246 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 19, 1858. 
a row of Hollies ; but they have not thriven. I should 
say—nay, am certain, that due preparation has not been 
made for them; they have been planted upon the 
rock, or nearly so. They ought immediately to have 
a good dressing of rich dung ; and that ought to be re¬ 
peated every year, and allowed to remain both summer 
and winter. The hedge would grow well then. After 
passing the house, I met with a plantation, that has 
been thinned just to my mind. 
The gravelled lane then appeared in view; and I 
made my way down it, and soon met with the 
gardener’s house, which by-tlie-by, is a very comfort¬ 
able one : I wish every gardener was as well lodged. 
His name, I found, was Mr. Davis ; and he is, I 
believe, one of a family that have been long famous as 
good growers of the Pine, and the Grape. On taking 
a general view of the gardens, I found the very com¬ 
mon mistake had been made of placing them in a low 
situation, on a clayey subsoil. I suppose the reason 
for placing the gardens in a low situation, was to 
secure warmth and shelter—a very mistaken notion, 
now happily exploded. A kitchen and fruit garden, with 
its pineries, vineries, and peach houses, should always 
be elevated to a certain extent above the surrounding 
country or plat. By so placing it, the advantages 
of securing a perfect subsoil drainage ; and, above all, 
escaping the ill effects of early and late frosts, are ob¬ 
tained ; the early frosts often destroy the blossoms, 
and the latter prevents the fruit-bearing wood from 
maturation. Such have been the effects at Worsley. 
The Peach trees on the walls had suffered dreadfully ; 
and the Pear trees scarcely ever produced any fruit 
Avorth eating ; the Apples are very much cankered: as 
for Plums, and Cherries, they scarcely exist. Mr. 
Davis is doing his best to counteract these evils, by 
concreting the borders, and making them much shal¬ 
lower. Although he has not had the management 
quite three years, yet in that short time, the good 
effects of better drainage, concreting, and root-pruning 
are quite apparent, more especially in the case of the 
Peach trees. 
As I know there are, in various parts of the kingdom, 
many gardens so unhappily placed, and the owners do 
not choose to go to the expense of changing the site, I 
think I shall do some service to gardeners holding the 
head place in such situations, if I enter into detail a 
little more fully, of the method Mr. Davis has followed 
to obtain such improvement; and, as the Peach border 
first attracted my attention, and has been first ex¬ 
perimented on, I will try to describe what has been 
done to it. 
The first thing, was—all the old soil down to the clay 
was Avheeled away on to the quarters, for which it was 
an excellent dressing. Then a layer of concrete was 
formed as hard and compact as possible. The trees in 
the meantime were hung up by the head, as it were, to 
the wall; the roots being protected with wet mats. Of 
i course, everything had been prepared to get the work 
done as speedily as possible. After the concreting was 
finished, a few rows of drain-pipes were laid across the 
border, upon the concrete, to carry off any superfluous 
; water that might rest upon it in a heaA T y rainy sea- 
I son. These rows of draining tiles are, as near as I 
could judge, ten feet apart. The next thing was the re¬ 
placing of the soil. This was the top spit from a pasture, 
and was laid on in its green state. As soon as the 
soil was high enough, the roots were regularly spread 
over the border, and then covered a few inches deep. 
! No dung, or other stimulating manure, was used. 
The trees all grew again, though most of them were 
upwards of twelve years old. The following season 
they made some good fruitful wood, which ripened 
well; and this summer, the trees, for the first time, 
bore a considerable quantity of really good, well- 
ripened fruit. It is true, this summer has been above 
the average of heat; and that, no doubt, had its due 
effect: but the good result of a dry border, made of 
simple maiden earth, had a good deal to do with the 
success. In addition to obtaining good fruit, the 
trees have made a goodly quantity of very perfectly- 
ripened wood, well furnished with plump blossom- 
buds. I never saw better; and if we have another 
warm summer, no doubt the fruit would be still finer. 
But ah! these “ if’s ”—how are we to get over them, 
and make certain ? The only way with Peaches 
and Nectarines in our uncertain climate, and more 
especially in this part of the country, is to cover j 
them with glass. And it is no small testimony to i 
the ability of his gardener, that the noble earl has 
consented to do this in his case, namely, to cover the 
wall with glass in the Trentham style. I saw the 
foundations for the front supports thrown out, and the ! 
mason at work with the fire-place, and setting the 
boiler; and I was informed the carpenters were at 
work making the sashes ; so that, before the blossom 
breaks forth, they will be secured from the early and the 
late frost: and a certain crop of fruit will be had with¬ 
out an “if” or a “but” intervening. 
This Peach wall faces, of course, the south, and 
reaches exactly half-way across the garden. The other | 
half is occupied with Flemish and French Pears. These 
trees have wood indeed. The great object seems to 
have been to hide every brick, and prevent the sun 
shining on them. The branches are not only trained 
horizontally, but vertically; that is, across, and up, 
and down. As I mentioned above, the fruit they have j 
produced, is bad, cracked, and worthless. Hoping to 
renovate them, Mr. Da\ r is has treated them this 
autumn, exactly the same as he did the Peaches : he is 
gradually thinning the wood, and hopes thereby to im¬ 
prove the fruit. The trees are certainly large, and | 
well furnished from top to bottom with wood; but | 
what is the use of it, if there is no good fruit P 
These gardens are very extensive-—they cover sixteen j 
acres. The south division is an orchard, and the ground ! 
has been cultivated and cropped with rough vegetables, j 
Then, a low wall, and another large plat of ground, 
bordered on the north side by the Peach and Pear : 
wall above-mentioned. A wide-arched door is in the 
centre ; and in passing through it, the visitor observes ! 
at once the glass-houses on the north side of another 1 
square. Behind these again, are the Pine-pits, plant- 
pits, and propagating-houses ; the whole sheltered from 
the north-east and west by a rather extensive, ancient 
wood, which completely screens the walls of the garden 
from being seen from the Avindows of the hall, or from 
the terraces in front. This very brief description will \ 
give the reader some idea of the extent of the gardens. 
I now return to notice further improvements effected 
since Mr. Davis took the chief command. The Vines 
were in a bad condition, owing to deep undrained j 
borders, and over-crowded wood inside. The soil on 
the outside was all removed; not a living root was 
found beyond the fraut wall. Fortunately, the Vines 
had been planted inside ; therefore, the removal of the 
outside border did not affect their growth. As they 
had been pruned on the bundle-of-rods system, they 
were all cut away to one; that best furnished with 
spurs was selected. The border outside was properly 
drained. It is about fifteen feet wide ; but only five 
feet of that were soiled the first year. The remainder 
is to be filled in, when the roots have reached the out¬ 
side of that uoav made. One house is just now started : 
and to protect the roots from frost and wet, the new 
border I found covered with short litter; and upon that 
straw hurdles were laid. Then, in front, the men 
Avere wheeling in leaves to the depth of the soil; so 
that there would be a gentle, sweet, stimulating heat j 
