70 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



sipid, although it may seem quite perfect as 

 regards external appearance. Consult vol. i., 

 chapter xvii., p. 210, for information on the 

 best methods of storing fruit. 



Propagation. — The Apple may be increased in 

 several ways, but different methods are adopted 

 for perpetuating the varieties, and to obtain 

 stocks upon which to place them. For the first- 

 named purpose by far the most important are 



Fig. 869.— Orr's storing trays for Apples, &c. 



budding and grafting, which are now very ex- 

 tensively employed, indeed it may be said 

 almost exclusively. Inarching is occasionally 

 resorted to, and cuttings still more rarely. To 

 obtain new varieties and free stocks for budding, 

 &c, seed-raising is the method, while for dwarf- 

 ing or Paradise stocks layering is the plan 

 followed. As all these are described in detail 

 in other chapters it will not be necessary to 

 refer to them further here except with regard to 

 seed- raising and grafting, which demand a few 

 words. 



Seeds selected from fruits that have been ob- 

 tained by special cross-fertilization, or which 

 have been chosen from the fruits of good 

 varieties with the object of raising new sorts, 

 are best sown in deep pots of light soil in a 

 frame or cool house. The seeds should be 

 sown soon after they are thoroughly ripe, and 



must be protected from mice, which are very 

 partial to them. Sow thinly and do not let the 

 young plants remain long enough in the pots 

 to become stunted. Crab seeds for stocks are 

 best sown out-of-doors, and the method adopted 

 in raising free stocks from the seeds of Apples 

 employed in the manufacture of cider can be 

 followed. In Normandy, where Apples are ex- 

 tensively cultivated, the pomace is taken and 

 rubbed between the hands in a vessel of water, 

 in order to separate the pulp from the pips. 

 After allowing some time for settling, a part of 

 the contents of the vessel is poured off so as to 

 get clear of the pomace and bad seeds, the pips 

 at the bottom being the only ones that should 

 be made use of. These are dried, and kept in 

 a dry place till they are sown. The sowing is 

 then performed as soon as the sharp frosts are 

 over, as the seeds do not long preserve their 

 germinative powers. 



The soil in the seed-bed is prepared by being 

 finely pulverized, and enriched with manure. 

 Drills are made 1 inch deep, and from 7 to 9 

 inches apart, and in these the seeds are de- 

 posited, then covered with fine soil, and after- 

 wards rolled, or pressed close with the back of 

 the spade. It is sometimes advisable to mulch 

 the surface, to prevent its becoming too dry. 

 When the plants are 1 or 2 inches high, they 

 are thinned in rainy weather; otherwise the 

 seed-beds should be watered, to settle the earth 

 about the roots of the plants left. In thinning, 

 care should be taken to leave the strongest 

 plants. The bed must be kept stirred and clear 

 of weeds. 



When a year old the plants are selected for 

 transplanting. Stout plants are preferred to 

 tall ones. In light soils transplanting takes 

 place in November, but in strong ones in Feb- 

 ruary or March. The plants are put in at from 

 20 to 24 inches apart, in rows distant from each 

 other 40 inches. In light soils the rows are 

 made to run east and west, but in cold soils 

 north and south, in order that the rays of the 

 noon-day sun may penetrate between them and 

 warm the ground. The stem is not shortened 

 in the same year in which transplantation takes 

 place, unless it is very tall and slender, and 

 then the third, or one-half at the utmost, is cut 

 off, but at the same time a sufficient number of 

 buds is left to produce plenty of leaves, for 

 these encourage the formation of roots. 



If it is intended to graft the trees standard- 

 high (though this is rarely practised now), the 

 upward growth of plants that are inclined to 

 grow straight should be encouraged, by pinch- 



