Part 36 (1/2)

ORIGIN OF NAMES.

_Barland_, from Barland, in the parish of Bosbury, Herefords.h.i.+re.

_Holmore_, from the parish of Holmore, between Hereford and Leominster.

_Huffcap_.

_Longland_, from the field in which the tree grew.

_Oldfield_, from Oldfield, near Ledbury.

_Teinton Squash_, from Teinton, in Gloucesters.h.i.+re.

Besides these are Blakeney Red Trump Pear, Honey Pear, Moorcroft, Malvern Hill, &c. Pears, like apples, being named from places and people, &c., each district having its own favourite sorts; but perhaps those in the previous list are the favourite.

This subject of variety in both apple and pear is interesting, as it has given rise to innumerable names upon this head. My old pupil, Mr.

Clement Cadle, says:-

It is almost impossible to give satisfactory information on the sorts of fruit, because the same sort is not only known by different names in different localities, but it also a.s.sumes a widely different character under the influence of broad distinctions of soil and climate, and this is more frequently the case with pears than apples. In a tour I made last autumn in the south of Devons.h.i.+re, I visited several farms in the neighbourhood of Totnes and Paignton, and amongst a great number of sorts that I there saw, I could in no instance recognize either an apple or tree as being like those I had seen before in Herefords.h.i.+re, Gloucesters.h.i.+re, or Worcesters.h.i.+re.

In selecting for producing cider or perry it is very important, not only to get those kinds which suit the district, but to get a variety in their character, especially for making good cider. Thus, some of the apples should be sour, others sweet, bitter-sweet, tart, and harsh, as much of the keeping character of the cider depends upon this mixture, which also makes it fine down well. It may be remarked that sweet or eating sorts of pears seldom make perry that will keep any length of time, or that fines well.

There is another peculiar feature in regard to sorts of fruit, namely, that each variety has its day, then gradually dies out. The trees become non-bearers, and their places are filled with new sorts. This is especially the case with the Hagloe crab, Fox whelp, and Skryme's kernel, which seldom bear or grow well now, and are nearly gone.

_R. A. S. Journal S.S._, vol. I. pp. 18, 19.

As regards pears, it should be stated that, while in Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford much perry is made, and it is highly esteemed, especially for bottling, in Dorset this drink is almost unknown, and we were last year greatly surprised that a farmer who had an immense crop of pears of a sort that were not fit for dessert or culinary purposes, could not divine what to do with them, though he made excellent cider.

We conclude this portion of our subject with a quotation from the Botanical Looker-out, by our old friend and fellow worker, E. Lees, Esq.:-

A pear orchard in exuberant flower is a vegetable spectacle not easily matched, for the bending branches of the pear tree give a gracefulness to its outline far exceeding the stiff formality of the apple tree, and oppressed with a mult.i.tudinous crowd of blossoms its branches almost trail the ground, a bending load of beauty that seems by moonlight a ma.s.s of silvery ingots. The Barland Orchard, between Worcester and Malvern, containing more than seventy trees, lofty as oaks, cannot be seen by a traveller without admiration, and is the finest in the kingdom, though the trees are now getting old.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

ON THE PRODUCTION AND CHOICE OF FRUIT TREES.

Although new sorts of fruits are easily obtainable from seeds, yet this method of production is much too slow for general purposes, and when kernel trees-that is those raised from seed-are in the slow progress of such events brought to produce fruit, it is ten to one if it be of any value; so that even seedling trees, when they have attained sufficient size, are best used for stocks upon which to graft any desired sort.

In reproducing a constant supply of well-known sorts of fruit, three plans are usually practised, namely, _Budding_, _Grafting_, and _Cutting_.

_Budding_ is usually employed in the case of smaller fruit or flower trees, and but seldom with apples and pears; this well-known process, however, is frequently had recourse to in the nursery; it is performed for fruit trees in the same way as for roses, and therefore needs no description in this place, as we can scarcely conceive the farmer doing much in this direction, except as a matter of amus.e.m.e.nt and experiment.

_Grafting_ is a common process on most farms with orcharding; a sort of fruit may be wished to be changed or a promising tree may be broken, and in either case the farmer should know enough of the process of grafting to be able to do it himself or else to properly direct others.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

1. The Graft.

2. The Stock.]

In grafting, the first thing to be done is to secure good shoots from a healthy tree of the sort you wish to grow-these are called the ”grafts.”

The stem to receive the graft is called the stock. Now a stock may be single, in which case one graft will be sufficient, as in the accompanying diagram, or if an old tree has to be grafted, a graft may be inserted on as many branches as may seem desirable. Our diagram represents the common practice of side grafting, but different plans are adopted according to the difference in size of the stock on the one hand, and the graft on the other, the principle to be aimed at in the process being to get _as complete an apposition of as much of the wood and bark of the graft, with that of the stock, as is possible by careful cutting and fitting_, and the tact and delicacy in manipulating this matter make that successful result which marks the good grafter. In this as in other matters, practice and experience ensure success; and hence it is usually found expedient to employ a person who makes it his profession, and such are always to be obtained in cider countries.