nonpareil, old golden plppin, Newton pippin, Wheeler's russet, nonpareil russet, Gibb's pippin, court of Wick, Lemon greening of very good quality, Cooper's russet, Sykehouse russet, American seek no further, golden Harvey.

Winter and Spring Kitchen Apples. French crab, Norfolk beaufin, Norfolk Paradise, paywell, winter queen, winter greening, Yorkshire greening, royal russet, beauty of Kent, white Leadington, Fullwood's apple, lemon pippin, skinless pippin, marmalade pippin, winter pearmain. Cider Apples. Redstreak Somerset, redstreak Devon, redstreak late white Parson's, coccagee, Dufflin, woodcock, Styre, Downton, Solebury cider apple, Kingston black, Somerset sweeting.

Summer Table Pears. Citron des carmes, jargonelle, summer bon chrétien, early bergamot, Julien archiduc d'été, green chisel, Lammas.

Summer baking and preserve Pears. Windsor, Edelcrantz, swan's throat, Crawford, lemon.

Autumn Table Pears. Gansel's bergamot, Cresanne, brown

beurre, Marie Louise, Napoleon, beurré Spence, sans pippin, poire Ánana.

Autumn preserve and baking Pears. Chaumontelle, reine de poire, Scotch Cornuck, black achan, El-inghaft, Aston-town. Winter and Spring Table Pedra. St. Germain, beurré d'hiver, poire Braddick d'hiver, poire d'Auch, bon chrétien d'hiver, bergamote d'hiver, Venus d'hiver, beurré rance, winter verte longue, bergamote de Pâque, Van Mons, présent de Malines, bon Malinoise, Dillen.

Winter and Spring baking and preserve Pears. Cadillac, black pear of Worcester, "Uvedales St. Germain, orange d'hiver, rousselet gros, merveille.

Perry Pears. Aston-town, achan red, achan green, swan's egg, Windsor, grey beurré, orange bergamot.

Cherries. Couronne, black heart, black eagle, Elton, bigereau, white heart.

Plums. Orleans, green gage, winesour, Cooper's large red, bonum magnum, Coe's golden drop.

4098. Ronalds of Brentford, who is perhaps better acquainted with English apples than any other individual, recommends the following sorts:

Summer Table Apples. Hicks's fancy, Bell's fine scarlet, red Quarenden, peach apple, la fameuse, summer oslin, summer golden pippin, Duchess of Oldenburgh, Kerry pippin.

Summer baking Apples. Nonesuch, Spring grove, Manks codlin, Hawthornden, fine striped General Arabin, Wormsley pippin, Carlisle codlin, early Julian, early spice apple.

Autumn Table Apples. Margil, Downton pippin, Keddle. stone pippin, Franklin's golden pippin, Delaware, aromatic russet, summer nonpareil, grange apple.

Autumn baking Apples. Hollandbury, beauty of Kent, Salopian apple, golden burr, Russian apple, Emperor Alexander, Carlisle codlin, Gravenstein, yellow bow (American).

Winter Table Apples. Nonpareil, Morris's russet, Bringwood pippin, King George, Sykehouse, Court Wyke pippín, Christie's

pippin, brandy apple, Robinson's pippin, new scarlet nonpareil, Fern's pippin, Pedley's pippin, Crofton pippin, nutmeg cockle pippin, Wykin pippin, russet pearmain, Parry's pearmain, new green nonpareil, new golden pippin, tulip apple, court pendu plat rubra, golden Worcester, Dredge's golden pippin.

Winter baking Apples. Large russet, transparent, golden russet, French crab, Minshull crab, Norfolk paradise, French pippin, London pippin, new scarlet pearmain, Kirk's fame, Duke of Wellington, Yorkshire greening, Rymer, Deeping pippin, pound apple (American).

Cider Apples. Bitter sweet, Siberian Hervey, Foxley apple, coccagee, Pyrus (unique, Tartarian crab), Siberian bitter sweet crab, transparent crab, Deeping pippin, Downton pippin, Brentford crab, Girdler's large striped.

4099. Pearson of Chilwell recommends the following apples as very select: —

Manks codlin, American summering, and Hawthornden. For middle Season, Greenup's pippin, malster, and Barton free-bearer. For long Keeping, Caldwell, Normanton wonder, and northern greening. All the foregoing will do well as dwarfs on Paradise stocks. (Gard. Mag. vol. vi.)

