October 21, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



355 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Da7 Day 



ot I of 

 Month I Week. 



21 



22 

 23 

 21 

 2,'j 

 26 

 27 



Ta 



P 



s 



80S 



M 



To 



w 



OCTOBER 21—27, 1876. 



Sale of Mr. Bull's new plants at 38, King Street, Covent 



[ Garden. 

 Robert Fish dieii, 1878. 

 22 SONDAY AFTER TRINITY. 



Twilight ends 6 40 r.M. 

 J. Strutt born, 1743. 



Uoon 

 Rises. 



Moon 



Sets. 



m. b. 

 8 afID 

 34 11 

 morn. 

 66 

 14 2 I 

 80 3 I 

 48 4 , 



m. h. 

 30 at 2 

 B2 2 



Moon's 

 Ago. 



Days. 

 t 



23 

 24 

 25 

 26 

 27 

 28 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



15 17 



15 26 



15 35 



15 43 



16 60 



15 66 



16 2 



Day 



ot 



Year. 



294 

 295 

 296 

 S97 

 298 

 VM 

 300 



39.2°, 



From observations taken near London during forty-threo yearfl, the average day temperature of the week is 66.9-; and its night temperature 



SOIL AND CLIMATE IN RELATION TO PRACTICE. 



.^ doubt the nature .and condition of the soil 



€. W'^?^ K '^^^^ exercise a, material influence upon the 

 climate ; apart from this, the treatment of 

 soil for all purposes of cultivation is a matter 

 of such prime importance that a clear un- 

 derstanding of the matter in its relation to 

 ordinary practice is most desu-able. I have 

 ah-eady in former papers told something of 

 my struggles in bringing what I have termed 

 the worst soil in England into a suitable 

 condition for vegetable culture, and I shall have some- 

 tliing to say further on .about what has been done to it 

 for fruit- culture, but before doing so I wish to say a little 

 about what Mr. Taylor has told us of the soil at Longleat. 

 Evidently it is abundantly fertile, but then its mechanical 

 condition is about as bad as can be, and I should much 

 like to know what has been done, or what it is intended 

 to do, to ameliorate its crudity. 



In Mr. Taylor's first paper, on page 107, he states that 

 " the soil is extremely cold and heavy, the atmosphere 

 humid, and frost visits us every month of the year ;" and 

 on page '285 he states that the " soil is almost too heavy 

 to be called a soil at all ; it is clay, and such heavy clay 

 too that if it lies a year or two unmoved it is almost im- 

 pervious to air, and becomes, consequently, sour." Thus, 

 then, we have very clearly set before us an evd, but we 

 have no statement of a remedy, which impresses one as 

 being so highly important and necessary. What else, I 

 ask, could be expected to prevail where there is such a 

 cold, heavy, sodden, inert soil, but a still colder and most 

 humid atmosphere, leading to frequent frosts '? I have 

 not seen Mr. Taylor's garden, but judging solely from his 

 own statements I am forced to the conclusion that he is 

 either unaware of what a radical change may be effected 

 in such a soil by the action of fire, or that he ia prevented 

 by circumstances from applying the remedy. Burnt clay 

 and a thorough system of drainage would surely effect a 

 marvellous change in this cold heavy soil. Certainly if so 

 treated it never could afterwards settle into an inert mass 

 or become waterlogged. Mr. Taylor questions whether the 

 condition of the trees at Oldlauds is entirely owing to cul- 

 tural skill. Certainly not. Let me, however, state clearly 

 the original condition of the soil, its preparation for the 

 trees, and its subsequent management, together with that 

 of the trees ; it being evident from the numerous com- 

 munications on the subject which have reached me that 

 many .Journal readers are anxious for further information 

 on this subject. But let them not fail to remember that 

 each caee must be treated solely on its own merits, and 

 that if I had to make a garden in another place there 

 would be no line-and-rule work — no slavish following of 

 former plans, but rather such an adaptation of means, 

 such a mode of culture, as the circumstances of situation, 

 soil, and climate appeared in my judgment to require. 



The virgin soil here is a very poor thin loam, containing 

 such an unusually large per-centage of silicious sand that 

 a heavy shower will beat it into a compact mass, drying 



No. 760.— Vol. XXIX., New Series. 



into such hard clods that they have frequently to be 

 softened with water before they can be broken up. The 

 subsoil is a mixture of marl, clay, and silicious sand of 

 a heavy close texture, and so adhesive as to form a puddle 

 for pond bays nearly equal to that of pure clay, alto- 

 gether forming about as unsuitable a staple for fruit- 

 culture as could be found ; so thoroughly was I convinced 

 of this, that as the station holes (G feet square by 3 feet 

 deep) were excavated the entire mass of material taken 

 out was carted away to help to form a viaduct then in 

 course of construction. 



Now, to fill the holes with good soil and to plant the 

 trees might appear a very simple matter, but in reality 

 it was not quite so simple. The entire future of the trees 

 depended so much upon how this was done that results 

 had to be carefully considered, the first shower showing 

 plainly that without an outlet for water the holes would 

 soon prove just so many death-traps to the roots. A row 

 of common iJ-inch di'ain-pipes was therefore put across 

 the bottom of each hole under a layer of C inches of rough 

 stones and connected with the garden drains, which had 

 previously been made 4 feet deep and 30 feet apart ; the 

 remainder of the holes being filled with turfy loam brought 

 from a distance, a little manure stirred in with the upper 

 portion, the trees planted, and the surface mulched with 

 a little fern. Thus, then, the trees were ready for a start, 

 but for a start only, and not for a prolonged existence 

 without future attention to the soil. It was calculated 

 that the trees would require about three years to attain 

 sufficient vigour and maturity for producing really good 

 fruit, that the stations would afford sufficient nutriment 

 for this, and that by then the soil surrounding the sta- 

 tions would be sufficiently improved by culture to afford 

 an additional food-supply for the roots. The calculation 

 was a correct one. Trenching, repeated dressings of ma- 

 nure, wood ashes and gritty matter, such as coal ash and 

 shattered brick, have converted the once-crude substance 

 into an excellent rich and fertile soil, into which the roots 

 have spread with a rapidity that is admirably in keeping 

 with a vigorous wood-growth. During the present year 

 sewage has been given frequently, especially while the 

 fruit was swelling, and also after it was gathered, to im- 

 part full vigour to the fruiting wood of next year. 



Thus much for the culture of the roots. Now for that 

 of the branches, which were pruned according to strength 

 to lengths of 12 to 20 inches at the time of planting. The 

 first season's growth was trained upwards at rather an 

 acute angle, so as to impart as much vigour as possible ; 

 only the breastwood being pruned aw.ay as it appeared. 

 The winter pruning consisted in slightly shortening the 

 leading shoots and thinning and shortening the side 

 growths, taking care to leave the lowest shoots longer 

 than the others. Subsequent pruning may be briefly 

 described as consisting of thinning any growths imme- 

 diately a probability of crowding was perceptible, occa- 

 sionally entirely cutting away a too rampant shoot in 

 the centre of a tree, or if good wood was wanted there 

 to obtain it during the growing season by pinching off the 

 top of one or two of the strongest shoots, and causing 



No. 1112.— Vol. HV., Old Series. 



