ORCHARD (Gott]. aurtigards, middle high Ger.uurtgarte, Ang.-Sax. ryrtgeard, ortgeard, a yard or garden for worts or vegetables), a piece of ground specially devoted to the growth of fruit trees, and in which these are planted as near to each other as their profitable cultivation will admit of, no space being left for culinary vegetables, as in the fruit-garden, The introduction of such crops to any considerable extent is injurious to the trees of an orchard, by exhausting the soil, and the vegetables produced are not good. In some orchards the soil is regularly Jigged, and manure pretty freely supplied, the trees being duyof standards, trained to a low and bushy form, in rows about 12 ft. apart, with rows of gooseberries, currants, or raspberries between them. Such orchards are often very productive, and are not liable to suffer much from winds, whilst the trees also protect each other from frosts in spring. Other orchards are formed in old pastures, the turf being replaced when the trees are planted, or, if they are formed on land that has been under the plow, it is sown down with grass. In these, also, manure is occasionally given. In many cases the grass of orchards is employed for pasturing cattle or sheef). the trees being standards or half-standards, with stems FO tall that their branches are beyond the reach of the animals, and in this way the grasS produced by the soil is returned to it in the form of manure. In forming orchards of this kind, it is not unusual to plant the stocks, upon which the proper grafts or buds are afterward inserted. Great orchards of this kind exist in Devonshire, Herefordshire, and some other southern coun ties of England, devoted to the growth of apples for the production of cider, and to a" smaller extent, of pears for the production of perry. Orchards are not so common in Seotional as in England, where they are not only frequent appendages of the manor house, but even of the farm-house. Apples, pears, plums, and cherries, not of the finest kinds, are the fruits chiefly produced in British orchards, although some in England also yield walnuts, chestnuts, medlars, mulberries, quinces, etc., and there are even a few small fig-orchards in the most southern parts. Fig and peach orchards are very com mon in the more southern parts of Europe; and oranges, lemons, etc., on the shores of the Mediterranean.
An orchard requires a dry soil, which ought also to he free and open, not a stubborn clay. A gentle slope, exposing it to the sun, is preferable to perfectly level ground. Protection from prevalent winds, especially in Britain from the s.w. winds, which often blow strongly in autumn, is very necessary; hut it is not less important that there should be a free circulation of air, in default of which the trees become covered with lichens and mosses, and cease to be productive. An orchard is often surrounded by a hawthorn hedge. but a small orchard must not have a very high hedge. Forest trees are often
planted as a screen, but must not be too near. 'Where walnut and chestnut trees will ripen their fruit, they are often planted, on the side most exposed to winds, for shelter.
In laying out the ground for an orchard, it is not unusual to form it into ridges, on the crown of which the trees are planted. But., however this may be. the trees are planted in rows running n. and s., so that the rays of sun may penetrate among them somewhat equally. In planting the trees, their roots are spread out as much as possible, as it is found desirable to encourage them to extend near the surface, rather than to penetrate deep into the ground, particularly where no digging or cropping is intended. The remarks on soil and manures in the article FRUIT-GAI1D,;N are applicable also to orchards.
The districts of Scotland most celebrated for their orchards are a portion of Clydes dale (Lanarkshire) and the Carse of Gowrie (Perthshire) in both of which the apple orchards arc of very considerable economical importance.
a structure adapter: to the cultivation of fruits, of finer kinds titan can be produced in the open air, or in greater perfection, without the aid of artificial heat. It is the invention of Mr. Rivers of London, and is a "glass-roofed shed," the front of which is lower than the back, so that the roof slopes towards the sun. The merit of the invention, however, consist not so much in the structure itself, or in the protecting of fruit-trees and admitting of the sun's rays by glass, as iu the mode of their treatment, by which a limited space can be made to produce a prodigious quantity of fine fruit. The trees are planted in pots, are never allowed to attain aconsiderable size, and are so trained and pruned as to have the greatest possible amount of fruitful wood within the smallest possible compass. The pots have n large hole in the bottom, through which the roots may pass; and are placed upon a border carefully prepared for them, of loose and open materials, such as cinders, lime-rubbish and broken bricks, enriched by manure. After the fruit is gathered, the roots arc cut through at the bottom of the pot, and the trees are set aside to rest for the winter; and this treatment is repeated from year toyear. The orchard-house is generally a very low structure, so that the foliage and fruit are very near the glass; its back beiug only 7 ft. high, and its front only 2+ ft., for width of 12 feet. A path is excavated as a trench of 2 ft, deep, and 2+ ft. wide, through the middle of it. For details as to glazing, ventilation, etc., we refer to Mr. Rivers's pamphlet, The Orchard-house, and to Chambers's Informatioaa for the People, i. pp. 591-92 (new ed.). Plants for orchard-houses may now be purchased in nurseries. In the pamphlet of Mr. Rivers, instructions will be found as to the training and treatment of different kinds of trees.