59 



manure is liberally supplied to the border, or when 

 the roots have a superabundance of moisture, caused 

 by imperfect drainage, the shoots under such circum- 

 stances are not of that quality which gardeners dis- 

 tinguish as short well-ripened bearing-wood. {Gard, 

 Chron. 1845, 512.) 



The most important affair is to select a good loam ; 

 and although some of our continental neighbours 

 seem to prefer a light soil, the majority of good Eng- 

 lish peach-growers like a sound loam. The term 

 sound loam is, we acknowledge, of a somewhat indefi- 

 nite character, and it is not very easy to convey a just 

 notion of what we mean by it. 



Loams differ much in colour as well as texture ; 

 we do not, however, conceive that colour is of very 

 great importance, although we must confess that we 

 prefer a bright loam of a yellowish cast. We like it 

 to be slightly adhesive, not however clayey. The 

 more the clayey principle predominates, the shallower 

 the border should be ; and, as a general principle, we 

 advocate rather shallow borders ; two feet we think 

 amply sufficient, especially in the northern counties. 

 We have grown first-rate peaches and nectarines on 

 borders not more than sixteen inches in depth, but 

 then there was no cropping carried on, which could 

 by any means interfere with the surface roots ; and 

 top-dressing was resorted to, as indeed it must be in 

 such cases during the heat of the summer. This 



