Suggestions towards Improvement. 183 



that a mere line of trees, however trained, along a railway, will not 

 effect the improvement we require. Why not plant pyramid or 

 bush trees in such positions ? Why not the fig in the southern 

 counties ? By covering nearly all the surface of those sunny banks 

 — in many cases of excellent soil — there would be enough work to 

 do to make it necessary and profitable to have men in charge of 

 comparatively short lengths of the line, and these men would be 

 able to better protect the fruit. On the French railway in question 

 the fence of fruit trees is carried along, no matter what the soil or 

 situation. A more rational system would be to adopt the kind of 

 tree to the soil, and simply take the more desirable spots at first. 



To sura up the pages chiefly devoted to apple and pear culture, 

 I wish particularly to state that what we must do to improve the 

 stock of our pears, and especially our winter pears, is to pay far 

 more attention to walls and espaliers than we have hitherto done. 

 The cheap walls will prove a great benefit in places where rough 

 material is abundant in the soil ; they can be erected almost as 

 cheap as park fencing. The new mode of trellising will also tend 

 much to improve our choice fruit culture, not to speak of amend- 

 ment in appearances. The adoption of the wide temporary coping 

 will prove of greater benefit than many would suppose : it is more 

 efficient than the far more expensive and troublesome netting 

 coverings. And finally, to devote the fruit borders to fruit culture 

 will be a great advantage. The low cordons will no more shade the 

 wall than a crop of small salading, while preventing all necessity 

 for disturbing the border, and will utilize every inch of its space. 

 Indeed I can conceive of no greater improvement in our fruit 

 culture than devoting those excellent sunny borders that usually 

 lie at the foot of our fruit walls to fruit trees. By doing so we 

 should, it is true, sacrifice some of the more suitable spots for our 

 early vegetables, salads, &c., but we should gain much by settling 

 for ever the somewhat vexed question of the " cropping of fruit 

 borders." 



As before remarked, the form of fruit tree of all others best 

 adapted for this work is the low horizontal cordon. The use 



