THE FRUIT-GARDEN. 



system of peach-culture adopted at Montreuil, the 

 village celebrated for producing fine fruit for the 

 supply of the Paris market. The walls are eight 

 or ten feet high, and white, being coated with 

 plaster ; the soil, a brown calcareous loam, resting 

 on limestone rock, and therefore well drained, 

 which is essential to peach-culture. Large heaps 

 of the sweepings of the streets of Paris were lying 

 in the lanes, ready to enrich the peach-borders ; 

 but the point we wish particularly to call attention 

 to is, that the walls on which the trees are trained 

 have a broad projecting eave of thatch, which is 

 made still wider during the prevalence of spring 

 frosts. In England, and especially in Scotland, 

 our wall-fruits suffer so much from spring frosts, 

 that any hints on this subject are valuable. In 

 some of our best gardens, movable canvas screens 

 are employed ; and by means of these, combined 



with the Montreuil coping, we may almost effectu- 

 ally guard against all such injuries. 



The Apricot 



ments, the longest shoot that is retained ought 

 not to exceed eighteen inches in length; thence 

 diminishing, according to the strength of each, to 

 nine, or even six inches. 



The Plum. 



The common sloe of Britain may be cited as an 

 example of the genus Prunus; but those rich and 

 luscious fruits which have been so long cultivated 

 throughout Europe are of Eastern origin, being 

 varieties of P. domestica. Plums are propagated 

 by budding upon the common plum-stock, or on 

 the sloe ; and under favourable circumstances, the 

 buds will produce vigorous shoots, standard high 

 the first year. Open standards require little atten- 

 tion ; they should be divested of all the super- 

 fluous shoots by pruning them out close to their 

 origin, just before the season of spring-growth. 



But wafl-trees and espaliers are to be treated as 

 espalier pear-trees that is, by training them with 

 a central stem, and a series of horizontal branches 

 proceeding from it on each side, nine inches apart 

 The apricot (Prunus Armeniacd) is a native of These branches are not to be shortened ; and the 

 Caucasus and China. It partakes of the habits spurs which form naturally upon them are to be 

 of the plum and peach. It is multiplied by ! kept short and compact as they advance in length, 

 budding, either upon the common plum or the : Artificial spurs may be obtained by July fore- 

 mussel plum. Lindley says that it is usual to bud shortening ; but as fertility is promoted by what- 

 the Moor-park upon the former ; but he is per- j ever checks the luxuriance of the wood, it will, we 

 suaded that the tree would be better, and endure think, be preferable to train in the supernumerary 

 longer, were it budded upon the mussel ; and if laterals, depressing them below the horizontal level 



he be correct in this, we may safely assert that all 

 the best apricots will succeed upon that stock 

 without having recourse to any other. The season 

 of budding is comprised between the third week 

 of July and the i6th of August, and showery 

 weather is propitious. The buds should be 

 selected from shoots of the spring-wood ; and in 

 taking them off, a piece of bark one inch and a 

 half long should be retained, from which the strip 

 of wood it contains ought to detach itself freely, 

 without bringing with it the eye of the bud. This 

 eye or point is a vital organ, without which a bud 

 cannot grow. This remark applies to every kind 

 of bud, whether it be that of the apple, pear, 

 peach, or any of their kindred ; or of any orna- 

 mental tree or shrub which admits of being thus 

 propagated. 



The best varieties of apricot are i. Breda, a 

 very rich juicy fruit ; 2. Moor-park, of high flavour, 

 and also pretty large ; 3. The Hemskirk, similar in 

 quality, and, in some situations, a freer grower 

 than the last; 4. Royal, a French sort, earlier 

 than Moor-park ; 5. The Roman, hardy, and 

 an abundant bearer, but its fruit is fit only for 

 preserving. 



As to pruning and training, when the figure of 

 the tree is formed by having three or four branches 

 proceeding from a main stem, each is shortened, 



till some natural spurs are formed near their 

 origin, and then to cut the shoots back to the 

 lowest spur. 



Plums ripen from July till November. Of the 

 earlier dessert-plums, the July Green Gage, Early 

 Mirabelle, and St Etienne ; of intermediate kinds, 

 the Green Gage, Victoria, Lawsons' Golden Gage, 

 Magnum Bonum, and Woolston Black, are general 

 favourites ; while River's Late, Reine Claude de 

 Bavay, Blue Imperatrice, and Coe's Golden Drop, 

 are indispensable late sorts, the last keeping in a 

 well-ordered fruit -house till Christmas. The 

 Damson, Winesour, Bullace, and Cherry plums 

 excel most of the finer-flavoured sorts for making 

 preserves ; and several kinds which shrivel with- 

 out losing flavour in drying, such as the Shrop- 

 shire Damson, Red Magnum, Quetsche, Semiana, 

 and White Perdrigon, form the well-known prunes 

 of the fruiterer. 



The Cherry. 



The cherry-tree, or Cerasus, has been known as 

 a cultivated tree for at least three centuries ; 

 orchards, the produce of which was sold at a high 

 price in the year 1540, existing to a large extent in 

 Kent. This circumstance conferred the name of 

 Kentish cherry on that peculiar kind. There are 

 between 200 or 300 varieties, among which the 



soon after the leaves fall, to six inches, in order to i best for general cultivation are the Kentish, the 



obtain new branches. These are secured to the 

 wall in May or June, at five or six inches' distance 

 from one another, removing all supernumeraries. 

 At the second winter-pruning, the leading shoots 

 may be cut back to ten inches, the others growing 

 upon them to six inches, more or less, as position 

 and strength indicate. In May or June following, 

 more wood is laid in from each branch ; and thus, 

 by disbudding and winter-shortening, a regularly 

 formed head is obtained, upon the shoots of which 

 short fruitful spurs are duly and progressively 

 developed. In all winter-prunings and curtail- 



May-duke, Bigarreau, White-heart, Mammoth, 

 and Morello. All may be grown as standards, 

 but they produce larger fruit when trained against 

 a wall. 



Standard trees form their own spurs, and require 

 only a little thinning out of superfluous branches ; 

 but wall-trees must be treated as the apricot and 

 plum, avoiding, however, to shorten the leading 

 branches. The Morello requires a somewhat dif- 

 ferent treatment, because it not only bears on spurs, 

 but, like the peach, on young wood of the last 



spring. 



Mr Rogers offers some remarks, which are 



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