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74 THE FLORIST. 
facts from her. She will not deceive you far. Look through the woods 
and fields, and tell me where you find the finest trees: I have 
always found them myself in old pastures, where the cattle have for 
generations been accustomed to tread upon and around their roots, till 
the soil had become like a rock. But as to the borders, mind and well 
drain them at the time of making; use good maiden soil at planting— 
no manure, recollect. Choose good, clean, young trees, and don’t plant 
too deeply; when planted make your trees as firm as you can, and you 
will always find the trees upon firm solid borders—when well drained 
—make much better wood; there is no coarse superfluous growth, but 
excellent short-jointed fruitful shoots, which will ripen up as hard as 
iron, and you ‘ll find in the end you will always get better crops than 
those whose soil is loose and their trees more vigorous. Your trees will 
also be much longer-lived than theirs will.” There was also a vinery 
at this place planted upon the same principle, with a droad gravel walk 
covering the border, and the produce was always most satisfactory —far 
more so than since it has fallen into other hands, and the ‘ new- 
fangled” system has been adopted. - 
Another instance I will adduce, and bring the name of one of your 
valued and excellent correspondents into question—whose name, by the 
bye, I have not seen in your pages lately—that of Mr. Saul, of Stourton. 
At his place I saw several years successively the most splendid crops of 
Apricots and wall-fruit generally that ever man could desire to see, but 
his borders were far from being so light and porous as the anti- 
consolidation writers of the present day coull wish us to adopt as a 
primary cause of success. He is, I believe, very particular as regards 
the drainage, &c., and never permits any unnecessary treading upon his 
borders, but allows them to become naturally firm, only running the 
hoe over them now and then, to keep down the weeds, &c. 
Again, two years ago I took charge of an extensive place, and on 
going through the houses I was grieved to find that the Vines and 
Peaches were in the most wretched state imaginable. Upon asking the 
foreman a question or two, he said, ‘Oh, sir, they have been sadly 
over-cropped and the soil is bad, but we have been mending it these 
last three or four years by digging a lot of leaf-mould and long dung 
into it every year ; the borders are getting nice and light now, and we 
are in hopes that in a year or two they will recover again!” Upon 
going outside, I certainly found the borders were becoming “ nice and 
light,” for upon walking over them the feet settled down as if one was 
walking over a heap of rotten leaves. After examining the drainage 
and finding that efficient, I got some good loam and spread over the 
borders, and allowed it to remain till it became quite dry. I then set 
three men upon it to tread it firmly down, after which I covered the’ 
Vine borders about two inches thick with good decomposed stable 
manure, and let it remain to be washed in by the rains, &. N othing 
more was done during the whole season but the hoe run over them 
occasionally. The last spring they had another top-dressing of manure 
as above, but the surface has not since been disturbed. The conse- 
quence of this treatment was that during the first season the improve- 
ment of the Vines and Peaches was far beyond expectation, and during 

