APPLES. 55 



The system of growing on dwarf or bush trees has 

 many advantages, and as it is very widely adopted in 

 France for the best dessert fruit, it should be tried more 

 generally here. Mr. Barron, the Superintendent of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society's Chiswick grounds, highly 

 approves of this method for apple culture, and has 

 largely grown these trees some years past. 



By this system the trees are under perfect control, as 

 to pruning, picking, and cleaning from insect or disease ; 

 the crop can be gathered without bruising and without 

 the use of ladders; and it can be thinned out easily, 

 whenever thought desirable to ensure fine quality. As 

 these dwarf trees are grafted upon the " paradise " stock, 

 the roots are mainly surface feeders, and they can, 

 therefore, be mulched or dressed with manure at any 

 time, as they have any special need for it. The quality 

 of the crop can thus be brought up to almost any 

 required degree of excellence, with fairly favourable 

 weather. And, finally, by cultivating this description 

 of tree, they give a fair crop the second year after 

 planting, and when some simple and efficient mode of 

 protecting the blossom from frost and blazing sun is 

 adopted, we may be able to depend upon such trees to 

 produce a crop of fruit annually, although not a heavy 

 one. The cottager will find this a most interesting 

 mode of cultivating the finer sorts of apples, and the 

 wind will not do the damage that it often does with 

 trees of large sorts especially. Of course such choice 

 fruit will sell best, and if carefully packed in flat boxes, 

 they will be sold by the dozen at top prices. 



Espaliers, cordons, or pyramids bring the same early 

 cropping results, and with a little care in pinching in 

 early summer and autumn, and winter pruning, these 



