MUCH IH LITTLE. 
119 
periment recommends that, in June or July, a strong twine 
be wound several times around the tree or a single limb, 
and tied as tightly as possible to a strong stake. 
To produce extra large fruit, a fine, annealed wire may 
be wound tightly around a branch of a grape-vine or limb 
of a fruit-tree, a little below the fruit, which should be 
done after the fruit has set. This will make the fruit grow 
to an enormous size, while the limb swells out above the 
wire two years 5 growth in one. 
One of the devices of English gardeners to make fine 
fruit look still more ornamental is related as follows : 
“ Everybody knows that the ripening and coloring of fruit 
are due for the most part to light and heat, and that 
the roses upon an apple are influenced by the manner in 
which the sun strikes it. On looking on some fine wall 
fruit in a Kentish garden, the proprietor called our atten¬ 
tion to the manner in which he allowed his peaches to be 
partially covered by a leaf or two in places—namely, where 
he wished them to remain green, and thus heighten by con¬ 
trast the purple bloom on other portions of the fruit. 
There were many examples of a leaf being very sharply 
photographed upon the fruit, and the grower, by exercising 
a little care during the ripening season, thus enhanced the 
beauty of his fruit, and also its value, as in the case of 
the peach it is not only flavor, but its appearance, which 
governs the price at Covent Garden.” 
The size of apples and pears may be increased by mois¬ 
tening the surface of the green fruit with a solution of 
sulphate of iron, twenty-four grains being used to a pint 
of water. Three applications must be made : when the 
fruit is first set, when it is half grown, and lastly when 
it has attained three quarters of its size, but it should 
never be done when the sun is shining. 
It will be seen that these experiments are not suited 
to general cultivation, but only where a little choice fruit 
11 
