By Mr, Gregor Drummond. 



53 



roots strike towards them in order to obtain it ; but with this dif- 

 ference in the ultimate result : — when the stones are laid at the 

 bottom of the border, the principal roots are detained there, and 

 their fibrous rootlets are more or less destroyed, during the winter, 

 by the too great moisture to which they are exposed. In such 

 circumstances, the trees grow vigorously, but produce comparatively 

 little fruit, and that of inferior quality. But when the stones are laid 

 on the surface, the principal roots are also formed there ; and their 

 fibrous rootlets are thus preserved in a healthy state during winter. 

 Such trees grow less vigorously than in the former case, but they 

 produce excellent crops of fruit, and that of superior quality. 



From the results of his experience, the author is led to conclude 

 that two errors are, in general, committed in forming borders for 

 wall-fruit trees. The one is that of trenching too deeply, with the 

 view of increasing the depth of the border, by which the sub-soil is 

 disturbed : the other consists in collecting too great a body of fine 

 earth in the border, without a due admixture of stony sub- 

 stances. 



With respect to the first error, or removal of the sub-soil, its 

 effect is to convert the border into a sort of receptacle both for 

 collecting and retaining water, and to bring it nearly to the condi- 

 tion of a flower-pot, whose bottom is immersed in a pan of water. 

 No operation of draining will keep such a border in a condition 

 suited to the welfare of the trees ; and nothing can be more inju- 

 rious to the roots than keeping them in stagnant water through the 

 greater part of the year. If it be wished to augment the depth of 

 the natural soil in the borders, this should be done, not by exca- 

 vating the sub-soil, but by adding to the height of the upper soil. 

 All hard-wooded trees and shrubs thrive best in a border raised 

 above the level of the surrounding ground. In our damp climate, 

 the roots of the finer sorts of trees thus preserve a healthier state 

 during winter ; and on the return of spring, the soil of a raised 



