22 RATIONAL FRUIT CULTURE. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE PURCHASE OF TREES AND PREPARATION 

 OF THE GROUND. 



NOW that we know the conditions under which fruit is 

 formed, we are in a position to choose the best varie- 

 ties — those most suitable for our purpose — and to pre- 

 pare for the planting of them. As we have seen, they should 

 be self-fertile varieties, or, if more or less self-sterile, should 

 be associated with others capable of fertilising them; they 

 should preferably be dwarf bushes; they should be well-grafted 

 and well-grown; they should be provided with plenty of fine 

 fibrous roots; they should be obtained from a trustworthy firm, 

 and a fair price should be paid for them. 



THE PRICE OF I^HUIT TREES. 



The matter of price is important. If it is very low, it 

 means that the trees are young — probably "maidens," that 

 is, only one year grafted — in which case three or four years 

 at least must elapse before they bear a crop; or that very little 

 labour has been spent on them, with the result that they are 

 badly grown, and, in consequence of not having been lifted, 

 badly rooted. Whether a plant, not a very new or rare one, 

 is raised from se/d or by grafting, budding, layering, or cut- 

 ting, the initial cost is, as a rule, the merest trifle; it is mainly 

 the labour spent on its cultivation that regulates the price. 

 Tf the labour has been small — if, in other words, tiie plants 

 have been neglected — they can be sold for very little, and 

 almost certainly will be worth very little. We may take 

 Wallflowers, as an instance. If they are to stand the winter 



