38o THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



do this if we bring the plants by rail. ? Unless the soil is very light I 

 should make the fence on a bank, because a turf bank is itself such a 

 good fence to begin with, and a free Holly hedge on a good bank, 

 with, perhaps, a Sloe here and there through it, is one of the prettiest 

 sights of the land, and forms the best of shelters for an orchard in our 

 country. Where shelter is much sought the hedge should not be 

 clipped, and is much handsomer free grown. The orchard fence should 

 not be cut in every year to a hard line, but Sloe, and May, and Sweet 

 Brier, and wild Rose left to bloom and berry, the hedge to be a shelter 

 as well as a fence, and not trimmed oftener than every ten years or so. 

 Then it should be cut down and woven together in the strong way 

 seen in parts of Kent on the hills. 



KINDS TO PLANT. The English fruit garden is often a museum 

 of varieties, many of them worthless and not even known to its owner. 

 This is wrong in the garden, and doubly so in the orchard, where the 

 fruit trees should be trees in stature and none of poor quality. Too 

 many varieties is partly the result of the seeking after new kinds in 

 the nurseries. In orchard culture we should be chary of planting any 

 new kind, and with the immense number of Apples grown in our own 

 country already, it is always possible to select kinds of enduring fame, 

 and it is the more necessary to do this now when good Apples are 

 coming from various countries, where people do not plant a collection 

 when they want a crop of a few first-rate kinds which they know will 

 be precious in the market. So we should in our orchards never plant 

 single trees, but always, if possible, having chosen a good kind, plant 

 enough to make it worth gathering. It would be better here not to 

 mention any particular kinds, because local kinds and local circum- 

 stances often deserve the first attention, and some local kinds of fruit 

 are among the best. When in doubt always end it by choosing 

 kinds of proved quality like Blenheim, Wellington, and Kentish 

 Filbasket to any novelties that may be offered. Any fruit requiring 

 the protection of walls or in the least tender should never be put in 

 the orchard. It is probable that some of the fruit trees of Northern 

 and Central Europe, and particularly Russia, would be well suited for 

 our climate, but as yet little is known of these except that they are 

 interesting and many of them distinct. The vigour of the tree should 

 be considered and its fertility. Kinds rarely fertile are not worth 

 having, always bearing in mind, however, that a good kind is often 

 spoiled by a bad stock or by conditions unsuited to it. 



The beauty of flower of certain varieties may well influence in 

 their choice. Once when talking with Mr. Ruskin of the beauty of 

 the fruit as compared with the flower of our northern fruit trees, he 

 said in reply to my praise of the fruit : " Give me the flower and spare 

 me the stomach-ache ! " 



