Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by L. H. Bailey

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Fruit may be kept fresh on the vines in a warm (or artificially heated)
grapery until late December; in a coldhouse it must be picked before
frost. After the fruit is off, ventilate from top and bottom and
withhold water, so as thoroughly to ripen the wood. Along in November
the canes are pruned, covered with straw or wrapped with mats and laid
down till spring. Black Hamburg is superior to all other varieties for a
cold grapery; Bowood Muscat, Muscat of Alexandria, and Chasselas Musque
may be added in the warmhouse. Good vines will live and bear almost
indefinitely.

MULBERRY.--Both for fruit and ornament the mulberry should be more
generally planted. Even if the fruit is not to the taste, the tree is
naturally open-centered and round-headed, and is an interesting subject;
some of the varieties have finely cut leaves. The fruits are in great
demand by the birds, and after they begin to ripen the strawberry beds
and cherry trees are freer from robins and other fruit-eating birds. For
this reason alone they are a valuable tree for the fruit-grower. Trees
may be purchased cheaper than one can propagate them.

If planted in orchard form, place them 25 to 30 feet apart. About the
borders of a place they can go closer. The Russian varieties are often
planted for windbreaks, for they are very hardy and thrive under the
greatest neglect; and for this purpose they may be planted 8 to 20 feet
apart. The Russians make excellent screens. They stand clipping well.
The fruit of the Russians varies in quality, as the trees are usually
directly from seed; but now and then a tree bears excellent fruit.

New American, Trowbridge, and Thorburn are leading kinds of
fruit-bearing mulberries for the North. The true Downing is not hardy
in the northern states; but New American is often sold under this name.
Mulberries thrive in any good soil, and need no special treatment.

NUTS.--The nut trees demand too much room for most home-ground
fruit plantations, although they are also useful for windbreaks and
shade. The hickories, all American, make excellent lawn trees, and
should be better known. The filberts and cobnuts, small trees or bushes,
are not successfully grown in this country except in very special cases.

The commercial nut-growing in the United States and Canada is chiefly of
almonds, walnuts, and pecans, with some attempt at chestnuts. Of these
the chestnut is the most adaptable for home places in the
northeastern section.

Of chestnuts there are three types in cultivation: the European, the
Japanese, and the American. The American, or native chestnuts, of which
there are several improved varieties, are the hardiest and most
reliable, and the nuts are the sweetest, but they are also the smallest.
The Japanese varieties are usually injured by the winter in central New
York. The European varieties are somewhat hardier, and some of the
varieties will thrive in the northern states. Chestnuts are very easily
grown, although the bark disease now threatens them. They usually bear
better when two or more trees are planted near each other. Sprouts in
old chestnut clearings are often allowed to remain, and sometimes they
are grafted to the improved varieties. The young trees may be grafted in
the spring by the whip-graft or cleft-graft method; but the cions should
be perfectly dormant, and the operation should be very carefully done.
Even with the best workmanship, a considerable percentage of the grafts
are likely to fail or to break off after two or three years. The most
popular single variety of chestnut is the Paragon, which bears large and
excellent nuts when the tree is very young. When the home ground is
large enough, two or three of these trees should be planted near
the borders.

ORANGE.--Oranges are grown extensively in Florida, in places along
the Gulf, and in many parts of California, but in the most favored
sections there is occasionally some injury from cold or frost to the
trees or fruit.

The soil preferred for oranges in California is a rich, deep alluvium,
avoiding hard-pan or adobe subsoils. Stagnant water in the subsoil is a
fatal defect. Although they can be grown near the ocean at a lower
level, an elevation of 600 to 1200 feet is generally desirable. While
southern California is particularly adapted to orange culture, the fruit
is successfully raised along the foot-hills of the San Joaquin and
Sacramento valleys and in other parts of the state.

In Florida, pine lands with a clay subsoil are generally preferred for
oranges, but if properly handled, good results can be obtained from
hammock land. As elevated spots cannot be secured, a timber belt
surrounding the orchard or along the north and west sides is desirable.

The distance for the large-growing kinds of orange in the orchard is
from 25 to 30 feet each way, but the half-dwarf kinds, such as Bahia or
Washington Navel, may be as close as 20 feet each way, although 25 feet
will be desirable. If the roots are sacked, the trees should be placed
in the hole without removing the covering, and the soil should then be
packed about them; but if they are puddled, a mound should be made in
the bottom of the hole. In the center an opening should be made into
which the tap-root can be inserted. After the soil has been firmly
packed about it, the other roots should be spread out and the hole
filled with good soil, packing it carefully. Care should be taken that
the roots are not exposed in handling the trees, and if the weather is
hot and dry, the tops should be shaded. Water may often be used with
good results in settling the soil about the roots.

