Worcestershire, Herefordshire, the south of England, and foreign

sources.

Birmingham, Mr. John Pope reports, is largely supplied with fruit from the Evesham and Pershore district, and elsewhere outside the county of Warwick, though strawberries are grown somewhat extensively around Kenilworth. The area of small fruit in the county is very limited, and the greater proportion of the orchards must be those of farmers who send only a minor part of their produce to market.

Although fruit is produced to a moderate extent in Nottinghamshire, and there are many small growers around Nottingham, that important centre, according to the Clerk of the Market, is mainly supplied from Kent, Cambridgeshire, and Worcestershire, helped by Cornwall, Devon, and Lincolnshire. But Nottinghamshire returns the compliment by sending a good deal of fruit to Lincoln market from Tuxford, Dunham, Collingham, and other parishes. In the districts of Southwell and Halam, as well as in several parishes nearer to Nottingham, I had occasion to inspect several orchards a few years ago; but some of them were not well managed. Market gardens in Lowdham, Gunthorpe, Baisford, Bulwell, and other parishes also produce fruit of various kinds.

With respect to Buckinghamshire, Mr. John Treadwell informs me that around Cheddington and Ivinghoe there are a good many plums, damsons, and cherries, while throughout the districts under the Chiltern Hills apples and walnuts are grown.

Referring to other parts of Norfolk than the neighbourhood of Wisbech, already noticed, Mr. Thomas Rose, of Norwich, states that the parish of Lakenham, part of Mr. E. S. Trafford's estate, is nearly all let to market gardeners, who grow fruit as well as vegetables and flowers. In other parishes near Norwich also there are many large growers. Again, at Filby and Belton there are extensive producers of raspberries and strawberries for the Yarmouth market; and at Wiggenhall, near Lynn, many other growers of fruit are to be found.

Suffolk is not at all an important fruit-producing county, and the growers are chiefly distributed around the towns. The other Eastern counties have been noticed, and the chief fruit districts of Surrey are in the metropolitan district.

In Sussex the fruit plantations are a good deal scattered. There are some at Henfield, near Horsham, and more in the western parts of the county, notably at Washington, near Steyning, where there is a splendid little tract of fruit land. on the Greensand formation, whence considerable quantities of

produce are sent to Brighton and other markets. Again, in the south, near Worthing, though not in that town of hothouses, fruit plantations are to be found. West Tarring, close to Worthing, is particularly interesting for its ancient fig gardens, supposed to have been originated by Thomas à Becket, who introduced the fig there from Italy. At Lancing and two or three other parishes in the same neighbourhood figs and other fruit are grown. The district, I believe, is the only one in England in which figs are grown extensively in the open air.

Turning towards the West of England and passing over Shropshire with the remark that, apart from the farmers' orchards and the market gardens near towns, fruit is not much in evidence, Somersetshire calls for some attention. In the neighbourhood of Bath, Mr. Thomas Kitley, of the Oldfield Nurseries in that city, informs me that fruit is produced to a quantity much in excess of local requirements. Strawberries, for which the Bath district has been famous for half a century, are produced chiefly at Lyncombe, Widcombe, and Batheaston, while apples, pears, plums, raspberries, and bush fruit are grown at the same and other places. Mr. Robert Brown, of Failand, near Bristol, who is himself a grower of the several kinds of top and bottom fruit, in addition to the usual farm orchard trees, has favoured me with a report on fruit growing in North Somerset, which I regret to be obliged to abridge. It relates mainly to cider orchards attached to all farms. It is interesting to learn that most of the small farmers within twelve miles of Bristol pay their rents from the sale of the produce of their orchards, gardens, and the butter, eggs, and poultry carried by them to market. Apart from the retail trade in fruit, salesmen buy the surplus of the cider and other common apples to send to the manufacturing towns, where it is said they are used for dyeing purposes as well as for eating. It appears, however, that they are largely utilised in making cheap jam, mixed with strawberries, raspberries, and other fruits, and sold under those names. Mr. Brown has a good deal to say about cider making, and the need of renovating the orchards for that purpose. Cherries, he adds, are grown at Clapton and elsewhere, and strawberries at Tickenham, both of which places are near Clifton.

Gloucestershire is one of the most important fruit counties not visited, and it was my desire to notice the great plantations of the Toddington Orchard Company, about 1,000 acres in extent, established by Lord Sudeley; but as the manager informed me that visitors are asked not to publish an account of what they see on the great fruit farm, it was obviously useless to

inspect it. With respect to other parts of the county, Messrs. Wheeler & Son, of Gloucester, have favoured me with some information. The tree fruit grown for market consists chiefly of apples and plums, both being produced in most of the vale districts on either side of the Severn. The trees on farms are mostly grown over grass, but in market gardens over bush fruit. All kinds of small fruit are cultivated more or less. Strawberries are grown in the open ground generally, but in some cases under fruit trees, while raspberries are produced only in market gardens.

