ROOT PRUNING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2077, 26 July 1890, Page 2

ROOT PRUNING.

The following are a few extracts from the piper read before the Geraldine Fioral and Horticultural Society by Mr J. Pya on " Root Pruning " : Mr Pje commenced-by stating that as liis former paper was on the planting of an orchard, with the selection of tree*, - &c, he now proposed io follow it np with a paper on root pruning. Referring to a book on fruit tree growing, written by Mr Rivers, of England, Mr Pye said Mr Rivers was one of the;S;ery best authorities in England on fruit and fruit tree grow-) iog, but he (Mr Pye) differed very much with him on dee subject, and that was the common p-actice of dgging a trench round a tree and filling it with rmoure. He objected to this for the following reasons :—Supposing the giound to be poor and the tree showing signs of poverty they would kno« that the tret wanted something to feet it To dig a trench round the tree, say six feet in diameter aod eighteen inches deep, would necessitate the ; cutting of ever) • rost. The trench whs then filed with good soil and manure, with tne r suit thtt the roo's wou'd m<ke .« r«pid growth in the spring-till - they hid p<>»e 'hrough the trench when . thi-y. ..-wou'd . find the opposite s'tdo of it like a w li for them to run agtioHt, »nd they wen hi either bav# to turn bnck or go to the bottem of the trench. The roots of a tree would run after anything that would feed l hem, so tb»t common seose wou d show that if the ground wanted in inuring »t all it wanted it. further out than the trench. Hia (Mr Pye'.-) practice when tti<* giound waß poor and wanted manuring, aod surface-dressing would not do, wtetoceda off all the gr«ss rjund the tree for a .space,! say, of nix feet in diameter, cut round the free with a sharp spade, and we 1 nunure all the ground where the grass was not cut off, then dig the manure in throwing bick a little of the fine soil towards the tree to iN»ke op for-that removed by the grass. Tnen when the roots began to gro* they wou'd have the run of the whole of ths ground tillihey met those of the.other trees. If the ground was properly worked before the trees were plated surface-rnaburibg was all they should require. Th<» grass should also be kept clean around the lree», aod in the summer the grass cut from the lawn should be put around them, which

5 would keep the ground moist, and prevent i I the grass and weeds from growing, RootI pruning was an operation perfounsd on trees that w.er« growing too vigorously without bearjag fruit, the reason generally being thut the trees hud been planted too deeply in the ground, or the roots hdd run too. deeply into the soil. The general pructicj in pruning was to cut a trench around the trie, the siza of (he circle being regulatad by the siz? of the tree. The treuoh must be sufficiently deep to cut all tha roots. Another trench was then cut at the right Bngles to the tree, say, three long and as deep as tbe first trenob, so thut <i person could stand in it, and with a sharp spade work under the tree, aod cut all the roots that are running straight down. If the tree was a large ooe, and the worker could not get right uuder it from one side, a similar . trench could be made on the opposite side, and the work curried on from there until the tr6e whs quite loose, but with a large ball of earth attached to it. Jn most cases the tree would make very little wood the following year, but would make fruit spurs, and most likely baar the succeeding year. Ha had seen many trees brought in/o bearing by this means, arid in England he hid seen trees that were making a rush of wood instead, of bearing

fruit treated as described above and tben large el>it«ss placed under them to prevent the toots from Again going too deeply, into the Boil. The pruning of the trees themselves he »hould le*ve for another piper, -as the different kinds of fruit trees required different kinds of pruning, and it would necessitate a lengthy paper to dc*l with the subject. At the last meeting held one of the members wanted to koow why he liad advocated the ground being worked 18 inches deep and then the tree being planted so Bhallow. The firs reason was that very Utile gronn i in New Z aland has been worked deeper than the plough had been, Under that was a Lard bottom, which would not answer for fruit trees. , -Afietv two or three hours heavy rain .the soil was full of water to the depth it had been worked. The bottom being so bard the water could not penetrate i', consequently it was soon running on the surface, and aftir a few days of iry, windy weather the ground was as dry aa ever. Where the land was worked deeply the rain went fairly into the subfoil, and would run aw-y under the roots of the trees, and when the subsoil was thoroughly wet it would keep the ground damp for a long time, as the sun's rays would draw the dampness from the subsoil te the «uiface. The second reason wbs the different kinds of manure that was in the ground, or the different ingredients in tbem, were useless when the ground was very dry, and ..consequently by working the land'deeply the surface soil was kept mo'st,-for a.much longer lime, thereby giving the manure in the ground a chance to do its work properly, or, at aDy rate, for a much longer lime. Mr Pye'a paper having been duly discussed,- he, was heartily thanked for the information be had given therein.