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PY R 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



P YR 



the seeds should be preserved in dry sand, and kept out of 

 the reach of vermin; and mice and rat traps should be set, to 

 protect them from those destructive animals. In the spring, 

 when the plants begin to appear, they must be carefully 

 weeded, and, if the season should prove dry, it will be of 

 great service to water them two or three times a week ; and 

 during the summer they must be kept clean from weeds, 

 which, when suffered to grow, will soon overtop the plants, 

 and spoil their growth. If these thrive well, they will be fit 

 to transplant into the nursery in October following, at which 

 time the ground should be carefully digged, and cleansed 

 from the roots of all bad weeds ; then the stocks should be 

 planted in rows three feet asunder, and the plants one foot 

 distance in the rows, closing the earth pretty fast to their 

 roots; when the stocks are transplanted out of the seed-bed, 

 the first autumn after sowing they need not be headed; but 

 where they are inclined to shoot downward, the tap-root must 

 be shortened, in order to force out horizontal roots ; if the 

 ground be pretty good in which these stocks are planted, and 

 the weeds constantly cleared away, the stocks will make 

 great progress, so that those which are intended for dwarfs 

 may be grafted the spring twelve-months after they are 

 planted cut of the seed-bed; but those which are designed 

 for standards, will require two or three years' more growth 

 before they will be fit to graft, by which time they will be 

 upward of six feet high. The grafting should be performed 

 in Man li, either by whip or cleft-grafting, according to the 

 size of the stock. See Grafting. The stocks designed for 

 dwarfs must be grafted within six inches of the ground ; and 

 the standards may also be grafted low, one shoot from the 

 graft beina; trained up for a stem ; or on tall stocks, at the 

 height of five or six feet, but for low and half-standards, at 

 from two or three to four or five feet, and lower for dwarf 

 standard* . The other necessary directions for the cultiva- 

 tion of tl.ese trees, while they remain in the nursery, will 

 be found by referring to the article Nursery. The man- 

 manner of planting such of these trees as are designed for 

 espaliers : In the kitchen-garden, if there be an extent of 

 ground, it will be proper to plant, not only such sorts as are 

 for the use of the table, but also a quantity of trees to supply 

 the kitchen; but where the kitchen-gaiden is small, the latter 

 must be supplied from standard-trees, either from the orchard, 

 or wherever they are planted ; but as many of these kitchen 

 Apples are large, and hang late in the autumn upon the trees, 

 they will be much more exposed to the strong winds on 

 standard trees, than in espaliers. The distance proper for 

 these trees should not be less than thirty feet, for such sorts 

 as are of moderate growth, if upon Crab or free stocks ; but 

 the larger growing sorts should not be allowed less than 

 thirty-five or forty feet, which will be found full near enough, 

 if the ground be good, and the trees properly trained; for as 

 the branches of these trees should not be shortened, but 

 trained in their full length, so in a few years they wrll be 

 found to meet. Indeed, at the first planting, the distance 

 will appear so great to those persons who have not observed 

 the vigorous growth of these trees, that they will suppose 

 they never can 'extend their branches so far as to cover the 

 espalier ; but if those persons will but observe the growth of 

 standard trees of the same kinds, and see how wide their 

 branches are extended on every side, they may be soon con- 

 vinced, that as these espalier trees are allowed to spread but 

 on two sides, they will of course make more progress (as the 

 whole nourishment of the root will be employed in these side- 

 branches) than where there is a greater number of branches 

 on every side of the tree, which are to be supplied with the 

 same nourishment. The next thing to be observed, is to 



choose such sorts of fruit as grow nearly alike, to plant in the 

 same espalier. This is of great consequence, because of the 

 distance at which they are to be placed, otherwise those sorts 

 which make the longest shoots may be allowed less room to 

 spread than those of smaller growth : beside, when all the 

 trees in one espalier are nearly equal in growth, they will 

 have a better appearance than when some are tall and others 

 short. To avoid this, the different sorts of Apples are here 

 divided into three classes according to their growth. First 

 Class. Largest growing trees. 1. All the sorts of Pearmains. 

 2. Kentish Pippin. 3. Holland Pippin. 4. Monstrous Ren- 

 net. 5. Royal Russet. 6. Wheeler's Russet. 7. Pile's Rus- 

 set. 8. Nonpareil. 9. Violet Apple. Second Class. Middle 

 growing trees. 1. Margaret Apple. 2. Golden Rennet. 3. 

 Aromatic Pippin. 4. Embroidered Apple. 5. Rennet Grise. 

 6. White Rennet. 7. Codlin. Third Class. Smallest grow- 

 ing trees. 1. Quince Apple. 2. Transparent Apple. 3. 

 Golden Pippin. 4. Pornme d' Api. 5. Fenouillet. All these 

 are supposed to be grafted on the same sort of stocks. If 

 these Apples be grafted upon Crab-stocks in a good soil, 

 place the largest-growing trees forty feet asunder, the 

 middle-growing thirty-five feet, and the small-growing at 

 twenty-five feet. When planted at shorter distances, the 

 branches have almost joined in seven years' time, so that it is 

 better to place them at first at a proper distance, introducing 

 Dwarf Cherries, Currants, or other sorts of fruit, between, for 

 a few years, and cutting them away as fast as the branches 

 of the Apple-trees require more room. When the trees are 

 grafted upon the Dutch Dwarf-stock, the distance should be 

 for the larger-growing trees thirty feet, for those of middle 

 growth twenty-five, and the smallest twenty feet, which will 

 be found full neai where the trees thrive well. The next 

 thing is to choose the trees, which should not be more than 

 two years' growth from the graft, but those of one year should 

 be preferred ; you should also be careful that their stocks 

 are young, sound, and smooth, free from canker, and which 

 have not been cut down once or twice in the nursery; when 

 they are taken up, all the small ftbres should be entirely cut 

 off from their roots, for, if left on, they will moulder and 

 decay, and obstruct the new fibres, which would soon push 

 out in their growth. The extreme part of the root must also 

 be shortened, and all bruised roots cut off; and if there are 

 any misplaced roots which cross e-ach other, they also should 

 be cut away. As to the pruning of the head of these trees, 

 there need be nothing more done than to cut off any branches 

 which are so situated as that they cannot be trained to the 

 line of the espalier; in the planting, there must be care taken 

 not to place their roots too d<eep in the ground, especially if 

 the soil is moist, but rather raise them en a little hill, which 

 will be necessary to allow for the raising of the border after- 

 wards. The best season for planting these trees is at the 

 end of November; after they are planted, it will be proper 

 to place down a stake to each tree, to which the branches 

 should be fastened, to prevent the winds from shaking or 

 loosening their roots, which will destroy the young fibres ; 

 for when these trees are planted pretty early in autumn, they 

 will very soon push out a great number of new fibres, which 

 being very tender, are soon broken by the wind shaking the 

 trees, which is very injurious. If the winter should prove 

 severe, it will be proper to lay some rotten dung, tanner's 

 bark, or some other sort of mulch, about their roots, to pre- 

 vent the frost from penetrating the ground, which might kill 

 the tender fibres. This mulch should not be laid down 

 before the frost begins ; for if laid over the surface of the 

 ground about their roots, as is often done, soon after the trees 

 are planted, it will prevent the moisture entering the ground, 



