200 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Septembor 6,1883. 
pots and in zinc vessels are precisely the same as in ordinary 
pots as regards their increase and multiplication when they 
reach the resisting medium of the barrier which surrounds 
them. 
The aim of the cultivator should he the production of the 
greatest possible number of fibres. They should be induced 
to form an interlacing network and penetrate every portion of 
the soil. This desideratum cannot be attained without firm¬ 
ness and moisture. In a loose medium, no matter how rich 
in plant food it may be, strong fleshy roots will extend in 
a straight line through it, leaving the bulk of the food behind 
and between them. Having met with no resistance they 
practically make no fibres, and the growth corresponds with 
the roots, being “fat,” long-jointed, pithy, sappy, and fruit¬ 
less in character. Tho effect of a resisting medium in the 
soil may be illustrated by driving a jet of water through a 
syringe not having a perforated nozzle. Fill the cylinder, 
apply the pressure, and the water escapes in a straight 
smooth line, and is not divided until it strikes an object of 
greater resisting power than itself; but impede the outflow 
of water by the obstruction of the finger, and the stream is 
divided into a thousand points and an infinitely greater sur¬ 
face is covered in a moment. Every young gardener knows 
this, and he may also do well to remember that by a proper- 
resisting medium in the soil fibrous roots are similarly 
increased, and not much food will be left behind and between 
them. 
But in making firm borders it is of the greatest possible 
importance that the soil be in the right condition of moisture 
when used. To pack wet soil closely together would be fatal ; 
for, just in proportion to its wetness will be the absence of 
air, and without air, moist air, in the soil, there can be no 
free root-extension nor satisfactory growth. Similarly, to 
trample on a loose border when the surface is wet with the 
object of making it firm would be a serious error, for what 
air the soil contained would be driven out of it by compression. 
It is only when soil is sufficiently dry that it will not adhere 
to the feet that it can be firmed with advantage, and then the 
benefit resulting is often very great indeed. If it were not so 
the system of rolling even strong land would not be adopted 
by intelligent and successful farmers in preparation for their 
crops. The condition of the soil for border-making should, 
as regards moisture, be exactly the same as that which a 
skilful cultivator would use in potting either Vines, fruit 
trees, Roses, Chrysanthemums, Pelargoniums, or any plants 
of a free-growing yet more or less woody nature, and he 
would pot them firmly. He would then secure the maximum 
number of fibres, and, by giving food as needed, would attain 
success, whereas if he potted lightly and loosely he would 
fail. Pots as small as possible, firm soil, and attentive care 
in applying support when it is needed, are the chief elements 
of success in plant culture ; and smaller, firmer, and better 
managed borders for Vines and fruit trees would result in a 
saving of labour and material, and hence of money, while the 
returns would be better than under the greater outlay mis¬ 
applied in making large, deep, loose borders, and keeping 
them loose by digging them systematically. 
A more precise guide relative to the requisite degree of 
firmness of the soil may perhaps be required by some reader. 
Any old pasture will afford the information. Dig up a por¬ 
tion the size of the spade and 3 inches deep, examine its 
texture, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it will be 
found not too firm for trees and Vines. Yet how many 
borders are as firm as this ? I hey are few, yet where they 
exist in conjunction with otherwise good management fruitful 
trees, healthy Vines, and excellent Grapes are almost invari¬ 
ably found. 
One of the most important points in the good manage¬ 
ment alluded to consists in keeping the borders uniformly 
moist. Surface roots, which are the best roots, cannot be 
insured if the soil is not firm, also moist, where the roots are 
required. It is absolutely futile and utterly unreasonable to 
expect roots to form near the suiface of a frequently dug 
border that is exposed to the sun during hot dry weather; 
and it is impossible that the surface of such a border can be 
kept moist without mulching. That is a truth that is not 
yet sufficiently impressed on the minds of half the persons in 
this country who are endeavouring to grow Grapes in a satis¬ 
factory manner. Let them consider well this subject, com¬ 
prehend fully the conditions of and influences surrounding 
each case, and by intelligent action they may yet succeed 
where they have hitherto failed in the attainment of their 
object. 
