It is disagreeable to have even deer come close to the windows, and

they are not only fond of the young shoots of trees, but they would be

decidedly injurious to your flower-garden and the clumps of ornamental

shrubs in the pleasure-ground. Should your husband have any deer, it

will be necessary to have some fence or line of demarcation between

the park and the pleasure-ground; and it is always considered a

proof of skill in the landscape-gardener to conceal such a fence as

skilfully as possible. When an iron fence is used it is generally

extremely slight, and painted green, so as to be almost invisible; and

when this fence is used, it is sometimes concealed by a plantation of

trees thrown together indiscriminately, as in fig. 13., or planted

artistically in groups. In other cases a sunk wall, forming a kind of

ditch, is used, which is concealed by plantations; or iron hurdles

are stuck in, and the line is varied occasionally. Any of these plans

may be adopted in the front of your house, to protect your garden if

necessary.

[Illustration: Fig. 13. _Park Fence._]

As I have already alluded to the improvement that will be effected by

introducing a shrubbery to harmonise the intended flower-garden with

the trees in the park, you will probably wish to know if any thing

of the kind will be required on the back-front of the house; but in

that case there will be less difficulty, as the terrace affords an

admirable medium for uniting the architectural stiffness of a mansion

with the beautiful wildness and grace of nature. There is always a

degree of incongruity in passing abruptly from the stiff symmetrical

forms of a building, to the unsymmetric, though graceful, forms of

a tree left in a state of nature; and it was no doubt a feeling of

this kind which induced our ancestors to surround their houses with

formal architectural gardens and trees clipped into stiff and regular

forms. In more modern times something of the same kind was done, by

always adding to the house verandas, porticos, and terraces, which

formed a connecting link between the building and its grounds. After a

time these also were laid aside; and about the beginning of the last

century, when Brown and his followers would admit nothing but what they

called nature in garden scenery, the park was allowed to come close

up to the windows of the house, and, as a writer in the _Gardener's

Magazine_ observes, the inhabitants of the mansion might "leap from

their windows into jungles, and steppes, and wildernesses, where the

lion and the panther would be more at home than the lady in her silken

sheen."

You will see from these observations that there are styles marking

different periods in gardening, as well as in architecture; and, in

some cases, it is advisable to preserve a certain degree of similitude

between the style of the garden and that of the house. Of course,

however, this can only be done as far as is consistent with modern

comforts; and the fact of your house being partly Elizabethan does

not entail upon you the necessity of having a formal garden with high

clipped hedges, and trees cut into a thousand fantastic forms, any

more than it obliges you to sit in rooms darkened by stone mullions

and small-paned casements, because the courtiers of Queen Elizabeth

were obliged to submit to such inconveniences. With regard then to

the back-front of your mansion, I would leave the terrace in its

present form, with its stone alcoves at each end, as it corresponds so

well with the style of that part of the house which appears to have

been added in the reign of Anne or George I.; and I would preserve

and repair the stone balustrade with urns at regular intervals, and

the stone steps leading from the terrace, which are all in the same

style as the house; I would also have them lead into an architectural

garden below. The form of this garden should be quite regular, or, if

you prefer the term, quite formal; and it should be ornamented with

fountains, urns, and statues. The natural boundary of this garden is

the piece of water before alluded to, the borders of which should be

planted with a few tufts of shrubs to break, but not disguise, the

regularity of the outline. On the other side of the water these tufts

must be continued, but in a much wilder and more natural manner; and

here and there the plantation must take the character of a clump, and

consist of low trees, mingled with shrubs of the largest size. This

will unite the house and garden with the park scenery as regards the

view from the drawingroom windows, and on the side of the garden,

gravel walks may be carried on through the various scenery of the park,

a stone bridge being thrown over the water on the side nearest the

entrance-front; and, farther on, a rustic bridge may be thrown over the

stream in a situation where it is not seen from the house.

I think it very desirable that openings should be made in several

places through the mass of wood, to admit views of the distant scenery

from the drawingroom; as, for instance, if there is a church or a

tower, or any other object that would form a suitable termination to

a vista. In the reign of William and Mary, when the Dutch style of

gardening was fashionable, nothing was more common than long vistas of

the kind called _patte d'oie_, all springing in rays from one point,

and each terminating in some ornamental object, such as a temple,

an obelisk, or a statue. Some slight approximation to this style,

by cutting long vistas through your woods, might therefore be very

consistently introduced wherever a suitable occasion for it may occur.

In planting your _architectural garden_, you must observe that it

should have rather a different character from the small garden

in front of your sitting-room window. The architectural garden

should contain standard rose trees, almond trees, double-blossomed

peaches and cherries, the Chinese magnolia, or yulan tree, and other

showy-flowering trees, planted in company with arbutus, phillyrea,

Minorca box, and other evergreens of a similar character. In the

shrubbery, at each end of the garden, but not forming part of it, these

trees should be continued, and mixed with variegated hollies, the

different kinds of Cratæ'gus, and other trees that are ornamental, and

that never attain a large size.

I have already suggested that in various parts of the pleasure-grounds

advantage should be taken of any natural inequalities that may exist,

to form different scenes; and I have now only to add that advantage may

be taken of singular peculiarities, should you wish to form in your

grounds one of those arboretums which are now so fashionable.

An _arboretum_ is a collection of trees and shrubs, in which all

the different species of natural order are planted together; and it

does not necessarily imply that these orders should be arranged in

any particular manner; as indeed botanists are not agreed as to how

they should be placed, Jussieu having adopted one plan, De Candolle

another, and Dr. Lindley another. The only essential point is, that all

the plants which agree sufficiently to form an order should be placed

together; as, for example, all the Coníferæ or cone-bearing trees, such

as the pines and firs, the cedars, the cypresses, and the junipers;

and all the Cupulíferæ or nut-bearing trees, such as the oak, the

chestnut, the beech, and the hazel. Thus in your grounds, where there

is a valley, it may be formed into what is called an American ground,

consisting of the shrubs allied to the heath family, and planted with

rhododendrons, azaleas, kalmias, and other similar plants. A glen

may be planted with pines and firs, so as to form it into a kind of

pinetum; and an open space among trees may be turned into a rose-garden

or rosery. In this way most of the exotic trees and shrubs that will

stand the air in English gardens may be planted in groups, without

going to much expense, and with less formal appearance than that of a

regular arboretum. Besides, the beautiful colours which some of the

exotic trees will take in autumn give them a splendid appearance, when

they are backed by other trees with verdant foliage.

The _rose-garden_ will be a very beautiful object if skilfully

arranged; and, by thus forming your park into a succession of scenes,

you will not only increase its beauty in the eyes of strangers, but add

very materially to your own enjoyments by increasing the objects of

interest within your reach.

I do not suppose you will have any occasion to renovate the _turf_ in

any part of your park; but, if you should, the best way is to get a

mixture of the seeds of several sorts of grasses, such as the fox-tail

meadow grass (_Alopecùrus praténsis_), the sweet-scented vernal grass

(_Anthoxánthum odoràtum_), the crested dog's-tail grass (_Cynosùrus

cristàtus_), and other valuable kinds. If ever you find a patch of

grass has become bare, have an iron rake drawn over the ground two

or three times, so as to loosen it, and then sow a few seeds of the

grasses I have mentioned, when the ground is in a tolerably moist state

from rain. This will generally be sufficient; but if it should not, as

the seed of the fox-tail meadow grass is very often bad, you have only

to add a little seed of the common white clover, and the ground will

appear green in a few days.

LETTER X.

LAYING OUT A KITCHEN-GARDEN.--MAKING GRAVEL WALKS.--BOX EDGINGS.--CROPS

OF CULINARY VEGETABLES.--CUCUMBERS, MELONS, AND MUSHROOMS.

I had not intended saying any thing about the kitchen-garden, as it

hardly comes within a lady's province; but as you tell me you are so

much annoyed by your old gardener never having the things you want

when you want them, that you think of forming a small kitchen-garden

near the house, I shall be very happy to give you my advice as to what

appears to me to be the best method of doing so.

Every kitchen-garden ought, if possible, to be either square or oblong,

for the convenience of planting the beds, and you will find a garden

of one acre in extent quite as much as you will be able to manage. I

would advise you to have it surrounded by a wall about ten feet high

for fruit trees; and in front of this wall there should be a border

ten or twelve feet wide; beyond which should be a gravel walk four

feet wide, leaving a square or oblong plot of ground in the centre for

culinary vegetables. This central plot may either have a main walk up

the centre, and two or three side walks, or be left all in one bed,

which may be divided into compartments, with paths between, to suit the

convenience of the gardener. The best situation for your kitchen-garden

will be as near the stable as possible for the convenience of manure;

and, of course, it will join the reserve-ground. The surface of the

ground should be level, or gently sloping to the south, and there

should be no high trees near it. The whole of the garden should be

well drained, and you should contrive it so as to have easy access to

either pond or river water. A valley or a hill is a bad situation for

a kitchen-garden; as the valley is very liable to injury from frost on

account of the damps that hang over it; and the hill is not only cold,

but exposed to injury from high winds.

