The orchard trees, though but few of them are indigenous, constitute one
of the most important groups, considered as objects of beauty, to say
nothing of their utility. The most of this class of trees belong to the
natural order of rosaceous plants, among which are some of the fairest
ornaments of Northern climes. Such are the cherry, the peach, the apple,
the pear, also the mountain ash and its allied species down to the
mespilus and hawthorn. These trees are suggestive of the farm and its
pleasant appurtenances, rather than of rude nature; but so closely
allied is Nature to the farm, when under the care of a simple tiller of
the soil, and unbedizened by taste, that its accompaniments seem a
rightful part of her domain. The simplicity of the rustic farm is in
consonance with the fresh, glowing charms of Nature herself. A row of
apple-trees overshadowing the wayside forms an arbor in which the rural
deities might revel as in their own sylvan retreats; and Nature wears a
more charming appearance, when to her own rude costume she adds a wreath
twined by the rosy fingers of Pomona.
[Illustration: THE APPLE.]
The flowers of the orchard trees are invariably white or crimson, or
different shades of these two colors combined. Those of the cherry-tree
and the plum-tree are constantly white; those of the pear-tree are also
white, with brown or purple anthers; those of the peach and apricot are
crimson; those of the apple-tree and quince-tree, when half expanded,
are crimson, changing to white or blush-color as they expand. The colors
of the hawthorn vary, according to their species, which are numerous,
from white to pure crimson. Only a few of the orchard trees have been
cultivated for their flowers alone; among these we find a species of
cherry with double flowers, and a double-flowering almond, which are
common in flower-beds. The Virginia crab-apple is also planted for the
fragrance and beauty of its flowers; and if the Siberian species had no
material value, it would be cultivated for the beauty of its fruit.
As I have frequently remarked, Nature is not lavish of those forms and
hues that constitute pure organic beauty. She displays them very
sparingly under ordinary circumstances, that we may not be wearied by
their stimulus, and thereby lose our susceptibility to agreeable
impressions from homely objects. But at certain times and during very
short periods she seems to exert all her powers to fascinate the senses.
It is when in these moods that she wreathes the trees with flowers for a
short time in the spring, and just before the coming of winter illumines
the forest with colors as beautiful as they are evanescent.
The APPLE-TREE was one of the first trees planted by the original
settlers of New England, who could not in the wilderness raise those
fruits that require the skill of the gardener. This tree is indigenous
in all parts of Europe, Northern Asia, and North America. On this
continent are found two native species, of which the Virginia Crab is
the only important one. This tree bears a small green fruit, agreeable,
odoriferous, and intensely acid; but our attention is chiefly attracted
by its rose-colored flowers, that perfume the whole atmosphere with a
sweetness not surpassed by that of the rose. Nothing in the world can
exceed the purity of this fragrance, which, in connection with its
beautiful flowers, borne in large clusters, render it the admiration of
all. The lover of nature is delighted to find this species in a
perfectly unsophisticated state, and unimproved by culture, which always
tends to insipidity. The Druids paid great reverence to the apple-tree,
because the mistletoe grew upon it. In our own fields it is free from
this parasite, which is not found on the western continent above the
latitude of Virginia.
[Illustration: THE PEAR.]
The apple-tree bears some resemblance to the oak in its general
outlines, displaying, though inferior in size, more sturdiness than
grace. A standard apple-tree commonly resembles a hemisphere, often in
diameter exceeding its own height. This shape might be caused by
training; but the gardener, by cutting off certain branches, does not
change the tendency of the tree to assume its normal shape. The foliage
of the apple-tree is rather coarse, stiff, and inelegant, and deficient
in purity of verdure, being after it is fully developed of a dusky
green, and without tints when ripened, save what may be termed
accidental. There is, nevertheless, a certain kind of beauty in an old
apple-tree which is seen in no other of the orchard trees, rendering it
a very picturesque object in rustic scenery.
The PEAR-TREE is taller than the apple-tree, assuming an imperfectly
pyramidal shape. Its branches have not the horizontal tendency of the
latter; but when growing singly as a standard it greatly surpasses it in
dimensions, and many individuals of a former age, that have escaped the
axe of horticultural improvement, are noble standards, and of no
inferior merit as shade-trees. The foliage of the pear-tree displays
some of the tremulous habit of the aspen, owing to the length and
slenderness of its leaf-stems. It has, moreover, a gloss that
distinguishes it from that of the apple-tree; it is also less stubborn
in retaining its verdure, and partially tinted in autumn. The pear-trees
which have been raised within the last thirty years are mostly dwarfed,
and seldom display their normal shape. They are small, with straggling
branches, and unworthy of consideration in a treatise of this kind. The
old standards, still, occasionally seen in pastures and fallow lands,
are the only ones that affect the beauty of landscape. I have mentioned
several points in which the pear-tree surpasses the apple-tree as a
beautiful and stately object; but its fruit will bear no comparison in
beauty with that of the apple-tree, which produces a greater variety of
beautiful fruit than any other tree that is known.
The QUINCE-TREE, though inferior in size, and not prospering very well
on the soil of New England, which is rather too cold for it, deserves a
passing remark. In botanical characters it bears more resemblance to the
pear than to the apple. The fruit has the same tender and mucilaginous
core; the seeds are not enclosed in a dry hull, like those of the apple;
and the pulp of the quince, like that of the pear, is granulated, while
that of the apple displays in its texture a finer and firmer
organization. I may add the well-known fact that the pear may be grafted
upon a quince stock, while no such union can be effected between the
apple and the quince, or the apple and the pear. The quince-tree makes a
very elegant appearance, both when covered with its large white and
crimson-stained flowers, and when laden with its golden Hesperian fruit.
The PLUM-TREE, in connection with the orchard, hardly deserves mention;
but there are two indigenous species which in some places are
conspicuous objects in our fields. The beach-plum requires no
description. It is a low shrub, very common on many parts of the New
England coast and on the islands around it. There is nothing remarkable
in its appearance or in the beauty of its fruit, which is of a dark-blue
color and about the size of damsons. The other species is a tree of
considerable size, which is very beautiful when covered with its ripe
scarlet berries. In the State of Maine they are called “plumgranates,”
and are very generally used for culinary purposes.
The PEACH-TREE, of all the tenants of the garden and orchard, is the
most beautiful when in flower, varying in the color of its bloom from a
delicate blush to a light crimson. As it puts forth its flowers before
the leaves, the tree presents to view the likeness of a magnificent
bouquet. When covering many acres of ground, nothing in nature can
surpass it in splendor, flowering, as it does, sooner than almost any
other tree. Even in New England, where these trees are now seen only in
occasional groups, they constitute an important object in the landscape,
when in flower. Few persons are aware how much interest the peach-tree
adds to the landscape in early spring, by its suggestions as well as its
beauty. Since the changeableness of our winter and the harshness of our
spring weather have been aggravated by the destruction of our Northern
forests, the peach-tree is so liable to perish that its cultivation has
been neglected, and trees of this species are now very scarce in New
England, except in the gardens of wealthy men. We no longer meet them as
formerly in our journeyings through rustic farms, when they were
interspersed among apple-trees, adorning every byway in the country.