176 



FRUITS. 



[chap. 



never saw it effected in my life. Monstrous must be the expense 

 and trouble to keep the net extended all round and held clear off 

 the tree at top, where the finest cherries always are. la short, 

 the net lies upon the top of the tree ; birds come and eat 

 the fine cherries there, and leave you the sour ones be- 

 neath. An espalier, on the contrary, is, with the aid of a few 

 long stakes, and a good net, protected as completely as if it were 

 within a hand-glass. Espaliers were always the great reliance of 

 our gardens until within the last sixty or seventy years. An ob- 

 jection is made to their formality, their stiffness of appearance ! 

 Alas ! the objection is to what is deemed the trouble, or labour ; 

 and Swift observes that labour is paiuy and that, in all his family, 

 from his great-grandmother to himself, nobody liked pain. This, 

 however, is a great error ; for, as in an infinite number of cases, 

 some of which occur to every man almost every day of his life, 

 pains-taking, at the first, produces ease and leisure in the sequel. 



261. STANDARD TREES.— After what I have said, I do 

 most anxiously hope that, if any gentleman ever should make a 

 garden after the plan that I am recommending, he never will 

 suffer it to be disfigured by the folly of a standard-tree, which, the 

 more vigorous its growth, the more mischievous that growth to the 

 garden. But, an orchard is another thing ; and especially if that 

 orchard be to be a pasture as well as an orchard. In this case, it 

 is necessary to keep the branches of the trees out of the reach of 

 cattle ; and they must have a clear trunk to a considerable height. 

 The usual way of going to work is this ; to purchase trees with a 

 clear trunk of the length which is desired : to plant the trees at 

 suitable distances, and to shorten the shoots of their heads at the 

 time of planting. A dreadful amputation of roots must take place. 

 It is impossible that there should be a due supply of sap for the 

 first summer at least : the bark becomes clung to the wood. The 

 shoots that come out the first summer are poor feeble twigs ; the 

 trees, if unpropped, are blown nearly out of the ground before the 

 summer is over ; therefore, a propping takes place ; sometimes 

 with one stake, hay-bands and cord ; sometimes with two : there 

 must be three, to keep the tree upright, so that here is a tripod 

 with a stump coming up in the middle. The tree gets something 

 in the head, and, at least, a parcel of leaves ; the wind works the 

 trunk about in spite of the bandages, and, nine times out of ten, a 

 breaking of the bark and the foundation of a canker takes place. 