I have already mentioned that the form of a kitchen-garden should be

either square or oblong; and I may add, that the walks should always be

straight, as, if they were serpentine, it would be difficult to wheel a

barrow of manure along them without overturning it. The square form of

the garden, however, is not only on account of the walks, but in order

that the compartment in the centre may be divided into oblong beds, as

it is most convenient to sow vegetables in straight lines to allow of

weeding and hoeing between them, earthing them up, &c. The best soil

for a kitchen-garden is a sandy loam, and the surface soil should be

from two to three feet deep. You will find it very convenient to have a

vinery or forcing-house close to the kitchen-garden; and you can either

have a small separate garden for melon and cucumber-beds, called a

melon-ground, or this may form a part of your reserve-ground.

The first thing to be done when you have fixed upon your ground is

to form the _walks_, marking them out by two garden lines, and then

digging out the space between in the shape of an inverted arch, which

should be from one to two feet deep in the centre. The arch is then

partly filled in with brick-bats, stones, or any other hard rubbish

which can be procured, leaving a little hollow space exactly in the

centre to serve as a drain. Care must be taken, when filling in the

rubbish, to put the largest pieces in first, then pieces somewhat

smaller, and then pieces broken very small, which are rammed down as

hard as possible, so as to make a smooth surface immediately under the

gravel. The gravel before laying it down should be sifted, and all

pieces larger than a moderate-sized gooseberry should be thrown on

one side. As soon as the small gravel is laid down and evenly spread

it should be rolled, and this rolling should be repeated occasionally

till the walk becomes quite hard and firm. If the gravel does not bind

well, it may be improved by mixing with it powdered burnt clay, in the

proportion of one wheelbarrow full of clay to a two-horse cart load

of gravel. The clay may be burnt by making it into a heap, intermixed

with, and surrounded by, faggot wood. Gravel walks should always be

slightly raised in the middle, in order that the water may run off on

each side. If you should have an old gravel walk that wants renovating,

the gravel should be loosened with a pick, turned over, raked, and

firmly rolled, adding a coating of fresh gravel if necessary. If weeds

should appear on a gravel walk, they are best killed by watering them

with salt and water, and this liquid will prevent any other weeds from

appearing.

_Box edgings_ are the best for gravel walks, and March or April is a

good season for planting them. The following is the mode of performing

this operation, which requires some attention, as the beauty of the

edging depends on its regularity. The margin of the bed for about a

foot in breadth should be watered, and afterwards beaten firm and level

with the back of a spade; a garden line should then be stretched along

close to the walk, and a shallow trench opened, sloping towards it at

an angle of rather less than 45°. Some dwarf box having been procured

from the nurseryman, it should be divided into separate plants, and the

branches and roots trimmed, so that the plants may be nearly of a size.

These are laid along the sloping face as regularly as possible, with

their tops rising about an inch above the soil, and the earth is drawn

upon them, so as to fill up the trench and make them quite firm. The

plants are then watered, and nothing further is required but to supply

the place of any that may chance to die, and to keep the tips neatly

trimmed.

The crops of culinary vegetables are of two kinds, those that are

permanent, and those that are temporary. Of the _permanent crops_, the

most important are the _asparagus_ beds, on account of the great length

of time they take in preparing. The ground must be first trenched three

or four feet deep, and plenty of stable dung buried at the bottom of

the trench. The beds are then marked out four feet wide, and paths left

between them; and the plants, which must be procured from a nurseryman

(as they should be two years old when they are first put into the bed),

must be planted in rows nine inches apart, and deep enough to have the

crown of the root two inches below the surface of the ground. The beds

are covered with rotten manure during winter, which is forked into

the ground in the spring. The asparagus stalks are not cut till the

second or third year after planting; but after that the beds continue

to produce for twelve or fourteen years, or even more. All the shoots

that push up from April to Midsummer may be cut off and used for the

table; but those that spring after Midsummer should be suffered to

expand their leaves, in order that they may elaborate their sap, and

thus strengthen the roots.

_Sea-kale_ is planted in beds in the same manner as asparagus, when the

plants are a year old. The first year the plants will require little

care, except cutting down their flower stems whenever they appear; but

the second year, each plant must be covered with river-sand, and then

have a sea-kale pot turned over it, on which must be heaped stable dung

fifteen or twenty inches high, in order that the heat may make the

young shoots grow rapidly, and thus make them tender and succulent.

_Artichokes, tart-rhubarb_, and _horseradish_, are other permanent

crops found in kitchen-gardens, but they do not require any particular

care in their culture.

The _temporary crops_ in kitchen-gardens require a constant change,

as it is found from experience that the same crop cannot be grown

on the same ground for two years in succession, without becoming of

an inferior quality; and thus it is found necessary to fix what is

called the rotation of crops, and to arrange that in each compartment

a fresh crop shall be grown every year, as different as possible

from the one that grew in it the year before. Thus, onions may be

succeeded by lettuces, carrots by peas, potatoes by cabbages, and

turnips by spinach. These plants may of course be varied according to

circumstances; but the principle is never to have two fleshy-rooted

plants like the carrot and the potato succeed each other; but always to

let a plant cultivated for its leaves or seeds follow one cultivated

for its root, and so on.

The _cabbage tribe_ is very much improved by cultivation, but the

plants contained in it require a great deal of manure and frequent

watering to make them succulent and good. It seems strange that such

different plants as broccoli, cauliflowers, cabbages, Scotch greens,

and savoys should all spring not only from one genus, but from one

species (_Brássica oleràcea_), which is, in fact, a British plant, and

which I have no doubt you have seen growing on the cliffs at Dover,

though you would have no idea that a tall straggling plant, with

alternate leaves and very pretty yellow flowers, could be the wild

cabbage.

The first change from this loose-leaved plant appears to be to what are

called Scotch Greens, Borecole, or Kale; and these plants accordingly

require the least care in their cultivation. They are generally sown

in April, and transplanted in rows into the kitchen-garden, where

they only need to be occasionally hoed and earthed up. There are a

great many sub-varieties of these greens, all of which generally

come true from seed.--Cabbages properly so called have a fine head

or ball formed of leaves folded closely over each other; and when

eaten young, before the heads have formed, they are called coleworts.

Cabbages are sown three times, for the spring, summer, and autumn

crops. The spring cabbages are sown in the first week of the August of

the previous year, and in October or November they will be ready for

transplanting into rows twelve inches apart, where they will remain

till they are wanted for use the following spring. The summer crop is

sown in February, and transplanted in April, the plants being eighteen

inches apart every way; and the autumn crop is sown in May, and planted

out in July. All kinds of cabbage require a soil well enriched with

animal manure, frequent hoeing-up, and abundance of water, or they

will become dry and tasteless instead of being succulent. The stalks

of the summer and autumn crops are generally left standing to produce

what are called sprouts; and some gardeners only grow one crop of

regular cabbages, leaving the stalks standing during the rest of the

season for sprouts.--Savoys are large cabbages with wrinkled leaves,

which are sown in March, and transplanted in May or June to a bed where

they stand two feet apart every way. The crop is generally ready in

November, but savoys are never considered good till they have had

some frost.--Brussels Sprouts are a variety of the Savoy cabbage, and,

as they are said to be very inferior in quality if raised from seed

ripened in Britain, you must inquire if the seed you purchase has

been procured from abroad.--Broccoli should be treated like cabbage,

the soil should be deeply trenched and manured before the plants are

transplanted.--Cauliflowers require too much care in their culture for

me to advise you to have any thing to do with them.

_Peas_ and _beans_ should be grown in an open sunny situation, and in a

light soil that is tolerably rich, but not freshly manured; and hence

they are well adapted to succeed the cabbage tribe, the soil for which

is always well manured.

Some sow their early peas in November and December, but very little

is gained by this; and, if the winter should be severe, the crop is

sometimes lost. The best time, therefore, for sowing early peas is in

February, and the late ones in two or three sowings from April to July.

Before sowing, the ground should be marked for drills, by stretching

a garden line along the length of the bed, and then making a drill or

furrow along it with a dibber, pressing the earth firm at the bottom of

each drill. As soon as the drill is prepared, the peas are regularly

dropped along it, two or three to an inch, if they are small, and an

inch apart if large, and then they are covered with the soil, which

is firmly pressed down over them with a spade or roller. The drills

should be an inch and a half deep, and from two to three feet asunder,

according to the size of the peas, the marrowfats and blue Prussians

requiring more room than the early kinds. A pint of peas will sow from

twenty to thirty yards of drills, according to the size of the peas.

