January  19,  lh99. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
49 
'Unknown  to  “  English  Gardener.”)  1  am  thus  unconscious  of  the 
motive  of  this  argument  being  brought  into  battle  as  if  it  were  making 
a  point  against  me.  My  common  sense  told  me  to  keep  aloof  when 
doctors  differ,  and  to  prophesy  only  when  I  know,  as  1  do  know  about 
lime,  which  these  who  fail  to  analyse  soil  do  not.  Could  “  English 
Gardener’s”  life  be  lived  over  again,  with  a  little  previous  knowledge, 
and  having  to  deal  with  homogeneous  soil,  he  might  be  brought  to 
bless  analysis  in  all  its  forms,  even  including  plant  ash,  which  is  held 
in  great  esteem  in  some  foreign  lands  rich  in  faith  in  analytical 
science. 
As  t:>  “  Wanderer,”  his  friend  Jones  may  have  become  greyhaired 
since  the  greater  part  of  a  generation  in  the  protracted  effort  to  learn 
BARK  PRUNING  AND  LIFTING  OLD  PEAR 
TREES. 
I  WAS  greatly  interested  on  reading  the  profitable  results  obtained 
from  Mr.  Edward  Luckhurst’s  practical  advice  to  ring  or  bark-prune 
the  rampant  growing  fruitless  Pear  trees.  The  results  proved  to  have 
been  more  profitable  than  could  have  been  reasonably  anticipated  from 
such  a  simple  operation,  described  on  page  470,  December  22nd. 
In  the  following  week’s  issue  “  W.  11.,”  on  page  497,quote8  an  instance 
where  bark-pruning  was  perfectly  successful.  The  Editor  gives  further 
evidence  of  what  has  been  done  by  bark-pruning  or  ringing,  with  little 
cost  of  labour.  I  shall  be  glad  to  learn  from  practical  correspondents 
Fig.  10.— ANGR^CUM  VEITCHI. 
the  lessons  acquired  from  direct  experiment  he  abides  by,  unless  he 
had  a  kind  preceptor  in  younger  days,  especially  if  on  the  identical 
area.  Nor  do  I  say  that  deep  digging  and  trenching  is  not  worth 
more  than  promiscuous  manuring.  Make  the  best  of  any  soil  workable 
at  all,  I  hive  said  more  than  once,  but  do  not  despise  the  aid  of 
science,  although  it  is  manifest  that  the  only  feasible  effect  producible 
by  analysis  is  to  enable  higher  class  produce  than  previously  obtained 
to  be  grown  on  the  most  advantageous  terms.  That  extra  is  equivalent 
to  the  difference  between  a  bare  living  and  something  to  spare. 
In  reply  to  the  E  liter’s  footnote  on  page  500  (last  vol.)  re  clubbing 
■of  Brassicas :  of  course  the  di.scovery  of  gas  lime  as  an  antidote  against 
that  evil  was  made  by  a  scientist;  I  merely  quoted  the  one  instance 
in  [loint  only  apropos  of  “  lime.”  I  am  glid  of  the  tribute  to  science 
in  the  closing  words  on  the  page  cited,  and  would  observe  that 
gardeners  must  not  imagine  they  are  monopolists  of  editorial  endorse 
ments. — H.  II.  R.,  Forest  Hill. 
[The  Editor  believes  in  the  logic  of  accomplished  facts,  and  that 
the  best  results  in  the  production  of  crops  are  not  achieved  by  wrong 
methods,  whether  these  have  been  based  on  soil  analysis  or  not.  His 
views  generally  are  condensed  in  the  introduction  to  Mr.  Cousins’ 
Primer,  where  ordinary  soil  analysis  is  not  regarded  as  an  essential 
in  cultivation.] 
what  advantage  would  be  likely  to  accrue  from_  ringing  the  stems  of 
Pear  trees  that  have  their  principal  roots  down  in  a  hard  red  hungry 
clay. 
This  winter  we  have  lifted  and  root-pruned  seven  horizontally 
trained  Pear  trees.  Five  out  of  the  seven  have  been  planted  about 
thirty  years,  the  other  two  not  such  a  long  time  by  ten  or  twelve 
years.  The  varieties  being  good  ones — viz.,  two  Marie  Louise,  with 
one  each  of  Winter  Nelis,  Doyenne  du  Cjmice,  Easter  Beurre,  Hacon’s 
Incomparable,  and  Williams’  Bon  Chretien — I  wished  to  improve 
them.  The  trees  produced  plenty  of  wood,  but  the  foliage  was  of  a 
yellowish  green,  and  very  thin  in  texture.  The  trees  averaged  about 
20  feet  run  of  wall  12  feet  high.  For  the  last  six  years  the  seven  trees 
have  not  produced  two  stones  of  fruit  in  one  season.  They  are  planted 
on  east  and  west  aspects. 
It  will  be  easy  to  understand  that  since  the  trees  were  planted, 
thirty  years  ago,  that  the  borders  have  been  raised  considerably 
through  adding  various  manurial  agents.  We  commenced  about  8  feet 
from  each  stem  to  dig  out  the  first  trench,  and  gradually  worked  away 
the  soil.  Very  lew  roots  were  nearer  the  surface  than  2  feet,  except 
a  few  small  ones  recently  made  through  top  dressing,  and  liquid 
manure,  which  was  given  three  times  a  year.  4  wo  roots  growing  from 
the  stem,  and  as  near  the  surface  soil  as  it  was  possible  to  select,  were 