For early Dessert, the Egglestone summering, Waterloo pippin, and Perfect's juneating. For middle Season, the Burgin, Lord Lennox, Pike's pearmain, and Blenheim orange. For late Keeping, Wollaton pippin, Bess Pool, Keddlestone pippin, and Hartford's russet. For Kitchen Use, carly, the 4100. The cultivation of the plum appears to us deserving of more encouragement than it generally meets with. Not only does the fruit make excellent pies and tarts, but it may be kept in large quantities, so as to be ready for that purpose at any period of the year. They also make a sort of wine, and with other fruits and ingredients form one of the best substitutes for port. The damson, bullace, and some other varieties, will grow and bear very high-flavoured fruit in hedges where the soil is dry below and not too thin. The fruit of the sloe is, for wine-making, superior to that of the plum, and nearly as good for tarts.

4101. The cherry is of more limited culture than any of the foregoing fruits; because chiefly used for eating, and not being of a nature to keep. Near large towns they may be cultivated to a certain extent. In Kent and Hertfordshire are the cherry orchards which afford the chief supplies for the London market. The sorts are chiefly the caroon, small black or Kentish, the May-duke, and the morello; but Holman's duke, the black heart, and the large gean, will do well in orchards.

4102. The walnut and Spanish chestnut may be advantageously planted on the outskirts of orchards to shelter them, and a few of them in hedge-rows where the climate is likely to ripen their fruit. The chestnut can hardly be considered as ripening north of London, or the walnut north of Newcastle. Both trees, however, may be planted for their timber in moderately sheltered situations, in most parts of the British Isles.

4103. The elder is not beneath notice as an orchard tree. It need seldom be planted as a standard; but in unpruned hedges on a soft, deep, and rather rich soil, it yields great quantities of fruit, which is readily manufactured into a sort of wine esteemed by many persons when warmed, and forms a comfortable evening draught for the cottager. No tree requires less care: it propagates readily by cuttings or seeds, and requires little or no pruning; but, though it will grow in any soil whatever, it will produce no fruit worth mentioning on any but one tolerably deep and rich, and must be cut down when it begins to show indications of age.

4104. The filbert, currant, gooseberry, raspberry, and some other fruits, are cultivated extensively near large towns; but the treatment they require renders them in our opinion unfit for farm orchards.

4105. In choosing trees for orchards, standards, sufficiently tall to admit of horses and cattle grazing under them, should always be preferred. Maiden plants, or such as are only two years from the bud or graft, are the most certain of success; the apples being worked on crab, the pears on wilding, and the cherries on gean stocks. The common baking plums need not be grafted at all, but the better sorts should either be grafted or budded on damson stems. Where budded or grafted chestnuts and walnuts can be got, they should always be preferred as coming much sooner into bearing. The former may

be had from the Devonshire nurseries, and some public gardeners about London are now attempting to inarch and bud the walnut.

4106. With respect to the distance at which orchard trees may be planted, every thing will depend on the use which is intended to be made of the ground. Where the soil is

to be pastured or dug, they may be planted in quincunx and close: but where it is to be ploughed, they should either be planted in rows with sufficient space between for one broad ridge, or two ordinary ones; or they should be planted in squares to admit of ploughing both east and west, and north and south.

4107. The Herefordshire orchardists recommend that the rows should extend from north to south, as in that direction each part of every tree will receive the most equal portions of light and heat. The distance between each row, as well as the space between each tree, should depend on the situation and soil. Where the former is high and exposed, the trees should be closely planted to afford each other protection; and where the latter is poor and shallow, their growth will of course be less luxuriant, and they will consequently require less room. But in low and sheltered situations, and in deep and rich soils, wider intervals should be allowed. In the former instances, twelve yards between each row, and six between each tree, are sufficient; in the latter, twenty-four yards between each row, and eight between each tree, will not be too much.

