144 
THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
effects of raising the borders to a height that would have allowed me 
to place the roots of the trees above the common level of the garden. 
My object in doing this would been to keep the roots within the 
reach of sun and air ; it would have promoted a more healthy action 
between the roots and leaves ; success depends entirely on the perfect 
balance of this action. 
The next point to be considered is the soil. That most suitable 
for Peaches is friable loam, of naturally good quality ; it is far pre- 
ferable to ordinary soils enriched by manures, for such materials 
decompose rapidly, and supply the plant with food faster than is 
necessary for its perfect development, and gross luxuriance is the 
consequence. It is on this account that so many have insisted on 
the superiority of turves from old pastures, as they contain all the 
constituents the plant requires. They decompose slowly, and con- 
tinue to supply the wants of the plants with suitable food longer 
than any other material provided the border is effectually drained. 
Too much importance cannot be attached to drainage ; it increases 
the productive powers of the soil, and, by the admission of air to the 
roots, they are enabled to decompose and take up those earthy and 
organic matters essential to their growth. In order to secure the 
thorough drainage of Peach borders I put down a drain parallel with 
the wall, and not less than three feet in depth, with outlets in every 
drain that would be brought into communication with it. The 
width of my borders I could regulate according to the height of the 
wall ; for a wall of ten feet in height, I would have an eight-feet 
border ; but for a twelve feet wall, I should add two feet more to 
the border. I should prefer trained trees from a nursery to maiden 
ones, as they are thoroughly prepared for the final plantation. If 
the soil is good and friable, I would select trees worked on their own 
stocks. If it was very stiff, I would give the plum stock the prefer- 
ence. The fruit grown on the natural stock is of the best quality, 
but smaller than that produced on the plum stock. I must again 
quote the remarks of Mr. Knight on this subject ; he says that his 
garden contained two trees of the Acton Scott variety, one growing 
on its native stock, the other on the plum stock. The soil being 
similar, and the aspect the same, that growing on the plum stock 
produced fruit of a larger size, and its colour, where it was exposed 
to the sun, was much more red, but its pulp was more coarse, and 
its flavour so inferior, that he would have denied the identity of the 
variety had he not, with his own hand, inserted the buds from which 
both sprang. I would, however, in all cases, adopt such means as 
would be most likely to answer the desired end; I would keep the roots 
as near the surface as possible, that they might have all the air and solar 
heat they could get. Roots so situated generally produce healthy 
branches and good fruit. The most approved system of training is the 
fan, on account of its allowing the sap to be more equally distributed. 
The beauty of trees so trained depends on the treatment they receive 
in their earlier stages. The shoots made in the second and third 
year after budding are the principal branches of the tree — then is 
the time to lay the foundation of a well-trained tree, it cannot be 
done afterwards ; I would take care that no more shoots remained on 
