THE IMPERIAL FRUIT AND FORCING GARDENS. 425 



Bouse, or intermediate house, or any other warm structure 

 with a back walk and a horder against it, will plant in it 

 and train against the wall the two pretty subjects named 

 above, plant for plant, the result will prove strikingly 

 pretty. The plants are always glossy and full of flower, 

 may be kept at two feet or allowed to grow six feet high, 

 and are always free from insects or vermin of any 

 kind. They keep neatly to the wall with but little trouble, 

 and bloom all over the surface, top as well as bottom. 

 They are in this state very useful for cutting, and the effect, 

 when you enter the house, is of the most pleasing kind. 

 Their culture in this way is far more satisfactory than in pots, 

 and in almost every warm stove or forcing house in France 

 you see them trained against the back walls. The system 

 of forcing grapes and early vegetables in very small rough 

 frames is extensively practised here. 



The fruit growing department is undergoing a gradual 

 and complete alteration, especially as regards the choicer 

 Pears trained as espaliers. So satisfactory is the system 

 adopted, that I am certain if English cultivators gene- 

 rally could get an idea of its excellence it would lead to a 

 revolution in our fruit culture, and a great improvement in 

 the appearance of our gardens. I know of no way whereby 

 we may so highly improve the garden culture of the Pear 

 than by paying more attention to it as an espalier tree. This 

 is also the opinion of many of the best fruit growers in 

 Britain, who agree that there is no finer fruit than that 

 gathered from well-managed espalier trees. It is well 

 known that some pears lose quality by being grown against 

 walls. It is equally certain that a fuller degree of sun and 

 exposure than the shoots and fruit get on a pyramidal tree is 

 very desirable in many parts of this country, especially for 

 particular kinds. Many sorts grow beautifully as pyramids ; 

 others, to be had in perfection, must be grown upon walls ; 

 but by means of the improved espalier system the majority 

 of the finer kinds may be grown to the highest excellence. 

 If the French can teach us nothing else they can certainly 

 give us a lesson as to the improvement in appearance, 

 cheapness, and utility of the espalier mode of growing 



