THE HAEDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



249 



bright scarlet, and very showy. It blooms during 

 the summer months. Chiloe. 



Mutisia. — A singular genus of climbing Compo- 

 sites, which are very ornamental when trained upon 

 a pillar and well gTown ; otherwise they do not make 

 a favourable impression. Mutisias require a cool 

 part of the green-house, and indeed so little requii-e 

 heat that we believe they will be found hardy in some 

 sheltered positions in 

 the West of England, 

 but are well deserving 

 the attention of aU 

 lovers of plants, as or- 

 naments to the green- 

 house and conserva- 

 tory. They should be 

 potted in rough peat 

 and light loam, in about 

 equal parts, with a small 

 portion of sand added. 

 If these simple require- 

 ments are attended to, 

 and the necessity for a 

 rather cool air be borne 

 in mind, they require 

 very little attention ex- 

 cept as noted below. 



21. decurrens. — This 

 species attains a 

 height of six to eight 

 feet ; the stems are 

 not mu-ch branched, 

 and it, therefore, 

 should be frequently 

 stopped at the points 

 to induce the growth 

 of lateral. Leaves 

 entire, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, decurrent ; they 

 are deep green above, 

 slightly glaucous be- 

 neath, and furnished 

 at the ends with a long tendi'il, by which they attach 

 themselves to surrounding objects. Flowers pro- 

 duced singly from the axils of the leaves, measuring 

 upwards of four inches in diameter, and rich deep 

 orange in colour. Summer months. Chilian Andes. 



M. ilicifolia. — Like the preceding, the leaves of this 

 plant are entire, and furnished with a long tendril, 

 by means of which they support themselves. They 

 are sessile and sometimes decurrent, deep green on the 

 upper side, tomentose beneath, and furnished with 

 spines on the edges : flowers produced singly from the 

 axils of the leaves, about thi-ee inches in diameter ; 

 soft pink. Summer and autumn months. Chili. 



THE HAEDY FEUIT GARDEN. 



By D, T. Fish, assisted by William Caemichael. 



APPLES.— PLANTING. 



IN so far as planting is affected by sites, soil, sorts, 

 it has already been treated with considerable 

 fulness. But such \ital factors to success as pre- 

 paration of the soil, time and distance to plant, and 

 methods of planting, will form the subject of this 

 chapter, and sufficient 

 wiU be found ia them 

 to explain the causes 

 of many orchards not 

 thriving as had been 

 hoped and expected. 



Preparation of 

 the Soil.— The im- 

 portance of drainage 

 has already been 

 pointed out. Apples 

 cannot thrive with 

 their roots in sour soil 

 or water, but the oppo- 

 site extreme of exces- 

 sive drought must also 

 be guarded against, 

 and the Apple, as a 

 rule, will not be found 

 to thrive for long 

 together, nor reach to 

 the stability of a per- 

 manent crop, in locali- 

 ties where the rainfall 

 fails to reach twenty- 

 five iaches in the year. 

 The farther south Ap- 

 ple-cultivation travels, 

 the greater the risk of 

 injury from drought; 

 the farther north, the 

 greater the danger 

 from excess of water. 

 It is most important to bear this in miud in the 

 choice of a site and the preparation of the ground for 

 Apple-culture. Apples might perish from drought 

 on the summit of rising ground in the South, while 

 finding sufiicient moisture half-way down, or in the 

 trough of the valley. AYhereas in the North, where 

 the rainfall may be double, the same site would 

 drown the trees, and the highest available point 

 could not prove too dry for them. Hence the 

 importance of regulating the character and extent 

 of drainage by the rainfall of the locality as well as 

 the qualitj^ of the land to be drained. 



Having selected a site for the Apple garden, 