4108. As a general guide with regard to distance, Nicol states the extreme limits at which apple and pear trees should stand, in a properly planted and close orchard, as from thirty to forty feet, less or more, according to the quality of the soil, taking, as the medium, thirty-six feet. In a poor soil and a bleak exposure, where the trees may not be expected to grow very freely, thirty feet are sufficient; whereas in good soil, and a sheltered situation, forty may not be too much. Cherries and plums may be planted at from twenty-four to thirty-six feet, according to soil and situation, as above, taking as a medium, thirty feet for the ultimate distance at which they are to stand clear of one another. But it would be advisable, in the first instance, to plant four trees for one that is intended ultimately to remain, planting the proper kinds at the above distances first, and then temporary plants between them each way. These temporary plants should be of the free-growing sorts that begin to bear early; such as the nonesuch and Hawthornden apples, the May-duke cherry, and the Crawford and yair pears; or any others known to produce fruit sooner after planting. These should be considered and be treated as temporary plants from the beginning, and must give place to the principal trees as they advance in growth, by being pruned away bit by bit, and at last stubbed up entirely. In bleak situations, if forest and other hardy trees be planted among the fruit trees, it may not be necessary to plant so many (if any) temporary fruit trees; or these may chiefly consist of the hardier sorts, such as the Hawthornden apple, the May-duke and morello cherries, and the Scotch geans, which produce fruit the soonest.

4109. In the operation of planting, great care ought to be taken not to insert the plants deeper in the soil than they were before removal. This is a very common error in every description of tree planting; and in retentive soils is ruinous to the tree. Sir C. M. Burrel recommends, as a useful practice, in wet soils, or where the substratum is not suited to the apple or the pear, to plant the trees on hillocks of easy ascent, as for instance one foot higher in the centre than the level of the field, and sloping gradually to that level for three or four feet every way from the centre. By this practice, the roots will naturally follow the good surface earth; whereas, if they are planted in holes, the roots are apt to shoot into the prejudicial subsoil, to the eventual injury of the plants by canker and other diseases. When trees are thus planted on small hillocks, the under-drains may pass between the rows with greater utility.

4110. The trees being carefully planted, watered, and tied to tall strong stakes, require little more than common attention for several years. Every autumn or spring they should be looked over, and all cross irregular shoots made during the preceding summer cut out, suckers (if any) removed from their roots, and side growths cleared from their

stems.

4111. The object in pruning young trees, Nicol observes, is to form a proper head. Generally speaking, the shoots may be pruned in proportion to their lengths, cutting clean away such as cross one another, and fanning the tree out towards the extremities on all sides; thereby keeping it equally poised, and fit to resist the effects of high winds. When it is wished to throw a young tree into a bearing state, which should not be thought of, however, sooner than the third or fourth year after planting, the leading branches should be very little shortened, and the lower or side branches not at all; nor should the knife be used, unless to cut out such shoots as cross one another.

4112. After an orchard-tree is come into bearing, Abercrombie says, continue at the time of winter pruning either every year, or every two, three, or four years, as an occasion is perceived, to cut out unproductive wood, crowded spray, and decayed parts. Also reduce long and outrunning ramblers and low stragglers, cutting them to some good lateral that grows within its limits. Where fruit-spurs are too numerous, then cut the strongest and most unsightly. Also keep the tree pretty open in the middle. If it be necessary to take off large branches from aged trees, use a chisel or saw, and afterwards smooth the wound with a sharp knife. In case old wood is to be cut down to young shoots springing below, to make the separation in summer will be of more advantage to those young shoots, though it is not a common practice, on account of the liability of many stone-fruit bearers to exude gum, when a large branch is lopped in the growing season. Observe to keep the stem clear from all lateral shoots, and eradicate all suckers from the root.

4113. On aged trees that have run into a confusion of shoots and branches, and whose spurs have become clustered and crowded, the saw and the knife may be exercised with freedom, observing to cut clean away all useless spray, rotten stumps, and the like useless

leaves and fruit in the summer season, and to admit the rays of the sun, so as to give the fruit colour and flavour.

