ON THE UTILITY OP RIDGING GROUND. 
371 
gardens appeared in tlie dessert, each growing on its own living 
branches or root, from the regal pine-apple down to the humble straw¬ 
berry. The quantity and quality of the fruits were, it is said, mag¬ 
nificent ; and their arrangement on the table, in pots covered with 
moss, intermixed with the* confectionery, was most admirable. A two- 
years’ preparation must have been required by the gardener for such a 
display as this; and nothing but the most superior talent and abilities 
could have accomplished such a task—a feat, perhaps, unequalled in 
the annals of horticulture. 
Much, indeed, has been already done in the culture of fruit-trees in 
pots or boxes; but this branch of the gardener’s business is not yet so 
complete, and certainly by no means so much practised, as it may be. 
Such imperfect hints as the above, however, may lead to experiments 
and trials, such as may elicit results which are yet in the womb of time, 
and reserved for practical judgment and assiduity to bring forth. We 
shall return to this subject at some future opportunity, when the 
different fruits best adapted for pot-culture shall be named, with 
accompanying remarks and observations.— Ed. 
ON THE UTILITY OF LAYING THE SURFACE OF GARDEN-GROUND 
IN RIDGES. 
Ameliorating the surface of the soil by the various implements 
used in the field and in the garden, has been customary ever since man 
became a tiller of the ground. It was necessary to make it fit for the 
reception of seed, for the destruction of weeds, and for the admission of 
refreshing rains. In the progress of cultivation, the husbandman soon 
became acquainted with the different qualities of land most favourable 
to his crops; arid these being also the most easy of cultivation, were 
first fixed on for the operations of the plough and spade. Such soils 
were those of a loamy or half-clayey nature, free from stones, and of 
considerable depth of staple. In this country, even at the present day, 
the gradual progress of the first cultivators following out the richest 
tracks of land is very visible, and sufficiently accounts for the irregular 
lines of fencing between fields, between different properties, and 
between different parishes. 
The first inclosed fields, estates, and parishes are generally the best; 
and the last inclosed, or last established parishes are, almost without 
exception, the worst. Besides the judgment of the early cultivators as 
to the value of land for clearance and culture, there is another natural 
