THE ORCHARD

New Zealand Mail, Issue 691, 29 May 1885, Page 11

THE ORCHARD

EARLY DECAY OF FRUIT TREESWe cull from the American Agriculturist the following article upon the early decay of fruit trees as being apposite to the fact of the singular falling off in the production of the peach trees of the North Island and in the death of the trees. Ten years ago the peach tree was a weed, now it is rapidly becoming exotic : It is often stated that fruit trees do not now live so long as they formerly did, and various reasons are ascribed for this ; probably it is not due to any cause, but is rather the effect of several. One of the remedies suggested is, that apple trees should be budded instead of grafted. This is only another way of. saying that whole seedlings are better for stocks than pieces of roots. There cannot be any material difference between a collar-grafted, or a collar- budded tree, the tree being formed from a single bud in either case. Theoretically the most perfect trees are grown on whole seedling stock. Practical root-grafts make fine, thrifty looking trees, but do they possess as large an amount of vitality as the others ? How little we know about the influence the stock has on the graft and its fruit. If we topgraft an early apple tree with a winter variety, the apples will ripen sooner than the same variety on a collar-grafted tree. This seems to indicate, the more of the stock we retain the greater its influence on the fruit. In the former case, roots, trunk and part of the branches were retained ; in the other, only the roots. Many believe the influence of the stock to be so trifling as not to be worth notice. The indirect action of the stock upon the f, uit is readily seen. A poor, weak stock is likely to prodnoe an unthrifty tree, and an unthrifty tree will not equal a vigorous one in yield and quality of fruit. But has the Btock a more direct influence on fruit? Variations often occur that are difficult to account for otherwise. South of Philadelphia winter apples have a tendency to ripen too soon. Might not this be partially obviated by selecting Beed for stocks from vigorous late-keeping varieties ? Might not the ripening of . early apples be accelerated by a sim lar selection from early kinds .? Would not a series of experiments of thi3 class give some definite information ? There seems to be ah opportunity for improvement here, not alone with apples, but other fruits also. Whokuows but some of the diseases of pear trees may be caused by the unacclimated foreign stocks used in propagating ? The largest share of our attention seems to be directed towards new , varieties ■ — something “ ironclad,” that will yield an abundance of first-clas3 fruit with little or no care—while improvement in culture is comparatively neglected. Trees are apt to receive a severe check in the violent change produced by removal from rich nursery soil to the poor, exhausted soil in which the orchard is planted —at least it is exhausted in comparison with the virgin soil of olden time. In addition to this, the tree is often planted too deep, under the common but erroneous belief that it will be better able to withstand drought and high winds if its roots are set down where the soil is always moist. As likely as not they go down into the barren subsoil, with perhaps a few shovelfuls of fertile soil thrown around bj way of reminding them of where they ought to have been planted When a tree is planted too deep, it must either send feeders up to the surface soil or [start fresh roots above the collar before it can make much if any growth. Those trees which never start roots above the collar, are specially injured by deep planting. Most, if not all stone-fruits belong to this class ; so do some apples and pears.