FRUITS. CHAP. 



272. HUCKLEBERRY. I do not recommend the 

 cultivation of this in a garden ; though two or three rod 

 of ground may very well be bestowed upon it. It grows 

 wild in the heaths of Surrey, Sussex and Kent, and in 

 many other parts of the kingdom, and is a very good fruit 

 for tarts, when mixed with currants, and by no means bad 

 to eat in its raw state. The benefit of cultivation would 

 doubtless make the fruit larger and of finer flavour. 



273. MEDLAR. A very poor thing, indeed, propa- 

 gated by grafting on pear stocks or crab stocks. It is 

 hardly worth notice, being, at best, only one degree 

 better than a rotten apple* 



274. MULBERRY. This tree is raised from cuttings 

 or from layers after the manner directed under those 

 heads. It is planted out like an apple or a pear tree. 

 It should not stand in the kitchen garden for it grows to 

 a great size, and should have grass beneath to receive 

 the falling fruit, which is never so good when gathered 

 from the tree. It is well known that silk- worms feed on 

 the mulberry leaf, especially on that of the white mul- 

 berry, which is cultivated for that purpose in France and 

 Italy, and which grows wild in America, bearing prodi- 

 giously. The other sort is the red mulberry, or purple, 

 as it ought to be called, and this is the only sort that is 

 common in England. 



275. MELON. As to the rearing of melons, that has 

 been fully treated of in the foregoing Chapter. The 

 sorts is all that we have to do with here. The following 

 6 the list of those cultivated in the King's gardens. 



