810 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 16, 18-8. 
are not analogous. In conclusion let me advise “ A Thinker ” not to 
draw so freely on his imagination.— W. Iggdlden. 
In my remarks upon the above subject it is not my intention to enter 
into any particular criticism of the different statements advanced for or 
against the matter, but I merely wish to mention the ideas derived from my 
own experience. In the first place, I am of the same opinion as Mr. 
Iggulden’s friend who wrote to him saying that he was both right and 
wrong. I think he is right if he still holds to the opinion that trenching 
is overdone, because I have often noticed that trenching for different crops 
is done when there is no need for it, especially when the ground had been 
deeply worked for a previous crop ; and it is not uncommon to hear the 
remark made that such and such a crop ought to do well, for the ground 
has been well trenched for it, when most likely it would have answered 
better had trenching not been done at all. But I think that Mr. Iggulden 
is wrong if he wishes it to be understood that trenching could or ought 
to be dispensed with altogether, and instead take up a system of a spit- 
deep cultivation combined with surface mulching. This system would 
not, I fear, meet with the concurrence of most cultivators, and I think the 
labour and attention required would entail as much or more time than 
vhat of trenching the soil. 
Gardens are in many instances so peculiarly situated that the materials 
for adding stability to the soil, and for that of mulching and watering 
also, would be most difficult to obtain, and I am afraid in many cases 
could not be obtained, I do not think it possible for anyone to sit at 
home and write an article to suit everyone’s position and wants, and the 
subject advanced by Mr. Iggulden being an important one, much good is, 
no doubt, gained by its discussion. 
More than twenty years ago I took charge of a garden which was 
comparatively new so far as regards the kitchen garden. The soil was of a 
very heavy nature, neither loam nor clay, and such an absence of stone, 
which allowed the soil if it was long unmoved to become so consolidated 
as to be almost unworkable with any ordinary garden tool. This garden 
had been previously trenched, and I proved on examination that the best 
6oil had been turned in 2 feet or more in depth, and there it was, to my 
thinking, useless. Instead of having a workable soil that could grow what 
was required, and improve the under soil by degrees when it could have 
been gradually mixed with the other, it remained one of the worst soils 
to cultivate that I ever met with. Here, then, in my opinion, was a great 
mistake in trenching the ground. Perhaps some may say, Why not re¬ 
trench the ground ? but that is easier said than done, and in that case at 
that time it could not be done. I had so far made up my mind that it 
was wrong to do as mostly is done—that is, as soon as a piece of ground 
is enclosed for a garden, after draining is done to go into trenching with¬ 
out a great deal of consideration, because it may be best let alone, for a 
time at least. 
I have now to relate quite a different case, for after some time I was 
called upon to lay out a kitchen garden of seven acres in another county. 
The field chosen had carried a crop of Lucerne for three years, and most 
of us know what a deep-rooting plant it is, some of them going down 
quite 3 feet. After the operation of clearing the surface, draining the 
enclosure was the next work, and on planning for them and examining 
the subsoil I found that of 2 feet in depth was of a loamy nature, while 
the top was composed largely of gravel. After a little thought I decided 
it would be an advantage in this case to trench the whole of it before any¬ 
thing else was done, adding 500 loads of manure and any other suitable 
soil I could find, and after lying the whole winter it was one of the best 
working soils that I have had to deal with. So I considered that in one 
instance one garden was completely spoiled for years by trenching, while 
the other was materially improved by the operation. 
In my present place I dare not trench the ground, for about 18 inches 
below the surface is a thick stratum of solid chalk ; therefore I am com¬ 
pelled to follow more after the plan Mr. Iggulden advocates by attending 
to mulching, watering, &c. Peaches and Cherries will not thrive here for 
any length of time, but Plums, Apples, Pears, and Gooseberries do well if 
not allowed to root into the chalk. A neighbour’s garden about half a 
mile off has to be trenched every year. That arises from the fact that the 
garden is bounded by a row of Elms, Horse Chestnut and Ash trees, and 
there being no wall the roots of the trees in one season take possession of the 
soil to the injury of the crops, there being no walls or other means used to 
stop the encroachment. 
