PLANTIN: FRUIT TREES AND SHRUBS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1844, 1 May 1884, Page 3

PLANTIN: FRUIT TREES AND SHRUBS.

THB importance of the subject suggested by this heading may not seem to some of ' my readers to be of very great value to 1 them, but 1 to me it does so appear j and '■because I see its importance and am 11 'anxious to help as many of my fellow ■> colonists as I can, I direct attention to this matter at this oppoitune season. I believe the people of tins colony are be- •' ginning to realise that fruit gi owing is^of value to the settler, and the beautifully "''"'■ wooded landscape vi-ry cheering and healthful to the residents as well as to the tourist, and a means of mci easing the 'Y&lue of the estate. I thereioie wish to Bay in this paper a little of what I Unovv „ about this matter, hoping that it may be lof benefit to those who may contemplate fruit growing and forest planting. Cheat are often made by placing trees Jn ground thoroughly unprepared for them. It does not follow because viigin soil produces a good crop of potatoes, turnips, or oats that it will therefore 'as a consequence nourish and sustain fruit tiees, or even shiubs. , .The farmer knows that if he 1 "ploughs deeply and carelessly and brings up the subsoil in large quantity the probability is that the ciops named will not grow, while if the soil has been undisturbed there would have been a large produce. The fact is in such cases, while the surface soil is fit the subsoil is unfit "for plant growth. Tices of necesssty have to stand with their roots in the space of this subsoil. It is therefore important that this subsoil should be so far removed or fixed with good active soil as to lose its destructhe character, an-1 be induced to part with some of its sealed up stores. This can be done by woiking and otherwise cultivating the soil. Give the trees a fair chance to get well rooted, ,and make evident signs of a strong hfe at > the beginning, and then, unless the subsoil is water-logged or otherwise very poisonous, they will manage to assist themselves, and with a little attention on the part of man, draw fruit pioducing power from this otherwiseobnoxious subsoil. While the settlers have in many instances gone wrongintho pastby not preparingthe ground for trees, far more mistakes have been, and are still being made by the manner in which trees are removed from the nursery lines, and in theotchard or garden. Ido not mean to say heiethat nurserymen — men who have made their business a study as well as a source of ..profit — are caieless, nor, indeed, that the ordinary settler is caieless. But many think it of no consequence so long as they take a tiee or rather the stem and branches out of the ground and place them where they would like them to grow. They do not seem to think it matters much how long they are out of the ground, so long as they do not wither, and the back and branches are not broken. The veiy fact that nurserymen bind up the roo^s with a ball of earth and a canvas cloth should teach us that the loots lequire caieful handling and as little exposure as possible. No part ot a tree is moie easily damaged and more difficult to replace than the fine roots, which, in the case of fruit trees, pioduce fruit, and in the case of shrubs regularity of form and ornamentation. I have seen men get in a great rage when, by caivta ss handling, the auctioneer's a&sistants ha\e broken a branch or peeled the bark. Why, either of these, when the tree is not infested with injurious insects, may be somewhat easily replaced if the roots are not injured. Yet I have seen these same men cut off a root, and m some eases roots, because they happened to stretch out beyond the limit of the small hole dug for the tree to stand in. I say, don't let the trees be out of the giound longer than yon can help ; be as careful as possible in lifting and planting, 30 that you injure the roots as little as possible, and while you are careful of the whole tree, take especial care of the roots. When the trees are once settled in a good home it may be found that the roots aie Capable of taking care of themseh es, and they will not lequire you to look in upon them half so frequently as it will be found necessary to attend to the b.uk and branches. Anothei \erynnportaut point is the time at which trees aie lemoved and planted. Some people in looking at the reasons which should lead them to fix the 'time often lose sight of the most important. They, in fact, often think of only one rea*on— namely, the condition of the sap. They, say, wait till it is down, or till it ceases to flow. The latter it hardly ever does in New Zealand. But admitting as I do that it is safer to "move trees of size when the sap moves slowly and when the heat force is not sufficient to attract it in force to the outward parts and tallest points, theio are other considoiations which should guide us in this matUr. What is of far moie importance is the climatic influences which bear upon the branches and the heat or want of it in the soil. There should be sufficient heat in the soil at the time of planting to pioduce new rootlets, and thus give the newly planted tree the means of drawing nourishment from the soil as often as the sun and warm atmosphere call for a srpply, as well as to enable the tree to resist an exceptionally cold season. This leads me to say that the best time of planting both fruit and e\ei green trees is the autumn, and somewhat eaily in the autumn. Does the settler say as he reads this article, " Ought Ito plant for next year at once ?" Yes my friend or else wait for the spring. But as your time and attention will be required then especially fdr other crops, try and attend to this rriatter now. I know as the season is a late one, and harvest operations pi olongpcl far beyond the usual time, there is some show of reason for delaying this kind of work. Do you level best to make circumstances a stepping stone or stepping stones. Don't let them master you. The season shows us the necessity of having more than one iron in the fire. There is health in hope, and vigour in determination. And this one when propeily heated will not require so much attention as the rest. If you intend planting either for fruit growing or forest producing, and have any strength and energy left, turn to this work at once. Let me give a few additional reasons for this : Many persons, taking advantage of the fine open weather experienced in so many parts of New Zealand, make the mistake of supposing that any time of the winter will do equally well for tree planting. Now it often happens that the days of winter are accompanied and followed after by bright, warm, sunny days, interspersed with rather dry biting winds. If the trees are planted late the effect of this' is seen at once in the drooping shrivelled leaves of the evergreens, such as hollies, Portugal and other laurels, and arbutos, but the evil is not seen in the* coniferous and like trees, and also with all fruits, till late on in the summer. Our' fine open winters tempt men who are' pushed to do this work not at the most fitting time. Don't bo tempted. Lord Sudeley ( (North Gloucestershire, England) has just had planted out an immense orchard of 500 acres, intending next season to plant 200 acres more. He has been very particular about the point to 'which I am now referring. He obtained fine healthy trees of suitable age, and out of 40,000 plums and damson trees not five in a thousand have gone wrong. We talk about doing large things in the Colonies : we have not at present anything to equal this Gloucestershire garden that I am aware of. £Bn|t' we* might find as good a marker, tfp&t all events, putting one thing against ■ifotber, reap as large a profit per acre. Epfrelurn. The 'loss of trees that die Kght out through unseasonable removal is Pytao means the whole of the mischief ; many that do not absolutely succumb are ymn before? they iake to' growing freely. They get into a stunted state, out cf which, theytfo uot come freely, Autumn Ib not only the best time ,for planting on' jfldßfflfiot ■or'thVlTtTte'loss that follows Png that period, but in the saving of aritythe.jwiterini* jthat is unavoid. Ufa spring planing. When plant-

