The Profitable Portion
Fruit--The best kinds for a small garden--Avoidance of size minus
flavour--Vegetables--Herbs.
If a small garden has room for any fruit-trees, =apples are the most
useful= kind to grow; they can be so trained as to take up little
room;
for instance, in espalier fashion, down each side of a sunny walk. These
=apple-hedges= are a lovely sight in spring and also in the autumn, when
the ruddy fruit is waiting to drop into the outstretched hand. Though
names can easily be given, it is generally a good plan to =make enquiries
in the neighbourhood as to the best varieties= to grow, for so much
depends on soil and position. Colloquial names are often given, which
require identifying with existing varieties; this can be done by sending
up a specimen of the fruit to the manager of a correspondence column in
some reliable gardening magazine. These gentlemen are generally able to
give the desired information, and no charge is made. =A surer method=
still is to send the fruit which it is desired to identify to some
well-known nurseries, such as those of Messrs. Rivers at Sawbridgeworth,
Hertfordshire; they have acres upon acres of splendid fruit-trees of every
kind, and my readers cannot do better than purchase all they require from
them. Having such wide experience, they can recommend varieties suitable
for all kinds of soil and all sorts of positions. For small gardens,
apple-trees grafted on =the paradise stock= are much to be recommended, as
they are compact in habit, taking up but little room and =begin bearing
almost at once=. Messrs. Rivers guarantee their trees on this stock to
continue in full-bearing for many years. "Plant pears, and you plant for
your heirs" is the old saying, but this is all changed now that the
=quince stock= is used so much. Cordon pears on wire fencing bear
first-rate crops, and are particularly good for small gardens; the
diagonal cordon is perhaps the best. =Cooking pears= can be grown on north
walls, but it is not advisable to try dessert varieties on such a cold
aspect.
=STONE FRUIT.= To grow stone fruit successfully, =the soil must contain a
fair quantity of lime=; moreover the trees, especially if trained against
walls, must be kept well-watered at the stoning period. After the fruit
has been picked, less moisture is required.
=Standard plants are very profitable=, as crops of currants and
gooseberries can be grown beneath them; this double system of cropping the
ground being a great advantage where space is a consideration. =Plums=
require little pruning, and are also not so liable to attacks of birds as
other fruit. When ordering, =do not get too many trees of one variety=, a
good selection will give a long succession of fruit; this applies to all
kinds of fruit-trees.
=Currants are a very manageable fruit=, as they do well in almost any
position; heavy crops can be secured from bushes planted on north borders,
the =black currant= thriving though it only gets a minimum of sunshine;
=gooseberries= are not exacting either, and will give a good return for a
small amount of labour. Both may be propagated by cuttings, and are very
reasonable in price, only costing about four shillings a dozen. Messrs.
Rivers' stock of =maiden peach-trees= and =nectarines= is unsurpassed, and
many of the best kinds obtainable have been raised by them, and are of
worldwide fame. Regarding that oft-debated question of protecting the
blossom in spring, they do not advise anything in the nature of bracken to
be used, this often doing more harm than good. If possible, =a glass
coping= should be placed along the top of the wall, from which tiffany
can depend on cold nights; unless this be done, it is best to leave them
alone. Fine crops are often obtained in the south and west of England
without any protection whatever, the good seasons amply compensating for
the bad.
It occasionally happens that the amateur has an advantage over the market
grower. This is particularly the case where one wants to curtail the
=depredations of birds=; it pays to protect a few yards of fruit, but
where it is a case of several acres, the trees have to take their chance.
=Cherries= have to be watched very carefully in this respect; it is very
desirable to keep the =Morello cherries= hanging long, as they then become
sweeter and make good tarts. These trees do very well on north walls.
=WANT OF FLAVOUR.= One great fault noticeable in fruit-growing of recent
years is that everything is sacrificed to size and appearance, flavour
being at a discount; the shows have had a great deal to do with this; in
the old days, when they were fewer in number, the test of a fruit was its
taste. =Strawberries= in particular have deteriorated in this way, the
huge kinds now seen often being absolutely devoid of the luscious flavour
generally associated with them. Of course we have =better keeping
varieties=, and they can be obtained much later than was once the case. If
the culture of the perpetual varieties is extended strawberries will be in
season many weeks longer, and this will be extremely good news for
invalids, who find it as a rule one of the easiest fruits to digest. =The
cultivation of strawberries is fairly easy=, but their wants must be
regularly attended to. Once in three years the old plants must be taken
up, and new ones (the "runners" issuing from the old) planted instead; in
the summer a good mulching of strawy manure should be placed between the
rows, as this helps to keep the fruit clean, besides enriching the soil.
