Every seed, though taken from the same individual fruit, furnishes a distinct variety : these varieties, as might be anticipated, prove of very various merit ; but to form a ge neral opinion of their value, it is not necessary to wait till they produce fruit : an estimate may be formed even dur ing the first summer, by the resemblance the leaves bear to those of the highly cultivated or approved trees, or to those of the wild kinds ; the more they approach to the former, the better is the prospect : the leaves of good kinds improve in character, becoming thicker, rounder, and more downy, every season. The plants whose buds in the annual wood are hill and prominent, are usually more pro ductive than those whose buds are small, and shrunk into the bark. But their future character, as remarked by Mr Knight, must depend very much on the power the blossoms possess of hearing cold, and this power is observed to vary in the different varieties, and can only be ascertained by ex perience. Those which produce their leaves and blossoms early are preferable; because, although more exposed to injury from frosts, they are less liable to the attacks of ca terpillars. It is also to be observed, that even after a seed ling tree has begun to produce fruit, the quality of this has a tendency to improve, as the tree itself becomes stronger and approaches maturity ; so that if a fruit possess any promising qualities at first, great improvement may be ex pected in succeeding years.
Mr Knight has of late brought into public notice several new varieties or apples, pears, and cherries. Some of these seem likely to maintain a high character of excel lence : they will be noticed in their proper places. He has, at his seat at Downton in Herefordshire, many hundreds of promising seedlings coming on, some of them annually improving in character.
77. From this digression we return to the young graft ed or budded fruit trees. When they have been trained one year, they are called maiden plants ; and these, espe cially in the apple and pear, are considered as forming the best plants. But trees of two, three, or four years growth, or even more, succeed very well, provided due care be ta ken in transplanting.
Transplanting..
78. Here it may be enough to observe, in general, that in raising young fruit trees from the nursery lines, or in transplanting them from one part of the garden to another, much more care should be bestowed than is often given, particularly in public nurseries. The surface earth should be removed, and the horizontal roots carefully traced, and raised at full length, if possible : should this be inconve nient, or thought unnecessary, the roots should be cut with a sharp knife, not hacked with a blunt spade. A tap root, or one which penetrates straight down, should not be left more than a foot long at most. If the trees are only to be
carried a short way, the roots should he as little cut as pos sible. When they are to be carried to a distance, it is thought best to prune off the small and soft fibres, which are apt to rot and injure the whole root. If the tree be several years old, and have a large head, it is proper to dig a trench all round, and to scoop out the earth from un der the root. In this way a bail of earth rises with the tree, and its success is ensured. A bass-matting is some times introduced as far as possible beneath the tree on one side ; and when it comes to be turned over on the other side, the root and ball of earth are completely included in the matting ; but this is seldom necessary. As it una voidably happens that some roots are destroyed at the time of transplanting, and the means of drawing nourishment are thus lessened, many consider it proper to prune the tops of the trees to a certain extent, that the demand on the roots may be diminished. This however must be done cautious ly, and by an experienced gardener ; to lay down rules for it is impossible.
It may here be observed, that when the plants are of considerable size, they are prepared for transplanting, by cutting the roots a year beforehand, or in some sorts even two years before lifting. In this way the remaining short moots are induced to set out many radicles or fibres, and the en tire roots of the tree are contained within a small compass. If the trees be young, this abridgment of the roots may be effected by a downright cut with a sharp spade all around, at a short distance from the stem; passing the spade en tirely under the plant on one side, if it be wished to cut off the tap root.
It may scarcely he necessary to remark, that an essen tial preliminary to transplanting, is the preparing of the ground to receive the trees, by digging it over. The dis tances should likewise be fixed, and even the holes dug. Some gardeners make a point of digging the holes for the trees perhaps a fortnight before planting: in this way the soil into which the fibres are likely soon to penetrate, is softened and meliorated by the action of the air; but this practice is more applicable to orchard planting. In putting in wall trees, it is not uncommon, not only to have the bor der well prepared generally, but to have a quantity of very good friable mould for each tree in particular, intc•which it may strike young fibres freely : this mould however should not he screened or made fine, but should be of the ordinary degree or roughness natural to garden soil. When the trees have been brought from a very great dis tance, so as to have been several days on their journey, Miller recommends the placing the roots in water for eight or ten hours before planting.