The row of upright cordon pears is a trifle better, but that is only an accident, I think. The varieties which are growing there seem to be rather better adapted to withstand the unpropitious surroundings. These trees also are bearing.
When we come to the two rows of horizontal cordon apples, though, the real fun has begun. Nearly all these trees are in bearing, and a few of them have borne every year since they were planted out. They are set only three feet apart in the row, which is not enough; and they suffered terribly the first year from a midsummer attack of aphides; and the pruning was neglected to allow them to recover from that scourge, so that the form was somewhat injured; but they have never ceased to be a joy to me and a wonderment to visitors. They are mostly of European varieties, but Bismarck is the showiest and most fruitful one in the collection, though far from the best to eat.
Then there are standard gooseberries and currants, of which there is little to be said. They haven't been there long, but they are at home and are going to stay. Next year I am going to put in some gooseberries and currants in espalier form.
FIG. 43—DWARF PEAR IN PYRAMID FORM
Two years planted; author's garden
Very few persons know what a medlar is. For the benefit of the ignorant and to increase the kaleidoscopic effect on my fruit garden, I have some medlar trees,—Holländische Monströse,—which I bought of Louis Späth, Baumschulenweg, Berlin.
A wire trellis, built much like a grape trellis, only higher, carries the row of upright cordon apples. Some of these bore fruit the first year they were planted, and there has been a fair sprinkling of fruit every year since then. This has been one of the most satisfactory lots in the make-up.
There are two rows containing forty-six bush-form apples on paradise roots set six feet apart. Some of these have borne every year since planting out, many of them showing a good crop this year. Again Bismarck is the most fruitful, but the least pleasing to eat. Alexander has made a good record, and this year Calville d'Automne shows a very pretty crop. It is customary with visitors, especially those already interested in fruit-growing and those of a practical turn of mind, to depart with the judgment that "all those other schemes are curious and interesting, but the bush form apple trees look the most like business." I think so too. In fact my experience with dwarf apples might be summarized by saying, "bush trees for business, cordons for fun."