336 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
inhabitants of London to a strict account for their wanton 
waste of the vast wealth of organic matter which is now sent 
down to the river’s mouth to feed or poison the fishes. 
One has only to look at the standard trees in the suburban 
gardens to see how rapidly they are failing. The tops are dying 
—an ominous sign. And this is true also of the forest trees in 
Kensington Gardens and some of the public parks, especially 
where the subsoil is gravel. 
I have touched upon this branch of the subject because one 
of the first necessaries in fruit-growing is a copious supply of 
water. My friends often ask why their out-of-door Peaches fall 
off every year when they are about the size of hazel nuts, and 
on examination at the foot of the wall the subsoil is always 
found to be as dry and hard as bath brick. 
When the old Suburban Gardens were first laid out the soil 
was generally fresh and in good condition, for as building extended 
meadows and market gardens were absorbed, and fruit trees 
throve in the freshly broken ground enclosed within the garden 
walls; but of late years the speculative builder has converted the 
light soil into mortar for building purposes, and the new gardens 
consist generally of clay and rubbish fenced in with oak palings. 
The fine old gardens of Dulwich, Tulse Hill, Streatham, Putney, 
and other suburbs still remain, but the surface soil is generally 
exhausted, sour, and full of fungoid germs. To buy fresh soil in 
quantity would now be an enormous expense, and the question is, 
What should be done to restore fertility to the soil ? 
I am afraid that the art of trenching is in danger of being 
lost in the suburbs of London. Nearly all young gardeners want 
to get into the glass houses and amongst the flower pots. The 
first tool put into the hands of a young gardener should be a 
spade, and if he do not begin to use it in early years he will 
never have the muscles or the inclination to use it manfully. If 
you want trenching done properly you must look about for some 
old labourers to do it. Of course, a good deal depends upon the 
subsoil, and I do not advocate the bringing up to the surface a 
quantity of gravel or stiff clay. But a portion of the latter mate¬ 
rial may with advantage be turned up, and w 7 hen dressed with 
lime and exposed to the frost it will soon break dowm and admit 
of being incorporated with the rest of the soil. Where it can be 
done some clay should be burnt or charred and worked in with 
