92 THE CLIMATE OF THE CHESTER DISTRICT, ETC. 
to enumerate those that bear well. I will only say that most 
kinds bear well when trained on espaliers, and that scarcely any 
can be relied upon to bear a crop even in a favourable situation 
when not so trained. And some idea of the utter futility of 
planting fruit trees in an unfavourable situation may be formed 
from the fact that in 1870 I planted an orchard of Apple, Pear, 
Plum, and Cherry trees (standards and pyramids) at the bottom 
of the slope on which the garden lies and where the ground is 
somewhat shaded by trees, though not to the south-west, and 
during the whole ten years I can safely say that I have not had 
a total of three bushels of fruit of all kinds! There was pro- 
bably six times as much as this from the pyramid Pear trees in 
the higher part of the garden in 1879, though the fruit was 
heavily thinned. And this deficiency was not due to the de- 
struction of the blossom by frost, as might be supposed from its 
lying low, because there has never been much blossom to be 
destroyed; which leads me to the further remark that in the 
spring following a cold summer, a considerable amount of 
blossom may be seen, which, however, leads to no corresponding 
quantity of fruit, and such fruit as there is is generally poor and 
small. This is without reference to the frost in April, 1880; 
there was a considerable amount of blossom both on Apple and 
Pear trees at Colwyn Bay, and the lowest temperature during 
the month was 32°.2, yet there was scarcely any fruit, which, in 
my opinion, was solely due to the inability of the imperfectly 
ripened wood to bear fruit. 
Of the small fruits, by which I mean Strawberries, Rasp- 
berries, Gooseberries, and Currants, I need say little. Being 
natives of this country, or of countries having a similar climate 
or inhabiting woods, they do not require so much sun, and are 
consequently dependent probably on soil rather than climate 
for profitable cultivation. 
In conclusion, it seems doubtful whether, with the present 
facilities of communication and carriage between one country 
and another, it will pay to grow the hardier and less perishable 
fruits, such as Apples and Pears, except as a luxury for the 
rich. And the more perishable labour under the disadvantage 
that they require to be consumed immediately, so that the 
market is glutted when they come in. At the same time the 
small fruits require so little attention, come so soon into bearing 
and are generally so certain in cropping, that (especially in the 
neighbourhood of large towns) they are probably much more 
profitable to grow in this district than what I have called tree 
fruit. 
[The present year, 1885, is strongly confirmatory of the above 
views. The summer of 1884 was a remarkably hot one, 
and the promise of tree fruit is now (May 30) very great. | 
