412 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



southern parts of England and the northern 

 provinces of France may be taken as the latitu- 

 dinal range. Exceptions, however, may be made 

 to this rule, in the case of the apples of Astra- 

 chan in Russia, and the Malo di Carlo from the 

 north of Italy. The transportation of the for- 

 mer south improves its condition, while the re- 

 moval of the latter northward has an opposite 

 tendency. The apples of Normandy, fine in 

 their own country, are deteriorated much when 

 transplanted even to England, and still more so 

 if carried into Scotland. 



A similar process of amelioration seems to 

 have been going on in America, where, as we 

 have observed, the apple does not appear to be 

 indigenous ; the change effected naturally has 

 been from seedlings raised either by accident or 

 design, from the earlier introduced sorts, and 

 also by importations from Europe. May not 

 the former circumstance in some degree account 

 for the supposed superiority of many of the 

 American apples 1 — and if so, may we not sup- 

 pose that the apple trees of America are, if thus 

 from a cultivated origin, of shorter duration as 

 to longevity than those of Europe, which have 

 at some period been raised from the tree in its 

 natural state 1 



Many of the varieties enumerated in the fol- 

 lowing list are as yet little known in Scotland, 

 and even in many parts of England they are 

 equally unknown, if we except the gardens of 

 the higher classes. These lists might have been 

 greatly extended, but we think the selections 

 made will be found of some advantage to those 

 who have gardens and orchards, and who may 

 not have made the subject of pomology a branch 

 of their study. 



The selections are also made with a view both 

 to insure quality and abundance of produce, as 

 well as to extend the season of perfection to as 

 great an extent as possible, and the variety is 

 sufficiently extensive to meet, we think, the 

 wants of most. America may be called the land 

 of the apple, as the Nethei'lands is of the pear ; 

 we have, therefore, selected a few from their 

 long catalogues of fruits, which we think likely 

 to suit the climate of Britain. Few of the finer 

 sorts of American apples have had a fair chance 

 in Britain. To assign a reason for this would 

 be difficult. We cannot lay it entirely to the 

 difference of climate. We may do so, to some 

 extent, to a want of knowing that many of their 

 varieties are far superior to many of our own, 

 and that they are produced under circumstances, 

 so far as climate is concerned, as adverse as that 

 of many parts of Britain. While the Pomme 

 de Neige, Straat, Gloria mundi, and other excel- 

 lent American apples, thrive so well with us, it 

 is surely worth making the experiment with 

 many others. 



Of the number of sorts cultivated prior to 

 the time of Parkinson we have no certain re- 

 cord, but that they were numerous is evident 

 from the following data. Parkinson enume- 

 rates no less than 59 sorts. Hartlib mentions 

 200, and was of opinion that 500 existed. Pea, 

 in his "Pomona," names 20 varieties, 16 of 

 which are not mentioned by Parkinson. Meager 

 gives a list of 83 as cultivated in the London 



nurseries in his day, of which 51 are not noticed 

 in the lists of Parkinson or Pea. Worledge gives 

 a list of 92, chiefly cider apples. But the most 

 complete enumerations are those of the London 

 Horticultural Society, extending to 1400 varie- 

 ties, and Mr Hogg's descriptive catalogue of 942 

 sorts, many of which are noticed for the first 

 time. 



Several attempts have been made to establish 

 a classification of apples founded on characters 

 at once permanent and well defined ; of these, 

 the systems propounded by Sickler, Christ, 

 Manger, Diel, and Dochnahl, particularly the 

 two latter, are the most perfect. Those in- 

 terested in this important department of pomo- 

 logy should consult Mr Hogg's work on " British 

 Pomology" from page 7 to 15, in which also will 

 be found an ingenious classification of British 

 apples, by himself. The three principal divisions 

 into which this author arranges this fruit are : 

 1st, Summer apples, " consisting of such as 

 cither ripen on the tree or shortly after being 

 gathered, and which generally do not last longer 

 than the beginning of October." 2d, Autumnal 

 apples, " including such as are in use from the 

 time of gathering to Christmas." 3d, Winter 

 apples, " including such as are in use during the 

 whole of the winter and spring." These are 

 again divided into sections founded on the form 

 of the fruit, and these again into sub-sections 

 founded upon their colour. 



This classification is not, however, considered 

 perfect by Mr Hogg himself, as we find by a 

 letter addressed by that enthusiastic pomologist 

 to the editor of the " Cottage Gardener." He 

 says, " It is not such a classification as I should 

 like to have introduced, but it is sufficient for 

 all ordinary purposes. I am engaged on a sys- 

 tem which will reduce apples to a more natural 

 arrangement; but as I have not been able to 

 bring the numerous varieties into their proper 

 positions as yet, I shall defer its publication 

 till a future time." In justice to Mr Hogg, we 

 ought to state that in his private grounds at 

 Werth, in Sussex, he has in cultivation a greater 

 collection of hardy fruits than has hitherto been 

 congregated in any other garden, or for a simi- 

 lar purpose. Those, therefore, who are engaged 

 in the science of pomology should put them- 

 selves in communication with him, as he is still 

 adding to his already extensive collection, and 

 informs us, in the letter above referred to, that 

 for the purpose of adding to his stock — which 

 he grows principally for the purpose of enabling 

 him to study their characters thoroughly pre- 

 viously to, we trust, giving the world the benefit 

 of his acute researches into every hardy fruit, 

 from the almond to the strawberry — he purposes 

 to exchange grafts with those adding to their col- 

 lections, and to supply those who may not be in 

 a position to exchange grafts at a small cost. 



Size of the apple tree. — The apple tree seldom, 

 in this country, attains a large size, although in 

 some localities it attains a considerable age. The 

 case is otherwise in America, as Downing men- 

 tions two of enormous dimensions, which, ten 

 years before he wrote, were 1 30 years old, and 

 one of these, at 1 foot from the ground, measured 

 13 feet 2 inches in circumference of trunk, the 



