THE HARDY FEUIT GARDEN. 



163 



plete substitute for, beer in the Southern counties of 

 England. Brandy can also be distilled from Apples. 

 Bread has likewise been made of Apples, about 

 one -third of them added to two-thirds of flour 

 making a supporting and appetising loaf. When 

 the price of flour is very low, Apple bread is not 

 likely to be largely patronised ; but the fact of 

 A.pple bread being possible may well give additional 

 emphasis to the fact that Apples are sufficiently nu- 

 tritive to merit the designation of food. So soon as 

 public opinion grasps this fact, the consumption of 

 Apples will be indefinitely extended, and the area of 

 their cultivation proportionately augmented. 



Even now home production does not by any 

 means keep pace with consumption, and our Apple 

 bill with America and other foreign countries pro- 

 bably averages something like a million a year. Our 

 annual imports of Apples as such are annually in- 

 creasing, while large quantities are also imported 

 in. the form of dried Apples, chips, rings, jellies, 

 sweets, perfumes, &c. ; and it seems almost a reflec- 

 ^on on the energy and skill of British cultivators 

 that not a small proportion of our finest Apples are 

 received from America, though the Apple is not 

 indigenous to that country. Not a few of our 

 consumers prefer the Newton Pippin to the far- 

 famed Ribston, the best of all English Apples. 

 Like many good things, however, the latter has 

 several drawbacks, the worst of which is its prone- 

 ness or liability to canker, and its slow and rather 

 uncertain bearing in a young state. Its American 

 rival also far excels it in fertility and the durability 

 of individual trees. The latter, however, is now of 

 less moment, as by the modern and more expert 

 means of propagation and cultivation trees are 

 brought into bearing at two years old from the bud, 

 and can be readily increased to any extent. Hence 

 the length of life of individual trees is yearly be- 

 coming a matter of less moment. Though some of 

 the hardier wilding Apples may live in thriving 

 and fruitful conditions for a century or more. Apple- 

 trees having even been heard of three centuries old, 

 the average duration of individual trees would not 

 greatly exceed a quarter of a century, the cultivated 

 modern Apple-tree being by no means distinguished 

 by longevity. Fruitful trees are also so much more 

 easily and cheaply obtained, that so soon as the 

 trees pass their best, it is more profitable to remove 

 them and plant afresh, than to adopt any of the 

 possible, but somewhat tedious, processes of resusci- 

 tation. Few things are more unsightly or unprofit- 

 able than is the retention of Apples or other fruit- 

 trees in a state of exhaustion ; and one of the most 

 depressing sights in the South and West of England 

 is that of the many orchards and fruit gardens in a 

 condition of dilapidation. It is hoped that all this 



may speedily be changed, and either the old Apple 

 orchards and gardens may be replanted, or new ones 

 formed, and that every amateur, mechanic, and cot- 

 tage gardener may grow one or more Apple-trees. 

 The Apple might also often be substituted for 

 other and common trees in belts and hedges, thus 

 adding greatly to the beauty of the landscape, and 

 indefinitely increasing the home supply of this most 

 useful of all our hardy fruits. 



The hardiness of the Apple is one of its greatest 

 merits. Its constitution and power of endurance are 

 greatly influenced by culture and cHmate, and much 

 may be done to command success by a careful selec- 

 tion of varieties that experiences have proved to do 

 best in given localities. Writing in general terms, 

 the Apple also blooms later than either the Pear, 

 Plum, Peach, Apricot, or Cherry. Hence it has a 

 better chance of escaping the spring frosts ; and it 

 does. For example, the year 1884 was virtually 

 Plumless, and gave us a very scant supply of Pears, 

 while there was a good half-crop of Apples, and in 

 many districts a full one-. Greater immunity from 

 the disastrous effects of spring frosts will probably be 

 yet enjoyed as the raisers of new Apples develop 

 new races from such abnormally late-blooming 

 Apples as the Court Pendu Plat, which is dormant 

 as December while most Apples have set their fruit. 

 However, our present races of Apples are sufficiently 

 hardy to yield average crops over the greater part of 

 Great Britain and Ireland in ordinary seasons. Of 

 course the climate varies widely over such a wide 

 area, and many of the Apples that ripen well in the 

 open air in the southern and warmer portion of the 

 country, need the help of walls to perfect them in 

 the North of England and Scotland. Even- in 

 Devonshire, however, some of the finest Apples, 

 such as the Ribston Pippin, are fostered into larger 

 size and higher quality by the aid of walls ; and 

 no doubt not a few of our finer Apples, such as 

 the Ribston Pippin, Calville Blanche, the Melon, 

 Mother, Northern Spy, Allen's Everlasting, and 

 other Pippins, Pearmains, Scarlet and other Non- 

 pareils, and Cox's Orange Pippin, w^ell deserve a 

 wall in cool localities. Such and other of the finer 

 Apples would pay far better than many of the Pears 

 and Plums that occupy, to httle purpose or profit, so 

 much wall-space in climates unfavourable to them. 



PROPAGATION OF TSE APPLE. 

 The Apple m-ay be propagated in various ways, 

 viz., by seeds, cuttings, layers, suckers, buds, scions. 

 Practically, however, it is propagated by seeds and 

 scions — that is, by grafting. However, as several of 

 the other methods are practicable, and some of them 

 are largely employed to produce stocks on which to 



