200 



HORTICULTURE. 



Espalier 

 trees. 



Fruit- they would otherwise draw from the border : but if the 

 ^ anle "' J border be tolerably rich, and be only slightly cropped 

 "" Y ~" ' with herbaceous plants, it does not seem likely that the 

 temporary trees can do much injury. 



82. In popular language, the term Espalier is some- 

 what equivocal : it means either rows of fruit-trees 

 planted like hedges, or the individual trees composing 

 the rows ; or lastly, it means the stakes or rails to which 

 the branches of the trees are tied. By using the terms 

 espalier-tree and espalier-raj'/, ambiguity may always 

 be avoided. Of late years, some have proposed to ba- 

 nish espalier-trees altogether, alleging that they injure 

 the kitchen-garden quarters, by depriving them of sun 

 and air. But in point of fact, they exist in the greater 

 number of kitchen-gardens, and are not likely soon 

 to be laid aside. If they are sometimes injurious by 

 depriving the plants of air, they are at other times 

 very useful, acting as a hedge in protecting the young 

 crops from the violence of strong winds. Espalier trees 

 generally produce excellent fruit, the sun and air ha- 

 ving access to both sides of the tree ; they common- 

 ly afford abundant crops, and the fruit is not apt to 

 be shaken by high winds. Further, they tend to hide 

 the crops of culinary vegetables from the eye, and to 

 render the walk of the kitchen garden as pleasant as 

 an avenue in the shrubbery. 



Apples and pears are the fruits best suited for es- 

 paliers. The apples are generally grafted on crab 

 stocks, to keep them of moderate size ; or, if the tree 

 be wished still smaller, on Dutch paradise stocks. The 

 distance allowed between the former is from 30 to 40 

 feet ; between the latter, 25 is found sufficient. These 

 may seem large spaces at first ; and, to take away 

 the naked appearance, a small cherry-tree, or white 

 currant bush, is sometimes planted in each interval. 

 It is to be studied that, in the same line of rail, trees of 

 similar growth be planted : so that the whole may be 

 nearly equally filled. The trees, when planted, should 

 be of one year's growth, or at most of two years. If the 

 rail be not previously erected, so that the branches can 

 be tied to it, a stake is necessary, to prevent wind- wa- 

 ving. Very often, the permanent rails are not put up 

 till the trees have been two or three years trained on 

 temporary stakes. Simple ash-poles firmly stuck in the 

 ground, and either charred or smeared with tar at the 

 bottom, to retard rotting, form a very efficient substi- 

 tute for a rail ; for it is to be observed, that during 

 ummer, when the leaves are expanded, they equal- 

 ly hide the roughest poles, or the most finished rail. 

 Mr Nicol, however, recommends sinking hewn stones 

 in the earth, and fixing a wooden rail in them : and 

 H writer, in the Scottish Horticultural Memoirs, vol. i. 

 has described a kind of cast iron espalier-rail, which of 

 course must be highly durable, and, what is remarka- 

 ble, is cheaper at the first than a wooden one. Some 

 gardeners shorten the head of the tree in the usual 

 way ; others preserve the original branches at full 

 length, never cutting a branch unless where there is a 

 real deficiency of wood for filling the rail. The prun- 

 ing is chiefly done by disbudding in the summer season. 

 The distance at which the branches are laid in depends 

 on the size of the fruit and leaves ; when these are 

 large, seven or eight inches are required; when small, 

 four or five may be sufficient. 



tan- * 3 ' Dwarf trees w ^re formerly much in vogue ; and, 

 strange as it may appear, the prospect of fruit was ge- 

 nerally sacrificed to a fine shape. It was thought ne- 

 cessary that the lower branches should spread horizon- 

 tally near the ground, and should decrease in width 

 upwards, so that the tree should have a conical form. 



Dwarf- 

 urils. 



Now, it is well known that the fruit-buds of pears and Fmit- 

 apples in general, and of many sorts of plums and Garden. 

 cherries, are produced at the end of the former year's *TT 

 shoots, which therefore should remain at full length ; jarik. ~* 

 yet these were necessarily shortened, in order to pre- 

 serve the desired shape, and it may easily be conceived 

 that trees so dressed could not prove fruitful. For 

 these reasons, the training to espalier- rails has generally 

 been preferred. A few dwarf trees, however, prove or- 

 namental, and they sometimes afford a great deal of 

 fruit. The kinds of dwarf fruit-trees now in request 

 are chiefly pears and apples. The pears must be of the 

 summer and autumn sorts, the later fruits requiring a 

 wall in our climate. Dwarf pears are chiefly budded 

 on quince stocks. The trees are planted out, at two or 

 three years old, where they are to remain, and they 

 are placed from 20 to 25 feet asunder. A few stakes 

 are driven into the ground, and, by means of tying 

 down, the lower branches may soon be made to acquire 

 a horizontal direction. No branches must cross each 

 other, and no central upright shoots are permitted. 

 The only other particular to be attended to is, when the 

 trees are to be trained in a concave form, that, in short- 

 ening the shoots, the uppermost eye or bud is to be 

 left outwards, as in this way the hollowness in the mid- 

 dle of the tree is better preserved. Sometimes the 

 branches are trained round a hoop, which is supported 

 by three or four small poles. Dwarf-standard apple 

 trees on paradise stocks may be planted very close- 

 ly, as they occupy but little room : they do not require 

 more than 10 or 15 feet; on crab stocks they need 

 at least 2.5. Plums are now seldom planted as dwarf- 

 standards ; cherries more frequently ; apricots scarcely 



ever. 



Preserving of Blossom. 



84. In this country, particularly on the east coast Preserving 

 and in the northern division of the island, it is an im- of blossom, 

 portant part of the gardcne_r's duty, to preserve the 

 blossoms of apricots, nectarines, peaches, and the finer 

 sorts of plums, from being destroyed by spring frosts, 

 and especially frosty winds. One of the means first 

 employed is still occasionally resorted to ; namely, sha- 

 ding the trees slightly with branches of spruce-fir, yew, 

 or beech : but the branches ought to be so firmly fixed 

 as not easily to be displaced by the winds, or to shake 

 much : if this precaution be neglected, they will be 

 ready to beat off the blossom which they are intended 

 to defend. Strong fronds of the common brake ( Pte- 

 ris aquilina) have been used with advantage in this 

 way ; being the remains of the former year's growth, 

 they are light and dry, and much less apt to injure the 

 blossom than branches of trees. 



The most effectual protection, however, is afforded 

 by canvas-screens, in moveable frames ; the fabric of 

 the canvas being made thin enough to admit light, and 

 yet affording sufficient shelter. The stuff called bunline, 

 of which ships flags are sometimes formed, is recom- 

 mended by Nicol ; and he adds, that it may be render- 

 ed more transparent, and more durable by being oiled. 

 The stuff called osnaburs, manufactured in the towns 

 of Dundee, Arbroath, and Montrose, answers equally 

 well, especially if made on purpose, of a wider texture, 

 so as to resemble gauze. These screens are kept clear 

 of the tree, a foot at top, and 1 8 inches at bottom. If, 

 when not in use, they may be stowed in a dry loft, they 

 last for many years. Sometimes the canvas is used in 

 the form of sheets to hoist up and down ; and in some 

 places (as at Dalmeny Park garden, one of the finest 

 in Britain) the contrivance is such, that the covering 