Plants which are expected to bear a good crop of fruit must have all their
runners cut off as fast as they appear, as it exhausts the plants much to
bear both. =Strawberries are partial to rather a light soil=, but nearly
all other fruit-trees revel in a mixture of loam and clay, with a little
sand to keep it open. This soil does not suffer so much from drought, and,
being firmer, the larger trees can send their roots down and get a far
better hold of the ground than is possible in shingly, poor soils.
=ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL.= =Vegetables= take up a good deal of room in a
garden if they are wanted all the year round, but a few things can be
easily grown. =Scarlet runner beans=, being ornamental as well as useful,
are some of the best vegetables to grow, as they can be made to form a
convenient screen for a rubbish heap. These can be brought up from seed
sown early in April, and, when a foot high, require sticks; these come
rather expensive if new ones are used every summer, but with care they
will last two and even three seasons, though latterly they become very
brittle. On the rubbish heap, =marrows= can be grown with the greatest
facility, as they revel in the rich warmth there found. They should be
bought when a few inches high, and planted out at the end of May, as they
are only half hardy. When the flower at the end drops off they are ready
to cut; if allowed to get much larger they lose all their flavour. A few,
however, should be allowed to become quite ripe, as they can be used in
the autumn for making apple-tart, two parts apple to one part marrow, and
they also make =a good jam= when spiced with ginger, etc.
=RELATIONS OF THE SUNFLOWERS.= =Jerusalem artichokes= will flourish on a
north border, and come in very nicely during November; they are planted in
exactly the same manner as potatoes, that is, by means of pieces
containing two or three "eyes," which should go in about February. Like
potatoes, too, they can be stored; though so tall, they do not require any
sticks; these artichokes present much the same appearance as the ordinary
cottager's sun-flower (indeed, the botanical name is identical,
helianthus), having thick, hollow stems, covered with long, pointed,
hairy leaves.
=Potatoes are rather "kittle-kattle"= for amateurs, but where the soil is
light they should certainly be tried, especially where there is room for a
rotation of crops, as successive planting should not be made in the same
place. Beware of giving rank manure to them, a sure precursor of disease;
artificial manures, such as guano are far more suitable. =No trees must be
allowed near them=, but a sunny open piece of ground be given up to them.
March is the month to plant and the rows should be from fifteen inches to
two feet apart.
=Carrots and turnips= also prefer a light soil and sunny situation. Seeds
of both should be sown in March, when the soil is in a friable condition,
several times subsequently; the seeds must be well thinned out, and the
space between the rows constantly turned by the hoe; the latter operation
is particularly needful in heavy land, as it not only destroys weeds, but
prevents the soil from caking: the rows should be about a foot apart.
Before the turnips are ready, the young green tops make a vegetable by no
means to be despised.
=Herbs=, such as mint, parsley, mustard and cress, should be grown in
every garden, as they take up but little space and are so much dearer to
buy. =Mint= is perennial, and will come up year after year, giving no
trouble whatever; it spreads rapidly and will grow anywhere. To start a
bed, roots can be bought from some market-gardener, or cuttings can be
struck from the bunches bought in the shops.
=Parsley= is a biennial, though generally grown as an annual, because the
leaves from young plants are much the best; the seeds should be sown two
or three times a year, beginning about February, in a sheltered nook;
=this herb likes plenty of sun=; even the curliest varieties degenerate
if placed in a damp shady situation. It prefers light soil, and gives a
better winter supply than where the soil is heavy. Flower-heads must be
cut off regularly to keep the plants in good condition, though just a few
of the best kinds may be allowed to perfect their seed, which should be
sown as soon as ripe. =Mustard and cress= should also be sown several
times during the summer; the cress must be sown three or four days before
the mustard, to obtain them ready for cutting at the same time; both must
be cut almost directly they appear, as, if allowed to grow tall, they
become tough, and their flavour is lost; these seeds require no thinning
out, the exception that proves the rule.
Previous: The Ins And Outs Of Gardening
Next: Annuals And Biennials
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