FRUIT CYLINDERS. 2:2 ( J 



here state that any moderately youug tree now growing agaiust 

 a straight trellis may be wound round one of these cylinders 

 with ease, and without transplanting. 



As compared with other appliances for protection, these cylin- 

 ders, although not handsome, are decidedly not unsightly at first, 

 and, as the gorse begins to get brown and weathered, the young 

 foliage of the tree expands and clothes the whole in fair colours 

 for the summer, so that the gorse is completely thrown into the 

 shade. 



I have named gorse as the best material, but heath, or indeed 

 any leafy faggots will do, and even those without leaves may have 

 straw added to close the chinks, and thus give the necessary 

 shelter. 



The trellis is made of the same materials as ordinary strained 

 wire sheep-fencing, the four uprights being one and a quarter 

 inches by three-eighths of an inch, and five feet high without the 

 claws, and they have no holes in them like sheep-fencing. The 

 rods are of round iron one-quarter of an inch in diameter, and are 

 first made into rings and attached to the uprights by means of 

 copper wire, the uprights being notched on their outer edges 

 about one-eighth of an inch deep with a round file, to receive the 

 rods ; by this arrangement the whole can be untied and shifted 

 as required. The cost at this time (the iron being unusually dear) 

 is 10s. each trellis put up and painted. 



Every plant upon a plane surface, as a fruit-tree upon a 

 garden wall, is fully exposed to violent action all at once : heuce 

 we see sun-strokes from the supplies being unequal to the demand. 

 Not so in the natural form of the tree, which is a globular and 

 therefore a solid form, whereas the trained wall tree is but a 

 skeleton, and that too backed by a reflector. The natural tree 

 shades itself considerably, and owes much of its health to the 

 action of leaves labouring in the shade. The present cylindrical 

 form is, therefore, less artificial than the skeleton shape used on 

 walls and espaliers, having all the good properties of the skeleton, 

 and free from many of its defects. 



It must be evident from the practical examples just referred 

 to, that, notwithstanding our variable climate, we really do succeed 

 with very little artificial aid, and that little only used for a very 

 short time, in getting fruits and flowers in great perfection. 

 Sometimes the successful fruit-ground is only a sheltered flat at 

 the sea level, as the Carse of Gowrie and the celebrated cider 

 grounds in this county (Devon). The projecting eaves of a 



