APPLE-ORCHARDS.-NO, 4.- DOMESTIC FLORA OF CHINA.-NO. 6. 
362 
greatest efficacy of both. By thus disposing of a 
considerable part of the manure during the winter, 
a tedious job of hauling in the spring, when plow¬ 
ing, planting, and numerous other demands are 
made on the farmer’s time, is avoided, and that too, 
frequently when the roads are almost impassable 
from mud, and the manure itself is saturated with 
spring rains, and after having lost no inconsidera¬ 
ble portion of its value from its decomposition and 
the escape of its most valuable gases ; this effect 
being much promoted by the greater heat, occa¬ 
sioned by the large accumulation of the manure 
around the well-sheltered buildings and yards. 
APPLE-ORCHARDS.—No. 4. 
Protection of Trees against Stock. —When young 
trees have been carefully planted and well fenced, 
they will require but little attention, except that of 
keeping up the fences, and to see that they are not 
shaken by the wind. The mode of fencing must be 
suited t© the kind of stock kept in the orchard. If 
sheep only are depastured, each tree may be closely 
surrounded by strong thorns stuck in the ground, 
enclosed and sustained by thick stakes, firmly 
driven, and reaching nearly to the forks. These 
stakes should be strongly bound together by bands 
or withes; and, as a further precaution against 
damage from the gnawing of sheep, at any exposed 
place, the tree should be washed or smeared with 
a mixture of creamy lime and green cow-dung, 
which should be renewed, from time to time, as oc¬ 
casion may require. If it be indispensable to stock 
the orchard occasionally with large cattle, each tree 
must be fenced by two or three strong, rough posts, 
firmly fixed in the ground, and united by strong bat¬ 
tens or short rails, nailed to each. In some situa¬ 
tions, where suitable stones abound, the trees are 
sometimes surrounded by circular walls.* 
Orchards may be Tilled or Plowed. —In answer to 
the question often asked, “ whether orchards 
ought to be plowed ?” we would reply, that it is an 
old and prevalent opinion that fruit-trees of every 
kind are improved and rendered better, by having 
the ground stirred round them, in order to let in the 
dew and air to their roots. And with this view, 
orchards have often been tilled for potatoes, grain, 
and other crops, to which there are two striking ob¬ 
jections ; first, they require the light of the sun, and 
will not well flourish under the shade of trees ; and 
second, that being exhausting crops, they impover¬ 
ish the soil, which is so far injurious to the apples, 
both in quantity and quality. But the Jerusalem 
artichoke ( Helianthus tuberosus ), which is exten¬ 
sively cultivated on the banks of the Rhine, rather 
prefers the shade, and would therefore thrive well 
under the trees; and, so far from exhausting the 
land, will, it is said, bear abundantly for ten or 
more years in succession, without manure, efen 
upon poor soils. It has been further stated, that it 
does not require much tilling after it has once been 
planted; for it is only necessary to draw the tops 
out of the ground, when ripe, the remaining roots 
being sufficient to produce the next year’s crop, with¬ 
out fresh setting, and thus they continue from year 
to year until they die of old age. All these proper¬ 
ties seem to render this plant suitable for orchards; 
the pulling it up will open the ground, while the 
* See Journ. Roy. Agr. Soc. of England, iv., pp. 390, et seq. 
avoidance of digging, after once set, will spare the 
roots of the trees many a wound. It also possesses 
the rare property of absorbing nitrogen largely from 
the atmosphere, which is probably the reason of its 
thriving so well without manure, and consequently 
improves the condition of the soil. It is planted in 
drills similar to potatoes, and like them, its roots are 
employed for food for man and animals. It has been 
observed that orchards, when plowed, often rapidly 
advance to a certain point, and then cease to flour¬ 
ish ; but this is believed to be caused by planting 
the trees too near each other, and by plowing be¬ 
tween them, hurries their roots towards each other 
until their interference checks their future growdh. 
The chief objection to plowing an orchard is, that, 
in a hilly country, having a soil easily carried off 
by water, such a soil, if kept bare and loose, will, 
in time, become sensibly diminished, where hori¬ 
zontal furrows are insufficient to remedy the evil. 
But this cir«umstance ought to forbid the use of 
the plow, not only in an orchard, but for any ob¬ 
ject whatever, in such a situation. In plowing an 
orchard, care must also be observed not to go too 
deep amongst the roots, which would greatly dam¬ 
age the trees by the wounds they would receive. 
THE DOMESTIC FLORA OF CHINA.—No. 6. 
Trees and Shrubs. —The only trees to the culti¬ 
vation of which the Chinese pay any attention, are 
the fruit-bearing kinds; and in some places there 
are very fair orchards containing the mango, lee- 
chee, longan, wangpee, orange, citrons, and Pume- 
loes. 
All the peaches, grapes, pears, plums, oranges, 
&.C., which are brought to the markets of Tinghae 
in the summer season, are from the main land. 
There are, however, two fruits cultivated on the is¬ 
land of Chusan, which are of considerable excel¬ 
lence ; the one is called Yangmai, a scarlet fruit, 
not unlike an arbutus or strawberry, but having a 
stone like a plum in the centre; the other "is the 
kum-quat, a small species of citrus, about the size 
of an oval gooseberry, with a sweet rind and sharp, 
acid pulp. This fruit is well known in a preserved 
state by those who have any intercourse with Can¬ 
ton, and a small quantity is generally sent home as 
presents every year. Preserved in sugar, according 
to the Chinese method, it is excellent. Groves of 
the kum-quat are common on ail the hill-sides of 
Chusan. The bush grows from three to six feet 
high, and, when covered with its orange-colored 
fruit, is a very pretty object. 
The tallow-tree ( Stillingia sebifera ) is abundant 
in the valleys of Chusan, and large quantities/of 
tallow and oil are yearly extracted from its seeds; 
tallow mills are erected in several parts of the 
island for this purpose. The Laurus camphor a , or 
cantphor tree, is also abundant, but no camphor is 
extracted or exported from the island. The green 
tea shrub ( Then viridis ) is cultivated everywhere ; 
but if we except a small quantity which is annually 
sent over to the main land—to Ningpo and the adja¬ 
cent towns—the whole is used by the inhabitants 
themselves. Every small farmer and cottager has a 
few plants on his premises, which he rears with 
considerable care, but seems to have no wish to 
ente'r on its cultivation on a larger scale. Indeed it 
is questionable if it would answer, as the soil is 
