Orchard (generally supposed to be from A.S. ort-gearde—i.e. a yard or enclosure for orts, worts, or wurts = Lat. olus, but strangely resembling the Gr. orchatos, especially in the Miltonic form, orchat) is a space of ground employed for the growth of hardy tree-fruit, such as apples, cherries, pears, and plums. By common usage and the force of climate the word in Great Britain has now become suggestive of apples only; and if the fruit be of any other staple a special prefix is generally employed, except in the counties (and few they are) in which cherries, pears, or plums are grown thus largely, such as Kent, Hereford, and Worcester. In some parts of the United States peaches are grown in vast quantities upon orchard-trees, and that fruit can be ripened thus in the southern counties of England, when the spring and summer have been favourable. But in the main with us the orchard is a plot of ground planted with apple-trees, and thus we shall chiefly regard it.
In England, as well as the more fruitful parts of Scotland, the manor-house, vicarage, manse, or farm, or other well-environed dwelling-place, has its own orchard not far from the house, and capable of producing fruit, unless too much discouraged.
Too often the orchard is treated with contempt, as a space where the children, turkeys, calves, or pigs may roam at pleasure; and if there are any apples they are regarded as a windfall of some rarity. This is not as it ought to be. Orchards were laid out at a time when there was room enough to move freely, and people knew less than they seem to know now. Accordingly we find on these old trees either no fruit at all, or very little, and of that the chief part worthless. There is no greater puzzle to the farmer or squire farming his own land than the sad condition of his orchard and his own deep ignorance about it. Amid the more important works the trees have too often been neglected; and the space which should yield its fair share of profit, as well as of picturesque enjoyment, has become a frowsy wilderness.
Much of the blame for this would fall on those who are now beyond it. Seldom indeed can we find an orchard planted by our ancestors with any common sense or judgment. The trees have been placed there anyhow, without any knowledge of their habit, growth, fertility, use, or requirements. And for this the nurserymen of that time must also be held accountable, their ignorance of their own produce having been equal to that of their customers. In this particular a vast advance has been made in the last half-century, and the planter of an orchard now has himself to thank if he plants amiss. For of late years it has been imagined largely that profit, equally speedy and heavy, can be secured very pleasantly by the growth of fruit in Britain. In spite of all experience this may be so, as we find the laws of nature overcome now and then by superhuman effort. And when everything comes to pass exactly as it should, the orchard takes occasion sometimes to pay its way. With a view towards this we may consider first the formation and planting of an orchard; secondly, the renewal of an old and not too hale plantation.
(1) Situation and soil are the first two questions, the former being even the more important in the colder parts of Britain. A slope towards the south or south-east is best of all; but if that cannot be found a fair level will do, unless it be in the bottom of a valley or too near some broad river. A damp situation is always bad; and especially evil is the spot—though it may be the warmest in summer—where the fog of the morning draws and packs from the marshes or from a tidal river. For the worst of all enemies to British fruit is the late spring frost, which settles chiefly in the valley or along the plain; whence the bleak hillside is often fruitful when the sheltered dale is barren. Also the soil must be fairly good, neither too sandy nor of very heavy clay. When the site has been chosen the ground should be trenched to the depth of two feet if possible, and drainage provided where needful, as in all but the most favoured spots it is. Time for settlement should be allowed after the trenching; and then the stations may be prepared for the standard-trees. The distance from tree to tree and row to row ought to be governed by the choice of kinds, and this again depends upon the object of the planter. He may plant for home use, or for sale, or for both; and in either case for table use or for cider. If he plants for his own table use—be it for cooking or dessert—his chief concern is quality combined with fair fertility. If he plants for market he must first consider productiveness and appearance and the common opinion of his neighbourhood; for if he took into the market the best apple ever grown, but as yet of no reputation, he would have to take it home again until the trees grew old. Also, he would rather sell good fruit than bad; but generally speaking this is difficult without much self-sacrifice. For the finer kinds are, with few exceptions, less fertile than the inferior. But whatever his objects be, and whatever varieties he selects, the planter must be guided by the habit of the trees as to the space allowed them. It is better to allow too much room than too little; and in a plantation intended to endure, 25 feet from tree to tree is not one too many. The permanent trees should be straight standards, worked upon the crab-stock, and with 6 feet of stem from the root to the spread of the branches. Let them be planted almost upon the surface, then banked up with good soil, and staked securely, until they can hold their