  some  orchards  newly 
taken  over  by  farmers.  The  outgoing  tenant  buys  trees  to  take 
the  place  of  those  that  have  died.  He  may  be  a  man  of  honour, 
and  plant  good  trees  in  a  well-prepared  soil  (some  men  do  thi.s), 
but  the  temptation  is  to  buy  a  job  lot  of  trees,  or  to  buy  treesi 
that  may  have  been  carried  from  week  to  week  into  the  market, 
.  whatever  the  weather — some  farmers  fall  to  the  first,  others  to 
the  second  temptation.  Thus  both  classes  of  men  fail  in  their 
simple  duty  to  their  fellow  men.  The  law  is  satisfied;  the  in¬ 
coming  tenant  is  very  much  dissatisfied ;  but  does  the  agent 
think,  or  if  he  thinks,  does  he  act,  or  try  to  act,  as  the  balance 
between  his  employer  and  the  tenant? 
What  follows?  A  well  kept  orchard?  A  satisfied  farmer? 
A  smart  agent  (in  the  good  sense  of  that  word)  ?  A  well 
understood  landlord?  The  questions  answer  themselves.  We 
know  the  landlord,  the  agent,  the  farmer,  and  also  the  labourer ; 
the  latter  is  often  more  enlightened,  on  this  subject  at  least, 
than  the  other  people  concerned.  Farmers  say,  “  Yes,  we  know 
that  things  are  not  much  looked  after  in  the  orchards;  but 
what  are  we  to  do?  We  may  not  be  here  long  enough  to  see  our 
money  back.”  We  will  not  go  farther,  but  at  once  look  at  the 
Avords,  “  but  Avhat  are  Ave  to  do?  ” 
First,  use  common  sense.  Ornamental  trees  groAving  close  to 
men’s  dAvelling  houses  are  cut  doAvn  in  these  days,  because 
medical  science  teaches  that  sunlight  is  the  health  of  tlie  famih’. 
The  very  croAvded  groAvth  of  our  orchards  is  a  distinct  loss  of 
money  to  the  farmer.  No  groAvth  can  take  place  Avhere  sunlight 
is  not  admitted.  The  South  of  France  has  a  proverb,  “  If  you  do 
not  admit  the  sun,  you  must  admit  the  doctor.”  If  in  Nice  that 
saying  applies,  certainly  it  holds  good  in  this  country.  Our 
trees  are  so  croAvded  as  to  be  crippled  long  before  they  can  attain 
full  size.  The  severe  Avest  Avind  causes  the  branches  to  bloAv 
about  so  much  at  times  that  the  bark  is  broken,  thus  admitting 
canker  fungus  (Nectria  ditissima)  and  general  decay,  as  also  a 
sour  lAasture.  When  the  fruit  is  gathered  the  trees^  should  bo 
thinned  AA'ithout  a  day’s  delay.  Nothing  short  of  this  Avill  give 
us  ripe  AAmod,  full  of  healthy  fi’uit  buds,  in  the  middle  of  the 
trees.  Thus  Avill  these  buds  be  equal  to  those  around,  and  at 
the  top  of  the  trees.  This  county  is  a  cider  county,  and  there¬ 
fore  the  great  bulk  of  our  trees  are  cider  Apple  trees.  What¬ 
ever  the  number  of  Apples  there  is  on  the  tree  that  number 
remains,  plus  fallen,  falling  and  cross  branches.  Moss,  lichen, 
AvireAvorms,  eggs  of  insects,  these  have  possession ;  while  upon 
the  soil  Avhere  good  feeding  grass  is  supposed  to  groAv  are 
Nettles,  Docks,  Stroil  (Speargrass  of  Suffolk,  Couchgrass  of  some 
counties).  A  little  reflection  Avill  help  us  to  conclude  that  this 
extra  and  injurious  mass  of  matter  has  to  be  fed  at  the  tenant’s 
expense.  Substances  thus  taken  from  the  soil  are  very  valuable, 
and  should  not  be  wasted  in  feeding  plants  that  are  a  source  of 
loss.  The  rain  that  falls  is  thankfully  taken  up,  but  not  by  the 
fruit  trees.  The  surface  soil  becomes  dry,  and  the  roots  of  the 
trees  go  doAvn  after  Avater,  losing  their  surface  roots,  and  making 
Avood  instead  of  fruit  buds.  The  cost  of  improvement  is  not 
lieaA’y,  but  the  result  to  the  grower  and  to  the  public  is  so  great 
that  Ave,  as  a  people,  cannot  afford  to  lose  the  benefit  to  be  seen 
m  finer,  and  therefore  more  A^aluable  fruit  in  our  markets.  We 
hope  to  give  some  personally  knoAvn  improvements  in  some  future 
pajAers.  Were  this  information  desirable  just  here,  Ave  Avould 
give  it.  Let  us  possess  patience,  and  the  “perfect  Avork  ”  may 
appear. 
