dlO 



HORTICULTU11E. 



Fruit 



uanlen. 



Apples. 



New 



apples. 



keep long. The Golden rennet, Iteinctte dort'e, is a 

 very good apple, ripening in the end of September, fit 

 either for the table or the kitchen, and keeping till Fe- 

 bruary. The Canadian rennet is called by the French 

 horticulturists Reinette de Trianon : it is a large fruit, 

 of a yellow colour, with a tinge of red : it keeps till 

 February. 



The Violet apple, Pomme violette, is a middling large 

 fruit, of a long shape ; pale green on one side, but 

 deep red next the sun ; flesh delicate, juice sugary, 

 with a slight flavour of the sweet or March violet. The 

 tree grows vigorously, and the fruit ripens in the end 

 of October. 



The Eve apple is originally from Ireland, but now 

 very generally cultivated in the west of Scotland. The 

 tree is nearly as ample a bearer as the Keswick codling; 

 and it is peculiarly well calculated for forming small 

 -standards, to be trained either hollow, or like a cylin- 

 der or a cone, the tree growing close and compact, and 

 the fruit-spurs being regularly distributed along every 

 part of the branches. The apple is of a fine colour, 

 and well tasted, fit either for table or kitchen use. It 

 keeps nearly four months. The tree produces fruit the 

 second year after being grafted; and, like the burknot, 

 it may be propagated by cuttings or by layers. 



Several excellent and well known garden apples are 

 not included in the list above given, in order to avoid 

 prolixity ; such as the summer and the winter Thorle ; 

 different varieties of Pearmain ; the Wine apple or 

 Queen; the red and the white Calville; Wheeler's Rus- 

 set ; Holland pippin ; the Strawberry apple ; the De- 

 vonshire Quarenden, the Crofton, and the Kerry pippin. 

 It cannot be too often inculcated, that the choice of varie- 

 ties of fruits, and especially of apples and pears, ultimate- 

 ly to be employed as standards and dwarf standards in 

 gardens, ought to depend very much on experience, 

 on observing which kinds succeed best in the particular 

 soil and situation in question. 



108. As formerly mentioned, several new apples 

 have of late been brought into notice. Of these, the 

 following have deservedly acquired a good character : 

 The Yellow Ingestrie pippin, the Downton pippin, and 

 the Wormsley pippin. 



The Yelloiv Ingeslrie pippin was raised a few years 

 ago by Mr Knight, from a flower of the orange pippin 

 dusted with the pollen of the golden pippin. It is si- 

 milar in form and colour to the latter, which it almost 

 rivals also in richness and flavour : it ripens in Octo- 

 ber, but does not keep. The tree is very productive. 



The Downton pippin, named from Mr Knight's seat, 

 had the same origin ; and also possesses very good qua- 

 lities in certain upland situations; but in the low grounds 

 about London it is not good. 



The Wormslty pippin is another of Mr Knight's ap- 

 ples, a very large fruit, and, in the consistence and 

 juiciness of its pulp, nearly resembling the Newton 

 pippin ; it ripens in the end of October, and keeps for 

 some time. 



The apple called Hughes's new golden pippin pos- 

 sesses the finest qualities; but we suspect it will be 

 found to be, not a new fruit, but a French apple, cul- 

 tivated in Normandy, and not unfrequently shipped 

 for this country at Charante. 



Some varieties are cultivated chiefly by way of cu- 

 riosity ; particularly the Fig-apple, which is remark- 

 able for producing no seeds, and indeed for having no 

 proper core ; it is said also to shew stamens and pistils 

 only, or to be destitute, or nearly so, of petals. The 

 Dwarf rennet is also deserving of notice; when graft- 



Fruit 

 (jarjen. 



cd on a paradise stock, the tree scarcely exceeds in si/e 

 a large plant of gillyflower. It is therefore sometimes 

 kept in pots and forced, and placed in a growing state 

 on the table. The fruit completely resembles the com- 

 mon French rennets. To these may be added, the 

 Pomme d' Api, or Apius's apple, a very small fruit, of 

 a yellowish colour, but bright red next the sun ; and 

 the Pomme de deux ans, or John apple, remarkable for 

 having apples and blossoms on the tree at the same 

 time. 



109. Apple trees intended for full standards are graft. Apple trees. 

 ed on free stocks, or crab stocks ; those for espalier rails 



or walls, on paradise and codlin stocks. A young graft- 

 ed apple tree should have three branches ; and, if in- 

 tended for a wall-tree or espalier, the centre branch 

 only is cut down, perhaps to a foot in length, to encou- 

 rage the setting out of a succession of branches. Tin- 

 fruit of the apple tree is produced on small side and ter- 

 minal spurs, or short spurs or curzons, from an inch to 

 more than two inches long, proceeding from branches 

 two, three, or four years old, the same wood continuing 

 fruitful for a number of years. The nonpareil, and 

 some other varieties, indeed, yield a few fruit from 

 shoots of the former year ; but this is not usual. Espa- 

 lier and wall trees are pruned twice in the season, in 

 summer and in winter. In May and June, foreright and 

 other superfluous shoots are taken out, a few being laid 

 in, to supply wood where wanted. Any time between 

 December and March a selection of these is made ; and 

 unfruitful, decayed, or cankered branches being cut 

 out, new branches are led along in their place. At the 

 same time, old rugged spurs, and useless snags, are ta- 

 ken clean off close by the trunk, applying any mild 

 ointment to the wound. On walls from nine to twelve 

 feet high, the fan-training is preferred ; but on walls ' 

 under nine feet, the horizontal method is often adopted. 

 About twenty-five feet are allowed to each tree. Stan- 

 dard apple-trees receive, and indeed require, but little 

 attention. The ground is dug over, lichens and mosses 

 on the trunks or branches are destroyed, dead branches 

 are cut out, and such as cross each other so as to rub 

 together. When a standard or a dwarf standard is hea- 

 vily loaded with fruit, several clefted or forked stakes are 

 stuck into the ground, and made to support the droop- 

 ing branches, which arc otherwise apt to break down. 

 Standards in gardens are placed generally thirty feet 

 apart ; espalier trees on dwarf stocks, fifteen feet apart ; 

 on free stocks, perhaps twenty-live feet. 



1 10. The apple tree grows and thrives on very various 

 soils. It equally dislikes a strong clayey and wet soil, 

 as one that is open, dry, and gravelly ; a deep rich cool 

 soil answers best. To lay down more particular rules 

 would be nugatory. It is a fact, that in each particu- 

 lar place, certain kinds of apples are observed to succeed 

 better than other kinds. When therefore the cultivator 

 has discovered the varieties most congenial to the soil 

 and situation, it will be his wisest plan to encourage 

 them, by multiplying grafts of them on his other and 

 less productive trees, or by forming new additional 

 trees of those successful sorts. Where the soil is shal- 

 low, and the subsoil bad, it is by following this plan on- 

 ly that large crops of apples can be regularly procured ; 

 the new wood of the grafts bearing for a few years, and 

 then giving place to other grafts. 



This may be illustrated, by instancing Dalkeith Park 

 garden near Edinburgh, belonging to the Duke of Buc- 

 cleuch. Formerly few or no apples were here produ- 

 ced, the soil being very shallow, and the subsoil perni- 

 cious. But his Grace's gardener Mr James Macdonald. 



