(_Concluded from page 295._)
_The Vine_.--The value and transcendant excellence of this foreign fruit
is too well known to require any extended account in this paper; as a
native of the southern verge of the northern temperate zone, it only
requires its natural degree of heat to bring it to perfection. The
growth is luxuriant, is fertile, easy of management, and as it requires
support, obedient to the trainer's will. Many excellent varieties ate in
our stoves and vineries; differing in hardness, size of bunches, and in
colour and flavour of fruit. These, it is likely, have been gained from
seeds; and as its cultivation has been primæval with the inhabitants of
the earth, no wonder it received, for its unequalled utility, their
chiefest care.
That the climate of this country has undergone a considerable change
within the last hundred years, is allowed by all who have considered the
subject; and nothing furnishes a more convincing proof of this, than the
history of the vine. Previous to the reign of Henry VIII., every abbey
and monastery had its vineyard. In the rent-rolls of church property in
those days, and long afterwards, considerable quantities of grapes were
paid as tithe; and the vestiges of some of those vineyards remain to
this day. They were usually placed on the south side of a hill, in a
light dry soil, having the surface covered with sand; the vines being
trained near the ground. But with such inclement and changeable springs,
and long protracted winters, as have been experienced of late, even such
frost as is seen at this moment (24th of April,) vines as standards in
the open air, would be destroyed; or, at least, no dependence could be
placed upon them for a crop. But vineyards in the country could neither
be so profitable, nor are they so necessary as they were in those days;
international intercourse is now more open, and corporations, whether
religious or civil, can be supplied with grapes in any shape, and their
precious juice in any quantity, at a cheaper rate than either home-grown
or home-made. In their cultivation in this country, practitioners are
more liable to err in planting them in too rich, than in too poor a
soil; the first adds too much to their natural luxuriance of growth, and
always reduces the flavour of the fruit.
_The Mulberry_.--This fruit has not been subjected to the
operations and attention of the improver so much, perhaps, as it
deserves; true, it has been planted against walls, and as espaliers; and
in both places has done well.
_The Fig_ has been long in our gardens; a very ancient one is still
alive in the garden of one of the colleges at Oxford. In its native
country it produces two crops in the year, and this property makes its
management rather difficult in a country where it can but with
difficulty be made to produce one; and especially when trained in the
common way to a wall, where the crop is often sacrificed to the useless
symmetry of the tree. It is impatient of frost, and requires protection
during winter; and is also impatient of the knife, and more, perhaps,
than any other tree, is disposed to form its own natural head. When kept
in a glass case, either planted in the ground or in pots, it well repays
the trouble bestowed upon it.
_The Quince_.--This fruit remains very steadily in character to
what it has always been known to be; the taste is too austere to be used
alone from the tree; but with other fruits in pastry, or in the shape of
preserves or marmalade, it is useful.
_The Medley_.--Two or three sorts of this tree are in cultivation:
they are placed in the lowest grade of fruits; though, when they are
perfectly mature, they are much relished by some palates. The azarola,
service, and two or three others used in the south of Europe, are not
worth notice here.
_The Filbert_.--The common wild hazle of our hedges has been
improved, by chance or cultivation, into the several varieties of red
and white filberts and cob-nuts. Working them upon the hazle, or upon
themselves, is necessary; because, it not only makes them more fruitful,
but also brings them sooner into bearing.
_The Walnut_.--This nuciferous tree has been cultivated in England
more for the value of the timber than for its fruit. There are several
varieties, differing chiefly in the size of the nut, from the diminutive
ben-nut, to the large or double French sort. The only improvement which
can be expected in this, is a hardier sort which would be less
susceptible of damage from frost.
_The Chestnut_.--The description of the walnut may be applied to
this, as they are natives of the same climate; and their flowers are
alike impatient of frost. The fruit of this is, however, inferior to
that of the walnut, and seldom arrives at the same degree of perfection.
The tree grows to a great size, and is one of the most valuable of our
forest trees. In "days of yore," it must have been much more plentiful
in this country, or more plentifully imported, than it now is; as the
principal timbers of abbeys, cathedrals, and other ancient buildings,
are chiefly formed of it: being equally durable as the oak, which it so
much resembles, that they can hardly be distinguished from each other,
but by the test of the wet edge of a chissel being stained by the oak,
and not at all by the chestnut.
_The Melon and Cucumber_.--These exotic fruits are extensively
cultivated; the latter takes various shapes in our bills of fare; the
former is more a luxury than a fruit for general use; their culture on
hot-beds forms a material branch of modern gardening, and with that of
the gourd, pumpkin, squash, vegetable marrow, &c., is well known.
_The Pine-Apple_.--This sovereign of fruits is, and can only be, in
this country, an appendage to opulence and rank. Several varieties are
cultivated in our forcing-stoves, and grace the tables of the rich, and
in as great perfection as they can be had between the tropics. In their
wild state, they affect the sides of rivulets, and often under the shade
of lofty trees; but are of inferior flavour, unless the weather is very
dry when they are ripening off; and when cultivated, they receive little
or no water during the last stage of their growth.--_Quarterly Journal
of Science, &c._
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