A practical treatise on the management of fruit trees; with descriptive lists of the most valuable fruits for general cultivation; adapted to the interior of New England

Front matter

J2 Copy 1 irH-

-XjS.-

S LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I uy*Wu

Chapter II. — ^Multiplication of a Variety, - - 24

Section 1. Direct Mode of Multiplying, by

Dividing the Original Tree, 25

2. Cuttings and Layers, - 26 " 2. Indirect Mode of Multiplying,

by Grafting from the Original

into Other Trees, - - 30

1. Scion-Grafting, - - 35

2. Bud.Grafting, - - 45

3. Position of the Graft upon

the Stock, - - 51

Chapter VII. — Miscellaneous

Section 1. Purchasing, Packing, Forwarding, and Receiving Trees, Grafts, &c. &c. -

" 2. Soils, Manures, Location of Orchards, Position of Trees, Trees in Grass-ground, Fruiting, dtc. &c.

<•' 3. Insects, Diseases, Remedies, &c.

*•' 4. Implements, Materials etc. used in the Nursery and Orchard,

*' 5. The Nursery Business,

*' G. The Orchard Business, -

59 64 66 73

77 80 84 90

97 108

113 118 124

-♦ PART II.

Ol" THE CULTIVATION OF THE SEVERAL SPECIES OF FRUIT

TREES.

Preliminary Remarks, .... 139

Chapter I.— The Apple, - - - - -146

Section 1. Standard Apple Trees, . 148

2. Descriptive Lists of Apples, 152 Section 2. Dwarf Apple Trees. - - 158

" 3. Insects, Diseases, Remedies,

Bearing Year, &c. • - 160

" 4. Gathering and Ripening the Apple, - . -168 " 5. Uses of the Apple, - - 171

Chapter II.- -The Pear

PAGE.

Section 1. Standard Pear Trees, -

2. Descriptive Lists of Pears, for cultivation on Standard trees

« 2. Dwarf Pear Trees, .

1. Root-Pruned Dwarfs,

2. Quince-Bottomed Dwarfs,

" 3. Insects, Diseases and Remedies,

*• 4. Gathering and Ripening the Pear, and Uses of the Fruit, -

C^HAPTER III.

— The Peach and the Nectarine

Section 1. Cultivation, ^•c.

" 2. Descriptive Lists of Peaches, -

" 3. The Gooseberry, -

" 4. The Raspberry,

Preface

Having waited a long while, in the hope that some one better qualified for the work, might be induced to furnish the fruit-cultivators of Interior New England with a treatise such as their local wants demand, I have at length ventured upon the undertaking myself.

A book of this kind is so greatly needed, to guide the operations of a large and increasing class of our citizens that even comparative incompetency may not have labored upon it in vain.

If there are pears which ripen finely at Salem, but will not succeed in Boston ; if the climates of Western New York and the shores of the Hudson differ so widely, as to affect the quality of several varieties of different species of fruits, one might easily infer — what it has cost the writer something to learn — that whoever would succeed with fruit-trees, in the hill-country of the eastern states, may rely with tolerable safety upon the uncertain testimony of his own neighborhood, while the profoundest wisdom tliat has ever recorded the experience of other countries, would only mislead and bewilder.

I have endeavored to make my book what its title indicates. My Lists of Fruits have been carefully prepared, in honesty and in truth, and not with the mean selfishness that would thus advertise the worthless trash of a worn-out nursery. Should this little work in any instance disappoint expectation, I shall deeply regret, that the best intentions have failed here through inability, while, elsewhere, those better qualified to instruct have sometimes written with other prayers than for the success of their disciples.

My sources of information have been, —

1. JVearly eight years experience in the cultivation of nursery and orchard trees, chiefly by the labor of my own hands.

2. A close ohservafion of the management of nurseries and orchards, in this vicinity and in other places, for the last ten years.

3. A careful inspection of the very instructive Exhibitions of the Worcester Co, Horticultural Society, from its formation to the present time.

4. Personal interviews and correspondence with several of the most distinguished horticulturists in this section of the country.

