404' Transactio7is of the London Horticultural Society. 



destroyed, during the winter, by the too great moisture to which they are 

 exposed ; in such circumstances, the trees grow vigorousl}', but produce 

 comparatively little fruit, and that of inferior quality : but when the stones 

 are laid on the surface, the principal roots are also formed there, and their 

 fibrous rootlets are thus preserved in a healthy state during winter ; such 

 trees grow less vigorously than in the former case, but they produce excellent 

 crops of fruit, and that of superior quality. 



" From the results of his experience, the author is led to conclude that 

 two errors are, in general, committed in forming borders for wall-fruit trees. 

 The one is that of trenching too deeply, with a view of increasing the depth of 

 the border, by which the subsoil is disturbed ; the other consists in collecting 

 too great a body of fine earth in the border, without a due admixture of stony 

 substances. 



" With respect to the first error, or removal of the subsoil, its effect is to 

 convert the border into a sort of receptacle both for collecting and retaining 

 water, and to bring it nearly to the condition of a flower-pot whose bottom 

 is immersed in a pan of water. No operation of draining will keep such a bor- 

 der in a condition suited to the welfare of the trees ; and nothing can be more 

 injurious to the roots than keeping them in stagnant water through the greater 

 part of the year. If it be wished to augment the depth of the natural soil 

 in the borders, this should be done, not by excavating the subsoil, but by 

 adding to the height of the upper soil. AH hard-wooded trees and shrubs 

 thrive best in a border raised above the level of the surrounding ground. In 

 our damp climate, the roots of the finer sorts of trees thus preserve a healthier 

 state during winter ; and on the return of spring, the soil of a raised border 

 receives more solar heat, which contributes to accelerate and augment the 

 fertile habit of the tree. 



" As to the second error, that of accumulating too much fine mould, 

 ■without a due proportion of stony substance, Mr. Drummond remarks that, 

 in the natural soils in which trees best grow, we can seldom penetrate, even 

 in carse lands, above 1 ft. below the surface, without meeting with stones 

 and other substances favourable both to the developement and preservation 

 of fibrous roots ; and, in local situations famed for the production of fine 

 fruit or hard-wooded treeSj an examination of the soil and subsoil will show 

 them to possess the characters above-mentioned, and to be thus favourable to 

 the formation and preservation of fibrous roots. In no instance ought we to 

 collect above 2 ft. of fine earth in a border, without, at the same time, mixing 

 with it a due proportion of small stones, or other solid substances. Such an 

 intermixture of stony bodies contributes not only to augment the number of 

 fibrous roots, but to prevent the accumulation of too n)uch moisture in the 

 winter months. 



" As the result of his enquiries and experience, Mr. Drummond recom- 

 mends the following mode of forming a border, as suitable for ever}' variety of 

 fruit-tree which we are in the custom of raising against walls. He would 

 make the border at least 20 ft. wide : it should be composed of 2\ ft. in depth 

 of good soil, rather light, with 1 ft. of broken whinstones and lime rubbish, 

 and 1 ft. of cow and stable dung. These several ingredients should be 

 thoroughly mixed together, and, when the whole has been levelled, another 

 foot of fine mould should be spread over the whole surface. The walks he 

 would lay down on the surface of the border at the distance of 10 or 12 feet 

 from the wall; and this should be done in such a manner as that the surface 

 of the border may have a gentle slope from the wall to the walk, and the 

 slope then be continued from the walk to the natural surface of the ground. 

 On no account must the subsoil be disturbed. 



" Those who are advocates for the shallow planting of fruit trees may sup- 

 pose the border recommended above to be too rich, and that it will promote 

 too great luxuriance of growth; but, provided the materials employed favour 

 the production of fibrous rootlets, we can hardlj' ever make the bolder too 

 rich. Encouraging such rootlets seems to produce that fertile habit in the 



