236 VILLA GARDENING part hi 



chilling effect Moss begins to form. Again, the expense of pro- 

 tecting the fruit trees from sheep and cattle in their early stages 

 is something considerable. Let a guard get out of order and be 

 neglected only for a short time, and the sheep or cattle will find 

 the unprotected tree, and of course the bark very i>robably will 

 be peeled off all round the stem, and the tree will die. In after 

 years, when the trees have struggled through all their difficulties 

 and arrived at a profitable size, every Apple or other fruit 

 which drops from the tree is eagerly snapped up and consumed by 

 the living creatures waiting beneath. Of course the subject has 

 another side, and many people like to see their homesteads em- 

 bowered in fniit trees. But I Avanted to show that when any 

 given area can be set apart for fruit culture our present orchard 

 system is not the best to adopt. At the same time, I woidd say. 

 Plant Apples and Pears in every suitable locality. Plant on Grass 

 if you like, or in hedgerows, especially those newly luade, because 

 the fences which protect the young quicks will save the fruit 

 trees from injury. But in planting, whether it be a single tree or 

 a group, have the ground thoroughly broken up and intermixed, 

 though without disturbing the bad subsoil in the bottom, for at 

 least a space of 6 feet in diameter, where each tree is to stand. 



Fruit Tkees for Ornament. — The i)lanting of Apples and 

 Pears within the precincts of the ornamental department is not a 

 new idea, but rather a very old one resuscitated. There is more 

 beauty in a well-grow^l Apple tree, for instance, than in many 

 of the smaller trees jDlanted as ornaments in the grounds attached 

 to villa residences. It is tn;e that the Apple smacks too much 

 of the culinary department to become the vehicle of conveying 

 poetic sentiment, such as clings to the Thorn, but the latter is not 

 superior to the former in any particidar. The prejudice against 

 the planting of Apples near the house is disappearing, and nothing 

 further need be said about it. To give fruit trees a chance in 

 competition with other trees and shrubs, they should be planted 

 at the same time, and this somewhat narrows our choice of site, 

 as it woidd be only in new gardens where such facilities exist. 

 But in the regailation of old shrubberies and pleasure grounds 

 positions could easily be cleared for fruit trees, and a new and 

 interesting feature introduced. The brightest-coloured varieties 

 will give the most ornament. Blenheim Orange Apple, where it 

 thrives, is a very handsome variety, and one of the best. Cox's 

 Orange Pippin is another handsome kind. Fern's Pippin, again, 

 is quite a picture, with its crimson-cheeked fniits, and seldom fails 

 to bear. Of late kinds of Apples that may be recommended for 

 planting in shrubberies, the Xorfolk Beaufin will be found very 