Mr. Iggulden deserves our thanks for introducing the subject, and it 
will no doubt cause many to think before they act. But the question is 
asked, “ What has made our gardens so productive and raised them to 
such a high standard of excellence ?” We must answer that deep culti¬ 
vation has had most to do with it.— Thomas Record. 
As bearing on the subject of deepening the soil for fruit trees, which 
Some persons appear to think so useless if not prejudicial, the remarks of 
Mr. John Watkins, of the Pomona Farm, Withington, in an excellent 
paper read at the last meeting of the Herefordshire Chamber of Agricul¬ 
ture, appear worthy of attention. 
Alluding to the increased importation of American Apples, Mr. 
Watkins said the transatlantic growers do not beat us in the same way 
that they do with cattle and sheep by underselling us, but by sending 
better samples that command a higher price than the comparatively 
inferior produce of English orchards, which by better culture ought to 
be of vastly superior quality. Mr. Watkins instanced an orchard of 
Apples, giving a profit of £16 per acre three years after planting; a 
better selection of varieties and a more generous system of culture were 
strongly advocated. 
In preparing for planting on tillage, Mr. Watkins said the ground 
should be steam-cultivated, and subsoiled if possible; if on grass large 
holes should be made not less than 3 feet 6 inches square, moving the 
soil to not less than 30 inches deep, and filling with the old turf and top soil, 
placing fine amongst the roots, but not burying them deeply, staking; 
securely and mulching the ground with manure. 
That is the teaching of a practical man with the best opportunities- 
for forming a sound judgment on the subject. He knows very well our 
great bulk of inferior fruit that can scarcely be sold at any price is the 
produce of trees in thin ill-prepared soil, while the fruit that pays because 
of its higher quality shows the advantage of deeper culture. When one 
of the largest Kentish growers was down here he expressed his astonish¬ 
ment that the land was not better prepared by breaking it up to a good 
depth. The magnificent fruit he exhibited was, he said, the result of 
trenching the ground, merely discing it with the spade being quite 
inadequate. I have seen no American fruit to equal the samples referredi 
to, and they taught us a lesson we are not likely to forget.—A Grower. 
TWO PRETTY HEATHS. 
It has been written of the amateur plant-growers that they “do not 
care for Heaths,” but our experience and observation directly contradict 
6uch an assertion, for we never heard this remark from either sex. True 
Fig. 55.—Erica Banksiana alba. 
many have been deterred from entering upon their cultivation by the 
bugbear which is always thrown around these beautiful plants by many 
professional gardeners, who tell their amateur friends, with such a pro¬ 
found look and mysterious shake of the head, that Ericas are so very 
difficult to grow and they will never succeed, but we would urge our 
amateur plant lovers to try them. We acknowledge and know full well 
there are difficulties attending their management, and so there are with 
all other plants more or less ; but there is no secret about the growing of 
Hea'hs that cannot be mastered ; and for general directions we should 
say, Drain your pots thoroughly, pot firmly in good sweet peat soil, do not 
aid too much sand as it only impoverishes the soil, do not overpot, water 
freely but judiciously, keep a free and dry atmosphere about the plants* 
and should mildew show itself immediately apply the remedy we have 
already given. Plants treated in this manner will, however, not suffer 
much, if any, from this disease. Other and minor details in their manage¬ 
ment will suggest themselves to those cultivators who look upon the- 
attention their pets require as a labour of love, and their care will b 
rewarded by a r’ch return of beautiful flowers, which last long in fulJ 
beauty, and the like of which is not to be obtained from any other genus- 
of plants. 
The well-known E, hyemalis, E. autumnalis, E. melanthera, E. Wil- 
moreana, an 1 a few others are free, useful, and generally grown, but 
there are numbers of others too seldom seen in gardens. Two of these 
neglected beauties are those represented in figs. 55 and 56. Erica Banksiana 
alba has elegant drooping white flowers in small clusters at the points of 
