THE MANSE GARDEN. 85 



off the descent of silent hoarfrost, and protect the 

 blossom ; and if painted of a dark colour, they would 

 not fail to cause a considerable increase of tempera- 

 ture, and might last for twenty years. 



Supposing that you have succeeded to a garden 

 in which the espalier rows are already complete with 

 full grown trees, but which prove very unproductive 

 and unpromising, the question will be, whether to 

 cut down with a view to replant, or to attempt some 

 mode of renovation similar to that proposed, under 

 like circumstances, for the wall department. First see 

 whether the fault lies in the soil or in the training 

 if in the former, nothing will do but uprooting, if in 

 the latter, a reformation may be easily effected. If 

 canker appear both on the old and young wood, there 

 is no room for hesitation ; the tree so affected cannot 

 be too soon removed ; but if the young shoots be 

 healthy, and if the spots of canker be confined to the 

 stem, or some of the older branches, the tree may be 

 spared for a time. And, further, should the tree be 

 much overgrown with moss, and the soil, whether 

 from bad bottom or want of depth, be evidently unfit 

 for trees of considerable age, the most satisfactory 

 way will be to extirpate all for firewood, and, before 

 replanting, to trench the ground much deeper, and 

 raise upon it crops of vegetables for two years, with 

 plenty of manure. 



In the mean time, provide young trees from the 

 nursery, and set them in good ground, that they may 

 advance under a training suitable to their subsequent 

 destination, and they will suffer very little, when they 

 come to be removed, by your own careful lifting and 

 transplanting, compared with the injury which those 



