144 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



effects of raising the borders to a height that would have allowed me 

 to place the roots of the trees above the common level of the garden. 

 My object ia doing this would been to keep the roots within the 

 reach of sun and air ; it would have promoted a more healthy action 

 between the roots and leaves ; success depends entirely on the perfect 

 balance of this action. 



The next point to be considered is the soil. That most suitable 

 for Peaches is friable loam, of naturally good quality ; it is far pre- 

 ferable to ordinary soils enriched by manures, for such materials 

 decompose rapidly, and supply the plant with food faster than is 

 necessary for its perfect development, and gross luxuriance is the 

 consequence. It is on this account that so many have insisted on 

 the superiority of turves from old pastures, as they contain all the 

 constituents the plant requires. They decompose slowly, and con- 

 tinue to supply the wants of the plants with suitable food longer 

 than any other material provided the border is effectually drained. 

 Too much importance cannot be attached to drainage ; it increases 

 the productive powers of the soil, and, by the admission of air to the 

 roots, they are enabled to decompose and take up those earthy and 

 organic matters essentia] to their growth. In order to secure the 

 thorough drainage of Peach borders I put down a drain parallel with 

 the wall, and not less than three feet in depth, with outlets in every 

 drain that would be brought into communication with it. The 

 width of my borders I could regulate according to the height of the 

 wall ; for a wall of ten feet in height, I would have an eight- feet 

 border ; but for a twelve feet wall, I should add two feet more to 

 the border. I should prefer trained trees from a nursery to maiden 

 ones, as they are thoroughly prepared for the final plantation. If 

 the soil is good and friable, I would select trees worked on their own 

 stocks. If it was very stiff, I would give the plum stock the prefer- 

 ence. The fruit grown on the natural stock is of the best quality, 

 but smaller than that produced on the plum stock. I must again 

 quote the remarks of Mr. Knight on this subject ; he says that his 

 garden contained two trees of the Acton Scott variety, one growing 

 on its native stock, the other on the plum stock. The soil being 

 similar, and the aspect the same, that growing on the plum stock 

 produced fruit of a larger size, and its colour, where it was exposed 

 to the sun, was much more red, but its pulp was more coarse, and 

 its flavour so inferior, that he would have denied the identity of the 

 variety had he not, with his own hand, inserted the buds from which 

 both sprang. I would, however, in all cases, adopt such means as 

 would be most likely to answer the desired end; I would keep the roots 

 as near the surface as possible, that they might have all the air and solar 

 heat they could get. Roots so situated generally produce healthy 

 branches and good fruit. The most approved system of training is the 

 fan, on account of its allowing the sap to be more equally distributed. 

 The beauty of trees so trained depends on the treatment they receive 

 in their earlier stages. The shoots made in the second and third 

 year after budding are the principal branches of the tree — then is 

 the time to lay the foundation of a well-trained tree, it cannot be 

 done afterwards ; I would take care that no more shoots remained on 



