GOOD TREES AND SHRUBS 251 



Bunyard, of Maidstone, writes: " We find that the Dart- 

 mouth and John Downie make admirable bushes on the 

 Paradise stock, and they require but little pruning when once 

 the trees are shaped, as the festoons of elegant fruit appear to 

 the best advantage on the two years' shoots. To take the 

 Siberian or Cherry Apple race first, we have the Scarlet 

 Siberian, which is the best known. This forms a pretty, open 

 tree, but is liable to mildew in the foliage, and thus looks 

 rather bare at times, but this enables the thickly-set fruit in 

 branches to appear to advantage, and very handsome they 

 look in the months of August and September. There is a new 

 kind of great beauty, wonderfully free in bearing, sent out by 

 Cheal & Sons under the name of Scarlet Crab. The fruit is 

 smaller than the Siberian, but very thickly set on the branches, 

 and the colour is intense and striking. The tree is more 

 upright than the Siberian, with ample foliage. We consider 

 it a great addition. The yellow Siberian has rather larger 

 fruit than the type, and, as a contrast, is well worth culture. 

 John Downie has more the growth of an apple, sturdy, with 

 ample foliage, and its fruit is oval and produced in festoons, 

 which give it a striking appearance. It is larger than the 

 Siberians, and of an intensely bright scarlet on the sunny side, 

 and orange on the shaded positions. As a decorative tree it 

 stands in the front rank, and its fruit is also useful for table 

 decorations and harvest festivals. 



"The Orange Crab, sent out by Saltmarsh of Chelmsford, is 

 a very pretty pale yellow fruit, larger than the Siberian, and 

 more like a cherry in shape. To come to the larger fruited kinds, 

 the Fairy Apple makes a splendid garden bush, and fruits very 

 freely on the Paradise stock ; its fruit is lemon-coloured with 

 pink flesh, and of a crab shape." Mr. Bunyard then alludes 

 to the beauty of the Mammoth and Montreal Crab and 

 Transcendent Crab from America, and the Old English trans- 

 parent Crab. "The most beautiful of all is the Hyslop or 

 Dartmouth Crab from America ; this gives plum-like fruit of a 

 mulberry crimson colour, and carries a rich bloom, so that it 

 is often taken for a plum. It is a splendid sort for decoration, 

 grows freely, and produces a heavy crop. The whole of these 

 are beautiful in flower in May, and their double claims of 

 flower and fruit commend them to all planters. But they 

 have a third virtue they make most delicious jellies and jams 

 when the seeds and carpels are removed, the best plan being 

 to squeeze the pulp through a cheese cloth. When slightly 

 sweetened they form a fine sweet sauce for game, and when 

 well sweetened a very much relished conserve, while in syrup 

 they are sweetmeats of the first class." 



