100 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
March, 1917 
A surprising amount of ingenuity was 
expended in the past in order to get an 
adequate water supply and to distribute it; 
to have it placed so that it would not be seen, 
yet reached easily. For instance, I recall 
that in the fruit garden at Dalmeny, the seat 
of Lord Rosebery, a water pipe was placed on a 
projecting brick ledge, situated 4 inches 
below the surface of the ground. 
At 50 ft. intervals it was tapped 
so that the trees growing on the wall 
and in the garden could be readily 
watered. 
To-day with our overhead and 
other systems of irrigation we achieve 
much better distribution and fre- 
quently with marked advantages. 
There are decided advantages in 
having an adequate water supply 
which can be promptly applied. 
Thus two years ago when the tem- 
perature fell to 26 degrees for six 
hours on the night of May 26th, at 
a time when peaches were in blossom 
or had just bloomed, Mr. Dell T. itus, 
at Irondequoit, N. Y., was able to 
start the overhead irrigation system 
with which his orchard was equipped 
and leave it running until morning, 
with the result that the peach crop 
was saved! It is folly to neglect 
this one factor when trying to 
produce the highest type of fruit 
in a garden. A sprinkler system 
is thus a protection from both 
frost and drought. In addition the stor- 
age plant for the water may frequently 
be made into a source of enjoyment, especially 
if there is running water on the place. A 
small pond or reservoir is an ideal storage; it 
is of esthetic value; it enables one to grow 
water-loving plants and it encourages the 
birds. 
WALLS IN AMERICA 
In some American gardens walls are built 
for the specific purpose of grow- 
ing fruit thereon. In many other 
instances walls which necessarily 
exist, as the wall of a stable or 
some other building, can be uti- 
lized for the production of fruit. A 
brick or cement wall is not an 
essential, however, and if the aver- 
age unsightly board fence exists it 
can be used equally well. Indeed, 
people in suburban districts are 
losing their opportunities when 
they fail to make use of the usual 
board fence. Even where there are 
no walls or fences, trained fruit trees 
may be grown on a lattice work 
made of timber or wire, provided 
strong supports such as concrete 
posts are provided, although wooden 
posts will endure if properly cared for. 
For horizontal cordons which are 
trained at 18 inches from the ground, 
wooden posts are quite frequently 
used, but for the trees which go up 
to a greater height, whether upright 
cordons or espalier, and where 
there is apt to be considerable wind 
pressure, a permanent post is essential. 
In a country such as England, the reason 
for utilizing a wall is that the temperature 
near it is so much higher than it is in the open 
that plants grown on or close to it are forced. 
On the other hand the north wall is 
esteemed because upon it varieties which 
were relatively hardy and which fruited at 
the end of the season could be greatly delayed 
in the ripening of their fruit. 
These walls are usually built 10 to 12 feet 
high; frequently they are made of brick, al- 
though sometimes stone is used. With a 
view to breaking the monotony in some in- 
stances the north wall is built 14 feet high 
and the wall on the south side of the garden 
was surfaced because concrete was deemed to 
be better than the brick itself. 
It has been estimated that the temperature 
of a south wall is equivalent to that on the 
open plain seven degrees of latitude further 
south, viz., 600 miles.' In many places, however, 
in this country, this additional degree of heat 
during a hot day in late summer or early 
fall is a disadvantage. However, the 
country is large and there are also 
regions where the protection of a 
south wall might be used with ad- 
vantage. 
For most American conditions it 
is better to place a trellis of some 
kind against the wall as the walls 
themselves get extremely hot in 
summer. The trees are then tied to 
the rails of the wooden trellis or 
wires which should be made closer 
or wider according to the type of 
tree to be trained. 
In sections of the country where 
there is danger from the inroads of 
rabbits it will be well to arrange a 
ring or outer fence for the garden 
which should be placed anywhere 
from 30 to 60 feet from the wall. 
In some instances this may consist 
of a sunken fence or a hedge, but in 
such a case it is wise to provide a 
wire fence of such a nature that rab- 
bits and hares can be excluded. 
Fence made of dwarf apple trees on Paradise roots used as a landscape feature in 
the approach to the arbor 
THE LAYING OUT OF THE GARDEN 
might be but 10 feet. In some instances 
walls are built 16 feet high for the purpose of 
growing trees on them and in others where 
they are used for peaches, cherries, grapes, 
and figs, they may be but 6 feet high. Some- 
times screw eyes are built into the wall and 
through these wires are threaded, the trees 
being trained on the wire. This saves a certain 
amount of nailing. In other cases wooden 
strips are nailed to the wall and the trees 
fastened to the wooden strips. Sometimes 
A strip of land 10 to 20 feet from the wall 
(according to the size of the garden) is con- 
sidered as being utilized by the roots of the 
plants grown on the wall. This area is not 
cultivated too deeply. Usually a walk is 
made at this distance and in some cases it is 
bordered by either low espalier or horizontal 
cordon trees. Considerable attention was 
often given to the “ fitting” of the land in these 
borders, and at times they have been so 
enriched as to cause an enormous produc- 
tion of wood growth and very little 
fruit, and dwarf trees got the blame! 
It is needless to say that the gar- 
den should have adequate drain- 
age. 
In some instances the bulk of the 
garden may be filled up with dwarf 
standard or bush-form trees; in 
others, the body of the garden may 
be used for the production of small 
fruits or vegetables. A very effective 
display [can be made by planting 
espalier trees 4 feet back from the 
walk and using the space between 
the walk and the trees for flowers; or 
the garden may be laid out in more 
or less formal fashion in order that 
the maximum space is secured for 
the espaliers and cordons. Dwarf 
standards usually have a trunk from 
1 to z\ feet tall with more or less 
rounded heads and are developed 
with a minimum of effort. 
THE KINDS OF TREE SHAPES 
Espalier apples planted four feet from walk, and intervening space used for flowers 
a heavy coping is put on top of the wall so that 
a sheet may be hung from it to afford protec- 
tion to plants when they are in bloom and 
there is danger from frost. In other instances 
the coping is movable so that it can be taken 
off when not in use. The basement of the 
wall should be solidly built of concrete and in 
some instances in Europe even a brick wall 
It may be well to define some of 
these terms here: 
A Cordon is a dw^arf tree trained to a single 
spurred stem. The trunk may be vertical, 
oblique (frequently at an angle of about 75 
degrees from the ground), or horizontal. 
Horizontal cordons w’hen planted on each 
side of a walk are spoken of as cordon-rails. 
Such trees have practically but one dimen- 
sion — -length or height. 
