THE FLORAL AVORLD AND OAEDEN GUIDE. 



175 



every single tree in robust health and 

 o^oocl bearins^, there are at least a 

 dozen sufferintr from canker, and 

 using space both above and below 

 £^round to no purpose whatever, ex- 

 cept to disfigure tlie ground and re- 

 proach the proprietors. Before we 

 enter on a distinct relation of tlie 

 routine of culture, we will remark 

 that we have had large experience i:i 

 the culture of this fruit in all the 

 forms it is capable of assuming for 

 productive purposes, as standards, 

 espaliers, pyramids, bushes, and or- 

 namental trees in pots, and we have 

 not only found amusement in the 

 growth of seedlings, but also in the 

 recovery to health of trees that ap- 

 peared worn out and worthless when 

 w"e first took them in hand to renew 

 their youth. In 1859 there was 

 scarcely an apple to be seen in the 

 neighbourhood of London, but our 

 trees were loaded almost as heavily as 

 in that year of excessive fruit produc- 

 tion, 1857. We are now writing 

 within view of apple-trees on all sides 

 of us, on which there is scarcely any 

 fruit to be seen, while our own trees 

 are covered with them so tliat the 

 bi'anches bear some resemblance to 

 ropes of onions. Our neighbours' 

 trees appear to be expected to take 

 care of tliemselves ; our own are eared 

 for systematically, and thei'ein lies 

 the secret of the difference. Make a 

 survey of any district of the country, 

 and the same tiling will be seen — a 

 garden here and there where the fruit 

 ti-ees are always healthy and produc- 

 tive, surrounded by gardens where 

 crops of fruit are like angels' visits, 

 few and far between. We dwell on 

 these particulars in order to fix upon 

 the mind of the reader the importance 

 of pursuing horticulture as an art, and 

 in order to gain attention for what ob- 

 servations we sliall make on the essen- 

 tials of apple culture. If every apple- 

 tree in the British empire did its duty, 

 the aggregate produce would, in the 

 course of a few years, amount to a 

 value sufficient to pay the national 

 debt, for though excessive production 

 may lower prices, articles of real uti- 

 lity have their minimum, while arti- 

 cles which depend for their value on 

 fashion and caprice, have no mini- ; 



mum, and may end in being of uo 

 value at all. It must be remembered 

 that the apple is an article of food as 

 well as of luxury, and every grower of 

 it adds to the resources of his country 

 in the exact measure of success witli 

 which his en'orts .ire attended. Let 

 U5, therefore, consider how to im- 

 prove the collections that exist, and 

 then go through the processes in- 

 volved in the formation of new ones. 

 After attaining about fifteen years 

 of age, the apple naturallj' forms fruit 

 spurs, and ceases to gi'ow so luxu- 

 riantly as in its youth. Young trees 

 will bear at from five years of age. 

 but fitfully for some few seasons, until 

 the tree has acquired a bearing cha- 

 racter and has ceased to grow luxu- 

 riantly. At three years, even, some 

 varieties of apples will bear well under 

 peculiar modes of management, as by 

 annual lifting, summer pinching, and 

 the choice of a dry and elevated posi- 

 tion. But early bearing is not in it- 

 self so desirable as the formation of 

 sound wood, and a regular dispositioii 

 of healthy branches to form fruit 

 spurs, equally exposed to air and 

 light. Hence a certain age must be 

 attained by a tree before it will begin 

 to repay for first cost and the rent of 

 the land it occupies. Now the barren 

 trees of which complaint is made are 

 mostly mature in growth, have capa- 

 cious heads, and are not only well 

 furnished with fruit spurs, but also 

 with annual crops of bloom, so that 

 there is every disposition on the part 

 of the trees to form fruit, but some 

 unknown cause prevents it. It must 

 be the business of the possessor of 

 such trees to trace the bai'renness to 

 its cause, and then to apply tli" 

 remedy. Suppose we are now asked 

 as to tiie restoration of such an ex- 

 ample of mismanagement. We ob- 

 serve first the bark of the stem : it is 

 foul beyond description ; vermin lodge 

 in every crevice ; we pull away a few 

 loose pieces, and our hands are co- 

 vered with the sticky webs of insect 

 nests ; and along with insects and 

 dirt, which fall out in heaps on being 

 disturbed, there is an admixture of 

 saifdust. That tells us we shall pre- 

 sently discover an entrance to the 

 heart of the tree. It is, in fact, bored 



