76 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



exhaustively, or because they have under-rated 

 some of the leading items. 



In the purchase or rental of land for Apple- 

 growing there is a wide range in the probable 

 expenses, depending upon the quality of the 

 soil, its condition as to cultivation, its accessi- 

 bility, and proximity to or distance from towns 

 or stations. We know instances where good 

 land is let for fruit culture at from £1 to 

 £10 per acre, and in some cases, at a distance 

 from a town, small farms of about 100 acres 

 are let at as low a rental as 10s. to 15s. per 

 acre, but in such instances a large portion of 

 the land is unsuitable for Apples, and probably 

 difficult of cultivation with any crop. It is 

 seldom, even in purely agricultural districts, 

 that good land in plots from 10 to 20 acres 

 is obtainable at less than £2 per acre, and in 

 very favourable localities this may rise to £4 

 or even £5 per acre. From these facts it is 

 possible to arrive at some idea of the freehold 

 value, and though from 25 to 28 J years' pur- 

 chase are the limits usually assigned for farm 

 land, yet it has been possible to buy at less 

 than this in recent times, namely, 20 to 22 

 years' purchase. This would not, however, 

 apply to land near towns, which might have 

 a prospective value for building purposes. 



In taking land for the special purpose we 

 have in view it is needful to ascertain whether 

 it is efficiently drained and fenced, or other- 

 wise after-expenses may be incurred that will 

 make a substantial addition to the outlay. 

 Again, there is the actual condition as regards 

 cleanliness to be considered, for foul land may 

 mean trouble and expenditure in labour for 

 years. With reference to fences, it will be 

 necessary to decide between the merits of a 

 "live fence'' and a "dead fence", i.e. hedges 

 and rail fences respectively. The disadvantage 

 of a hedge is its liability to become a refuge for 

 insect pests, and as regards old hedges this is 

 often an evil of a very serious character. A 

 young hedge, with due care in spraying, can be 

 kept clean and form a useful boundary : planted 

 with Quick Thorn, at 4 inches apart, with pro- 

 tective fences and ditch, such a hedge will cost 

 from Is. to 2s. per yard run. On strong fertile 

 soils the Cherry Plum (Myrobalan), at 1 foot 

 apart, will form a useful fence at less cost than 

 Quick Thorn, as the price is only about 25s. 

 per 1000 transplanted seedlings. 



Should tile drainage be essential, the cost 

 may vary roughly from £3 to £6 per acre, 

 according to the soil, the depth, and the dis- 

 tance between the lines, but if the subsoil be 



clay the extreme amount may reach £8 or even 

 £10. 



For protection purposes the expense incurred, 

 if Poplars are used, is chiefly in the planting, 

 as the trees themselves are cheap, and strong, 

 young transplanted trees, 3 to 5 feet high, can 

 be purchased at £2, 10s. to £5 per 1000, 

 according to their condition and the varietj r . 

 Norway Maples and Sycamores can be had for 

 £2 to £3 per 1000, while if mixed plantations 

 are to be formed Larch, Spruce Fir, and Scots 

 Fir can be had (in smaller sizes) at the prices 

 already named. The expenditure in this direc- 

 tion is not, therefore, a heavy item, unless long 

 belts of trees are required by the position or 

 shape of the plantation. 



The expense of soil preparation or cleaning 

 may be one of the most serious items, depend- 

 ing chiefly upon the condition of the land and 

 whether horse or hand labour is employed. If 

 ordinary ploughing and harrowing suffice on soil 

 of moderate texture and fairly clean, 20s. t(? 

 25s. per acre will be the average cost. Single 

 spit-digging or forking by hand labour costs 

 from £2 to £4 per acre, but the last-named 

 amount will be increased materially where the 

 land abounds in Twitch. If a season's course 

 of cultivation and cropping be adopted for 

 cleaning the land, the preparatory expense 

 may be greatly reduced, or even wholly ex- 

 tinguished, by the sale of the crops. The 

 digging and trenching of the spaces only that 

 are to be occupied with the trees would, in 

 the case of dwarf Apples, at 12 feet apart, 

 with prepared sj)aces 2 yards square for each 

 tree, reduce the outlay to a little more than 

 one-fourth of that where the whole ground is 

 cultivated. When the trees are to be planted 

 in rows, with bush fruits between them, and 

 intermediate spaces of 30 feet for other crops, 

 preparing the land in the rows 2 yards wide 

 by hand labour will effect a saving of about 

 one-half, if horse-power can be employed for 

 the other parts. 



Trenching in the best land for Apples is a 

 costly process, and though it may be under- 

 taken in gardens or plantations for special 

 purposes, it is rarely essential in a plantation 

 exclusively for profit. The cost per acre on 

 heavy soils will be from £10 to £13 for either 

 ordinary or bastard trenching, and if besides 

 this a thorough subsequent forking is neces- 

 sitated by the state of the land, the total 

 may exceed £20, an amount of capital that 

 a market grower could not afford to sink, 

 especially as he could secure satisfactory 