A word may be necessary in explanation of what is meant 
by “small” borders. With soil medium to strong in texture 
and reasonably compressed a border 3 feet wide and 2 feet 
deep is quite sufficient for newly planted Vines the first year, 
while a less bulk of soil—that is, a border 6 inches less in 
depth—will be ample for one or two-year-trained Peach trees. 
But these narrow borders must be mulched in summer so 
that the surface and edge do not become dry. Regular and 
uniform moisture being secured—and nothing can be easier 
than to secure it—these small firm borders will lay a better 
foundation for good Vines and trees than a rich loose feeding 
ground of four times the size can do that is dug and dried in 
the orthodox manner by many amateurs and not a few 
gardeners; yet not the best of them, as these proceed in a 
more rational manner such as I have endeavoured to 
describe.—A Northern Gardener. 
A NEW GARDEN. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Making a new garden is one of the apparently easy things 
“ which anybody can do,” for at the first glance what can appear 
more simple ? Can the laying-out of a plot of ground for the 
cultivation of vegetables possibly require much thought or skill ? 
Look at the market gardens of London or of any large town. 
What are they ? Just so many fields in a high state of cultivation— 
nothing more, and yet what abundant crops of excellent vegetables 
do they yield ! Such reasoning, however, is by no means applicable 
to private gardens, for they have literally to be made in the fullest 
sense of the word—frequently upon land altogether unsuitable for 
the purpose both in soil and situation ; and when space is so limited 
as to admit of no choice there is, of course, nothing to be done but 
to make the best of things and adapt our plans to circumstances as 
well as may he. Such an unsatisfactory state of affairs often occurs 
when a new house is built in a position selected only with an eye 
to the picturesque. The site is commanding, the scenery lovely, the 
air pure. What more can be required ? 
It has fallen to the writer’s lot to be engaged for many years 
in the lawng-out of new gardens and in the alteration and extension 
of old ones, and it is purposed in this and subsequent papers to turn 
the experience so gained to account for the benefit of readers of the 
Journal, by setting forth in clear detail the general features of the 
work, the difficulties which occur, and how they may be overcome 
or avoided. It is by no means intended to imply that new gardens 
are only required for new houses ; but as the building of a country 
house invariably involves the making of a garden, and in order that 
these papers may be as comprehensive and useful as possible, it will 
be well to turn our attention first of all to the selection of 
The Site .—In low-lying fiat districts turf, timber, and water are 
the chief features of such scenery as can be commanded by the 
windows of a house, consequently the position of the garden is easily 
decided ; but in a hilly country, such for example as we find in Sussex, 
Derbyshire, and Cornwall, abounding in rich scenery spreading far 
and -wide, overlooked by many a sunny slope and breezy hilltop, much 
caution and sound judgment must be exercised in the selection of a 
site if we would avoid the subsequent annoyance and vexatious ex¬ 
pense so often experienced when due care has not been taken before¬ 
hand. The natural advantages, therefore, which we would endeavour 
to secure in addition to an elevated position commanding fine scenery, 
or shelter from dangerous cross winds (the cruel cold north-eastern 
bias's so fatal in spring to tender blossom and foliage, and the tem¬ 
pestuous south-western gales to which no tree laden with fruit nor 
tender growth can be exposed with impunity), an abundant supply of 
pure water, and a fertile soil. Not simply from timber would we try 
to obtain shelter, but rather from hills clothed with timber, precisely 
such as so frequently occur at the head of a valley. Under such 
favourable conditions we w-ould have house and garden both on a 
sunny sou hern slope sufficiently low down for shelter from behind, 
and also from the valley slopes on either hand, and yet high enough 
