174 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 6. 
by the platform itself, and which, with me, is generally 
about five feet square, and is made of any hard or 
impervious material. 
Now, the facility offered the root-pruner by this mode 
is obvious; it is seldom a tree requires root-pruning until 
| it has been planted three years, and then the primer 
may simply open a trench round* the exterior of the 
platform, and cut away every root with his knife which 
! extends beyond the stone boundary. Here, then, is a 
well defined line for him; to err is impossible; he 
; cannot injure his tree at this distance; and if very 
j severe operations are requisite, he had better at once 
take up the tree and replant it. 
But I had nearly forgotten to namo another considora- 
| tion, which, with me, had a share in determining on the 
I great superiority of the platform mode; and this was 
! the connection of the “ stock question ” with fruit-culture. 
| It is well known to most persons, that stocks have a 
considerable influence on the tree and its produce ; and, 
as a maxim, it may, I think, be affirmed, that the less 
the stock is of a congeneric character, the lower will bo 
the tone of the tree as to luxuriance alone. This is a 
fitting subject for enquiry; and I fear, to go into it fully, 
would be to overlay the remarks 1 wish to offer; and 
which should be practical rather than speculative. But 
I may here just observe, that there can be no doubt that 
the stock somewhat alters the character of the tree in 
other ways than mere luxuriance; and this, if true, 
offers great inducements to those who sigh for progress, 
to carry out experiments of this kind; for experiment 
it must be;—and patience, too, there must be: theory 
may suggest, but may not settle this question. 
As to going far out of the way for strange stocks, I 
do not think that by any means commendable; the 
adoption of the Mahaleb stock for Cherries was an 
attempt of the kind, and I have never heard of suc¬ 
cess, worthy of notice, being attained by the practice. 
Indeed, the Cherry stock, or Merry-tree of the olden 
j time, seems all that could be desired in this way ; and for 
J pot-culture, where less timber is requisite, and a multi- 
i plicity of fibres rather than big roots is required, it is 
by no means improbable, that seedlings from Morello, 
Kentish , or other small-wooded Cheries, would produce 
a stock by far more eligible than any Mahaleb, or, 
indeed, anything else “far-fetched and dearly bought.” 
To return to the platform mode, as connected with 
the “ stock-question.” I had felt assured, that by a 
greater simplicity in culture, giving the operator a ready 
and safe control over the roots at all times, much 
anxiety about “ stocks ” would be saved : indeed, in this 
I do claim much merit for the platform-question. 
Having thus given a glimpse of fruit-culture, as 
concerns first principles, amongst which, I suppose, we 
may fairly place all operations connected with the soil, 
I will proceed to ground a little advice thereon, to those 
who are about making new fruit-gardens, or mending 
old ones. 
Soil is, of course, a primary consideration; for although 
most of our hardy fruits will succeed tolerably woll in 
most garden soils, yet, as the age we live in expects 
something more than a tolerable degree of success, we 
shall find that the old plan of “ sticking trees in,” without 
preparation, will not, in many cases, meet the require¬ 
ments of the times. Now it is not a question of manuro; 
were it so, we should find that the older our kitchen- 
gardens, the hotter our fruit-trees would thrive ; such is 
by no means the case. Gardenei-s talk much about 
loams; and well they may, knowing, by experience, that 
a good loam will of itself grow almost any fruit-treo 
in the highest perfection of which it is capable. Our 
amatour friends, however, sometimes complain of the 
loose, and indefinite way in which gardeners are apt 
to handle the term “ loam ; ” and it is scarcely to be 
wondered at. Hence, we find such expressions as “ sound 
loam, stiff loam, strong loam, clayey loam, rich loam, i 
mellow loam, adhesive loam, light loam, sandy loam, 
&c„” a goodly array of titles, most assuredly. 
This is serious enough to a beginner; and, for the sake j 
of simplification, I may just observe, that in all this | 
pother there need be no more than three terms used : 
these merely as to practical purposes. Such may bo 
adhesive, or clayey loam; light, or sandy loam; and 
medium loam: these would express all that is needed; 
but no one can dictate a phraseology of the kind. There 
is a kind of conventionalism in these things, which 
comes and goes wo know not how ; but we need hardly 
add, “ and care not wherefore.” However, according to 
the old saying, “ what can’t be cured must be endured;” 
and I will, therefore, remind the unknowing in such 
matters, that these phrases, one and all, simply in¬ 
dicate the relation that sand (or, as I suppose our 
learned men would say, silica,) bears to clay; or, in 
scientific language, alumina. 
A sandy loam should possess so little of tenacity, as 
scarcely to adhere in a wet state, even if squeezed. On the 
contrary, it may be averred that a clayey or adhesive 
loam will adhere, even when not wet, if squeezed in the 
slightest degree ; and as to a medium loam, which is, in 
the main, the best for all horticultural purposes, the old 
criterion of the potting-bencli is, perhaps, as good as any; 
it is this—take a handful, in a rather pulverised state, 
squeeze it between the bauds, then let it fall to the floor 
from a height of about five feet; if it divides with much 
difficulty, it contains rather too much clay; if it break 
up into sundry particles, it is the much-to-be-desired 
medium loam ; but, be it observed, the loam must not 
bo wot for tbe experiment. Colour, however, is a con 
sideration, though a collateral one; those loams are 
best which are nearly uniform in colour, and that colour 
a kind of hazel. 
Thus much for soil; and now, how to economise it; 
for it is much too valuable to be squandered. The 
fruit-tree planter should examine the natural soil of his 
garden, and see to which it tends, whether to sand or 
clay. If to the former, he should try and procure a 
loam having a considerable clayey nature, and vice 
versa. It is not, ns t before observed, in mere quantity 
we must ground our hopes; the texture is the first 
consideration; this it is, which, if well understood, 
and cleverly handled, enables a tree to equally with¬ 
stand the rapid excitement consequent on a rainy 
season, with a minimum of light, and in one of ex¬ 
treme drought; as we are apt to say of mortals under 
the up-and-down trials of life—“neither elated by pros¬ 
perity, nor dejected by adversity.” II. Errington. 
THE CRIMEA. 
I am not going to write about the war in the Crimea, 
nor about the transports, or supplies; but I have some 
news to communicate to tbe allies, to the friends, and to 
the relatives of our brave soldiers who are to winter in 
the Crimea. A wicked sinner, or a rank impostor, in 
the pay of Nick Nicholas, the Czar, has written a letter 
to the Times newspaper to say, that no one, except a 
Laplander, or an Esquimaux, could live out there in 
winter. This “lie circumstantial” is going the round 
of the press; and people, who do not know better, 
believe it, and are frightened at the fate of their 
countrymen in such a dreadful climate. A contcm- : 
porary has already exposed the ignorance, or falsehood, : 
of the fellow who thus wrote to the 'Times, by quotations 
from Pallas, a great Russian botanist; and from other 
sources within his knowledge, which go to show that 
nothing need be feared from a Crimean winter. 
This is Mr. Pallas’s somewhat poetic description :— 
“ The mildest and most fruitful region in all the 
