THE POMEGRANATE. 
789 
themselves : they may then be gradually hardened, until they will 
bear the temperature of the green-house, carefully repotting when 
required. T he second year after they are struck, they may be turn¬ 
ed out, under a south wall in front of a stove or green-house. Where 
they are intended to be planted, take out the soil to about the depth 
ol twelve inches, and lay at the bottom about three inches thick of 
broken bricks or other hard rubble, to prevent the roots from striking 
deep, and induce them to run near the surface, for if once they get 
deep, however suitable the soil may be for their growth, they will 
flower but very partially. Fill up the trench with a good strong rich 
loam, mixed with a small portion of sand, if it is inclined to bind. 
Some persons recommend a light sandy soil to grow them in; some 
years ago, I tried the experiment, and although the plants grew very 
healthy and vigorous, they did not show the least inclination to 
flower. 
Pruning.— Proper pruning will greatly assist their flowering. 
All the flowers are produced at the extremities of the young branch¬ 
es formed the same year, care should therefore be taken to bring 
only the strongest huds into action, instead of filling the tree very 
full of weak shoots; to accomplish this, cut out all the weak branch¬ 
es of the former year, and shorten the others according to their 
strength, by these means a quantity of flowering wood may be ob¬ 
tained throughout the whole tree. 
Grafting. —The yellow, white, and double scarlet varieties are 
often grafted on stocks of the common one, the operation is perform¬ 
ed in February or March, after the same manner as the apple, &c. 
To bring the Fruit to Perfection, it is indispensable that 
the trees either be trained against a flued wall, or covered with a 
glass-case; for although there have been instances of its ripening on 
a common wall, in some parts of England, yet the flavour has little 
or no resemblance to those imported from Genoa and Leghorn. 
And although I have never yet seen them brought to the perfection 
I could wish, yet the method which appears to me most likely to ac¬ 
complish the object, is to keep the plants in pots or tubs; and when 
a quantity of fruit is set, which will probably be about the middle of 
August, introduce them into a higher temperature to swell up, and 
ripen. 
S. H. 
