Part III -MARKET CULTURE. 



CHAPTER I. 

 ORCHARDS. 



THE cultivation of fruit in grass orchards has been prac- 

 tised for ages in this country, and certainly there is no 

 sylvan scene so picturesque and beautiful in springtime 

 as an orchard of Apple blossom, or so ruddy and glowing 

 in effect as one of trees of ripening fruit in autumn. The 

 orchards of Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, Hereford, 

 Worcester, and Kent have long been famous for yielding 

 fruit for producing that delicious beverage known as cider, 

 as well as many luscious eating and useful cooking Apples. 

 But, since experience has demonstrated that much finer 

 samples of fruit can be produced on dwarf trees and in 

 cultivated land, the old-time grass orchard, with all its 

 charm and picturesque beauty, has lost a good deal of 

 its former popularity. There is no doubt that the only 

 point in favour of the grass orchard, from a utilitarian 

 view, is that it affords shelter in summer days for cattle 

 and other stock ; and is, moreover, well adapted for poultry 

 keeping. On that account grass orchards are not likely 

 to disappear in our rural districts yet awhile, at any rate. 

 Granted, then, that a grass orchard serves the two-fold 

 purpose of affording shelter for stock and fowls, as well 

 as yielding fruit, it naturally follows that in the present 

 work we should devote a chapter to the subject. Besides, 



