152 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 20. 
a rich proprietor taking his first steps in gardening, 
of course something of an extra character must he 
carried out—something out of the beaten track. 
Well, then, some old pasture must he robbed to fill 
the gap, and thus matters were too often carried out; 
the proprietor finding, after a few years, that garden¬ 
ing was a very expensive affair, and that success 
must rather be sought in first principles, and a cor¬ 
rect appreciation of them, than in unwarrantable 
outlays of money. Let us not be understood here 
as repudiating the use of turfy or rested soils, rich in 
organic materials: by no means. We merely protest 
against a profligate waste of such things, especially 
when tender fruit trees, such as our Flemish pears, 
are to be made companions of the celery trench, the 
cauliflower, and other gross-feeding vegetables, which 
may be considered the swine of the horticulturist. 
Soils. —We think it necessary, before detailing 
“ station making,” to indulge in a few remarks on 
the, soils, or, as some term them, composts adapted to 
fruit-tree culture. Almost every possessor of a garden 
has heard of “loam;” not everyone, however, has 
a distinct idea of what constitutes a loam. In its 
application to gardening purposes, then, loam means 
neither more nor less than an admixture of clay with 
sand. Other matters there may be, and are, but the 
proportions in which these two main ingredients are 
combined determines, in gardening matters in gene¬ 
ral, its aptitude for certain purposes. Hence we hear 
of “ a sandy loam,” “ a clayey loam,” “ a stiff loam,” 
“ a free loam,” &c. It is very lamentable to think 
that such ill-defined terms have crept into gardening 
matters in so stealthy a way. Other professions, 
however, have their technicalities; and as we are 
all—as our witty political writers say—in a transition 
state (which state has been some centuries pending), 
we may as well make the best of it, and grope our 
way as well as we can. We cannot here advert to 
all the characters of “loam,” as to their bearing on 
pot plants, pines, melons, &c., and neither is it 
necessary. Our excellent coadjutors, Messrs. Beaton 
and Fish, will no doubt show its bearings on the 
floral kingdom in due time; in the meanwhile let us 
consider its bearing on fruit-trees. Now, we must 
candidly confess that, after an experience of some 
thirty years at the least, we would undertake to cul¬ 
tivate all the fruits at present known, with but three 
ingredients in the compost. Such should be, a loam 
of a proper texture (that is to say, exactly intermedi¬ 
ate with a stiff loam and a sandy loam), more or less 
of the ordinary soil of the locality, and some half 
rotten vegetable manure. In making stations, then, 
the first thing—after determining the proper site for 
the tree, or trees—is to excavate the whole of the 
soil, or subsoil, to a given depth, and of a given area. 
Six feet square, duly prepared, will suffice for any 
fruit-tree at present cultivated; that is to say, under 
a dwarfing system adapted to small gardeners. In¬ 
deed, we plant many of our fruit-trees, which we 
know as not of difficult culture, on stations of little 
more than four feet square. In this, as in other 
matters, common sense alone may dictate. If the 
tree is required to attain some size, or to rise some¬ 
what into the character of a standard, a broader 
basis must be allowed; if, on the contrary, “much 
within a small space ” is the motto, why then limita¬ 
tion must be proportionately severe. Next as to 
deptli: like draining affairs, we should be sorry to 
fetter the operator with one depth alone for all 
soils, and in all situations. We are scarcely dog¬ 
matical enough to attempt to lay down “ cut and 
dried ” rules on this point. Nevertheless, we may 
be permitted to record our practice, carried out prin¬ 
cipally on a free soil, with a substratum,in the main, 
of red sand. We make no distinction in this case 
between wall-trees and pears, &c., under a dwarfing 
system; not because some trifling difference might 
not be practised with perhaps a slight advantage, 
but for the sake of simplification. So much mystery 
and nicety of operation has hitherto oppressed the 
fruit question, that we are willing to compound for 
any amount of non-essentials, in order to make the 
way plain, and to introduce a system of economy. 
As we have no bottom waters, of any signification, to 
contend with, we are satisfied to have the princi¬ 
pal volume of the soil (prepared as a “ station ” for 
the three) below the ground level. We, therefore, 
excavate about two feet, and in filling up again we 
throw about four or five inches of broken bricks or 
stone in the bottom, supposing it to be tolerably 
sound and dry ; and on that we strew some riddled 
cinders, from which the portion fit for burning and 
the mere dust have been rejected. Material of this 
character being angular, falls into, and wedges, every 
crevice; besides which, its imperishable character 
guarantees durability. The next thing we do is to 
spread a layer of tree leaves—recently fallen, if pos¬ 
sible—or, in lieu of this, new straw of any kind, 
or even heather, or fern if at hand, would answer 
well. This material decays slowly, and does not 
become too absorbent suddenly. The fibres descend 
and mat themselves horizontally through it in all 
directions, and thus have little inducement to pene¬ 
trate the cinders and bricks, or stones; and this 
stratum eventually proves a decoy, and a source of 
fertilising properties. As for soil, all depends on 
the native staple. If this is too light and hungry, a 
little clayey or stiff loam must be obtained. If too 
adhesive, some free, upland, sandy soil should be 
sought to blend with it. In all cases, whatever is 
introduced should contain much organic matter; 
that is to say, soils containing much vegetable fibre, 
whether of root or leaf; and thus it is that so many 
old pastures have been robbed to make borders , as 
they are termed. If such valuable material cannot 
be obtained, means should be taken to introduce, in 
a regular way, leaves, straw, &c., as the filling pro¬ 
ceeds. In making our stations, we seldom introduce 
more than some six or eight barrows of new soil; 
the amount, however, depends on the richness of the 
native staple. R. Errington. 
THE EEOWER-GARDEN. 
The Roots of Trees and Shrubs. —About thirty 
or five and thirty years since, the late Sir W. Middle- 
ton had two very large old holly trees removed from 
a distant estate, and had them planted here near the 
mansion; but, before they had time to recover, the 
present possessor—my worthy employer—had the 
grounds about the house much altered, and it so 
happened, as we often see in other cases, that these 
large hollies were just planted in the wrong place; 
but there they were, and they must take their chance; 
and they did take their chance, sure enough, for their 
stems were buried nearly four feet, and for the next 
sixteen years they neither advanced nor looked the 
worse; and when I first saw them, ten years back, 
they looked as if they had been removed two or three 
years before; and when I learned their history I longed 
for an opportunity of trying an experiment with 
them, but I had too many irons in the fire then to 
set about them immediately, and it was the winter of 