5. An attentive perusal of almost all the agricultural and horticultural publications that have been issued, particularly in the northern and eastern states, during the last twelve years. G. J.

Worcester, March, 1849.

Introduction

'^ But forward in the name of God, graife, set, plant and nomrish up trees in every corner of your grounds, the labour is small, the cost is nothing, the commoditie is great, yourselves shall have plenty, the poore shall have somewhat in time of want to relieve their necessitie, and God shall reward your good mindes and diligence."

So wrote the enthusiastic Gerarde, two hundred and fifty years ago, and surely no better advice can be given to the land-owners of New England at the present time. For, when it is taken into consideration, that the soil and climate of this section of the country are most admirably adapted to orchard cultivation, that the New England apples are among the finest flavored of any grown in the world, that the home market for fruit never has been, and that the foreign market probably never can be supplied, one must admit that nothing is apparently more feasible, than to make the lands of Worcester county and other sections of the eastern states far more valuable than the most productive wheatfields of the west, or the richest cotton-grounds of the south, so that the ruddy-cheeked Baldwin apple and the d'Aremberg pear may take their easily attainable rank among our chief articles ot exportation.

While, tiierefore, so many mills compel each little rivulet to b earn and re>eaxn its passage to the ocean ; and while that ocean continues to bear our surplus wealth to every distant clime, let no planter of an orchard anticipate a want of purchasers forwhatevever fruits he may wish to spare from his trees. And even upon a smaller scale, the farmer who consults economy or regards the happiness of his family, will never regret the labor which can so easily spread upon his table an abundance of the various fruits of the successive seasons.

There is a pleasure too in these pursuits, from which unlike all other earthly pleasures its votaries never turn aside with satiety or disgust. Our most endearing associations, our most refined perceptions of the beautiful, are connected with fruit and other gardens. Horticulture, says Sir Wm. Temple, has been the inclination of kings, and the choice of philosophers. The Prince de Ligne after sixty years' experience, affirms that the love of gardens is the only passion which augments with age.

Something also may be urged in favor of the moral tendency of the occupation, since as the latter writer finely observes, " it seems impossible that a wicked man should possess a taste for it."*

There are those who will say — "all this reads pretty well 5 yet we ourselves are too old to reap the profits, to learn the pleasures, or to experience the moral influences of which you speak." "Too old?" Why, with proper selection and careful cultivation, your trees will render you valuable returns in even less than six years from the time you put them out.

Says J. J. Thomas, " A Bartlett pear-tree, six feet high, and two years from transplanting, bore a peck of superb fruit. An apple tree, removed to the orchard when not larger than a car-

riage-whip, produced a bushel the fifth year." We hare ourself a Hubbardston Nonesuch apple-tree which, in the third year from the nursery and the tenth from the seed, bore us a half bushel of splendid fruit ; and the next year it produced nearly a bushel. Peaches, plums, and cherries begin to showfruit the second year from the nursery, and frequently the former two produce large crops in less than &ve years.

" Too old I " Rather say too lucky, that your father did not make the same plea, when planting the trees of which you first eat in childhood.

" Too old ! " Admit it, — must we also understand then that you are also too mean to pay to posterity what you owe to those who have gone before you ? Selfish man ! Plant trees, plant trees. No matter whether or not you may eat thereof yourself. Tlie fruit will aftbrd another just as much pleasure as it would you. Plant trees — ^"forward in the name of God," plant trees, and it •hall cheer the useless hours of old age to remember, that in vour day and generation you did something, even so little, to leave the world better, or at least no worse, than you found it.

The subject-matter upon which this little work is designed to treat, seems to us worthy the attention of all land-owners who look to pecuniary profit, healthful recreation, and favorable moral influences, or who feel disposed to leave to posterity something of as goodly a heritage as former generations may have bequeathed to them.

But the limits of a work, practical as this purports to be. do not admit of further reflections of this kind. Let us proceed at once to those enquiries which may serve to direct the hand of ftMure labor.

PART I.

OF THE GENERAL CULTIVATION OF FRUIT TREES.

Chapter I. Production Of A New Variety Of Fruit

Of the vegetable no less than of the animal kingdom, it is a law to which there are few exceptions, that, in their native wilds nncontrolled by man, the different species exactly reproduce themselves.

