Janaarr 30, 1868. ] 



JOORNAIj of nORTICULTUUE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



97 



It is well adapted for Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, Cherries, 

 and Plums. All of these may be trained as compound horizontal 

 cordons in the colder climate of Yorkshire. 



A very skilful cultivator of fruit has trained Peaches and 

 Nectarines with complete success, to counteract the tendency of 

 these fruit trees to produce much unripened wood. Wlien 

 under cordon training ho leaves on every branch a shoot which 

 lie calls an exhauster. This shoot forms an outlet for the super- 

 fluous energy of the tree ; and the fruit spurs, being deprived of 

 the superabundance of the vital lluid, do not break into growth. 

 This theory will be found to be very sound practice, and should 

 be used wherever there is a tendency on the part of the tree 

 to produce many unripened spurs. This mode of training for 



the Pear and Apple is already well known ; and when applied to 

 Peach and Nectarine trees, the only deviation from established 

 practice will be to treat every horizontal branch as a cordon, 

 and to practise summer-pinching instead of allowing grosp 

 upright shoots to be made. 





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Kg. 8. 



Fit). 9 is a single vertical cordon in a pot, and if an orchard 

 house or glass shed is available these will be found very useful 

 and interesting trees. Pear, Apple, Cherry, and Plum trees 

 may be potted into 8 or 10-inch pots, and moved into a glass 

 shed, or, indeed, any shed open to the sun, while in bloom, 

 and kept under cover until all danger from spring frost is past. 

 They should then be removed to a border prepared for them — 

 the warmer and more sheltered the better. The pots must be 

 plunged to within 2 or 3 inches of the rim. Stable litter partly 

 decomposed should then be spread over the pots and the soil ; 

 and as these trees will require watering, they should he placed 

 near water. One-year-old dwarf trees may be bought at a cheap 

 rate and potted. The fruit will be produced in the second year 

 after potting. The soil for the trees should consist of good, 

 strong, calcareous loam mixed with a third of its bulk of de- 

 composed manure. An old Cucumber or Melon bed may be 

 used ; or, if not convenient, stable manure thrown up and 

 fermented for some time will answer very well. The soil must 

 in all cases be made very firm and solid in the pot. The 

 border or bed for their summer quarters should be G feet wide • 



Fig. 9. 



this will take four rows of trees. This distance is perhaps the 

 most convenient for pruning and watering, but it may be in- 

 creased or diminished at the will of the cultivator. 



Under this system trees which appear to be walking sticks 

 in the winter will become wonderfully fertile ; and if protection 

 in spring can be afforded the crop is almost certain. As it is 

 possible and probable that during the summer some of the 

 roots will have passed through the bottom of the pots into the 

 soil beneath, it will be necessary, after the fruit is gathered 

 and the trees are at rest, to detach them from their anchorage 

 by taking up the pots and cutting off all the roots that protrude 

 through the drainage hole of the pot. As this operation wiU 

 break up the summer quarters of the trees, there will be no 

 necessity to replace them at the distance requisite for their 

 summer cultivation. They may be much more closely packed 

 for their winter quarters, plunging them as mentioned before, 

 and during winter covering the pots thickly with straw or stable 

 litter. In this position they may be left without any further 

 care or attention until the returning spring urges them again 

 into fresh activity and fruitftUness. — T. Francis Eivebs. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The general preparation of the ground for the spring crops 

 having been delayed later than usual, no time should be lost in 

 forwarding the necessary digging and trenching, preparatory to 

 a more thorough manipulation of the soil before sowing. The 

 principal causes of success in growing vegetables are a fine tilth, 

 and as great a depth of earth as can be obtained without inter- 

 fering with the subsoil, if the latter is of a sour nature. Clayey 

 and retentive subsoils should, however, be forked over, loosen- 

 ing the ground for some depth. This will facilitate the passage 

 of water from the roots, and by degrees the subsoil will become 

 improved. There areibut few vegetables that do not require 

 a medium depth of 2 feet to grow in, some more, and hence the 

 necessity of deep, well-pulverised soil for their successful cul- 

 tivation. l''or the present the dung may be dug in as trenchin" 



goes on, and its thorough incorporation with the soil will be 

 best effected when the ground is again worked over with a 

 three-prouged fork. It is now necessary to determine what 

 the different quarters of the garden shall be filled with during 

 tlie season. Though one vegetable may bo grown on the same 

 ground for years, yet such a method involves a greater ex- 

 pense for manvire and labour than when a regular system of 

 rotation is adopted, as the culture of one vegetable often pre- 

 pares the soil for the growth of another. The chief rule to be 

 observed with all annual vegetables, is never to have two crops 

 of the same class directly following each other. Though ex- 

 cellent plans of rotation may be laid down, yet the period that 

 will elapse before the ground is again occupied by a similar 

 crop, will depend upon the wants of the establishment, and the 

 extent of ground at the disposal of the gardener. Garlic should 