Dried furze is sometimes put over peas when they are sown, and before

they are covered with earth, to save them from mice. If the weather

should be dry, the drills may be occasionally watered; and when the

young plants are two or three inches high they should be hoed up, the

earth being carefully drawn up to their roots. When about six inches

high, they should be stacked with two rows of sticks to each row of

peas, care being taken to have the sticks higher than the expected

height of the peas, and not to let them cross at top. Many persons

do not grow any early peas (which are always inferior to the larger

kinds), but sow a crop of dwarf marrowfats and green Prussians in March

and April for the principal crop, sowing the tall marrowfats and blue

Prussians in June and July for a late crop. In this manner a supply of

fine-flavoured peas may be obtained all the summer, and in open seasons

till the end of September or October.

Beans are sown at the same time as peas, but they should be grown in

stronger soil; they do not require sticks, and they are generally

topped, that is, the upper part of the leading shoot of each plant is

cut off; an operation that would be fatal to peas.

_Kidneybeans_ are of two quite distinct kinds. The dwarf kidneybeans

are annuals, which should be sown in drills about two feet apart, the

first or second week in May; but the scarlet runners are perennials,

the seed of which should be sown two or three inches asunder, and very

lightly covered; and the rows should at least be three feet apart. The

plants will require sticks like peas. Kidneybeans are generally eaten

in England only in an unripe state, the pods being eaten as well as the

seeds; the ripe seeds are, however, commonly eaten in France under the

name of _haricots blancs_.

_Potatoes_ are propagated by what are called sets, that is, pieces into

which the tuber is cut, each of which contains a bud or eye. Before

they are planted, the ground should be trenched and rotten dung dug

into it. The early potatoes are planted in March, and the late ones

in May or June. When the potatoes are to be planted, a garden line is

stretched across the beds, and holes are made along it with a dibber,

about six inches deep, and nine inches or a foot apart. The sets are

then put into the ground, one in each hole, with the eye upwards, and

the earth firmly pressed down on them. When the plants come up, they

are frequently hoed and earthed up; and as soon as they come into

blossom some cultivators cut off the tops, to prevent the formation of

the seed.

The _Jerusalem artichoke_ is propagated by sets, like the potato; and

the _turnip_, the _carrot_, and the _parsnep_ are propagated by seed

sown in drills about March.

_Red beet_ is cultivated in the same manner, and plants that are sown

in March will have roots ready for the table in September or October.

Great care, however, must be used while taking them out of the ground,

not to wound the outer skin; and in the kitchen they must be only

washed and not scraped, as, if the outer skin should be removed, all

the colouring matter will escape when the root is boiled, and the

root, instead of its being of its usual bright red, will be of a dingy

whitish pink.

_Radishes_ are sown at different seasons; generally every fortnight,

from January to July or August.

_Spinach_ is of two kinds: the round-leaved variety, which is generally

sown for the summer crop in January or February, and the roots of which

may be pulled up and thrown away as soon as the leaves are gathered;

and the Flanders spinach, which has triangular leaves, and which is

sown for the winter crop in August. This last kind should have only the

outer leaves pinched or cut off; and, thus treated, it will continue

producing fresh leaves all the winter, as it is quite hardy, and not

injured by frost. The seeds of this plant will keep good four years.

I do not suppose you will attempt to grow _onions_, as they will

require a great deal of care; but you can sow a few in March for

salads. If you wish to grow onions of an enormous size, you should

raise the seed on a hotbed in February, and transplant them into the

open ground in April or May. The soil into which they are transplanted

should be very rich, and mixed with charcoal roughly powdered. The

onions should be planted a foot apart every way, only the fibrous

roots being buried in the soil, and they should be watered regularly

every day. All the onion tribe require a very rich soil, which is very

much improved for them by mixing charcoal with it. When it is wished

to grow onions to a very large size, a hollow space or cup is made

in the ground, in the middle of which the onion is placed when it is

transplanted, the fibrous roots being buried in the ground at the

bottom of the cup. The bulb of the onion, when thus treated, and well

watered, swells to an enormous size, and becomes extremely delicate.

_Lettuces_ are of two kinds: the cabbage lettuces, which may be sown

broad-cast at any time from February to August, and require no after

care, except thinning out and watering; and Cos lettuces, which are

generally blanched by bending the tips of the leaves over the heart,

and tying them in that position with a bit of bast mat. Endive and

succory are blanched in the same manner, and mustard and cress only

require sowing, as they are cut for salads while in their seed leaves.

In France, lettuces are often cut for salads in their seed leaves like

mustard and cress.

_Celery_ requires a good deal of care in its culture. The seed must be

sown in March or April, in a bed the soil of which is formed of equal

parts of loam and rotten dung. When the young plants come up, they are

transplanted into another bed of very rich soil, and when they are

about a foot high they are removed into trenches for blanching. These

trenches are made four feet apart, eighteen inches wide, and twelve

inches deep, and they are filled nine inches high with a rich compost

of strong fresh soil and rotten dung. The plants are taken up with as

much earth as will adhere to their roots; and, their side shoots having

been removed, they are set in the centre of the trench nine or ten

inches apart. As they grow, the earth is drawn up to them, a little at

a time, taking care never to let the earth rise above the heart of the

plant; and this earthing up is repeated five or six times, at intervals

of about ten days or a fortnight, till the plants are ready for use.

The _potherbs_, as they are continually wanted in cookery, are much

better in a garden near the kitchen. One of the most important is

parsley, which is generally sown in a drill in February or March,

and the plants of which do not seed till the second year. Fennel

is a perennial, which, when once introduced, requires no further

care, except to prevent it from spreading too rapidly. Thyme, sage,

pot-marjoram, and winter savory, are all dwarf shrubs, which require

no care after they have been once planted. Mint, winter marjoram, and

the common marjoram, are perennials; but the sweet or knotted marjoram,

summer savory, and basil require sowing every year like parsley.

I would not advise you to grow _cucumbers_ or _melons_; but, should

you feel inclined to try your skill, you have only to have a hotbed

made like that for raising flower seeds; but with a two- or three-light

frame, remembering that it will take a cart-load of stable dung for

every light. The plants are raised in pots, and, when they are about

five weeks old, they are planted three together in little ridges of

earth made under each light. When the plants have produced two rough

leaves, the ends of the shoots are generally pinched off, and this is

called stopping the runners. When the plants come into flower, the

pollen of the male flowers should be conveyed to the female ones, as

otherwise the fruit very often drops off as soon as it is set. Seeds

for the first crop of cucumbers are sown in December or January; but

the principal crop is sown in March. The great difficulty is to grow

the cucumbers long and straight, and to keep them green, and with a

beautiful bloom. For the first purpose a brick may be placed under the

fruit, and for the second, abundance of leaves should be left on the

plant; and the ground in which it grows should be kept quite moist,

as it is found that the plant succeeds best when it has abundance of

heat and moisture, and has grown in the shade. Melons require the same

treatment as cucumbers, with the exception of their beds being about

10° hotter; as, for example, the seed-bed should not be less than 65°,

and the fruiting-bed should not be less than 75°.

_Gourds_ and _tomatoes_ should be sown in a hotbed in March, and

planted out in May, the latter against a south wall.

_Mushrooms_ are generally grown in the back shed of a vinery or

forcing-house, in beds made of fresh horse-dung, which has lain in

a heap under cover, and been turned over several times for about a

fortnight or three weeks, till every part has thoroughly fermented. A

bed is then marked out about twelve or fourteen feet long, and five

feet broad; and, if it is on the earth, a pit is made of that size by

taking out the soil about six inches deep. The bottom of the bed should

be formed by a layer of long fresh stable manure about four inches

thick. On this several other layers must be placed of the prepared

dung, each being beaten flat with the fork, so as to make the bed as

close and compact as possible, till it is about five feet high, when

the top should be finished off like the ridge of a house. In this

state the bed should remain about a fortnight, and then some bricks

of mushroom spawn having been procured from a nurseryman, they should

be broken into pieces about an inch or an inch and a half square, and

strewed regularly over the bed, each piece of the spawn being buried

by raising up a little of the dung and inserting it. After this, the

surface of the bed must be beaten flat with the spade, and the whole

covered with a loamy soil, and beaten quite smooth. The bed is then

covered about a foot thick with oat straw, and again with mats, and it

will require no further care for a month or six weeks, by which time

the mushrooms will be ready for the table. Care should be taken in

gathering them to twist them up by the roots, as, if they are cut off,

the root, which is left in the ground, will decay, and be injurious to

the young plants. Mushrooms may be made to grow in lawns, by procuring

some bricks of mushroom spawn, and, after breaking them into pieces

about an inch or two inches square, burying these pieces by raising

a little of the turf wherever the mushrooms are wished to grow, and

placing the spawn under it. This is sometimes done in April or May; but

if the season should be dry, the spawn will not germinate. Others put

the spawn into the ground in August, or in the first week in September;

the lawn is afterwards rolled, and no other care will be requisite

until the mushrooms are ready for gathering, which will be in a month

or six weeks after the spawn is buried.

