182 ReinarJcs on Rogers's " Fruit Cultivator." 



proving it. But, while excess of moisture is being guarded 

 against, it would be well also to attend to the prevention of the 

 opposite extreme ; for both may occur in the same situation at 

 different periods of the season, and, in that case, with the most 

 deleterious effects ; for one excess does not counteract the other, 

 but, on the contrary, the evil is proportionally increased. Or- 

 chards may be reckoned happily situated, where irrigation can 

 supply moisture to forward the growth of the shoots in the early 

 part of the season, and can then be withdrawn to admit of the 

 complete ripening of the wood ; when, in other places not pos- 

 sessing these advantages, the shoots are only about to be vigor- 

 ously produced. Fruit-tree borders in front of houses or walls 

 ought always to be so far under the command of art as to render 

 the attainment of the above object always possible. 



The Kentish and Flemish cherries, Mr. Rogers observes, are 

 only one and the same variety, though some writers have endea- 

 voured to make a distinction between them, because Miller used 

 the first, and Langley the second name. This is, to a certain 

 extent, true ; but it appears from a paper by Mr. Thompson, in 

 the Horticultural Society's Transactions, second series, i. 286., 

 that there are two varieties which bear these names ; and that 

 " the fruit of the Flemish is very like the Kentish, except in 

 having a shorter stalk. The trees grow more upright, but are 

 not such abundant bearers. The fruit possesses the same pro- 

 perties as the Kentish." 



Speaking of soils suitable for fruit trees, the author observes, — 



" Deep rich soils, in sheltered situations, are not the most proper for the 

 apple, though such have been most erroneously recommended by writers who 

 ought to have known better. For it is often seen that apple trees succeed 

 well in any kind of loam, though it be not more than one foot in depth, so aa 

 the bottom is sound and dry : the roots take an extensive horizontal range, 

 the young wood is always of more moderate growth, and better ripened than 

 where roots strike deep into the ground." 



The nature of the subsoil, he continues, should also be well 

 considered : if very wet, whether clay or gravel, the trees should 

 be planted " proportionably higher, even on the surface, rather 

 than run the risk of the roots getting too deep, which they are 

 apt to do, in dry summers, in search of moisture. So much has 

 this circumstance been dreaded by orchardists, that the author 

 is acquainted with one instance in which an extensive orchard, 

 belonging to an ancient priory, was completely paved with stone 

 under the trees, to prevent the roots descending into the wet 

 subsoil, and with the best effect." 



The degeneracy of the Golden pippin apple has been a fertile 

 subject of discussion among orchardists during the last thirty 

 years, since Mr. Knight first suggested the idea of its dege- 

 neracy from old age. On this subject Mr. Rogers has the fol-' 

 lowing remarks : — 



