January 8, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
29 
proves that the practice is time-honoured, and it doe3 not follow that it is 
indispensable. We plant Strawberries on ordinarily dug ground, but 
otherwise treated them similarly to Mr. Chinery’s method, and better 
crops would hardly be possible. Again, in the Rectory garden near here 
a new Strawberry bed was formed on an untrenched ground, the surface 
being well dressed with bonemeal, and although only divisions from old 
plants were put out these yielded splendid crops of fruit daring the 
summer following. Tomatoes planted at the foot of a warm wall, and 
also manured with bonemeal, produced a wonderful weight of fruit; and 
i could give a whole page of facts in the same strain. 
I contend that in the case of all clayey or heavy soils we should 
spend more money and labour on the surface soil, and not attach undue 
importance to the efficacy of trenching. If labour is available then dig 
and redig the ground, keeping the solid manure for the second turn and 
the artificials for planting time, and this thorough pulverisation and 
mixing will serve to bring out the “ gold ” to a surprising extent. As a 
rule, the surface is dug up roughly, a moderate frost or only wind or 
rain breaks down the most exposed lumps, and a fine surface is easily 
secured. Directly underneath may be found large lumps of soil, which 
perhaps have previously been trampled on in wet weather, and these 
remain hard the whole season, in this state affording no root-run or food 
for the plants. Better not dig the ground at all than attempt to crop it 
under sueh poor treatment. Now the ground that is trenched is generally 
in a quarter purposely kept clear, and as trenching is usually done in dry 
weather the process thoroughly breaks up the ground to a good depth, 
this easily rendering it of superior fertility to the badly managed ordi¬ 
narily dug ground. It is the finely divided, well-manured surface soil that 
should be secured, and then any kind of crop will do well. 
What “ A Thinker ” adduces concerning the wonderful results of 
trenching in a garden he could point out does not greatly support his 
argument, and the conclusion I at once arrived at was that the garden 
had yielded but little during the three previous years. The season of 
1881 was also highly favourable to our garden. During the three pre¬ 
vious seasons we experienced a great difficulty in establishing our crops, 
but in 1884 the ground was thoroughly warmed to a good depth and 
everything grew well. If “ A Thinker ” can prove that trenching would 
render our ground drier and warmer, or would improve its working, I 
will readily admit I am altogether mistaken in my views. The garden 
soil here has been cultivated upwards of a century, yet the top spit works 
badly owing to its clayey nature, and to bring up more clay only serves 
to make matters worse. In our case I feel certain a deep root-run is not 
necessary for vegetables, and is positively injurious to fruit trees. 1 con- 
eider “ A Thinker ” a little wide of the mark when he asserts that deep 
root-action is brought about by the “ speedy deprivation of moisture and 
sustenance from the mere surface soil.” It is not the deprivation of mois¬ 
ture so much as the poverty of the surface soil that is to blame. Digging 
about the trees is also another evil practice, and should be avoided as 
much as possible. The roots are either driven downwards or attracted 
by manure, and doubtless moisture ; hut if the surface is properly treated 
it will contain in itself sufficient to retain the roots and support the tree. 
Long fibreless roots are more conducive to rank growth than they are 
to fruitfulness, and in this case whether the trees are “ nibbled and 
slashed at,” or allowed to grow unrestricted, they will not be properly 
remunerative. I have frequently lefft long stout branches on deep-root¬ 
ing trees, and these in due time produced fruit to their full length, but 
the quality was always lacking ; neither does the fruit keep well from 
such trees. Let me have the top spit full of roots and few or none in the 
subsoil. Where are the roots of Mr. Haycock’s trees at Barham Court ? 
and can anyone inform us in which spit the trees at Holme Lacey are 
established ? 
In these gardens there are numbers of well-trained Pear trees, princi¬ 
pally on the walls, but of late years they have produced fruit of very 
inferior quality, owing, I maintain, to their being too deeply rooted. 
The remedy lies in partial lifting and root-pruning, but have I made a 
mistake in bringing as many roots as possible much nearer the surface 
and placing them in fresh loamy soil and manure with the idea that 
plenty of fibres would follow and the trees be greatly improved thereby ? 
Many of these trees were rooting deep enough to please anybody ; but 
why was the fruit they produced of so little value ? On an outer wall 
the trees were in a much better condition, scarcely any roots having 
penetrated through the, in this case, unbroken subsoil, and all these trees 
wanted was the removal of a few coarse Conifers near and a liberal dress¬ 
ing of solid manure and bonemeal. Nothing had been done to keep 
these roots so near the surface, and fortunately nothing had been done 
to tempt them downwards, and for years the produce has been superior 
to that obtained from the apparently more favoured inside trees. A 
deep root run may be desirable for fruit trees, but I am far from being 
convinced that it is so, and “ A Thinker ” must advance stronger arguments 
to support his ideas. For instance, can he point to any experienceed 
market grower that ha3 trenched a few acres of land especially for fruit 
trees, or has even broken up the ground two spits deep just where the trees 
are planted P 
In fruit culture two great mistakes are often made—that is to say, we plant 
too deeply, and later on overlook the fact that trees are as certain to 
impoverish the ground as any other crop. In planting, it is in most cases 
advisable to plant slightly above the level, mulching with rough litter or 
manure for at least two seasons to prevent undue dryness before the trees 
are well established, and thereby keep the roots spreading in the fertile 
surface soil. Here they are within easy reach of a dressing of any kind 
of manure, and which they ought to have at least once a year in common 
with any other crop. Surely this is not an impossibility. When I 
asserted that 90 per cent, of fruit trees are ruined by deep root-action 
I made a blunder ; I ought to have to put it 90 per cent, of those planted 
in private gardens. Market growers treat their trees better than do the 
majority of private gardeners, the latter, however, not being always to 
blame in the matter. If the ground must be closely cropped, or if 
manure be scarce, the gardener must not be blamed if the fruit trees 
suffer accordingly.—W. IGGULDEN. 
THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKETS OF LONDON 
AND PARIS. 
At first sight it would appear that there is nothing whatever to be 
said in our favour in such a comparison as this. Who has not over and 
over again lamented over the abominations of “ Mud Salad Market,” and 
has deplored the manner in which the horticulture of England is there 
represented ? and then been told, “ You should see Paris ; go to the Halle3 
Centrales, and there you shall see what you shall see, and come home 
crestfallen at the reminiscence.” Well, I am not going to uphold the 
wrong doings of Covent Garden, although much of it is inevitable. To 
remove it would seem to be as difficult as to substitute anything for 
Billingsgate, but at the same time there are things to be taken into 
account which are oftentimes not included in the reckoning, and which I 
think it is unfair to leave out. 
The chief thing that we have to bear in mind is the very different 
tastes of the two peoples. That the French eat more vegetables all 
through the year than we do is true, that they are also larger fruit-eaters 
is also the case ; but these things are perhaps more owing to the influence 
of climate. The inhabitants of Marseilles or Toulon would consider the 
Parisian, in the matter of animal food, much as he considers us ; while 
we know the “ No, I thank you ” with which a salad is greeted in the 
depth of winter at an English dinner-table as if there were really poison 
in the cup. It may be prejudice, it may be instinct, but battle with it as 
you may it still remains in full force. So, again, how little attention is 
paid to a dessert in England in the winter. Two or three Grapes or a 
slice of Pine Apple may be eaten, but the most tempting Pears or the 
brightest Apples will be passed by unheeded ; on the other hand a 
Frenchman, even at the cheap restaurants of the Palais Royal, must have 
his little bit of dessert. Then, again, there are differences in taste. You 
hardly ever see a good root of Celery in the Paris market, never a stick of 
Rhubarb, and I never—which to me is most surprising—saw Seakale either 
good or bad, and yet all fancy that it is a very delicate and delicious 
vegetable. 
The Halles Centrales, so much vaunted by those who despise “ Mud 
Salad Market,” as Mr. Punch facetiously calls Covent Garden, contains 
markets of all descriptions—meat, fish, poultry, butter, &c., and amongst 
them a large portion devoted to fruit and vegetables. I have seen it at 
various seasons, and one cannot fail to notice the many different character 
of fruits and vegetables exposed for sale to what one sees at home. 
Salads, of course large, predominate ; long-shaped Turnips and round 
Carrots rather interfere with our notions of these vegetables. In last 
September there were large quantities of a vegetable which we see 
occasionally in Covent Garden—the purple Aubergine. I do not think 
that we have any very great loss in not growing it. We had them one 
day at the Louvre—“Aubergine farcies.” The centre seemed to have 
been taken out and filled with mince, but it reminded me very much of a 
Pumpkin pie a Canadian friend once made for us. There were so many 
good things put info it that the native might have been anything ; it was 
very good, but it seemed as if the Pumpkin had been forgotten. Large 
bundles of Barbe de Capucine, which is very much used in Paris in 
winter, but of which it is almost impossible to procure even the seed in 
England. Cardoons and Salsafy, with us very uncommon, are very 
largely used, some people are very fond of them. Artichokes, again, are 
seen in large quantities, and are much more appreciated abroad than 
with us. They are eaten as with us, but with melted butter, or cold with 
vinegar and oil. But in no vegetable is perhaps the difference more to be 
seen than in Mushrooms. Go when you may into the Halles at any 
season of the year you will see large heaps on the stalls of the beautiful 
white Mushrooms, which are grown in the caves at Montrouge. Compare 
these healthy-looking heaps with the small baskets at 1.?. or 1$. 6d. in 
Covent Garden Market, and it at once points to a difference in the style 
of cookery of the two nations. Into many of their made dishes the 
“ Champignon ” enters largely, and even in the cheaper restaurants of 
Paris large quantities of them are consumed, and the wonderful caves 
which underlie part of the city have been, as we all know, vigorously 
utilised for growing them. Another vegetable which is grown and used 
much more extensively in France than with us is Asparagus. We are 
now tolerably familiar with the giants that are grown in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Argenteuil, as it is exported in large quantities to England, 
especially during the earlier part of the season. I am heretic enough 
not to admire it; it is doubtless very delicate in flavour, but there is 
comparatively speaking little of it that is eatable. I very much prefer 
our English Asparagus, where one-half or more of it is useable, and where, 
although you may not get so delicate a flavour, you certainly get more of 
the true Asparagus flavour. It must be so, for all this is blanched, and 
consequently does not get the benefit of light and air. That Asparagus 
can be grown according to the French method in England we have abundant 
evidence during the past few years, but I question very much whether 
popular opinion will favour it, and if not I have no doubt we shall still 
continue our old method of growing and cutting. 
Passing from the vegetable to the fruit departments of the Halles, 
let no one imagine that they will s e there anything like the display that 
