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 five 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
brūlure 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.
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