240 VILLA. GAKDENING i-aut hi 



cliu"atiou, is nut a great percentage. One of the advantages of 

 the Espaher system of fruit culture is its adaptability for every 

 situation. They may form a single row by the side of a path, or 

 a whole quarter may be covered with them, their distances from 

 each other being in iDroportion to their height. As a rule espaliers 

 are too low. There is plenty of space upwards which virtually 

 costs nothing, and no espaliers for Pears or Apples should be less 

 than 5 feet in height. If a piece of land coidd be set ajiart for 

 espaliers, and they were 5 feet high, the same distance should 

 intervene, and they should rmi north and south to obtain the full 

 benefit of the sunshine. The Apples on the Paradise never get 

 much beyond a little bush, and therefore they do not require much 

 space. To do them justice a l)order or bed shoiUd be set apart 

 for them, planting them at first 3 feet apart. After the lapse of 

 a few years the plantation will need rearranging, when those re- 

 quiring it can be given more space. The chief thing to bear in 

 mind is, that they are surface-rooting, and the roots must be fed 

 with rich food in the shape of midchings on the surface. 



Apples ox Walls. — In the Midlands and the North, and in 

 cold districts generally, a few of the best dessert Apples are some- 

 times with advantage planted against walls, to which they are 

 trained in the same manner as Pears and Plums are ; in point of 

 fact, the Plum and the Cherry are as hardy as the Apple. The 

 system of training may be a matter of convenience or personal 

 liking ; or we may be guided by the amount of sjjace we have to 

 cover, and the variety we wish to obtain from it. Both the Apple 

 and the Pear submit readily to have their branches moidded into 

 any shape. At the same time, perhaps, the simpler forms are 

 best. The horizontal, for instance, is a very simple form, and 

 whether we cover a wall or an espalier we plant trees at certain 

 distances apart, say 14 feet, although the distance will vary 

 somewhat according to the height of the wall or fence and the 

 goodness of the soil, as in a superior fruit-soil the trees will natur- 

 ally attain a larger development than is possible on an inferior 

 one, no matter how much may be done to improve it. The 

 Cordon and the Palmette are systems of training which in certain 

 circumstances may be employed for the Apple ; but as it will be 

 necessary to speak more fidly aliout these and other forms when 

 treating of the Pear, I will not dwell upon them now. The Fan 

 is the most ancient, and many still say the best form for fniit 

 trees to assimie. Certainly it has advantages, not the least being 

 the ease ■«'ith which a tree can be filled up with young wood, or 

 by a rearrangement of the branches when a limb dies. 



The Propagation of the Apple. — Everybody ought to 



