. The gardener's assistant; a practical and scientific exposition of the art of gardening in all its branches. firstcourse should be 1 foot from the ground, andthe others 9 inches apart. Care, however, mustbe taken to originate the branches 4 or 5 inchesbelow the horizontal line along which they areintended to be trained. If this be done, thebranches will not be so liable to die as whenthey were taken at right angles from the up-right stem, which in training stone-fruit-treesshould never be the case. Root-lifting.—Plums, wdien planted in richsoil, are likely to grow over-luxuriantly, andto bea
. The gardener's assistant; a practical and scientific exposition of the art of gardening in all its branches. firstcourse should be 1 foot from the ground, andthe others 9 inches apart. Care, however, mustbe taken to originate the branches 4 or 5 inchesbelow the horizontal line along which they areintended to be trained. If this be done, thebranches will not be so liable to die as whenthey were taken at right angles from the up-right stem, which in training stone-fruit-treesshould never be the case. Root-lifting.—Plums, wdien planted in richsoil, are likely to grow over-luxuriantly, andto bear little or no fruit. To remedy this,they should be lifted and replanted about theend of October. This checks the rank growthand induces the formation of fruit-buds. Treeswhen once brought into bearing conditionrarely give further trouble; but, should theystill be unfruitful, lift them again the follow-ing autumn and mix some lime rubble with thesoil when replanting. The roots of the Plum run near the surface (seefig. 951), and on this account the ground musteither be dug every year or not at all. Trees. Fig. 951.—Root system of a well-managed Plum. have been known to thrive very well where theground was regularly dug for vegetable crops;but on its being left undug for two years, the PLUMS AND DAMSONS. 155 roots made rapid progress towards the surface,and on again digging the soil for cropping,the trees suffered from the loss of the youngroots which had been formed. Suckers that spring from the roots of thePlum should be removed. They are moreapt to push from trees that are sickly thanfrom healthy ones. The under side of thefoliage is sometimes entirely covered withaphides, and when this is the case of coursethe tree cannot long remain healthy, howeverwell it may be circumstanced in other re-spects. Every possible means should there-fore be adopted to keep the foliage clean;and at the same time, in order that it maybe naturally healthy, the roots must be dulysupplied with m
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectgardening, booksubjecthorticulture