The process of change commences with the generations raised in a domesticated, state.

Some plants, indeed, and animals also seem not to be susceptible of the ameliorating influences of human care. But almost all the really useful species are easily brought into a state of domestication. When once the artificial treatment of culture is applied, the artificial product of varieties is the result. The seeds, for example, of the common fieldstrawberry, sown in the garden, will produce fruit differing from that of the parent-plant and also from each other. The product from sowing the seeds of these will be still more varied, and so on with each successive cultivated generation.

And not only does cultivation originate but it sustains our fine varieties of fruit; for experience has rendered it highly probable that, but for the fostering hand of man, these would, in the course of a few generations, rapidly degenerate into a comparatively limited number of wild fruits.

And here we will digress a moment to state a truth which lies among the foundations of horticultural science — that it is as absurd for a man to talk of the natural treatment of a garden fruit-tree, as of the natural treatment of his artificial Durham cow or of his own yet more artificial self; for a fine fruit-tree is the combined product of nature and art, and nature and art must both take care of it, or it dies.

We shall not attempt to explain why the effect of cultivation should be to produce varieties. Perhaps the tendency to accidental hybridization is thereby greatly increased. Perhaps the influences of grafting, being almost always combined with those of cultivation, may be to break up the natural course of reproduction. Certain it is, and sufficient for our purpose, that the fact exists.

All varieties of plants and fruits, good or bad, originate from the seed.

There are two distinct modes of producing them in use among cultivators — 1st, by sowing selected seeds; 2d, by sowing hybridized seeds.

SECTION I.

SOWING SELECTED SEEDS.

The laws regulating this mode of reproduction are not well understood. Of a thousand apple-trees raised from seeds of some fine variety — say the Baldwin — and grown to a fruit-bearing age, probably not one would show a fruit equal to the original ; and while the number of varieties thus produced might equal the whole number of the trees, perhaps not three out of the whole would be found worthy of cultivation. Some of the trees would bear small fruit, others large ; some fair, some knurly; some sweet, others subacid, sour or bitter ; some would ripen their fruit early, others would retain theirs until the frosts and winds of Autumn should scatter them upon the ground. Little therefore can be hoped from this chance sowing of selected seeds. Other circumstances must govern the choice of seeds, beside the mere qualities of the fruit from which they may be taken.

Professor Van Mons, after devoting nearly his wliole life to these pursuits, came to results which may be briefly stated as follows :

THEORY OF VAN MONS.

The design of nature is to produce a healthy plant capable of furnishing seeds for continuing the species.

The object of cultivation (or rather domestication.) is to turn the energies of nature from this end to the enlargement of the size and improvement of the flavor of the fruit containing the seeds, — that is, so far as the vigor and robust health of the tree is aflfected, it is an enfeebling process.

To carry forward this enfeebling work, select your seeds from a young tree of a garden^ not a wild variety, gathering the fruit before it is fully ripe^ and suflering the seeds to remain in it until it is decayed. The words just italicised indicate four sources of enervating the breed, (if this latter term is allowable.)

The trees from these seeds should be root-pruned and branch- pruned^ on purpose to enfeeble and stunt their growth ; and, in order that there should iDe no contamination from other breeds, they should be allowed to bear their fruit upon their own roots.

From these trees select seeds as before, plant, prune and re-select seeds, and so on, until in about the fifth generation for pears, the fourth for apples, and the third or second for stone fruits and other shorter lived species ; the seedlings will nearly all become of great excellence. The point of perfection once attained, a further continuance of the process will result in a retrograde movement toward the original wild state of the plant.

This theory seems to be founded in reason, although facts stubborn and numerous exist in opposition to it. Indeed, the principles which govern the reproduction of plants from the seed, are still very imperfectly understood.

It will easily occur to the reader, that accidental causes have placed within reach of the American cultivator abundant materials in all stages of progress for the mode of reproduction which originated with Van Mons.

We come now to the far more certain, direct and scientific mode of originating fruits.

SECTION II.

SOWING HYBRIDIZED SEEDS.

