THE OECHARD-HOUSE. 



73 



cessful culture would impossible. Therefore 

 tanks should be provided for catching all the rain- 

 water that falls on the - roof of every house and 

 building within easy reach. Soft water answers best 

 for syringing, as it is free from lime, and does not 

 leave a deposit on the fruit. Next to this, water from 

 an open tank or running stream, after it has been 

 warmed and exposed to the atmosphere, answers very 

 well for watering the trees and damping the floors. 

 Cold spring-water, which one would choose for do- 

 mestic purposes, is objectionable, as it chills and 

 checks the tender foliage, and carries away the 

 stimulating matter contained in the compost and top 



used in a diluted state after the fruit is set, and when 

 the roots of the trees are in the greatest activity. 

 Where these drainings cannot be obtained, good 

 liquid can be made by placing bags filled with animal 

 manure in the tanks provided for root-watering, but 

 never in those from which water for syringing is 

 obtained. As all fruit-trees thrive upon a change of 

 food, weak guano-water and soot-water may be used 

 alternately with great advantage. The latter in a 

 weak clarified state may also be used for occasional 

 syringing on fine evenings after the house is closed. 

 When soot-water is judiciously used, all stone-fruit 

 trees soon put on a dark green luxuriant growth of 



Fig. 3.— Section of Mr. Pearson's House. {Scale: 8 ftet to 1 inch.) 



dressing. In dry seasons, when an abundance of 

 water is imperative, the soft water should be hus- 

 banded for syringing with. Pond or river water 

 should be used for watering and cleansing purposes, 

 and spring-water, well warmed and aerated, should 

 only be used when the others fail. 



In large houses a system of watering with the 

 hose will economise labour, provided elevated tanks 

 can be constructed for giving pressure. This, how- 

 ever, cannot always be secured ; but be the system 

 what it may, the supply must be plentiful and 

 regular, as once allowed to become thoroughly dry at 

 the root, the chances are ten to one in favour of a 

 pot-tree being ruined for the season. 



Stimulants. — Equally important is provision for 

 supplying trees in pots with stimulating liquid. For 

 general purposes there is nothing better than the 

 drainings from cow-sheds, piggeries, or the frame- 

 ground. This, it must be borne in mind, should be 



wood and foliage ; bat the amateur must bear in 

 mind that stimulants should be administered with a 

 careful hand, as ammonia in excess very often para- 

 lyses the roots, if it does not completely kill them. 



Compost. — ^Wliere it can be obtained, good stiff 

 loam of a calcareous nature, in which Eoses and 

 Strawberries grow well, when mixed with proper 

 correctives, will be found suitable for all stone-fruit 

 trees. This should be cut and stacked in thin ridges 

 in the open air a few months before it is wanted for 

 use. Summer drought or winter frost will then 

 pulverise the soil and destroy wire-worm, as well as 

 the larvae of insects, before it is taken for use. 



Pears and Figs grow and fruit well in what is 

 termed a soft, sandy loam, which would be too 

 light for stone-fruit trees ; not that the latter would 

 refuse to grow in it, and grow well, but the fruit 

 would not be so fine, neither would it pass the stoning 

 process so well as it would in a loam of heavier 



