1873.] THE apple: ITS CULTURE AND VAEIETIES. CHAPTER II. 31 



the limited stock. Emperor, crimson-maroon, a very fine and full symmetrical 

 flower, and of a very telling hue of colour. Ethel, silvery peach, of a 

 delicate soft hue ; this will be most effective in the form of a spike ; 

 a row of plants of this variety was a charming sight, the habit of the vari- 

 ety being remarkably good, and the spikes of great depth. Fairy Queen is 

 another beautiful flower, being of a silvery rose hue, suffused with carmine, and 

 like the foregoing, forms an excellent spike. Jessie Dean, clear apricot, tinted 

 with rosy salmon as it acquires age, and very fine in form and substance, is a great 

 favourite with Mr. Chater, who commends it highly. Luna, straw, tinted 

 with a deeper hue, is a good addition to the pale yellow flowers, and will make 

 a fine spike for exhibition purposes. President is of a yellowish buff colour, the 

 flowers becoming tinted with rose with age ; this also is of excellent quality. 

 Prince Arthur is of a dull red, yet not without some brightness of hue, and 

 forms a good show flower. Pauline promises well as a white flower, but has the 

 chocolate base peculiar to other varieties of the same typ^ ; it is both distinct 

 and good. The last, Victo7; is probably the finest flower of the batch ; it is of a 

 veiy bright rosy red hue, and so full in substance that a pocket seems almost 

 impossible ; whether shown as single blooms, or in the spike form, it will always 

 be a favourite with exhibitors. 



Some yearling flowers were of great promise, and of such excellent quality 

 that it did appear as if the ultimatitm had been reached in the improvement of 

 the Hollyhock. And yet there can be no limit to the work of perfection, for 

 present attainments are but a prophecy of unrealised advances. — E. Dean. 



THE APPLE : ITS CULTURE AND VARIETIES.— Chap. n. 



'^^ AVING drained and prepared the ground for planting, which operations, by 

 the wa)^, ought to be performed in October, in order to secure every 

 possible advantage, it is necessary to take into consideration the most 

 desirable mode of training, and in doing so we must be guided by the 

 amount of space at our disposal, combined with the quantity of fruit sought to be 

 produced. In a limited space it would be best to adopt Espalier training, as the 

 best possible mode of obtaining a fair supply of fruit without taking up much 

 room ; but with a sufficient space at command, say six feet from the walk, 

 Pyramid or Bush training will afford a better chance of obtaining a larger 

 supply of fruit. Of these two, the Pyramid is to be preferred before the Bush, 

 because while the bush is developed laterally, the pyramid is developed vertically, 

 and consequently affords an opportunity of exposing more wood and foliage to 

 the direct action of the sun and other beneficial atmospherical influences, 

 whilst it occupies only the same amount of space, or, to be more exact, covers 

 only an equal amount of surface. 



It may be advisable, for the better guidance of Amateur cultivators, to give 

 here a simple diagram of each of these leading forms, in which A represents the 

 natural ground-level, and B the surface as raised after planting. It will be seen 

 that fig. 1, the Pyramid, has a central stem rising vertically, called a leader, or the 

 leading shoot, with side branches diverging from it, each of these being, as it were, 

 dependent upon it, because the sap which nourishes them must all pass through it. 



