THE Cirr FRUIT GARDEN. 



»7 



inmates live much in the pure air of heaven, 

 and make free use of the kiscious fruits of 

 the garden. 



I take it that I am addressing amateurs, 

 and I do not even dare to call myself a pro- 

 fessional. Amateurs you must be to suc- 

 ceed. I mean you must be lovers of the 

 garden to succeed with it. Do you remem- 

 ber what Ruskin says in " Queen's Gar- 

 dens?" "You have heard it said (and I 

 believe there is more than fancy in that say- 

 ing, but let it pass for a fanciful one) that 

 flowers only flourish rightly in the garden 

 of some one who loves them." He is 

 applying this truth to humanity, neglected 

 about us, but I take it in its literal applica- 

 tion. 1 apply it to the fruit or the flower, 

 or the house plant. Unless you love it and 

 so nourish it, vou cannot attain the best 

 success. 



Another secret of making your garden 

 and lawn a thing of pleasure and delight is 

 that it should be vour very own. I do not 

 mean simply by ownership, but the evi- 

 dence of your own labor, with your own 

 hands. The gardener may do better work, 

 but it is not so much yours unless you do it 

 all, or at least a part yourself. You will be 

 more interested thereby, and it will be more 

 to you. You may despise the labor, but 

 that will be the very secret of your high- 

 est enjoyment. 



But enough on general lines. Now I 

 will try to give you some hints for the fruit 

 garden, and name some things which may 

 be suitably planted in it. 



First, its site is too often chosen without 

 regard to the lawn. I would favor it being 

 made an extension of the lawn ; not fenced 

 in by high boards, but only screened from 

 the front by an ornamental hedge, and most 

 easy of access for the family and visitors. 

 Unless it can be a place of beauty, worthy 

 of the presence of visitors, it had better not 

 exist. 



The object of it is twofold : First, the 



joy in the very garden itself, in watching 

 and directing the growth of the trees, and 

 in eating the first ripe fruit from each tree, 

 and studying the relative value of each ; 

 and second, the advantage of its products 

 upon the table. No such fresh, delicious 

 fruits can be purchased in the markets as 

 can be brought in direct from the garden, 

 just gathered when at its very best. What 

 more inviting table ornament in the autumn 

 than a plate of assorted red, white and 

 black grapes. They look almost too good 

 to eat, and remind me of the Irishman who 

 in his country never saw fruit on the table, 

 except for ornament, and when he saw a 

 Canadian taking off a whole bunch of 

 grapes, cried out, " Oh moi, he's aitin the 

 bokay." 



Apples I would no longer plant in a citv 

 garden. They take too much valuable 

 space, and the best are so cheap in our 

 markets. If I had apples in a garden of 

 limited space I would have the trees dug 

 out, root and branch, and used for firewood. 

 It is even a question now-a-days whether it 

 pays to grow apples in the field for export, 

 and, unless the present efforts of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture in opening up new 

 markets are successful, there is surelv little, 

 if any, money in growing apples ; I might 

 also say in fruit growing of any kind. 



Pears are more desirable, for the best 

 table varieties cannot always be purchased 

 in our markets, varieties, for example, such 

 as Doyenne d' Ete, Giffard, Rostiezer, 

 Petite Marguerite, Louise, Clairgeau, Shel- 

 don and Anjou. The Bartlett you can al- 

 ways buy, for growers plant immense or- 

 chards of it, and last year you could buy 

 that variety for 25 cents a basket. So you 

 need not plant it, nor the Duchess, a good 

 pear, but constantly on sale. Pears for a 

 small garden should be grown on quince 

 stock, which makes them d\varf, and occupy 

 but little room. These you can plant about 

 twelve feet apart each way. To get the 



