526 



ESP 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



ETH 



will do better in espalier than the breaking; pears, which sel- 

 dom ripen well on an espalier; as also that many sorts of 

 pears will ripen well on an espalier in a warm soil and situa- 

 tion, which require a wall in other places; you should also 

 be careful of the stocks these are grafted on, for if the breaking 

 pears are grafted upon quince stocks, the fruit will be stony, 

 but the melting pears will be improved by them. For the 

 method of planting them, the reader is again referred to the 

 genus Pyrus ; and for the pruning and management, to the 

 article Pruning. In order to form the espalier to which the 

 trees are to be trained, Mr. Miller gives the following direc- 

 tions. The espalier should not be made until the third year 

 after the trees are planted ; for while they are young, it will 

 be sufficient to drive a few short stakes into the ground on 

 each side of the trees, in a straight line, to which the branches 

 should be fastened in an horizontal position, as they are pro- 

 duced, in order to train them properly for the espalier, which 

 stakes may be placed nearer, or at a farther distance, accord- 

 ing as the shoots produced may require, and these will be 

 sufficient for the three first years ; for should you frame the 

 espalier the first year the trees are planted, many of the stakes 

 would rot before the espalier is covered. The cheapest 

 method of making espaliers, is with ash-poles, of which two 

 sorts should be provided ; one of the largest size, which con- 

 tains thirteen poles in a bundle, and the other size, those of 

 half a hundred. The first, or largest-sized poles, should be 

 cut about seven feet and a half long, which are intended for 

 upright stakes, and must be sharpened at the largest end, 

 that they may with more ease be driven into the ground; 

 and if their bottoms are burred or rubbed over with a proper 

 composition, they may be preserved a long time sound : these 

 should be placed at a foot distance from each other in a 

 direct line, and of an equal height, about six feet above 

 ground; then you should nail a row of straight slender poles 

 along upon the tops of the upright stakes, which will keep 

 them exactly even, and continue to cross the stakes with the 

 smaller poles, and also with the tops which were cut off 

 from the larger stakes, at about nine inches' distance row 

 from row, from the top to the bottom of the stakes. These 

 rows of poles should be fastened with wire to the stakes, 

 which, if made of fir, and painted over, will last a long time ; 

 and the largest end of the poles should be cut flat, and nailed 

 to the upright stakes, which will secure the espalier almost 

 as long as the poles will endure ; whereas, if your fastening 

 is not strong, the poles will be continually displaced with 

 every strong wind. When the espalier is thus framed, the 

 branches of the trees must be fastened thereto, either with 

 small osier twigs, rope-yarn, or some such binding, observing 

 to train them in an horizontal position, and at equal distances, 

 being careful not to cross any of the branches, nor to lay 

 them in too thick. The distance which should be allowed for 

 the branches of pears and apples, must be proportioned ac- 

 cording to the size of their fruit : those which produce large 

 fruit, as the summer boncretien, Monsieur John, and Beurre 

 du Roy pears, and the Rennet Grise, Holland pippin, French 

 pippin, and other large apples, should have their branches 

 six or eight inches' distance at least; and for those of lesser 

 growth, four or five inches will be sufficient. But for farther 

 directions, see the article Pruning, where these particulars 

 arc sufficiently explained. Besides this sort of espalier, made 

 with ash-poles, there is another sort, that is by many people 

 preferred, which is framed with square timbers, cut to a proper 

 size, according to the strength thereof, or the expense the 

 owner is willing to go to. These, though more sightly, when 

 well fired and painted, are not more lasting than the former 

 tort, provided it be well made, and have upright poles of 



sufficient strength ; nor will they answer the purpose better, 

 though they are much more expensive. The greatest beauty 

 of an espalier consists in disposing the branches of the trees, 

 which, especially in summer, when the leaves abound, entirely 

 hide the frame. All expense, therefore, farther than what is 

 necessary to secure the branches in regular order, is needless. 

 Fruit-trees thus planted, and well managed, are much prefer- 

 able to those trained up in any other figure ; fust, because 

 they take up very little room in a garden, and are not injuri- 

 ous to the crops in the quarters ; secondly, because the fruit 

 is better tasted, the sun and air having free access to every 

 part of the tree, and all dampness is quickly dissipated; 

 thirdly, because the trees being kept low, and the brandies 

 fastened to the espalier, the fruit will not be so exposed, and 

 likely to be blown down by high winds. 



Ethulia; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Polygamiu 

 ^Equalis. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : common, many- 

 leaved, rounded, simple ; leaflets linear, nearly equal, spread- 

 ing. Corolla: compound, tubular ; corollets hermaphrodite, 

 uniform, distant by a space; proper funnel-form; border 

 five-cleft, upright. Stamina : filameuta five, very short, 

 capillary; antheree cylindric, tubular. Pistil: germen pris- 

 matic ; style filiform, length of the stamina ; stigmas two, re- 

 curved. Pericarp: none; calix unchanged. Seeds: solitary, 

 truncated, turbinate, five-cornered, five-furrowed ; down 

 none, but a little projecting margin. Receptacle: naked, 

 convex, excavated with points. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Receptacle: naked. Down: none. Most of the plants of 

 this genus being annual, must be propagated by seeds ; and 



coming from the East Indies, must be kept in the stove. 



The species are, 



1. Ethulia Conyzoides; Panicled Ethulia. Flower* pa- 

 nicled ; root annual ; stem herbaceous, the thickness of a 

 finger, four feet in height, upright, round, but angular at 

 top, pubescent, hollow; branches alternate, axillary, short, 

 somewhat erect; flowers small, containing above twentv 

 florets, of a pale blue colour. It is a large plant, remarkable 

 for the slender and distant tubes of the florets, and in putting 

 forth roots from the base of the stem, which is seldom the 

 case in annual plants. The leaves smell very sweet. It 

 flowers in July and August. Native of the East Indies. 



2. Ethulia Sparganophora. Flowers sessile, lateral; calix 

 subglobular, imbricate, with unequal scales, recurved, and 

 patulous at the tip ; receptacle flat, with raised dots on it ; 

 seeds small, uniform, ovate, narrower at bottom ; rhomb 

 compressed, with angles at the sides, and one on the back; 

 the rib white, but the interstices and the ventral plane of a 

 pale testaceous colour. Native of the East Indies. 



3. Ethulia Divaricata. Leaves linear, toothed, decurrent; 

 peduncles opposite to the leaves, one-flowered; stem divari- 

 cate. This is an annual plant, a hand in height; the stem 

 upright, corymbed, smooth at bottom, pubescent at top, and 

 branched ; the primary branches shorter, sharply quadrangu- 

 lar; calix subglobular, subsquurrose ; scales oblong, patulous, 

 or recurved at the lip ; florets difform ; those of the disk fun- 

 nel-sh|>ed, five-cleft, and rogynous, barren, fewer; in the 

 ray awl-shaped, without teeth : female fertile, very numerous; 

 receptacle Hat, large, hollow, doited. Observed !>y Koenig 

 in the fields of Malabar. 



4. Ethulia Tomtntosa. Undershrubby : leaves linear, quite 

 entire, tomcntose ; stems streaked, branched. The leaves are 

 alternate, sessile, lanceolate-linear, hoary, or very finely to- 

 mentose, like those of Lavender; calioes terminating, sessile, 

 loose, somewhat leafy. Native of China. 



5. Ethuiia Bidentis. Racemules directed one way; calices t 

 containing about five flowers ; leaves lanceolate, oppowt*. 