ing of this kind cannot be done in the autumn, it is like «oing forth to meet failure to attempt it m the colder weather. Exceptions and exceptional seasons there are, but these only help to prove the correctness of the statements now made. The difference between planting at suitable and unsuitable seasons is not so noticible in the proportion of the trees that die after the removal, as in those that make much less progress in the first and second summers afterwards. How often do we hear, " that tree doesn't seem to grow a bit ; it has been in the giound tlnee years and it is hardly any laiger than it was when I put it in."' My reader, if you are thus speaking, ask yourself whose fault it is. It may be that you put it in at a bad time of the year. To the farmer who wants to realise as soon as possible to meet the press ing necessities of the times, this slow giowth is very vexing. This kind of evil is most visible in trees that aie about the oi dinary planting size. Last season we had some striking instances of the kind in this province. Fine large trees faded before our, eyes, and were obliged to be taken out of the giound because they were dead. In the case even of extra sized tiees, if fail ly taken out, propeily planted and well staked as soon as autumn lea\ es are seen upon the ground ; they will do as well as some others that may be considered a more suitable size for mo\ ing. The points to be taken notice of in this paper are that many are lured to planting, especially evergreen shrubs, too late after the right sea&on in autumn is past and too soon in spring before theie is certainly of the roots beginning to act. immediately the trees are put into the giound. It also aims at diiecting attention to the importance of planting all kinds of deciduous trees and shrubs, which from our mild open winters push their burls so early in the season. Indeed this List fact makes it almost imperative that all fruit-tree planting should be done in the autumn. Of course it is not of so much consideration. In a future article I shall have something more to say about tiees and their management. — William Jenner, in Otago Witness.

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