When transplanted, the tops should be cut back in proportion to the
amount of roots lost in digging the trees. The head is usually started
with the branches about 2 feet from the ground. Each year while the
trees are small, the strong shoots should be cut back to preserve a
symmetrical form and the weak and surplus shoots should be removed.

The cultivation of orange orchards should be the same as recommended for
other fruits, except that as they grow in hot, dry climates, it should
be even more thorough, that the evaporation of moisture from the soil
may be reduced to a minimum. California growers have found that by
frequent shallow cultivation they can reduce the amount of water that
must be applied by irrigation, and that frequent tillage and a little
water will give better results than little or no cultivation and a large
amount of water. The amount of water required will also depend on the
season and the character of the soil. Thus on strong soils and after a
heavy rainfall no irrigation will be required, while sandy soils will
need irrigating as often as once in three or four weeks from May to
October. As a general rule, two or three irrigations in a season will be
ample. When used at all, water should be applied in sufficient
quantities to wet down to the roots of the trees. Frequent scanty
waterings may do much harm. The water is usually applied in furrows, and
for young trees there should be one on either side of each row, but as
the roots extend the number should be increased, until when five or six
years old the entire orchard should be irrigated from furrows 4 or 5
feet apart. In Florida, irrigation is not practiced.

Cover-cropping in winter is now common in Florida and California, some
of the leguminous crops being used.

_Varieties of the orange._

Among the best varieties are: Bahia, commonly known as Washington Navel,
Thompson Improved, Maltese Blood, Mediterranean Sweet, Paper Rind St.
Michael, and Valencia. Homosassa, Magnum Bonum, Nonpareil, Boone, Parson
Brown, Pineapple, and Hart are favorites in Florida. The tangerines and
mandarins, or the "kid-glove" oranges, have a thin rind that is easily
detached from the rather dry pulp. Orange trees are frequently injured
by various scale insects, but for several of the most troublesome kinds,
insect parasites have been found that keep them partially or wholly in
check, and for others the trees are sprayed, or fumigated with
hydrocyanic acid gas.

PEACH.--Given the proper exposure, peaches may be fruited in many
sections where now it is thought impossible to have a crop. It is
usually the practice of the amateur to set peach trees in the shelter of
some building, exposed on the south or east to the sun, and "in a
pocket" as regards winds. This should be reversed, except in the close
vicinity of large bodies of water. The fruit-buds of peaches will stand
very cold weather when perfectly dormant, often as low as 12 deg. or
18 deg. below zero in New York; but if the buds once become swollen,
comparatively light freezing will destroy the crop. Therefore, if the
trees be set on elevations where a constant air drainage may be
obtained, sheltered, if at all, on the south and east from the warming
influence of the sun, the buds will remain dormant until the ground
becomes warm, and the chances of a failure will be lessened. This advice
applies mostly to interior sections.

A well-drained, sandy loam or gravelly soil suits the peach better than
a heavy soil; but if the heavier soil is well drained, good crops may
be secured.

Peaches are short-lived at best, and one should be satisfied with three
or four crops from each tree. They bear young, usually a partial crop
the third year. If a crop may be had every other year until the trees
are eight or ten years old, they will have well repaid the effort of
cultivation. But they often bear twice this long. Young trees may be set
every four or five years to replace older ones, thus having trees at a
bearing age at all times on a small place. Trees should be set 14 to 18
feet apart each way.

Peach trees are always bought when they are one year old, that is, one
year from the bud. For example, the bud is inserted in the fall of 1909.
It remains dormant until the spring of 1910, when it pushes into
vigorous growth; and in the fall of 1910 the tree is ready for sale.
Peach trees that are more than a year old are scarcely worth the buying.
It is a common practice, when setting peach trees, to prune them back to
a whip, leaving a stub bearing not more than one bud where each branch
is cut off.

The three great enemies of the peach are the borer, the yellows, and the
curculio.

The borer is best handled by digging it out every spring and fall. Trees
attacked by the borer have an exudation of gum about the crown. If the
borers are dug out twice a year, they will not get sufficient start to
make the operation very laborious. It is the only sure way.

