FRUIT ALLEY. 115 



that any should fail, as blanks where a row is de- 

 signed are never easily endured, it will be proper 

 to have a few spare plants, subjected, at the same 

 time, to the like operation, in order to fill up any 

 casual deficiency; or it may be better to have the 

 whole planted at first in some other part of the 

 garden, there to remain one year after grafting, 

 and then to complete the rows at once upon well 

 prepared ground. In this way there will be less 

 risk of blanks ; for though grafting be ever so care- 

 fully done, some, at least in dry soils and dry 

 seasons, will give way; but when you have trees 

 of your own lifting, it will be owing to mismanage- 

 ment alone if one in a hundred die by transplant- 

 ing. Supposing then, you have the paradise stocks, 

 whether by the walk sides or elsewhere, in readiness 

 for grafting, a great part of the interest in the 

 designed scheme is to be derived from your owu 

 handywork. In any of your rides, when you meet 

 with a good tree, whether remarkable for the abun- 

 dance or the flavour of its fruit, it is easy to procure 

 a few slips; and though you may not get the name, 

 you make sure of the quality, which is of more 

 consequence. Having grafted your trees, many 

 of them will bear the second or third year after 

 the operation; and it is astonishing how many 

 dozens of fine apples may be gathered from a little 

 thing not half the size of a gooseberry bush. After 

 bearing copiously for a few years, in the close order 

 of one to every yard, it may be necessary to take 

 out every alternate tree, giving room to those that 



