378 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 14, 1858. 
be flat, to retain the rains that fall upon it. For the 
first year or two it should not be turfed on this flat 
surface ; but after that, when the trees are established, 
it may be sown with grass seeds. Each space should 
be enclosed with rails as soon as it is trenched, to 
prevent the cattle, if there are any, from treading 
upon the soil. Then, early in autumn, plant the trees. 
If Deodars are fixed upon, use two or three barrow¬ 
loads of a prepared compost to each tree,—this com- 
| post to consist of loam, sandy peat, and leaf mould, in 
! equal parts. As soon as all are planted, give them a 
mulching of littery manure, both to keep their roots 
! moist and to protect them from severe frost. Then 
secure the trees safe, from being blown about by the 
wind, with stakes. If they are large, the best protec¬ 
tion is four strong wires, tied round the stem (with a 
thick piece of cloth between the wire and the stem to 
prevent the wire from cutting the bark), and fastened 
to four short, thick, strong stakes, driven firmly into 
the ground, six feet from the tree. These prevent the 
wind from injuring the tree whatever quarter it may 
blow from. Protect them also from cattle browsing or 
' rubbing against them, by railing off a sufficient space 
j for that purpose. 
Ey adopting these methods of trenching, elevating, 
and protecting the trees from cattle, wind, dryness, 
and frosts, the avenue trees will succeed well, and 
I grow much faster then if planted anyhow and left to 
their fate. T. Appleby. 
BOOT-PRUNING- FRUIT TREES. 
As the season is fast approaching for examining and pruning 
the roots of fruit trees against walls, or elsewhere, I think a 
hint as to how this operation should be performed may be of 
service to some of your readers. 
My object in writing is from the following conversation 
with a gentleman who came to visit this place the other day. 
As we were walking round the kitchen garden, this gentleman 
seemed particularly interested in the wall-fruit trees, and, 
on coming to a very tine Easter Beurre Pear tree, he 
said, “ What a very tine tree that is.”—“ Yes, Sir; tine 
wood, but no fruit. I must get about its roots by-and- 
by.”—“ And w T hat will you do with them ?”—“ Root prune 
them.” Then, with a shake of the head, “Ah,” he said, 
“ I lmd mine root-pruned, and have lost them by it,”— 
“Well, Sir, I have root-pruned a great number, and never 
lost one.”—“Well, how do you do it?”—“First and fore¬ 
most, I make a straight line from the centre of the tree across 
i the border; then a semicircular line from the base of the tree, 
I meeting at the points like the letter D. Then I take off the 
; mould very carefully, with a digging fork, down to the roots, 
or nearly so ; then, with a spade, throw off the Crumbs of 
soil left by the fork. Next, I proceed with the fork at the 
extremities of the roots, and gently loose them, shaking the 
mould from them, and, after bringing them all in view 7 , cut 
all that want it, and, after putting some new soil, lay them 
carefully in their places again. Lastly, I cover in with about 
three inches of the same mould, and fill up the remainder 
with the old soil. The tree is then done with till the next 
or the following season, When the other half of the roots are 
done in the same Way.” My inquirer gave another shrug of 
the shoulders, and said, “ Now I have found out the cause of 
j my failure; I lifted mine altogether at once, and I think yours 
a very judicious plan.”—G. C. 
WHAT ARE THE TRUE DIMENSIONS FOR 
COMB-BAR HIVES AND BOXES? 
. ^ TV E had reason to believe that the dimensions given 
m apiarian works (viz. Ilf in. diameter for seven and 13f in. 
Iol eight-bar hives and boxes) are considerably in excess of 
t ie tiue proportions, as shown by the little architects them¬ 
selves, when left to the unrestricted exercise of their own 
instinct. In practice I have always discarded the smaller 
fractions, reducing the square for boxes to 111 in. or 13 in. 
respectively ; but this slight alteration does little towards 
lessening the evil,—for a great evil it undoubtedly must be, 
if my observations are at all correct. 
During the present autumn I have measured many, both 
straw hives and wooden boxes, in which guide-Comb had not 
been used, and the conclusion to which I am impelled is, that 
bees, when left to themselves, form at least eight, and some¬ 
times nine, combs in a diameter of 12 inches! 
This is so wide a departure from the received ideas on this 
subject, and is, withal, of so much importance to the scientific 
apiarian, that I am induced to ask those who are interested, to 
apply a carpenter’s rule to all deprived stock hives, or boxes 
( (not supers or Nadir’s), which may come under their observa¬ 
tion, and in which the bees have been allowed to plan their 
own habitations. 
The present is, of course, the season for making these I 
observations, and the results communicated through the j 
pages of The Cottage Gardener might be of great service 
to many apiarians, as well as to—T. W. W. 
OUR BOTANICAL GARDENS. — SITUATION 
EOR PAMPAS GRASS. 
During the last year I have visited several public botanic 
gardens, aiid I have come to the conclusion that in no case j 
are they made so interesting to the public as they might he. { 
Anything that would alter this state of things would he good ; 
so I suggest the following additions to botanic gardens, hoping 
that others more qualified than myself to advise will do so : —• 
1st. I think that in every British botanic garden there 
should be a part specially devoted to British botany. Not 
only do our British plants well deserve this, but I believe it 
would give very great pleasure and interest to many who 
care little or nothing now for botanical pursuits, because 
they believe their own home-fields and waysides have no beauty 
or interest. 
2nd. A geographical arrangement of plants, either in zones [ 
or in countries, w T ould be a most interesting addition to most 
botanic gardens where the grounds were of sufficient size. 
3rd. A geological arrangement might be made with little 
trouble or expense, if joined with either of the two other j 
arrangements. It is well known to geologists how much the 
geology of a country affects its flora, and a geological arrange¬ 
ment of plants well carried out might be not only very in¬ 
teresting, but very useful. 
In some way or other, I am sure our public gardens might 
be made more interesting than they arc at present. 
Having several seedlings of the Pampas Grass last year, I 
planted them in different places in the garden, and one I 
planted by the side of a pond, where its roots would be almost | 
in water. This one flourished better than any of the others : 
it was less injured by the winter, and is already in flower, of 
which the rest give no symptom. I may add, that those in 
the shade seem far the most flourishing.—II. N. E. 
REMOVING LARGE HOLLIES, YEWS, AND 
AUSTRIAN PINES, AT GISBURNE PARK, 
YORKSHIRE. 
I beg leave to offer a few remarks in reply to the few lines 
which appeared in The Cottage Gardener for December 
last, page 135. Being a constant reader of that valuable work, 
I look for that little paper every week as though it was a 
letter from an old uncle that was about to leave me a small 
legacy. 
When the first number in December came to hand I was 
) carefully looking through its contents, and noticed at the 
above page some remarks on the removing of large Hollies. 
Well, thought I, that is just the very thing I am so busily 
engaged in. I read the article, and studied the matter care¬ 
fully over, and thought if half the plants, which I was then 
transplanting, die, I should be in an awkward mess; but, as 
the old adage runs, “ nothing venture, nothing win,” and I had 
no time to lose; for my noble master had requested me a few 
days previously to plant a piece of ground adjoining the man- 
