WONDERFUL ORCHARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21224, 2 July 1932, Page 10

WONDERFUL ORCHARD.

FRUITS OF ALL NATIONS.

EXPERIMENTS IN GRAFTING.

SOME EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS

In a cosmopolitan orchard at Avondale, where Portuguese, Japanese and Algerian lemons, Manila shaddocks, Bengal citrons, Californian mandarins, Chinese and German cherries, Spanish and Fiji oranges, South American guavas and the Maltese blood orange flourish in rich profusion, important experiments arc being conducted in grafting and bud selection which; may have a vital bearing on the future of New Zealand's fruit-growing industry. Mr. Hay ward R. Wright, who has won a Dominion-wide reputation for his pioneering work in connection with improving the strains of ei'rus fruits, particularly the lemon, has made a hobby of what ho calls "double-working," by which is meant, that one tree, having received one graft-, then receives the hud of a third tree, so that the original tree is twice crossed. In one corner of his orchard, for instance, is a white wild cherry from the Black Forest of Baden, which has been grafted on to a mahalch, or red cherry, from America, to which the bud of the weeping cherry of China has been added. The result is a cherry differing entirely in quality from its three progenitors. Oranges and Lemons on Same Tree. An entirely new species of lemon lias been produced by crossing the trifoliata, or Japanese lemon, first with a wild Seville orange and then with a Messina (Sicilian lemon). In another corner of the orchard is a grapefruit which has been crossed with a tangerine orange, producing a new kind of fruit called a tangelo, which looks exactly like a yellow pear and joins the bitterness of the grapefruit with the flesh of tho tangerine. A

little further on, is an orange tree which has been grafted to a lemon tree, with the result that oranges and lemons can bo picked from the same tree. "Success all depends on finding tho right affinity between whatever you select for your grafting or budding experiment," said Mr, Wright during a stroll through his orchard yesterday. "Some take to it like ducks to tho water; others mako tho greatest protest. People say to me, 'Whv go to the troublo of double-working ? Isn t a single graft enough ? ' No, it is not. And tho proof is in that row of lemons." Mysteries of "Double-working."

Although the lemon shrubs to which lie pointed were only 2ft. to 3ft. in height:, each bore a crop of beautiful full-sized lemons. Each shrub was an example of double-crossing, starting with trifoliata, which is a deciduous stock, and finishing with the grafting and bud-insertion of two species of lemons or bitter oranges. "That small tree which, as you see, carries 20 large lemons, is only a year old," said Mr. Wright proudly. "And I have another lemon tree which was in llower only eight months after the budding operation. People say, 'The operation is too drastic. You are grafting them too finely and they will die after three years' cropping.' Well, over there are half a dozen trees which were grafted on similar lines six years ago and they don't appear to be in the mood to die yet." As a matter of fact, the tree was so heavily laden with lemons, to tho tune of several hundred, that three branches had broken off with the weight and the others were held up with wooden props. "The advantage of using a trifoliata root on which to build up your lemon tree is that the trifoliata is noted for its frostresisting powers," Mr. Wright added, "and the tree grown from its stock develops a hardy top which is of great value in cold localities. Lemon trees produced in this way will flourish further south than any other lemon trees in New Zealand. What is moro, they aro immune from collar-rot, one of the lemon's chief enemies." Protection from Woolly Aphis. Mr. Wright pointed out apple trees which had been subjected to grafting arid bud-selection until they were self-protected against tho ravages of woolly aphis, and grape vines immune from tho attacks of the insect phloxema. There was a peculiar tree which had been produced by crossing a line with a kumquat, which is a small species of the citrus family that comes from China. Tho resultant fruit Mr. Wright called a limequat, which he said made a splendid acid drink. The detection of "sports," which is another name for freaks, is one of tho trickiest arts of the orchardist. It is from the "sports" that the' finest results of grafting and bud-selection aro obtained. Out of hundreds of grafting experiments only one or two may produce remarkable results. These aro immediately seized upon, the buda are transferred to other trees and in tho end a new and immensely improved strain may be developed. Ono of Mr. Wright's successes is the development of the Gorgeous Crab apple of Japan. Ho obtained it as a seedling, crossed it with the Delicious apple, familiar to New Zealand orchards, and as a result doubled the size of the Japanese fruit, which, however, still retains its colour and sweetness, lie is now busily engaged on experiments with mandarins from Florida.