3S71. ] 
PROFITABLE FRUIT GARDENING. 
181 
analogous to tlie powdery substance on the feathers of some kinds of land birds. 
I first observed that powder among the feathers of a hawk while preparing it for 
stuffing ; and an Abyssinian traveller, I think Bruce, noticed a similar occurrence 
in the case of a large eagle which he had shot, and “ upon laying hold of which 
lie found his hands covered and tinged with yellow powder or dust. The feathers 
of the back also produced dust of the same colour as themselves. This powdery 
matter was not in small quantity, for upon striking the bird it flew off in great 
quantities.” What is the object of this provision of nature in both the animal 
and vegetable kingdom ? In the case of the eagle it was supposed to be intended 
as “ a defence against the climate in favour of birds which live in those almost 
inaccessible heights of a country doomed even in its lowest parts, during several 
months, to excessive rain.”—J. Wighton, Cossey Parle. 
PROFITABLE FRUIT GARDENING. 
S it has now become a fashion, observes Mr. Rivers, in one of his recent 
Fruit Catalogues , for persons with independent means to plant fruit trees, 
and to sell their produce, a few words of instruction may not be amiss to 
such as take pleasure in fruit culture, and yet wish to derive some profit 
from their gardens. The instructions offered are to this effect:—• 
Apples should be grafted on the English Paradise stock (the French Paradise 
stock forms pretty trees for small gardens), and cultivated either as bushes or 
pyramids. They should be planted four feet apart in rows, and the central 
space between the rows may be cropped with light crops, such as Onions, &c., 
for six, eight, or more years, till the trees meet. Their pruning should be of the 
simplest; from the middle to the end of June every young shoot should be 
shortened to half its length, and towards the end of August all the young shoots 
that have put forth since the June pruning should be shortened to three leaves. 
In winter a few autumnal shoots will still be found that require pruning, these 
should all be shortened to three or four buds ; and if the trees are ao-ed and a little 
crowded with shoots, they should be thinned with a sharp knife, and this will con¬ 
stitute the whole of the pruning for the year. If the soil be rich, the trees ma} r 
be planted six feet apart, or if planted four feet apart, every alternate tree 
may be removed and replanted in fresh soil at the end of ten or twelve } r ears. 
In all cases the soil should be solid, not dug, and if the trees bear too pro¬ 
fusely so as to exhaust themselves, some decomposed manure—about five bushels 
to twenty-five square yards—should be spread on the surface in winter and left 
there. Apples are the fruit of the people, almost a necessary of life. 
Cherries of the Duke and Morello tribe may be planted as bushes and 
pyramids, four feet apart, with advantage if grafted on the Mahaleb stock. The 
Heart and Bigarreau Cherries, unless double-grafted, do not do well as pyramids 
in gardens. 
Pears should be grafted or budded on the Quince stock, otherwise them 
