HOW TO RENOVATE AN OLD GARDEN. 



tr}^ they do 'crack, and shrivel, and spot. The evidence seems to me to be conclusive, par- 

 ticularly with this variety. 



There are instances, undoubtedly, where large, flourishing and aged pear trees are found 

 in light soils; but on examination it will be ascertained that such trees are favorably locat- 

 ed to receive the wash of the house, out-buildings, or yards, which are rich in lime and 

 potash, thus feeding them highly on the material so necessary to their full development 

 and bearing. And the fact that the plum is so successfully grown in the stiff cla3's of 

 Schenectady, Albany and Hudson, and other portions of the Hudson river valley where 

 the peculiar "Albany clay" predominates, over other appareyitly more congenial locali- 

 ties, is an evidence that soil, more than cultivation, has to do with the success of many 

 of our better fruits. 



May not the history of the Detroit Pear trees also throw some light on the doctrine of 

 special manures as a panacea for barrenness and want of growth, in many of our fruit 

 trees, standing on light, loamy and sandy soils.' For here is the living fact, of trees, in 

 all probability one hundred and fifty years old, of enormous growth, and in full vigor, 

 annually loaded with large, fair, perfect fruit, standing out in open fields — and so long as 

 the trees have stood there — under an exhausting, wasteful course of tillage, with little or 

 no artificial manures of any kind. "What an enormous draft of the constituents of the wood, 

 leaf, and fruit of the pear, has been made on that soil; and still, to all appearance, not 

 lacking in the requisite aliment to sustain them for many years to come! A most interest- 

 ing subject of examination this, to the physiologist. That many of these old trees miglit 

 now be benefitted by a thorough incorporation into the soil of wood ashes, decayed leaves, 

 rotten wood, spent tan-bark, lime, and barn-yard manure, I have no doubt; for beyond 

 all question, some individual spots where the}' grow, judging from the waning appearance 

 of the trees, must be well nigh exhausted of their fruit-growing elements. I once knew 

 an old apple tree — perhaps it had stood a centur}' or more — the last survivor of an orcliard, 

 its branches mostly gone, its trunk decayed and hollow, brought into a vigorous new 

 growth and bearing, by the application of chip manure and leached ashes, upon the sur- 

 face beneath it. I knew an old pear tree which stood in a deserted garden, beside a stone 

 wall, and with but a small part of its trunk left, (the rest had rotted off and fallen away,) 

 yet by reneAved cultivation, replaced with a new top and branches, Avhich became fruitful, 

 and made a rapid growth of new bark and wood on the decayed trunk. They were on 

 moist, sandy-loam soils. 



If I lived in the neighborhood of Detroit, T certainly — if I could get the privilege — 

 would try the virtues of decayed wood, lime and ashes, on one or more of those declining 

 pear trees, and know the result; and it is greatly to be wished, that Avhile they still sur- 

 vive, some one in their immediate neighborhood may feel sufficient interest in the subject 

 to make the proper application, and let the public know the result. Lewis F. Allen. 



Black Rock J December, 18-50. 



HOW TO RENOVATE AN OLD GARDEN. 



BY JOHN QUINN, TROY, N. Y. 



As this question, " how am I to renovate my old garden?" is invariably put bj' a nu- 

 merous class of your readers — who perhaps cannot afford to employ a professional gardener, 

 and are therefore obliged to look to the " Horticulturist" for information on all gnrden- 

 tters — the following remarks are respectfully submited for their perusal. The 

 I am about to propose is not a new one, for as I consider the radical cure th 



