THE HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



367 



varieties as the Claret, Dusty Miller (Miller's Bur- 

 gundy), and the White and Black Cluster, may be 

 sufficiently ripened for wine-making in many warm 

 nooks and comers. 



The pot, or tub, culture of the Vine in the open 

 «ir is highly favourable to its fertiUty. All those 

 conditions already insisted on are more easily in- 

 sured within such areas than in the open ground 

 as in pots, or tubs, the roots are under complete 

 control. 



Among high-coloured-leaved varieties worthy of 

 growing for their foliage alone, the following are 

 aome of the best : — 



I Miller's Burgundy. 



Parsley-leavedMuscadine. 

 West St. Peters. 



to south-west wUl sufficiently ripen them for wine- 

 making throughout large districts. 



Alicante. 

 Barbaxossa. 

 Claret, 

 liady Downs. 



And many of the American species and varieties. 



For fruiting the following are the best varieties, 

 in addition to those already named for wine-making, 

 ■and the different varieties of Muscadine and Sweet- 

 water : — 



Black or Pcrple Grapes. 



filack or Grizzly Prontig 



nac. 



Black HamburglL. 

 Black July. 

 Black Prince. 

 Black Sweetwater. 



Cambridge Botanic Gar- 

 den. 



— ^erione. 

 Madresfield Court. 

 Purple Pontaineblean. 



White Grapes. 



Cbasselas Musque. 



Chasselas Vibert. 



Early Saumar Prontig- 



nac. 

 Early Smyrna. 

 Early White Malvasia. 



Prontignac. 



Scotch White Cluster. 



Stiliward's Sweetwater, 

 the best, the hardiest, 

 and freest-setting of all 

 the Sweetwaters. 



There are other varieties that have been ripened 

 successfully on warm walls, and among them the 

 Grizzly Frontignac, which seldom or never shanks 

 in the open air. 



Diseases and Insects. — ^With the single ex- 

 ception of mildew, and occasional cracking of the 

 berries after sudden and severe alternations from 

 drought to moisture, or fierce heat to cold, neither 

 insect nor diseases attack the Vine in the open air. 



During wet, cold springs, and agaia in the autumn, 

 mildew not seldom attacks the young shoots, and the 

 swelling berries ; and sulphur dustings overhead are 

 the only means of keeping this disease in check, 

 or effecting a cure. It is a curious fact that Grapes 

 in the open air seldom or never shank, and that the 

 natural enemy of the Vine under glass, the red 

 spider, or that scourge of the .Grape-vine on thle 

 .Continent, the Phylloxera, is never met with in the 

 open air in this country. It may also be added that 

 while south or south-east walls, or borders, are the 

 most favourable for the perfect ripening of Grapes 

 in our climate, nevertheless any aspect from east 



THE MEDLAR (Mespilua Germanica). 

 Medlar jelly is tolerably well known, and almost 

 universally appreciated, while the tree itself, and its 

 fruit on the dessert-table, are but seldom met with. 

 Clothed with a profusion of white flowers posted 

 near the points of the shoots in the early summer, 

 the tree is as striking and showy at a distance as a 

 wild Rose. The broad spread of leaves, habit, colour, 

 and form of the tree, and its rich autumnal tints, are 

 likewise unique and striking. The fruit, where 

 known and properly cultivated and eaten, is also 

 generally Uked ; and not a few, when once they 

 acquire the taste, become possessed of a passion for 

 Medlars, and eat them in season and out of season. 

 In the jeUy state, however. Medlars may always be 

 had, and many prefer it to the famous Guava 



jelly- 



The fruit should be gathered towards the end of 

 October or beginning of November, and before it is 

 severely frozen. It will then be quite hard, and 

 probably more or less green. Laid out on shelves in 

 a cool dry place, it will ripen, that is, "blet," or 

 partially decay, in a fortnight or so. When it be- 

 comes brown and soft it is fit to eat, or to convert 

 into jelly. Medlars may be kept from November to 

 February. For the latter very dry storage is need- 

 ful, and some recommend dipping the stalk of each 

 in brine before storing, as a means of checking or 

 preventing the development of white fungi, that 

 mostly originate near the stalk, and quickly overrun 

 the Medlar, to the destruction of its flavoiu', and the 

 rapid decomposition of the fruit. But the safer 

 plan is to eat as many as possible during the two or 

 three months Medlars may be kept in season, and 

 convert the surplus intojeUy within a month or so 

 of the time of gathering, and before the fruit have 

 been deteriorated by fungoid growth. 



Propagation. — Practically there are but two 

 easUy practicable modes of propagating Medlars. 

 These are by budding or grafting. Any of the 

 usual methods so frequently adverted to, or de- 

 scribed, will answer, budding with a dormant eye, 

 and the use of scions of moderate size, on two- 

 years-old wood being preferred. The Pear is pre- 

 ferred even to the wUd Medlar for a stock, the 

 Quince and White - thorn also answering well. 

 Cuttings of Medlars root so badly as to render that 

 mode of propagation virtually useless. Though the 

 Medlar seeds plentifully — each fruit, as a rule, pro- 

 ducing five seeds — most of them take two years to 

 vegetate ; and there is no advantage in raising 

 Medlars from seeds, especially as the wilding Pear, 