The yellows is a communicable disease, the cause of which is not
definitely known. It shows itself in the fruit ripening prematurely,
with distinct red spots which extend through the flesh, and later by the
throwing out of fine, branching, twiggy tufts along the main branches
(Fig. 215). The only treatment is to pull out the trees and burn them.
Other trees may be set in the same places.

The curculio must be captured by jarring on sheets (see _Plum_).

_Varieties of the peach._

For home use it is advisable to provide varieties that will ripen in
succession, but for market purposes, in most sections, the medium and
late kinds should be most extensively planted. Although there are many
varieties that have a local reputation, but are not commonly found in
the nurseries, the following kinds are well known, and can be generally
grown with success: Alexander, Hale Early, Rivers, St. John, Bishop,
Connett (Southern Early), Carman, Crawford (Early and Late), Oldmixon,
Lewis, Champion, Sneed, Greensboro, Kalamazoo, Stump, Elberta, Ede
(Capt. Ede), Stevens (Stevens' Rareripe), Crosby, Gold Drop, Reeves,
Chairs, Smock, Salway, and Levy (Henrietta).

PEAR.--No fruit plantation should be considered complete without
trees of various kinds of pears, ripening fruits from early in August
till winter. The late varieties are generally good keepers, and extend
the season into February, thus supplying fruit for six or seven months.

[Illustration: Fig. 281. Seckel pear.]

As the pear grows to perfection on quince, the dwarf tree is peculiarly
adapted to planting on small home grounds, and is often used as a
boundary plant, or to serve the purpose of a screen. These dwarf trees
should be set deep--4 to 6 inches below the union--to prevent the stock
from growing. Dwarf trees may be set as near together as 10 to 16 feet,
while the standard or tall-growing pears should be set 18 to 25 feet
apart. Trees are planted when two or three years old.

[Illustration Fig. 282. Duchesse d'Angouleme pear.]

[Illustration Fig. 283. The Kieffer pear.]

The pear thrives on clay soil, if well under-drained, and for this
reason may succeed in places where other fruits might fail. A good,
steady growth should be maintained, but the use of nitrogenous manures
should be avoided, as they tend to make a rank growth and invite attacks
of pear blight, which is the worst enemy of the pear (p. 211).

_Varieties of the pear._

As a selection to supply a succession of varieties throughout the
season, the following list is recommended:--

_Early._--Summer Doyenne, Bloodgood, Clapp, Osband, Elizabeth (Manning's
Elizabeth).

_Autumn._--Bartlett, Boussock, Flemish (Flemish Beauty), Buffum, Howell,
Seckel (Fig. 281), Louise Bonne, Angouleme (Duchesse d'Angouleme) (Fig.
282), Sheldon.

_Winter._--Anjou, Clairgeau, Lawrence, Kieffer (Figs. 283, 284), Winter
Nelis, and Easter Beurre.

For ordinary market purposes the following have been proved valuable:
Bartlett, Howell, Anjou, Clairgeau, and Lawrence. In the central and
southern states, Kieffer is grown successfully. For home use this
variety is not to be recommended in the North, because of its poor
quality and smaller size.

For growing as dwarfs, Angouleme (Duchesse d'Angouleme), Louise Bonne,
Anjou, Clairgeau, and Lawrence are most popular, but many other
varieties thrive on the quince.

[Illustration: Fig. 284. Kieffer pear.]

PLUM.--Of plums there are three general or common types: first, the
common Domestica or European plum, which gives rise to all the older
varieties, like Lombard, Bradshaw, Green Gage, the Prunes, the Egg
plums, the Damsons, and the like; second, the Japanese plums, which have
become popular within the last twenty years, and which are adapted to a
wider range of country than the Domesticas; third, the native plums of
several species or types, which are adapted to the plains, the middle
and southern states, and some kinds to the cold North.

Wherever the Domestica and Japanese plums can be grown, the native
plums are not destined to become popular; but many of the natives are
much hardier than others, and are therefore adapted to regions in which
the Domestica and Japanese are not safe. Others of them are well adapted
to the middle and southern states. The Domestica and Japanese plums are
considerably hardier than peaches, but not so hardy as the apple. The
northern limit of their general cultivation is the southern peninsula of
Michigan, central and southern Ontario, central New York, and central
New England.

