THE GARDEN

Otago Witness, Issue 4030, 9 June 1931, Page 11

THE GARDEN

■WORK FOR THE WEEKg

NOTES

BY

D. TANNOCK,

AHR.H.S>

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Chrysanthemums will soon be past their best, and as they go over they can be cut back to within 18 inches from the pots, top-dressed with some soil, and stood in a cold frame to encourage strong, strudy growths for propagating. Continue to store away dahlias, tuberous begonias, and gladioli, and bring in bulbs which were potted up some time ago, and are now well rooted and ready to develop their leaves and flowers. Those grown in boxes to provide cut flowers can also he brought in. Stand them in the cold greenhouse at first, and introduce them into heat as they are required. THE FLOWER GARDEN Continue to plant out trees, shrubs, and roses, to clear off herbaceous borders and to clean up the last of the leaves. It is not worth while spending a lot of time on cleaning up until the leaves are all down, but now we can clear them from under the shrubs, carry out any pruning which may be necessary, and then dig or fork over the soil. The planting of all bulbs and tubers except ranunculus should be completed as soon as possible. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN Continue to prune the bush fruits, to lift and store root crops, and to manure, dig, or trench all vacant ground. THE APPLE The apple is well described as the king of hardy fruits, and certainly it is the most esteemed and most extensively cultivated fruit in temperate countries. Though we cannot expect to grow fruit like Central Otago and the Nelson districts, there are several reasons whv even those with small gardens should grow a few trees successfully. Apples are so hardy. They will stand quite a lot of frost when at rest, and they will thrive on any kind of soil, provided it is deeply and thoroughly cultivated, well drained, and reasonably manured. It is quite easy to keep the trees within reasonable bounds by pruning, and though the bush trees are the most popular, very fine fruits can be grown on espalier or cordon trees trained on walls or fences.

The apple is also a very ornamental tree, both in spring, when covered with blossom, and in autumn, when the fruit is ripening. It is not a very dirty tree, and though attacked by a number of pests, these can be kept in control by spraying at the right time. When planting a commercial orchard it is advisable to put. in a limited number of the well-known varieties, but in a domestic orchard many more can be planted, both dessert and cooking, to ensure supplies over as long a period as nossible. Where there is only room for a few trees it is better to grow early maturing varieties which are available before the crop from the commercial orchards begins to come in. When preparing the soil it is better to trench, though not so deeply as for vegeteahle crops, and to provide drainage with either pipe or stone drains if the soil is at all heavy. It is not desirable to encourage the roots to go down into the cold subsoil, which has a tendency to bring about the development of strong woody growth instead of fruiting spurs. When digging the holes it is advisable to make them wide enough to allow the roots to go in easily without bending, and the ordinary methods of tree planting are then followed. First throw in the surface soil, which may be grassy or weedy, and chop it up, forming a mound in the middle, on which the base of the stem may rest. The top of the mound should be sufficiently high to enable the roots to be buried the same depth as they were in the nursery. This can be determined by the soil mark on the stem. Spread out the roots evenly, and if any are bruised trim them with a sharp knife, throw in some fine soil, and shake the stem to work it in amongst the fine fibrous roots. Throw in more soil and tramp to firm, and continue to do -this until the hole is filled and the soil mounded up a little round the stem to allow for sinking. If the soil is light and gravelly it is an advantage to mix in some good turfy loam, but it is not desirable to mix in any fresh manure where it will come into close contact with the roots. It is better to wait until spring and apply as a mulch when growth has commenced, but basic prosphate or bone meal can be mixed with the soil when planting. When planting on a grassy bank, which it is impossible to trench, the holes have to be very wide, and deep enough to provide drainage, and it is advisable to maintain a circle of cultivated soil round the stem at all times. PRUNING Apples bear their, fruit on spurs, whlen are young branches arrested in their development, and our. .effort should be to get the main stems, clothed with these spurs from end to end, to keep them clean and healthy, and to maintain a balance between the growth .of young wood and the spurs. When young, trees arrive they have usually from three-to five branches, and the first pruning, should be to reduce them to half their- length, leaving the top bud pointing away ■ from the centre of the tree, and removing the weak ones altogether. Next year the three shoots are doubled, and so on, increasing the number of branches -as -the tree develops outwards, until it - occupies the space allotted to it. Overcrowding of the

