ANNUAL ROOT. CUTTING. 



501 



gravelly loam, of a poor and hungry qua- 

 lity. When the plat was finished, the soil 

 had an appearance of poverty by no means 

 prepossessing. But I planted my beans, 

 and had the satisfaction of seeing them 

 grow vigorously and produce most abundant 

 crops. The difference, indeed, between the 

 product on this piece of trenched ground 

 and another patch of beans in the old soil 

 of my garden, the same season, was in fa- 

 vor of the trenched soW fifty to one. 



This was three years ago ; and I have 

 had excellent crops on this quarter ever 

 since. Two years ago, encouraged b}' the j 

 success of the foregoing experiment, I pre- j 

 pared my cauliflower quarter in the same 

 way, with equally good results. Almost { 



every plant, put out in this renovated soil, 

 headed well; whereas, before that, not more 

 than half or a third would usually form 

 flower heads at all. 



As many persons cannot well afford to 

 trench their whole kitchen garden at once, 

 and may not be aware of the good effects 

 of trenching a small part of it at a time, 

 pray oblige them and me by publishing 

 this, to show them its good results. 



Yours. A Constant Reader. 



P. S. I think, from comparison with ex- 

 periments of the same kind, made by a 

 neighbor, that the good efl!ect is somewhat 

 increased by trenching in the fall, rather 

 than the spring, though I have found the 

 latter time a good one. 



ANNUAL ROOT- CUTTING OP CERTAIN FRUIT-BEARING PLANTS. 



BY R. ERRINGTOiX.* 



It certainly appears at first sight a bold re- 

 commendation, to advise cutting away those 

 valuable organs destined by Nature to ac- 

 quire sustenance for the vegetable struc- 

 ture. When, however, the reasons are 

 carefully examined, it will, I think, be per- 

 ceived, that such a practice under certain 

 circumstances must be productive of deci- 

 ded benefit; more especially with regard 

 to flavor in the fruit. Some distinction 

 should be here drawn, in order to throw 

 light on the matter, between those fruit- 

 bearing shrubs or trees which produce their 

 fruit chiefly on the young shoots of the pre- 

 ceding year, and those which produce prin- 

 cipally from what the gardener terms 

 " spurs." In casting a glance over fruit- 

 bearing trees or plants in general, it will 

 be obvious that with few and trifling ex- 

 ceptions. Nature has in this respect mark- 

 ed out two classes in broad and well defined 

 characters. 



In order to convey a ready idea of these 

 two classes to those who are not practically 



• From the Journal of the London Horticultural Society. 



engaged in gardening, I would adduce the 

 following, viz : — 



Fruits bearing chiefly on the spur : 

 The apricot ; 



The red and white currant ; 

 The plum ; and 



Fruits bearing chiefly on the youngwood : 



The gooseberry ; 



The vine ; 



The black currant ; 



The raspberry. 

 These will suffice to throw light on the mat- 

 ter in hand. 



The first thing I would observe is, that 

 from the circumstance of the spurs being for 

 the most part situated on or near to the 

 main stems, any undue extension of the 

 young shoots above and around must of 

 necessity produce such an amount of shade 

 in the neighborhood of the spurs as cannot 

 do otherwise than end in barrenness. The 

 chances of light, in fact, to the home spurs 

 of a gross red currant bush are about as 

 great as to those of a tuft of fern in a dense 

 wood. Who can wonder, then, at such 



