260 THE FLORIST. 



Salliere, rosy purple, large spike, very free. 3 feet. 



Souvenir de Madame Poivre, white, carmine centre, good habit, very free. 3 ft. 

 Souvenir d'un Ami, rose, crimson centre, compact habit, very free. 1 \ foot. 

 Veronique, lilac, very robust habit, large spike. 3 feet. 

 Vicomte Adalbert de Beaumont, bright rose, crimson centre, large flower, 

 very free. 2£ feet. 



ECONOMICAL CULTURE OF FRUIT TREES. 



It is a question of importance as to the precise form of fruit-tree most 

 profitable to grow — whether standards, half-standards, or dwarfs ; and 

 again, whether trained or untrained. For small gardens, the dwarf 

 bush form of Apples and Pears has long superseded the standards for- 

 merly planted, and we have now to consider whether any economy can 

 be introduced into the system by training. If dwarf trees are prefer- 

 able, on the score of economy, to standards on a small scale, they must 

 be equally so on a large one, and we therefore must look at the question 

 as to its bearing on fruit culture in a general point of view. For exten- 

 sive orchards tall standard trees will still be planted, as such orchards 

 are generally laid down to Grass, and require but little care afterwards ; 

 and the same may be said as to planting Apples and Pears in hedge- 

 rows or banks. Rut where the finest fruits are required there will be 

 little difficulty in proving, that the same quantity of fruit can be obtained 

 on a smaller space of ground than is required to produce the same 

 quantity in orchards ; and even with the market- gardeners' orchards, 

 where the ground between the trees is filled up with Gooseberries and 

 Currants, or vegetables, we shall have to show that by proper manage- 

 ment more can be obtained from the ground by cultivating one kind of 

 fruit only, than by attempting the mixed plan. 



But, to obtain the greatest produce from a given space of ground, the 

 usual plan of confining Apples and Pears to the height of five or six feet 

 must be abandoned. As Dean Swift once satirically remarked to an 

 overcrowded mob, who were crying out for more room — " Why, you 

 have it ; there is plenty upwards." So the remark may apply to fruit 

 growers with a limited space only — you must look upwards ; that is to 

 say, you must carry your trees up to fourteen or fifteen feet in height, 

 to enable them to carry crops to repay for the cost of planting and alter 

 management. To explain our views more fully, let us take an acre of 

 ground, which is to be planted with Apples by themselves. We should 

 select untrained dwarf trees, and plant them in rows from twelve to 

 fourteen feet apart, in the direction of north-east and south-west, or 

 north and south, as near as the ground would admit, planting the trees 

 from eight to ten feet apart ; but in this respect some allowance must be 

 made for the size the trees will hereafter attain, some kinds growing 

 much stronger than others. The first season some training will be 

 necessary, as two shoots from each tree should be tied out to stakes in 

 the direction the rows run, and as wide as three or four feet apart. 



{To be continued.) 



