18 THE MINIATUEE FEUIT GARDEN 



PYKAMIDS FOR MARKET GARDENS 



First, a good climate must be selected somewhere 

 south of the Trent, the site sheltered from the north 

 and east and north-west by hedges, evergreens, or walls ; 

 also a favourable soil, which, however, by care and 

 culture, may be made of secondary importance ; a loam 

 eighteen or twenty inches deep, on a dry stony subsoil, 

 is perhaps the most favourable, but a clayey loam resting 

 on clay or on sand will do very well. If required, 

 draining must be practised, so that clays, loams, or sands 

 must be dry. 



When a rich deep fertile soil is chosen there will 

 be nothing required but opening the holes and planting 

 the trees ; but if the soil be shallow, say less than'twelve 

 inches of staple, it should be stirred to a depth of twenty 

 inches, leaving the stirred subsoil in situ. The soil is 

 thus far prepared for planting, which will be best done 

 in October or November. The trees should be planted six 

 feet apart row from row, and the same distance tree from 

 tree in the row. After the trees are planted, the soil 

 within a circle of three feet round the stem of each tree 

 should be trodden firmly ; a small portion (the tenth of 

 a barrowful) of litter or manure placed round each tree 

 (or if the soil is rich this may be omitted), and the work 

 is done. For some four or five years the centre of the 

 space between the rows of trees may be cropped with 

 light vegetable crops, such as onions, &c. ; this culti- 



