THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.— September 0 , 1856. 417 
a sensible sort of way in the beginning of August: few, 
however, can spare the time requisite at that period. 
In order, then, to provide against such extremes of 
seasons, 1 must still advocate cautious proceedings in 
the plautiug. The soil should be so prepared as that 
the trees cannot become suddenly gross under any cir¬ 
cumstances; or, if they do, that halfan-hour’s operation 
at the root may accomplish more than hours spent over 
twig pinching. Here those gentlemen who are ever 
anticipating hot summers may step in and say, Pray 
what will become of your platform-trees in the event of 
a piping-hot summer, or supposing the great comet 
should appear? My answer must be this:—Yours is 
the exception ; mine the rule. My experience tells me 
that for one day and hot summer, when even the gross 
fruit-trees quail, there are nearly half-a-dozen damp or 
growiug ones, in which, according to common com¬ 
plaint, the trees produce lots of “ breast-wood” instead 
of fruit—a most awkward circumstauce for the table- 
decker. However, it is well to observe that, in the 
event of one of those parching periods, a good gar¬ 
dener will, as coupled with such a system, always have 
a heap of material to fall back upon, and adapted to the 
end in view, in the shape of top-dressing. In addition 
to tins, the water-pot may be called into requisition; 
and more I need not say. 
In pursuance of the above considerations, I must 
still recommend the plautiug on platforms, only I think 
that, in cases where people do not intend to resort to 
surface-dressing, they had better make the soil deeper, 
only taking care to avoid mauurial matters, which, in 
a majority of cases, are best applied as surface-dressings. 
For ordinary fruit-trees to undergo a training process, 
I should say thirty inches in depth, and for common 
standards to go untrained, and to make full-sized trees, 
nearly a yard may be allowed, providing the bottom is 
rendered dry. It might here be fairly asked by persons 
who have not considered the subject, What are the real 
differences between this platform mode and ordinary 
planting? I will explain. Trees planted in the ordi¬ 
nary way have power to range in all directions; those 
on platforms are, or may be, as circumscribed as though 
they were in a huge pot. In ordinary planting, trees 
may form tap roots ; by the platform mode they can¬ 
not ; and the check they meet with when coming in 
contact with the stone, or other impervious material, 
forces them to produce abundance of fibres near the 
surface of the soil. 
Besides, as to root-pruning, the process is carried 
out with much less difficulty, and a greater degree 
of precision. Station-planted trees, on platforms of 
about six feet square, may be cut at any time up to 
the platform sides. 
It is requisite that the platform bottom be imper¬ 
vious to the roots of the trees, or nearly so. My 
practice (and I find it all I desire), is to form the plat¬ 
form convex, to place bricks or stones over the surface, 
as nearly fitting close as possible, and to sweep cinder- j 
ashes over them ; these last, falling into every crevice, 
complete the platform. Let me advise those about to 
plant not to use old and exhausted tree soil; fruit- 
trees have a strong aversion to occupying the soil 
exhausted by former fruit-trees. It may not be sheer 
exhaustion alone which occasions it. I have little doubt 
that the presence of what has been deemed excremen- 
titious matter proves noxious to the young and tender 
roots. I have before stated in The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener that where what is called maiden soil cannot 
be obtained, it is perfectly easy to resort to the ordinary 
kitchen-garden soil, which is amply sufficient to use 
for mixing. This will be found to economise much. 
R. Errington. 
DESTROYING THE RED SPIDER BY THE AID 
OF SULPHUR. 
“ A short time ago, I read a paper, signed by Mr. Fish, 
recommending one pound of sulphur and one pound of 
quick-lime to be boiled one quarter of an hour in a gallon 
of water, to be poured off fine and bright, and one pint to 
be used in four gallons of water, aud Peach-trees to be 
syringed four or five times a day with it in order to kill the 
red spider. I have followed these directions accurately, 
except that I have only used it three times in three following 
evenings, that is, once each evening; but the result is, I 
have destroyed the foliage of a fine-looking young, and also 
a fine, healthy-looking old Peach-tree. The circumstances 
are these :—I had planted a rather large house, last January, 
with nine Peach-trees, seven or eight years old, and the 
same number of young trained trees. They all grew 
remarkably well (I enclose a couple of leaves as a sample 
of the whole house), but three or four had a few red 
spiders. I kept them tolerably under by hot-water plates, 
with sulphur on the top; still they returned, but scarcely 
to affect the leaves; but seeing the paper of Mr. Fish, I 
thought to get rid of them entirely, and so used it with the 
result before named. I used no soap. My belief is, that 
the lime has done the mischief, although one pound seems 
very little to thirty-two gallons of water, aud 1 am. inclined 
to think the sulphur would have answered the purpose 
without the lime; still, I am not at all sure the sulphur in 
this form might not have done mischief. Of course I do 
not write this for publication, hut that you may take steps 
to prevent further mischief. As soon us I saw the injury, I 
washed trees well with clean rain-water, but the leaves are 
falling, and I do not think one will be left in a week from 
this time. There has been no fire in the house, and the 
trees had just finished growing, hut the wood had scarcely 
begun to ripen.—A. B. 
“ P.S.—The decoction had the appearance of fine, bright 
Madeira wine.” 
The above communication is just one of those that, 
of all others, ought to be published. It will teach the 
importance of carefulness with such mixtures, if it does 
nothing else. It may also save the trouble of writing 
and reading many other letters on the same subject. I 
am not at all insensible to our correspondent's kind¬ 
ness in not wishing bis case to be made public, farther 
than to avert future mischief, aud thus letting me 
quietly out of a difficulty as easily as possible. Such 
has been too much the case in gardening matters. 
Many instances occur to my recollection of systems 
and modes of action recommended by the highest 
authorities, and perseveringly recommended, when even 
the authorities themselves had failed. The hinting 
that they were deceived by first appearances, that there 
was something of the extreme in nicety and particularity 
required to command success, which only the very in¬ 
telligent and experienced could master; the acknow¬ 
ledging even of a doubt, which must in their minds 
have arrived at a conviction, unless we charitably 
imagine.that the usual acuteness of their intellect had 
been blunted in reference to a cherished pet idea or 
system — any such modes as these were too bumbling 
to their pride, too gratmg to their vanity. 
The matter, instead of sleeping quietly, may have 
been discussed ; practice may have demolished a theo¬ 
retical idea, and yet the theory be defended as boldly 
and curtly as ever; and when people.get tired of a 
subject on which all the experience, and such logic as 
that brings, are on one side, Mr. Theory leaves the 
field with a defiant air, and appeals to future times. 
The possibility that he might be wrong cannot for a 
moment be entertained, far less the, to him, humiliating 
acknowledgment. 
Give even an indirect encouragement to such a 
system, and how endless would be the disappointments 
to chronicle ! how low would be the positiou of our pro¬ 
fessional morality! All are subject to mistakes. It 
