THE 



:c»»jo-»»co«(?<»»c^»«;?j«o 



.Tanxtahy, 1860, 



INIATTJRE FRUIT-GARDENS are as popular as Orchard- 

 houses, and for the idea of both we are indebted to 

 that father of English fruit- culture, Mr. Eivers, of Saw- 

 bridgeworth. It is true, the culture of hardy fruits on 

 pyramid and bush trees is not new ; but no one knows how 

 long we might have remained content with very imper- 

 fect developments of the art of constructing a multum 

 in parvo fruit-garden, had not Mr. Eivers, with the 

 truly English spirit of perseverance that belongs to him, 

 taken the task in hand, and accomplished it with prac- 

 tical regard to every detail. The " Miniature Fruit- 

 Garden" has attained to an eighth edition, and the results 

 of its success as a book are a vastly increased production 

 of the best fruits in districts where the elements were already favourable, 

 and the successful prosecution of fruit-culture in districts where, on the 

 old-fashioned plans, it was hitherto all but impossible. 



One of the chief merits of the work,* above and beyond the intelligible 

 code laid down, is the careful consideration shown for the possessors of 

 small gardens with unfavourable soils, which we all know are sufficiently 

 plentiful throughout the country. The first point insisted on is to keep 

 the roots of the trees near the surface, and to multiply those surface-roots 

 by annual or biennial removal. In wet soils fruit-trees are apt to canker 

 through sending their tap-roots down to the moist substratum, and in dry 

 soils the surface-roots are often injured by drought, and the trees cast their 

 blossoms without setting freely through leanness of constitution. The 

 cultivation of the ground among standard trees is another source of injtiry, 

 for the spade destroys the surface-fibres, and so compels the tree to live on 

 roots that in no way promote its fruitfulness. To bring the trees fully 

 under control, we must grow them as bushes ; they then occupy a small 

 compass, come quickly into bearing, are easily lifted and root-pruned, can 

 be supplied with a sufficiency of suitable soil — because requiring but 



* The "Miniature Fruit-Garden; or, the Culture of Pyramidal and Bush Fruit-Trees. " 

 Thomas Rivers. Eighth Edition. Longman and Co. 



VOL. III. NO. I. B 



Bj 



