Chap. XXIV.] FRUIT CULTURE. 421 



" fixings " for the old espalier. The espaliers here are, in many- 

 cases, ten feet high. Trees with erect branches soon cover these 

 to the top, and the effect is better than that of the old-fashioned 

 espalier, while the great height prevents the need of repressing 

 the trees over much. The amount of galvanised wire used in the 

 garden is very great, but the expense will be justified by the 

 security afforded to heavy fruit during autumnal gales. Much 

 destruction to the finest fruit arises in that way. Probably in no 

 garden in England have so many of the little horizontal cordons 

 been tried as here. They do admirably, and, though many of 

 them were only recently planted, the lines are now dotted with 

 large fruit, some of which is the finest of its kind to be seen. 

 Here are also Eibstone Pippins trained in this manner, and the 

 fruit is much larger than that grown in the ordinary way. The 

 Ribston is one of the fruits which would well repay culture in 

 this way. Popular and excellent in quality, as it is, everybody 

 would admire extra fine samples of it, and in our markets they 

 would fetch a very high price. It is, of course, needless to grow 

 kinds of fruit in this way that may be had as good as we require 

 them by more simple modes of culture. The little cordons are 

 nearly all grafted on the true Paradise stock, liivers' Nonesuch 

 is also found to bo good on a dry bottom, but grows stronger than 

 the true Paradise. Where any other stock is used the growth is 

 too rampant for this mode of training. The Lady Apple bears 

 well here, and ripens satisfactorily on cordon trees ; so does the 

 White Calville. A mode of training . these and other tender 

 Apples on very low wooden walls formed of one or two boards is 

 recommended by Mr. Leigh to his cottagers as a substitute for 

 brick walls. The quantity of fruit already borne by the young 

 trees is surprising. Horticulture is much indebted to IMr. Leigh 

 for thus testing, in a thoroughly practical, intelligent way, 

 questions of much importance. 



Of all our wants in connection with the Pear, that of the 

 spread of good varieties is perhaps the greatest. Naturally, or 

 rather I should say in a wild state, the Pear is a poor fruit about 

 an inch and a half long ; and from this has been gradually deve- 

 loped the splendid race we now possess. Scattered through our 

 gardens and orchards in all parts of this kingdom, there are scores 

 of kinds which are practically of little more use than the wild 



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