60 Commercial Gardening 



gardens at any rate, although there are many orchards, in which Apple 

 trees are planted a rod apart. It is probable, therefore, that there are 

 at least more like 35,000,000 Apple trees in cultivation. Taking an 

 average crop of 2 bus. of fruit per tree, the annual crop would be 

 70,000,000 bus., or nearly 1 bus. per head of the entire population. 

 Reckoning 40 Ib. of apples to the bushel, the total annual crop represents 

 a yield of 1,250,000 tons of produce taken off the land, or just over 

 6 tons of fruit per acre. 



So far as the value is concerned, if reckoned at the rate of 10 per 

 ton, the total apple crop of the United Kingdom and Channel Islands 

 is worth about 7,500,000 sterling per annum. This is not really much, 

 and if better methods of cultivation were more generally adopted there 

 ought to be no difficulty in doubling the crop of apples, so as to make 

 it worth 15,000,000 sterling. In 1908 the importation of apples was 

 valued at 2,079,703, but there is probably a great difference between 

 the "declared value" and that actually realized. 



2. APPLES AND MIXED CROPS 



Very rarely indeed are Apples grown alone. They are usually under- 

 cropped with Gooseberries, Currants, or Raspberries, and sometimes entirely 



Fig. 330. Arrangement of Apple Trees, with Gooseberry Bushes, &c., between 



with vegetable crops like Rhubarb. The above diagram (fig. 330), taken 

 from an actual market garden, shows how some growers crop their ground. 



