118 



state than one of maturity or decay. The crab-trees, 



which stand in cultivated grounds, generally grow 

 more freely and attain a larger stature than those in 

 the woods, and therefore appear to claim a preference. 

 The seeds should be taken from the fruit in the au- 

 tumn, and sown in beds of good mould an inch deep. 

 From these the plants should be removed in the fol- 

 lowing autumn to the nursery, and planted in rows of 

 three feet distance from each other, and eighteen 

 inches between each plant. Being here properly pro- 

 tected from cattle and hares, they may remain till 

 they become large enough to be planted out; the 

 ground being regularly worked and kept free from 

 weeds. {Knight on the Ajople, 50.) 



They will have attained a diameter of from half an 

 inch to an inch, the size fit for grafting, after having 

 from one to two or three years' growth, particularly 

 for dwarfs, or even for full and half-standards, if in- 

 tended to form the stem from the graft, which is an 

 eligible method for these trees ; but if the stock is to 

 form the stem, they will require three or four years' 

 growth to rise to a proper height ; seven feet for full, 

 and four or five for half-standards. 



The stocks thus raised from the seeds of the Crab 

 or Wilding apple are called free stocks^ and for full 

 standards are much to be preferred ; but for dwarfs, 

 half- standards, and wall-trees, the Paradise, or, as the 

 French term them, the Boucin stocks are preferable. 



