96 THE MANSE GARDEN. 



sufficiently ripened, soon shrivels, eats tough, and 

 does not acquire the genuine flavour. On the other 

 hand, where the fruit is in the best circumstances for 

 ripening, the wood seems to be in the worst ; for on 

 the wall the leaves are generally blighted, and the 

 fruit is in consequence destroyed. It is probable, 

 as this evil does not occur to the standard or espalier 

 Ribston, that it is prevented by the natural washing 

 and cooling of showers and dew. Hence the com- 

 bined advantages of the above exposure, by which 

 the leaves get all the rains of the orchard, and the 

 fruit more than the heat of the wall. 



Standard trees is a term which does not signify such 

 as come up to a certain pitch of excellence, as when 

 we say a standard book, but such as have one great 

 quality, namely the independence of standing on their 

 own legs, without requiring either to lean against a 

 wall or to have supports under their arms. We are 

 not here to enter on an orchard dissertation; for in 

 general the manse garden is too limited for any thing 

 so extensive as an orchard implies, and it is seldom 

 expedient to dispose of the glebe in that way. Never- 

 theless some observations on the cultivation of stand- 

 ard trees may be proper, as no garden ought to be 

 without them, and much more than is usually accom- 

 plished might be done with them, whether for the 

 purpose of ornament or shelter or household economy. 



Supposing that you plant considerably more trees 

 than your ground can at length accommodate, you 

 will have the benefit of their fruit for a few seasons; 

 and then there is no more difficulty in their safe 

 removal than in the transplanting of forest trees. 

 It will generally be found too, that there are some 