branches has to ■be guarded against, and from 12 to 18 inches between each is a reasonable distance. Wlien building up young trees from 12 to 15 inches of young growth ran be added each year, but when they reach their maximum height six inches will be sufficient. The pruning of well-established trees is comparatively simple. All dead and decaying wood, is first cut out, all side growths are shortened back to one or two inches, and the terminal growth to about six inches, taking care to cut to a bud pointing outwards. The side shoots which have been spurred back will probably develop into fruiting spurs, and the dormant buds _ near the base of the young growth will probably do likewise. When tries arc making a lot of young wood and failing to develop fruiting spurs there is no use simply pruning them hard back, for they wiil grow more strongly than ever. They can be allowed a little extra latitude, and if they still fail, resort to root pruning. On the other hand, if the trees are not making sufficient young wood to keep them healthy it is an indication that they are starved or too exposed to the sun, which would harden the bark. It w-U be necessary to apply a good dressing of farm yard manure, or blood and bone, with a little sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda when growth commences in the spring Unless trees make a reasonable amount of young wood each year they cannot remain healthy- and produce crops of fruit. When old neglected orchards are taken over it is often better to root out the old blight-infested trees and replant, or to cut them over and graft. If healthy and reasonably clean they can be made quite productive by- judicious pruning, spraying, manuring, and cultivating. When grown as cordons they may be either single or double. They are pruned like red currant!-, all side growths being spurred back and the leading shoot gradually extended until it reaches the top of the fence or wall. Eapaliers are more popular than cordons for apples, and beginning with three shoots two are tied out horiozntally to wires and the other allowed to grow upwards, each being tipped. Next year the same methods are adopted, and this is continued, adding two horizontal branches each year until the top of the fence is reached. Then further upward growth is stopped, and the horizontal branches are extended by from six to nine inches of new wood each year.

The apple is a native of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and has sprung from the wild crab apple. Pyrus malus. This naturally varied very much, and it is probably due to tins circumstance that in the hands of the gardener it has lent itself so readily to modification and improvement. Botanical ly the apple is not a true fruit, but an enlargement of the base of the calyx which has become succulent and fleshy and has grown up. enclosing the true fruit in the core. Though new varieties are constantly being raised'and introduced into cultivation, many of the older kinds, about whose parentage little is known, are still in the front rank, and are extensively cultivated. Varieties to nlant near the coast are Irish • Peach. Cox’s Orange Pippin, Delirious, Scarlet Nonpareil, Sturmer, and Jonathan for dessert, and for cooking Hawthornden. Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Ballarat Seedling, and Lord Suffield.

Though the varieties of Pyrus malus are cultivated mainly for their fruits, there are a number of crab apples which are very ornamental trees and are very suitable for planting in small gardens. They have not quite the same variations of foliage as the plums, but they have the advantage that not only are they beautiful when in blossom, but they also bear very ornamental and richly-coloured fruits. Pyrus baccata, the Siberian Crab, is a handsome species, which forms a larger tree than most of this group. It is a beautiful object when covered with masses of white blossoms in spring or crowded with brilliant scarlet fruit in the autumn. Pyrus floribunds is one of the best known of the spring flowering crabs, forming a large, low-branching tree or bush. The flowers are deep rose in bud. expanding almost to white, and, like many others, they are most charming before all the blossoms are fully open, when red buds and bluish-white flowers are intermingled. The fruits are small, bright yellow, and arc borne on thin stalks. Pyrus arnoldiana, a very desirable variety, is a cross between the two just described. Pyrus Halliana is a delightful crab from Western China. In growth it is a small graceful tree, seldom more than 15 feet high. The flowers are salmon-pink, and the fruit is bright yellow, flushed with red. 1 Pyrus Seheideckeri is a small and very graceful and beautiful tree bearing ■deep rose-coloured buds, bluish-pink when open, and small round yellow fruits about the size of a cherry. Pyrus malus gorgeous is a low-growing crab apple pro? ducing masses of brilliant fruit like large cherries. It' is an excellent plant for a small garden.

In an attempt to show that New Zealand’s present conditions are not as bad as those over which the Dominion has successfully triumphed in the past, the New Zealand News, a London publication for New Zealanders in Britain, calls to mind other depressions during the last 50 years. In 1880 a meeting of Christchurch unemployed drew up a petition to the President of the United States asking for assistance in migrating to America. Five years later a Dunedin meeting appealed to the Governor of Victoria for similar help, and in 1887 Queen Victoria was asked “to exercise her prerogative during the year of her jubilee by sending relief to the starving people of "New Zealand.” Between 1885 and 1891, the article shows, the excess of departures over arrivals in the Dominion was 20,000. Ships leaving for Australia. were crowded with those who had given up hope of seeing prosperity again return to New Zealand.