F RU

510 FRU

ing, though it contributes to the richness and.flavour of the fruit aswell as to the beauty of the tree. 2. Kernel fruit-trees come laterto bear than stone fruit-trees : the time required by the first, be-fore they come to any tit age for bearing, being on an average fiveyears; -but when they do begin, they bear in greater plenty thanstone-fruit. 3. Stone-fruit, figs, and grapes, commonly bear con-siderably in three or four years, and bear full crops the tilth andsixth years; and hold it formally years, if well ordered. 4. Fruit-trees in the same neighbourhood will ripen a fortnight sooner insome grounds than in others of a different temperature. 5. In thesame country, hot or cold summers set considerably forwards, orput backwards, the same fruit. 6. The fruit on wall-trees gene-rally ripen before those on standards, and those on standards beforethose on dwarfs. 7. The fruit of all wall-trees planted in the S. andE. quarters, commonly ripen about the same time, only those inthe s. rather earlier than those in the E ; those in the W. are laterby 8 or 10 days; and those in the N. by 15 or 20. While young,no trees should be suffered to bear a large quantity of fruit: anil,if they abound with blossoms, the fruit should be gathered as soonas it is formed; leaving only half a dozen of the produce, to as-certain its size and quality. 15y this measure, the trees will notonly produce larger and finer fruit, but, by being kept clear, theleading and collateral branches will every year become more vi-gorous. Nor ought any young plant, or newly-eligral'ted tree, tobe permitted to run mopheaded, as it will make no progress, tilleach branch has acquired a determined leader: for, if the growthof a tree be prevented, it will be extremely difficult to throw suchenergy into the system, as to enable it to grow freely. As long asfruit-trees continue in the nursery, it will be requisite to cut downthe head, in order to give strength and symmetry to the stem: itwill also be useful to shorten most of the grafts, lest they should beblown out by the wind: these operations likewise contribute toswell the buds. The ingenious Mr. Bucknall particularly recom-mends, not to place the rows of trees in a situation either directlynorth or south, but rather inclining to the east, as the sun will thenshine upon them in the early part of the day (hiring the spring, andthus dissipate the vapours collected in the night; which if suffer-ed to condense, will stint the fruit in the earlier stages of itsgrowth. He farther observes, that if the shaws (or shades) be pro-perly attended to, the trees being placed in this position, will beenabled to withstand the power of the winds; nor will they beaffected by blight. The sliaw will also , rotect the fruit froin theautumnal winds, by wh'ch half the crop of fruit is not unfrequentlvblown down, before it is ripe: and; as the heads are at that seasonof the year laden with fruit and leaves, many trees are torn up fromthe ground, or so lacerated as to be completely spoiled ; a misfor-tune that might be effectually prevented by a proper disposition ofthe shades. In the Transactions of the Economical Society ofLeipzig, we meet with a communication from the Rev. Mr. Ger-mershausen, on the means of promoting the growth of young fruit-trees, especially in grass-land. This method simply consists inspreading ilax-shows, or the refuse of llax, alter it has been comb-ed, on the soil contiguous to the trunks of the trees, as far as theroots extend ; by which means their size as well as their fertility isremarkably increased, lie mentions an instance, where an oldplum-tree which, being in a languishing stale, in a grass-field, wastreated in the manner above-directed, and thus not only acquired anew bark, but produced larger, and better-tasted fruit: the youngshoots also, which formerly grew up around the stem, were pre-vented from sprouting forth, because the refuse of the flax exclud-ed the access of air to the trunk, and imparted additional nutri-ment to the roots. The leaves falling from the trees in autumn,may be substituted for the flax-shows, if these cannot be easilyprocured ; but it will be necessary to dig a small trench for the re-'ception of the decayed leaves, and also to cover them with tiles,flat stones, or a log of wood, to prevent their dispersion by thewind. This precaution, however, is not required with the refuseof flax, w hich adheres so closely to the soil, as to withstand themost violent storm. Although gardeners bestow the strictest at-tention on orchards, it sometimes happens that the bark of trees isStripped off by sheep, or by other accidents. In this case, it hasbeen recommended by Mr. W. Fairman, o S Miller’s House,Lynsted, Kent , to take off the arms of such trees as are damaged ;to cut slips off the rind, about two or three inches in width, and toplace four or five of them perpendicularly round the naked part.

