CULTIVATION OF STANDARD APPLES. 27 



least sixteen feet apart, but distances vary in 

 different countries, from sixteen to forty feet : I 

 should recommend about twenty feet, or twenty- 

 five if the land is very good, to give room for 

 the under eron ; and as there is no fear in future 

 of the trees decaying through the canker, it 

 would be better than planting them nearer, for 

 it is necessary for the meadow to have a free 

 current of air, otherwise it would produce a poor 

 sour pasturage. 



It is a very good plan to plant the trees three 

 or four years or more before the ground is laid 

 down for grass, for keeping the ground dug 

 about the trees while young greatly encourages 

 their growth, and they then become strong and 

 out of the way of cattle. 



This plan is often adopted by hop-growers to 

 plant their trees before the hop grounds are 

 worn out ; and when the meadow is laid down, 

 there is at once a fine young orchard in bearing 

 without further trouble, and while the trees are 

 in that young state they do so little injury to 

 the under crops, that the same method may be 

 adopted by cropping the land with vegetables 



c 2 