LETTER XI.

THE MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES.--PLANTING.--PROTECTING THE

BLOSSOMS.--STONE FRUITS.--FIG TREES.--GRAPES.--MANAGEMENT

OF A VINERY.--GROWING PINE-APPLES.--FORCING PEACHES AND

NECTARINES.--STANDARD FRUIT TREES.--KERNEL FRUITS.--FRUIT

SHRUBS.--STRAWBERRIES.--TART-RHUBARB.

The fruit trees in a kitchen-garden should be all trained against the

walls, and those trees which are grown as standards should be in a

separate garden or orchard. The walls are best when about eight feet

high, and they should have strong hooks or holdfasts built into them

at the top, for the convenience of supporting a wooden coping, or

of suspending mats or nets. Some persons recommend the walls to be

built on arches; but this is a bad plan, as it is of importance to

the gardener to confine the roots as much as possible to the border

within the garden. The roots of fruit trees should never go deeply

into the ground, as, if the roots are suffered to get so deep as to be

out of the reach of the air, the trees will produce more leaves and

branches than fruit. On this account care should be taken that the

soil should not be more than eighteen inches deep; and the easiest

and most effectual mode of doing this is, to dig out the border to the

depth of two feet, and put a layer of brick-bats and other rubbish

covered with gravel well rammed down to the depth of six inches, and

to fill up the remaining eighteen inches with a fine rich mould. When

a fruit tree border is in its proper state, the gardener should always

be able to show the fibrous roots of his trees by removing a little of

the earth with his hand. When the trees are planted the roots should

be carefully spread out to their full extent, and care should be taken

always to keep the collar of the plant above the earth, as when it is

buried the tree is very liable to become cankered. As the blossoms of

peaches, apricots, and nectarines appear early, they are very liable

to be injured by spring frosts, and many plans have been devised for

protecting them. All, however, are liable, more or less, to objection,

as it is extremely difficult to put up mats without knocking off the

blossoms. The best way is to have a deep wooden coping placed on the

holdfasts that were let into the wall, with hooks in front, from which

a curtain of bunting may be suspended, which should be kept up night

and day during frosty weather; as there is quite as much danger from

the sun during frosty weather, as from the frost. In fact, in most

cases where plants are injured by frost, it is in consequence of a

warm sunny day having succeeded a severely cold night.

_Peaches_ and _nectarines_ are the most valuable of our wall fruit

trees. They should be grown in tolerably rich soil, but which has been

enriched with decayed leaves rather than animal manure; as, when they

are manured with dung, they are very apt to produce what are called

water shoots or gourmands, that is, strong vigorous shoots without

any blossom buds. Peach trees are generally kept in the nursery till

they are three or four years old, and they should be removed about

the latter end of October, or the beginning of November. They are

best trained in the fan manner, that is, with the branches spread out

regularly against the wall in the shape of a fan; and, as they always

bear their fruit on shoots of a year old, those shoots must be left on

in pruning, and the old wood cut out. The pruning should be performed

either in November or February; but the trees should never be cut

during a severe frost. When the fruit has stoned it is thinned out, and

never more than two should be left growing together.

Peaches and nectarines are generally grafted close to the ground, so as

to make dwarf trees, and they are considered best planted about twenty

feet apart, with some kind of plum or cherry, grafted standard high,

placed between them.

_Apricots_ are trained somewhat horizontally, and they bear not only

on the shoots of the last year, but on close spurs formed by the two

years' old wood. Apricot trees are very apt to have large limbs die off

without any apparent cause; but this may be prevented by covering all

the principal limbs in October with hay-bands, and letting them remain

on till all danger is over from frost. Apricot trees should be five and

twenty feet apart on the wall, as they spread rapidly, and do not bear

cutting in. The fruit should be thinned in May, or the beginning of

June.

_Plum trees_ will bear a little manure being laid on the surface

in autumn, and slightly forked in in spring. They are trained

horizontally, and they bear on what are called spurs; that is, short

rugged-looking little branches, jutting out from shoots two or three

years old, and which will continue fruitful for several years. Plum

trees, in consequence, require very little pruning; and, in fact, as

they are apt to gum when they are wounded, they should be very seldom

touched with a knife.

_Cherry trees_ resemble plum trees in their culture, and, when grown

against a wall, most of the kinds are trained horizontally, and

their branches kept six or eight inches apart. The morello cherry

is, however, an exception to this rule, as it requires pruning and

training, like the peach.

_Fig trees_ should never be pruned, except to remove shoots that cannot

be trained, as the fruit is produced on the young wood at the extremity

of the branches. Fig trees should be planted thirty feet apart, and

trained horizontally, their long branches being bent backwards and

forwards, in order to make them throw out side shoots for bearing

fruit, which they will generally do where the bend is made. Fig trees

require to be well supplied with water, though they will not grow if

any stagnant water be suffered to remain about the roots.

The _pomegranate_ resembles the fig tree in producing its flowers only

on the points of its shoots, and on short twigs projecting from its

trained branches. Pomegranates require a rich soil; and when it is

wished to throw them into fruit, the blossoms should be shaded during

the time of expansion, as otherwise the pollen will dry up without

fertilising the stigma.

_Grapes_ are frequently grown against a wall in the open air; and in

some cases, as, for example, by Mr. Clement Hoare, near Southampton,

with very great success. Grapes have been also produced of excellent

quality against a flued wall; that is, a hollow wall heated by means

of flues in it, as at Erskine, near Greenock; but as, in both cases,

extraordinary care is required, I would advise you only to have a

common sweet-water vine or two in your garden on the open wall, for

the purpose of using its leaves in garnishing, and to grow vines in a

vinery to produce the grapes you require for the table.

A vinery is a common hothouse or bark stove, heated with hot-water

pipes or flues, and with a pit in the centre, which is generally

filled with tan for pines. This appears a very simple and economical

arrangement, but it has one great disadvantage; namely, that the pines

require heat at a season when the vines should be in perfect repose,

unless very early crops of grapes are desired. In other cases the

centre of the vinery is planted with peach and nectarine trees for

early forcing, the branches of the trees being trained over a curved

trellis, and other peach and nectarine trees or vines, planted in

the house, being trained against a trellis at the back. The vines

for the main crop are, however, planted on the outside of the house,

in a border prepared like that for the fruit trees, but richer; and

their stems are brought into the vinery, through holes left for that

purpose in the front wall. Several compositions have been recommended

for making a compost for a vine border; but that most approved is, two

parts of turfy loam mixed with one part of very rotten dung or decayed

leaves, one part of lime rubbish, and one part of road drift. On the

Continent they frequently bury the parts cut off the vine in pruning,

in the border, and this is said to make excellent manure.

Vines are generally not planted in the border till about a year old,

and they are best struck from cuttings of one bud or eye each, with

about half an inch of stem left above and below the eye; the cutting is

then planted in a small pot (60), and covered with soil half an inch

thick, after which the pot is plunged to the rim in a common hotbed,

or into the tan-pit in the centre of the vinery, covering it in the

latter case with a hand-glass; the object being to keep the young plant

growing in a moist heat of 60°. The young plants should be afterwards

shifted into larger and larger pots, as they require it; and their

stems, which will grow rapidly, should be trained either to a single

stick or to a framework of sticks tied together, according as the plant

is wanted to be spreading or trained to a single stem. If the eye has

been a large and healthy one, and the wood of the stem from which it

was taken firm and well ripened, the cuttings will grow rapidly. Care

must be taken to give the young plant a gentle sprinkling of water

every four or five days, and to let it have plenty of air, and not too

much heat from the bed. The water should be given at night, and the

glasses of the frame should be shut close immediately, as the steam

thus generated is found very beneficial to the young plant. As when

the plant is shifted the first time the stem, or cane as it is called,

is generally six or eight inches long, great care must be taken not

to injure either it or the spongioles of the roots in shifting; and,

as the stem or cane is of course always longer every time the plants

are shifted, additional care is required every time of performing the

operation. While the plant is in the hotbed, the wires or tendrils, and

also the weak lateral shoots, must be pinched off as fast as they are

produced.

If the cutting was made in the first week of March, and has been

properly treated, it will have a strong stem of ten or twelve feet

long, and perhaps more, by the middle of June or the beginning of July.

