HOCKINGS' GARDEN MANUAL. 



67 



inducement to patient perseverance, it should be re- 

 membered that if the cultivator only obtains one really 

 valuable apple, adapted to the wants of the country, it 

 can be increased to thousands of trees of the identical 

 kind by budding and grafting ; that it may thus exist 

 to the end of time, extending the means of enjoyment 

 to many generations, and probably form the basis of 

 future experiments. 



The seeds should be sown as soon after they are ripe 

 as possible ; the soil should be rich and light, and the 

 situation damp, but well drained. Care is necessary to 

 protect them from mice and slugs. In the following 

 autumn they will be fit to plant out to stand for fruit : 

 and for this purpose may be planted in similar soil, in 

 rows eight feet apart each way. Williams, a successful 

 cultivator of the apple, says he has found that such 

 seedling apples as were allowed to retain their lateral or 

 side shoots from the ground upwards, but so disposed 

 that the foliage of the upper shoots may shade those 

 under them as little as possible, came into bearing in 

 one half the usual time required by those which were 

 pruned to a naked stem. 



Soil and Situation : The chief thing to avoid is a wet 

 bottom. The apple will adapt itself to a variety of 

 soils and situations, but there should be no water stand- 

 ing in the soil. A good loam two feet deep on a rocky, 

 gravelly, sandy, or chalk bottom, in an open situation, 

 would afford every prospect of success. 



Planting : The season for planting extends from the 

 beginning of May to the end of August ; early planting 

 to be preferred where practicable, and it should be done 

 in calm, damp, but not rainy weather. Nothing can be 

 more injurious to a tree than to have its roots exposed 

 in dry, windy weather. 



Deep planting is an evil much to be guarded against. 

 A good criterion is, to observe the depth the tree had 

 previously stood in the nursery; be careful that this 

 mark is at least three inches above the general surface 



