HARDY FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDENS. 



129 



without Pears than any other of the fruits which I have placed 

 above them. I will, therefore, say a few words on each kind of 

 fruit in the order I have suggested. I do not intend to speak of 

 Peaches, Nectarines, or Apricots, which, though in a sense hardy 

 in the South of England, are to my mind far better grown in 

 an orchard-house,* if grown at all in a small garden, and the 

 wall-space they would otherwise occupy devoted to Pears and 

 Plums. 



Before, however, speaking of the different fruits individually, 

 let me enunciate what seems to me to be another general axiom 

 for deciding on the varieties of each kind to be grown. In my 

 opinion the very reverse holds good in small gardens to what 

 should obtain in growing fruit for market. Growers for market 

 should plant as few varieties of any kind of fruit (in reason) as 

 possible, in order that they may be able to place a large quantity 

 at a time of one variety upon the market, and so lessen expendi- 

 ture and labour, and get a better price too, than for com- 

 paratively little parcels of a number of different varieties. In 

 small gardens, however, where all that is grown is intended for 

 the one household's consumption, almost the exact opposite 

 (again in reason) should be the rule, in order that there may 

 always be a constant supply of each fruit in its season, and not 

 superabundance at one time and scarcity at another. It is 

 better, therefore, if needs be, to plant an inferior variety which 

 ripens earlier or later than one we already possess, than a 

 superior one which ripens at exactly the same time. Bearing 

 this, then, well in mind, and also that throughout this paper I 

 am speaking of a " small garden," and contemplating an ordi- 

 nary household with no special hobbies, likes or dislikes, we will 

 proceed to consider each kind of fruit in turn. 



1. Apples for Cooking. — In such a garden, i.e. from half an 

 acre to an acre and a half of combined kitchen garden and 

 orchard, there should be from five to eight Cooking Apples, some 

 as standards in the tiny orchard patch or elsewhere, and one or 

 two as bush-trees on or about the lawn, and allowed to grow 

 freely into a large head. Great care should be taken in selecting 

 the varieties, so that the whole Apple season from the middle of 

 September to the end of March may be duly covered. For the 



* For an article on " Orchard-house Trees " see R.H.S. Journal, 

 Vol. XV., p. 251. 



K 



