34 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



constitution of soils equally well adapted for 

 orchard cultivation we give the three following 

 analyses from land in Hertfordshire, Kent, and 

 Herefordshire, respectively, where fruit has been 

 largely grown for a century or more. The first 

 was prepared by the elder Dr. Voelcker, and the 

 two others by Dr. J. Augustus Voelcker: — 



Orchard Soil in Hertfordshire. 



Per 



Organic Matter. 

 Oxide of Iron . . . 



Alumina 



Lime 



Magnesia 



Potash 



Soda 



Phosphoric Acid 



Carbonic Acid 1 



Sulphuric Acid 



Nitric Acid 



Chlorine 



Insoluble silicates and sand 77 



Cent. 



•344 



•312 



■560 



•312 



•432 



•468 



•179 



•204 



•640 



•109 



•001 



•011 



•401 



•973 



Orchard Soils. 



In Kent. 



per cent. 

 1 Organic matter and loss on heating 5*07 



Oxideof Iron 3-63 



Alumina 3*51 



Carbonate of Lime 1 -48 



Magnesia 



Sulphate of Lime 



Potash 



Soda 



Phosphoric Acid 



Insoluble silicates and sand. 



•42 



•34 

 •30 

 •01 

 •01 



In Hereford- 

 shire, 

 per cent. 

 .... 439 

 .... 4-81 

 .... 6-75 

 •79 

 .... 1-29 

 •02 2 

 •72 

 •15 

 •06 



.... 85-14 8L02 



100-0 100-00 



To prove what enormous quantities of the 

 most important constituents are present in good 

 soils Dr. Voelcker calculated that in 6 inches 

 depth of the Hertfordshire soil he analysed, the 

 following were the total weights of the respec- 

 tive substances per acre : — 



lbs. per acre. 



Phosphoric Acid 4569 = over 2 tons. 



Potash 10483 = „ 5 „ 



Lime 74188 = ,, 33 ,, 



Magnesia 9676 = ,, 4 ,, 



Sulphuric Acid 4569 = ,, 2 ,, 



Nitric Acid 22 



Nitrogen 2397 = ,, 1 ton 



Soil preparation and improvement. — The land 

 selected for a new orchard may have been sub- 

 jected to ordinary garden cultivation, it may be 

 a portion of the arable land of a farm, or it may 

 be a pasture. In the first case probably no 

 special preparation will be needed, but in the 

 other two it will. If on the arable land shallow 

 ploughing only has been adopted during a long 



Nitrogen =-19=to Ammonia=-23. 



Sulphuric Acid. 



period, one of two courses will be necessary, i.e. 

 deep or subsoil ploughing, or trenching by hand. 

 If a "pan" has been formed, as is frequently 

 the case in some soils, it must be broken up to 

 permit the roots of the trees free extension, and 

 to ensure due circulation of moisture in the soil. 

 If standard Apples, Pears, or Plums are to be 

 planted at distances of 20 to 30 feet apart, and 

 the intervening spaces occupied only with vege- 

 table crops, then double ploughing, supplemented 

 by trenching for each station to be filled by the 

 trees, will be sufficient. If, however, it is pro- 

 posed to form a commercial plantation compris- 

 ing both standard and dwarf trees with bush 

 fruits between, the preparation of the whole of 

 the ground by means of trenching, costly though 

 the process be, is at the same time more econo- 

 mical in the end. In any case, should the 

 land be foul with weeds, particularly those 

 with creeping roots like Twitch, not only will 

 a thorough forking be essential, but a season's 

 close cropping, with the attendant cultivation, 

 is most desirable prior to the orchard planting. 



Grass land to be devoted to orchards offers 

 several important problems for solution. It 

 has been demonstrated by experiments both in 

 the United States and in Great Britain, that 

 grass growing over, or in close proximity to, 

 the roots of newly-planted young fruit-trees is 

 injurious to them, stunting the growth, starv- 

 ing the tree, and either crippling it for many 

 years, or rendering it entirely useless. Many 

 attempts at the formation of new orchards, or 

 the restoring of old ones, have failed through 

 this cause. 



If it is desired to plant fruit-trees in a thriv- 

 ing pasture, this can be done if a portion of the 

 ground surrounding each tree is kept clear of 

 grass. For standard Apples on crab stocks a 

 space 6 feet in diameter will suffice at least for 

 the first four or five years, after which the trees 

 should be able to take care of themselves. 



Bastard trenching is preferred for orchards, 

 i.e. two full "spits" of soil are moved and 

 broken down, but each is kept in the same 

 relative position, i.e. the lower spit is kept 

 below, and the upper one on the top. In addi- 

 tion, the soil beneath the second spit is also 

 stirred or broken with the spade or fork if it be 

 heavy or hard. If the preparation is for im- 

 mediate planting, without an intermediate course 

 of cropping, the trenching cannot be done too 

 well, as in all heavy soils it will be the means 

 of unlocking abundance of pent-up plant food. 

 After planting, digging can be of only a partial 

 and imperfect character. 



