CHAP. VI VILLA GAEDENING 267 



exceed 2 feet in depth. I think it is a mistake to make the 

 borders too rich at the begiuuing. To begin with, they might 

 be made with the surface soil taken some 3 or 4 inches in depth 

 from any arable land that will produce good Wheat. Better, 

 fiiuner wood will be produced in such soil than where the borders 

 are made of chopped tm'f. When the trees are filling up the wall 

 and are bearing freely, top-dressings with tm-fy loam will be of 

 immense advantage, and tend to keep the roots near the sm-- 

 face. Turfy loam placed near the roots of exhausted trees will 

 invigorate and repair weakened health. Where the subsoil 

 is bad, an impervious bottom to the border, formed of 4 inches 

 in depth of concrete, sloping down to a drain in front, will repay 

 its cost. The borders should be allowed to settle before the trees 

 are planted. November is the best time to ^jlant, and the trees 

 should be selected with care, avoiding those which have been long 

 in the nursery and frequently cut back. The knife is a dangerous 

 implement to use freely among Apricot trees at any stage of their 

 existence ; and it is certain that by its use many trees are de- 

 baiTcd from a long and usefvd life. A young tree, budded on a 

 weakly stock, where the action between the foster-parent and its 

 child is not reciprocally perfect, shoidd not be chosen. Stoutness 

 and vigoiu" of stem are essential to longevity. Apricots are usually 

 budded on the Muscle, or some kind of vigorous seedling Plum ; 

 and as much care should be exercised in the selection of the 

 stock as in that of the buds. Hereditary weakness is a forcible 

 fact, and perpetuated in i:)lants as it is in animals. Hence the 

 importance of being as carefid in the selection of the young trees, 

 and noting the size of their stems, as the recruiting sergeant 

 is in obsei'ving the chest measurement of the recruit. For a 

 wall over 12 feet high, what are termed riders (standard trees) 

 shoidd be planted alternately with the dwarfs. I like to plant, 

 first of all, about 14 feet apart, and then, as the trees require more 

 space, replant. Trees 8 and 10 feet in diameter are always 

 valuable, and it seems to me to be a waste of space to jDlant little 

 trees at wide intervals and wait years for them to grow, when, if 

 they were planted nearer to each other, half of them might be 

 lifted and planted elsewhere. I wonder if any one ever had 

 more half-specimen trees, nicely furnished, than he required 1 A 

 market could always be foiind for them if they were not required. 

 The best system of training, looking at the question from every 

 point of view, is the fan shape ; the main branches should be 

 laid in at equal distances apart, leaving space for young wood to 

 be equally distributed over the tree. It is always wise to keep 

 the bottom of the tree in advance of the top, i.e. the bottom 



