REPOTTING ORCHARD-HOUSE TREES. Ill 



REPOTTING ORCHARD-HOUSE TREES. 



Since a portion of tlie preceding remarks were written, 

 there has been considerable discnssion in regard to orchard- 

 house culture in the Englisli periodicals; some being greatly 

 in favor of the method, and others opposed to it, each giving 

 their views for and against it; but the predominant feeling 

 has been that it is a sure and certain plan of raising many of 

 the finest fruits. 



This general discussion has also been followed by detailed 

 methods of treatment, and the failure of some cultivators has 

 induced others who have been successful to make known the 

 process by which they have accomplished such results. One of 

 the most interesting of these has been the remarks on repot- 

 ting. We have not ourselves recommended but one shift 

 from 13 to 18-inch pots, for a course of five years, though 

 some orchard-house cultivators recommend it annually ; but 

 we do not think it advisable, and we quote the remarks of an 

 experienced man, who has been highly successful, as showing 

 that frequent repotting is ratlier injurious than beneficial : 



" Having had ten years' practice in the management and 

 cultivation of orchard-house trees in pots, I tender my expe- 

 rience in reference thereto. In 1854 I commenced the culti- 

 vation of fruit trees in pots, more especially that of peaches 

 and nectarines, and my labor has been crowned with success. 

 I have scarcely, during the whole period, repotted a tree of 

 tJiose with which I first started, unless I have observed the 

 drainage defective ; in that case I have shaken the stagnant 

 soil from the roots, and returned the tree to the original or a 

 pot of the same size. I allow the pots to stand on a bed of 

 soil, into which the roots are allowed to descend ; the pots 

 are not moved until the fruit is ripe. During the time the 

 fruit is swelling, the trees receive liquid manure occasionally, 

 and after the wood is pretty well ripened they are placed out 

 of doors until the approach of winter ; the old soil is then 

 gently stirred on the surface and a little fresh applied. I 



