z86 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



are many exceptions. Some trees do not make good progress through canker or 

 gumming, while the enormous bearing of others in their early years causes their speedy 

 collapse, as compared "with less precocious sorts of hardier constitution. The plantation 

 system also applies to fruit trees in pyramid or bush form ; in fact, it is a general 

 term signifying any fruit in cultivated ground, examples of which are shown in the 

 plan (Fig. 65) of a plantation of about 10 acres. 



In laying out a fruit plantation sufficient distance should be left between the trees 

 and fence to allow a conveyance to pass along without coming in contact with the 

 trees when full grown. Parallel avenues should also run through the plantation, if 

 large, dividing it into convenient plots. This can be done by leaving out one row of 

 trees in the case of standards, or such number in other cases as will allow a team of 

 horses to pass along and turn at the ends. Manure can then be readily applied, fruit 

 collected and placed on conveyances, either on the avenues or along the line of the fence, 

 without carrying by hand an inconvenient distance. 



The drainage of the land, preparation of the ground, and planting the trees are prac- 

 tically the same as advised for orchards and gardens ; and the particular requirements of 

 each fruit in respect of situation, soil, manures, pruning, and general management 

 having been treated, it is only necessary to refer to the several kinds for marketing 

 purposes to enable intending growers to acquire information that may be of service. 



Apples. Standard trees are sometimes 20 feet apart =108 per acre, cost Is. 3d. 

 each =6 15s., with currant or gooseberry trees 5 feet apart each way= 1,634 per 

 acre, cost 12s. 6d. per hundred =10 4s. 3d., total cost of trees = 16 19s. 3d. per 

 acre; planting, staking, trimming, and manuring = 9 Os. 9d., = 26 for trees and 

 planting per acre. In three years from planting the trees commence bearing, and increase 

 in value yearly, so that the return for fruit sold in the seventh year may reach 40 

 per acre. Deduct from that amount 15 for expenses of cultivation and marketing the 

 fruit 2 11s., also 5 per cent, interest on capital (0 in draining, 20 trenching, 26 in 

 trees and planting = o 1), and rent, tithe, and rates -5 us. =22 16s., and the clear 

 profit is 17 4s. per annum. This average will be sustained, for when the bushes are 

 no longer serviceable the permanent trees will have increased in size and profit. "When 

 the bushes are removed the open spaces can be utilised for various crops bulbous and 

 other flowering plants; but this is alien to fruit-growing, as also is the taking of onion 

 and other crops between the rows of trees during the first and second years of the planta- 

 tion, though some growers, not all t find the association profitable. 



