Fruit cultivation (Agriculture)

Fruit cultivation

Plums damsons and apricots

Plums can be eaten fresh or used for bottling, cooking or jam making. Gages are better-floured type of plum for eating and bottling, and damsons, which have a sour taste, are more suitable for cooking and bottling than eating fresh.
All are cultivated in the same way and will succeed in most soils but prefer well-drained loam or clay. Plums and gages flower early and should not be planted in areas where spring frosts are likely.
Gages give the best results if they are grown against a wall. Damsons can stand more rain and less sun that plums and gages, and they usually flower a little later.
Trees tend to grow too large for the average-sized garden, unless on semi-dwarfing rootstock. The most suitable restricted forms for the amateur are fans and pyramids. All damsons are self-fertile, but some varieties of plums and gages need to be grown with another variety as a pollinator.
Two or three should provide enough fruit for the average family. The fruiting seasons for plums and gages is form late July to early October.
Wasps may be troublesome in some years. They eat the ripening fruit, especially if it is already damaged. If you can find the nest, apply a proprietary wasp powder. Netting and similar protection against birds helps to deter them.
Apricots are hardy enough to be grown outside, but because they flower early-usually in spring – they need a sheltered site to protect the blossom from frost damage.
They are best trained as fan trees against a south-facing wall but in milder areas can be grown as bush trees if sheltered from cold winds.
One tree should be enough for the average family. The fruiting season is from July until the end of August, depending on the variety.
Soils and feeding requirements are the same as those of plums. Trees bear fruit on one-years-old and older wood. Train fan and bush trees like apples until the framework is built up.
Apricots are self-fertile, but they flower when few pollinating insects are about, so artificial pollination is advisable to ensure a good crop. Dab a small, soft paintbrush over the open flowers every two or three days during the flowering period.
Thinning is necessary only if branches are very heavily laden.
Pick apricots when they are ripe and well colored, and part easily from the tree. Eat or preserve them as soon as possible after picking.



Apples
Apples are the most widely grown fruit. They will grow in most soils, but do best in well-drained neutral or slightly alkaline soil that will not dry out in summer.
Apples do not grow well in seaside gardens because salt laden winds can be damaging.
Most varieties of apple tree need cross-pollinating by another variety that blossom at the same time. But specialist nurserymen now produce family trees that consist of three cross-pollinating varieties growing on a single rootstock. In this way you need plant only a single tree.
For a family of four people who like apples, six bush trees will be provide ample fruit. Fruit matures from August to April, depending on the variety.
The best time to plant is in autumn or in frost-free weather in winter. The roots of newly planted trees need plenty of water. If you plant during a dry period, make sure the soils are kept moist.
For the first two or three years, mulch in spring with a layer of straw or well-rotted compost.
Every winter, in late January, feed trees with 1 oz of sulfate of potash to the square yard.
Sprinkle the fertilizer evenly over the soil, covering an area slightly larger than that overspread by the branches. Let it penetrate naturally. Do not fork it in as this than damage the roots. Remove weeds by shallow hoeing or with a liquid weedkiller. Mature trees need watering during prolonged dry spells; apply 4 gallons to the square yard to the area overspread by the branches.
Thinning a heavy crop of young apples – The aim on thinning is to allow the remaining apples to grow to full size. Otherwise, too heavy a crop would result in small, poor fruit.
Start tinning a heavy crop of young apples in early June, before the natural drop later in the month. The June drop is normal and not generally any cause for alarm. From each cluster firs remove the central fruit.
Harvesting apples according to their season – The best way to test if apples are ready for picking is to lift one up to the horizontal in the palm of tour hand and twist, gently with your hand. It is ready for picking only if it parts easily from the tree, with the stalk remaining on the fruit.
Harvest apples with as much care as if handling eggs, because they bruise easily. Place ripe apples in a container lined with soft material.
Early apples will not keep and are best eaten as soon as they are picked.