SELECTIONS OF KINDS. 



301 



dens at Airthrey, at 150 feet altitude, situated 

 at the base of the Ochil hills, have long been 

 noted for the size and excellence of their peaches 

 and pears ; indeed, those that we have seen of 

 the latter equal any we ever saw grown in the 

 vicinity of London ; while in gardens at the 

 same altitude, on the southern banks of the 

 Forth, with equal skill and attention, the same 

 results do not occur. Figs ripen against the 

 wall at Preston Hall, 412 feet above the level of 

 the sea, better than they do at Dalkeith or Mel- 

 ville Castle, only a quarter of that height. The 

 peach, the apricot, and many of our finer apples 

 and pears, ripen in some parts of Ross-shire 

 better than they do in many parts of North- 

 umberland, even at the same height above the 

 sea. The apricot ripens to perfection in many 

 places on the eastern coast of Scotland, at an 

 altitude where it is scarcely possible for them 

 even to exist on the western shores. 



Altitude, or elevation above the level of the 

 sea, is considered by most writers on climate, 

 &c, equivalent, as regards the warmth or coldness 

 of a locality, to receding whether north or south 

 from the line — 600 feet of altitude being thought 

 equal to a degree. These calculations, however 

 correct they may be as general principles, are 

 in reality of little importance to the British hor- 

 ticulturist. From the insular position of our 

 country, its hilly and diversified surface, as well 

 as its being situated between the parallels of 50° 

 and 58° 40' of north latitude, great and marked 

 inequalities of heat, cold, and moisture occur over 

 its surface, all of which operate powerfully on 

 the productions of his care. The geographical 

 position has more influence on the cultivation 

 of fruits, &c, than the difference in altitude 

 below that point at which fruits cease to ripen. 

 Cultivation has also a great effect on this : 

 drainage, shelter, and exposure, will elevate the 

 temperature, and. improve the climate in one 

 situation over that of another at the same alti- 

 tude, and render the soil capable of raising a 

 higher class of vegetable products, as well as 

 mitigate the effects of certain baneful atmo- 

 spheric influences. The geological series, also, 

 produces a very considerable influence, both 

 physical and chemical, upon the superincumbent 

 soil, irrespective of their exact altitude. Pro- 

 fessor Johnston, struck with this fact in travel- 

 ling through Wigtownshire, remarks, in " Letters 

 on Scottish Agriculture," that, in passing an 

 " imaginary line, the husbandry changes, the 

 soil seems more barren, the people more indo- 

 lent, and their methods more primitive. You 

 ask the reason, and you are told that the climate 

 is unfavourable to profitable culture. But if, 

 in the midst of this broad tract of country, a 

 patch of limestone, or trap, or old red sandstone 

 appear, all at once the difficulties appear to 

 vanish, and heaven and earth seem to conspire 

 in rewarding the diligent cultivator of the soil." 

 The same holds good in the cultivation of fruit 

 trees, which are so often found to prosper upon 

 such formations, while they linger out an unpro- 

 fitable existence 100 or 200 feet lower. The in- 

 fluence of elevation above the level of the sea is 

 little understood, nor has it been sufficiently 

 attended to. Sir Thomas Brisbane and Mr Gal- 

 VOL. II. 



braith, in " Edinburgh New Philosophical Jour- 

 nal," have calculated the decrease in temperature 

 to be 1° for every 212 feet of altitude — in latitude, 

 55°-57° ; and Mr Hewitt Watson, in " Magazine 

 of Natural History," vol. i. p. 444, raises it to 

 239 feet, between 53° and 59° ; admitting, at the 

 same time, that neither of these estimates are 

 worthy of implicit reliance. Others state the 

 decrease of temperature at 1° for 300 feet in 

 perpendicular elevation. With such uncertain 

 data regarding altitude, little advantage can be 

 taken in selecting a situation either for a garden 

 or orchard. We have, in vol. i. p. 20, spoken of 

 the advantages of rather elevated situations for 

 gardens in general; and, in addition to the 

 opinions there offered, we may add, that fruit- 

 tree gardens and orchards should never be estab- 

 lished in low-lying places, because they are of 

 all others the most subject to the baneful effects 

 of rimes and frosts. 



The primary object, therefore, to be kept in 

 view in the selection of fruits for any particular 

 locality, is to ascertain its climate and circum- 

 stances, to draw conclusions either from those 

 fruits which prosper in such places, or from those 

 nearest approaching thereto. Perfection is not 

 to be arrived at at first ; for, from what has been 

 briefly stated above, there are certain circum- 

 stances of which man remains as yet compara- 

 tively ignorant, which may lead to satisfactory 

 results, or the reverse. 



We have, in various instances, noted those 

 sorts not in general cultivation which are capable 

 of arriving at perfection in northern latitudes, 

 with a view to their being substituted for the 

 inferior sorts supposed alone fit for such locali- 

 ties. In good climates, good fruit, under any 

 ordinary management, may be expected. It is 

 in indifferent or bad climates that we wish to 

 see superior fruits introduced, to the exclusion 

 of the bad ones now grown, and to stimulate 

 growers in carrying out our views. 



"We hope to live to see the day," says a 

 sensible writer, in the " Cottage Gardener," No. 

 221, " when such pears as the Glout morceau, 

 Passe colmar, Ne plus meuris, and Beurre ranee, 

 will be offered in Covent Garden market during 

 the winter and spring months, in quantities as 

 great as the Lammas, Williams' Bon chretien, 

 and Bergamots, are during the early autumn. 

 There is no reason why this should not be so, 

 if commercial growers could only be brought to 

 see what their own interest is. The greatest 

 London market-gardeners have long found out 

 the value of such crops, and it is by them that 

 the market and fruiterers are mainly supplied ; 

 but the country orchardists are wholly ignorant 

 of, or perfectly easy on the subject." And we 

 as earnestly wish to see the day when our Scotch 

 markets and street venders' stalls shall be swept 

 of the veriest trash which is hawked about under 

 the name of apples and pears — when the Elshen- 

 halfts, the Pow Megs, and the Grey goodwives, 

 shall give place to the Dunmore, Louis bonne (of 

 Jersey), Urbaniste, &c. 



Next to judicious selection is the judicious 

 management of the trees themselves ; and 

 amongst the modern improvements in this de- 

 partment is that of keeping a proper balance 



2q 