Are  Ave  dealing  AAuth  the  disease  ?  If  so,  folloAv  the  abov'e  line  of 
thought  to  its  objective,  and  we  shall  have  our  eyes  opened,  our 
Avork  (avo  hope)  started,  our  iiockets  a  little  heavier,  our  labourers 
more  tiady  kept  happy  on  the  soil  instead  of  being  croAvded  and 
(some  of  them)  crushed  in  city  courts,  and  our  country  taking  its 
place  among  the  great  fimit  producing  paids  of  the  Avorld. 
Inis  county  of  DcA'^on,  Avhat  is  it?  Is  it  cold  and  unkind  in 
ds  relation  to  fruit  groAving?  Is  the  Avest  Avind  too  destructii'e ? 
Is  the  rainfall  too  much?  For  eight  years  Ave  liaA’c  felt  the  pres¬ 
sure  of  each  of  the  above  evils  (?),  and  we  believe  that  most  of 
our  troubles  come  to  us  because  we  have  failed  to  properly  culti¬ 
vate  the  soil  for  fruit  trees  ;  because  we  have  failed  to  arrest 
the  croAvded  condition  of  our  trees,  and  because  Ave  have  starved 
them.  People  avIio  have  fruit  trees  need  not  despair.  While 
travelling  last  year  in  the  Plymouth  tO'  Kxeter  train  Ave  heard 
two  commercial  men  say  that  they  had  travelled  in  the  West  for 
nineteen  years;  they  had  noticed  more  improA'ements  in  Devon¬ 
shire  orchards  during  the  last  seven  or  eight  years  than  at  any 
previous  time.  They  Avere  strangers  to  us.  We  made  no  remark, 
as  Ave  felt  that  some  of  that  improvement  Avas  directly  due  to 
those  ardent  men  avIio  have  persistently  though  sloAvIy  pushed 
foi’Avard  their  thoughts  in  committees  of  technical  education. 
During  these  eight  years  the  Avork  in  the  Staff  Instructor’s 
Department  of  Horticulture  has  more  than  doubled.  Com¬ 
mercially  this  increase  of  Avork  means  Avork  for  the  nurseryman, 
the  gardener,  and  the  labourer;  money  for  the  fruit  grower, 
and  a  reduction  of  imports  of  fruit  that  we  ourselves  can  produce, 
imports  Avhich,  in  1902,  amounted  to  2,8-13,701  CAvts,  value 
£1,923,482,  in  Apples  alone.  Our  total  imports  Avere  3,944,511 
CAA'ts  of  Apples,  Pears,  Plums,  Gooseberries,  and  StraAvberries, 
much  of  Avhich  aa  c  could  produce  in  Great  Britain.  Will  Britain, 
in  this  subject,  become  great?  We  believe,  in  some  real  measure, 
that  she  Avill. — X, 
Melon  Notes. 
More  moisture  is  noAv  necessary  in  Melon  houses,  therefore 
sprinkle  the  paths  and  AAalls  in  the  morning  of  hot  days  and 
again  at  closing  time  or  early  in  the  afternoon.  Ventilate  care¬ 
fully,  avoiding  cold  draughts  of  air,  placing  some  hexagon 
netting  or  scrim  caiiA'as  over  the  ventilators  Avhen  the  external 
air  is  sharp.  Maintain  a  night  temperature  of  Godeg,  5deg  more 
in  mild,  and  odeg  less  in  severe  Aveather,  a  rather  Ioav  night 
temperature  being  better  than  a  high  one  and  a  dry  atmosphere, 
yet  it  must  not  be  of  long  duration  or  the  plants  become  stunted 
in  groAvth.  The  day  temperature  should  be  kept  at  70deg  to 
75deg,  rising  to  80deg  or  85deg  from  sun  heat,  and  closing  early 
so  as  to  run  up  to  90deg  or  lOOdeg.  Keep  the  bottom  heat 
steady  at  80deg  to  85deg.  Soav  seed  for  raising  young  plants 
to  sustain  the  succession,  and  shift  seedlings  into  larger  pots, 
or  add  soil  as  the  plants  advance,  stopping  those  for  frames  at  the 
second  rough  leaf,  but  not  for  trellises,  these  having  the  groAvth 
secured  to  a  small  .stake,  and  the  laterals  rubbed  off  up  the 
height  of  stem  necessary  to  reach  the  trellis. 
