. The gardener's assistant; a practical and scientific exposition of the art of gardening in all its branches. drainage may be carried out should be ascer-tained, and a moderate depth of soil raised abovethat level; for it is better to raise the border atthe expense of losing say 1 foot ofheight of wall, than to plunge theroots to that depth in a mediumwhich will prove injurious. In theone case, they would absorb nourish-ment conducive to the health of thewhole tree, by encroaching only onthe height of the wall to the extentof space for a pair of lower branches:in the other, being situated in
. The gardener's assistant; a practical and scientific exposition of the art of gardening in all its branches. drainage may be carried out should be ascer-tained, and a moderate depth of soil raised abovethat level; for it is better to raise the border atthe expense of losing say 1 foot ofheight of wall, than to plunge theroots to that depth in a mediumwhich will prove injurious. In theone case, they would absorb nourish-ment conducive to the health of thewhole tree, by encroaching only onthe height of the wall to the extentof space for a pair of lower branches:in the other, being situated in stag-nant moisture, they would, drawwatery vitiated nourishment, andsupply it to the whole tree. It istherefore better that two branchesbe entirely dispensed with, in orderto have the rest well fed, than thatall should be improperly nourished,and consequently the fruit deterio-rated. Having adverted to subsoils thatare too wet for the Peach, and the most obviousremedy, it will now be necessary to direct atten-tion to those which are too dry, Where the soilis naturally shallow and resting on a subsoil that. Fig. 966.—Fruit, part Peach, part Nectarine. is dry and gravelly, it often happens that thetree suffers much from want of moisture in dryweather. Exposed to the accumulated heat ofthe suns rays, often above 100c, the leavesevaporate an astonishing amount of moisture 168 THE GARDENERS ASSISTANT. as long as the roots can supply it. Whilst anymoisture is to be found within their reach, theywill rapidly absorb it; but when all is exhaustedtheir action must cease, and the condition of thetree must undergo a change for the worse, for itcannot be supposed that the foliage that was ina healthy state whilst evaporation was fully sup-plied, can continue in the same state when thatsupply is almost entirely stopped. Althoughthe supply of moisture from the roots may haveceased, evaporation will still continue, drawing,to a considerable extent, from the juices of thetree; then it is that
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectgardening, booksubjecthorticulture
