November 14, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
i 
953 
READERS’ COMPETITION. 
For details of this competition and prize offered, please 
see page 949. Please post on Friday night. 
Digging and Trenching, 
Of the many operations which are carried out in the garden, 
none are of greater importance than that of digging. It is 
really laying the foundation for the building up of vigorous 
growth and abundant crops. The advantages to be derived 
from the use of the spade are, at least, of a twofold character: 
in the one instance as a means of thoroughly pulverising the 
soil, and the other as a means of enriching or adding to the 
staple soil fertilising elements or any material to change its 
character, as may be required. Respecting pulverisation of 
soils, it is well known that water is an essential part of plant 
food, because, being a medium by which other substances can 
be imbibed, manures are useless to vegetation until they be¬ 
come soluble in water, which has the power to decompose them 
and assimilate their constituent parts. It is, of course, obvious 
to all that a heavy rainfall would do little in the way of pene¬ 
trating a hard road, for the simple reason that it would not 
be in a pulverised condition ; hence its powers of absorption 
would be practically nil. Here, then, will be seen one of the 
advantages of deep cultivation. The moisture is able to pene¬ 
trate to a greater depth, and thus form a store to be given up 
to the roots of the plants during dry seasons by capillary 
attraction, or in the same way that a little moisture m a saucer 
will ascend to the top of a lump of sugar, the sugar being so 
placed that it touches the moisture. Pulverisation also in¬ 
creases the temperature of the soil by allowing the free ingress 
of warm rains and air in the spring. 
Respecting the application of manures and the improvement 
of soils by digging, if possible, either trenching or bastard 
trenching should be adopted, each being best under certain 
conditions. If a good soil is at command, at least two spits in 
depth, equal in texture, trenching should be adopted—that is, 
changing the position of the plot by bringing the bottom soil 
to the surface, the surface soil being placed below. Work in 
plenty of manure or other approved fertilisers between each 
layer of soil. If the soil is heavy in character lightening mate¬ 
rials should be added ; if otherwise, plenty of good cow manure, 
bone meal, wood ashes, etc., may with advantage be used, par¬ 
ticularly where the soil is light and lumpy. Bastard trenching 
should be i dopted where the second spit from the surface is 
deficient in character, in which case it is turned over and well 
loosened, without bringing it to the surface, at the same time 
incorporating with it manures and other elements which will 
in tune bring it into a similar condition to the surface soil. 
One of the advantages of deep cultivation has already been 
pointed out, viz., the soil’s power of absorption, water passing 
readily to the subsoil. Another great advantage is that the 
rooting area is practically doubled, the roots travelling freely 
through the loosened and enriched soil. Clayey soils are 
frequently ridged in winter, so that the frosts may assist in 
their pulverisation, which is brought about in this manner. 
Water expands when frozen, consequently the small particles 
of moisture in clayey soils expand as they come under the in¬ 
fluence of frost, and naturally burst the soil asunder by their 
expansion. Spade. 
Modern Onion-Growing with Profitable Results. 
The modem idea of sowing Onions in heat in January and 
February has come to stay. Gardeners who have been slow to 
realise the benefits gained therefrom are slowly but surely ad- 
1 mitting the advisability of so doing in order to counteract in 
some degree our present short and trying seasons. 
After carefully considering the various phases, some five or 
six years ago we abandoned the idea of sowing Onions in the 
open either ni autumn or spring, except such as are used for 
pulling green or for salads, and now, after five years’ experience 
of the iso-called modern idea, we can confidently say that our 
former method was a delusion, both as regards production and 
keeping qualities, and with very little extra trouble a better 
return is now obtained. 
A leaf from our diary of this year will, we trust, convince the 
readers of the ‘‘G. W.” of the advantages of the modem idea. 
