ARTIFICIAL SOILS— FEUIT-TREE BORDERS. 531 



heap till tie Kve turf had perished. There can be no doubt about the 

 excellenoe of this material, which is moderately rich, retentiTe of 

 moisture, and yet permeable to air and water in aU directions. But 

 to destroy an old pasture in order to obtain this result, is an act of 

 mere ignorance. The points to be attended to in forming a substitute 

 for turfy soda are — 1, to obtain an e(5pivalent for the roots that pene- 

 trate sods in all directions, forming myriads of fine tubes, which convey 

 air and moisture through the whole mass oi earth ; 2, to exclude every 

 kiad of matter which gives rankness to growth, as all putrid or putre- 

 flable materials do. This can be done by imitating the roots of the 

 Gbass that formed the turf : a neglect of that precaution can only end 

 in failure. The roots of Grass are merely underground straws, of a more 

 compact texture than usual ; the two are chemically, as well as orga- 

 nically, the same, so far as cultivation is connected with them. Re- 

 place roots with straw: stable litter, but little fermented, contains 

 all the equivalents — organic matter, saline matter, an absence of 

 azotized matter in excess, and mechanical properties. Provided proper 

 soil is procurable, everything else is thus furnished; and this litter 

 is better than even decayed leaves, because it keeps the soil more 

 open. The difficulty consists in the thorough incorporation of the 

 requisite materials. It is difficult to incorporate hng litter with 

 anything. It could be shortened by chopping, and then the difficulty 

 would vanish. 



The best way of preparing a substitute for a turf border is to pro- 

 cure a light calcareous loam, and incorporate it with a quarter of 

 its bulk of tolerably fresh stable litter and horse droppings. This 

 incorporation may be effected by turning the mass over a few times 

 during the three or four months which are required to reduce the 

 straw to a proper state of decay, and it is then fit for use. 



In like manner peat, so extensively used for "American plants" 

 is by no means essential to their health. They grow very well in fine 

 sandy loam, in leaf-mould, or in any very loose soil which is not 

 calcareous, provided it is damp at.the time when they are in full growth. 

 Rhod. maximum grows in damp deep woods {A, Oray) and on the 

 borders of mountain streams and lakes, requiring cool and perennial 

 streams for its nourishment and support {Elliott) ; R. ponticum thrives 

 on the face of the oozy hill at the back of St. Leonards in soft loam. 

 Captain, now Lieut.-Col. Monro, says, " Rhododendron arhoreum grows 

 on the Himalayas in disintegrated granite, mica slate, and gneiss, with- 

 out anything approaching to peat. Rhododendron nilagiricum, a species 

 first indicated by Zenker, and one I believe generally considered distinct 

 from arhoreum, does in the Neelghenies grow in a thin stratum of peat, 

 which, however, is frequently not more than six or eight inches in 

 depth, and consequently the roots must soon pass through it into the 

 soil belowr The finest mass of Rhododen^on arhoreum I oyer saw was 



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