APPENDIX. 113 



highest degree of success, we have no particle of doubt. 

 We believe it is the only true and natural method. 



And now, my dear amateur fruit grower, if you have 

 a poor, sickly, unthrifty tree, deeply planted, which 

 looks stunted and blighty, let me beg of you to try an 

 experiment with it : — ^just dig the unfortunate tree out 

 of the cold, rank grave in which you planted it, at 

 once ; lift it up gently with a large ball of earth at- 

 tached to its roots, and place it on the good, warm, 

 sweet surface soil, in a cavity which you can make 

 with your foot, say two inches deep ; throw around it a 

 little good loam, mound up to it, and mulch it heavily, 

 cut back the top freely in proportion to the loss of roots, 

 and our word for it, you will see a change in the health 

 and fruitfulness of your tree, in a few months, which 

 will delight and astonish you. 



Sub-soil ploughing, shallow planting, heavy mulch- 

 ing and surface manuring are the cardinal points in 

 fruit culture. Under-draining may sometimes be ne- 

 cessary in heavy, wet soils, but with shallow planting, 

 this expense, and also that of trenching, may be often 

 avoided. 



The editoi of the Gardener's MontTily added the 

 following note : — 



" We believe one of the first, if not the very first 

 article we ever wrote, at the suggestion of Mr. A. J. 

 Downing, for his <■ Horticulturist,' many years ago, waa 



8 



