CUAP. 11 VILLA GAKDENING, 237 



valuable, being a siu'e l^earer, with highly-coloured fruit, especially 

 iu autumu. 



The Ideal Okchard. — The shape it has assumed in my 

 mind is a sheltered enclosm-e devoted entirely to fruit culture. It 

 should be so fenced in and protected that even rabbits could not 

 gain admission, or, at least (as I know how difficult it is to deal 

 with them), if they once got in they might abandon all hope of 

 getting out, and a little dog and a gun would soon make short 

 work with them. In shape the orchard may be round, square, 

 or oblong, as that is a matter of no importance. It might be 

 laid out in blocks or beds for the convenience of jjlanting, and the 

 dift'erent kinds of trees grouped together. Thus, Apples in one 

 place. Plums in another. Cherries in a thu-d ; then Pears, Nuts, 

 and so on ; and beneath all, forming the underground, would come 

 bush fruits, Raspberries and Strawberries. Such a fruit orchard 

 would be most interesting and profitable, and the last item will 

 weigh with most planters, for a fruit garden which is not profitable 

 must be a constant som'ce of disappointment, no matter how much 

 one may strive to keep up the interest. The dift'erent beds or 

 quarters of fruit trees shoidd be intersected by paths of some kind. 

 I have seen Grass used with eftect, and over the paths should be 

 placed arches for training fruit trees on, such as Pears and Apples. 

 A great deal of fine fruit may be grown on such arches. In their 

 construction there is room for a good deal of ingenuity, and a mind 

 possessing some originality will probably get oft' the beaten track. 

 Wire arches for fruit trees are expensive, but there are other simpler 

 and cheaper ways of covering a walk with bearing fruit-trees. The 

 simplest form of all is to plant maiden trees 4 feet to 6 feet apart 

 on each side of the path iu pairs. Lead them up by training to a 

 stout stake till they meet over the centre, then graft the two 

 together, when they will soon prove self-supporting. In the course 

 of time side shoots may be taken out horizontally, 1 foot apart, till 

 they meet the branches of theh- opposite neighbours, when they 

 also should be grafted together. It will take some little time to 

 accomplish all this, but half a dozen years is not much in the life 

 of a fruit tree, and the trees would be in bearing long before all 

 this was completed. The vegetable garden, so far as regards all 

 coarse things at least, would be better under a cheaper and simpler 

 system of culture than obtains at present. I do not say that the 

 land should not be well cultivated, but sm-fiice polish, which too 

 often takes the place of good cidtivation, need not monopolise so 

 much time. If the fruit and vegetables were separated the latter 

 would stand a chance of getting their full share of sunshine, and 

 the fruit trees might gi'ow in peace, with roots uumutilated by the 



