462 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ November 25, 187B. 



While dealing with these classee I propose to refer to the 

 sorts of frnit most applicable to each kind of cultivation. 



Orchards are, perhaps, the most desirable on the whole, for 

 the reason that they require less labour and last longer; nor 

 can anything exceed the beauty of an orchard when in full 

 bloom ; for the effect of the snow-like blossom, aided by the 

 greensward beneath, is most charming. The plan now usually 

 adopted is to set the permanent trees of Cherries, Pears, or 

 Apples 10 yards (or where the land is very strong, 12 yards) 

 apart each way, with a Plum as an intermediate plant. The 

 Plum is the plant generally selected, as it rarely lasts longer 

 than the time required for the other sorts to get np. This 

 gives eighty trees to the acre. 



As a native of East Kent I may, perhaps, be excused for 

 commencing with the Cherry, which, I believe, was first in- 

 troduced into our county. Hasted in his " History of Kent," 

 under the head of " Tenham (or Teynham,") says, quoting 

 Lambarde, " That this parish with thirty others lying on 

 each side of the great road from Bainham to Blean Wood, was 

 in his time the Cherry garden and Apple orchard of Kent, 

 and such it undoubtedly continued to be till within memory. 

 It was the parent from whence the other plantations issued, 

 for Bichard Hayns, fruiterer to King Henry VIII., having 

 observed that those plants which had been brought over by 

 our Norman ancestors had lost their native excellence by 

 length of time, and that we were served from foreign parts 

 with these fruits on that account — which he saw no reason for, 

 as neither the soil or climate here were unequal to the bring- 

 ing of them to perfection — determined to try a plantation of 

 them here ; for which purpose having in 1533 obtained 105 

 acres of rich land, then called the Brennet, and having with 

 great care, good choice, and no small labour and coat, brought 

 plants from beyond the seas, he ftirnished this ground with 

 them in rows in the most beautiful order. These fruits con- 

 sisted of the sweet Cherry, from hence casually called the 

 Kentish Cherry; the temperate Pippin, hence for the like 

 reason called the Kentish Pippin, and the Golden Senate. " 

 Mr. Furley in his " History of the Weald of Kent," also re- 

 cords that Camden, following Lambarde, describes Kent as 

 abounding in Apples beyond measure, as also with Cherries, 

 which were brought out of Pontus into Italy 680 years after 

 the building of Borne, and 120 years afterwards into Britain 

 (a.d. 48). Mr. Furley also observes that Fuller, who published 

 his "Worthies" in 1662, states that one of the orchards of 

 this primitive plantation consisting of thirty acres, in one 

 year produced fruit which sold for £1000. As Mr. Furley 

 justly observes, " It may be doubted, looking at the diflerence 

 in the value of money, whether our modern cultivators can 

 surpass this return." But to proceed. Cherries Uke a dry 

 subsoil and will not do in the clays, neither do they like cul- 

 tivation for any length of time ; and although the trees wiU 

 attain a good size and bear at times tolerably well, they do 

 best on grass, and when their roots are undisturbed. Plant- 

 ations of Cherries are, however, frequently raised on cultivated 

 land with a crop of underfruit, and the trees will in this way 

 make wood very fast. After eight or ten years, however, the 

 land should be laid down to grass. A good climate is indis- 

 pensable for Cherries, especially such sorts as the Bigarrean 

 and the Duke tribe. These sorts flourish best at an elevation 

 of from 30 to 200 feet above the sea level; Black Heart, Kentish, 

 and Turkey Hearts will do fairly up to 400 feet ; but at any 

 elevation beyond this the chance of a crop is very precarious, 

 and the fruit is indifferent. It is odd that although our 

 great propagators have added of late years so many excellent 

 and useful varieties to the stock of Apples, Pears, and Plums, 

 yet with Cherries we have had but few additions. The old 

 recognised sorts continue to hold a prominent place in all 

 fresh planting. We much require a few good early sorts to 

 compete with the foreigner; but what new sorts we have must 

 be proved before we kaow their standard qualities. For all 

 useful purposes I should recommend for orchards — 



Early Purple Gean Mammoth 



Adama' Crown Mary 



Frogmore Bigarrean Black Tartarian 



May Duke Black Eagle 



Governor Wood Flemish 



Cleveland Bigarrean Turkey Heart 



Elton Florence 



Knight's Early Black Kentish 



Old Black Heart Cluster 



"Waterloo Morello 

 Bigarrean 



The above will ripen in the order in which they are placed. 



The Bigarrean, and Cluster, make the largest trees ; indeed, the 

 latter might be planted as an ornamental tree in any park. It ia 

 of no unfrequent occurrence to obtain from eighteen to twenty- 

 five sieves of 48 lbs. each from a Cluster. Mr. Neame of 

 Selling Court has sent to market forty and a half sieves from 

 one tree (nearly a ton) ; but what is quite as wonderful, I have 

 known a tree at Milton which has grown twenty sieves of 

 Adams' Crown. Cherries where they thrive as a rule pay well. 

 In letting an estate some fourteen years ago, where it was in- 

 cumbent on us to make the most we could of the property, we 

 decided to reserve the fruit and let the bottoms. There are 

 about ninety acres of mixed fruit, principally Cherries. The 

 fruit has been sold by auction when fit to gather. I give yon 

 the return of these orchards, together with some others which 

 come under our notice and management. The expenses of 

 sale are not taken off, but may be taken at about 2 per cent. 

 The bottoms are let at about £2 per acre, and an allowance is 

 made to the tenant for a proportion of rates and tithes. 



The plan of selling by auction is an easy one for the grower, 

 and, on the whole, we find that the trees are fairly taken care 

 of. I find the cost of gathering and marketing Cherries to be 

 about 3s. per sieve, which is an increase of about Is. compared 

 with twenty-five years ago. We calculate that we have made 

 on the trees for the last ten years an average of 5s. Gd. per 

 sieve. 



I next pass to Poars, which require a deep rich soil, and of 

 the two a better climate than Cherries ; but they are not so 



