RATIONAL FRUIT CULTURE. 23 



well they should be hard-wooded and short-jointed; they 

 should, therefore, be transplanted once or twice to prevent 

 their making tap-roots. This necessitates raising the price. 

 But even then they will be cheap, as compared with others 

 which are nearly sure to be injured or killed by frost, because, 

 never having been moved, they have long, soft, sappy shoots. 

 Similarly in the case of fruit trees, the additional money which 

 must be paid for good specimens is not wasted. They begin 

 to bear much sooner than so-called cheap trees, carry heavier 

 crops, and give much less trouble. 



TREES BOUGHT AT SALE-ROOMS. 



Before passing from the question of price, it may be 

 advisable to say something about auctions. Fruit trees are 

 sent every year in enormous quantities to sale-rooms, and are 

 there generally sold at a lower rate than they can be bought 

 from a nursery. But, unless the buyer is an expert, the chance 

 of getting a bargain is not much greater than that of draw- 

 ing a prize in a lottery. The auctioneer accepts no responsi- 

 bility for the trees he offers. He could not do so, for they 

 come from different parts of the country, and often from 

 different countries. They may not be true to the names with 

 which they are labelled; they may be very poor specimens; 

 they may be, and often are, in deplorable condition, thoroughly 

 dried up as the result of their long journey. In any case, the 

 purchaser has no redress; he takes them entirely at his own 

 risk. The amateur had better, therefore, leave them alone. 

 If a nurseryman with a reputation to maintain buys them, 

 he is careful, before selling them again, to test them in his 

 grounds, necessarily adding to the price for so doing. Un- 

 fortunately, there are some firms that are less scrupulous, their 

 object in buying being merely to sell again immediately at 

 a profit. Hence the importance of dealing only with a firm 

 that can be trusted. 



