THE HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



91 



very ornamental. H. ribifolia is the Currant-leaved 

 Heuchera ; the peculiar dark tone of its leaves makes 

 it a very useful "bedding and edging plant. Both 

 these grow freely in almost any soil, and can be 

 propagated by root-division. H. lucida has leaves 

 the size and shape of those of a Zonal Pelargonium, 

 velvet and olive, and is also a very useful plant to 

 cut from. It grows freely in good garden soil. M. 

 Menziesi is a graceful little North American plant, 

 with pretty flowers, hut does "best in a shady hog 

 bed. The most beautiful of all is the recently intro- 

 duced H. sanguinea, a native of Northern Mexico, 

 with graceful panicles of deep red hell-shaped flowers. 



Hypericum {St. John's Wort).— This genus 

 includes hardy biennials, hardy deciduous and ever- 

 green shrubs, and a large group of hardy herbaceous 

 perennials. "We have to deal with a few of the 

 latter. The common St. John's Wort is a well- 

 known plant. It is H. perforatum, and it has leaves 

 marked with red, blood-like spots, which, tradition 

 avers, always appear on the 29th of August, the day 

 on which St. John was beheaded; but the plant 

 derived its name from its being, according to ancient 

 custom, gathered with great ceremony on the eve 

 of St. John's Day, the 24th of June, to be hung up 

 in windows as a preservative against evil spirits, 

 phantoms, spectres, storms, and thunder. It is a 

 plant that will grow well under the shade of trees, 

 and is often used for covering the base of shrubberies 

 and plantations. H. balearicum has leaves spotted 

 with white, and yellow flowers. H. calycinum is the 

 Great St. John's Wort, and sometimes called the 

 Rose of Sharon ; it is a very showy, low-trailing 

 shrub, and though a native of Southern Europe, has 

 become quite naturalised in Britain. It grows freely 

 in any ordinary garden soil. H. Coris grows in 

 evergreen tufts, and produces bright yellow flowers 

 in loose panicles. H. nummular ium is a dwarf 

 creeping species, also with yellow flowers, and makes 

 an excellent rock plant. S. olympicum is very 

 pretty, bearing numerous bright yellow flowers, 

 which are produced in rapid succession for about 

 two months ; it is perfectly hardy, and a very showy 

 and attractive plant. M. patulum has slightly 

 drooping branches, terminating in clusters of large, 

 bright, golden-yellow blossoms. H. triflorum is 

 perhaps the best of the family, forming bushes two 

 to three feet high, composed of long, slender shoots, 

 terminating with large, bright, golden-yellow flowers, 

 whose weight causes the stems to gracefully droop 

 towards the ground. It is a native of Java, but its 

 thorough hardihood needs to be put to the test. H. 

 patulum is also known under the name of H. uralum. 



All the Hypericums are easily propagated by 

 division of the roots, and are most useful for clothing 

 vacant spaces. 



THE HAEDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



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



THE PEAR.— PRUNING AND TRAINING. 



THE general principles and practice of these are 

 much the same for Pears as for Apples, which 

 have been rather fully treated at pages 320 to 326, 

 Vol. II., and pages 14 to 22, Vol. III. Some of these 

 principles may have to be slightly modified or altered 

 when applied to Pears. For example, all that has 

 been written of the importance of the root-pruning 

 of Apples becomes still more imperative as applied 

 to Pears on their own roots. But it must be borne 

 in mind that no amount of root-pruning will make 

 Pear-roots as fibrous as those of Apples. 



In the case of double or multiple grafted trees 

 little or no root-pruning is needed. The foreign 

 cylinders, of differing diameters and varying degrees 

 of porosity or sap-conveying powers, introduced 

 between the roots and tops of the tree, check and 

 reduce the supplies of fluid and food, and starve the 

 tree into fertility. This was the theory of all the 

 old systems of ringing, by ligatures, excision of 

 sections of bark, burning with hot irons, &c. The 

 practices seemed barbarous, but being nevertheless 

 philosopbical, they resulted in fertility ; though it 

 was often purchased at the price of the health, or 

 even of the life, of the Pear or other fruit-tree 

 operated upon. 



Again, in the case of orchard trees or groups in 

 woods, or pleasure-grounds, or lines by the sides of 

 roads or walks, that are intended to grow into full 

 size and last for years in a fruitful condition, the 

 less pruning they are subjected to, either at root 

 or top, the better for their picturesque beauty, and 

 permanent health and fertility. If such trees could 

 be grown, worked, or planted as maidens, where 

 they were to stand permanently, it would be all the 

 better for them. Sterile soils and subsoils, sharp 

 stones, virtually impenetrable strata, not unfre- 

 quently prune or starve the plants into fertility far- 

 more effectually than the impatient methods of the 

 cultivator. The exigencies of space, the modern idea 

 of concentrating a maximum number of Pears into 

 the smallest possible area, and gathering them in 

 the least possible time from the bud or graft, render 

 much pruning and laborious training needful. But 

 with more time, wider areas, larger trees, nature can 

 do her work well without our aid, and in spite of our 

 hindrances. 



Top-pruning, and Training.— See Apples, 

 Vol. II., p. 320; Vol. III., pp. 14 and 22. The 

 idea of pruning the tops of Pears into fruitfulness 

 is still more hopeless than with Apples. It was tried 



