276 THE GARDENER, [June 



tree of the same age was denuded of all its branches by Mr Mearns 

 (except two at the top), and planted on a high south wall. He began 

 training all the young branches downwards from the two leaders, and 

 they soon got into a fruitful state, and produced fine fruit. No doubt 

 a sunken pit where Asparagus was forced in helped this tree's growth, 

 for its roots came close to the wall where the hot dung-linings were put 

 in. In 1858, when the new gardens were made, I had this tree 

 lifted with a machine, and planted in nearly a similar aspect, but 

 without the advantage of its roots being heated in spring. Every 

 year since it has never failed in bearing fine fruit, but in the past 

 summer they were larger and finer than I ever remember to have 

 seen Mulberry fruit even in the south of England. The tree covers a 

 large space, and was worthy of being covered with Nottingham netting, 

 which I had to do to save the fruit from birds, wasps, and flies. 



William Tillery. 



DIFFICULTIES. 



A WORD TO YOUNG GARDENERS. 



{Continued from page 129.) 



It was with genuine heartfelt pleasure that I read the remarks made 

 by our Editor in the March number of the ' Gardener ' as to the 

 education of young gardeners. I shall anxiously look forward to his 

 promised opinion on that interesting subject, not because I am 

 personally acquainted with him, but because I know him to be a 

 gardener — using the latter word in its fullest sense — and his great 

 experience will add additional weight to his ideas. I must again 

 mention a few more of the young gardener's difficulties — I mean the 

 hindrances that present themselves to those gardeners who work hard 

 and study hard, who are earnestly striving to climb the " tree of 

 knowledge," instead of being content to lounge round its base, and be 

 elbowed and jostled by those ignorant loafers whose only aim in ap- 

 proaching it at all is to laugh derisively at the slips and failures of 

 those who are engaged in ascending its slippery trunk. The road to 

 knowledge may be likened to our attempting to climb a tall stately 

 monarch of the forest. At the first onset we find it difficult to ascend, 

 we have but few branches to assist us up its smooth sides, and what we 

 have are extremely slender; but as with perseverance our store of 

 knowledge increases, we find the simple facts we at first knew gradually 

 expand or enlarge by becoming amalgamated with other nearly related 

 facts, thus forming stronger branches, by the aid of which the climbing 



