Domestic Gardener'' s Manual. 57 



diseased of the old trees; and he invariably found that the shoots 

 produced by these scions, during a period of six years, were 

 without canker, and carried good crops. The success of this 

 experiment is attested in a letter to the Caledonian Horticul- 

 tural Society by Mr. Reid's master, and by another gentleman, 

 Colonel Spens of Craigsanquhar, a distinguished amateur 

 horticulturist; and the London medal of 1827 was awarded 

 to Mr. Reid. 



The above paper, duly considered, ought to teach gardeners, 

 what has been often inculcated in this Magazine, that it is 

 improper to plant standard fruit trees in the compartments of 

 a kitchen-garden, and that on very few soils can an orchard 

 be dug with propriety. We have said all we can, on different 

 occasions, to dissuade from growing any thing on fruit-tree 

 borders, except the very lightest annual crops to shade the 

 surfiice ; but even for that purpose we prefer mulching. On 

 many soils and situations an orchard will succeed very well, 

 when the surface is covered with turf composed of the proper 

 grasses, without the admixture of tap-rooted plants ; but this 

 will not hold in orchards with the trees planted on the 

 surface. Mr. Reid says, " I tried grass, but it does not an- 

 swer." The fruit of the trees becomes small, and is late in 

 ripening ; and the trees become subject to moss. 



(To be continued.^ 



Art. III. The Domestic Gardener's 3Iamial, being an Introduction 

 to Gardening ; to ivhich is added a concise JVaturalist's Calendar 

 and English Botanists Companion, or Catalogue of British Plants, 

 in the Monthly Order of their Floivering. By A Practical Horti- 

 culturist. Whittaker, Treacher, and Co. London. Large 8vo, 

 pp. 5Q'^. 



No one, judging from the modest title of this book, can 

 have any conception of what it really contains. The title is 

 decidedly imperfect. It should have been called Chemical 

 Horticulture, or rather the Philosophy of Horticulture. It 

 is, indeed, quite evident that the talented author, though assum- 

 ing only the humble cognomen of a " practical horticulturist," 

 has chosen gardening merely as a medium for the purpose of 

 promulgating his extensive knowledge and peculiar opinions 

 as a chemist, not only on the phenomena of vegetation, but 

 on that of nature in general. 



Ever since vegetation has been studied by the philosopher, 

 he has been invariably led to the conclusion, that the phe- 