Many gardeners advise planting the vines out at this season, as they

say they grow more vigorously, and form better wood, with only their

stems in the hothouse, than when they are confined to the moist close

heat of the bed. Other gardeners, however, keep their young vines in

the pots till the following February, when the canes are generally five

feet long, and as thick as the little finger.

When the plants are put into the ground there should be one vine to

each hole; and, as every hole is made opposite a rafter, there is thus

one vine allotted to every sash or light. A shallow pit is made in the

ground for each vine, and, the pot being either broken with the spade

or the plant carefully turned out of it, the ball of earth containing

the roots is placed in the pit, in such a manner as to leave the cane

as nearly as possible in the same position as it occupied when the

plant was in the pot. The ball of earth is then covered with light

rich mould about two inches thick, and the stem of the vine is brought

through the hole in the wall into the house. This is an operation of

some difficulty, particularly if the cane be long, and it is carefully

wrapped up in matting or in hay-bands, to prevent it from receiving any

injury. While the vines are in pots they are pruned, so as to leave

only the main shoot, or at most two shoots, in case one should be

broken off; and in the latter case, as soon as the main shoot has been

safely introduced and attached to the rafter, the other is removed. The

side shoots are also taken off as they appear till the main shoot has

reached nearly to the end of the rafter, when its point is pinched off,

and the strongest of the side shoots are allowed to develop themselves.

If the vine was planted in May or June the same year the cutting was

struck, and nothing else is in the vinery, it should be allowed to

remain all summer with the glasses off, and without fire heat; in

September, however, the glasses should be put on, and enough heat

applied to keep the temperature of the house at 55° or 60°, but always

giving air in the middle of the day, in order to ripen the wood. In

December, when the leaves begin to fall, the vines should be pruned,

and they should then have a season of rest, till the leaf-buds begin to

swell in spring. When only vines, or vines and peaches, are grown in a

vinery, it is easy to give this season of rest by leaving off all fire

heat, except what is necessary to keep out the frost, till the middle

of February; but, when pines are grown in the same house, the stems of

the vines are generally drawn out of the house during part of December,

January, and February, and kept on the outside carefully wrapped up

in mats and hay-bands, or laid along the ground and covered thickly

with dead leaves and straw. The vine border should always be covered

in the same manner during frosty weather, as neither stems nor roots

should ever be exposed to a greater degree of cold than 40°. When the

vines are planted out in June, they should not be suffered to bear any

fruit that year; but, when they are not planted out till the February

following, they may be allowed to bear one or two bunches each the

following summer.

In pruning the vine great care should be taken never to cut close to a

bud or eye, but generally to cut through the stem just in the middle of

the internode or space between the buds, or at least half an inch from

the bud left. The sap of the vine rises with great force; and if the

pruning be delayed till spring, or if the cut be made too near the bud,

the sap will flow profusely, and will very seriously weaken the plant.

English gardeners call this overflowing of the sap bleeding; but on the

Continent they call it the tears of the vine. There are three modes of

pruning and training the vine; but the best for vineries is what is

called the spurring-in system. This consists in training the plant with

one long main shoot, which is always suffered to remain, and shortening

the strongest of the side shoots to one or two eyes every winter, and

removing those that are weakly, or that grow too closely together, as

the shoots left, which are called the spurs, should always be about

twelve inches apart.

The time of beginning to force grape vines depends upon the season

at which the grapes are wanted, but the usual season is February.

The cane of the vine is then taken into the house, if it has been

wintered outside, and carefully trained to the rafter, the part next

the ground being still kept wrapped round with hay-bands, and the hole

stopped close round the stem, so as to prevent the vine receiving

any check from the cold of the external air. Want of attention to

this particular is very apt to produce a disease in the vines, which

ends in what is called shanking, that is, a shriveling of the short

stems of the grapes after they have set. The vine border has then its

winter covering removed; and, after being forked over, a coating is

laid on of rotten dung, two or three inches thick; or, what is better,

a coating is laid on of turfy loam chopped up, and old lime mortar,

about two inches deep, and on that a coating of rotten dung, two inches

thick; over these may be replaced the coating of decayed leaves a foot

thick, and straw or reed mat, which was laid on the bed during the

severe frosts of winter. The grand point is, to keep the roots and

part outside the house in the same temperature as that within, or even

warmer.

When fire heat is first applied, the thermometer should be 55° at

night, and 60° or 65° in the day; but the heat should be gradually

increased as the buds begin to swell, keeping the heat at night about

10° lower than that of the day till the flower-buds appear, when the

spurs are generally stopped about one bud beyond the flower-bud, and

the leaf-shoots, which are opposite the flower-buds, are each stopped

at a single leaf. The bunches must also be thinned, and not more than

nine or ten allowed to each vine, if trained in the spur manner. The

heat of the house should now be about 80° by day and 70° by night, and

a little air should be given for half an hour every day, whenever it

can be done without lowering the temperature below 74°. The hot-water

pipes or flues should be frequently sprinkled with water when the vines

are going out of flower, and the grapes beginning to swell; and the

grapes in each bunch should be thinned out with a pair of scissors,

and the shoulders of the bunches tied up to allow the grapes to swell.

The house should now be at its greatest heat, viz. 85° by day, and

74° or 75° at night; air should be given freely, whenever it can be

done without lowering the temperature below 77°; and the hot-water

pipes should be sprinkled with water six or eight times during the

twenty-four hours. When the fruit begins to change colour for ripening,

this sprinkling should be left off, and air admitted freely, even at

night, whenever it can be done without lowering the temperature too

much. During the whole of the forcing, the border should be watered

with dung water; and, as soon as all danger from frost is over, the

leaves and straw should be thrown off, and the bed slightly forked

over, to admit the warmth of the sun to penetrate the earth, and the

air to reach the roots of the vines, as unless the air is allowed to

reach the roots the grapes will not set well.

If the forcing was commenced in February, the grapes will be ripe in

July and August; the Sweetwaters ripening first, the Hamburgs next, and

the West's St. Peter's and Muscat of Alexandria last. When grapes are

wished to be ripe in May or June, the forcing must begin the first of

December, and pines may be grown with the same heat as will be required

for the vines; but, when this is the case, the vines must have an

artificial winter given to them, by ceasing all fire heat as soon as

the fruit is cut, and taking off the sashes; the stems are afterwards

kept in the shade, and as cool as possible through September and

October, and they are pruned in November. When, on the contrary, grapes

are not required before September, very little forcing is requisite;

but the bunches of grapes must be carefully thinned, and not more than

ten or twelve bunches should be allowed on each vine. When the vines

are in flower and the fruit setting, the house should be kept close,

and the pipes or flues frequently sprinkled with water; as a hot dry

air makes the calyx shrivel up before the pollen has reached the ovary,

and, when this is the case, the grapes will be small and frequently

without stones.

It would take too much space to explain to you the other methods of

training and pruning, and I need only say that the long method, which

is the only one except the spur system in general use, consists in

cutting out the old wood every second year, and supplying its place

with wood of the previous season's growth.

You will thus see that the principal points to be attended to in the

culture of the vine are:--1. To prune the plants so as to prevent them

from forming too much wood, but not to cut too near the buds; 2. To

keep the roots and collar of the plants, when forcing begins, at the

same temperature, or nearly so, as the upper part of the stems; 3. To

admit air to the roots as soon as all danger is over from frost; 4. To

thin both the branches and grapes properly and in due time; 5. To keep

the air of the house moist when the fruit is setting and swelling; and

6. To give the plants a proper season of rest.

_Pines_ are propagated by crowns, that is, the bunch of leaves on the

upper part of the fruit; or suckers which form by the side of the old

plant. These are potted in small pots in proportion to their size, in a

soil composed of seven eighths of pure loam and one of silver sand; and

plunged about two thirds of their depth into a bed of tan, at the heat

of about 95° in the bed, and the usual heat of a forcing-house in the

atmosphere, if grown in the vinery. Young plants are sometimes grown

without pots in propagating-pits; from which they are transferred,

after being repotted, to what are called succession pits; and, after

remaining there a long time, they are either removed to the tan-pit

in the vinery to fruit, or to fruiting-pits. I shall not attempt to

give you directions for their culture during all these changes, which

take up a great deal of time; Jamaica pines being two years before

they are ready to cut, Providence pines about twenty or two and twenty

months, and Queen pines sixteen or eighteen months. Your only chance of

growing pines is, therefore, not to have them till they are put into

fruiting-pots; these are plunged into the tan-pit in the vinery in

February or March, when the forcing of the vines begins; and afterwards

they will require no other care than watering them frequently, and

keeping the atmosphere moist, to make the fruit swell. Pine-apples are

sometimes grown without pots, in peat soil, through which pipes of hot

water are carried so as to heat the earth to 95°, while the atmosphere

is kept moist, and decayed leaves are laid on the surface and drawn up

round the plants. In this way, Queen pines have been grown to the size

of five or six pounds, and New Providence pines from twelve pounds to

fifteen pounds.

