20 



too low a temperature, and the soil is not properly drain- 

 ed and thoroughly worked, the vital energies of the plant 

 are soon impaired and its functions deranged. I am in- 

 clined to think that death by drowning is quite as com- 

 mon in the vegetable as in the animal kingdom, with this 

 difference, that it is not so sudden. How many of the 

 diseases, such as the spotting of the leaf and fruit, the 

 cancer, fnngi and decomposition of the bark, are attrib- 

 utable to this cause, it is not easy to determine. Perfect 

 drainage, which should always be accompanied with 

 subsoiling or trenching, permits the air and light to pen- 

 etrate and sweeten the soil, warms it, and prepares its la- 

 tent fertilizing properties for the nourishment of the plant. 



A writer in the Journal of the Koyal Agricultural So- 

 ciety of England says : "I have frequently found the 

 soil of a well-drained field higher in temperature from 

 ten to fifteen degrees than that of another field, not so 

 drained, though in every other respect the soils were 

 similar." Another advantage is, that vegetation seldom 

 or never suffers from the drought, where the soil has 

 been properly drained and worked. 



The necessity of thorough drainage and perfect pulver- 

 ization of the soil, is not less for fruits in open cultivation 

 than for the grape under glass, where one of the prerequi- 

 sites has ever been the perfect drainage of the border. 



In relation to locality^ some succeed best in one place, 

 while others flourish well in several districts, and are 

 elsewhere nearly worthless, and a few are adapted to 

 general cultivation. 



The affinity of the stock to the graft is of immense 

 importance to the happy union and success of both. 

 Some unite as though ordained by Heaven to be joined, 

 while others resist all the appliances of art. We have 

 seen trees made sick by the insertion of an uncongenial 

 scion, and finally destroyed. Well does a writer remark 



