THE FRUIT-GARDEN. 



rows of bushes. And if occasional rows of high- 

 growing hardy kinds are planted at double thick- 

 ness, such as the green and red Fullwood apples, 

 and the Hessel pear, they will greatly protect the 

 others from the hurtful effects of east and north- 

 easterly spring winds. A mulching of half-decayed 

 litter-dung may be spread under the trees when 

 planted, and hoed in during next winter. Straw- 

 berries and culinary vegetables may be introduced 

 when the trees and bushes are young, but the 

 ground must not be exhausted by surface-cropping. 

 In Herefordshire, Devonshire, and adjoining 

 districts of England, orchards are maintained 

 principally for manufacturing a beverage from 

 their produce. Cider is the liquor made from 

 apples ; the trees in most estimation for the pur- 

 pose being the New Foxwhelp, the Wilding, the 

 Cherry Pearmain, and the Yellow and Red 

 Norman. When the ripened apples have been 

 shaken from the trees, they are allowed to remain 

 in heaps for a month or so on the ground, to 

 become mellow ; after which the process of manu- 

 facture into cider commences. Perry, or the 

 liquor from pears, is also a pleasant and whole- 

 some beverage, and in some instances almost 

 approaches the quality of sparkling champagne. 

 The most austere varieties of the pear, unfit for 

 the table, answer best for this purpose ; and a 

 mixture of the wild pear with the cultivated sorts 

 makes a peculiarly fine liquor. 



Quince and Medlar. 



These two fruits are more botanical curiosities 

 than useful inhabitants of the British fruit-garden. 



The Quince is classed by botanists with the 

 apple and pear, and these are often grafted on 

 quince-stocks, which confirms their consanguinity. 

 It is said to be a native of Eastern Europe, and 

 to grow wild on the banks of the Danube. It 

 was introduced into Britain from the isle of 

 Candia, but is not much used the fruit in its 

 raw state having a peculiar disagreeable smell and 

 an austere taste. It is sometimes employed to 

 give flavour to apples in pies and tarts, and is 

 occasionally made into a marmalade, which is 

 much used in the south of France, where the 

 quince is extensively cultivated. The Medlar is 

 also a native of South-eastern Europe. It has 

 considerable flavour, but this is seldom developed, 

 even in its ripe state, on the tree, and the fruit is 

 therefore gathered and laid aside until it begins 

 to change or decay, and then only is it fit to be 

 eaten, or made into jelly. 



Peach and Nectarine. 



Both are natives of the East, introduced from 

 Persia in the year 1562, and extensively culti- 

 vated since that period. Each exhibits two 

 leading sub-varieties namely, those in which 

 the stone parts freely from the pulp, or free-stones; 

 and those with flesh adhering to the stone, and 

 therefore termed ding-stones. 



The peach and nectarine (Amygdalus Persica) 

 can be raised by sowing the stones, and excellent 

 varieties have been so obtained ; but as there is 

 no certainty of what a seedling may ultimately 

 become, it is not prudent to trust to this mode 

 of propagation. Budding must therefore be re- 

 sorted to. The peach and nectarine are seldom 

 grafted ; it is usual to select buds of trees that 

 are approved bearers and of fertile habits, and 



to insert them into young vigorous stocks of the 

 plum or almond. Nurserymen raise their trees 

 in this way, preferring the plum-stock ; the opera- 

 tion is performed late in July or early in August 



The buds swell, but remain torpid till the spring 

 of the following year, at which time the head of 

 each budded tree is cut back to an inch above the 

 inserted bud, which then expands, and forms one 

 or more shoots ; in general, the nurseryman prunes 

 and trains them into form during the two succeed- 

 ing years, when they are sold as trained trees. 

 Either horizontal, fan, or cordon training as 

 already described under the apple may be 

 adopted for the peach and nectarine, which must 

 always be grown on a sheltered sunny wall 



The peach and nectarine produce their fruit 

 upon the spring-wood of the previous year, and 

 occasionally, also, if the habit of the tree be very 

 vigorous, upon secondary shoots from that wood ; 

 but this is by no means desirable under ordinary 

 circumstances, for it proves that the tree is too 

 luxuriant in young wood, which, being developed 

 after midsummer, can scarcely become duly 

 mature. A tree cannot be expected to produce 

 or support a crop of fruit in a period short of four 

 or five years from the budding ; but during that 

 period, except in cordon-training, the art of the 

 gardener should be employed to lay in six or more 

 regular branches to the right and left, which will 

 form the skeleton or figure of the tree, and remain 

 the permanent supporters of the young bearing- 

 wood. In the fan-method of training, secondary 

 fruitful shoots are permitted to form at the under 

 as well as the upper sides of these main branches ; 

 but in horizontal training, the fertile secondaries 

 are led off from the upper sides only ; all those 

 which break from the front, or from the back next 

 the wall, or from the under side, are obliterated 

 as they appear, either by pinching them off with 

 the finger and thumb, or by amputation with a 

 sharp knife. The quantity of wood to be retained, 

 year after year, so as to obtain a regularly in- 

 creasing proportion of fruit, without redundant 

 wood, is chiefly regulated by the judicious use of 

 the knife, and by disbudding. 



We will suppose the example of a tree trained 

 in the nursery during two years, then planted in 

 October against a wall fronting the south or south- 

 east The shoots which form the bases of the 

 permanent branches are to be nailed, as they 

 advance, in the most regular order, leaving them at 

 their full length till February of the second year, 

 when the strength and condition of the tree are 

 to be consulted. As a first rule, we are taught, and 

 experience sanctions the rule, 'that every shoot 

 is to be shortened in proportion to its strength, 

 by pruning to the point where the wood is firm 

 and well ripened, by which all the pithy wood is 