4114. In pruning the apple tree and all other standard trees, Knight observes, the points of the external branches should be every where rendered thin and pervious to the light, so that the internal parts of the tree may not be wholly shaded by the external parts: the light should penetrate deeply into the tree on every side; but not any where through it. When the pruner has judiciously executed his work, every part of the tree, internal as well as external, will be productive of fruit; and the internal part, in unfavourable seasons, will rather receive protection than injury from the external. A tree thus pruned will not only produce much more fruit, but will also be able to support a much heavier load of it, without danger of being broken: for any given weight will depress the branch, not simply in proportion to its quantity, but in the compound proportion of its quantity and of its horizontal distance from the point of suspension, by a mode of action similar to that of the weight on the beam of the steel-yard; and hence a hundred and fifty pounds, suspended at one foot in distance from the trunk, will depress the branch which supports it no more than ten pounds, at fifteen feet in distance, would do. Every tree will, therefore, support a larger weight of fruit without danger of being broken, in proportion as the parts of such weight are made to approach nearer to its centre.

4115. Where a tree is stunted, or the head ill-shaped, from being originally badly pruned or barren, from having overborne itself, or from constitutional weakness, the most expeditious remedy is to head down the plant to within three, four, or five eyes (or inches, if an old tree), of the top of the stem, in order to furnish it with a new head. The recovery of a languishing tree, if not too old, will be further promoted by taking it up at the same time, and pruning the roots; for as, on the one hand, the depriving too luxuriant a tree of part even of its sound healthy roots will moderate its vigour; so, on the other, to relieve a stunted or sickly tree of cankered or decayed roots, to prune the extremities of sound roots, and especially to shorten the dangling tap-roots of a plant affected by a bad subsoil, are, in connection with heading down, or very short pruning, the renovation of the soil, and draining, the most availing remedies that can be tried.

4116. A tree often becomes stunted from an accumulation of moss, which affects the functions of the bark, and renders the tree unfruitful. This evil is to be removed by scraping the stems and branches of an old tree; and on a young tree a hard brush will effect the purpose. Wherever the bark is decayed or cracked, Abercrombie and Forsyth direct its removal. Lyon, of Edinburgh, has lately carried this practice to so great a length as even to recommend the removal of part of the bark of young trees. Practical men, in general, however, confine the operation to cracked bark, which nature seems to attempt throwing off; and the effect in rendering the tree more fruitful and luxuriant is acknowledged by Neill in his Account of Scottish Gardening and Orchards, and by different writers in The London and Caledonian Horticultural Transactions.

4117. The other diseases to which orchard trees are subject are chiefly the canker, gum, mildew, and blight, which, as we have already observed, are rather to be prevented by such culture as will induce a healthy state, than to be remedied by topical applications. Too much lime, Sir H. Davy thinks, may bring on the canker, and if so, the replacing a part of such soil with alluvial or vegetable earth would be of service. The gum, it is said, may be constitutional, arising from offensive matter in the soil; or local, arising from external injury. In the former case, improve the soil; in the latter, apply the knife. The mildew, it is observed by T. A. Knight and Abercrombie, "may be easily subdued at its appearance, by scattering flour of sulphur upon the infected parts." As this disease is now generally considered the growth of parasitical fungi, the above remedy is likely to succeed. For caterpillars and other insects in spring, Forsyth recommends burning rotten wood, weeds, potato-hulm, wet straw, &c., on the windward side of the trees when they are in blossom. He also recommends washing the stems and branches of all orchard trees with a mixture of "fresh cow-dung with urine and soap-suds, as a whitewasher would wash the ceiling or walls of a room.' The promised advantages are, destruction of insects and "fine bark;" more especially, he adds, "when you see it necessary to take all the outer bark off."

4118. With the Herefordshire orchardists pruning is not in general use; the most approved method is that of rendering thin and pervious to the light the points of the external branches, so that the internal branches of the tree may not be wholly shaded by the external parts. Large branches should rarely or never be amputated. The instrument generally used for the purpose of pruning is a strong flat chisel, fixed to a handle six feet or more in length, having a sharp edge on one of its sides and a hook on the other. (Knight's Treatise on the Apple and Pear.)

