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The Boy's Fruit Garden

There are few boys who cannot appreciate the virtues of a delicious melting pear or good apple; and our object in writing this paper is to tell them how to grow such in a comparatively short space of time. In old times, and, indeed, generally at present, people plant for those who come after them--"plant for their heirs," in fact,--plant trees that will come into bearing in twelve years or so; and therefore some may say, why offer the boys such a far-off treat? But times change, and the system which produces the finest fruits now in our markets, happens to be exactly suited to the boy's garden. Large and beautiful apples have been sold in Paris during the past spring for as much as three francs a-pieces! These were in many, or in nearly all cases, grown upon little trees not more than a foot from the ground, and several of them not more than two or three foot from the ground, and several of them not more than two or three years old ! The French are the best growers of apples and pears in existence; and in France originated this dwarf method of growing them. The way they do it is as follows:--The best kinds of apples are grafted on a variety known as the Paradise, which induces a very dwarf growth and early fertility in the kinds grown upon it. We have seen these fruiting, this year, at two years of age, bearing fine fruit, much better than you see on trees developed to full size. They are grown in two ways, generally as cordons, and occasionally as little standards. The "cordon" is simply a single plant of apple, trained along a wire, supported about a foot from the ground. The little standard, or bush, is simply a diminutive Lilliputian kind or tree--just such as a boy would wish for in his garden. Not taller, if as tall as himself, he can shorten the shoots and gather the fruit with the greatest case. The culture of these little trees is so simple that no boy need fail with them. A sunny spot should in the first instance be chosen, that is, if the young gardener can get it; and it is not often that he is allowed any but a bye nook of some kind or other; and no wonder, because hitherto boy's gardens have simply been short-lived little exhibitions of untidiness, never yielding any result and very little beauty. But the young gardener who manages well his fairy part of fruit garden, well soon produce a little feature that any place might be proud of. Next, as to how to do it. Very little ground is required. A small patch will afford space for a great number of little trees. A sunny open spot should be selected, where the trees will have all the advantages of sun and air to perfect their fruit, and render their shoots short, firm, and fertile, instead of sappy, gross, and useless. The soil should be of a slightly sandy or loamy nature, and not wet. If the ground be badly drained, and water lies in it much, it is almost hopeless to attempt fruit growing, and the little gardener had in that case better turn his attention to something with which his soil and circumstances are likely to agree. One of the chief points in gardening is to choose the course most suited for your own soil, climate, and position. Thus the boy who lives in a great city, or the suburb of one, and who has to contend with the smoke and other evils incident to such, must pursue a very different plan of gardening to the boy who lives in the country, and has all the advantages of pure, sweet air for his plants. The best of all soils for our little fruit-trees, is one moderately sandy, yet not too loose and free, with what we may term a free bottom, that is, a sandy or other subsoil beneath, which will permit the water to pass off freely from the fertile or upper earth. But although this is the best soil, there are few others that we need reject--the worst, perhaps, being deep, stiff, soap-like clay. The best time to plant is in the autumn. Be sure you ask for the young apple-trees grafted on the "Paradise," and the pears on the Quince stock. Both apples and pears may be grown as little standard trees or as cordons. In planting, do not put the roots deep, and spread them out even, forming first a rather firm and slightly convex surface, on which to place the little plant. This will be found to suit very much better than making a loose sort of hole into which to put the roots. It should be borne in mind that when fruit-trees send their roots deep into rich or cold ground, they produce a lot of coarse, useless wood, barren of fruit, or nearly so. To counteract this tendency, what is called root-pruning has been resorted to. It simply consists in taking up the trees once in two years or so, and replanting them--at least, this is the way with our little trees. It may not be necessary on many soils; but where it is, it may be readily done during pleasant dry weather in autumn. The check given to the tree by the disturbance, causes it to form fertile buds and a stubby habit. It is well that the young amateur gardener should know this, so that he may apply a remedy if his fruit-trees grow too strong and prove barren. But generally they are fertile enough, and even sometimes produce a successful crop the first year after planting; the second year they should bear well. The accident of a severe frost while the trees are in flower, will of course always do mischief, and may ruin a crop; but all are liable to this, as well as our Lilliputians. It is best to plant the erect little trees in a small square--pears and apples separate, for uniformity sake--and of place the cordons around this, just as the French make a sort of edging of them in their gardens. Indeed, if the boy cannot obtain a neat little sunny square for his tiny trees, he will hardly fail to succeed in getting permission to arrange a few in cordon fashion along the edge of some border. It is simply done by either driving down a strong wooden post, or an iron one, so as to support a wire at about ten inches or a foot from the ground. Beneath that, the trees are to be planted, say at a distance of six or eight feet, and tied along the wire. When once this is done there is no further trouble, except to pinch back the shoots in summer so as to keep them close and compact. This operation requires a little attention. The main stem, which is of course tied carefully but not too tightly to the wire sends out side shoots in the summer. When these are about four, or say from three to five inches long, they are to be pinched back, or in other words, nipped off, within about an inch of the base of the young shoot, in the case of apple-trees--in the case of pear-trees it should be left somewhat longer. This is for the summer pruning; in winter it may be necessary to go over the trees with a knife, and remove or shorten awkward spurs, or cut out dead bits here and there; but the summer pinching is the chief thing to be done in the matter. When the trees produce too plentiful a crop of fruit, these should be thinned when very young, so that those left may assume the splendid flavour and size which makes fruit grown in this way superior to that grown in the old and large tree system. I will now give you a list of the best kinds to use in this way, and which can be bought in any respectable nursery. Of apples the very best are Colville Blanche and Reinette de Canada, Cox's orange pippin, Hawthornden, Herefordshire Pearmain, Greaves' pippin, or any other first-class kind of apple. Of pears, Marie Louise, Winter Nelis, Beurre Diel, Jargonelle, Beurre d'Amanlis, and Josephine de Malines, will be found very suitable for the dwarf bush or cordon style, as will most first-class pears.

Cropping The Ground.