Plums thrive on a great variety of soils, but they do better, as a rule,
on those that are rather heavy and have a considerable content of clay.
In fact, many of the varieties will thrive on clay as hard as that in
which pears will grow. On the other hand, they often thrive well in
light, and even almost sandy soils.

The trees are set when they are two and three years from the bud. It is
preferable to have plum trees on stocks of the same species, but it is
not always possible to secure them at the nurseries. In the South, plums
are worked mostly on peach roots, and these make excellent trees where
the climate is not too severe, and especially on the lighter lands on
which they are planted in the South. In the North the larger part of the
plum stocks are grown on the Myrobalan plum roots. This Myrobalan is an
Old World species of plum, of smaller growth than the Domestica. This
stock, therefore, tends to dwarf the tree, and it is also likely to
throw up sprouts from the roots.

Plum trees are set 12 to 18 feet apart. Many growers like to set them 8
feet apart in rows, and have the rows from 16 to 20 feet apart.

Plums are pruned much the same as apples and pears. That is, the top is
thinned out from year to year, and all superfluous branches and broken
or diseased wood are removed. If the soil is very strong and the trees
are close together, it may be well to head them in a little each year,
especially those varieties which grow very strong and robust.

_Pests and diseases._

There are four leading difficulties in the growing of
plums--leaf-blight, fruit-rot, black-knot, and curculio.

The leaf-blight usually appears about midsummer, the leaves becoming
spotted and dropping off. The remedy is to spray thoroughly with
bordeaux mixture, beginning soon after the fruits have set, and before
the trouble begins to show.

The fruit-rot may be prevented by the same means--that is, by spraying
with bordeaux mixture. It is usually best to begin just after the fruits
are well set. A very important consideration in the checking of this
disease is to thin the fruit so that it does not hang in clusters. If
one fruit touches another, the rot spreads from fruit to fruit in spite
of the spraying. Some varieties, as Lombard and Abundance, are specially
susceptible to this injury.

The black-knot is best kept in check by cutting out the knots whenever
they can be seen, and burning them. As soon as the leaves drop, the
orchard should be gone over and all knots taken out. Orchards that are
thoroughly sprayed with bordeaux mixture for the leaf-blight and
fruit-rot fungus are less liable to attacks of black-knot.

The curculio, or the insect which is the parent of the worms in the
fruit, is the inveterate enemy of the plum and other stone fruits. The
mature beetle lays the eggs in the fruits when they are very small,
usually beginning its work about as soon as the flowers fall. These eggs
soon hatch, and the little maggot bores into the fruit. Those fruits
that are attacked whilst very young ordinarily fall from the tree, but
those attacked when they are half or more grown, may adhere to the tree,
but remain wormy and gummy at the picking time. The mature beetles are
sluggish in the mornings, and are easily jarred from the trees. Taking
advantage of this fact, the fruit-grower may jar them on sheets; or, in
large orchards, into a large canvas hopper, which is wheeled from tree
to tree upon a wheelbarrow-like frame, and under the apex of which is a
tin can into which the insects roll. There is a slit or opening in one
side of the hopper, which allows the tree to stand nearly in the middle
of the canvas. The operator then gives the tree two or three sharp jars
with a padded pole or mallet. The edges of the hopper are then quickly
shaken with the hands and the insects roll down into the tin receptacle.
In this receptacle there is kerosene oil, or it may be emptied from time
to time. Just how long this machine is to be run in the orchard will
depend entirely on circumstances. It is advisable to use the catcher
soon after the blossoms fall, for the purpose of finding out how
abundant the insects are. If a few insects are caught from each tree,
there is indication that there are enough of the pests to make serious
trouble. If after a few days the insects seem to have disappeared, it
will not be necessary to continue the hunt. In some years, especially in
those succeeding a very heavy crop, it may be necessary to run the
curculio-catcher every morning for four or five weeks; but, as a rule,
it will not be necessary to use it oftener than two or three times a
week during that season; and sometimes the season may be shortened by
one half. The insects fall most readily when the weather is cool, and it
is best, therefore, to get through the whole orchard, if possible,
before noon. On cloudy days, however, the insects may be caught all day.
A smart man can attend to 300 or 400 full-bearing trees in six hours if
the ground has been well rolled or firmed, as it should be before the
bugging operation begins. The same treatment applies to the saving of
peaches and rarely, also, of sour cherries.

