CULTIVATION OF FRUIT 



WHOLESOME fruit is as pleasant to see in the garden as the 

 flowers scattered in the border. An Apple tree is a thing of 

 beauty in itself, its growth is picturesque, its flowers as ex- 

 quisite as those of the most treasured foreign Crab, grown for 

 beauty alone, and its leaves turn to crimsons, yellows, and 

 browns when the ruddy fruit still hangs on the bough. Of 

 course in the large garden the fruit department is the most 

 important, but when a small space is under consideration the 

 owner must fit in things in his own way. He may prefer 

 more strawberries than Apples, or Plums rather than Pears. 

 It is wise to have plenty of bush fruit, Currants, black, red, 

 and white, and Gooseberries, with Apple trees on the Paradise 

 stock. These rarely fail to give each year an abundance of 

 produce, and the man who has a small garden feels a bad 

 season more keenly than the one with broad acres, in which 

 if one variety fails another bears abundantly, and gain and 

 loss are in a measure equalised. 



Minute details have been given to assist the novice, and 

 it is surprising how little is known of fruit culture even by 

 those who have possessed good gardens half their life. 

 Rudimentary matters are as a sealed book, priming is 

 accomplished in such a way that the fruit promise of 

 another year is hacked off, and then the tree is condemned 

 as worthless. In the case of quite small gardens, where 

 perhaps half a dozen fruits alone can find a place, a small 

 selection has been given, and any variety from that selection 

 will not prove a failure. So much depends upon individual 

 tastes one wants a late Apple, another an early one, and 

 thus selections are given to meet as far as possible various 

 inclinations. 



The Apple. Probably the most generally cultivated, and certainly 

 the most useful, of hardy fruits is the Apple. The climate of the 

 British Isles agrees thoroughly with this splendid fruit, as proved by 

 the specimens annually seen at the Royal Horticultural Society's and 

 other leading Exhibitions. There is, however, one drawback to be 



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