84 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 
cation, from the compost mentioned in vol. i. p. 124, 
to the sand I here obtained from a pit, and loam is 
also referred to as the rich matter that is obtained 
from rotted turves from old pastures, Mr. Beaton, 
in this week’s number (10th May), in his interesting 
article on camellias, refers to a ‘ mellow loam’ which, 
1 to the touch,’ is ‘ like new flour from a mill.’ I have 
often turned it over in my mind, how these different 
loams could be best distinguished. Now, would not 
an article on the best way of managing loams from 
a pit, before they are brought into use, be very accept¬ 
able to young hands? I cannot help thinking it 
would. Few young gardening aspirants have any 
very definite idea of what is meant by ‘ loam,’ or how 
to bring it into a state fit for use. At page 14, vol. i., 
you give a definition of good loam, bat the majority 
of cottagers and many amateurs are excluded from 
the privilege of getting soil from an upland pasture 
except in small quantities, and the pit is their only 
source of supply. From necessity I have used a good 
deal of such loam fresh from the pit to make up 
borders, and to improve the staple of soil, and also 
a mild white clay which is intermixed with chalk- 
stones, and pulverizes to atoms with the first frost,* 
So far as I have yet been able to judge, the effect has 
been good.” 
Now, with regard to the meaning of the term 
“loam,” as employed by ourselves, we never have, 
nor shall we ever employ it in any other acceptation 
than what we believe to be its legitimate meaning— 
namely, soil easily crumbled, that does not quickly 
become dry in summer, or too moist in winter. This 
kind of loam admits of many qualifications. It is 
turfy, when taken from a pasture, without first re¬ 
moving the grass or turf from its surface; it is sandy , 
when sand renders it more light than is desirable for 
a fertile soil; clayey, when clay is similarly rather in 
excess; chalky, if it contains more than the usual 
amount of chalk. 
In addition to these distinctions, gardeners often 
employ some others,' which though quite intelligible 
to themselves, yet convey no meaning to the unprac¬ 
tised amateur. Thus, by maiden loam is always 
meant soil taken from the surface of an old pasture; 
and by hazel loam, a rich crumbly soil of a dark brown 
or hazel colour, owing partly to its containing more 
than the usual quantity of decaying vegetable mat¬ 
ters. 
Loam, then, or soil crumbly and constituted so as 
neither to be too wet nor too dry under ordinary 
circumstances, is useful for rendering light soils more 
retentive of moisture, and heavy soils less retentive, 
by being mixed with them. It is, also, one of the 
most useful matters for potting plants. For this pin- 
pose, whether from a pasture or from a pit, it had 
better be placed in a heap, and turned over four or 
five times during exposure for a twelvemonth to the 
sun, air, and frost, precisely as is directed at p. 14 of 
our first volume. For potting purposes it must not 
be mixed with dungs or any other highly stimrdating 
* This “ mild white clay ” is a genuine marl. Marl is a mixture 
of chalk with either clay or sand. In the first case it is “ a clay 
marl;” in the second, “sandy marl.” 
manures; but if the loam is obtained from a pit, it 
may be advantageously mixed with a small quantity 
of dead leaves, or of the bottom of an old wood stack, 
about one part to ten parts of loam, to be thoroughly 
incorporated by the turnings and year’s exposure. 
THE ERUIT-GAKDEN. 
The Fig. —To no fruit-tree is disbudding of greater 
importance than to the fig. Let the soil be ever so 
carefully constituted to avoid luxuriance, still the fig, 
in a trained state, will produce a host of superfluous 
side shoots, as well as numerous suckers from the 
roots. Old worn-out trees, or those which have borne 
abundantly for years, may prove an exception, but 
thus it is with the majority. On examining the cha¬ 
racter of the wood as it springs forth, two or three 
distinct kinds may be clearly traced; distinct as to 
the proportion the thickness of the young shoot bears 
to the length of, what botanists term, the internode, 
or that part between each two joints. This inter¬ 
node, as we have before observed, furnishes by far 
the best criterion of fruitfulness in nearly all our 
fruit-trees, and should at all times be kept under 
examination, for it will at once furnish a key to the 
conditions of the tree, prospective as well as retros¬ 
pective. 
Of the three different kinds of wood, one -will be 
found of an over-luxuriant character, long in the 
internode, and thick or succulent in substance; a 
second kind will be found almost as weakly as straws, 
lanky and spongy; and a third kind will be found 
robust, but short-jointed and compact. This last is 
the kind of wood to reserve for future bearing. This 
sort of wood does not ramble so fast as the others ; 
and, whereas the first-named kind may possess inter¬ 
nodes of two or three inches in length, the latter will 
frequently possess three or four joints in that com¬ 
pass. These things may not be sufficiently manifest 
for two or three weeks yet; when, however, the young 
growth has advanced so far, we trust our readers will 
be ready to study their character. 
The present bearing of these remarks refers to dis¬ 
budding; implying, thereby, a selection of the wood 
which is to produce the next year’s crop. Much 
allowance must be made for the habit of varieties of 
this fruit: some naturally produce a grosser shoot 
and a larger leaf than others: some, as the Lee's 
Perpetual or Brown Turkey, seldom produce wood 
too strong, their bearing properties are so great. As 
soon, therefore, as the character of the young shoots 
can be distinguished, so soon should disbudding com¬ 
mence ; for, in the majority of figs on walls, by far 
the largest proportion of young shoots will have to be 
stripped away. As this process of rubbing off buds 
will have to be repeated at intervals through June 
and even July, it is well to proceed somewhat cau¬ 
tiously at first; in fact, with the amateur, the little 
niceties connected with his miniature fruit-garden 
will furnish a constant source of employment; and, 
to a well-ordered mind, a kind of gratification which 
will he sought for in vain in the mazes of the world’s 
struggles for wealth or fame. Here there are no 
rivals, no capricious fluctuations or oscillations, such 
as frequently cause the pendulum of public life to 
waver in a painful degree. The Creator has so or¬ 
dered nature, that a steady attention to her axioms or 
first principles will, in the main, ensure success in 
horticultural operations. 
