PRINCIPLES OP CULTIVATION. 



19 



condition of the ground or the plants, and to the objects 

 sought to be obtained. Manures are not usually condu- 

 cive to a good flowering condition^, unless the soil be very 

 poor indeed^ or the plant be much cramped and impover- 

 ished in a small pot. And liquid manure -will then be 

 most appropriate. Fruit trees usually require manuring, 

 but it will depend much on their individual habits and 

 character. The more highly cultivated the state of any 

 plant, or the more each particular variety owes its per- 

 fection to the highest culture^ the more likely it is, in the 

 abstract, to want frequent and liberal manuring. Such 

 are some of the veiy finest vegetables and fruits, and the 

 more richly developed among florists' flowers. 



III. PRTXCIPLES OF CULTIVATIOX. 



It is of little use to know^ of what plants consist, and 

 how they live, and to what influences they are subjected, 

 if the means by which this knowledge is to be generally 

 acted upon and applied be not also understood. The 

 former may be the basis, the latter must be the 

 superstructure. And although sundry processes may 

 already have been incidentally noticed or explained, 

 they either require fuller elucidation or putting in diffe- 

 rent lights. 



1. — Draining. 



This may almost be called a modern practice, for it is 

 but lately that it has come at all conspicuously into vogue. 

 It is, however, one of the most decided advances which 

 recent art has made, and its advantages will be incalcu- 

 lable. It will not be every garden that recjuires draining. 

 Some may be composed of soil that is very light and dry, 

 and others may have a sufficient slope to carry off all 

 surplus water. But where the ground is flattish, and has 

 the slightest tendency to stiffness, draining will produce 

 an immense improvement to the crops, and to the com- 

 fort of working and walking in the garden. 



The first point to be attended to is to drain pretty 

 deeply. Shallow drains are never satisfactory, and often 



