A Kentish Apple Orchard.

Otago Witness, Issue 1901, 10 July 1890, Page 5

A Kentish Apple Orchard.

(" Middlesex," lv Mark Lane Express.) . It was my fortune to bo born upon a farm in Kent, made up chiefly of hops, arable, and woodland, but a Bmall portion— less than four acres— waa devoted to apple culture upon the turf. The history of this . rchard, and the oiroumßtanceß connected with it were so interesting and instructive that they shall constitute ray justification for the following remarks,

EARLY HISTORY OF THE OBOHARH. The trees of which this orchard consisted were principally the well known Blenheim orango, and were planted some 60 years jigo, and when the farm came into tbe possession of my father some 10 or 15 yeara after, the trees gave unmistakeable evidence of neglect, insomuch that the day the valuation Was made upon tbe farm the undesirability of a young orchard being allowed to get into such a bad state was alluded to. The new tenant of the farm soon put the fruitgrowing capacities of this orchard to the test, for he penned pigs round a coupleof tbe trees, which fco manured, the ground that the next season they bore a heavy orop of 'apples, far out of proportion to any other trees in the orchard. This experiment, if I may ball it such, formed 1 the basis of the after treatment of this orchard during a long odurse of years, and that with the most satisfactory results from a commercial point of view, But a great mistake was made when this orchard was first made ; tbe ground wbb not trenched —an operation so necessary for really successful fruit oulture — nor Were the trpes planted at a sufficient distance from eaoh other as to admit of the due growth and maturinsc of the fruit inside tho treeß, when they had attained suoh large size aa to bd growing one into tbe other in tho rows. But I ought to state this much in favour of tbe orchard : the ground was suitable— a good loam and not satuated with stagnant water; so detrimental, generally Bpeaking, to plant growth— while tbe aspect of the land was slightly southerly, both of which conditions, doubtless, were beneficial factors in the case of no little importance.

SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR TDRF ORCHARDS

The principle of treatment adopted for this orchard wbb that of "high farming," that is' the land— and therefore tho trees upon it— was Jiberally treated. A quick-set hedge having been planted round the orchard, in du9 course formed an' insurpaßsable barrier to the egress and ingress of such Btook as are kept in or near to it. It wa9 tho praotice to build temporary Bleeping houses for the pigs generally kept in this orobard, whiob apartments were constructed at little cost by means of a few pig gates thatched, and some hop-bineo fr>ra <sso neighbouring hop gardens. Tho roof of the bouse <vbb made of two thatched gates, one overlapping tbo other, placed higher at the back than at the front. These formed a nice fall for the rain ; tbus the inside of the ho« 38 was kept dry, The stye adjoining was raada ao r.s to enolose tbe trees standing nearest tho house, and the pigs were permitted to remain around these trees until the prrass underneath would become well uigh invisible owiap to thfl droppings of ;ho pigs, and the mud, &c, which, of course, accumulated on this circumscribed area. When it was considered that the ground in question had been sufficiently manured tl'o gr-tes which formed the stye were Bhifted, some of tho filter 're os p'anding near being enclosed, while those previously gated in wore shut off into the regular orchard. By a little contrivance when shifting the otye, it can readily ba seen that three or four styes could be formed, enclosing different tieoa each time without having to the position of the Bleeping apartment, which I havfl omitted to say was always constructed with an outlet into tho stye facing the south. By adopting this system of folding, in course of time many parts of the orchard, which were more in need of help than others, were brought up to tho bigbeßt state of fertility. I may say that tbo donizecs of the *tyes alluded to were sows with their piga, or actually fattening hogs, as tbe crbo might be. The green, healthy appearance of the foliage on tha trees, after tbe course of treatment I bave described, afforded sufficient proof of tbe wisdom and correctness of tho plan, in other words, the improvement in the prodnctiv^nrss of the orchard, which subject, however, I am coming to, ■QENEBAL TBEATMKNT FOR ORCHARDS. While lam deecribing the mode of treatment practised in a cortain orchard, I would, as a rule, recommend the adoption of a similar mode of procedure in the caße of orchards generally. Fruit-growera- certainly amateur

fruit growers— are - scarcely impressed with the idea of the degree of high farming # that fruit trees, particularly young trees, require in order to obtain the best results from them. I [ A niggardly treatment of young fruit trees is most miserable economy. It was the custom in the spring of the year to turn out store pigs into the orchard under review, and let them range where they liked. The herbage under the trees and about the orobard generally afforded a great part of the food necessary for the pigs, which waa, however, supplemented with any little extras required ; the "blowings," as we, termed them, out of the mangers in the stable, for instance. The store pigs grazing in the orchard throughout the summer did the ground —consequently the trees— muob good ; besides whioh the pigs themselves would develop into well-grown animals, and would come on at Michaelmaa suitable for making first-olaas pork, One observation should be made here in respeot of grass orchards, If the owner thereof fails to get a top orop, he .has a ground one, and, better still, there is no " Saturday night, as they say, connected with them— that is, the expenses of management may be reckoned as nil. RESULT OF WELL FARMING AN ORCHARD, Most satisfactory results followed the system of farming 1 carried on in this email apple orchard. Its productiveness was great, so muoh so that I Bhonld question whether its equal in ibis respect could have been found in the country. On ono occasion a fruit-buyer took the growing crop in tbe orchard for the sum of £150, aud on another ocoadon tbio aaraa party offered £200 for the crop on the trees as it hung, which offer was, however, for certain reasons, refused. Nor are these to be reckon od as quite exceptional occasions. In tho year 1874, in which I had an interest in the orchard, there wore upwards of 750 bushels of Blenheim oranges grown and marketed off this land, a salesman in the Borough Market taking the lot at home for 5s a bushel, little and big. In addition to these there waß a good sprinkling of golden knobs, king b' pippins, and goffs, several of whioh trees were scattered here and there about tbe orchard. The knoba alluded to (22 trees) on one occasion averaged six or s*ven bushels to tho tree, and as many shillings at market. »BEMINQ DRAWBACKS TO MANAGEMENT DESCRIBED, Exception will ba taken by some to the mode of management I have detailed above. It will be said, " You mend the land at the expense of the grasa by making styes thereon." But this ia not the case, Woll-established turf will stand a lot of trampling upon, &c, before the grass plants die ; and, althoufih when the pigs aro Bhut up upon reßtrioted areas the herbage may have the appearance of being destroyed, if the folding round the trees be not too protracted, no harm to the grass will come of it. Another objection that will be raised by some is that animals like pigs can scarcely be kept in an enolosure like an apple orchard Without making off with a great quantity of fruit during the peaaon. There ia little force in thia objection ; but it must be remembered, during ftpy gales that may take place aa autumn approaches, when apples are brought down wholesale, it is always possible to have a fold at hand in somo corner of the orchard to shut the pigs in till the wind has sunken and the fruit has been picked up, or the animals may be removed from tho orohard entirely for a time ; while very immature fruit, whioh for one cause or other may leave the trees previous to the time for gathering the fruit, will make a, not undesirable addition to the pigs' bill of fare. , In concluding my remarks upon this orohard I may observe that when about 50 years old it began to give slight evidence of decay, the stems of one or two trees producing a fungus near their base, which warranted the suspicion that tbe roots of the trees had got down into aome unkindly soil. Thia was Borne 10 or 12/ years ago; A? my connection with the plaoe oeased about that time I am not abla to give further reliable information in respeot of this highly remunerative plot of land.