CULTIVATION OF TENDER FRUIT TREES. 



125 



These pests visit peach-trees during the gardener's busiest season, 

 and are in consequence very liable to be neglected, or if the 

 matter be attended to in proper time, the means employed are of 

 so clumsy a description, and the operator, in his zeal, uses so 

 much physical force, that the leaves are injured more by the 

 engine than they are by the insects ; in fact, the cure is worse 

 than the disease. 



It is true that one suggestion leads to another, ad infinitum, 

 and the desire of making the protected trellis as perfect as pos- 

 sible leads us to the consideration that with all the improve- 

 ments proposed above, it is still deficient in point of durability. 

 Up to the present time it has been proposed to construct the 

 whole of the framework of wood ; but it is an established fact 

 that, in the long run, it is very much cheaper to use iron instead 

 of wood wherever it is within the influence of causes which hasten 

 decay ; and especially where it is placed in contact with the earth. 

 The old adage, that " what is worth doing at all is worth doing 

 well," is doubly true in this case, as the effects of the decay would 

 just begin to show themselves, by the rickety state of the frame- 

 work, about the time that the trees had arrived at their greatest 

 perfection, — when they had covered the trellis with healthy, 

 fruitful wood. To avoid such an annoying state of things, I 

 would at least suggest the use of iron uprights, leaded into 

 unhewn blocks of stone immediately beneath the surface of the 

 soil ; and those who would carry out this principle with still 

 greater spirit would also employ rafters and wall-plates of iron. 

 The uprights should have on each of the two sides a plain groove, 

 about three quarters of an inch wide and an inch deep, com- 

 mencing at the ground line, and continuing within twelve inches 

 of the top, which twelve inches should consist of a plain rabbet. 

 The groove is to receive the boards which are to close the back ; 

 and to retain them in their places, they must be secured by 

 wedges. The rabbet is intended to form a frame for the top- 

 most board, which is to be hung on hinges, to serve as a ven- 

 tilator. 



The accompanying sketch will show that I attach great import- 

 ance to securing a free passage for the water, by laying a drain 

 at back and front, by giving the border a good slope, and by 

 keeping a considerable portion of it entirely above the ground 

 level. To this end, also, a row of grooved bricks should be laid 

 along the front, to receive the rain which falls on the roof, and 

 convey it immediately to the drain, without allowing it the chance 

 of penetrating into the border. For the sake of neatness as well 

 as convenience, a good gravel path should be constructed both at 

 back and front ; and as there is ample space for the roots within 

 the frame, this is perfectly practicable, and is also an advantage, 



