Potter, M.P., whilst investigating the claims and possibilities of an extension of fruit culture in this country, and at whose personal request I paid the visit referred to.

With reference to the utilization of hill slopes, I would first of all suggest that the one great difficulty to face is, that naturally throughout the summer, they suffer from the want of moisture, simply because in the winter the snows and rains, instead of sinking into the soil, are carried away down the slopes and sides to the valleys beneath.

If this one point can be practically remedied then there can be no reason why many of the enormous ranges of hills, where the surface soil is sufficient or available, should not be made as productive, in a monetary sense, as the plains, primarily because they enable us from their physical structure to secure, what I am such an advocate. of in agriculture, a thorough system of drainage.

With regard to the evil to be remedied I contend that the application of my system-outlined in the "Secret of Fertility," which was published in December, creating a great sensation in the horticultural world-will enable us to hold the winter rains in check, so that in summer the plants or trees will be enabled by the medium of capillary attraction, to obtain all the moisture they need.

The plan suggested is as follows, and as a matter of fact is by no means new. By terracing the hill slopes we get ample space for cultivation. Such spaces and terraces may be seen at the sides of many of our railway stations, and we have ample room on every terrace for a row of fruit trees or anything else that may be desired.

When the terraces are being made, I propose that the soil of the terrace be dug out, say to a depth of three feet, that in the bottom of the trench, stones or brick rubbish be shot in to the depth of twelve or fifteen inches, and

that when the soil is replaced, we have a system which will retain the rains as they descend in winter, and hold sufficient quantity in reserve for the summer droughts.

The expense incurred is necessary only once in a lifetime, and the system will effectually meet the difficulty we are dealing with, and enable us to render fertile miles and miles of ranges of hills, which at present are as unproductive as they were when the Romans invaded the country.

I claim no originality for the utilization of hill slopes and sides by terrace cultivation. I simply advocate the introduction of the system in England. Fruit culture was in existence years before I inaugurated the fruit growing movement, which I have so persistently and at last successfully, brought about under my improved system of culture for profit.

I have experimented with, and put these systems to the test, and the results secured are the best value of their practicability.

In the East for centuries the hill sides were studded with fruit trees of every kind, which were cultivated under the system I advise. Egypt was said to be "a dry and thirsty land," but it was rendered one of the most fruitful by terrace culture. The Vale of Eschol, once famous for its vines, was cultivated by the same method.

"Bare and stony as are the hill sides," says Canon Tristram, "not an inch of space is lost. Terraces, where the soil is not rocky, support the soil, vineyards still cling to the lower slopes, olive, mulberry, almond, fig and pomegranate trees, fill every available cranny to the very crest."

With further reference to the development of waste common lands, I am able to prove that with energy and

intelligence, they can be made productive from the case of Mr. Boddy, of Cornwall, and his one-and-a-half acres at the Land's End.

Previously, Mr. Boddy had taken up land in Canada, but in spite of energy and skill, was obliged to return, and settling in Cornwall, eventually obtained one-and-ahalf acres of what was then waste common land, yet in due time he was able to assert that he could get more from his one-and-a-half acres at home, than he could from one hundred and sixty acres in Canada.

On this small holding of waste land he has brought up a large family, and from glass-houses built with his own hands, he has raised grapes which have obtained commendatory messages from Her Majesty the Queen and the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. The grapes I have seen and tasted. The berries were very large, well coloured, and of exquisite flavour, and quantities are now sent regularly to order to all parts of the country.

Generally speaking, with regard to soil, I find that much of the soil of what is termed our waste land is quite equal to that of the Channel Islands. Besides which I am convinced that many of the fields I have passed through, especially in the Vale parish of Guernsey, would at first be designated poor soil by the majority of English farmers.

The soil is not everything. With stony and light soils the Channel Island growers have by intelligence and skill made their productive little islands famous all the world over for the quality and quantity of their productions.

By the same means, by the utilization of the same methods, the same results can be secured at home, and if this article will in any way contribute to such a satis

factory end, then these efforts, which are but to interest all classes in the development of the nation's acres, will not have been put forth in vain.

The arguments on which my remarks on the profitable utilization of hill slopes and waste lands in England are based, derive especial force from the illustrations I have given of the practical success secured by individual effort alone, unaided by exceptional circumstances in any shape or form, and if the landowners of this country, cognisant of the possibilities of the future, will but emulate the action of the landowners of the eighteenth century, a great move would soon be made on behalf of a restoration of that prosperity in the rural districts, for which the past century was justly famed.

SAMPSON MORGAN.

CHAPTER LIII.

HERBS, ETC., AND HERB CULTURE.

BY THE REV. V. H. MOYLE, M.A., F.R.H.S.,

Vicar of Ashampstead, Berks; Member of the Council of the Swanley Horticultura College; Vice-President of the Berks, and also of the Wilts, Bee Keepers' Association; and Sole Medallist for Honey and Wax Applications at the Health Exhibition, 1884, and many other places, 1885-90, and '91.

It is much to be regretted that the question of herbs and herb culture is so little attended to in this country. Enormous quantities of herbs that might be grown here are annually imported from abroad, not only by the wholesale chemists and druggists for medicinal purposes, but also by others for commercial and culinary objects, and there are many dishes which to completely prepare the chef de cuisine wants his herbs for, as well as the hotel keeper his borage to make good "claret cup," and the perfumer his lavender, etc.

Many herbs may be grown in spaces between fruit trees, and on spare pieces of ground not available for other crops. The chief supply of herbs for distillation and drying purposes is grown at Mitcham, in Surrey, and in Hertfordshire; indeed there are probably within thirty miles of London upwards of one thousand acres of land devoted to herb culture. Nearly all herbs are bunched and sold when ready, and taking up, as they do, little room, they travel to market or warehouse along with other things, and are in some seasons very remu