4119. The culture of the soil among orchard trees is always attended with advantage; though it can so seldom be properly conducted in farm orchards, that in most cases it is better to lay them down with grass seeds for pasture. To plough between the trees and take corn crops, even if manure is regularly given, cannot be any great advantage, unless

a radius of six or eight feet is left round each tree. If such a space is left, and yearly dug but not cropped, the trees will thrive well; and a ridge between each two rows may be sown with corn. The greater number of orchards in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire are under pasture; but the most productive are those trees grown in hop grounds. In Kent, in some instances, the interspaces of young orchards are occupied by hops, in others by filberts, and in grown orchards the latter are sometimes seen. Some old orchards are likewise in permanent sward, others under arable or garden crops, and some in saintfoin, while others are in lucern. In all cases where the subsoil is moist, or otherwise unfavourable, the ground of an orchard should neither be dug nor ploughed, in order not to prevent the roots from spreading themselves immediately under the surface. The effect of repeatedly stirring the surface to six or eight inches or more in depth is to cause the roots to descend. In all soils, this descent, by furnishing them more abundantly with moisture, tends to prolong the growth, and prevent the ripening of the wood and the formation of blossom buds; but, in the case of noxious subsoils, it brings on canker and other diseases. This is the reason why standard fruit-trees in kitchen gardens are generally less productive than in grass orchards: the productive trees in certain hop-grounds in Kent and other counties may seem an exception; but they are not so, the subsoil in these cases being good and dry.

SECT. IV. Gathering and Keeping of Orchard Fruit.

4120. The gathering of orchard fruit, and especially apples, should be performed in such a manner as not to damage the branches, or break off the fruit spurs or buds. Too frequently the fruit is allowed to drop, or it is beat and bruised by shaking the tree and using long poles, &c. Nicol directs that it should never be allowed to drop of itself, nor should it be shaken down, but should be pulled by the hand. This may be thought too troublesome a method; but every body knows that bruised fruit will not keep, nor will it bring a full price. The expense of gathering, therefore, may be more than defrayed, if carefully done, by saving the fruit from blemish.

4121. With regard to the keeping of kernel fruits, the old practice, which is recommended by Marshal and Forsyth, commences with sweating, though Nicol and other modern gardeners omit this process. It is evident from the general practice of both commercial and private gardeners, that sweating fruit is not essential to its keeping, though some persons continue to allege that, in consequence of that operation, it keeps better. Marshal, the author of An Introduction to Gardening, observes, that those fruits which continue long for use should be suffered to hang late, even to November, if the frost will permit; for they must be well ripened or they will shrink. Lay them in heaps till they have sweated a few days, when they must be wiped dry. Let them then lie singly, or at least thinly, for about a fortnight, and be again wiped, and immediately packed in boxes ⚫ and hampers, lined with double or treble sheets of paper. Place them gently in, and cover them close, so as to keep air out as much as possible. Preserve them from frost through the winter: never use hay for the purpose. Kernel fruits and nuts keep no where better than when mixed and covered with sand in a dry cool cellar, in the manner of potatoes. Buried in pits well protected from moisture, russets have been found to keep perfectly fresh a year from the time of their being gathered. The keeping of cider fruits is not approved of, it being found best to crush them after they have been thinly spread for a few days on a dry boarded floor. Many of the Herefordshire growers carry them direct from the tree to the crushing-mill.

SECT. V. Manufacture of Cider and Perry.

4122. Cider is commonly manufactured by the grower of the fruit, though it would certainly be better for the public if it were made a distinct branch of business like brewing or distilling. "The true way to have excellent cider," Marshal observes, "is to dispose of the fruit to professional cider makers. The principal part of the prime cider sold in London and elsewhere is manufactured by professional men; by men who make a business of manufacturing and rectifying cider, even as distillers, rectifiers of spirit, and brewers follow their businesses or professions, and like them too conduct their operations, more or less, on scientific principles." (Rev. of Agr. Rep. vol. ii. p. 294.) It is allowed on all hands that the operation is performed in a most slovenly manner by the farmer, and that it is very difficult to procure this liquor in good quality. The operation of cider-making is as simple as that of wine-making or brewing, and will be perfectly understood from the following directions, chiefly drawn from the treatises of Crocker and Knight; so that any person possessing an orchard, or a few hedge-row fruit trees, may make a supply for his own use. The first business consists of gathering and preparing the fruit; the second, of grinding and pressing; and the last, of fermenting and bottling. 4123. In gathering cider apples, care should be taken that they are thoroughly ripe before they are taken from the tree; otherwise the cider will be of a rough, harsh taste,

on The Art of Making and Managing Cider, that the most certain indications of the ripeness of apples are the fragrance of their smell, and their spontaneously dropping from the trees. When they are in this state of maturity, in a dry day, the limbs may, he says, be slightly shaken, and partly disburdened of their golden store; thus taking such apples only as are ripe, and leaving the unripe longer on the trees, that they may also acquire a due degree of maturity. It may not, he thinks, be amiss to make three gatherings of the crop, keeping each by itself. The latter gathering, as well as wind-falls, can, however, only be employed in making inferior cider: the prime cider must be drawn from the former gatherings.

