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THE ORCHARD I MANURING, PLANTING. 
trees, the amount required per acre would be something under a ton, and the cost be about two 
pounds, at present prices ; a moderate sum, when the value of the apple crop is considered. 
Planting. —The young trees selected to furnish the Orchard should be stout and well grown, 
not less than 8 or io years old. They should be planted at equal distance from each other at spaces 
varying from 15 to 40 feet apart, according to the habit of growth of the variety, or to the further 
use it is proposed to make of the ground. Mr. Knight was in favour of close planting whether in 
arable or pasture land. Those planters who wish to have the largest return at the earliest period, 
should plant the trees at 15 feet apart in the rows, cutting away every other tree, as soon as they 
approach each other, taking care to keep the rows 30 feet apart from the first. Dr. Beale advises 
that the crab stocks “ be settled in the ground 30 feet apart, and after three years time to let the 
artist be sent for to graft them with the best fruit.” Mortimer would have “all trees and rows at 
40 feet apart and pruned to grow like a fan.” The trees certainly should stand so clearly apart from 
each other as to allow of their full growth, since a large tree turns off not only more, but better fruit 
than a small one. They should be planted carefully in lines for the convenience of cultivation, and 
their roots should be kept as near the surface as may be ; that is, they should not be planted too 
deeply in the ground. The soil beneath should be double dug, and if some roughly broken bones 
could be dug in at the same time, say a peck to a tree, they would form an enduring support to the 
young trees. 
Trees of a similar variety, or a similar habit of growth, and which ripen their fruit at the 
same period should be planted together ; for thus there will be a better certainty of uniform space 
for light and air; the general appearance of the Orchard will be greatly improved ; and much time 
and labour will be saved in gathering the fruit in Autumn. It is thought desirable also to have a 
mixture of early and late blooming varieties in the same Orchard, that if a part of the crop is cut 
off by any adverse circumstances, such as frosts, storms, or blight, there may be a better chance of 
saving some portion of it. 
When the trees are planted they should be well staked, and if in pasture land, they should 
be safely protected from cattle or sheep ; and lastly the Orchard itself should be well fenced in, for 
it is but too often an inclosure only in name, and its fences badly kept and much trespassed on. 
II. ORCHARD TREES. 
“ Let sage Experience teach thee all the Arts 
Of Grafting and In-eying; when to top 
The flowing Branches; what Trees answer best, 
From Root or Kernel.” (Philips “ Cyder.”) 
It is the common result of experience in all countries, and on every soil, that the quality of 
the Cider and Perry manufactured depends very greatly upon the varieties of the Apples and Pears 
cultivated. It was Thomas Andrew Knight’s opinion that “ Herefordshire is not so much indebted 
for celebrity as a Cider county to her soil, as to her valuable varieties of fruit.” So too does the 
French Commission in its admirable Report, “ Le Cidre de France ” lament, again and again, the 
