56 THE NEW HORTICULTURE. 



in the ground there is not the slightest evidence to prove that 

 the admission of air to the roots of any tree or plant by 

 ploughing or cultivation is of any real benefit. The facts 

 now given will show that the theory or belief that, somehow 

 or other, an extra supply of air over and above that naturally 

 contained in all firm soils is beneficial to tree roots in cultiva- 

 tion is a mistake. I had a row of bearing orange trees many 

 years ago, standing just behind my front fence, in the western 

 part of the city of Galveston. After the great storm of 1875 

 a vast amount of sand was washed up from the beach, close 

 to which my place was situated, and deposited in the street 

 just outside. By summer the strong south winds had blown 

 the most of it through my picket fence, and banked it up from 

 three to four feet around the bodies of the orange trees. 

 Many people thought it would hurt them, but believing to the 

 contrary, I leveled it all down nicely, leaving the bodies 

 standing fully three feet in beach sand. On this was spread 

 a heavy coat of barnyard manure. The next year those trees 

 made a most remarkably strong growth, and continued to do 

 well until killed by the freeze of 1886. 



Another instance occurred last fall. When passing along 

 near the sidewalk of a friend in this city, who had a long row 

 of live oaks five to eight inches in diameter standing on low 

 ground which he was about to fill up, I saw that he had taken 

 up about half of the trees, and raised them several feet, as 

 the sidewalk was being filled in. I told him about my orange 

 trees, and advised him to treat his oaks the same way. He 

 did so, filling in with good earth from the mainland. The 

 result was continued good health, and a fine growth the past 

 season. While the filling on the public square with strong 

 manure, as noted elsewhere, was very injurious, any quantity 

 of soil can be placed around trees with safety, if not actual 

 benefit. 



After all, is not cultivation really only a necessary evil ? 

 For trees, facts clearly point that way. For certain annual 

 crops, that grow when the weeds do, it is absolutely neces- 

 sary to cultivate, to prevent the weeds from appropriating 

 a large share of plant food and moisture, and also equally 



