May 5. 
RLANTING AN ORCHARD OR FRUIT-GARDEN. 
( Continued from page 37.) 
Having, in former pages, disposed of the walls, borders, 
&c., of the enclosed kitchen-garden, as far as the general 
arrangements necessary for the permanent establishment of 
a fruit and vegetable-garden is concerned, I may now turn 
to the ordinary Orchard. 
At first sight it may appear unnecessary to handle it 
separately, but we shall show that some other considerations 
arise which demand a separate notice. In the first place, 
the arrangements as to walks will necessarily differ, and the 
general management of the ground, as to depth and staple, 
need not be precisely the same as for kitchen-garden fruit- 
trees under a dwarfing system. However, all orchards are 
not required to be alike, either in the number or size of the 
trees, or in the cropping, if any is connected therewith, 
i Any person planning an orchard should be prepared to 
answer such questions as these: Do you desire vegetable 
culture, and to what extent; or, is it'your aim to make 
that a totally subordinate affair ? Do you wish it to be laid 
! down in grass ? Do you wish it to be a sort of appendage 
to your grounds, and to be used occasionally as a promenade 
by your friends? Do you wish to encourage full-sized 
orchard-trees; or, would you rather keep them within circum¬ 
scribed bounds ? Such matters as these must be decisively 
settled in the mind before a step is taken; for in proportion 
to the definiteness of the aim will be the degree of satis¬ 
faction ultimately attained. Each of these points 1 will 
now handle in detail, in order that the course of our subject 
may so proceed as to leave little to be desired. 
It must by no means be considered as unimportant 
i whether the vegetable question be examined or no; it vege¬ 
tables must be grown, not only must different distances be 
given between the trees, but a separate mode ot culture be 
pursued. If the aim be to devote as much as possible to 
fruit-trees, merely using the vegetable ground as “ breath¬ 
ing” spaces, I should say that the tree-lines should be, for 
the ordinary orchard style, about twenty to twenty-four feet 
apart; but if a dwarfing system is pursued, perhaps about | 
sixteen feet may be allowed. This is putting as low a dis¬ 
tance as possible, consistent with the welfare of the trees, j 
Those who desire a liberal supply of vegetables, and are 
desirous at the same time, through ample space, to give 
plenty of breathing-room to the fruit-trees, may allow half-a- 
dozen feet more. As for distance between the trees in the 
rows, I should say eighteen feet for ordinary standards, and 
fourteen feet for a dwarfing system. In all cases, let the 
lines be north and south, if possible, in order that the sun s 
rays may reach at least two sides oi the tree. As in drill¬ 
cropping, so in the orchard; where parallel lines must he 
established, rather bo reasonably close in the rows than 
between the rows. I am no advocate for crowded planting, 
for 1 have ever found such a course highly favourable to 
the breeding of the insect tribes, caterpillars, &c.; and no 
wonder, .so much heat at times being imprisoned, as it were, 
for lack of a free circulation of air. It is for this very 
reason, conjoined with the avoidance of hoar frosts, through 
a free dispersion of air-moisture, that we frequently hear oi 
orchards on elevated grounds ‘‘setting” crops of fruit, when 
those in the warm valley have failed. By the above dis¬ 
tances, there would be several feet of cropping-ground in 
the orchard, especially whilst young; the cropping giving 
I way annually, after the first three years, several inches on 
| each side ; of which more in the proper place. 
The question, “ Do you wish it to be laid down in grass? ” 
deserves a little consideration. I certainly confess myself 
! rather an advocate for the cultivation plan, provided justice 
is done to it, for several reasons. In the first place, people 
are tempted to plant trees too thickly when once a plot of 
grass is devoted to orcharding; and, in the second place, 
cattle, pigs, &c., are at times turned in unguardedly, and 
these soon lay the foundation of broken constitutions in 
some fruit-trees. Besides, there can be no question but 
much greater benefits accrue to the fruit-trees from a 
judicious course of culture, involving, as it does; manual 
labour occasionally, and, consequently, a more frequent 
observation of the fruit-trees ; and certainly bipeds are not 
quite so dangerous in the orchard as the quadruped class. 