Hybridized seeds are those contained in fruits which have been originated, by fertihzing the stigma of the flower of one tree with the pollen of another of different though nearly aUied characters; for, like grafting, the process cannot be extended beyond certain comparatively narrow limits. A fruit produced by this cross fecundation, usually possesses properties intermediate between those of its parents ; and the seedlings from such a fruit, although they may slightly differ among themselves, will all bear fruits partaking of the mixed characters of the fruits of tiie two parent trees.

Strictly speaking, a hybrid or mule plant or fruit is the product of two different though nearly allied species; a crossbred plant or fruit is a sub-variety originating from two varieties of the same species.

We have said that the field of hybridizing, like that of grafting, is hemmed in by narrow Hmits.

Indeed the laws of hybridizing in the vegetable and in the animal world are similar, though less stringent in the former than in the latter. We must therefore expect to find the seeds of cross-bi'ed plants sometimes sterile, and those of mules or hybrid plants almost always so, or becoming so in the second or third generations. And therefore our two dis-- tinct modes of producing seedlings cannot be combined to any great extent, even were it desirable.

This art of hybridizing has scarcely been known above half a century, and its utility is as yet probably not at all appreciated as it will be hereafter.

Some of the results which have been and may be produced, are — among Flowers^ greater hardihood, change of time of flowering, improved odors, increased size, more beautiful colors, fc. — among P?'uitSj and Vegetables^ almost every desirable improvement of size, flavor, time of ripening, productiveness, &c. — among Timber-trees^ more rapid and larger growth, superior toughness and strength, compactness, &c.

In conclusion, we may say that the business of producing new varieties of fruits, as well as of improved breeds of animals, should be required at the hands of men of wealth and leisure, and ought hardly to be attempted by persons of humble means and limited resources. But better still, were a part of the revenue of a state or a nation judiciously and wisely expended in this way, the result^ would richly repay the outlay.

Chapter II. Multiplication Of A Variety

Once in possession of a fine variety of fruit, a benevolent man would be anxious to knowhow its existence might be perpetuated, and the number of trees of it indefinitely multiplied. Indeed, without any very urgent promptings of benevolence, the fortunate recipient, in Pomona's lottery, of such a prize as the Esopus Spitzenburg apple, the Paradise (T Aittomne pear, or the like, might naturally enough be solicitous to increase the number of trees of it, as rapidly as possible. Since these objects cannot be obtained by sowing the seeds of the fruit, as we have already stated, we must resort to the only two other methods left us, — 1st, That of dividing the original tree ; 2d, That of grafting buds or scions from the original into other trees.

SECTION I.

riBECT MODE OF MULTIPLYING, BY DIVIDING THE ORIGINAL TREE.

There are two specifically different modes of accomplishing this. The first mode is by Suckers : the second, by Cuttings and Layers,

L suckers.

A sucke?' is a portion of a tree growing up from the root or from a portion of the trunk which is- below tho surface of the soil. By digging down carefully and cutting it off with a portion of the root attached, and setting it out at the proper season of transplanting, it will become a tree of itself. It will not, however, possess so thrifty and vigorous a habit as that of its parent, — although suckers sometimes do make very handsome trees. Another objection to suckers is, that they have a strong disposition to waste their energies in generating other suckers. Still a third objection lies in the fact that they are very apt -to retain whatever diseases or infirmities infect the tree from which they may be taken. Whether therefore for fruit-bearing purposes or as stocks for grafting, they are in general by no means especial favorites with the careful and judicious cultivator. Exceptions must, however, be made in favor of the Vine, the Q,uince, and a very few other fruit-bearing plants, which will be noticed in their proper place.

H. CUTTINGS AND LAYERS.

A cutting is a bud. or a twig (containing two or more buds) of the previous season's growth, cut from a tree. This being planted, if a twig, partly, and, if a bud, wholly under ground, will, under favorable circumstances, take root and itself become a tree.

It is possible with proper care to multiply all fruit trees and shrubs in this way. But, practically, this mode is chiefly confined to the Vine, the Quince, the Currant, the Gooseberry and a very few others.