Fruit  CroAsing  at  the  Cape. 
The  usual  monthly  dinner  of  the  Horticultural  Club  AA'as  held 
at  the  Hotel  Windsor  on  Tuesday,  the  10th  inst.,  under  the  pre.si- 
dency  of  Mr.  Harry  Veitch,  some  fifty  members  and  friends  being 
present.  Mr.  Pickstone  Avas  the  guest  of  the  eA’ening,  and  gaA'e 
a  most  interesting  and  instructive  account  of  his  experiences  in 
fruit  culture  at  the  Cape,  Avhere  for  a  long  time  he  conducted  the 
fruit  plantations  established  there  by  the  late  Mr.  Cecil  Bhodes. 
Mr.  Bhodes,  Avith  his  usual  farsightedness,  speedily  appreciated 
the  fact  that  no  branch  of  land  cultivation  is  capable  of  employing 
so  many  men  as  that  of  fruit  culture,  and  he  consequently  en¬ 
gaged  Mr.  Pick.stone,  Avhose  experience  fullj^  justified  his  .selec¬ 
tion,  to  acquire,  in  the  first  place,  a  considerable  number  of 
farms  in  a  presumably  suitable  district,  and  then  tO'  stock  the 
land  Avith  suitable  trees.  Mr.  Pickstone,  on  his  arrival  at  the 
Clape,  found  that  for  more  than  a  century  fruit  culture  had  been 
carried  on  entirely  by  the  Dutch,  no  one  else,  despite  long-con¬ 
tinued  British  occuijation,  having  gra.sped  its  possibilities  until 
Mr.  Bhodes  and  his  assistant  came  on  the  scene.  It  is  even  pro¬ 
bable  that  the  Dutch  themselves  did  not  do  so,  for  Mr.  Pickston'e 
found  the  cult  in  a  state  of  decadence,  and  very  feAv  orchards. 
Those  of  very  small  extent  existed,  confined  entirely  tO'  the 
vicinity  of  Table  Mountain,  or  Avithin  150  miles, of  it.  The  trees 
Avere,  also,  of  very  mixed  character,  so  that  Avhen  it  became  a 
question  of  stocking  the  acquired  land  only  tAvo  or  three 
of  a  sort  Avere  obtainable,  and  the  supply  had  to  be  looked  for 
elseAA  here. 
Here,  of  cour.se,  all  reliable  experience  as  to  the  best  kinds 
suited  for  the  peculiar  Cape  climatic  conditions  Avas  lacking ;  but 
Mr.  Pickstone  speedily  found  that  except  in  the  limited  area 
named,  deciduous  fruit  trees  Avere  heavily  handicapped,  by  the 
lack  of  Avinter  rains,  Avhile  elsewhere  the  general  temperature 
conditions  throughout  the  year  prevented  the  trees  from  resting, 
so  that  they  Avere  the  prey  of  all  the  ills  that  fruit  trees  are  heir 
to  or  subject  to.  Fearful  Avindstorms,  too,  noAV  and  then  occur 
Avhich,  apart  from  the  ordinary  damage  such  .storms  inflict,  Avere 
rendered  more  destructive  by  the  fact  that  the  soil  of  the  ncAA^ 
plantations  Avas  a  loose  granitic  gravel,  Avhich  Avas  bloAvn  up  by 
the  Avind  and,  sandblast  fashion,  eroded  the  young  trees  to  the 
vei-y  pith,  killing  them  outright.  Even  Avhen  Oats  Avere  groAvn 
on  the  open  land  to  bind  the  soil  and  preA'ent  this,  a  .storm  folloAA  - 
ing  the  reaping  actually  blcAv  the  very  .stubble  out  of  the  ground, 
and  destroyed  the  orchard  a  second  time,  Avhen  the  attempt  at 
that  spot  Avas  abandoned.  A  vast  amount  of  A-aluable  informa¬ 
tion  Avas  afforded,  but  .space  precludes  detail,  Avhich,  liOAveA’er,  Avill 
be.  given  ev'entuall.v  in  the  B.H.S.  Journal. 
In  an  animated  di.scussion  in  Avhich  Messrs.  Pearson,  Fngle- 