When _peaches_ are forced in a vinery, the trees should be three or

four years old before they are put into the house. The best kinds

are, the Grosse Mignonne, the Royal George, the Bellegarde, and the

Late Admirable; and, where only one kind is wanted, the Bellegarde

is preferred, as it is not so liable to the mildew as the others.

The best kinds of _nectarine_ for forcing are the Elruge and the

Violette hâtive. If the forcing begins in December, the fruit will be

ready in May. The leaves should be frequently syringed with water at

the temperature of the house; and, in other respects, the culture is

the same as for peaches in the open air, and the forcing the same as

for vines. The greatest objection to growing peaches in a vinery is,

that the shade thrown by the leaves of the vines prevents the proper

colouring and flavouring of the fruit.

_Standard fruit trees_ should never be planted in a kitchen-garden,

as from their drip and shade it is impossible to grow good culinary

vegetables under them; while, on the other hand, the constant digging

and movement of the soil required for culinary vegetables, make the

roots of the trees descend so far that they get beyond the reach of the

air, and can never produce good fruit. Dwarf standards are fruit trees

grafted near the collar of the plants, and trained in various ways to

form bushes rather than trees. Sometimes a hoop is placed inside, and

the branches are trained into a cup-shape; at others, the branches

are formed into a kind of umbrella; and, at others, they are trained

into the shape of a distaff (_en quenouille_), or like a pyramid. All

these and many other modes of training dwarf standards may be seen at

the London Horticultural Society's Garden at Chiswick: but only pears,

apples, and dwarf cherries are treated in this manner; and, though

they are convenient to gather the fruit from, they are in so unnatural

a state as to be subject to canker and other diseases, and seldom live

long. Espalier trees are subject to the same objections, as they are in

a still more unnatural state than dwarf standards. The hardy kernel and

stone fruits are therefore best grown in an orchard, and I shall now

say a few words on their treatment.

_Apples_ are the most useful of all fruits, and there are three

distinct kinds, the dessert or eating apples, the kitchen or baking

apples which fall or become soft in cooking, and the cider apples which

are good for nothing but cider. Apple trees are generally grafted on

crab stocks; and, when they are planted, the collar should be raised a

little above the soil, as if it is buried the tree will very probably

become cankered, or affected with the American blight. Canker is

sometimes cured by cutting out the cankered part, and admitting air to

the roots; and the insect called the American blight may be removed

by washing the tree with a brush and soft soap and warm water, or by

plastering it over with a mixture of stiff clay and water.

_Pear trees_ are very apt to send their roots down to a great depth,

and then cease bearing; so that it is desirable to keep the roots

near the surface by mulching with manure or dead leaves. The fruit is

produced on spurs, and when pear trees are grown against a wall they

are trained horizontally, with short projecting branches or spurs. Pear

trees against a wall are very apt to bear their fruit in clusters, and

to leave a great part of the tree barren; and this arises from their

flowers having naturally very little pollen, and, where the flowers are

exposed to great heat, the pollen drying up without fertilising the

stigma. The best remedy is to syringe the branches occasionally, and to

shade them when in blossom.

The _quince_ thrives best near water; as does the _medlar. Mulberry

trees_ are best planted on a lawn, for the convenience of picking

up the fruit clean from the grass; as it falls as soon as it is

ripe. _Plums_ and _cherries_ require no particular care when grown

as standards, except to be sparing in the use of the knife, as both

trees, when wounded, are very apt to produce gum; and this, which is an

unnatural exudation of the sap, similar to the bleeding of the vines,

is very injurious to the trees.

The _almond_ is a kind of peach tree, with a leathery fruit instead

of a juicy one, the almond being the kernel of the stone. The bitter

almond abounds in Prussic acid; but this powerful poison scarcely

exists in the kernel of the sweet variety. Almond trees are generally

grafted on plum stocks; and they should be grown in a dry soil and a

sheltered situation, as the branches are brittle and apt to be broken

off by high winds. When almond seeds are sown, the sharp end should

be pressed downwards; and the young plants should not be transplanted

except when absolutely necessary, as they have very long tap-roots.

When the almond is planted for ornament it should have a back-ground of

evergreens, as its flowers appear before its leaves.

The _walnut_, being a spreading tree with large leaves, should only be

planted where no injury will be sustained by a deep shade being cast

upon the ground; but it must be observed that its leaves are disliked

by all cattle, and are injurious to cows. In pruning it the tips of

the branches should be taken off, to make them throw out fruit-bearing

shoots.

_Sweet chestnuts_ are always propagated by seeds, and never grow well

unless the soil contains a portion of sand. The wood is worthless when

old. Both walnuts and chestnuts are generally planted in the park.

The fruit shrubs grown in gardens may be considered to include the

_elder_, the _berberry_, and the _filbert_, though these are frequently

called trees. The elder and the berberry will grow anywhere, and

require no particular care in their culture; the filbert is only a

variety of the common hazel, and both are generally grown on the

borders of walks, where they are planted from five to ten feet apart,

according as they are to be trained upright or spreading. As the fruit

is produced on the young shoots, the bush should be kept open and

trained in the cup fashion, in order that the main branches may throw

out short young wood. Filberts are propagated by sowing the seeds; and

hazel trees by suckers, which they throw up in abundance.

_Gooseberries_ are generally propagated by cuttings, which strike

easily; and they should be grown in soil which is well drained, and

well manured by a coating of rotten dung being laid upon it every

third year. The bushes should be planted in rows eight or ten feet

apart, the plants being about six feet from each other. They should be

pruned twice a year; in the winter to remove the branches not likely to

produce fruit, and early in summer to remove those shoots that are not

likely to ripen. The fruit is produced partly on the old and partly on

the young wood, and it should be thinned when gathered green for pies

and puddings, by taking only a few from each bush, instead of gathering

all that may be wanted from one.

_Currants_ are raised from cuttings generally about a foot long, all

the buds from which are taken off, except five or six at the top; and

the cutting is then firmly fixed in the soil about six inches deep. The

currant bears chiefly on spurs of the old wood, so that these only are

generally left in the winter pruning. The currant is very hardy, and

will grow in any soil or situation, even under the drip of trees.

_Raspberries_ always bear on the young shoots, so that the art of

pruning them consists in cutting out the old wood. They are propagated

by suckers, and thrive best in a light rich soil, and an open situation.

The _cranberry_ is generally grown in moist soil or peat earth; but

it may be grown in beds in the common garden like the strawberry.

When cranberries are once planted they require no after care, except

removing the runners when they extend too far.

Having now, I believe, told you a little, though I confess not much,

of all the kinds of trees and shrubs usually grown in this country

for their fruit, I have only to say a few words of strawberries

and tart-rhubarb, and then I think I shall have given you all the

information you will require for so small a garden as yours.

_Strawberries_ are rather difficult plants to give directions for, as

they succeed apparently equally well with different kinds of treatment.

It is certain, however, that they like a deep rich soil, well manured;

and that, when a new strawberry bed is planted, the ground should be

trenched at least two feet deep, and a good deal of rotten dung (the

dung from an old hotbed is best) should be mixed with the soil. Some

persons make fresh strawberry beds every year, and some every third

year; but strawberry beds will continue to produce for ten or twelve

years, if a thick coating of decayed leaves be put on the bed every

winter, and their remains forked into the bed in spring. When a new bed

is to be formed, the strongest runners should be selected from the old

plants; and they may be planted in beds containing three rows each,

eighteen inches apart, the plants being about twelve inches apart in

the line. Alpine strawberries may be raised from seed, and will fruit

the first year. The Pine is an excellent strawberry for flavour, but

Keen's seedling is the best for general use. The Hautbois requires

a great deal of manure, and, as the male and female flowers are on

different plants, nearly one half the plants in a bed are unproductive.

Strawberries grow very well on banks facing the south or south-east,

or on little terraces supported by walls, but in these situations they

must be regularly watered twice a day. Strawberry plants never produce

good fruit unless they have abundance of leaves, as shade is essential

to the fruit being juicy and of a good flavour. Most gardeners take off

the runners in August or September, and plant them in nursing beds for

the winter, transplanting them to their proper beds in March.

