HORTICULTURE. 



191 



Kir wan wrote a separate essay on this subject. In this 

 ' work of Mr Kirwan, and in the more recent publication 

 Humphry Davy, may be found all the informa- 

 tion on the matter that is to be obtained by reading. 

 To enter fully on an account of manures, or the theory 

 of their action, would here be out of place. Beaide*, 

 manure* in general have already been treated of in a 

 former part of this work, (.See vol. i. art. \ 

 p. 270, tt tetf.) ; and the remarks here made, shall be 

 confined to manure* considered as particularly appli- 

 cable to garden*. 



47. It is now an established fact in practical garden. 

 ing, that for the greater number of culinary plants, and 

 for all fruit trees and flowers, comports or compound 

 manures are far preferable to simple dungs, and that 

 till the Utter be completely rotted, they should not in 

 any rase be suffered to touch the roots of the plant*. 

 Even composts should not be too rich. Tree* especial- 

 ly are very apt to be injured by the injudicious and ex- 

 ceasive use of manure. A very rich oompo-t will sti- 

 mulate them for a few years to preternatural exertion ; 

 but, a* remarked by Mr Knight, will in all probability 

 become the source of disease and of early decay. A 

 very good practical gardener, Mr David Weighton, re- 

 commends for cold clayey land a compost made up in 

 the following proportions .- three part* light mould ; 

 one part rotten stable dung ; one part sharp sand ; one 

 part coal ashe* ; half a part lime, with a small propor- 

 tion, perhaps an eighth put, of pigeons' or cheeps' dung. 

 For a light sandy soil, the following are the ingredient* 

 and proportions : to two part* of the natural oil, three 

 t* of pond earth, or the scouring* of ditches, and 



, or rather 



part* 



three of strong loamy earth ; one part of day, 

 clay- marl if it can be got; and two part* of 



( \* -hou*< - uur^. 



In the opinion of some gardener*, the best mode of 

 a PP lvm com poet manure*, is to trench deep, and put 

 compost in the bottom, to the thickn*** perhaps of 

 eight inch** ; then to lay on the old garden soil, and to 

 cover the whole with compost to the depth of some 

 inches. In this war, the old or worn out soil is placed 

 in the middle, and i* exposed to the effluvia which 

 may arise from the lower stratum, and at the MOW time 

 i* incorporated, by digging, with the upper. 

 48. In the neighbourhood of the coast, sea-weed i* 

 ; and if dug in soon after being collected, its 

 power* are conaiuerable ; lor artichokes, as- 

 Mcale, and cabbage, indeed, there cannot be a 

 lure. The careful gard*net pay* great atten- 

 tion to the preservation of the dung of the stable and 

 cow- house. The *amic of these kind* of dung i* of- 



eil to r-K-apr Th.-e .houl.'l U- . -nil.-. tl~:i n trn:- u.i.l 



poured occasionally over the dunghil or the 



Fruit-tree 



Boi Jets. 



and it is no less evident, that if this process be made 

 to go on beneath the surface of the soil, the exhaled p.u- 

 must first be applied to the roots of the plants, 

 before they can escape. 



fruit-tree Borders. 



50. The proper forming and managing of borders for pruit-trr 

 fruit trees is a matter of great consequence, especially borders. 

 when peaches and nectarines, vines, and the best sorts 

 of plums and pears, are cultivated. In many old gar- 

 ie borders are only five or six feet broad, and are 

 crowded with perennial flowering plants. Such borders 

 are too narrow, and such plants mu.-t greatly rub ;'..- 

 trees of their nourishment. The border, according to a 

 gardener's common rule, should not be less in breadth 

 than the wall is in height ; but the general breadth 

 is only from 8 to P2 feet. If care be taken to make the 

 soil good below the walk, such a border may prove sin 

 tk ii tit. If the bottom be not dry, it is made so by means 

 of drains. Many are of opinion, that it should at the 

 same time be rendered impervious to the roou of tin- 

 trees, by means of lime-rubbish, or clay and gravel rolled 

 hard, or by complete paving : this precaution is particu- 

 larly necessary where the subsoil is a cold wet till. 



The monastic cultivators of fruit-trees in the 1 3th and 

 14th centuries were well aware of the importance of tin ; 

 matter, and seem to have been unsparing > iilu-r of la- 

 bour or cxpenrc. When Mr Ferguson of Pitfour was 

 laying out a new orchard in Aberdeenshire, he found, 

 in dealing out the remains of the garden of the ancient 

 Abbey of Deer, which is included within the precincts 

 of the orchard, a border which had been prepared fr 

 fruit-trre* in the following taboriou* and expensive 

 manner : " First, rich soil above three feet deep ; second- 

 ly, a well-paved causeway ; thirdly, a bed of pure sand, 

 a foot deep ; fourthly, another causeway ; and beneath 

 the whole, a considerable depth of rich earth." 



Gardeners always wish the soil of their borders to br 

 more than two feet deep ; for pear-trees it should be 

 three feet at least. In many cases, no part of the natu- 

 ral soil i* retained; but the entire bonier is formed. 

 partly of good loam brought from the neighbouring 

 fields, or prepared by rotting some old pasture turf, and 

 partly of such compost mould* a* have been already 

 described. When the natural soil i* to some extent re- 

 tained, if it be a strong day, it i* opened by adding sea 

 sand, or coal-shea Oat nave been kept dry. Some- 

 time* in place of these, a small proportion of quicklime 

 is used . but tins i* seldom advisable. If, on the other 

 hand, the natural toil be loose and sandy, the clayey 

 matter to be found in ditches and open drains in plough- 

 ed land i* resorted to, and laid about six inches thick at 

 the bottom of the border. Many cultivator* are parti- 



cular in adapting the quality of the soil or compost to 

 the nature ef toe tree* to be planted. For apricot 



heap. Indeed it appear* evident, that every large gar- 

 den, and every well-regulated farm, should l>e furnished and apple tree*, the compost usually preferred, con- 

 with a close ihed as a dung- store, for dun K t, properly to sitts of three-fourth* light earth, and one fourth strong 

 called, should be a* little exposed to the influences of the loam, well mixed and incorporated with some thorough- 

 Bible. It is two centuries since this was iy rotten cow dung. For peach, plum, and pear tree*, 



wentl.rr a* possible 



pointed out by Sir Hugh I'latt, who rK-ummawtli the 

 building *f a brick ririplaah, and covering it over, so 

 as to prevent the acces* of rain, and exclude air to a 

 certain degree. 



it ha* proved, that vegetable matter in 

 it* recent ami organised state may be ployed a* a 

 manure with more advantage than when it has been de- 

 composed. It i* evident, that no inconsiderable pro- 

 portion of it* component parts moat be rhenpaud and 

 UN Mag ti.- j.r.^n .s ol t.',,. jv.tri-fattivc ftrmci/.-V.: ^ . 



a stronger soil i* prepared, and the proportions are re- 

 versed, the loam constituting three-fourths, and tin- 

 light soil one-fourth. ( in rry-trees, too, like rather a 

 cool bottom ; and equal parts of light earth and of loam 

 form for them a suitable sort. 



In forming a new garden, it i* very advantageous to 

 have the borders prepared a whole season before plant- 

 ing the tree*, and that, equally, nether these consist 

 mainly of travelled soil, or of the natural noil enriched 

 by some compost*. If the ground be repeatedly turned 