Twig-cuttings should be cut and set early in the Spring. They should be separated from the tree at the point between the last and the previous season's growth ; the tip end should be cut off so as to leave them from eight to fourteen inches long. When planted, from two-thirds to three-fourths of their length should be under ground, and the soil should be pressed hard about the lower end. Mulchings or covering the ground with straw so as nearly to hide them from sight, is an excellent mode of assisting nature in^this wojk. Planting also in a shady place answers a similar purpose.

When it is desirable that the cutting should make a tree-like growth without throwing np suckers, all the eyes in the part put below the surface of the ground should be cut out.

Bud-cuttings, or those containing but a single eye or bud, should be planted ab«ut an inch deep in the ground at the same time with twig-cuttings. The Chinese Multicaulis and some varieties of foreign Grapes are raised in this way. In propagating by cuttings, the chances of success are greatly increased by the application of underground heat. This mode is much practiced with plant cuttings in green-houses.

It should be understood, however, that a strict compliance with these rules is not always necessary; for cuttings often succeed when cut and planted in the most careless manner. For instance, with herbaceous cuttings, an unskilful hand at the hoe in a cloudy day, will in this way propagate some kinds of weeds to a most undesirable extent, doubling and trebling their number where his only intention was to destroy them.

A layer is a cutting which has been prepared one or more seasons previously to being used. A twig growing out of a tree at a point not far from the ground, is bent down and the middle portion of it is buried just under the surface of the soil and fastened there by means of a hooked peg or by a stone or turf placed above it. Success is rendered more certain by checking the downward flow of the sap. This may be accomplished by cutting a slice off the under side of the part of the twig that is placed under ground, or, more imperfectly, by twisting, bruising, or partially debarking the twig at that point; some recommend to enter the knife on the under side at this point and split the twig upward about one or two inches, fastening the split open with a little wedge or pebble.

Trees or shrubs purposely headed down for raising layers, are called stools. A single quince-bush, thus made into a slool^ and its twigs layered, is capable of producing many finely rooted plants in a single season. Of some kinds of layers, nearly every bud will form roots of its own. A tree or shrub originated from a layer, has a tendency to a dwarfish habit, and to inherit the diseases by which its parent-plant may be affected.

SECTION II.

INDIRECT MODE OF MULTIPLYING, BY GRAFTING FROM THE ORIGINAL INTO OTHER TREES.

A graftis either a scion (which is the same thing as a twig-cutting,) or a hud (which is the same .thing as a bud-cutting.)

Grafting consists in causing a scion or a bud to grow upon a hmb or the trunk of a tree, instead of taking root directly in the ground. The artificial tree thus produced, is said to be a worked^ or more properly a grafted tree. A defect in the language compels us to use the term graft and its derivatives, in a specific as well as a generic sense. Thus to graft means, commonly and specifically, to scion; generically it means either to scion or to bud.^ Were it our province to show how words instead of trees may be multiplied, we should be tempted to enrich the phraseology of horticulture, by endeavoring to introduce into good usage the

* The French employ the word greffe (graft) in this same geB« eric sensC; as a term including both grafting and budding.

word to scion and its derivatives, scloning and scioned, just as we have (o bud, budding, and budded.

The tree upon which a graft is set, is called a stock. The stock and the graft (scion or bud) form a partnership, the former discharging the duties of mouth and stomach, by means of its roots, the latter performing the functions of lungs and perspiratory system, by means of its leaves.

It hardly needs to be explained that no grafting can succeed, unless the sap vessels of the graft (scion or bud) and those of the stock, are so adapted to each other that the flow of sap shall pass uninterruptedly from one to the other. These sap- vessels are chiefly situated in the inner bark (or liber) of trees.

Neither can any grafting, however nicely performed, be successful, unless between different varieties of the same species, as the Apple upon a seedling apple-tree stock; or between nearly allied species of the same genus, as between the Apple and the Pear, which unions are comparatively imperfect and shortlived ; or, thirdly, between nearly allied genera, as between the Cherry and the Plum, which maintain a feeble existence for a limited period, and then die. All unions, therefore, between widely different genera and species, are utterly impossible, as the graft cannot live upon the sap supplied by the stock, any more than a lion can be fed upon grass. Virgil, and other writers of antiquity, being ignorant of this principle, were led into great errors — a warning to those of modern times, who publish dreams of imagination instead of real facts.

