ON THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.

A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School by Catharine Esther Beecher, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. ON THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.

CHAPTER XXXVI. ON THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.

By a little attention to this matter, a lady, with the help of her children, can obtain a rich abundance of all kinds of fruit. The writer has resided in families, where little boys, of eight, ten, and twelve years old, amused themselves, under the direction of their mother, in planting walnuts, chestnuts, and hazelnuts, for future time; as well as in planting and inoculating young fruit-trees, of all descriptions. A mother, who will take pains to inspire a love for such pursuits, in her children, and who will aid and superintend them, will save them from many temptations; and, at a trifling expense, secure to them and herself a rich reward, in the choicest fruits. The information given in this work, on this subject, may be relied on, as sanctioned by the most experienced nursery-men.

The soil, for a nursery, should be rich, well dug, dressed with well-decayed manure, free from weeds, and protected from cold winds. Fruit seeds should be planted in the Autumn, an inch and a half or two inches deep, in ridges four or five feet apart, pressing the earth firmly over the seeds. While growing, they should be thinned out, leaving the best ones a foot and a half apart. The soil should be kept loose, soft, and free from weeds. They should be inoculated or ingrafted, when of the size of a pipe stem; and in a year after this, may be transplanted to their permanent stand. Peach trees sometimes bear in two years from budding, and in four years from planting, if well kept.

In a year after transplanting, take pains to train the head aright. Straight, upright branches, produce gourmands, or twigs bearing only leaves. The side branches, which are angular or curved, yield the most fruit. For this reason, the limbs should be trained in curves, and perpendicular twigs should be cut off, if there be need of pruning. The last of June is the time for this. Grass should never be allowed to grow within four feet of a large tree, and the soil should be kept loose, to admit air to the roots. Trees in orchards should be twenty-five feet apart. The soil under the top soil, has much to do with the health of trees. If it be what is called hard-pan, the trees will deteriorate. Trees need to be manured, and to have the soil kept open and free from weeds.

Filberts can be raised in any part of this Country. Figs can be raised in the Middle States. For this purpose, in the Autumn, loosen the roots, on one side, and bend the tree down to the earth, on the other; then cover it with a mound of straw, earth, and boards; and early in the Spring raise it up, and cover the roots. Currants grow well in any but a wet soil. They are propagated by cuttings. The old wood should be thinned in the Fall, and manure be put on. They can be trained into small trees. Gooseberries are propagated by layers and cuttings. They are best, when kept from suckers and trained like trees. One third of the old wood should be removed every Autumn. Raspberries do best, when shaded during a part of the day. They are propagated by layers, slips, and suckers. There is one kind, which bears monthly. Strawberries require a light soil and vegetable manure. They should be transplanted in April or September, and be set eight inches apart, in rows nine inches asunder, and in beds which are two feet wide, with narrow alleys between them. A part of these plants are non-bearers. These have large flowers, with showy stamens and high black anthers. The bearers have short stamens, a great number of pistils, and the flowers are every way less showy. In blossom-time, pull out all the non-bearers. Some think it best to leave one non-bearer to every twelve bearers; but others pull them all out. Many beds never produce any fruit, because all the plants in them are non-bearers. Weeds should be kept from the vines. When the vines are matted with young plants, the best way is to dig over the beds, in cross lines, so as to leave some of the plants standing in little squares, while the rest are turned under the soil. This should be done over a second time in the same year.

Grapes. To raise this fruit, manure the soil, and keep it soft, and free from weeds. A gravelly or sandy soil, and a south exposure, are best. Transplant the vines in the early Spring, or, better, in the Fall. Prune them, the first year, so as to have only two main branches, taking off all other shoots, as fast as they come. In November, cut off all of these two branches, except four eyes. The second year, in the Spring, loosen the earth around the roots, and allow only two branches to grow, and every month, take off all side shoots. When they are very strong, preserve only a part, and cut off the rest in the Fall. In November, cut off all the two main stems, except eight eyes. After the second year no more pruning is needed, except to reduce the side shoots, for the purpose of increasing the fruit. All the pruning of grapes, (except nipping side shoots,) must be done when the sap is not running, or they will bleed to death. Train them on poles, or lattices, to expose them to the air and sun. Cover tender vines in the Autumn. Grapes are propagated by cuttings, layers, and seeds. For cuttings, select, in the Autumn, well-ripened wood, of the former year, and take five joints for each. Bury them, till April; then soak them, for some hours, and set them out, aslant, so that all the eyes but one shall be covered.

To Preserve Fruit.

Raspberries and Strawberries can be preserved, in perfect flavor, in the following manner. Take a pound of nice sifted sugar for each pound of fruit. Put them in alternate layers, of fruit and sugar, till the jar is entirely full, then cork it, and seal it air tight.

Currants and Gooseberries may be perfectly preserved thus. Gather them, when dry, selecting only the solid ones. Take off the stalks, and put them in dry junk-bottles. Set them, uncorked, in a kettle of water, and slowly raise it to boiling heat, in order to drive the air out of the bottles. Then take out the bottles, cork them, and seal them air tight. Keep them in a dry place, where they will not freeze. The success of this method depends on excluding air and water.

Apples, Grapes, and such like fruit can be preserved, by packing them, when dry and solid, in dry sand or sawdust, putting alternate layers of fruit and sawdust or sand. Some sawdust gives a bad flavor to the fruit.

Modes of Preserving Fruit Trees.

Heaps of ashes, or tanner's bark, around peach trees, prevent the attack of the worm. The yellows, is a disease of peach trees, which is spread by the pollen of the blossom. When a tree begins to turn yellow, take it away, with all its roots, before it blossoms again, or it will infect other trees. Planting tansy around the roots of fruit trees, is a sure protection against worms, as it prevents the moth from depositing her egg. Equal quantities of salt and saltpetre, put around the trunk of a peach tree, half a pound to a tree, improves the size and flavor of the fruit. Apply this about the first of April, and if any trees have worms already in them, put on half the quantity, in addition, in June. To young trees, just set out, apply one ounce, in April, and another in June, close to the stem. Sandy soil is best for peaches.

Apple trees are preserved from insects, by a wash of strong ley to the body and limbs, which, if old, should be first scraped. Caterpillars should be removed, by cutting down their nests in a damp day. Boring a hole, in a tree infested with worms, and filling it with sulphur, will often drive them off immediately.

The fire-blight, or brûlure, in pear trees, can be stopped, by cutting off all the blighted branches. It is supposed, by some, to be owing to an excess of sap, which is remedied by diminishing the roots.

The curculio, which destroys plums, and other stone fruit, can be checked only by gathering up all the fruit that falls, (which contains their eggs,) and destroying it. The canker-worm can be checked, by applying a bandage around the body of the tree, and every evening smearing it with fresh tar.

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