8

The damaged rind is previously to be cleared away, the soundbark somewhat raised, and the slips inserted beneath it, to pro-mote the circulation of the sap. These dressings are next to bebound very tight with rope-yarn; and a composition of loam andcow-dung, together with a small proportion of dril’t-sand, should beapplied, over which some old sacking, or similar stuff, ought to befastened. Mr. Fairman adds, that lie made an experiment withthis mode of treatment, in the spring of 17fl4, on some trees whichhad beer, much damaged by sheep, and that it completely succeed-ed, the slips adhering closely, and being full of sap. Fruit-trees,like the rest of tne vegetable creation, are.the prey of a variety ofinsects, of which few are more destructive than those infesting ap-ple, pear, cherry, oak, white-thorn, and similar trees. They de-posit their black eggs in clusters, resembling withered leaves, andwhich are twisted by a cobweb round the uppermost branches.These notorious insects are hatched in the spring, when they as-sume the form of very diminutive caterpillars, which destroy every-thing before them, and rapidly propagate in the most unfavoiiiableweather. They damage oaks very materially ; devour the white-thorn, and kill the plant: apples and pears, likewise, receive greatinjury. The only remedy hitherto known of exterminating suchnoxious vermin, is to cut off all the twigs or shoots of every treeon which these nests of insects appear; to collect them in aheap,and burn them as soon as tin: weather will permit; for, where thisnecessary operation is deferred till the summer approaches, the in-sects increase prodigiously, and commit irreparable damage. Thedisorders to which fruit-trees are subject, are various; the mostfatal are Blight, Canker, Mildew, Moss, &c. to which we refer.The effects of frost are likewise often fatal, especially to the moretender fruit-trees. With a view to obviate such damage, differentmethods have been suggested. In a communication from a Swe-dish agriculturist to a respectable periodica! work, published on t]ieContinent, the following expedient is stated to have been suc-cessfully employed, to protect fruit-trees from the vernal frosts.As soon as the weather begins to grow cold in autumn, large quan-tities of water are to be poured on the trunks of such trees, so thatthey may receive an early impression of Hie cold. In the spring,snow is to be accumulated round their stems; which retards vege-tation, and prevents them from blossoming too early. In conse-quence of this irrigation, the buds shoot forth at a period, when noapprehension need be entertained from the attacks of the frost thatfrequently happens during the nights of spring.—Such practice ofwatering the borders of trees, is said to increase tile heat in them,by accelerating the motion of their juices, if the soil oi such bor-der has been properly opened and prepared. It is farther recom-mended,to add one ounce of common salt to every gallon of water,where those borders are old, and have been impoverished by pro-ducing many successive crops; or if they have been manured withdung not sufficiently putrefied. The following method of makingfruit grow, during winter: is abstracted from tire ninth veil, of theAnnual Register for 1763: Let the trees be taken up l»v the root'sin the spring, at the time they are about to hud ; carefully preserv-ing some of their own soil among the roots. These are to heplaced upright in a cellar till Michaelmas, when they are to boput into vessels with Hie addition of fresh earth, and deposited ina stove or hot-house, being regularly moistened every morningwith rain-water, in which sal-ammoniac has been dissolved, in theproportion of one ounce to a quart. Thus, in the month of Febru-ary, the fruit will appear. The same method is applicable torose-trees, and flowers; which last, when sown in pots at or beforeMichaelmas, and watered in a similar manner, will blow towardsthe end of December. In order to ascertain when trulis, tor in-stance, apples and pears, are sufficiently ripe to be gathered, it 1Srequisite to attend to the colour of the skin inclosing the seeds.During their infant state, there is no cavity round the kernels, butihey are in contact with the seed-vessel. In a subsequent period,when tbefruitbasexhausted the nutritious matter, the cells contain-ing the seeds become hollow, and the latter assumes a dark colour.This, Dr. Darwin observes, is the proper criterion bv which tojudge when such fruits should he gathered ; as it indicates thatthey will not continue to increase in size, hut wa«le and h e "come hollow, by absorbing the mucilaginous particles from thecentre. Among the various distinct publications which have ap-peared on this subject, the following are allowed to possess con-siderable merit: "A Treatise ou Fruit-trees,” &e. by Thomas

3 Hitt;