262 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



BEAUTIFUL CRAB-APPLES 



The Crabs are among the most picturesque and beautiful 

 of trees for the orchard garden and lawn, and there are many 

 kinds to select from : John Downie, brilliant, with crimson 

 fruits in autumn ; the Dartmouth, Siberian, and many others, 

 all shapely trees for the outskirts of the lawn. Mr. Bunyard 

 of Maidstone writes : " We find that the Dartmouth and John 

 Downie make admirable bushes on the Paradise stock, and 

 they require but little pruning when once the trees are 

 shaped, as the festoons of elegant fruit appear to the best 

 advantage on the two years' shoots. To take the Siberian or 

 Cherry Apple race first, we have the Scarlet Siberian, which 

 is the best known. This forms a pretty, open tree, but is 

 liable to mildew in the foliage, and thus looks rather bare at 

 times, but this enables the thickly-set fruit in branches to 

 appear to advantage, and very handsome they look in the 

 months of August and September. There is one of great 

 beauty, wonderfully free in bearing, sent out by Cheal & Sons 

 under the name of Scarlet Crab. The fruit is smaller than 

 the Siberian, but very thickly set on the branches, and the 

 colour is intense and striking. The tree is more upright than 

 the Siberian, with ample foliage. We consider it a great 

 addition. The yellow Siberian has rather larger fruit than 

 the type, and, as a contrast, is well worth culture. John 

 Downie has more the growth of an apple, sturdy, with ample 

 foliage, and its fruit is oval and produced in festoons, which 

 give it a striking appearance. It is larger than the Siberians, 

 and of an intensely bright scarlet on the sunny side, and 

 orange on the shaded positions. As a decorative tree it stands 

 in the front rank, and its fruit is also useful for table decora- 

 tions and harvest festivals. 



" The Orange Crab is a very pretty pale yellow fruit, larger 

 than the Siberian, and more like a cherry in shape. To come 

 to the larger fruited kinds, the Fairy Apple makes a splendid 

 garden bush, and fruits very freely on the Paradise stock ; its 

 fruit is lemon-coloured with pink flesh, and of a crab shape." 

 Mr. Bunyard then alludes to the beauty of the Mammoth and 

 Montreal Crab and Transcendent Crab from America, and 

 the old English transparent Crab. " The most beautiful of all 

 is the Hyslop or Dartmouth Crab from America ; this gives 

 plum-like fruit of a mulberry crimson colour, and carries a 

 rich bloom, so that it is often taken for a plum. It is a splendid 