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4124. On the proper mixture of fruits, or rather on their proper separation, the merit of cider will always greatly depend. Those whose rinds and pulp are tinged with green, or red without any mixture of yellow, as that colour will disappear in the first stages of fermentation, should be carefully kept apart from such as are yellow, or yellow intermixed with red. The latter kinds, which should remain on the trees till ripe enough to fall without being much shaken, are alone capable of making fine cider. Each kind should be collected separately, as noticed above, and kept till it becomes perfectly mellow. For this purpose, in the common practice of the country, they are placed in heaps of ten inches or a foot thick, and exposed to the sun, air, and rain, not being ever covered, except in very severe frosts. The strength and flavour of the future liquor are increased by keeping the fruit under cover some time before it is ground; but unless a situation can be afforded it, in which it is exposed to a free current of air, and where it can be spread very thin, it is apt to contract an unpleasant smell, which will much affect the cider produced from it. Few farms are provided with proper buildings for this purpose on a large scale, and the improvement of the liquor will not nearly pay the expense of erecting them. It may reasonably be supposed, that much water is absorbed by the fruit in a rainy season; but the quantity of juice yielded by any given quantity of fruit will be found to diminish as it becomes more mellow, even in very wet weather, provided it be ground when thoroughly dry. The advantages there fore, of covering the fruit will probably be much less than may at first sight be expected. No criterion appears to be known, by which the most proper point of maturity in the fruit can be ascertained with accuracy; but it improves as long as it continues to acquire a deeper shade of yellow. Each heap should be examined prior to its being ground, and any decayed or green fruit carefully taken away. The expense of this will be very small, and will be amply repaid by the excellence of the liquor, and the ease with which too great a degree of fermentation may be prevented. (Crocker.) In Ireland a mixture of every sort of apple is considered as producing the best cider. A proportion of crabs is always admitted. "The taste, in consequence, is very sour, and less sweet than English cider: but this is matter of fancy; and, a relish for rough cider once acquired, the sweet kind loses much of its attractions. Owing to a considerable admixture of crabs, the Irish cider is always more sour than the English, and this is a quality, when not too predominant, for which it is valued by the natives." (Lardner's Cyc. Dom. Econ.)

4125. In grinding, the fruit should be so reduced that the rind and kernel should be scarcely discernible. In such a complete mixture it seems probable that new elective attractions will be exerted, and compounds formed which did not exist previously to the fruit being placed under the roller. The process of slow grinding, with free access of air, gives the cider good qualities it did not possess before, probably by the absorption of oxygen. To procure very fine cider, the fruit should be ground and pressed im-' perfectly, and the pulp spread as thin as possible, exposed to the air, and frequently turned during twenty-four hours, to obtain as large an absorption of air as possible. The pulp should be ground again, and the liquor formerly expressed added, by which the liquor will acquire an increase of strength and richness. (Lardner's Cyclo. Dom. Econ.)

4126. Whether the pommage should, immediately after grinding, be conveyed to the press, there to be formed into a kind of cake, or what is called the cheese; or whether it should remain some time in that state before pressing, ciderists have not agreed. Some say it should be pressed immediately after grinding; others conceive it best to suffer it to remain in the grinding trough, or in vats employed for the purpose, for twenty-four hours, or even two days, that it may acquire not only a redness of colour, but also that it may form an extract with the rind and kernels. Both extremes are, Crocker thinks, wrong. There is an analogy, he says, between the making of cider from apples, and wine from grapes; and the method which the wine-maker pursues ought to be followed by the cider-maker. When the pulp of the grapes has lain some time in the vats, the vintager thrusts his hand into the pulp, and takes some from the middle of the mass; and when he perceives, by the smell, that the luscious sweetness is gone off, and that his nose is affected, with a slight piquancy, he immediately carries it to the press, and by a light pressure, expresses his prime juice! In like manner should the ciderist determine