CULTIVATION OF FRUIT 



WHOLESOME fruit is as pleasant to see in the garden as the 

 flowers scattered in the border. An Apple tree is a thing of 

 beauty in itself, its growth is picturesque, its flowers as ex- 

 quisite as those of the most treasured foreign Crab, grown for 

 beauty alone, and its leaves turn to crimsons, yellows, and browns 

 when the ruddy fruit still hangs on the bough. Of course in 

 the large garden the fruit department is the most important, 

 but when a small space is under consideration the owner must 

 fit in things in his own way. He may prefer more Straw- 

 berries than Apples, or Plums rather than Pears. It is wise 

 to have plenty of bush fruit, Currants, black, red, and white, 

 and Gooseberries, with Apple trees on the Paradise stock. 

 These rarely fail to give each year an abundance of produce, 

 and the man who has a small garden feels a bad season more 

 keenly than the one with broad acres, in which if one variety 

 fails another bears abundantly, and gain and loss are in a 

 measure equalised. 



Minute details have been given to assist the novice, and it is 

 surprising how little is known of fruit culture even by those 

 who have possessed good gardens half their life. Rudimentary 

 matters are as a sealed book, pruning is accomplished in such 

 a way that the fruit promise of another year is hacked off, and 

 then the tree is condemned as worthless. In the case of quite 

 small gardens, where perhaps half-a-dozen fruits alone can find 

 a place, a small selection has been given, and any variety from 

 that selection will not prove a failure. So much depends upon 

 individual tastes one wants a late Apple, another an early 

 one, and thus selections are given to meet as far as possible 

 various inclinations. 



The Apple. Probably the most generally cultivated, and certainly 

 the most useful, of hardy fruits is the Apple. The climate of the British 

 Isles agrees thoroughly with this splendid fruit, as proved by the speci- 

 mens annually seen at the Crystal Palace and other leading Exhibitions. 

 There is, however, one drawback to be noted, and that is late frosts 

 when the trees are in flower. All hardy fruit trees are, of course, liable 

 to suffer from the same cause, though the flowers of the Apple tree, 

 opening later than those of the Pear or Cherry, are less likely to suffer 



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