own against the wind. Of pruning little or none is required during the first year of their growth, except that any weak shoot should be cut out, or rival to the leader repressed at once, if the tree is to be carried up in conical form. No manure should be given as yet, unless it be in the way of mulching, where the soil is very droughty. When all the standards are planted and staked, and seen to 'cut true,' as gardeners term it, both along and across the rows, the temporary crop may be planted among them, whether of dwarf-trees, or of bushes, vegetables, clover, or anything else; but a clear space must be reserved at all times of at least a yard around the orchard-tree. And throughout the next year the young plantation must be heeded frequently, disfruited (if any rash produce form), watered in case of protracted drought, restaked or rebond if any break loose, and watched that no grub or other vermin bore the slender stem, or injure bark, branch, or foliage. In the second year judicious pruning will be needed, for which see our article on that subject. The ground between the trees may be cropped with grass or clover (not allowed to become too long), which can be broken up for the purpose of manuring, and at other times saves the dropping fruit from bruises. With regard to varieties it is quite impossible to offer useful advice without a knowledge of each special case. If the planter is providing for his own household he generally knows what suits it best and befits the situation. If he grows for market he can have recourse to the counsel of some good nurseryman acquainted with the neighbourhood, its wants and suitabilities; he will probably find his trees true to name, clean, well grown and healthy; for in no line of business has there been more advance during the last half-century than in that of the nurseryman.
(2) With regard to the renewal of an ancient fruit-grove or the way to make the best of it, any one coming into possession or management of a decrepit orchard may wisely allow one fruiting season to show what good there is in it. All trees of valuable kind may then be marked for better cultivation, while the rest are divided into those worth grafting and those that are worthy of the domestic hearth; and the last will perhaps be more numerous. The trees that have goodness or beauty of fruit, with vigour sufficient to carry it, should at once be relieved of all moss and decay, straggling or worn-out or ill-placed members, or thickety growth of feeble wood, and perhaps in some places be cut back with discretion. Then the ground should be opened around the trunk, with tender avoidance of all upper roots (if any still live as a rarity), and a mulching of good, rich manure should be laid on in the winter-time; or, failing such encouragement, a frequent supply of good liquid strength, when the roots are on the feed in summer-time. The difficulty is to get this new supply to the parts that are fit to take it up, and then to provide the proper dose. And none but a man who knows the nature of a tree should be permitted to attempt it. Too often the roots of these old trees are prongs that strike downwards mightily, in the manner of a well- grown carrot, leaving nothing with a mouth for better feeding reasonably near the surface. Little improvement must be looked for during the first season, but even then there should be symptoms of increasing vigour, and in the second year the tree should be making healthy growth again.
Those that are of inferior kind, but have kindly wood for grafting, should be headed back or shortened home, with the dry and ragged wood removed. Then in the spring let fair stout scions of the better sort be inserted, chosen from strong growers, such as impart their own vigour to the stock; for it is vain to work a feeble kind upon a long-established tree. The result will sometimes be a great success and sometimes downright failure, according to the harmony of stock and graft, upon which point the most experienced gardener as yet knows very little.
Many old trees, as before suggested, will be fit for nothing but firewood. These should be grubbed up at once, not with a feeble hand, but following every root as if you hated it. Then let a large space be excavated and filled in with abundant fresh soil trodden at every layer, and upon this young standards of vigorous kind must be planted, as shallow as may be, and banked up and staked. None but the strongest and most rapid growers can hope to make good these gaps among the elders, and even so they will be long about it. The virtue of patience must be highly cultivated by the owner of an ancient orchard. Even for renewal of an old plantation little can be said as to choice of sorts without thorough knowledge of locality. Many apples that become a picture in Kent or Surrey or Devonshire are plain little dowdies in Yorkshire, and unsightly scrubs in Scotland; while others that are comely and good in the north are vapid in the southern counties. Again, few or none of the American kinds, so handsome and fine when imported, can be grown to perfection in Great Britain. The conferences of the Royal Horticultural Society have afforded most valuable hints upon this subject, and their report should be studied with care. Much may also be learned from recent treatises by pomologists, such as Dr Hogg's Fruit Manual; John Scott's Orchardist; the works of the late Thomas Rivers, and the fruit-lists of the present T. F. Rivers; the Growth of Fruit for Profit, by George Bunyard of Maidstone; and a concise work on the same subject by Mr Wright of the Horticultural Journal. See APPLE.