The practical limits within which grafting is ordinarily confined, are, first, between yarieties of the same species, for standards ; and secondly, between varieties of different species or genera, for dwarfs. The Apple upon an Apple-seedling, is an example of the first, the Apple upon the Pear, and the Pear upon the Quince, are examples of the second. Other things equal, grafting is successful in proportion to the health and vigor of the stock upon which it is performed. Recently transplanted trees, therefore, are not in a favorable situation to be grafted, although they often are grafted successfully.

The primary object of grafting has already been stated. Among the secondary uses of this curious and very ancient art are, —

1st. To alter the head of a tree bearing one kind of fruit, so that it shall bear another fruit possessing more desirable qualities.

2d. To improve the form of a tree, by inserting scions or buds into the sides of the trunk or limbs.

3d. To invigorate a feebly growing variety, by grafting it upon a vigorous stock.

4th. To accumulate a number of varieties upon a single tree.

5th. To accelerate the fruiting of a young seedling tree, by setting grafts, or, more especially, fruit-spurs or fruit-buds from it, upon a grown tree.

6th. To propagate a tree in soils unfavorable to its own roots ; as, for example, the Peach upon the Plum, in cold clayey soils.

7th. To save a. variety from being lost, as when accident has destroyed the original tree.

8th. To transmit a variety through channels in which it would be impossible to send a whole tree, as to forward a scion or a bud enclosed in a letter.

9th. To produce dwarf-trees. For this, the Apple is grafted upon Paradise (or Doucin) stocks, the Pear upon the Quince, Thorn or Mountain Ash; the Peach upon the Plum, the Plum upon Mirabelle Plum seedlings, the Cherry upon the Cerasus Mahaleb, and, in general; any tree upon any other kindred tree of slower or smaller growth. There is also, we may remark here, another mode of producing dwarf-trees, by root-pruning, which we shall describe under the head of Priming.

The stock and the graft (scion or bud,) exert influences upon each other, mutually. Some of the influences of the stock have just been mentioned, see 3d, 5th, 6th, and 9th uses of grafting above described. The stock often affects the size and flavor of the fruit borne by the graft. Thus the Saint Michael pear is larger, fairer, and better flavored, in our climate, when grown upon the Quince stock. Of a graft or a stock, either may communicate its own diseases and infirmities to the other. It is pretty well established, also, that stocks bearing early fruits, have an influence in accelerating the ripening of the fruits which may be made to grow upon them by grafting. The graft is also said, in some cases, to affect the appearance of the bark of the stock, and also the form of growth in its roots.

It may be remarked here, that many of the theories respecting these influenceSj rest upon a rather sandy foundation of facts.

There are two general methods of Grafting, 1st, with Scions, 2d, with Buds.

I. SCION-GRAFTING, (or scioning.)

As we have said above, a graft, consisting of a twig containing two or more buds, is called a scion. The art of uniting such a graft to a stock, may be called scion-grafting, or, if the term were in use, we should prefer to call it scioning.

It is a general rule that scions succeed much better, when they have been cut some time previously to their being set. The best time to cut them, is from the middle of January to the last of February, although they may be taken from the trees, at any time from late autumn until spring. In order to keep scions until they may be used, nothing more is necessary than to thrust their lower ends into the ground, in a shady place, say close on the north side of the trunk of the tree from which they were cut; or a better way is to set them half their length deep, in a box of fine soil in a cellar. Scions of stone-fruits require to be kept with more care than those of the apple and pear. Scions are often set immediately on being cut, in the months of March and April.

In cutting scions, we take, from the extremity of the limb of a tree, that part of it which grew the preceding season, and we keep the shoot or twig entire, till wanted for use. Any thing of this description will answer for scions, but the best scions are cut from the upright topmost limbs of the central parts of a healthy tree. Young nursery trees often furnish excellent scions. Grafts of mihealthy trees ought always to be avoided.