_Tart-rhubarb_ is propagated by seed or by division of the root,

but the former method is generally considered the better. When beds

of rhubarb are to be formed, the soil should be deeply trenched and

richly manured, and the seed then sown in drills two feet apart for the

scarlet rhubarb, and three feet apart for the larger kinds. When the

plants come up they should be thinned out so as to leave the plants

about the same distance apart as the rows are asunder. A few leaves

may be gathered from each plant the second year, but it is generally

considered to strengthen the plants if no leaves are gathered from

them till the third year. Rhubarb may be forced in the open garden by

putting pots over it, in the same manner as is done for sea-kale; or

the plants may be taken up and potted, after which they may be placed

in the kitchen near the fire and covered with matting or old carpet,

being watered every day with warm water.

LETTER XII.

OPERATIONS OF GARDENING.--DIGGING, FORKING, AND

HOEING.--SOWING SEEDS.--TAKING OFF SUCKERS.--MAKING LAYERS

AND CUTTINGS.--BUDDING, GRAFTING, AND INARCHING.--PRUNING AND

TRAINING.--DISBUDDING.--MANURING.--KEEPING FRUIT IN A FRUIT-ROOM.

Digging is the first operation necessary in gardening, as nothing can

be done in the way of cultivating the soil till it has been first

pulverised, so as to allow the fine delicate roots of the plants to

penetrate among its particles. It is also necessary that the air

should have access to the roots of plants, as they depend for their

nourishment almost as much on the carbon and other elements which they

absorb from the air, as on those which they obtain from the soil. On

this account it is necessary, not only to dig the soil well before any

thing is planted in it, but also to fork it over occasionally whenever

its surface becomes hardened and impervious to the air and rain. When

manure is applied also, it is customary to dig it into the soil; and

ground is occasionally trenched in order to bring up fresh soil to the

surface, whenever the surface soil appears to be exhausted and to want

renewing. The operation of digging requires considerable strength,

as it requires first to be able to force the spade into the ground,

and then to raise as much earth as will lie upon the blade and turn

it over. It is, however, a fine healthy occupation, not only from its

calling the muscles into vigorous action, but from the smell of the

new earth being particularly invigorating; and you might have a lady's

spade, with a smooth willow handle, that will enable you to dig a small

bed without much difficulty. You will be surprised, however, to find,

if you try the experiment, that there is an art in digging as well as

in every thing else; and that it is extremely difficult, both to dig

in a straight line, and to make the ground look even tolerably level

after it has been dug over. _Raking_, though it appears so simple,

also requires considerable skill to make the ground look smooth and

perfectly level. _Forking_ is not so difficult, as it merely requires

to have the fork pressed into the ground, and then pulled backwards and

forwards, so as to loosen a portion of the soil without turning it over.

There are two sorts of _hoes_: the _draw-hoe_, which is used for

drawing up the earth to any plant that is to be earthed up; and the

_thrust-hoe_, which is principally used for destroying weeds. There are

many varieties of both these forms, but the common kinds, I think,

you will find the best. The most useful instrument, however, for you

will be a _trowel_, and this you will find indispensable, as, without

it, you will not be able either to transplant or pot a single plant.

Some persons use what is called a _transplanter_, to enable them when

they take up a plant, to remove it without disturbing the roots; but,

as far as my own experience goes, I think these instruments are more

troublesome than advantageous, and I prefer using a trowel. You will

also want a _budding-knife_, and a sharp knife for making cuttings; and

you will find a pair of _pruning-shears_ with a sliding-joint extremely

useful for cutting off dead wood, or removing any badly-placed branches.

Plants are propagated either by seed, or by division. When they are

to be propagated by _seeds_, the ground must be either dug or forked

over and made level. It is then firmed by beating it with the flat

part of the spade, rolling it, or in any other manner; and the seeds

are scattered over it, if they are to be sown broad-cast, and covered

with earth the same thickness as themselves. When seeds are to be sown

in drills, a narrow furrow must be made, by drawing a stick along

the ground in a straight line, or in any other way so as to make the

bottom of the furrow firm, and the seeds must be dropped into it at

regular distances. The furrow is then filled in, so that the seeds

may be covered to the same depth as their own thickness; and the earth

is slightly pressed down, and afterwards raked over. Larger seeds are

sown in separate holes made by a dibber, as are the sets of potatoes;

but the after processes are the same in all. Bulbs and tubers are also

planted in the same manner; taking care that the eyes of the tubers

are uppermost, and the flat part of the bulbs downwards. In planting

Ranunculus tubers the claws should be downwards, and if any are broken

they should be cut off smooth with a sharp knife.

There are several ways of propagating plants by division, viz. taking

off suckers, making layers and cuttings, and budding, grafting, and

inarching.

Propagation by _suckers_ is very simple. Many plants have a portion of

their stems under ground, from the buds in which new upright stems rise

into the air and fibrous roots descend into the ground. It is thus only

necessary to divide the horizontal underground stem by the spade, or by

opening the ground till the stem is found, and then cutting it through

with a knife, and to take up the young plant which has sprung from

it carefully and without injuring its roots, cutting off the remains

of the old plant before the new one is replanted. Suckers sometimes

spring from the collar of the old plant, and when this is the case they

require more care in removing them, to avoid injuring the plant from

which they spring.

_Runners_ are suckers proceeding from horizontal stems above ground,

and _offsets_ are the suckers of bulbs, as they proceed either from the

root-plate, which is the compressed stem of the hyacinth, or from the

main body of the corm, which is, in fact, the stem, as in the crocus.

_Layers_ are produced by imitating the process of nature in making

suckers; as, in making layers, a joint of the upper stem is buried in

the ground, and kept moist to induce it to throw out roots; the buried

stem being generally slit or twisted at the joint, so as to prevent the

return of the sap, and to occasion it to expend itself in roots instead

of circulating in its ordinary way through the branch. As soon as a

layer has produced roots it becomes the same as a sucker, and may be

treated in exactly the same manner.

_Cuttings_ are portions of a plant cut off just below a bud, and

buried in the earth to induce them to throw out roots; which is done

most effectually by exposing them to warmth and moisture, and shading

them from the light, as that has a tendency to draw the sap towards

the leaves, whilst warmth and bottom heat dispose the cuttings to

throw out roots. On this account cuttings always strike most readily

when the pots, in which they are planted, are plunged into a hotbed,

and covered closely with a hand-glass. It must be observed in making

cuttings, that they ought in most cases to consist of two buds; from

the lower one of which the new roots are to spring, while the upper

one is to produce the stem of the new plant. Cuttings must always be

made quite firm at the base; and they generally strike most readily

when the bottom of the cutting, which is cut through a joint and quite

flat, rests against a piece of the drainage, or even the bottom of the

pot, being in both cases pressed so closely against its earthenware

support as to exclude the air. When a cutting is made, most of the

leaves are removed, as the evaporation from them is greater than the

plant can support while it is without roots. Cuttings of succulent

plants are generally laid upon a shelf to dry before they are put into

the ground, as if this is not done the wounded part is apt to become

rotten, and to decay. Cuttings are generally struck either in sand or

very light earth, in order that the young roots may meet with as little

obstruction as possible.

_Pipings_ are portions of pinks and carnations pulled asunder at a

joint instead of being divided with a knife, and afterwards planted,

and treated exactly like cuttings.

_Budding_ is taking off a single bud or eye, called a scion, from

one plant, and inserting it in another plant called the stock. This

operation is generally performed in July or August. In the first

place, a slit is made on each side and above and below a leaf which

has a healthy bud in its axil, that is, just between the foot-stalk

of the leaf and the branch on which it grows. The bark of the branch

containing the bud and the leaf is then detached from the branch, by

passing under it the bone handle of the budding-knife, which is made

flat and thin on purpose, and raising it gradually up. If the bark has

been raised carefully and properly, there will generally be a little

bit of wood just under the bud, which must be carefully taken out, so

that not the smallest particle of wood is left on the under side of

the bark. A long slit is then made in the bark of the stock, with a

cross slit at the top, and, the bark being gently raised at each of the

corners made by the intersection of the long slit and the horizontal

slit, the piece of bark with the bud attached is carefully introduced

under the bark of the stock, which is closed over it, and bound tightly

with a bit of bast mat, in order that the bark containing the new bud

may be pressed as closely to the wood of the stock as possible. If the

operation has been properly performed and the bud was a healthy one, it

will soon begin to swell; and, when it does so, it will push off the

foot-stalk of the old leaf that was taken off with it, so that when

this foot-stalk falls it is a sign the bud has taken. When the bud has

developed itself into leaves, the ligature should be loosened to allow

the branch of the stalk to expand. The operation of budding requires

a good deal of nicety: first, to avoid wounding the wood of the stock

in slitting the bark; and, secondly, to make the bark of the scion fit

quite closely to the wood of the stock, as, if the least vacuity is

left between them, the bud will wither instead of beginning to grow.

