FRUIT-TREES IN POTS. 



259 



bank up the trees to as much as 3 inches above the rim of the 

 pot. The compost is moulded and pressed and kneaded with 

 the fingers into the form of a dyke, with a very steep side out- 

 wards and sloping more gradually inwards, so as to form a 

 shallow basin round the stem for watering. The compost is pre- 

 pared as follows : — ■ 



2 J barrow-loads of turfy loam. 



1 „ well-rotted (rather sticky) dung. 



1 „ mortar rubbish, pounded fine. 



2 gallons of bone meal. 



„ Clay's Fertiliser. 

 1\ „ Thomson's Vine Manure. 

 Every fruiting tree is banked with this compost between setting 

 and stoning, and as soon as stoning is over we begin to use 

 weak liquid manure for watering instead of the clean spring- 

 water. The syringing is, of course, continued daily or twice a 

 day, except during blossoming time, and free ventilation is con- 

 tinued. I had almost said in season and out of season ; but, of 

 course, a little judgment is required even in this — but very little. 



In this way we obtain (for a small household) an abundance 

 of Peaches and Nectarines from the middle or end of June to the 

 middle or end of September, varying according to the date of 

 bringing the trees in and the amount of sunlight in April and 

 May. We get also a small but select quantity of the best late 

 Pears, and Gage Plums galore. 



The house I have described holds 28 Peaches and Nectarines, 

 21 Pears, and about a dozen Plums ; but these last we sometimes 

 shift out-doors when the growth of the other trees becomes at all 

 crowded. The trees average from 5 to 9 feet in height. The 

 Peaches and Nectarines we regard as an always safe crop, averag- 

 ing about three dozen a tree, that is to say ninety dozen of fruit 

 every year ; or, in other words, a dozen Peaches and Nectarines a 

 day for three months from this one orchard-house. The house 

 has been built now for six years, and we have every year had an 

 abundant (or even superabundant) crop. The Plums are as sure 

 as the Peaches, but the Pears are more fickle ; still, by having 

 duplicate trees, and crowding them a little at blooming time 

 before the foliage is grown, and then turning out-doors those 

 that fail to set a good crop, we manage to keep a small but 

 constant supply. 



