The Triploids should have two cross-pollinating agents, and Bromley’s Seedling, for instance, sets plenty of fruit when in the company of Grenadier. The only triplicates which are are present in demand, are however, Blenheim Orange, Bromley’s Seedling and Ribston Pippin.

It isn’t only the insect pests themselves, but it can easily be the virus diseases they bring with them. Fortunately it can be said that well-grown, really healthy trees and bushes arc not as likely to be attacked badly by enemies as similar specimens that have been poorly grown under unfortunate conditions. When managing just a few fruit trees or a large orchard, the compost grower must aim at healthiness throughout, and must constantly be reminding himself that three-quarters of the individual tree or bush is growing below soil surface. He will therefore have ‘a worm’s-eye view’ of his trees and bushes in mind all the time.

He will make certain that the drainage is perfect, for roots cannot live in waterlogged soil. They need air, solved in the private garden as it is on the fruit farm, but even here it is possible, that excess moisture from the subsoil can be carried away to a properly constructed sump made in one corner of the garden. Those who are going to invest capital in the soil must do it carefully, and the employment of an expert does ensure that money is not thrown away carelessly.

`Doyenne du Cornice flowers late, and is best grown with two cross- pollinating agents near it.

Good management, of course, will ensure the use of a sufficiently large spraying machine, to ensure that first of all the trees and bushes can be covered from top to toe without any difficulty, and that, secondly, all the trees one has to spray in the spring and summer months, can be covered in the course of a few days.

Unfortunately, no man can live to himself. It is possible to manage one’s fruit trees and bushes almost perfectly, and then to have to face the fact that the neighbor next door uses chemical fertilizers unnecessarily-either sprays at the wrong time or doesn’t spray at all-and so, week in and week out, in the spring and summer, insect pests and the spores of fungi may be coming over in droves, and so make the perfect culture in an organic garden very difficult indeed.

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