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Sycamores — Part 5

In these two ways--by seedlings and by hybrids--new varieties have arisen, and others will come on. But each is uncertain--a problem for the scientist, not the apple grower. To plant seeds for an orchard would be the utmost folly. The quick and sure way to get and keep a good variety is to graft other trees with cions of the desired kind. Fertilising the soil, and thorough tillage, greatly improve the health of a tree, and the quality and size of its fruit. But they do not change a Baldwin into a Greening. It may be possible, however, to produce a superior individual tree, whose characters, perpetuated, give rise to an improved "strain" of the variety. Soil, climate and treatment all emphasise individual differences in trees and in their fruits. There is no law in Nature so inexorable as the law of Constant Variation.

Our little hard-fleshed, slender-stemmed garden crab apples are an interesting race. The Siberian crab (Malus baccata), of northern Asia, is the parent species. The larger sorts are probably from crosses of this with Malus Malus in some of its varieties.

Japan has given us some wonderful flowering apples, small trees and shrubs. Malus floribunda is probably as glorious a sight in bloom as any tree that ever grew. After these splendid blossoms we can but marvel again at the crop of fruit that succeeds them. Some of these apples are handsome and good to eat, but of the various species I have seen no fruit grows larger than a cherry!

The Pear (Pyrus communis, Linn.), also a native of Europe and Asia, is a close relative of the cultivated apple, and ranks high among orchard fruits. We have no native species, but numerous valuable varieties have originated in this country.

The Quince (Cydonia vulgaris, Pers.) is a dwarf tree from Europe, whose hard-fleshed, apple-like fruit has been used for centuries in marmalades and jellies. It is seen in old gardens in the East--one or two trees are the customary number. Occasionally one sees a quince orchard. It is an old-fashioned fruit, indeed; the demand for it is small, but steady. The Japanese quince, C. Japonica, is a splendid flowering shrub, with inedible fruit. Hedges are often seen of it, ablaze with great rose-coloured flowers before the leaves are out in spring--a sight, indeed, worth going miles to see.

The Medlar (Mespilus Germanica, Linn.), a pretty tree native to central Europe, is occasionally planted in gardens for the curiosity aroused by its peculiar, apple-like fruits. The core is exposed at the blossom end, as if the flesh had not quite reached around it. After frost has bitten them, and they have lain all winter, these medlars soften, and are not unpleasant to eat. They also are made into preserves.