On February 2nd we sowed in boxes of light loamy soil one 
packet each of Ailsa Craig, Cranston’s Excelsior, and Mammoth 
Red, the latter for its 1 long-keeping qualities, which extend to 
May when well ripened. Boxes were placed on a shelf near the 
glass in a pit with a temperature of 55 to 60 degrees. As soon 
as the seedlings showed signs of crowding, they were carefully 
thinned, some of the thinnings being pricked out into other 
boxes. A shelf in the greenhouse afterwards accommodated 
them until they were transferred to- a cold frame. After under¬ 
going the usual hardening off process, they were finally planted 
on April 29th on a piece of ground (9ft. by 24ft.) which had 
been specially prepared in the autumn of 1902 by being trenched 
and ten barrow loads of stable manure added, with the addition 
of two barrows of a mixture of wood-ashes, soot, and lime, forked 
in previous to planting. The young plants were planted with a 
trowel in lines 1ft. apart, with 9in. between the plants, the sur¬ 
face being afterwards kept free and open by the frequent use of 
the Dutch hoe. 
About the' beginning of June an additional two- barrows of 
horse and sheep droppings, which had been previously passed 
through an inch riddle, was given by way of top dressing. All 
the chemical manure used was half a stone of nitrate of soda 
applied at four or five intervals during rain, which was rather 
prevalent this summer. 
We have not yet got our crop harvested, and an enthusiastic 
amateur has prevailed on us to let him photograph a part of the 
crop and send it to The Gardening Wobld, in the hope that 
the Editor would think it worth reproducing. 
We may say that nine lines 24ft. long, with the plants 9in. 
apart, works out at about 288 Onions to the piece. After care¬ 
fully weighing the dry bulbs, we find that we have a total of 
5301 bs. Mammoth Red are the lightest crop, three lines realising' 
661bs., Onions ranging from ^lb. to lib. Ailsa. Craig and Cram 
ston’s Excelsior are the heaviest crop, four lines of the latter and 
two of the former weighing 2641bs. of useful specimens, averaging 
from fib. to 21bs. ° ° 
We do not make any pretence to growing exhibition Onions, 
else we should have sown a month earlier and potted our young 
plants, as is often practised by competitors; but competition in 
this case is not our aim, and this article is not intended for the 
Onion specialist, but for those readers who, like ourselves, have 
limited accommodation in spring, and are trying economically 
to take the greatest amount of serviceable produce from the 
smallest possible -space. We admit that, had the Onions been 
given more space, they would have been larger, .and perhaps 
totalled as heavy a crop, but, when the details are all considered, 
the reader will, like us, await patiently for the Editor's verdict.' 
James Bethel. 
Westwood Gardens, Newport-on-Tay. 
[A good crop of useful keeping bulbs. —Ed.] 
Hints on Pruning Fruit Trees. 
To the inexperienced, casual observer and beginner of the 
profession, this operation may seem to look a simple task, but 
on closer observation and acquaintance it is found to be' one 
of the highest, most learned, and chief arts of the profession 
towards successful fruit culture. 
The first object the operator has to seriously consider is the 
nature of the soil he has to contend with, and this will be of 
considerable -assistance to him ; also the shape in which the 
tree is to be trained. These shapes are produced by a combined 
system of pruning, taking into consideration the several posi¬ 
tions allotted to each specimen. Plums, Apples, and Pears are 
usually grown on the bush, pyramid, and standard principle 
when grown in the open ground, and on walls, horizontal, cordon, 
single, double, etc., and fan-shaped. In nearly all cases the 
last named is chosen for Figs, Peaches, and Nectarines. 
The principle of pruning is to divert the flow of sap from the 
branch removed to others which are left, causing them to 
strengthen, and swell larger and more plump fruit buds, which 
by the removal of superfluous growth it is bound to do,’ at the 
same time admitting light and air, which are essential require¬ 
ments for productiveness, in encouraging the formation of fruit 
buds. At the same time take great care to remove all dead or 
diseased wood. Hard and fast pruning should not be the aim, 
but a moderate and judicious use of the knife, keeping the object 
aimed at in constant view—namely, promotion of vigour and 
fertility. 
There are two seasons in which pruning may be done, summer 
and winter. The summer work is usually carried, on bv a 
system of pinching and stopping, to assist in ripening the younc* 
growth which is left remaining, to allow more b~ht and "air to 
pass freely through the trees. Summer operations lessen the 
amount of cutting to be done in the winter. The summer pinch¬ 
ing and stopping should be taken in hand as soon as the strength 
