Chap. I.] BY THE SURFACE OF THE ROOTS. 
39 
roots, but manure should be only dug in outside 
their extremities. 
But the spade actually is the great unknown 
destroyer of our walbfruit trees. On a practical 
'postmortem examination and inquest on them, 
the gardener finds that the only remains of roots 
are in the bad lower soil. And his verdict, in¬ 
stead of tree-slaughter against himself, is felo de 
se: that is, died because the roots would strike 
too low. But he omits to observe the reason of 
this, which is, that the spade has destroyed 
every upper rootlet as it was made. “ Agrum 
pessimum mulctari cujus dominus audit non 
ostendit villicum;” and I wish that the editor of 
the “ Gardener’s Chronicle,” instead of quoting 
these misdeeds as authority, would correct them 
as errors, — would say to the man of practice, 
“ Don’t dig so deep,”— and inform him that the 
roots of his trees would be happy to revel in the 
upper soil, if his spade would let them. 
Some trees have a tendency to form buds and 
to shoot wherever stem, branch, or root is 
wounded. This tendency in the horse-chesnut 
is so strong, that I think it might be inoculated 
for branches wherever they were wished for. 
The wounds made by the spade are a frequent 
source of suckers from the roots of fruit-trees, 
The spade the 
destroyer of 
wall-fruit trees. 