_Grafting_ differs from budding, in the scion consisting of several

buds instead of one. It is also performed at a different time of the

year; as March and April are the proper seasons for grafting, whereas

budding is never performed till after Midsummer. In grafting, sometimes

the head of the stock is cut off, and sometimes only the branch, and

the scion is selected according to the size of the part to which it is

to be attached. When the scion and the stock have been both chosen,

they are cut slantingly, so that one may fit into the other; and care

being taken that the bark and soft wood of the two unite, at least

on one side, the two pieces are bound together, and the ligature is

covered with what is called grafting clay, that is, a mixture of stiff

clay, with a fourth part of fresh horse-dung, and a small quantity of

cut hay. Another kind of grafting clay is composed of equal parts of

stiff clay and cow-dung. It is of very little consequence whether the

scion and the stock are of the same diameter, provided they are so

cut and fitted, as to leave no vacuity between them, in those parts

where the union is to be effected; and, to keep them quite closely

attached to each other, it is customary to form a tongue, or little

projecting part, by making a slanting cut in the scion, and to make a

corresponding slit in the stock to receive it. There are several kinds

of grafting; but that which I have described, and which is called whip

or tongue grafting, is the most common, and it is always performed

with the firm or ripened wood. There is, however, another kind of

grafting, now becoming common in the nurseries, which is performed

with the young, or unripened wood, and this is called _herbaceous

grafting_, because the parts of the stem with which it is performed

are as succulent as the stems of herbaceous plants. In this kind of

grafting, the shoot of the stock is broken off about two inches below

the point, and all the leaves are taken off except two, one on each

side, which are left to draw up the sap. The stock is then split with

a very sharp knife between the leaves left on it; and, the base of the

scion having been cut into a wedge-shape, it is fixed into the cleft

made in the stock, which is bound tightly up with strips of cerecloth,

or coarse cotton cloth covered with grafting wax, made of equal parts

of turpentine, bees' wax and rosin, with a little tallow, melted

together. Sometimes plants, especially camellias in pots, are grafted

in this manner, and placed in a hothouse under hand-glasses, and the

pot surrounded with moss, to keep the cutting as close as possible.

This mode of grafting is of French origin, and it is called _la greffe

etouffée_.

_Inarching_ bears considerable resemblance to layering, as it is

performed without separating the part which is to form the new plant.

A branch is bent from a living plant, and partly cut through, and,

the tongue thus formed being introduced into a slit made in another

plant, the two are bound closely together. It is obvious that this mode

of grafting, which is called inarching, can only be practised with

plants in pots, as it requires the two plants that are to be united to

be brought close together, and to remain so till the graft has taken

effect.

You must observe that, in all kinds of grafting and budding, there

must be a considerable degree of resemblance between the scion and the

stock, for the graft to take effect. Thus, though one stoned fruit

may be grafted on another, such as the almond or peach on the plum,

a stoned fruit cannot be grafted on a kerneled fruit, such as a plum

on an apple or a pear. In the like manner, an apple cannot be grafted

on an orange, which was formerly supposed to be done, to produce a

pomegranate; nor a rose on a black currant, which it was formerly

believed would produce a black rose. It is true that plants are

sometimes sold in Italy which appear to have been unnaturally grafted,

such as a rose upon an orange; but it will be found, when closely

examined, that the pith of the orange has been artfully scooped out,

and the stem of the rose tree introduced into the hollow space thus

formed, through a hole made in the stem close to the root. In this way

the two plants may appear to be one for some time; as the stem of the

orange tree will live and produce leaves two or three years after the

pith is removed, provided the operation has been performed carefully.

The other operations of gardening are _pruning_ and _training_, and, as

I have already spoken of these when treating of the different trees,

I have only to add here that the great art in pruning is to give a

clean sloping cut without bruising the bark, as nature will make an

effort to cover the wound if the edges of the bark are left in a

healthy state. The use of a sloping cut is, to prevent the water from

lodging on a wounded part. Trees should never be cut in a hard frost;

and as little as possible in summer, as every branch taken off while

the plant is in a growing state excites it to make fresh efforts to

throw out new shoots. Many persons look over their trees in summer,

and rub off all the buds which they think likely to produce useless

shoots; and this practice, which is called disbudding, is a very good

one, as it prevents the tree from wasting its strength unnecessarily.

The principal object to be attained in training a fruit tree is, to

make the plant produce as much fruit as possible; and for this purpose

the branches are bent backwards and forwards to cause obstructions in

the sap, as it is only from places where there is an accumulation of

sap that flowers and fruit are produced. Another object in training

standard trees is to let the air into the centre of the tree, so that

it may ripen the wood; and a secondary object in training trees against

a wall is, that every part of the wall may be covered.

I cannot quit the subject of gardening without saying a few words

on _manures_. The object of manuring ground is, to supply the soil

with certain properties which are necessary for the nutrition of the

plants, and this is done partly by mixing with it some kind of animal

or of vegetable manure, and partly by adding some earth, in which

the soil of the garden may be deficient. The new manures which have

lately been so fashionable are of both kinds: guano is the dung of sea

birds, which has been accumulating for ages on islands off the western

coasts of Africa and South America; and nitrate of soda and Humphrey's

compound are mineral substances which are very efficacious in promoting

vegetation. The best vegetable manure is formed from decayed leaves,

and this is a manure which may always be used with perfect safety;

whereas the others are very injurious if used in too huge a quantity.

No kind of animal manure should be used in a garden (except for making

hotbeds) till it is thoroughly decayed and all fermentation is gone

off; as while it is in process of decay the gases it evolves are

decidedly hurtful to plants. Those manures which abound in nitrogen,

such as stable manure and the dung of birds, are the strongest and

most dangerous; as if used incautiously they will blacken and shrivel

up the leaves of the plants to which they are applied. Guano and

pigeon's dung are very much alike in their properties, and both are of

an extremely caustic nature; so that they should only be used in very

small quantities, or be very much diluted. One ounce of guano to a

gallon of water is a common proportion; or the guano may be mixed with

six or seven times its own bulk of loam, peat, or charcoal, and dug

into the ground before the crops are sown: if applied afterwards as a

top dressing, it should be either in wet weather, or the soil should

be well watered. Charcoal is very efficacious in some cases, but it

appears variable in its action; as sometimes it produces scarcely any

effect. Nitrate of soda and saltpetre act principally by supplying

a particular kind of earth to plants that are in want of it, and

of course will not suit all plants; but they are also of service in

keeping the earth moist, and this, when not carried to an excess, is

always useful.

When it is wished to keep plants constantly in a growing state, the

soil should be rendered rich, and the plants should also be watered

frequently, so as never to suffer the soil to become quite dry; equal

care being taken to keep it free from stagnant water, which would rot

the roots. When, however, the plant is to be hardened, to stay out the

winter, it should be kept as dry as possible, and no manure should

be applied for some time previously to the cold weather setting in.

Nothing is less generally understood than the use of manures. They

are in fact food; and should not be given to plants in excess, any

more than children should be crammed with food. Starving and repletion

should both be carefully avoided; and the great art of the cultivator

is shown in supplying plants with food only when they need it. Too much

water will sometimes produce leaves and stems instead of fruit and

flowers; and shoots of great luxuriance very frequently do not ripen,

and are killed by the first frost.

After telling you how to grow fruit, I must next tell you how to keep

it. A proper _fruit-room_ should be fitted up with broad shelves, or

wooden trays with rims in front to prevent the fruit from falling

off, and divided into compartments for the different kinds. There is

generally a large table in the centre for sorting the fruits, and a

thermometer should be hung on one side to regulate the temperature.

According to Dr. Lindley, the essential points for a fruit-room are, "a

low and steady temperature; dryness to a certain point, for apples are

found to keep best in a rather damp atmosphere; and exclusion of the

external air:" to this he adds, that it is necessary to keep the fruit

in comparative darkness, to prevent it from becoming shriveled and ripe

prematurely; that the temperature of the room should not be much above

40°; and that the shelves should be of white deal, as that wood does

not give an unpleasant taste to the fruit.

Fruits keep best when laid separately, so as not to touch each other;

and sometimes pears may be kept by packing them in fern, and grapes by

packing them in jars in sawdust. Walnuts and chestnuts should be kept

in rather a moist place, and covered with fern to exclude the air as

much as possible, as they are much injured if they are kept too dry.

I may here mention that when sweet chestnuts are sent to the table,

they ought always to be boiled first, and roasted afterwards; as, if

roasted without previously boiling, it is scarcely possible to cook

them sufficiently to make them wholesome, without burning them. After

they have been boiled, before they are put down to roast, care must be

taken to prick the skins; as, if this is neglected, the chestnuts will

fly about in all directions as soon as the outer skin becomes parched.