496 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



composts, regrafting trees to introduce better sorts, or a variety of sorts on one tree, per- 

 forming operations on their roots or stems to render them more fruitful, &c. Tliese and 

 other practices described in Part II. Book IV. of this work must be applied according 

 to the judgment of the practitioner. 



2607. A garden may be managed so as to produce good crops, and yet not so as to be 

 agreeable to the eye. In general it may be observed, that the English gardeners excel in 

 the former, and the Scotch in the latter part of practice. 'The Dutch and Flemish seem, 

 in some degree to combine both, and this ought to be attempted, and persevered in till 

 perfection is attained, by every British gardener, 



2608. The first requisite to good manageynent is a proper establishment qf laborers, and resources, as to 

 manure, seeds, repairs, &c. adequate to the extent and character of the garden. The next thing neces- 

 sary is the entire independence of the gardener, as far as respects his province. The constant irksome 

 interference of masters and mistresses, stewards, or others, is justly complained of by every gardener who 

 understands his business. Where the proprietor is as it were head gardener, in that case he ought to 

 make use of mere workmen, or of such gardeners as are not over-ambitious in their profession. In 

 general it may be observed, that gardens so managed are ill managed, and often not well cultivated. 



2609. The next requisite is a taste for order and neatness. This taste is generally acquired in youth 

 from the instruction or imitation of parents or masters ; but it may be greatly increased in grown-up 

 persons, when they perceive its advantages, and in head gardeners, when a demand for it is created by 

 their employers. 



2610. Industry and steadiness are perhaps in no kind of life more necesssary than in that of a gardener. 

 Whole crops may be easily ruined by a day's neglect ; and not only whole crops, as in the case of ne- 

 glecting cucumber-frames, for example, but the whole produce of a year, or of several years, as in the case 

 of neglecting a peach-house for one hot day. 



2611. Unremitting attention and application. Unless a man is endowed with, and has well cultivated 

 the faculty of attention, he can never excel in any thing. Without an ever-active attention, a gardener, 

 will not see what is out of order, or unsightly in his garden, and of course will not think of correcting it. 

 Many people are so deficient in this respect, that their knowledge is entirely confined to the few objects 

 with which their mode of procuring ^living obliges them to be conversant. Something more than this 

 is wanting in a gardener who would be master of his business ; and it must be confessed, to the honor of 

 many gardeners, that they excel in point of general observation and knowledge. 



2612. The management of a garden, ^larshaW ohserve?i, consists in attention and application; the first 

 should be of that wary and provident kind, as not only to do well in the present, but for the future ; and the 

 application should be of so diligent a nature, as " Never to defer that till to-morrow which may be done 

 to-day." Procrastination is of serious consequence in gardening; and neglect of times and seasons is 

 fruitful of disappointment and complaint. It will often happen, indeed, that a gardener cannot do what 

 lie would; but if he does not do what he can, he will be most justly blaraed, and perhaps censured_by 

 none more than himself. {Introd, to Gar. p. 59.) 



Chap. V. 



Of the general Management of Orchards. 



2613. A private orchard is, sometimes, treated entirely as a kitchen-garden, in 

 which case the foregoing chapter contains the general outline of management. Vege- 

 tables and small fruits, however, are seldom well flavored when gi-own under the shade 

 and drip of trees, and, therefore, orchards are commonly either but slightly cropped, or 

 laid down in pasture, after the trees are a few years established. 



Sect. I. General Culture. 



2614. Stinn7ig the soil. " Many orchards would bear much better," Marshall observes, 

 " if the ground were, before winter, dug over every second or tliird year, and dressed, 

 by digging in some rotten dung, or sprinkling over tlie whole soot and pigeons' dung, 

 or that of any other poultry ; this will wash in by rains and snows, and do much good. 

 Or, if an orchard were ploughed, or rough dug, every^ year, immediately after the fall of 

 the leaf, without manuring, it would be very beneficial." 



2615. The taking qf light, green a-ops near and aino^ig fruit-trees, according to Aber- 

 crombie, tends to keep the ground more effectually stirred and recruited, than if 

 periodical diggings or hoeings were prescribed merely for the sake of the trees, because 

 labor, for which the recompense is not direct, is constantly liable to be neglected. 

 Nevertheless circumspection must be exercised, neither to dig too near, nor too deep 

 among garden-trees, lest the roots should be loosened or injured. Digging the ground, 

 Forsyth observes, provided it be not done so deep as to hurt the roots, by admitting the 

 sun and rain to meliorate the ground, will keep the trees in a healthy flourishing state. 

 When the surface of the ground is wet, and has a little descent, it may be formed into a 

 kind of ridges, by making a furrow, from one to two feet deep, between every two rows, 

 sloping the ground regularly on each side, from a reasonable distance to the bottom of the 

 fuiTOw. These hollows will carry off the water, and render the surface dry and healthy. 

 If pasture, the turf may be first pared off, and afterwards relaid when the furrow is 

 made. {Forsyth on Fr. Trees, p. 305.) 



Nicol directs the whole ground of an orchard to be dug in the autumn, and laid up in a rough state for 

 the winter, giving it as much surface as possible, in order that the weather may fully act upon and meliorate 

 the soil ; thus fallowing it as far as the case will admit. Observe to dig carefully near tp the trees, and so 

 as not to hurt their roots and fibres. If the soil be shallow, and if these lie near the surface, it would be 

 advisable to dig with a fork instead of the spade. {Kal. p. 262.) 