Mr. John Watkins, of Hereford, a well-known fruit-grower, reports that the apple is the fruit principally grown in Herefordshire, the soil being best suited to that fruit. Plums, pears, and cherries are produced on a comparatively small scale, while the acreage under strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and currants, has greatly increased during the last ten years, at the beginning of which period they were very little cultivated for market. Apples are grown nearly all over the county, chiefly over grass, though of late many trees have been planted in arable land, with bush fruit under them. Among the best districts for them are the valleys of the Terne and Frome, Withington, Pyon, Marden, and Ross. Plums and small fruit are produced most extensively in the parishes of Withington, Asperton, Putley, Marden, and Pembridge. Strawberries and raspberries are chiefly to be found growing alone, though the former are sometimes grown for a few years in new plantations of fruit trees and bushes. Mr. C. W. Radcliffe Cooke, M.P., to whom I am indebted for the addresses of fruit-growers, states that strawberry-growing has been greatly extended in recent years. Mr. John Riley, of Putley Court, planted 32 acres of plums, apples, and damsons, with gooseberries, red and black currants and strawberries, as bottom-fruit, in 1880 and 1881; but the black-currants failed, and had to be replaced by gooseberries. In the adjoining parish of Munsley, there are about 25 acres of strawberries, and two of Mr. Riley's tenants in Putley are small growers of this and other kinds of fruit. In Stoke Edith there are 40 acres of strawberries. Raspberries are produced extensively by Mr. Smith, of Marden; and strawberries by Mr. Ellick, at Withington.

In Monmouthshire, apart from the farm orchards, in which cider apples prevail, fruit growing is rapidly increasing, according to Mr. W. J. Grant, lecturer on horticulture, as well as on agriculture and dairying, to the County Council. increase is mainly due to the efforts of the Technical Education Committee. Orchards are being renovated, and fresh

This

plantations of top and bottom fruit are being made. Upon application the County Council sends an expert to inspect, advise, and report, in relation to the kinds of fruit most suitable to any district. Mr. Grant inspects cottage gardens, allotments, and orchards, gives advice when desired, and delivers lectures on fruit growing and other branches of horticulture in the villages. Instruction of similar character is also given in the Industrial Schools and the Reformatory, in connection with which some fruit is grown. A useful pamphlet on "Fruits for Monmouthshire," written by Mr. Grant, is circulated by the Technical Instruction Committee.

With respect to the few counties not represented by visits or reports from correspondents, readers will see from the tables given at the outset that they are not important fruit producers, except, in some cases, in relation to cider apples and pears for perry.

Wales, apart from farm orchards, grows comparatively little fruit. Mr. Grant, who has kindly answered my inquiries as to Glamorganshire and South Wales generally, as well as in relation to his own county, states that very little fruit is produced there, though more might be grown with advantage. Even in the neighbourhood of populous Cardiff the production is small, and the supplies are derived mainly from Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and more distant counties. Of course, market gardeners near the large towns, and notably near Swansea, grow some fruit; but the production is not extensive in any part of South Wales. In Mid Wales, again, the production is limited and scattered, and in North Wales it is smaller still, though Llanrwst, Denbighshire, is noted for its strawberries.

The unexpected length of this report on fruit grown in the open necessitates the postponement of the article on fruit grown under glass, and some concluding remarks upon fruit growing generally. WILLIAM E. BEAR.

70 Onslow Gardens, Highgate, N.

87

HEDGES AND HEDGE-MAKING.

FROM all one can learn Hedges have always been more or less subject to neglect, and it is not surprising that they should be particularly so at a time when, with all care in matters of expenditure, the returns from farming are small in comparison with the outlay. There was never a period when economy was more necessary, and a saving in any direction, where it can reasonably be effected, has become imperative. As it is only in rare instances that any direct pecuniary return can be looked for from hedges, it is but natural that their preservation should be among the first of the many operations on the farm to be neglected. It is, however, doubtful economy, for a stick in time may save nine; and when once a weakness commences in a hedge it very soon increases until it becomes gap, and a gappy hedge no longer performs its first duty of being a fence. To produce a hedge which is a reliable fence is a matter of considerable expense, but once obtained it is not expensive, considering the responsibility placed on it, to maintain it. A reasonable quantity of fencing is as essential to the proper working of a farm as is the homestead itself. In respect to the necessary expenditure in the maintenance of hedges there is one point which tends to minimise the seriousness of the outlay in labour, and that is that the work may be performed at a time when there is little else of importance to be done on the farm, consequently good labourers may be kept in employ during periods of slackness, so that their services are secured at times when they are necessary and valuable. This feature alone should practically do away with the excuse for neglecting to keep hedges in a thriving and efficient manner.

It is not intended here to deal so much with ornamental fences as with those of practical utility to the farm. From the adaptability of the whitethorn (Crataegus Oxyacantha) to the formation of efficient fences in all but the stoniest and most exposed situations, chief attention will be bestowed upon it.

I. THE FORMATION OF HEDGES.

CHARACTERS DESIRABLE IN A PLANT FOR HEDGING PURPOSES.

The suitability of a plant for the purpose of making a quick or living hedge so as to form a fence against cattle is determined by a number of features, the most important of which are that it should: (1) Produce a hedge in a reasonably short time; (2) be long-lived; (3) be capable of easy repair if neglected; (4) be