COMMON APPLE-TRKE. 311 



by s rong battens or short rails, nailed to eacli. In some situations, where suita- 

 ble stones abound, the trees are sometimes surrounded by circular walls.* 



In answer to the question often asked, "Whether orchards ought to be 

 ploughed /"' wc would reply, that it is an old and prevalent opinion, that fruit- 

 trees of every kind are improved and rendered better, by having the ground 

 stirred round them, in order to let in the dews and air to their roots. And with 

 this view, orchards have often been tilled for potatoes, grain, and other crops, to 

 which there are two striking objections; first, they require the light of the sun, 

 and will not well flourish under the shade of trees; and second, that being 

 exhausting crops, they impoverish the soil, which is so far injurious to the apples, 

 both in quantity and quality. But the Jerusalem artichoke. (^Heliantlms tiibero- 

 siis.) which is extensively cultivated on the banks of the Rhine, rather prefers 

 the shade, and would, therefore, thrive well under the trees ; and, so far from 

 exhausting the land, will, it is said, bear abundantly for ten or more years in 

 succession, without manure, even upon poor soils. It has been further stated, 

 that it does not require much tilling after it has once been planted; for, it is only 

 necessary to draw the tops out of the ground, when ripe, the remaining roots being 

 sufficient to produce the next year's crop, without fresh setting, and thus they 

 continue from year to year nntil they die of old age. All these properties seem to 

 render this plant suitable for orchards ; the pulling it up will open the ground, 

 while the avoidance of digging, after once set, will spare the roots of the trees 

 many a wound. It also possesses the rare property of absorbing nitrogen largely 

 from the atmosphere, which is probably the reason of its thriving so well without 

 manure, and consequently improves the condition of the soil. It is planted in 

 drills similar to potatoes, and like them, its roots are employed for food for man 

 and animals. It has been observed that orchards, when ploughed, often rapidly 

 advance to a certain point, and then cease to flourish; but this is believed to be 

 caused by planting the trees too near each other, and by ploughing between them, 

 hurries their roots towards each other until their interference checks their future 

 growth. The chief objection to ploughing an orchard is, that, in a hilly country, 

 having a soil easily carried off by water, such a soil, if kept bare and loose, will, 

 m time, become sensibly diminished, where horizontal furrows are insufficient to 

 remedy the evil. But this circumstance ought to forbid the use of the plough, 

 not only in an orchard, but for any object whatever, in such a situation. In 

 ploughing an orchard, care must also be observed not to go too deep amongst 

 the roots, which would greatly damage the trees by the wounds they would 

 receive. 



The distance at which trees should be planted in an orchard must be from 

 forty to sixty feet apart, according to the richness of the soil ; for it should be 

 always remembered that the roots extend far beyond the branches; or another 

 mode may be adopted that will answer for the present generation and for poster- 

 ity. This may be effected by planting what may be called principal trees, at the 

 distances which their full growth will require, and placing between them, either 

 as standards, or as dwarfs, siiperniimerary trees, to remain until the principal ones 

 shall require them to be removed. The supernumeraries, in this case, will have a 

 peculiar value; since, if they be dwarfs, they will immediately come into bear- 

 ing, and will ripen their fruit early in the season, which can be gathered with 

 great facility ; and if it falls to the ground, will often escape from being bruised. 

 Dwarfs, too, may easily be pruned, and very conveniently thinned of their super- 

 fluous fruit; or, they may be readily cleansed from every olfending thing, or 

 supplied with nutritious washes. On the other hand, if the supernumeraries be 

 seedlings or grafts, they will be ready for the supply of such vacancies as will 



* See Journ. Roy. Agr. Soc. of England, vol. iv., pp. 390, et seq. 



