THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT



XXXIII.

THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.


By a little attention to this matter, a lady with the help of her
children can obtain a rich abundance of all kinds of fruit. The writer
has resided in families where little boys of eight, ten, and twelve
years old amused themselves, under the direction of their mother, in
planting walnuts, chestnuts, and hazelnuts, for future time; as well
as in planting and inoculating young fruit-trees of all descriptions.
A mother who will take pains to inspire a love for such pursuits in
her children, and who will aid and superintend them, will save them
from many temptations, and at a trifling expense secure to them and
herself a rich reward in the choicest fruits. The information given
in this work on this subject may be relied on as sanctioned by the
most experienced nursery-men.

The soil for a nursery should be rich, well dug, dressed with
well-decayed manure, free from weeds, and protected from cold winds.
Fruit-seeds should be planted in the autumn, an inch and a half or two
inches deep, in ridges four or five feet apart, pressing the earth
firmly over the seeds. While growing, they should be thinned out,
leaving the best ones a foot and a half apart. The soil should be kept
loose, soft, and free from weeds. They should be inoculated or ingrafted
when of the size of a pipe stem; and in a year after this may be
transplanted to their permanent stand. Peach-trees sometimes bear in
two years from budding, and in four years from planting if well kept.

In a year after transplanting, take pains to train the head aright.
Straight upright branches produce _gourmands_, or twigs bearing
only leaves. The side branches which are angular or curved yield the
most fruit. For this reason, the limbs should be trained in curves,
and perpendicular twigs should be cut off if there be need of pruning.
The last of June is the time for this. Grass should never be allowed
to grow within four feet of a large tree, and the soil should be kept
loose to admit air to the roots. Trees in orchards should be twenty-five
feet apart. The soil _under_ the top soil has much to do with the
health of the trees. If it be what is called _hard-pan_, the trees
will deteriorate. Trees need to be manured and to have the soil kept
open and free from weeds.

_Filberts_ can be raised in any part of this country.

_Figs_ can be raised in the Middle, Western, and Southern States.
For this purpose, in the autumn loosen the roots on one side, and bend
the tree down to the earth on the other; then cover it with a mound
of straw, earth, and boards, and early in the spring raise it up and
cover the roots.

_Currants_ grow well in any but a wet soil. They are propagated
by cuttings. The old wood should be thinned in the fall and manure be
put on. They can be trained into small trees.

_Gooseberries_ are propagated by layers and cuttings. They are
best when kept from suckers and trained like trees. One third of the
old wood should be removed every autumn.

_Raspberries_ do best when shaded during a part of the day. They
are propagated by layers, slips, and suckers. There is one kind which
bears monthly; but the varieties of this and all other fruits are now
so numerous that we can easily find those which are adapted to the
special circumstances of the case.

_Strawberries_ require a light soil and vegetable manure. They should be
transplanted in April or September, and be set eight inches apart, in
rows nine inches asunder, and in beds which are two feet wide, with
narrow alleys between them. A part of these plants are _non-bearers_.
These have large flowers with showy stamens and high black anthers. The
_bearers_ have short stamens, a great number of pistils, and the flowers
are every way less showy. In blossom-time, pull out all the non-bearers.
Some think it best to leave one non-bearer to every twelve bearers, and
others pull them all out. Many beds never produce any fruit, because all
the plants in them are non-bearers. Weeds should be kept from the vines.
When the vines are matted with young plants, the best way is to dig over
the beds in cross lines, so as to leave some of the plants standing in
little squares, while the rest are turned under the soil. This should be
done over a second time in the same year.

_To Raise Grapes_, manure the soil, and keep it soft and free
from weeds. A gravelly or sandy soil, and a south exposure are best.
Transplant the vines in the early spring, or better in the fall. Prune
them the first year so as to have only two main branches, taking off
all other shoots as fast as they come. In November, cut off all of
these two branches except four eyes. The second year, in the spring,
loosen the earth around the roots, and allow only two branches to grow,
and every month take off all side shoots. When they are very strong,
preserve only a part, and cut off the rest in the fall. In November,
cut off all the two main stems except eight eyes. After the second
year, no more pruning is needed, except to reduce the side shoots, for
the purpose of increasing the fruit. All the pruning of grapes (except
nipping side shoots) must be done when the sap is not running, or they
will bleed to death. Train, them on poles, or lattices, to expose them
to the air and sun. Cover tender vines in the autumn. Grapes are
propagated by cuttings, layers, and seeds. For cuttings, select in the
autumn well-ripened wood of the former year, and take fire joints for
each. Bury them till April; then soak them for some hours, and set
them out _aslant_, so that all the eyes but one shall be covered.

Apples, grapes, and such like fruit can be preserved in their natural
state by packing them when dry and solid in dry sand or saw-dust,
putting alternate layers of fruit and cotton, saw-dust or sand. Some
saw-dust gives a bad flavor to the fruit.

_Modes of Preserving Fruit-Trees_.--Heaps of ashes or tanner's bark
around peach-trees prevent the attack of the worm. The _yellows_ is a
disease of peach-trees, which is spread by the pollen of the blossom.
When a tree begins to turn yellow, take it away with all its roots,
before it blossoms again, or it will infect other trees. Planting tansy
around the roots of fruit-trees is a sure protection against worms, as
it prevents the moth from depositing her egg. Equal quantities of salt
and saltpetre, put around the trunk of a peach-tree, half a pound to a
tree, improve the size and flavor of the fruit. Apply this about the
first of April; and if any trees have worms already in them, put on half
the quantity in addition in June. To young trees just set out, apply one
ounce in April, and another in June, close to the stem. Sandy soil is
best for peaches.

Apple-trees are preserved from insects by a wash of strong lye to the
body and limbs, which, if old, should be first scraped. Caterpillars
should be removed by cutting down their nests in a damp day. Boring
a hole in a tree infested with worms, and filling it with sulphur,
will often drive them off immediately.

The _fire-blight_, or _brulure_ in pear-trees can be stopped by cutting
off all the blighted branches. It is supposed by some to be owing to an
excess of sap, which is remedied by diminishing the roots.

The _curculio_, which destroys plums and other stone-fruit, can be
checked only by gathering up all the fruit that falls, (which contains
their eggs,) and destroying it. The _canker-worm_ can be checked by
applying a bandage around the body of the tree, and every evening
smearing it with fresh tar.