141 



the trees have continued every season to 

 bear fruit, which is now nearly thirty 

 years since. 



It sometimes happens that a tree in a 

 soil which is not rich, may take to grow 

 very luxuriantly from the nature of the 

 stock on which it had been grafted, 

 the roots of this having probably ex- 

 tended to very considerable distances 

 in search of food, which is not an un- 

 common case. This seems to have been 

 particularly noticed by our older gar- 

 deners, and they have given us some cu- 

 rious antidotes to luxuriance, one of which 

 was to dig under the roots, and place im- 

 mediately below the stem of the trees a 

 dead dog, cat, or any other animal. 

 This has been said to answer the pur- 

 pose, as was once the case at Watford. 

 It should be observed that it was not 

 owing however to the animal, but was 

 probably the effect of taking out the earth 

 and laying bare the roots ; a mode that 

 has for many ages been practised for such 

 purposes, but not known in the present 

 day. It was probabl}' ordered that a dog 

 or some other large animal should be laid 