How many orchards have we all seen in our day, in which, 
77 
here and there, a healthy tree was surrounded by invalids, 
in various stages of decay, the whole interlaced in a liedge- 
like manner. Such orchards, strange to say, have generally 
a grass sward beneath them, which really must point to 
some particular fact; this I here leave to the consideration 
of our readers. Still, circumstances occur which render it 
very desirable, if not absolutely necessary, to establish an 
orchard on grass; such being the case, we must see what 
can or ought to be done. 
The next question is as to rendering the orchard a pro¬ 
menade, perhaps connected with the gardens. This requires 
that good exterior lines should be laid down, of sufficient 
} breadth, and possessing greater walking accommodations j 
| than can be expected in the ordinary orchard. Here, one 
main line of walk or road should be carried down the side 
that is most eligible to enter at, and, if requisite, such a 
i walk may be carried all round, with even a cross or inter¬ 
secting walk if the orchard be extensive. These, however, 
are matters of mere convenience to the proprietors, and, of 
course, involve a little extra expense in laying it out; it 
' may be done, however, without any loss ot land. One thing 
| may be here thought of—there should always be a cart-road 
provided to one side, and, in some cases, it will be well to 
unite the services of the cart-road and tootpath. 
The last preliminary consideration is, whether the pro¬ 
prietor aims at full-sized orchard-trees or mere dwarfs; the 
mind must be well made up on this point, or much disap¬ 
pointment must ensue. In settling this knotty point, the 
end and 'aim of the orchard must be well considered. In 
many cases the answer would be : “ I want to supply my 
own house well, and to market all the surplus.” Now, I do 
think, in the first place, that well-selected and well-managed 
dwarf standards, of moderate growth, will, in these times, 
pay much better than huge brawny-limbed trees, many ot 
j which will shade as much land as hall-a-dozen well-managed 
dwarfs, of kinds selected with reference to their habit of 
growth, as well as quality, &c. Let any one in the vicinity 
! of ordinary orchards of some age examine well the charac¬ 
ter of overgrown trees, and he will find that in many ot 
them the true bearing wood, if pruned away, might be stuck 
on the head of a moderate-sized dwarf standard; all the 
rest is mere timber, which has to be sustained, although of 
little value. It must, nevertheless, be admitted, that some 
huge orchard-trees of good kinds and habits produce im¬ 
mensely, and, of course, are very profitable ; yet, it must be 
remembered, that such are, for the most part, kitchen fruit, 
or of very ordinary stamp. Although these papers are in¬ 
tended as a tolerably complete guide to the general culture 
of out-doors fruits, yet it will be seen that certain sections 
of our subject have, of necessity, a special bearing: thus these 
remarks apply more especially to the Apple and the Rear. 
As I have here taken what may be termed a commercial 
view of the question, I may, perhaps, be permitted to look a 
little further into that portion of the subject. It is a noto¬ 
rious fact that, in later years, there has been a growing 
tendency in the possessors of gardens, orchards, &c., to 
turn evertliing to account, and to esteem nothing as trifling. 
A prodigal, or lavish expenditure, irrespective of profit, in 
out-door economics, belongs to a bygone state of tilings. 
“ Advance” is the word : and this involves a somewhat nicer 
appreciation of the value of things than was deemed neces¬ 
sary some fifty years since. “ He who despiseth little things 
shall fall by little and little.” In dealing with such subjects, 
then 1 suppose a case in which the proprietor, with an 
earnest desire to provide for his own wants, is equally eai- 
nest so to contrive matters as that all surplus shall be 
turned to good account. 
Now, with regard to the Apple and the Rear, more espe¬ 
cially, we all know that it is most important to use the 
utmost discrimination in selection; above all, as regards 
small gardens or orchards. Where the proprietor has a pretty 
good demand in bis own family, it is, of course, all-important I 
to select fruits on the score of quality, whether for stewing, 
baking, or the dessert. The latter are well known to be of 
superior quality from dwarf standards. 
1 before adverted to the propriety of having a passage for 
a cart at one end of an orchard; this will at all times 
economise labour—much wheelbarrow work is expensive, 
and too apt to infringe on the ordinary routine of business. 
As top-dressing will at times be needed, it would be well to 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
