8 
THE HOME GARDEN, 
which may not, perhaps, be always practicable, but which 
is seldom seen even where it could be carried out. Apple- 
trees, at least, would be ornamental on almost any lawn, 
and, in the season of blossoms, those exquisite, pink-tinged 
petals, with their Eden-like fragrance, would compare favor¬ 
ably with the choicest productions of the flower-beds. Peo¬ 
ple are apt to think, in connection with fruit-trees in the 
garden, of thick, tangled branches hung with those in¬ 
visible webs with which one’s face comes into such sudden 
and unpleasant contact. But this is. not the idea at all. 
The French cordon system of fruit culture for gardens is 
both neat and ornamental and quite invaluable for unsight¬ 
ly walls. Dwarf fruit-trees, too, are all the fashion now. 
Is there no beauty in Pomona that we can call to our 
aid ? For why should we everlastingly apply to Flora for 
everything that is beautiful in the embellishment of our 
gardens ? Fruit-trees have flowers as well, and thus they 
offer us a double supply of beauty ; being beautiful when in 
flower and beautiful when in fruit—pleasing to the eye and 
to the taste, and ornamental as well as useful—doubly 
gratifying and doubly enjoyable. 
Plants with bright seed-vessels are always in demand 
for their ornamental qualities; but, after all, these only 
please the eye, instead of furnishing, like the fruit-trees, 
“entertainment for man and beast.” Red-cheeked apples, 
it is argued, are quite as decorative as red-berried shrubs; 
and the bird’s-eye cherry is scarcely more desirable when in 
flower than any other cherry, while the ripe fruit, preserves, 
etc., of the ordinary kind will cause the empty blossoms to 
“go up at full sail.” 
Many varieties of ornamental trees, besides the fruit¬ 
bearing kinds, may be dwarfed and trained on the cordon 
system. These can be obtained at all the large nurseries ; 
and a judicious selection would insure blossoms of one kind 
and another through the entire season. Such trees are not 
