FOREIGN NOTICES. 



477 



than half tho trees had fruit upon them, and this 

 after many years of careful cultivation ; and I was 

 informed by a friend living near the spot, that this 

 was the first year they iiad borne any quantity of 

 fruit. It is indeed a joke among the French jxar- 

 deners, probably dictated by a little envy, that the 

 trees of M. Cappe are '' exceedingly productive — 

 in leaves and shoots ! " 



On the Continent root pruning is not known or 

 thought of, and if broached it would probably be 

 excessively ridiculed ; but the trees of M. Cappe, 

 with their over luxuriance, I have no doubt would 

 be much benefitted by it, in spite of the dry soil and 

 climate of Paris. I was informed that all his trees 

 were on the pear stock, which will account for their 

 vigorous growth. 



The quenouille, or tying down system, is now 

 quite out of fashion in France, and in truth it does 

 look very liarbarous and unnatural ; the trees train- 

 ed in this manner in tiie Potagerie, at Versailles, 

 are mostly on quince stocks ; they are from twenty 

 to forty years old, and are very productive, but very 

 ugly ; all the shoots from the horizontal and de- 

 pressed branches had been cropped ofl" apparently 

 in July, as Monsieur Puteau, the director, is, I be- 

 lieve, adverse to the pinching system of M. Cappe. 

 I did not observe a single quenouille in Belgium, 

 all were pyramids, even in the gardens of the cot- 

 tagers ; and in general, these were very beautiful 

 and productive trees. In many cases, w^hen on the 

 pear stock they were too luxuriant, and required 

 root pruning, but this I could not make the garden- 

 ers comprehend. 



If the article in the Gardener's Chronicle, No. 

 28, 1847, is read attentively, it will be seen that M. 

 Cappe is constantly at war with the heads of his 

 trees ; his pinched shoots will often break again 

 and again, and give him much trouble. I closely 

 examined some of his trees, of sorts which I knew 

 to be, under ordinary management, shy bearers, 

 and found them, to use the language of my note 

 book, " entirely bare of fruit and I'ruit buds ;" this 

 was towards the end of last August. 



The pinching system of M. Cappe, without root 

 pruning, is, therefore, objectionable for small gar- 

 dens, on account of the trees requiring much room, 

 and becoming difficult to manage from their great 

 size and height ; for many of his trees are more 

 than 15 feet high. The leading shoots of the hori- 

 zontal branches of his trees are often left in the 

 winter pruning nearly one foot in length ; I ob- 

 served tins on the trees of Bcurre Did, De Cure, 

 Beurre Ranee, Sec. &c., so that the tree soon spread 

 over a considerable surface ; a tree of Louise Bon- 

 ne, however, was most beautiful and compact ; also 

 a tree of Beurre d'Amanlis, which was covered 

 ■with fruit and fruit buds. Sans Pepin was bare of 

 fruit, but a most regular and beautiful tree. It ap- 

 pears to me that the pinching system, coupled with 

 root pruning, will be all that can be desired in j)car 

 culture. 



For large gardens, the broad based conical trees, 

 on the pinching system of M. Cappe, with triennial 

 or quartennial root pruning, will be found advan- 

 tageous ; for smaller gardens, the more closely 

 pruned pyramidal or cypre>s-like trees, with bien- 

 nial or annual root pruning, are sure to be annual 



sources of pleasure, as they will bo always within 

 the reach of the amateur pruner, who can thus give 

 his trees an occasional pinch without inconveni- 

 ence. 



Cherries. — The culture of the cherry on the 

 Cerasus Mahaleb has been so successful here the 

 past season, that I am induced further to recom- 

 mend it. With nets over my small bushes, I kept 

 most of the finer varieties till August ; the wasps 

 then committed such ravages that I was obliged to 

 gather nearly all; but, for tlic sake of experiment} 

 I covered some trees of the Murello and Late Duke 

 Cherries with cheap muslin. This preserved the 

 fruit in perfection till the end of September. Cher- 

 ries may now be made part of our desserts from 

 May, commencing with the Cerise InduUe, till late 

 in October. There are some new early cherries of 

 great merit, particularly one called Belle d'Or- 

 leans, ripeninu early in June, large, sweet and ex- 

 cellent ; of this I have not yet propagated any 

 plants, as it bore fruit last summer for the first 

 time. I may here mention that in rich soiLs Dwarf 

 Cherries on the Cerasus Mahaleb grow with ex- 

 treme vigor for three or four years ; in such cases 

 they should be annually root pruned, they will then 

 soon become compact, fertile bushes. I will now 

 notice a few sorts that fruited here the past sum- 

 mer, and of which I tasted and noted their quali- 

 ties. 



Bigarreau de Hildersheim. I ate the fruit of this 

 variety, preserved under muslin, September li' ; its 

 flesh was firm, good and sweet, and would have 

 (as I have written in my note book) '" remained 

 good till the end of the month." 



Cerise Indulle, or Early May, is a small sub-acid 

 cherry, agreeable and valuable for its extreme ear- 

 liness, as it ripens in some seasons towards the end 

 of May ; it succeeds admirably on the Mahaleb 

 stock, and is very valuable for forcing in pots^ 

 forming a small, compact bush. 



Downer's Late Red. This is an American vari- 

 ety, sweet and good, and ripens from eight to ten 

 days after the May Duke. 



Louis Philippe. A ciierr)' much like the Kent- 

 ish, but sweet and verj' refreshing. A great bear- 

 er, and forms a pretty fertile bush. 



The Madison Bigarreau is an American variet)' ; 

 flesh soft, rich and juicy. It is an excellent bear- 

 er on the Mahaleb, and in season just before the 

 Bigarreau. 



Reine Hortense, Monstreuse de Bavay, Belle de 

 Bavay, 16 a la Livre, Belle de Petit Brie — for, like 

 most valuable varieties of fruits, it has numerous 

 synoyms — is a first rate variety ; very large, and 

 apparently a hybrid between the May Duke and 

 Kentish ; flesh soft, very juicy, sweet and refresh- 

 ing ; ripening about a fortnight after the I\Iay Duke, 

 and may be kept on the tree under a muslin 

 cover till late in August. 



Tardive de Mons, or Merveille de Septembre, is 

 one of the latest cherries known ; fruit rather small, 

 flesh very firm, rather dry, and very sweet. I ga- 

 thered the fruit from my specimen tree the 20th of 

 this jircsent month (October ;) they were perfectly 

 sound. 



Currants. — A few years since, Mr. May, of 

 Lecming-lane, near Ripon, Yorkshire, advr^rtised 



