November 4. 
THE COTTAGE GAllDENER. 
81 
nourishment to any delicate tree, by introducing it in 
tlio hollow before tilling it up. 
And now a few words of advice as to the disposal of 
the borders on which the trees are planted, for wo fancy 
we hear our friend Turn-to-account whisper, that a good 
deal of surface will he monopolised by these fruit trees : 
and that ho should wish these borders to assist in pay¬ 
ing his rental before the trees commence bearing. Cer¬ 
tainly : as no produce of any account may be counted on 
until a third summer after planting, we really must cast 
about and see if we can serve our I'riond; but in so 
doing, wo fear being laid open to the charge of incon¬ 
sistency. It is well known that we liave been preacliing 
up no-culture for years on fruit borders ; “ no surrender ” 
has been the word. And, as our good friend Beaton 
would perhaps say, in a like fi.x., “ the cat will get out of 
the bag.” It so happens, that all the time this doctrine 
has been broached, we have been slily stealing a few 
Dutch turnips from such borders ; have oven had straw¬ 
berry edgings, or edgings of curled parsley. 
ft verily became necessary, after so much digging and 
; cropping over the roots of fruit-trees since the “ good 
j old days of Adam and Eve,” to try and turn the current 
another way; and wo did, indeed, deem it j)rudent to 
take such dangerous weapons ns the spade from inex¬ 
perienced hands ; and not only the spado, hut the fork, 
and even hoe for awhile, in order to let the question 
assume its proper shape. Now that we think and hope 
that the great bulk of those interested in the garden 
orchard really begin to appreciate the non-interference 
policy, we arc quite willing to restore them their forks 
again, and by all means their hoes. Here, one thing 
must be observed : it is not so much the abstraction of 
the virtues of the soil that we dread, but the continual 
shaving away those finer surface fibres which seem 
disjiosed to woo the atmosphere, and by which, indeed, 
the whole system of the tree becomes more sensitive to 
the invigorating influences of the solar rays. As for the 
loss in the soil, that can bo replaced; and we must 
some day point to the ])ropricty of top-dressings every 
three years after the trees have attained a certain age, 
and well repaid former attentions by abundant crops. 
Now, there can be no great objection to taking any 
such crops as can be obtained by from two to throe 
incites’ deep culture, although much better avoided. 
Having practised such things for years, wo are in a 
position to say, that whore depth may not be attained by 
cultural processes, an equivalent must bo sought, and 
that in the shape of manurial matters. With regard to 
the Dutch turnii)s, which on account of their moderate 
tops, and early tendency to bulb, we do hold to be the 
best things in the main, they may bo obtained at easy 
cost, by merely hoeing the seeds in, killing a crop of 
weeds at the same time. This we have done scores of 
times, and the turnips are invariably bettor for home 
use than those from deeply dug or enriched soils, which, 
by throwing them more into top, depreciates their quali¬ 
ties as food for man. 
But these arc conveniences as matters of profit, not 
of particular account. Our plan has been to sow Dutch 
turnips on such borders in the last week of February, or 
first week of March, in order to get a strong plant before 
the fruit trees had much foliage, and the only dressing 
used has been some of the burnt or charred ashes, soil 
covering, &c., from the rubbish yard. We never sow 
them nearer than two feet. 
Our readers will now naturally desire to know what 
we think the best distance at which to plant their trees. 
As to the distance between the lines in a Garden-Orchard, 
we say, the wider the better; but, as our small garden 
men carmot carry out their objects with loo high a 
standard, we think that ten feet of open soil may be 
the minimum. By open soil is meant the available 
space for culture when the trees have come into full 
bearing; and, bo it understood, that although we adhere 
to strictly-defined lines or boundaries of ci’oj)s, wo ]>lace 
our main reliance on that portion beyond the damaging 
iniiuence of the branches of the fruit trees. In the rows, 
we would allow only twelve feet for dwarf standards; 
tall standards might require nearly double the dis¬ 
tance. Before concluding, we may point to the great 
propriety of those about to establish gardens of this 
character, of taking into consideration our platform 
mode of planting, full accounts of which will be found 
in by-gone numbers, the possession of which we con¬ 
sider absolutely necessary to a full appreciation of 
planting based on root-control and root-culture, the 
two leading points in a dwarfing system; which dwarf¬ 
ing system, being fairly translated, means early profit, 
little trouble, and no vegetable suftbeation. Allowing 
each tree, when full grown, to reach nine feet each way, 
this, with a couple of alleys of two feet each, and ten 
feet clear cropping ground, would demand, at least, 
thirty feet from row to row; if forty, all the better. 
It. Ebrengtox. 
MEETING OF THE HORTICUI/TURAL 
SOCIE'TY— October 1!), Ib.jg. 
This was the first gathering of the Society under the 
new regulations for the exhibition of special subjects, 
in addition to the usual run of garden produce. T’hc 
special subjects for this day’s exhibition were— Hardy 
Anniads, on their own roots, or as cut llowers; Dessert 
Pears now ready for the table ; and Green Peas in a 
fit state to “sauce” a Michaelmas goose. 'There arc 
certain other specials named for each monthly meeting, 
but all sorts of garden ^iroduce may be staged on eacli 
occasion, as formerly. Foreigners may also compete at 
these meetings; so that if we are obliged to take the 
best of their wheats and barleys, we may also get a 
share of their best cabbages. But we have the better 
of them this time, so far that they are not allowed to 
compete against us, only to fight it out amongst them¬ 
selves ; and if a Britisher tries his luck with foreign 
productions, as a salesman in Covent-Garden I\larket 
did on this the first starting day, ho will bo pitted 
against a foreigner; and if there is no foreigner to 
face against him, his things will be judged without 
reference to home growth. All this is useful, and a 
great improvement on the old doings of the Society. 
Of all the s])ecials wo had an overflowing abundance. 
Also an overflow of cut Roses, just as they put them 
up for the summer exhibitions, together with stove and 
greenhouse plants, and novelties, of which (it is but fair) 
1 shall first tell the jiarticulars. 
Two splendid examples of the lovely Vanda cceridea, 
and two or three plants of the finest and most useful 
hardy evergreen that has been introduced since tbe 
Rhododendron was discovered, the coral-fruited Shimmia 
jajionica. I would not have lost the sight for a dinner 
with the Lord Mayor. It seems but the other day that 
we first heard of such a thing as a blue Vanda; and 
when we did hear of it, through Mr. Grilliths, who sent 
over the dried specimens, we did not know exactly 
where to send for it, only that it grew on a long-wooded 
range as they go from Sylhet to Assam, the Kaisa 
or Goosya range ; but now Mr. Stevens hammers it 
away at his auction-room like an ordinary plant. As 
for the Shimmia, although it was named before I was 
born, there was hardly a botanist in Europe who 
believed in the existence of such a thing four years 
since, for there are two marks of doubt against the 
genus in the last edition of “'The Vegetable Kingdom.” 
'The Vanda ccc.rulea, when not in bloom, might pass 
for some species of the Aerides. 'The flower-stems rise 
upright first, and then bond gracefully over; the flowers 