_Varieties of the plum._

The following varieties of European origin will be found desirable for
growing in the northern and eastern states: Bradshaw, Imperial Gage,
Lombard, McLaughlin, Pond, Quackenbos, Copper, Jefferson, Italian Prune
(Fellenberg), Shropshire, Golden Drop (Coe Golden Drop), Bavay or Reine
Claude, Grand Duke, Monarch.

Several of the Japanese varieties are also well adapted to growing in
these sections, as well as in the states farther south. The trees are
generally hardy, but they bloom early, and are likely to be injured by
late frosts in some localities. Among the better kinds are the Red June,
Abundance, Chabot, Burbank, and Satsuma.

Few of the above sorts are hardy in the Northwest, and growers there
have to rely on varieties of native species. Among these are: Forest
Garden, Wyant, De Soto, Rollingstone, Weaver, Quaker, and Hawkeye.
Farther south still other classes of plums have been introduced, among
them being Wildgoose, Clinton, Moreman, Miner, and Golden Beauty. And
still farther south, Transparent, Texas Belle (Paris Belle), Newman,
Lone Star, and El Paso are grown.

QUINCE.--Although not largely grown, quinces generally find a ready
sale, and they are desirable for home use. The trees are usually planted
about 12 feet each way, and may be trained either in a shrub or tree
form, but it will generally be best to grow them with a short trunk.

They succeed best on a deep, moist, and fertile soil. They require much
the same care as the pear. The insects and diseases by which they are
attacked are also the same as for that fruit. Blight is particularly
bad. The fruit is borne on short shoots of the same season, and strong
heading-in of the growth in winter removes a good part of the buds from
which the shoots arise. The Orange is the most common variety, but
Champion, Meech (Fig. 285), and Rea are sometimes grown.

[Illustration: Fig. 285. Meech Quince (Meech's Prolific).]

RASPBERRY.--Both the red and black raspberries are essentials of a
good garden. A few plants of each will produce a supply of berries for a
family through six or eight weeks, provided both early and late
varieties are planted.

A cool situation, soil that will hold moisture without being wet, and
thorough preparation of the ground, are the conditions necessary to
success. The blackcap raspberries should be set 3 to 4 feet apart, the
rows 6 or 7 feet; the red varieties 3 feet apart, the rows 5 feet apart.
Spring setting is usually preferable.

The shoots of raspberries sent up one season fruit and die the following
year, as in blackberries and dewberries.

Most of the blackcap varieties naturally throw out side branches the
first season, and with such it is a good plan to pinch back the new
canes as soon as they have reached a height of 2 to 3 feet, according to
the full height of the variety. This will hasten the throwing out of
side shoots, upon which fruit will be borne the following year. As soon
as severe freezing weather is over in the spring, these side shoots
should be cut back 9 to 12 inches, according to the strength of the
canes and the number of side branches upon them.

The same method of pruning is advisable with red varieties like
Cuthbert, which naturally branch freely. Other sorts, like King,
Hansell, Marlboro, Turner, and Thwack, that seldom branch, should not be
pinched back in summer, as, even though this might induce them to send
out shoots, the branches will be weak, and if they survive the winter,
will produce less fruit than would the strong buds upon the main canes
had they not been forced into growth.

[Illustration: Fig. 286. A rooting tip of the black raspberry.]

As soon as the crop has been gathered, and the old canes are dead, they
should be removed, and at the same time all of the surplus new shoots
should be cut away. From four to five good canes will be sufficient for
each hill, while in rows the number may be from two to three in
each foot.

Pruned in this way, nearly all varieties will have stems sufficiently
large to support themselves, but as there will be more or less breaking
down and injury to the fruit from the bending over of the canes, many
growers prefer to support them by means of stakes or trellises. Stakes
may be set in each hill, or for matted rows stout stakes 3 feet high are
driven at intervals of 40 feet and a No. 10 galvanized wire is stretched
along the row, to which the canes are tied. It would be a saving of
labor if a wire is stretched either side of the row, as then no tying
will be required.

[Illustration: XXIII. Cherry currant.]

If it is desired to secure new plants, the ends of the branches of the
black varieties should be covered with soil about the middle of August,
when the tips are seen to divide into several slender shoots, and to
take root (Fig. 286); these can be taken up and planted the following
spring. While the suckers that spring from the roots of red varieties
(Fig. 287) may be used in propagating them, it will be better to use
plants grown from root-cuttings, as they will have much better roots.

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