324 HOW TO GROW GOOD ORCHARDS. 



this lias brought about two sets of farms : the vale, 

 with its fruits and dairy stock, producing good cider, 

 perry, butter, and cheese ; the hills, mutton, wool, 

 roots, barley, &c. Now, it happens as a rule that 

 the hill farmer stands higher in his profession than 

 he of the vale, for on the hills he can say — 



" Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room." 



The skill and enterprise in breeding the magnifi- 

 cent Cotteswold sheep, for which there is each year 

 such a spirited competition, attest to this fact. 



No sooner, then, does a vale farmer become pos- 

 sessed of sufficient capital than he moves to the hills, 

 and as in his former residence he had imbibed a love 

 for cider, his first act will be to plant an orchard at 

 his new home ; but, alas ! the most successful farmer 

 cannot command crops in an uncongenial soil, and so 

 it is not surprising that we should know of instances 

 where not even enough fruit for an annual apple 

 pudding has been produced from a Cotteswold orchard 

 which had been planted thirty years. 



Apples only attain to perfection on deep tenacious 

 soils, and in a genial climate ; the moment the roots 

 get down to stones, the ends of the branches begin to 

 decay, and they become covered over with lichens as 

 thickly as in wet ill- drained clays ; besides this the 

 trees look old and knotty, even in youth, a sure sign 

 that they are not sufficiently nourished. These facts 

 are so well known that in planting in our gardens we 

 prepare the soil, if not sufficiently deep and good, and 

 make the climate more genial by fencing and planting 

 in sheltered situations ; but this is not possible on a 

 large scale. 



