390 GARDEN MA^'AGEME^T. 



and in a year or two, when fresh wood is filling up the bare spaces, the whole tree 

 will be covered with bearing wood. Old and exhausted Chaumontel pears will 

 well repay any one who will bestow this treatment upon them. It may also,, 

 with benefit, be applied to all espaliers, whether apples or pears, which are found 

 to fall off in bearing, especially when they are found to bear, as is so often the 

 complaint with old trees, only at the extremities of their shoots. "Where the 

 vigour of the old tree is expended in producing wood and leaves, with an 

 inadequate supply of fruit, it probably arises from over-vigorous root-action. 

 The remedy of root-pruning, described in paragraphs 292 to 293, may be 

 applied with advantage. 



§ 3.— Eexovatixg Old Box Edgings. 



1 142. Nothing gives a more neat and agreeable appearance to a gai-den 

 than well-kept box-edgings. The sort of box in use for this purpose is a dwarf 

 variety of the common box-tree, or Buxus sempervirens, and which, with a 

 little attention, may be kept in order for several years ; but, if neglected, as 

 is too frequently the case, it very soon gets out of order. In old gardens, the 

 box-edgings often look coarse and bushy, and full of gaps ; for this there is no 

 remedy but to take all up, and replant. The plan is this :— Fork up the old 

 box, and pull it into small pieces, with not more than one or two stems each, 

 selecting the youngest and freshest pieces for immediate planting. These 

 should be cut with a sharp spade or garden-shears, so as to be even at the top 

 and also at the roots, leaving each piece about three or four inches in length. 

 The old wood may be served the same way ; but, before these are used to form 

 box-edgings, it will be better to plant them out in the reserve-garden for a 

 season, in a rich light soil, to give them a start, without which they cannot be 

 considered fit for edgings, as they will certainly not recover from their rusty 

 and shabby appearance for a year or two. As box-edging, under the best 

 treatment and greatest care, can hardly be made to last and look well longer 

 than eight or ten years, it is very desirable to have a reserve of young fresh 

 plants always on hand. At the time of planting, the surface of the soil should 

 be levelled and flattened with a spade, and a trench cut sloping towards the 

 gravel walk, so that the roots of the young plants may rest in gravel, and not 

 in the garden-soil. This will prevent a rank growth, and make it an easy 

 matter, by an annual clipping, to keep the edging within due bounds. This 

 clipping should never be omitted, and the best time for it is towards the end 

 of June ; for the box, after this, will soon recover its freshness at this 

 season. 



§ 4.— Garden Turf and Lawns. 



1 143. During spring, and the early summer months, all garden turf and 

 lawns will require very great attention. If they are to look well for the rest 

 of the year (and we must remember that the general appearance of the whole- 



