976 



Gardening for Amateurs 



and allowing free circulation of air about 

 the fruit. 



Fig. 7 shows the wrong way to store 

 Apples and Pears, the shelves and boxes 

 being lined with hay or straw. 

 



Apple. The Apple is chiefly grown as 

 a bush in gardens, and this is a form that 

 suits it well much better than the pyramid, 

 in which form the Pear is usually seen. 

 Bush Apples may be grown by the acre, if 

 desired, 9 or 10 feet from tree to tree in 

 the row, and the rows the same distance 

 apart. Bush Apple trees give the best 

 returns when on the English Paradise stock. 

 The trees do not attain quite so large a size, 



Apple Ribston Pippin, 



neither do they require so much pruning, as 

 others on the Crab stock, but they come 

 earlier into bearing, and as a rule the fruit 

 is of brighter colour. This form of training 

 favours economy also in several ways. No 

 steps or ladders are required for summer or 

 winter pruning, or for gathering the fruit ; 

 high winds do not seriously affect the trees, 

 and fewer windfall Apples result. 



Espalier. This is an excellent form of 

 training in many ways. It is economical, for 

 the trees occupy little space ; it is useful, 

 and even ornamental when the trees are 

 planted by the side of the kitchen garden 

 walks, as it screens the vegetable crops 

 from view. The trees trained in this form 

 are also useful for dividing plots in the 

 vegetable garden. The fruit from espaliers 

 is often larger and of better quality than 



that grown on bushes or standards, because 

 they are well exposed to light and air and 

 sunshine. 



Cordon. This is a form of training which 

 severely restricts the growth of the tree ; 

 generally confining it to a single stem. It is 

 especially well adapted for small gardens. 

 Those who wish to grow Apples for exhibi- 

 tion cannot do better than plant a few 

 cordon trees on a wall with a south-east, 

 south-west, or west aspect. For planting by 

 the side of walks in the kitchen garden 

 cordons are excellently adapted : in such 

 positions they should be 18 inches apart 

 and allowed to grow to a height of from 8 

 to 10 feet. Where the space available does 

 not admit of their 

 growing so high, 

 whether against a wall 

 or not, dwarfer cordons, 

 having two or three 

 stems, are planted. 

 The low, horizontal 

 trained single or double 

 cordon is popular in 

 some gardens, and is 

 usually planted on 

 either side of a walk. 

 The trees do not bear 

 so freely in this way, 

 but the fruit generally 

 is large and of good 

 quality. 



Pruning Apple 



Trees. It is not possible to lay down hard- 

 and-fast rules of pruning which are applic- 

 able to all kinds of fruit, and so it is 

 intended to deal with each separately. 

 In too many cases pruning is looked upon 

 as merely cutting back the shoots of 

 fruit trees. It is far more than that, 

 particularly in the early years of the life 

 of a tree, for upon intelligent and care- 

 ful pruning in the early stages depends to 

 a large extent the subsequent shape and 

 balance of the tree. Pruning also has a 

 considerable influence on fruitfulness. 



Bush Trees are favourites with amateurs, 

 and rightly so. They come more quickly 

 into bearing than standards, are easier to 

 manage in regard to gathering, pruning and 

 spraying, and may be planted in much less 

 space. The first year after budding or 



