GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 16 July 1914, Page 53

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mr. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

THE PEAR TREE. Pears are usually grafted on seedling pear stocks, and on the quince. Those grafted on seedlings grow more robust tha,u the ones grafted on the quince. Therefore the pears on the quince are preferable to those grafted on the seedling. One great fault with the pear tree, is that it is inclined to grow too tall when left to its own course. The object of the grower, therefore, must be to keep it within bounds by a judicious manipulating of the roots and branches. The pear tree will stand more pruning than the apple, and forms more bearing buds from the effects of the' pruning knife. To keep the tree within bounds summer pruning must be attended to, by cutting away all the laterals to within three or four inches of the base of the growth, and then cutting back to about two or three eyes in the winter. In summer-pruning it must be borne in mind that if the side or lateral shoots are cut too near the base, say within two or three eyes of the branch, the object intended to be gained is lost namely, the eyes which would form bearing buds will start into wood, as the sap must find an outlet. The consequence is that the buds, which would form bearing buds, must grow into wood, to take away the accumulated sap which the tree possesses, after the shoots are shortened : hence the necessity of leaving more eyes in the shoot, sufficient to take the sap without interfering with the embryo buds. The pear delights in a good loamy soil, inclined to a clay, more so than a sandy bottom. But as a rule the pear accommodates itself to most soils to be met with in the ordinary garden. After a few years, when the tree is fairly established, it might be left to its own free will. Pruning may be altogether dispensed with, except an occasional thinning out of any branches, which may have grown too close to one another, and that would hinder the sun and air’ from having fair play among the branches. If it is inclined to make too much wood, get at the roots and give it a check by curtailing the root action. The more you prune away the branches of a vigorous growing tree, the more wood you will have the following season. Checking the root action is the secret. When a tree is making a lot of useless spray, arid will not bear fruit, all the pruning in the world will not remedy the evil, without checking its growth. Get under the tree and examine the root action, and you will find about double the quantity of roots required for the ordinary requirements of a fruit-bearing tree. Then the next best thing to be done is to balance the tree by reducing the root action. If summer-pruning were more practised, and rootpruning when necessary, trees would be more healthy, and very little winter-pruning would be necessary. THE PEACH TREE. It is a hard matter to know what to say or think of the peach nowadays. I suppose because we treated it so disrespectfully in days gone by, when it was most generous in producing such quantities of fine luscious fruit, —so much so that people fed their pigs with barrowfulsit now is determined to pay us the compliment back, by not letting us have enough to fill a dessert plate in the season (speaking of Canterbury). I am inclined to think that one of the causes of the failure of the peach to grow fruit in the open garden, is that it is not so hardy in its constitution as it was years ago, and here I will give my opinion on the matter for what it is worth. In the first instance, when peaches were so plentiful, the stocks which they were worked on were usually grown from wild peaches. Also a great many of the peach trees were grown from > stones and never budded or grafted with better kinds,

which would contribute to their hardiness. But as years grew on better kinds were introduced, and, consequently, being more highly bred were more tender and delicate and unable to withstand the climate. Then the stones of those peaches became the stocks of our present trees. . The consequence is that the present peach tree is too highly bred for resisting our changeable climate, especially the cold spring easterly winds. The greatest enemy the peach tree has is the cold easterly winds of spring, which come about the time they are in flower. This is the time they suffer most. The delicate young leaves and blossoms get a chill, the consequence being that the pores of the leaves get congested and cannot perform the duty which nature has intended them to fulfil. The leaves being the lungs, so to speak, of the tree, cannot take in and give out the gases which are necessary for the healthy growth of the tree. On that account, I would, when possible, plant where sheltered from those cold winds, A southwesterly aspect is preferable to a north-easterly, as the, tree will be more hardy and will not be so liable to chills. This is my experience with the peach. In sheltered positions they come in to bloom too early and cannot stand the changeable spring climate which we unfortunately have here in Canterbury. The late spring frosts are the greatest enemy we have for the early production of fruit and vegetables. The peach tree is also inclined to grow too luxuriant, and very often the wood is not properly ripened before winter sets in. This is another evil which the peach is heir to, and on that account, it should not be planted in too rich a soil. It should be grown as hardy as possible, so that the wood is well ripened at the end of the season. A lot of soft succulent wood is not the wood to produce fruit. If the soil is very rich, it is better to plant the tree very shallow, in fact on the surface, and raise a mound around the roots. Also if the ground is low and liable to be flooded in the winter plant ‘in this manner. If peaches were grafted more on the plum stock, as they are in the Old Country, they would not make such a luxurious growth as they do when grafted on their own stock. My remarks refer to Canterbury, as here my fortythree years of experience has been gained, along with seven years in one of the best gardens in the South of Ireland.