Kovembeb 22 , 1913 . 
THE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE. 
have consulted all friends and neighbours, 
we shall still probably plant some varieties 
which will not be a suocess, but we shall 
have reduced- the number of failures to a 
y minimum. There is always some mysterious 
-. . . ^ «»ne mwh iK-low our expectations;' x. 
is not always either the soil or the climate, 
for there is no doubt that with many varie- 
ones money lu Lxiut as a rule ot mucu use to us in this respect, ties, there are a number of strains which 
probably no one not even the most re- for they recommend all the varieties in- have arisen from what is knoaii as “bud 
ful man, avoids buying things sometames eluded, but rarely mention any unfavour. .. 
which turn out to be unsatisfactory. Even if able characteristics, of whicl * 
our judgment is perfect, and our nursery- eveiy variety grown possesses a 
men such us exactly what we ask for and no. There are one 
thing else, there is always the great uncer- we might bear ii 
CHOOSING APPLES FOR PLANTING. | 
It is so difficult in gardening to lay out after a couple of years. Catalogues are not 
ones money to the best advantage that as a rule of much use to us in this respect. 
„ variation." The most casual observer, ■wlicn 
which probalily visiting a largo fruit show, must have no- 
, sses at least one. ticed tne difference, often very consider, 
r two general principles able, in the appearan<*e of Blenheim 
a mind. If our situation Pippin, for instance, and if he has had 
tainty as to how our soil and general con- is more than ordinarily liable to late spring the opportunity of <»ating this same variety 
rear by year he ’ 
\'ariety is not alto^tber aWnt from any— 
the points of variation being so constant 
i-__ xv_. V ^ orten tell from 
ditions will suit the plants, trees, etc., frosts we should try to avoid those varie- from .several trees y 
which we buy. Choosing varieties of appl^ ties which flower early. There is fully a probably not have failed to notice similar 
is by no means one of the least difficult in week between the very early-flowering differences in the texture an<l flavour, even 
this respect, and no amount of advice can varieties, and the mid-season ones, and though tlie characteristic flavour of the 
altogether guarantee us agdnst mistakes, nearly another week l>etweon the latter and \'ariety is not altogetbc ’ 
Still, there are often certain well-defined those which flower very late, so that there the points of variatioi 
causes underlying one’s failures, and these is enough scope to make all the difference year by year that he ... 
may serve as warnings to intending between probably losing the crop through which tree, or from whose garden, a parti- 
planters. The form of tree to be planted frost and being fairly safe. The “Jour- cular fruit was gatliered. This is a subject 
must depend upon one’s circumstances, 
while the choosing of trees, of whatever 
form, is a general subject, and does not spe¬ 
cially relate to apples, so that neither of 
these subjects will be touched upon here. 
The exhibition table is one of the most 
common pitfalls for intending planters, 
and for others as well, for it is there that 
we are led to choose varieties solely on their 
appearance, without knowing anything of 
their hardiness, fertility, and other charac¬ 
teristics which will determine their success 
or otherwise under our conditions. The 
apple behaves most inexplicably in vari¬ 
ous soils and situations. I will not say it 
is capricious, for I am doubtful if any tree 
or plant is really that in the way we apply 
the word to individuals, though ,we often 
apply the term to plants when we do not 
understand the cause of their failure. Not 
only will the same variety of apple grow 
and fruit well in one place and badly in 
another not far off, but in the one case it 
may be a good dessert variety and in the 
other a very poor one. As an instance, 
that apple which some of us praise so much, 
Egremont Riissett or Petworth Nonpareil, 
was said by a writer in a gardening paper 
recently to be not worth eating with him. 
Assuming that we have a definite idea 
for what purpose we want apples—early, 
mid-season, late, dessert or cooking, etc. 
^the great desideratum is to find out what 
^rts are best adapted to our conditions. 
Market growers have been recommended to 
plant two or three trees of a number of 
varieties with the idea of finding out which 
uo best on their land, and then to plant 
their ground with trees of a few of the most 
promising of them, and no others. Most of 
Qs, both amateur and market growers. 
APPLE HITCHIN PIPPIN. 
An excellent dessert variety, somewhat similar to the King of the Pippins, 
plant too many sorts. In some of the famous especial 
apple-growing districts of the Western able to 
of the Royal Horticultural Society to which more attention is likely to be 
given in the future, and one which fruit 
growers cannot afford to ignore if they are 
going to compete successfully in the mar¬ 
kets of the world. Alger Petts. 
_jject. 
i, again, if the soil is a damp one, 
tlly if it is very fertile, this is favour, 
late v^etative growth, which means 
that fruit will keep on growing m the 
autumn instead of maturing, or “ finisb- 
lu seme pans oniy one, mat i«, eu » --li i fntal APPLE HITCHIN PIPPIN. 
^mmercial scale, apart from the needs of ing,” as fruit gr^ers call it. This is a dessert apple which not a f 
mter-pollination. to the late varieties, , . growers speak highly of and one which 1 
For the private grower, who wants to they ^dll only favourable frequently exhibited during the I 
plant a few trees only, it is often-difficult conditions m IJ summer of years. It is a free grower 
to find out which of the varieties that meet season. all re^ar cropper, and bears fruits which 
e a very close resemblance to those of 
his neighbours as t^ those which are the Sturmer Fip^ ^ and^^thoifeh^there pi^^* flavour it is superior to the older 
greatest success with them, and, if any of the end of^ at. tbo variety and keeps well. Where a siibsti- 
those tute Vs of ^ Pippin;: 
to plant them. There is often, however, time P'^ m Uh as to be worthless for and it is common knowledge this variety 
a .^iMiderable difference in soil conditions ‘ f Devonshire behaved simi- <ioos not please every fruit-grower—^then 
^ithin a couple of hundr^ yards. Most of fT On Hitchin Pippin may well hi cultivated. 
want to plant certain varieties, e.g., ^ nlant varieties which are sped- Our illustration shows a fruit exhibited 
Pox’s Or^ge Pippin, whether suitable or ^ not long since by Messrs. George Bunyard 
the^ cases we have to learn by ^ ^ used all the care and and Co., Maidstone, in a large basket of 
experience. I have seen healthy y^ng B"* "/ijl we are capable, and this variety. 
trees of this variety literally crack to pieces forethought 
